Examining traditional Chinese culture and Marxist theory compatibility¹

Examinando a cultura tradicional chinesa e a compatibilidade da teoria marxista

Abstract:

In the long-term development process, traditional Chinese culture has gradually formed its own characteristics, and is known for its extensive and long history, which, to a certain extent, provides a good environment for the Chinese people’s survival and reproduction. Introducing Marxist philosophy into China has played an important role in the practical work of China’s revolutionary construction. At the same time, the theoretical community is constantly exploring the common ground between Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture. In the new era of socialist construction, it is necessary to have a profound understanding of traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, in order to prompt China to realize the Chinese dream as soon as possible and the Chinese nation’s great renaissance, this paper focused on the integration of traditional Chinese culture and Marxist philosophy, and explored the new evolution of the sinicization of Marxist philosophy in the new historical period.

Keywords:
Marxist Philosophy; Traditional Chinese Culture; Coherent Development; Specific Path

Resumo:

No processo de desenvolvimento de longo prazo, a cultura tradicional chinesa gradualmente formou características próprias. Ela é conhecida por sua extensa e longa história, que, em certa medida, proporciona um bom ambiente para a sobrevivência e reprodução do povo chinês. A introdução da filosofia marxista na China desempenhou um papel importante no trabalho prático da construção revolucionária do país. Ao mesmo tempo, a comunidade acadêmica explora constantemente o terreno comum entre a filosofia marxista e a cultura tradicional chinesa. Na nova era da construção socialista, é necessário ter uma compreensão aprofundada da cultura tradicional chinesa. A fim de levar a China a realizar o sonho chinês o mais rápido possível e o grande renascimento da nação chinesa, este artigo trata da integração da cultura tradicional chinesa e da filosofia marxista, explorando a nova evolução da sinicização da filosofia marxista no novo período histórico.

Palavras-chave:
Filosofia Marxista; Cultura Tradicional Chinesa; Desenvolvimento Coerente; Caminho específico

Introduction

The ultimate goal of Marxism is to achieve equality, freedom and liberation for the world’s people. Some of the basic principles and viewpoints, which it proposes, have been confirmed by practice. The October Revolution proved the possibility of overthrowing the oppressive ruling class through class struggle in theory and practice, and also called on workers from all countries to explore the revolutionary road suitable for their own countries. This was particularly important for China at that time, because China was facing imperialist aggression, feudal bondage and widespread social inequality. Relying on its power to unite and call, it achieved the success of the Chinese revolution. This process is full of difficulties and challenges. If people want to exert charm in a new and exotic country, people must integrate it with the country’s national culture. Otherwise, it would be like a big tree without soil, which would inevitably wither and die. Although Marxism is a universal truth, as a Western philosophy that has emerged since modern times, it must be linked to China’s reality in order to maximize its theoretical and practical development, thereby providing strong guidance for the Chinese people to achieve the great cause of national liberation and socialism. Under the new historical conditions, people cannot lose their scientific judgment or forget their ancestors. Although people have now entered a well-off society, in the future development process, people should still adhere to the fundamental guidance of Marxism.

The study of Marxist philosophy gradually increases. Xi Jinping’s thought on ecological civilization adheres to the standpoint of dialectical materialism and historical one, and uses the materialist dialectics to analyze the strategic position, core importance, scientific method and directional goals of ecological civilization construction in China (Huang; Yan; Liu et al., 2021, p. 1; Swetnam, 2017, p. 521). Lysenko, an agricultural scientist in the 20th century, in the Soviet Union, put forward a viewpoint called “narrow genetics”, trying to deny Mendel’s law of heredity, and put forward that the environment has a great influence on heredity.

