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2020, International Communication of Chinese Culture
As Irene Eber writes in her foreword to this book, "This is a ground-breaking work". She is right, for it is indeed a work of utmost importance-and for many different reasons. First of all, it is a work that explores and introduces a realm that has-particularly in the Western world-hitherto not been researched, although it certainly deserves to be thoroughly and meticulously investigated. Secondly, in explaining Mao Zedong's philosophical thought, it brings forward many innovative ideas, which allow us to see and to understand certain aspects of the Chinese ideational tradition and its fusion with the Western philosophy in a different, more sensible and fruitful manner. In addition, the book is essential because it deals with a highly topical issue, one that can certainly help us improve our understanding of contemporary China, its ideologies, its intercultural relations, and its vital connections to its rich intellectual tradition. The author of this highly
Asian Studies
FROM HEGEL TO MAO - THE LONG MARCH OF SINICIZING MARXISM (Special issue of Asian Studies, Vol. 7, No.1)2019 •
The first issue of the journal Asian Studies in 2019 is devoted to theories, ideologies and historical facts regarding the process of Sinicizing Marxism. Its content of the present issue is thus divided into four scopes. The first one is entitled Hegel, Marx and traditional Chinese Dialectics and mainly deals with theoretical and methodological foundations of the Sinicization process. The second scope (Marxism and Confucian thought) explores the relation between Marxism and the Chinese, particularly the Confucian ideational tradition. As its title suggests, the next scope of contents (Theories and Ideologies) deals with the theories and ideologies of Sinicized Marxism. The last scope is entitled History and Social Science and includes three papers from these fields.
This essay has been inspired by the writings of the contemporary Neo-Confucian philosopher Mou Zongsan and the German sinologist Wolfgang Bauer. It assumes that the power of Mao Zedong’s thought sprung from its ability to systematically subordinate the transformative philosophy of the classical Book of Changes to the Marxist model of revolutionary class struggle. If dialectical thinking requires thought to think against itself and thereby be able to continuously change itself from the inside, Mao seems to have been a master of dialectical thinking. One of the intellectual impulses for the Great Cultural Revolution was the radically unsentimental judgement that, in order for the socialist revolution to succeed, it was necessary to erase the ancient Chinese legacy of paradoxical thinking, and that this was a precondition of the possibility of Mao’s Sino-Marxist discourse. But the enormous power that Mao’s thought derived from the tension between revolutionary heroism and transformative flexibility revealed itself as self-destructive. Mao tried to fight against the failure of his revolutionary vision and the possibility that the wisdom of paradoxical thinking and the classical heritage of China could, finally, gain the upper hand in the ongoing struggle for modernization. From this perspective, this essay touches upon a contradiction, which can be understood as the principle contradiction of contemporary Chinese philosophy: the contradiction between the defence of Sino-Marxism as the ideological foundation of a “socialism with Chinese characteristics” on the one hand, and the renaissance of traditional culture and classical learning on the other, which entails a powerful challenge to this very foundation. Keywords: dialectics, paradoxical thinking, Mao Zedong, Mou Zongsan, Wolfgang Bauer
This paper explores the acceptance of Marxism by a non-Marxist Chinese philosopher Feng Youlan before and after 1949. Previous studies have largely focused on establishment intellectuals in the study of Marxism and intellectuals in China, and this paper seeks to fill the lacuna on the intellectual potential Marxism offered to the non-Communist intellectuals in China. This paper finds that for Feng Youlan, a non-Marxist Chinese intellectual, Marxism could provide meaningful venues for his attempt to modernize Chinese knowledge and transform Chinese culture. Marxist emphasis on universal rules governing all human societies at the same stage of development, Marxist presentist approaches to history, and most of all, a Marxist emphasis on praxis, aided Chinese intellectuals like Feng in constructing new approaches to learning the Chinese past. Marxist emphasis on praxis helped deepen the discussion of experience, a concept central to a reconstruction of Confucian learning in modern China, after the Communist takeover of China in 1949. Eventually the state monopoly of the definition of Marxist praxis stifled the spontaneous search for a new understanding of experience in Communist China. Nonetheless, Marxism had a transformative and lasting impact on modern Chinese scholarship, as seen from the example of Feng Youlan.
