A Study On The Popularization Of Marxism In Yan’ An Period

Yan’an period marked a turning point for the Communist Party of China(CPC) to grow from small to large and expand its administration and for the Chinese revolutionary forces to develop from weak to strong and win victories from local to national levels. The popularization of Marxism in Yan’an Period has played a crucial role in promoting the growth of CPC and the victory of the Chinese revolution. This dissertation attempts to reexamine the historical practices of the popularization initiative and offer a full picture of the experience, which would have significant implications in theory and practice for promoting the contemporary development of Marxism and upholding Marxism as the guiding ideology so as to consolidate CPC’s ruling status and realize the great revival of the Chinese nation.This study is based on a comprehensive understanding of the unique historical conditions for the popularization of Marxism in Yan’an Period. Lessons from the experience of popularization of Marxism in earlier time were drawn in the Yan’an period on leadership, united front, basic channels and goal-setting. The Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation War provided a mission and arena for the adaptation and spread of Marxism in China. Early spread of Marxism in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region prepared foundations in terms of ideology, organization and grassroots support. The formation of CPC’s steady national leadership, represented by the chairmanship of Mao Zedong in Yan’an Period gave political guarantee and the improvement of CPC’s relations with Comintern created a favorable external environment for the Popularization of Marxism in Yan’an period.Yan’an period was an integral part of the Marxism popularization during the New Democratic Revolution. of,characterized by its class nature. This period could be roughly divided into three stages: the initial stage in the middle and late 1930 s when the philosophy of Marxism spread to the masses; the second stage from the late 1930 s to the early 1940 s when practices of Marxism popularization were adopted on a full scale; the third stage from the Seventh Congress of the CPC to the founding of New China when the Marxism popularization continued to adapt to the needs of the War of Liberation. Each of these three stages has different conditions for development, content and ways of practice, playing a different role in history.The popularization of Marxism in Yan’an period relied on the concerted efforts of three main forces. The masses became the basis and played a decisive role in the popularization. CPC, the advanced element of the masses, which represents the fundamental interests of Chinese people, assumed the role of leadership in promoting and organizing the popularization of Marxism Chinese. Intellectuals, which became an important part of the proletariat in their integration with workers, peasants and military forces, interpreted and advocated Marxism as the backbone of the popularization initiative.It is necessary to analyze what theories and policies the CPC adopted to improve and arm the masses ideologically, that is, the “what and how to popularize” questions surrounding this specific historical period. The “what”question can be answered by the following three: the core content of the popularization was the fundamental principles of Marxism; the focus was the Mao Zedong’s adaptation of Marxism; the major component was the and CPC’s principles and policies, the embodiment of the former two.The “how” question can be answered by the channels of Marxism popularization, which helped to bridge Marxism and the masses. During the Yan’an Period, CPC systematically transedited classics of Marxism and provided a series of theoretical texts for party cadres and the masses to learn and popularize Marxism. It also built a comprehensive publicity system to effectively popularize Marxism, interpret the party’s policy guidelines and educate and mobilize the most broad masses.The central task of the study is to summarize the historical experience of the popularization of Marxism in Yan’an period. The following factors were found to have contributed to the success of the popularization initiative: scientic stance towards Marxism was established with the criticism and correction of dogmatic errors; the masses were armed with the latest development of Marxism by facilitating Chinese adaptation of Marxism; Marxism was transformed to a popular form by the construction of the popular discourse; multi-level educational channels were established to strengthen the Marxism education; the pragmatic integration of Marxism into practice enabled to build the affinity of the masses for Marxism and effectively popularize Marxism.The goal of the study is to point out the implications for Contemporary practices. The success of the popularization initiative in Yan’an period demonstrated that in order to promote the popularization of Marxism in contemporary China, we need to continue the publicity of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics, cultivate and implement core values of socialism to guide thoughts, improve people’s livelihood to reinforce the fundamental role of the masses in Marxism and innovate the forms of popularization in the new era.