Description
Marxism and Chinese Literary-Artistic Activities in the 20th Century
took five years from the subject design to the completion of all proofreading
and submission, involving five academic units, namely, Shanghai Academy
of Social Sciences, Hunan Normal University, People’s Public Security
University of China, Southwest Jiaotong University and Shanghai
University, and each volume was presided over by a number of professors.
Now it is finally punished and circulated in the market.
In the 20th century, China seemed to be a mysterious and bewilderingly
changeable place, where numerous historical events happened. In this
kaleidoscope-like historical evolution, the principal line of the goal aimed
with achievements was obvious- the development of Chinese literature and
art with Marxism, which is a fresh main trend of literature and art connected
with and integrated with Chinese historical events in the 20th century, as well
as an organic part of epoch-making Chinese Revolution. In the past century
witnessed incessant events and various figures with their masterpieces
permeated with high spirits and morale. People advanced in revolution
under the guidance of Marxism and transformed China; Similarly, the
revolutionary literary and artistic activities under the guidance of Marxism
witnessed the glorious course of the Chinese revolution.
Literature and art are originally an organic part of practice in human
life. Human beings have already been involved with activities in their lives
in prehistoric times, including primary literature and art creation, religious
activities, and material labor, which constitute the whole content of human
life. The primary role of literature and art is to provide a great channel for
releasing emotions and cultivating sentiment. In a classless society, the
primitive songs and dances performed by workers express nothing but non
utilitarian emotional life. But literary-artistic activities contain more than
tradition and non-utilitarianism elements. In the development of human
society, many issues have cropped up, namely, class, stratum, interest, and
war which are not consistent with human will. For that reason, literature
and art has lost its “purity” yet had the continued existence with those
complex and political practice. In class society, literature and art are always
an integral part of society. Human emotional catharsis is no longer simply
related to labor, but to social life.
Of course, beauty is an inherent attribute of literature and art. No
beauty, no literature and art. First, Chinese literature and art are inseparable
from Chinese history, culture and aesthetic ideals. Without this, literature
and art is nonentity. Second, in the long history, those applauded works
are concerning the fate of people and the situation of the times. The world
famous works we know such as The Decameron (Boccaccio), What Is to Be
Done? (Chernyshevsky), The Young Guard (Fadeyev), Midnight (Mao Dun)
and The True Story of Ah Q (Lu Xun) are all masterpieces of literature and
art that have fully “joined the reality” with unfathomable social influence.
The world history of literature and art proves that literature and art have two
functions: aesthetic appreciation and social function both of which never
countervail each other and endure in the visible history of human society.
From this point of view, the history of Chinese literary and artistic
activities in the 20th century is not only an art history comparable to the
world’s top art, which produced such masterpieces as True Story of Ah Q
and Yellow River Cantata, but also a war history mixed with blood and
tears. Its more important mission is to promote the revolutionary change
of Chinese society, which is an unavoidable historical destiny of Chinese
literature and art in the 20th century.
That literature and art participated in social transformation and
political movements is a major feature of those activities in the 20th century.
Throughout the 20th century, it has truly become the “dagger and machine
gun” for fighting because writers and artists have been repeatedly involved
in political whirlpools, or shot, such as The Five Martyrs of the League of
Left-Wing Writers, or “going to prison”, or being pushed by politics to the
cutting edge, or being beaten into the hell by “movement.” These are all
solid proofs of the inseparable connection between literary-artistic activities
and politics in this century.
What is closely related to the Chinese revolutionary literary-artistic
activities in the 20th century is the surging upsurge of the Chinese Marxist
movement and its profound influence on literary-artistic activities. In this
regard, this set of books has a detailed description and demonstration. And
what I want to point out in the general preface is that the so-called “Marxist
influence” has a historical development, not a piece of metal one that will
remain unchanged for a hundred years. This process contains a tortuous
development, gradual maturity and repetition, because for Chinese society
and the Chinese revolution, Marxism is not a weapon that can be used
immediately. Gradual Sinicization is necessary in history. Judging from
the development of Chinese literature and art, 20th Chinese century has first
discerned, excluded and then fused with European Marxism in 19th century.
Passion and imagination never muted themselves within, but serous thinking
and experimentation spoke louder. Throughout the century, “Marxism” that
we talked a lot has undergone complex changes and developments in the
history of China in the 20th century, and it can even be said to be extremely
hard. This is the same destiny as any foreign thought in China.
Why Marxism, imported from the Western world, can surpass his
peers and lead China in the 20th century is a crucial cultural question, which
should be expounded especially. But there must be a reason why, for a
whole century, “upholding Marxism” as a guiding ideology has been held
as the purpose and practiced by mainstream political forces. It is a historic
task for us in the 21st century to scientifically and realistically apprehend
the fate of Marxism in China. Since Marxism entered China in the early
20th century, it has been localized and “transformed.” Marxism, born in the
European culture, was an instrument of liberation and social reform for the
early Chinese revolutionaries. Therefore, among the many cultural factors
of early Marxism, Chinese revolutionaries first chose revolution, fight, and
overthrow of imperialism and warlord rule, known as the goal of national
revolution and national liberation which is completely logical and can be
understood later.
