The translation and dissemination of red thought in China are closely related to the children of Lingnan
Text/Photo: Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Sun Lei
(Except for signature)
The dissemination and practice of Marxism have profoundly changed China. Guangdong, located at the southern end of the motherland, is one of the main positions for the spread of red ideas.
In recent years, with the deepening of research on the dissemination of Lingnan red thought, Guangdong’s significance and role in the dissemination and practice of Marxism have gradually become prominent. The spread of red thought on the land of Lingnan not only starts early, has many talents, and has a wide range of dissemination, but is also closely integrated with revolutionary practice.
From Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen, to Zhu Zhixin, Yang Gui’an, Ke Bainian, the outstanding Lingnan children greatly promoted the spread of red ideas in Guangdong and even the whole country, and had a direct impact on the process of sinicization of Marxism.
The opening is
Wanmu Caotang located in Yuexiu, Guangzhou, with flowers and trees intertwined and antique. The statues of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao are placed in the northeast corner of the courtyard, and the master and apprentice sit one by one. Their exploration of socialist thought made Guangdong one of the earliest regions to translate and disseminate advanced modern ideas.
In 1884, Kang Youwei started writing the book “Datong Book”, which is in line with the “Datong Thought” in ancient China, and is also clearly influenced by Western utopian socialism.
After the failure of the 1898 Reform Movement, Liang Qichao went into exile in Japan and began to come into contact with socialism. He organized scholars and students who were exiled to Japan to study Marxism together and translate related works. Zhao Bizhen, known as “the earliest disseminator of Marxism in China”, also participated. Under the guidance of Liang Qichao, Zhao Bizhen translated the first and second volumes of “Modern Socialism” and was finally published in Shanghai.
Wang Dongfeng, a professor at the School of Foreign Languages of Sun Yat-sen University, regards 1902 as a key node in the “introduction period” of Marxism. This is mainly because Liang Qichao used the term “socialism” for the first time in his article “The Theory of the Revolutionary Jie De of the Evolution” published in Xinmin Series in 1902. Therefore, Liang Qichao was also known as the first person to introduce Marx to China. Since then, he talked about Marx and his views many times in his writings, and also predicted in his articles: “Socialism will surely be magnificent in the 20th century.” This officially kicked off the spread of Marxism in China.
The socialist movement that emerged around the world also attracted the attention of the democratic revolutionaries. Qiu Jie, a professor in the Department of History at Sun Yat-sen University, said that Sun Yat-sen had a good understanding of Marxism for a long time and was sympathetic to it. Sun Yat-sen also tried to combine socialism with the Chinese revolution, and the “people’s livelihood” in his “Three Principles of the People” was based on socialist thought.
It should be said that the introduction of Marxism at this time was sporadic and distorted, and it was not systematic and incompletely accurate. Despite this, these advanced Guangdong people still made the Chinese people first understand Marxism and worked for the spread of Marxism in China.a href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema lays the groundwork and prepares.
The starting point of thought
On February 24, 1848, the “Communist Manifesto” written by Marx and Engels was officially published. This is the first programmatic document of scientific socialism and it marks the birth of Marxism.
With the translation and introduction of “Propaganda”, between 1902 and 1912, Guangdong ushered in the first small climax of the spread of Marxism. Zhu Zhixin translated and introduced many Marxist-related articles at this stage, so he was called “the pioneer of the spread of Marxism in China.”