However, this view is widely regarded as wrong by the scientific community, because Mendel’s law has important experimental verification and theoretical basis in genetics. Marxism emphasized the influence of mode of production on social structure and development. For example, in feudal society, land ownership and serfdom determined the society’s hierarchical structure. With the rise of capitalist mode of production, private capital ownership has led to class differentiation. This is consistent with the viewpoint of historical materialism, that is, the interaction between productive forces and production relations drives the society’s evolution. There are striking similarities between Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese one. The materialism of Marxist philosophy coincides with the naive materialism in traditional Chinese philosophy. The dialectics of Marxist philosophy have similarities with the naive dialectic in traditional Chinese philosophy. The historical materialism of Marxist philosophy is compatible with the historical outlook in traditional Chinese philosophy (Hu; Lin, 2020, p. 5). The success of the Chinese road benefits from the development and innovation of the sinicization of Marxist philosophy. The Chinese road and the development and innovation of Marxist philosophy in China are inherently unified. The development and innovation of Marxist philosophy, in China, have fundamental guiding significance for the opening up of the Chinese road (Sun, 2018, p. 1).

From the perspective of Marxist philosophy, this article explained the spirit of Marxism in the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, the method of analyzing issues, the diplomatic concept of China’s peaceful rise, the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and China’s value (Liu, 2019, p. 1). Some people believe that the reason for doing so may be that some of Marx’s cosmological assumptions are more understandable and sinicized in the specific philosophical trends of Chinese tradition than those of the main categories in the West (Chenshan, 2019, p. 13; Stepien, 2021, p. 269). Although these studies have promoted Marxist philosophy to a certain extent, they have not been studied in combination with actual situations.

This article analyzed the value of the combination of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture, and studied it from two aspects: the overview of the combination of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture, and the necessity of the combination and the value of the times. In addition, this article also conducted a multi-level analysis of the development and realization path of the compatibility between traditional Chinese culture and Marxist philosophy.

1 VALUE OF COMBINING MARXIST PHILOSOPHY WITH TRADITIONAL CHINESE CULTURE

1.1 Overview of the combination of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture

(1) Marxist philosophy

Marxist philosophy is the inheritance and development of German classical philosophy, British classical philosophy, British classical political economics and French utopian socialism (Cordeiro-Rodrigues, 2019, p. 23; Hayton, 2020, p. 99). The remarkable symbol and great achievement of development, in contemporary China, is the transition from “revolutionary philosophy” to “constructive philosophy”, which is one of the three basic elements of Marxist philosophy (Hu, 2022, p. 61). Since the emergence of Marxist philosophy, its theoretical origin has been dominated by dialectics and materialism (Li, 2022, p. 92). From a philosophical perspective, Marx’s dialectical materialism and historical one constitute two basic categories of Marxism, and these two ones are not only the root of Marxism, but also the root of its emergence, as well as a guide to practice. Marxist philosophy is an organic unity of philosophical content and form that matches the mode of production, social practice and a certain stage of scientific development. It is also a unity of materialism and dialectics, as well as a unity of materialistic views of nature and history (Dian; Ali, 2022, p. 37).

In the second volume of Das Kapital, Marx discussed “the law of declining profit rate”, which emphasized that with the development of capitalist production, due to technological progress, mechanization and other factors, the organic composition of capital increased, leading to a gradual decline in profit rate. However, the verification of this view, in the actual economy, is inconsistent, because the complexity and variability of the economy make this rule not universally applicable.

(2) Traditional Chinese culture

Traditional Chinese culture has gradually taken shape through a long historical development (Zou, 2018, p. 151). It was created by the Chinese nation itself, and traditional Chinese culture is dominated by Confucianism, which upholds feudal etiquette, emphasizes a clear distinction between dignity and inferiority, and is dominated by feudal morality (Wang, 2018, p. 50). The characteristic of traditional Chinese civilization is that, in human cognition of the world, it attaches importance to self-reflection and pursues the “unity of heaven and man”. In terms of lifestyle, it emphasizes “working at sunrise and resting at sunset”, “self-sufficiency” and “self-reliance”. In terms of ethics, people emphasize the “golden mean” and pay attention to “every word and deed”, but people also need to “moderate”. People are not deviant or lustful. Undoubtedly, the meaning of traditional Chinese culture is very complex. It has many positive meanings and values, but also has many negative aspects.

