My View of Marxism

In this masterpiece, Li Dazhao has systematically expounded his views on Marxism. The full text has nearly 30,000 characters and includes 11 parts. Parts 1 to 7 belong to the Part One, published in September 1919, New Youth (Volume 6, No. 5); Parts 8 to 11 belong to the Part Two, published on November 1, the same year, New Youth (Volume 6, No. 6). This article is included in Volume 3 of the Complete Works of Li Dazhao, edited by Li Dazhao Research Institute of China, which was published by the People's Publishing House, 2006. The main contents are as follows:

(1) Pointing out that Marxism is the "teaching of the prime movers for transforming the world" and further illustrating the guiding significance of Marxism. Li Dazhao wrote: “Ever since the Russian Revolution, Marxism is about to sweep through the world.” “Although our study of Marxism is slight, there has been a great deal of interest in, and criticism of, his works in various countries as a result of the 100th anniversary in 1918. We have collected and edited these writings to introduce them to our readers in this Marxism edition of New Youth magazine. I believe it is not without benefit for readers to gain some insight into this teaching of the prime movers for transforming the world through our discussions.”

(2) "Roughly analyzing" the system of Marx's teaching. The article points out that "Marx's theory of socialism can be divided into three parts: one is the theory on the past, that is, his theory of history, also known as the theory of evolution of social organizations; second is the theory on the present, that is, his theory of economics, also known as the theory of capitalism; third is the theory on the future, that is, his theory of politics, also known as the theory of the socialist movement, which is social democracy. His above three theories are inseparable, and the theory of class struggle is just like a golden thread, which fundamentally unites these three principles.

(3) Introducing the essentials of Marx's materialist view of history and Marx's theory of class competition. Regarding the former, the article mainly introduces Marx’s and Engels' thoughts on the relationships between productive forces and production relations, economic basis and superstructure based on Marx's early work Poverty of Philosophy (1847), “Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy” (1859) and The Communist Manifesto (1848) which was co-authored by Marx and Engels. Historical materialists not only regard the different causes of various social phenomena as economic ones, but also, in accordance with the sociological law of competition, recognize that many obvious social facts that constitute history are merely the result of group competition among different classes, directly, indirectly, or more or less. The reason why they are involved in this competition is all due to their own particular economic motives. “As for why does society present class antagonism, Marx's view is that it's all because one social group depending relies upon the monopoly of the means of production, in order to plunder the surplus

(4) Expounding on the main points of Marx's "theory of economics", namely the "theory of surplus labor and surplus value" and "capital accumulation theory". This is mainly embodied in the Part Two of this article. In this chapter, Part 11 writes: "Capitalism grows and perishes this way. Under its feet lay a lot of enemy soldiers, whose number is increasing unceasingly, namely the proletariat. These proletarians were originally the product of capitalism, and it was them who would later destroy capitalism.”

(5) Pointing out the scientific attitude towards "Marx’s teachings". The article emphasizes that "the establishment of a teaching has a significant relationship with its times and environment."

So, "we criticize or adopt a person's teachings, without forgetting his times and environment and our times and environment." And "Marx's teaching is in fact the product of an era", so we may not "take the whole theory and apply it to the society we live in, but we should also not obliterate the value of his times and his special insights." The article "My View of Marxism" has systematically introduced Marxist theory and exerted an important influence on the contemporary ideological circles. It has pushed the study, research and dissemination of Marxism by Chinese advanced elements to a new stage. The article represents the highest level of understanding of Marxism by early Chinese Marxists.