Marx And Engels’s Class Division Theory And Class Analysis Of Contemporary Chinese Society

Marx and Engels’s class division theory is the foundation stone of their class theory. It is very important that exploring Marx and Engels’s class division theory. The basis of this theory is the ideology of bourgeois economists, historian and utopian socialism scholars. The breeding of Marx and Engels’s class division theory experienced three periods.It was through two thinking routes that Marx and Engels considered class division. One was the theoretical thinking route, the other was practical analyzing route. Through the theoretical thinking route, they analyzed the developed process of the human society, the production capacity, the social division of labor, the ownership of the means of production, and formed the theoretical criterion and mode of class division. The theoretical criterion is that dividing classes according to the controlling right of the means of production and surplus labor. The theoretical mode is that dividing classes into polar and middle classes. Through the practical analyzing route, they divided the classes in the society of private ownership, and formed the practical analyzing criterion. The practical analyzing criterion is that dividing classes according to the possession of the means of production and exploitation. They described the separating phenomenon between the ownership and the controlling right of the means of production. Although they frequently used the word of " possess ", but in addition, they also used a large number of " control"," monopoly "," leadership" or other terms.Lenin, Mao Zedong and other proletarian revolutionary leaders inherited the practical analyzing criterion of class division and achieved great success. Because of this, later generations thought of the criterion as Marxist criterion of class division. But this criterion brought embarrassment and even disaster to the contemporary socialist society. Some people looked it in isolation, other people thought it was out-of-date. Some people extended the struggle between classes, other people put out the struggle between classes. Based on the change of proletarian position after the victory of the proletarian revolution, Lenin firstly defined the class definition and indicated the narrowness of the practical analyzing criterion of class division. In contemporary academic circles, some scholars pointed out the importance of the controlling right of the means of production in class division.In order to make a distinction between the theoretical criterion and the practical analyzing criterion of class division, we may name the theoretical criterion as scientific Marxist criterion of class division. It is a scientific tool to understand the struggle between classes and the classes of the socialist society. According to the scientific Marxist criterion of class division, the socialist society can be divided into the state and society management class and ordinary working class. The relationship between them is not necessarily exploitative. Whether exploitative or not mainly depends on the use of the surplus labor. Class struggle isn’t all based on exploitation, and it has different developing stages, performing and transforming forms.There are economic conditions in contemporary China which class exists based on. China’s leaders and scholars have different opinion on what classes are there in our country. A lot of people always fear class struggle and fear it will affect modernization construction. It isn’t necessary. The wrong class struggle may destroy a country, abolishing class struggle also can ruin the state. According to the scientific Marxist criterion of class division, contemporary Chinese society can be divided into five classes. They are the state and society management class, the private enterprise owner class, the peasant class, small businessmen class and ordinary working class. There are not only cooperation but also gaps among these classes. The Communist Party of China has played an important role in the overall coordination of class relationship. In the primary stage of socialism, our party should adopt continuous scientific policies to safeguard the interests of the weak classes against the infringement of the strong classes.