At present, the first fully recognized Chinese translation of the Manifesto is the translation of Chen Wangdao published in 1920. But before that, Zhu Zhixin, Chen Zhenfei and others from Guangdong were already translating the “Manifesto”. Although it was just a seminar translation, it also has extremely important historical significance for the spread of Marxism in China. Qiu Jie said that as early as 1912, Guangzhou Minsheng Daily published the first part of the Manifesto translated by Chen Zhenfei, which has strong theoretical significance: “This is the earliest selected version of the Manifesto in China, and the academic community has not fully recognized its importance at present.” However, in Wang Dongfeng’s view, Zhu Zhixin was earlier than Chen Zhenfei. As early as November 1905, the official newspaper of the Tongmenghui, Minbao No. 2, published the “Biography of the German Social Revolutionary” written by Zhu Zhixin, which translated some of the contents, including the 10 programs in the second section of the Declaration, and introduced the key points of the Declaration, including the writing background and historical significance. Wang Dongfeng said that this is the first time that the Chinese have introduced the Declaration and directly translated some of its contents. Zhu Zhixin integrated his short life into the wave of the Chinese revolution and actively engaged in revolutionary theoretical propaganda work. He was called “the saint of the revolution” by Sun Yat-sen.
Chen Wangdao translated the “Declaration” during the period when the Communist Party of China was preparing to establish, and communist groups across the country were established. The Chinese translation of the Manifesto became very popular after its publication. This booklet with only more than 28,000 Chinese characters became the ideological starting point for the Communist Party of China to create revolutionary beliefs, and also made theoretical preparations for the founding of the Communist Party of China.
Wang Dongfeng believes that the translation and dissemination of the “Babaylan Manifesto” is step by step. If the Guangdong people had not laid the early preparation for the Marxist festival translation, there would not have been Chen Wangdao later.Translation: “Although the work done in Guangdong in the early days was scattered, it was an indispensable basic work. It can be said that Guangdong played a revolutionary role in the translation and dissemination of Marxism in China.”
On November 11, 1919, Yang Gui’an introduced Marxism in the “Guangdong China News Service” and provided by Wei Fapu
Translation climax
With the outbreak of the October Revolution and the May Fourth Movement in Russia, the translation and introduction of Marxism in China was fully launched, and Guangdong also ushered in the second translation climax. Yang Gui’an, Ke Bonian, Tang Chengbo and others began to translate other related works of Marx himself.
“Since Max’s origin, socialism has suddenly lost its glory in theory and reality. The worker regards the book “Das Kapital” as a classic… Max takes the materialistic view of history as a classic, and has obtained from observing economic conditions in Britain and France, thus forming a worldview dominated by economic content. This is why it is called scientific socialism.” On November 11, 1919, Yang Gui’an published an article in “Maxism (sometimes called scientific socialism)” (hereinafter referred to as “Maxism”) in the “Guangdong China News Agency”. The article only has more than 300 words, but has a far-reaching impact. This is the earliest article in South China to systematically introduce Marxism.
The article Babaylan appeared immediately after Li Dazhao published the article “My Marxist View” in “New Youth”. Therefore, Yang Gui’an was also called “Southern Yang and North Li” together with Li Dazhao. Together with Yang Gui’an’s other articles introducing Marxism, “Marxism is the first person in systematically introducing Marxism in South China.”
According to Wang Dongfeng, from July 12 to December 15, 1919, Yang Gui’an published more than 40 articles in the column of “Popular University” supplement of the “Guangdong China News Agency” with the World Theory” as the general title, and introduced more than 40 articles in the “World Theory” table, detailing the introduction of Marxist socialism.
After the May Fourth Movement, Yang Gui’an wrote and compiled a large number of articles promoting and introducing Marxism, which greatly promoted the widespread dissemination of Marxism and inspired the revolutionary enthusiasm of the entire South China region.
In 1929, Yang Gui’an came to Shanghai to participate in the publication of newspapers and magazines by the Communist Party of China. During this period, he compiled and published more than 200,000 words of “Essentials of Western History”, which was also the earliest Chinese to write with the Marxist view of historical materialism.The work of Western historical works is Komiks. “When Mao Ze was in the Central Soviet Area, he asked someone to bring this book to him.” Fu Xiuhai, a professor at the Chinese Department of South China Agricultural University, mentioned.
