Social Class Foundation of the Spread of Marxism in China

Marxism is the scientific worldview and social revolutionary theory of the working class. Its vigorous spread in China was based on the growth and development of Chinese working class. The Chinese working class was formed and strengthened with the emergence and development of capitalism in China. In the mid-19th century, the first batch of modern industrial workers came into being in the enterprises established by foreign capital in China.

During the World War I from 1914 to 1918, China's national capitalist economy developed rapidly, and the power of the working class also grew further. The working class in China numbered between 1 to 1.2 million in 1914 and was about 2 million in 1919. In addition to the basic characteristics of the proletariat in general, the Chinese proletariat had many specific characteristics. These characteristics were mainly: The Chinese proletariat was subjected to three kinds of oppression (imperialist oppression, bourgeois oppression and feudal oppression), and the severity and cruelty of these oppressions were rare among the nations of the world; therefore, they were more resolute and thorough than any other class in the revolutionary struggle. Secondly, the Chinese working class was more concentrated; "no one of any kind is as concentrated as they are", so that it was easy to form a strong fighting force. Thirdly, because of the preponderance of elements from bankrupt peasant origins, the Chinese proletariat had a natural connection with the masses of peasants, which facilitated the formation of close alliances between them and the peasants. The growth and expansion of the Chinese working class prepared an important class basis for the spread of Marxism and the founding of the Communist Party of China, i.e., the party of Marxism.