Research On Economic Thought Of Chen Hansheng During The Republic Of China Era

Chen Hansheng is a modern Chinese Marxism economist,a historian,as well as an international social activist pioneering in adopting Marxism to study economic issues in China.Although achieving Ph.D.degree under strict training in the West,Chen did not blindly worship western economic theory.Devoting himself in Marxism,he didn't treat it in a dogmatic way.Instead,he conducted a wide scope of social survey.In the framework of Marxism methodology,he relied on first-hand research materials to analyze the issues that China society confronted with at that time.Consequently,a concrete scheme to promote economy development was formed and proposed.In the 20 th century 20 s or 30 s,with the background that different communities debated over the theoretical fundamentals of CPC and development pathways for economy,Chen focused more on the social survey in rural areas of China.He pointed out that major obstacles to address issues related to China's economy were the invasion of imperialism,weakness of Chinese government and bankruptcy of rural China.For agricultural economy,land problems,heavy taxes and lack of capital incur negative effects,among which land always played a significant role as one of the core factors in Chinese rural society.Meanwhile,capital,raw materials,prices,and market took the lead regarding development of industry.To cope with above issues in both agricultural and industrial economy,Chen put forward a solution to better the situation.He emphasized that in political aspect a democratic country with great national independence should be established,and an integrated evolution should be carried out in the social production relationship.From perspective of economic strategies,agriculture and industry should be treated equivalently,and effective cooperation ought to be promoted as well as the industrialization in agricultural production.This paper regards that Chen's economic thoughts possess the following characteristics.First,his academic purpose is to solve issues related to people's livelihood and provide guidance to for founding country through revolution,which means that his academic research serves for realpolitik.Second,his academic research is guided by Marxism,and takes the production relation as the center.Third,he rejected the reformist,advocating radical social revolution.Furthermore,the evaluation of Chen's historical contribution and academic status should be placed in two groups,namely the China's rural school and the underground workers of Chinese Communist Party.Finally,this paper concludes that three unification emerge in Chen's economic thought between academic study and revolutionary ideas,land reform and agricultural improvement,along with agriculture development and rural industrialization.Looking back at the history,we can recognize that Chen's economic thoughts have significant academic value,international influence,and practical reference.Comprehensively clarifying Chen's economic thoughts from the academic perspective can contribute to a better understanding of the occurrence of agrarian revolution and the rise of Marxism economy in China.Besides,it also gives a clear indication that thoughts and historical contributions of scholars in Chinese Communist Party should be further explored,as they can provide in-depth implication and insights for the concerns in current China.