The Yang Family Ancestral Hall, located at No. 116 Yuehua Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, has been renovated. Entering the Yang Li’an’s former residence exhibition hall, there was a long luminous oil lamp on the desk in the study on the second floor. The audience seemed to be able to see Yang Li’an working at his desk at that time. This lamp is like his spirit, forever.
There is a long luminous oil lamp in the Yanglien former residence exhibition hall
Turn to the whole country
After the May Fourth Movement, the spread of Marxism in Guangdong was centered on Guangzhou, and its spread throughout the province, and it also affected neighboring Fujian, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hong Kong and other places, which had an important impact nationwide.
Wei Fapu, associate professor of the Party History and Party Building Teaching and Research Department of the Party School of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (Guangdong Administrative College), believed that the dissemination of Guangdong’s red thought at that time showed the characteristics of wide communication subjects and wide communication scope: “At that time, the political environment conditions in Guangdong were relatively loose, and both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party supported the dissemination of Marxism. Therefore, when other parts of the country severely suppressed the dissemination of Marxism, Guangdong could be publicly disseminated.”
Wei Fapu said that during this period, the newspaper industry in Guangdong was very developed, with a large number of newspapers and publications, and the distribution scope of many newspapers and magazines was nationwide, providing solid conditions for the dissemination of Marxism.
At the same time, a large number of translation talents emerged in Guangdong, such as Tang Chengbo who translated and published “The Theory and Implementation of Leninism”, Li Chunfan (Ke Bonian) successively translated and published “The State and Revolution” and “Criticism of the Gotha Program”, and Xiong Rui who translated and published “The Materialistic View of History”. In addition, during this period, Guangdong gathered talents from all over the country. Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others all carried out revolutionary activities in Guangdong, which effectively promoted the spread of Marxism.
“Guangdong is still the main battlefield for opposing various erroneous thoughts.” Wei Fapu said that during the spread of Marxism in China, it has actually been disturbed by various misunderstandings and even wrong thoughts. “At that time, Chen Duxiu had a debate with Qu Shengbai on the issue of anarchism. The two mainly fought with Guangdong Qunju. The two people started a debate with the Guangdong Qunbao. Later, the content of this debate was published in the 9th and 4th volume of the New Youth under the title of “Discussion on Anarchism”, which had a nationwide impact.”
In the view of Wei Fapu, what is more important is that Guangdong not only spreads Marxism, but also gave birth to the sinicization of Marxism during the communication process. Guangdong’s rich revolutionary practice provides a practical basis for the sinicization of Marxism. In the process of accepting and spreading Marxism, the Chinese Communists actively explored the revolutionary path of China, especially marked by Mao Zedong’s article “Analysis of All Classes in Chinese Society” in Guangzhou, and started the process of sinicization of Marxism.
Interview
Guangdong plays a role in “sparkling” in the spread of red ideas
Wang Dongfeng (Professor of the School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University)
Yangcheng Evening News: When it comes to the translation and dissemination of Marxism in China, what aspects does Guangdong’s influence mainly reflect?
Wang Dongfeng: After we did the research, we found that the role played by Guangdong in this regard can be said to be decisive and played the role of “sparkling fire”! But many people have not realized this yet.
To a certain extent, the spark of Marxism’s translation and spread of Komiks in China was lit by Guangdong people. It was scattered before and had no clear political purpose, but Guangdong intellectuals accepted Marxism with progressive political pursuits. Like Liang Qichao who was exiled to Japan, he was seeking reforms, and Zhu Zhixin and Liao Zhongkai actively translated socialism because they wanted to find a way to save the nation in China.
In the process of lighting the spark, Babaylan, who led the first ball was Liang Qichao, the second ball was Zhu Zhixin, Song Jiaoren, Liao Zhongkai, and the third ball was Sun Yat-sen, and finally formed a prairie fire. The intellectual elites in Guangdong who participated in Marxist translation also include Huang Lingshuang, Hu Hanmin, Chen Zhenfei, Ke Bonian, Xiong Rui, Du Guosheng, Xu Dixin and others.