With its concern for the world, it has formed the Chinese people’s unique spiritual and personality characteristics, and it is the intellectual source of cohesion and innovation for the Chinese people. Its unique “unity of heaven and man” ideology organically combines the outlook on life, values and worldview, forming a unique and national characteristic ideology in the world. In the context of the integration of contemporary perspectives, while maintaining cultural self-confidence, people should absorb advanced foreign ideas. The ethnic characteristics of Chinese philosophy are organically combined with the needs of the times, integrating the avant-garde thinking and universal truth of Marxist philosophy into the contemporary transformation of traditional Chinese philosophy, and achieving its creative transformation in the contemporary era (Liu, 2021, p. 92). In order to provide ideological support and theoretical guidance for solving practical problems in China, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of its problem areas, research objects, research methods, contemporary values and other issues.

China’s traditional culture emphasizes social harmony, family responsibility and collective consciousness, and these values can promote more equal horizontal relations among workers. In market socialism, it can promote the democratization of horizontal labor relations through trade union organizations and employees’ participation in decision-making, so that workers can better participate in decision-making and rights protection.

(3) Where the two fit together

1) Coincidence point

In traditional Chinese culture, there are also some discussions on some fundamental philosophical issues (Gu, 2018, p. 202). The simple materialistic concept is a representative concept that contains traditional Chinese philosophical foundation issues. Lao Zi, in the Chunqiu period, is a typical representative of ancient Chinese naive idealism, which has been formed since the Spring and Autumn periods. He advocated that “Dao” is the origin of all things and, under the guidance of this theory, established a set of philosophical thoughts centered on “Dao”. The “Dao generates one, one generates two, two generates three, and the three begets all things of the world”, in the Tao Te Ching, is an interpretation of the material essence of “Dao” (Fan; Yu, 2020, p. 486). Sun Wu was also the first person, in the Chunqiu period, to view the situation of war, from a material perspective, and the results of war, from a material perspective, and to apply it to military practice (Tang, 2020, p. 40). In war, if people want to achieve the desired results, people must grasp and apply this principle. This coincides with the “people-oriented” thought in Marx’s historical materialism. In Sun Wu’s philosophy, there are relatively complete materialistic concepts. During the Chunqiu period, Guan Zhong pointed out. in his “Guan Zi”, that the first nature is material, and the essence and qi are the original elements that make up everything in the universe (Chang, 2020, p. 141). He also proposed the way of tranquility. In “Guanzi-On the Art of the Heart”, there is a saying that “[...] there is a ruler of the Dao, whose place is also like ignorance, and whose object is also like coincidence” (Chang, 2020, p. 145). Guan Zhong advocated that a person’s understanding should abandon their own prejudices and gains and losses, and follow objective laws. This is consistent with Marx’s historical materialism that “material determines consciousness, and consciousness is the reflection of material”. During the industrial revolution, there was a transformation from an agricultural society to an industrial society. This transformation has brought about great social and economic changes, and profound changes have taken place in people’s production methods, living conditions and social relations.

2) Commonality

The viewpoint of practice is the most fundamental concept in Marxist philosophy and is reflected in every part of “dialectical materialism” and “historical materialism”. The traditional relationship between “knowledge” and “action”, in China, emphasizes the non-separation of knowledge and action, and focuses on action. Pre-Qin philosophers attached great importance to the relationship between knowledge and action, and explored the sources and approaches of knowledge in various ways. Although Confucius recognized the existence of “born to know”, he also attached importance to the existence of “learning to know”. Mozi elaborated on the viewpoint of recognizing objects and testing the correctness of knowledge, and proposed the famous three tables. Lao Tzu denied perceptual experience and proposed a way of knowing and seeing “becoming extreme and keeping quiet”. Xunzi has made a profound exposition on the origin and way of cognition. While affirming the importance of perceptual knowledge, he also affirmed the positive function of thinking, advocating “learning to know” and opposing “born to know”.