However, the historical development of Chinese society in the 20th
century was far more complicated and difficult than our early Marxists had
first expected. Marxism took root and developed in China, and its tortuous
process was far more than all they were waiting for. Among hazardous
ideas, we would necessarily mention the doctrine that what the Soviets
had done should be fully copied damaged the Chinese revolution in an
appalling and bloody way. The dogmatic tendencies are also reflected
in literary-artistic activities. As disclosed in this book, the sectarian and
closed-doors tendencies that emerged in the organizations of revolutionary
writers and artists during the “Left-wing League” period, the tendencies to
demand “proletarian struggle” regardless of China’s national conditions, the
tendencies to focus on political needs regardless of artistry, have affected
the proper development of revolutionary literary-artistic activities to the
varying degrees. Especially after the Communist Party of China took power,
the “Left” political line once dominated the Party. Under the domination of
the ultra-left line during the ten years of “Cultural Revolution”, the literary
artistic activities of the whole people were distorted into “Eight Model
Plays” and “Three Emphases” image of “Tall, Big and Perfect”, which
brought ridicule over the Chinese revolutionary literary-artistic activities in
the 20th century.
In a sense, Marxism can leave a glorious legacy in China in the 20th
century, mainly because it adheres to the “core value” of benefiting the vast
majority of people. “Serving the people” has always been the fundamental
tenet that the Chinese Communists have clung to, and the guide for action.
Although the politics in the 20th century was quite out-of-way and ever
changing, with the principle of “serving the people”, the Communists won
the support of the majority of the masses all the time before victory tiptoed
to them.
Judging from the history of literary-artistic activities, under the
influence of Marxism, Chinese literary-artistic activities in the 20th century
were realistic with the intention to intervene on persons behalf, and guide
spiritual growth, rather than lurking in the spiritual world of “ego” to be
self-intoxicated and groaning. Therefore, it deserves to become an integral
part of the Chinese revolution and the liberation of the people. This is an
indisputable fact of the history of Chinese literary-artistic activities in the
20th century. We revisit and record the history of Chinese literary-artistic
activities in the 20th century with the influence of Marxism for the steadfast
choice of the Chinese Communists and Chinese people through the exciting
process of national and individual liberation battle.
China’s reform and opening up in 1978 has taken Chinese literary
artistic activities of the 20th century into a special and more complex period.
Compared with the past of national liberation, the socialism of market
economy is far more sophisticated. As a part of the superstructure, literature
art is in an incomparably complicated and subtle historical relationship. The
experience and lessons of this period deserve great attention from everyone
who pays attention to the fate of Marxism.
In the era of peaceful development and reform and opening up, will
Marxism still play a role in China’s literary-artistic activities? Can it still
instruct them? This is a question worth pondering and researching. The
Waves (Zeng Jun) states the developmental factors of the literary-artistic
movement in the new period. It shows the depth and breadth of the influence
of Marxism on Chinese literary-artistic activities under the new historical
conditions. However, that is only the beginning of a great historical
experiment. The issues of the socialist movement under the new historical
conditions are still invisible without being thoroughly, strongly argued.
For socialist literary-artistic activities, contemporary China under the
circumstances of steady development encounters the acute challenge of the
development of the market economy. Will the concepts of “individual”,
“freedom”, “interests”, “equality”, “justice” and “rule of law” required by
the development of the market economy contradict the traditional socialist
values? If the two are compatible, then a new socialist value system may be
re-established and put into new practice with the conditions of the market
economy.
Over-the-30-years of reform and practice has presided over the topic of
the construction of the core value system under the market economy in the
current Marxist movement brought up again and again among the Chinese
theorists. It is a new experiment as well as an inevitable option to rethink
where Marxism will go in a fresh period.
The Chinese revolutionary movement, fought for people’s liberation
and national independence during the war years, has naturally inextricable
anti-capitalist nature of Marxism. Nonetheless, China is developing a
socialist market economy nowadays with reform and opening-up policies.
So, how is Marxism necessarily connected to “market socialism”, and how
does this connection come from the inside of the movement and from the
depths of history? Such problems directly affect the development pattern
of the contemporary Chinese cultural movements. The solution to the
thorny problems lies in rediscovering the elements inherent in Marxism that
inherits the European humanitarian essence, and returning the Marxist value
of “human liberation” to its original position. On this point, we are pleased
to see that the current socialist literary-artistic movement is maturing,
guided by the “idea of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” This is a
brand-new spiritual environment and historical atmosphere gained by the
popular cultural development since the reform and opening up. It’s also
the possible starting point for the contemporary Chinese socialist literary
artistic movement. Of course, this new opening will be full of obstacles and
unknowns, but if Marxist socialism in China can not adapt to the changes in
the market economy, and if it can not defend “human liberation” in China, is
there any point in Marxism? At this point, Marxism will inevitably be reborn
in China and in the 21st-century Chinese literary-artistic activities. Its overall
social concern of “for people” is indelible, and it is eternal with the healthy
development of human history.