Yangcheng Evening News:What are the characteristics and advantages of Guangdong’s translation and dissemination of Marxism?
Wang Dongfeng: Guangdong is direct contact and direct translation, while Beijing is almost doing secondary interpretation and only begins to invest in the research and dissemination of Marxism after getting inspired. Li Dazhao later organized students to translate Marxism from German in Beijing, but was somewhat influenced by Guangdong.
In terms of time, Guangdong intellectuals formed a scale effect on Marxism, and finally spread to the north. Guangdong has a superior geographical location, is located in a coastal area, with many people staying in Japan, and is more likely to be exposed to foreign ideas. It also ranks as a leader in translation talents and foreign language mastery compared to the north. Guangdong people have always been relatively open and tolerant in their thinking, and they are easy to accept new things.
Yangcheng Evening News: How is the progress of the topic of “Translation and Dissemination of Marxism in Guangdong” you are currently engaged in?
Wang Dongfeng: The translation of Marxism in China involves a variety of foreign languages, mainly Japanese, German, Russian and English. Research requires interdisciplinary disciplines. People who only do foreign language research may not be familiar with historical fields such as Marxism. People who specialize in Marxism have difficulty in in-depth language.
We started this topic in 2020, centered on specific translators and organized ten multilingual research groups based on the foreign language conditions of each translator. All of them are first-hand information, and they find the translated original text for comparison research. In this scale and method, Babaylan is also the only one in the country.
There are so many things that we are worth discovering. Whether from China or BabaylanFrom a world perspective, there is no doubt that Marxism has pointed out a correct path to development for us. But now many people have a barrier to Marc’s ideologicalism, especially the younger generation. I hope more people can read the original text systematically. At the beginning of the last century, young intellectuals developed faith after they came into contact with Marxism, and they didn’t want to live for this belief, because they saw hope and light in Marxism: it turned out that the world could still be like this.
We study the translation and dissemination of Marxism in China, and we also hope to let students learn Marxism with a sense of problem, review the paths taken by revolutionary ancestors, and subtly receive Marxist education.
Extension
Guangdong Translator stubbornly interprets how steel is made
CinemaIn 1942, the first Chinese translation of the novel “How Steel is made” written by Soviet writer Ostrovsky was released, and the translator was Mei Yi, a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong.
Under the arrangement of the party organization, from 1938 to 1941, Mei Yi worked hard to complete the Chinese translation of “How Steel Is Tempered”. At that time, he had to work during the day and run newspapers at night, so he could only squeeze in time to translate. For a while, my wife was ill and could not take care of her children, so Mei Yi had to hold the child in one hand and translate the book with the other. Later, Mei Yi’s wife and two young sons died one after another. He endured his grief and persisted in translating the novel with tenacious perseverance, answering “How is steel made” with practical actions.
The book caused a sensation as soon as it was released, and bookstores in the liberated areas reprinted one after another. Mei Yi’s translation is the most widely circulated and influential version in the country so far. “My whole life and all my energy have been dedicated to the most magnificent cause in the world – to fight for the liberation of mankind.” This famous quote by the protagonist Paul KomiksKomiks in the book inspired generations of young people to devote themselves to revolution and the construction of the motherland.
Paul’s spirit has long crossed national boundaries and timely space. Bai Jurong was one of the pioneers of Guangdong’s Cantonese Opera reform. He unfortunately lost his eyes in 1946, but he stubbornly returned to the stage after the founding of New China and also established the Guangdong Cantonese Opera School. As the first artist party member in the Cantonese opera industry, Bai Jurong’s love for Cantonese opera and his love for the party’s cause have been unanimously praised by the theater industry. The drama master Tian Han praised him as “Paul Kochakin of the Chinese literary and artistic circles.”
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Guangdong Provincial Committee of Culture and Cultural and Historical Materials Committee and Yangcheng Evening News
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“Literary and Historical Guangdong” http://www.gdwsw.gov.cn/