There was not only a large amount of practical knowledge, but also a large amount of practical thinking. Zhu Xi proposed “[...] seeking knowledge from things”, which he understood as “[...] seeking knowledge from things without understanding their principles”, that is, understanding the principles of things based on contact with them (Zhu, 2018, p. 167; Dubs, 1981, p. 34). In addition, Zhu Xi also emphasized that true learning should be implemented. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wang Fuzhi conducted an in-depth discussion on the relationship between knowledge and action, and based on this, proposed the assertion of “unity of knowledge and action”, pointing out the decisive factors of action on knowledge. From this point, people can see that he values “action”.

Confucius’ moral teachings emphasize values, such as benevolence and moral cultivation, which may be different from Marxist ideas, such as class struggle and social change (Swann, 2005, p. 132). The introduction and spread of Marxist philosophy went through many stages in China’s history, and each stage was influenced by a specific historical and political background. This makes the interpretation and practice of Marxism, in China, have certain particularity.

Marxism emphasizes that theory should guide practice, while China traditional culture emphasizes that knowledge should be transformed into action. In practice, how to combine the two ideas to make the theory not only stay at the conceptual level, but also really guide the action.

3) Compatibility

The three basic laws of Marxist philosophy are the law of unity of opposites, quantitative change and qualitative change law, and the law of the negation of negation. Traditional Chinese culture has also provided corresponding explanations for the core concepts of these three laws (Guo, 2018, p. 52). First, it is the law of the unity of opposites. The basic idea of The Book of Changes is a contradictory viewpoint. The Book of Changes believes that heaven and earth are constantly changing under the interaction of two opposing forces (Gu, 2021, p. 319).

In ancient traditional Chinese culture, in addition to the two classic masterpieces, The Book of Changes and Tao Te Ching, there are also many classic works and representative figures related to “dialectics”, such as the first military book in China, The Art of War, and so on.

4) Intrinsic consistency

Traditional Chinese culture and Marxism share common values. This shared value is expressed in two main ways.

The consistency between the “people-centered” concept of traditional Chinese culture and the “mass” concept of Marxist philosophy: “people-centered” corresponds to Marx’s “mass” concept. The kings of Zhou put forward the ideas of honoring virtue, guarding the people and being careful with punishment in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Confucius established a complete set of theories centered on “benevolence”. He said that, if those in power want to stabilize their rule, they must subdue others with virtue. Guided by this idea, Mencius further improved the “benevolent government” and proposed a governance strategy of “valuing the people and neglecting the monarch”. In his view, the basic goal of a country’s governance is to ensure the citizens’ legitimate rights and interests. These views are consistent with Marx’s concept of “the masses” (Burke, 1960, p. 13).

The combination of communist society and great harmony one: Marx took the realization of communism as his ultimate goal. Communist society refers to the realization of the freedom and liberation of the entire human race under the conditions of highly developed social productive forces, in an ideal state, and in a social and economic form where members live in harmony and do their best. The “great harmony society”, advocated by Chinese Confucianism, is an equal society that eliminates exploitation and repression, reflecting the yearning for fairness among the working class in ancient China. Therefore, it can be said that the great harmony society is a communist society’s sketch, and the communist society is the great harmony society’s “precise anatomy”.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that there is a close relationship between Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture, and the philosophy contained in China’s excellent traditional culture is a fertile ground for the development of Marxist philosophy in China (Zhang, 2019, p. 2).