Mao Communism Syncretism and Heterophenomenology
2019 •
This special issue of the journal Asian studies is dedicated to the Sinicization of Marxism as a paradigm for research on Marxist philosophy in contemporary China. There are several reasons for choosing this topic, and are by no means limited to the fact that just a few months ago, on May 5th 2018, we celebrated Karl Marx’s bicentenary. As far as Marx in our time is concerned, my impression is that over these two centuries he was maturing, a bit like a noble cheese or a vintage wine not appropriate for Dionysian parties or guzzling at the firing lines. Rather, he is a stimulating companion for profound thought about the meanings of modernity and especially of human emancipation, an issue which remains of significance for the contemporary world.
2015 •
This introduction to the volume "Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology in Early China" (eds. Yuri Pines, Paul R. Goldin and Martin Kern) explores the social, political, and intellectual background of the formation of early Chinese political thought and its major peculiarities in comparison with political thought in the West. Why do most studies of the so-called Hundred Schools of Thought ignore the political aspects of the thinkers’ ideas? Why does early Chinese political thought remain ignored—despite its undeniable richness and sophistication—in all but a few studies of political thought worldwide? The introduction tackles these questions and outlines several aspects of early Chinese political thought that make it particularly worthwhile for comparative analysis.
2014 •
This article examines two cases through the scope of a twin theoretical focus: O.W Wolters’ theory of localization and Mao Zedong’s Sinification, which, in Mao’s words, means the blending of Marxian universals with the “concrete historical practice of the Chinese revolution” to suit the country’s unique historical experience, struggle, and culture (termed by Mao as its “peculiarities”). The first case, Peru, conveys the ways in which the orthodox Maoist Shining Path appropriated Jose Mariategui’s concept of indigenismo and Andean cultural and traditional norms. In so doing, the Party attempted to “localize” Maoism to fit Peru’s unique geographical and cultural contexts. The second case in Tanzania, however, provides a counter example. Chinese advisers made concerted efforts to indoctrinate Tanzanians, but African socialism—embodied in Nyerere’s ujamaa villagization—prevailed over foreign ideological influences. Nyerere and the Tanganyikan African National Union (TANU), later the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), drew inspiration from Nyerere’s idyllic perception of pre-colonial African life and adapted it to suit Tanzania’s current needs rather than espouse a foreign ideology and apply it to local settings. But Ujamaa as a uniquely “African” idea ultimately failed to make the transition from egalitarian theory to practice.
On the basis of the premise that China, besides being a powerful civilization and state, is also a powerful discourse, this essay will set forth, as a preliminary analytical step, a plausible definition of the 'Chinese mind' by describing certain essential
Canberra, London, and New York: ANU Press and Verso Books
Afterlives of Chinese Communism2019 •
Afterlives of Chinese Communism includes essays from over 50 world-renowned scholars in the China field from different disciplines and continents. It provides an indispensable guide for understanding how the intellectual legacies of the Mao era shape Chinese politics today. Each chapter discusses a concept or practice from the Mao era, what it meant in its historical context, and what has become of it since. The authors respond to the legacy of Maoism each in their own way, to consider what lessons Chinese communism offers today and whether there is a future for the egalitarian politics that communism once promised.
Chinese Thought as Global Theory, Leigh Jenco, ed.
Attitudes of Action: Maoism as Emotional Political Theory2016 •
Journal of Contemporary Educational Research
The political leadership of Mao Zedong2018 •
2019 •
2011 •
The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs
TheGenius' Mao: A Treasure Trove of 23 Newly Available Volumes of Post-1949 Mao Zedong Texts1988 •
2011 •
Critical Asian Studies
Postsocialism? Reflections on “socialism with Chinese characteristics”1989 •
2011 •
Revista Asia America Latin
A SHINING BEACON: GLOBAL MAOISM AND COMMUNIST MOVEMENTS IN PERU AND CAMBODIA, 1965-19922018 •
2016 •
2019 •
Journal of Contemporary Educational Research
Philosophical influences on education in China: different schools of thought on self-cultivation2018 •
The China Quarterly
Deng Tuo: Culture, Leninism and Alternative Marxism in the Chinese Communist Party1981 •