The CPC' Understanding And Construction Of The Concept Of "Sinicization"(1921—1949)

"Marxism" and "Sinicization" are not only the two basic elements of the proposition of "Sinicization of Marxism",but also the two perspectives of scientific understanding of this proposition.This paper tries to use the theory and method of conceptual history which is popular recently in the academic circle,and at the same time,focuses on the innovative exploration of the origin and development of the proposition of "Sinicization of Marxism" from the perspective of the concept of "Sinicization".Historically,the word "Sinicization" formed by "China" and "Hua" type had appeared as early as ancient times.However,the ancient semantic connotation of "Sinicization" was relatively simple,it was only a word during that period,and it had not risen to the height of concept,which was not in line with the standard of ambiguity and diversification of semantics as for the scholars of conceptual history.But since the modern times,in the historical context of the interaction between Chinese and Western cultures,the concept of "Sinicization" with modern significance just emerged in the early 20 th century,which was inspired by Japanese word formation rules.In general,until the mid-1930 s,the meaning of "Sinicization" mainly includes "Revivalism","Pragmatism" and "Nationalism" and many other semantic connotations.This essentially reflected the dilemma and controversy in the face of the cultural relation between China and the West in this period.It was also in this period,because of the severe and complex revolutionary situation and the fact that the early Chinese Communists had not yet mastered the theory of Dialectical Materialism.On the one hand,they tended to separate "history" from "future" in the logic of time;on the other hand,they tended to "advocate" internationalists' bourgeois revolution and "suppress" nationalists' National Revolution in the logic of space.Based on such logical thinking,most party members tended to hold an obvious attitude of rejection and opposition when they initially recognized the concept of "Sinicization",that is,they regarded it as the abbreviation of "Chinese culture",which had some negative implication,they even used this concept(including its similar concepts)to modify and describe the negative phenomena in various fields of China.After 1936,with the convening of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist International and the increasingly serious national crisis.In particular,the party payed more attention to the study,research and application of materialist dialectics.Under such a historical opportunity and ideological context,the CPC's understanding and attitude towards the concept of "Sinicization" had undergone a sharp reversal,that is,they no longer regarded it as a negative static concept,but fully endowed it with positive "action" significance.This process of cognition reversal had gone through three stages: firstly,in order to resist the phenomenon of "formulaism" in the cultural circles at that time,Zhang Wentian,Ai Siqi and others gradually put forward the idea of "Sinicization" of foreign culture.Secondly,in the specific social and cultural context,Mao Zedong not only clearly put forward the concept of "Sinicization of Marxism",but also in the theoretical interpretation of the Chinese Communists represented by him,this concept presents a distinct "materialist dialectic" implication and rich semantic space.Thirdly,the concept of "Sinicization of Marxism" is not only of great significance to the Communist Party of China itself,that is,by carrying out the rectification movement in the whole party,this concept was finally recognized and implemented by the whole Party;moreover,it had also produced a linkage effect with the meaning of causal chain in the whole cultural circle,which had successively triggered a movement about "Sinicization of academic",a discussion on the "national form" of literature art,as well as the appearance of the concept of "new democracy".In a word,the CPC's understanding of the concept of "Sinicization" is not achieved overnight,but it has experienced a process of cognition reversal and positive construction.They used the power of the truth force of Marxist to activate and construct the new meaning of the concept of "Sinicization".Finally,in the debate and defense on the concept of "Sinicization",they not only regulated the historical development of the concept,but also established the value of leading status of Marxism.This is of great enlightening significance for us to continuously promote the Sinicization of Marxism in the new era,which are mainly manifested in the following aspects: to begin with,we should learn Marxist theory scientifically and systematically;next,we should have the courage to fight against the wrong views in the study of Sinicization of Marxism;finally,we should be good at promoting China's international discourse power with the help of innovative concepts.