It is necessary for China’s national conditions to organically integrate Marxist philosophy with traditional Chinese culture (Yang, 2018, p. 85). The society’s era has also made people pay more attention to Marx’s philosophy. China’s traditional culture pays attention to values, such as benevolence, fairness and morality, and has something in common with socialist core values. These values can be combined with communist ideas, emphasizing the common interests between people and social fairness and justice, and further consolidating the country’s socialist foundation. Practice has shown that the organic integration of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture cannot only inherit and develop traditional Chinese culture, but also fully express the wisdom of ancient times. It can also maximize the guiding role of traditional culture in modern society and inject new vitality into Chinese culture. China has entered a period of high-quality development. The mutual integration of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture can be divided into two levels. One is the integration of the theoretical level, and the other is the integration of the practical one. The connection, at the theoretical level, means that relevant scholars should conduct in-depth discussions on the deep thinking of Marxist philosophy and the deep meaning of traditional Chinese culture, in order to enhance the influence of traditional Chinese culture. At the practical level, both aspects should set higher standards for various practical activities.

Marxism emphasizes the working people’s dominant position and the people’s creativity and strength. China’s traditional culture also pays attention to the role and contribution of individuals in society. This concept of paying attention to the people’s dominant position can form a common ground.

1.2 Combining the necessity of development and the value of the times

(1) Necessity

1) The inevitable requirement of the sinicization of Marxist philosophy

To organically integrate Marxist philosophy with traditional Chinese culture, it is necessary to place it in a Chinese position. As people all know, China has a glorious civilization history of thousands of years, but the development of Marxist philosophy in China has only a history of over a hundred years. Over the past 100 years, from the dissemination of Marxism, by Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, to today, Marxist philosophy has achieved a sinicization. That is to say, those advanced knowledge fused Marxist philosophy with Chinese culture. It can be said that traditional Chinese culture provides a good living environment for Chinese Marxist philosophy. Without Chinese tradition, Marxist philosophy has become an empty theory. China’s traditional culture provides a beneficial background and supplement for Marxist philosophy to some extent. The values, morals and social concepts in China’s traditional cultural connotation provide a deeper and richer theoretical basis for Marxist philosophy. China’s traditional culture emphasizes the human beings’ all-round development, including morality, wisdom, body and other aspects. This is in line with the Marxist concept of paying attention to people’s all-round development. The values of “benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith”, in China’s traditional culture, echo the goal of human freedom and liberation in Marxism. In his works, such as On Practice and On Contradiction, Chairman Mao Zedong has integrated Marxist philosophy with traditional Chinese culture, especially in the process of China’s socialist development.

Without Marxist philosophy, China’s culture cannot develop better. The integration of the two can promote the development of Chinese culture. As Marxist philosophy is based on a Western nation, its perspective from origin to development is fundamentally different from the Chinese people’s thinking and logical methods. Therefore, in order to continue to promote China’s cultural form, it is necessary to sinicize Marxist philosophy and give new luster to China’s traditional culture. The specific situations faced by China, in different historical stages, are different. Therefore, the development of any culture must be based on national needs, follow the principle of seeking truth and pragmatism, innovate in theory, and combine it with practice to achieve a fundamental integration of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture.

2) The inevitable way to inherit and develop traditional Chinese culture

Every culture should “take its essence and discard its dross” in the process of development and inheritance, so that the mutual exchange and development of cultures, among different nations, can make traditional Chinese culture richer and meaningful, and make more people realize China’s history and culture. China is a very ancient country. After 5000 years of development, China’s traditional culture is also very extensive and profound. Culture is a product of the soul, and it should also conform to the trend of the times, absorb its advantages and further develop China’s traditional culture. This is very helpful for China’s development. In Chinese society, due to its feudal social status, it is necessary to combine the Chinese society’s fine traditions with the thoughts of Marxist philosophy in order to promote the Chinese society’s progress.

China tradition emphasizes social harmony, family responsibility and group interests. These values echo Marxist collectivism and common development concept. By combining the concept of social harmony with the Marxist concept of fairness and justice, people can promote fairness and common prosperity at society’s all levels.

3) The objective needs of China’s reality

The development of Marxist philosophy must adapt to China’s reality. After the entry of Marxist philosophy into China, certain problems have arisen in China’s practice due to the influence of “dogmatism”, which has brought certain obstacles and errors to China’s revolution and socialist development. The fundamental reason is that some Communist Party members have ignored the specific situation in China. In the long-term revolution and construction, the CPC has deeply realized that, only by sinicizing Marxism, can people ensure the success of the Chinese revolution, build socialism with Chinese characteristics, integrate Marxism with China’s traditional civilization, and further enrich and develop China’s Marxist philosophy.

The differences between Marx and Bakunin are mainly reflected in their understanding of the socialist stage and the path of realization, while Kaucki disagreed with Lenin in the process of building socialism, mainly because they had different views on the development of capitalism, the proletarian revolution and the role of state power. Marx emphasized that socialism is a stage of transition from capitalism to communism, while Bakunin thought that socialism can be an independent and relatively stable stage, and the socialization of the means of production can be realized through state intervention. Marx believed that the proletariat must overthrow bourgeois rule through violence and realize socialism. Bakunin, on the other hand, emphasized the realization of socialism through peaceful evolution, and advocated the gradual realization of socialism through elections. Marx emphasized that the proletariat needs to destroy the state machine after seizing power, while Bakunin thought that the state still needs to play a certain role in the socialist stage in order to realize the public ownership of the means of production and the equality of distribution.

As the “advanced” stage of capitalism, socialism emphasizes the tolerance of contradictions and the negative view of negation. This theoretical view means that socialism should not only solve the inherent contradictions in the old society, but also create new contradictions in the process of solving these contradictions and promote the society’s continuous development. In the practice of socialism, the concentration of power and the neglect of the people’s broad masses’ interests may lead to so-called “oligarchy” or “bureaucracy”, which is contrary to the principle of proletarian dictatorship. This situation may lead to the new ruling class, replacing the original bourgeoisie and maintaining its privileged position through official or legal means, which ultimately deviates from the original intention of socialism.

(2) Value of the times

Only by combining excellent Chinese culture with Marxist philosophy can the transformation of the two ages be smoothly carried out. It is necessary to seize the elements of this era, and give full play to its inherent compatibility with traditional Chinese culture, in order to enrich the theoretical system of its discipline. At the same time, it is also necessary to accelerate the integration of traditional Chinese culture and Marxist philosophy, so as to carry out cultural innovation and transformation, and make Chinese culture have greater influence internationally.

The organic combination of excellent traditional Chinese culture and Marxism is of great significance for the achievement of the Chinese dream. The organic integration of China’s excellent traditional culture with Marxist philosophical thought is an important way to achieve the Chinese nation’s grand revival. Firstly, it helps to cultivate the consciousness and self-confidence of national culture. Compared with institutional confidence and road confidence, cultural confidence is more fundamental and persuasive. Secondly, it is beneficial for enhancing social cohesion. Only by organically integrating the thoughts of Marxist philosophy with China’s excellent traditional culture, people can resonate and, thus, gain national psychological recognition. Finally, it is the cultivation and practice of socialist core values. “Governing the country by virtue” is the Chinese people’s common value orientation. Only by organically integrating values, socialist core values can become an intrinsic behavioral motivation for national subjects.

The Analects of Confucius is one of the Confucian classics, which records Confucius’ words and deeds and his disciples, emphasizing interpersonal relationships and moral standards. For example, the principle of “don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you” embodies the principle of mutual benefit, which is consistent with the Marxist concept of social equality and common development. Tao Te Ching: this Taoist classic emphasizes “governing by doing nothing” and “Taoism is natural”, and emphasizes the harmony between man and nature. This view is related to sustainable development and environmental protection in Marxism. Marx’s Das Kapital is one of his most important works, which analyzes the relations of production and surplus value in capitalist society in detail. Although it focuses on economics, its thoughts on class struggle and social change are related to the concepts of social justice and human liberation in China traditional culture. The Manifesto of the Communist Party, written by Marx and Engels, expounded the basic principles of communism. Among them, the viewpoints of emphasizing class struggle and abolishing private ownership may have some opposition to some ideas in China’s traditional culture, such as “harmony”, but some commonalities can be found through comprehensive thinking.

2 Development and realization path of the compatibility between traditional Chinese culture and Marxist philosophy

China’s construction cannot be separated from Marxism, and the development of Chinese philosophy cannot be separated from Marxist philosophy. Chinese Marxist philosophy is also an important component of Marxist philosophy, while only Marxist philosophy, with Chinese characteristics, is more Chinese and more capable of providing endless spiritual support for China’s development.

(1) Inheritance and development of Chinese traditional culture with Marx’s philosophical view

The research results of Marxist philosophy are consistent with the reality of China’s development, and they are a scientific world outlook and method that guide the masses towards success. Only under its guidance, people can have a profound understanding of China’s excellent traditional culture and, on this basis, people can criticize and create, thereby achieving the inheritance and development of China’s excellent traditional culture. Traditional Chinese culture has made significant contributions to the development and progress of human civilization. However, in the era of development today, some traditional Chinese ideas can no longer meet the modern society’s requirements for it. As an inspiration to the modern Chinese ideological circle, Marxist philosophy itself has the universal value of convergence that traditional Chinese culture craves. Therefore, its dissemination and development, in China, has certain historical inevitability.

Taking Marxism, as the guidance, is guided by Marxist world outlook and methodology. On the one hand, due to the scientific and open nature of Marxist philosophy, in the process of integrating it with traditional Chinese culture, it is possible to inherit and carry forward the excellent qualities of traditional Chinese culture, discard unscientific and unreasonable things and, thus, enable traditional Chinese culture to adapt to the modern society’s development without repeating the mistakes of feudalism. On the other hand, in modern times, when Chinese and Western cultures collide violently, people have a “worship” mentality towards them. Marx’s attention to philosophy is a sublation of Western civilization, which not only conforms to China’s reality, but also adapts to the Chinese society’s development needs.

Guided by Marxism, it analyzes the capitalist system, exploitative relations and class contradictions, and analyzes economic phenomena. For example, in policy making, it can formulate policies to promote social equity and distributive justice, and reduce the gap between the rich and the poor under the guidance of Marxist economic theory.

(2) Treating traditional Chinese culture with a scientific perspective and promoting the popularization of Marxist philosophy

Traditional Chinese culture is a very dynamic nation, and its inheritance and development would help promote China’s modernization process. The development of traditional Chinese culture cannot only bring new vitality to traditional culture, but also provide new development ideas for the development of Marxist philosophy, lay a solid mass foundation and inject strong spiritual strength into its development. During the development of Marxism in China, many new problems have also arisen. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to promote Marxist philosophy and make it better oriented to the public and the people. There is a need to make full use of the advantages of traditional Chinese culture, continue to promote the sinicization of Marxism, popularize Marxist philosophy among the broad masses, make more people realize it, popularize profound philosophy among the masses and make Marxism deeply rooted in the people’s hearts.

Marxism is a science originating from the West. To gain a foothold in China, it must take root in China. To develop in China, it must be based on Chinese culture and integrated into traditional Chinese culture. Drawing on the excellent achievements of traditional Chinese culture, people would interpret and develop Marxist philosophy, integrate Marxist philosophy with traditional Chinese culture, eliminate the difficulties encountered in understanding Marxist philosophy, and promote the democratization, sinicization and popularization of Marxist philosophy.

The active exchange, reference and integration of traditional Chinese culture are a major manifestation of the popularization of Marxist philosophy. People draw unique, precipitated and profound thoughts and theories from traditional Chinese culture that have an important impact on the outlook on the Chinese people’s life and values, and use Marx’s basic principles, viewpoints and methods to carry out new interpretations, thereby enriching Marx’s basic thoughts and giving them new epochal significance and social value.

(3) Improving national cultural soft power and strengthening the integration of traditional Chinese culture and Marxist philosophy

First, people must proceed from the realities of China’s development. Chinese civilization has gone through thousands of years, with its strengths, weaknesses and regional characteristics. In the process of carefully studying history, it should be recognized that Chinese civilization cannot be separated and should inherit and develop its fine traditions. To enable the Chinese people to truly possess their own cultural self-confidence, it is necessary to combine Marxist philosophy with China’s specific characteristics. Combining Marx’s philosophy with traditional Chinese culture is a path of development that China has found in its bloody history. Under the guidance of Chinese history and Marxism, the Chinese people have repeatedly overcome numerous difficulties and made great achievements in revolution, construction and reform.

This socialist road with Chinese characteristics can only be continued by the Chinese people. Only in this way, national self-confidence can be strengthened, and national cohesion and spirit become stronger. Secondly, to organically integrate Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for its development. Marxist philosophy is a scientific theoretical knowledge that cannot reflect the current people’s specific living conditions and the specific changes that would occur in the future. Only by treating culture, as a soft power, and creating a good cultural atmosphere in the entire society, it can have a positive impact. To realize the organic integration of Marxist philosophy and China traditional culture, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for its development. This integration can promote cultural diversity, ideological innovation and social progress. This creates an open and inclusive academic environment that encourages scholars and thinkers to explore the integration of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture. This includes supporting research, discussion and exchange to promote mutual learning among different cultures.

In the wave of economic globalization, the continuous infiltration of multiculturalism in various countries around the world would inevitably profoundly impact the ideological system of Marx, as well as China’s traditional culture. The combination of Marxism and traditional Chinese culture is the embodiment of the Chinese society’s mainstream ideology, which can quickly penetrate into society’s various fields.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to strengthen the ideological construction of Marxism, strengthen the theory and application of Marxism in practice, and pay attention to the young college students’ and party members’ ideological and political education. At the same time, people should establish a mechanism for the protection and development of traditional Chinese culture, optimize cultural strategies, promote the inheritance and development of excellent traditional culture, improve the adaptability and charm of traditional culture to the times, and promote the development and innovation of national culture. People also need to enhance the cohesion, influence and creativity of national culture, promote the prosperity and development of national culture, and ensure the safety of national culture.

The ideological system of Marxism originated from the Europe’s social background in the 19th century, while China’s traditional culture has a profound historical foundation. Therefore, in terms of ideology, there may be differences between the two, such as views on the relationship between the individual and the collective, and attitudes towards wealth and private ownership. How to find common ground among these differences and realize their integration is an important issue.

China’s traditional culture and Marxist theory have something in common in some values, such as paying attention to social justice, people’s all-round development and people’s dominant position (Hayot, 1999, p. 511) These common values may provide a certain basis for the integration of the two. Marxism emphasizes the decisive role of practice, while China traditional culture also emphasizes the combination of theory and practice, emphasizing the importance of practice. This practice-oriented concept provides a similar foundation for their compatibility.

Marxism mainly focuses on the transformation of economic and social structure, focusing on production relations, productivity and so on. However, culture also plays an important role in the process of social transformation, affecting people’s consciousness and values. In the process of actual revolution, culture and belief would affect people’s behavior and attitude.

Conclusions

Culture is not static, but changes with the times. Therefore, people should look at the relationship between Marxism and Chinese tradition in a scientific way, remove its essence and dross, seek common ground, while reserving differences, and build on the premise of national self-confidence, so that Marxism can be integrated with Chinese tradition. The study and development of Marxist philosophy is a long process. In this process, people must adhere to and promote the integration of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture. The task of the times, for Chinese Marxists, is to continuously deepen the popularization of Marxism, continuously consolidate the mainstream ideology of Marxism, improve the maintenance and development mechanism of traditional Chinese culture and China’s cultural soft power, and truly bring modern value to Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture on the basis of inheriting and carrying forward China’s excellent traditional culture. In contemporary times, people should actively grasp the internal relationship between Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese culture, effectively integrate the relationship between the two and transform it into a powerful driving force.

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  This study was supported by the Henan Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (2022DWT035).

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  31 May 2024
• Date of issue
  2024

History

• Received
  19 July 2023
• Accepted
  29 Aug 2023
• Published
  15 May 2024