Translation and Dissemination of Critique of the Gotha Program in China in the Early Times〔* 〕

He Tuanwei

(1.School of Economics and Political Science Shaanxi Normal University，Xi’an Shaanxi7100621;2.School of Politics and Management Xianyang Normal University，Xianyang Shaanxi7120002)

Marx’s research on Critique of the Gotha Program has a lot to do with the dissemination of its translation of the early period in China.The introduction，selective translation and excerpt of early Critique of the Gotha Program as well as the first cover-to-cover translation of it have important theoretical and realistic significance to the further research on the classics of Marxism at present.

Ⅰ.Translation and dissemination of critique of the gotha program in the late Qing Dynasty and the early republic of China

In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China，Chinese people came to know Marxism by the introduction of Marx and Engels in different magazines and newspapers and some translation of their works.The earliest dissemination of Marxism comes from Japan.

Socialist Party Suppression and Social Policy written by a Japanese scholar published in Yi Shu Hui Bian introduces the background of the creation and publishing of Critique of the Gotha Program.

As a fact，in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China，newspapers and magazines tend to introduce the life story of Marx and Engels and quite a few socialist thoughts，and only Socialist Party Suppression and Social Policy introduces the background of the creation and publishing of Critique of the Gotha Program.

Ⅱ.Translation and dissemination of critique of the gotha program during the May Fourth Period

1.Li Dazhao’s ideology of social ownership and proletarian revolution

Li Dazhao is known as one of the pioneers of spreading Marxism.He writes in My View on Marxism that“productive tools are owned by individuals in the past，so products should be owned by individuals.However，now the productive form has become socialist，so the distribution method should also become communal.The destruction caused by capitalism is the destruction caused by private property system.In this case，the property is not gained by one’s own labor，but robbed from others by the mysterious way of capitalism.Therefore，this system should be wiped out by the collective production system.Individual property is gained by individual labor before the application of capitalism.Now we can only revive this system by form of society instead of turning to the individual form.There is no possibility to copy the past system in the massive division of labor.We need to grab productive tools from the capitalists and return them to the workers.”

Li Dazhao also remarks that“it is how capitalism comes into being and then meets its doom.There are a lot of enemies hidden around it，namely proletariats.These proletariats are the products of capitalism and it is these products that lead to the extinction of capitalism.”

The above-mentioned content of My View on Marxism provides the early introduction of“social ownership”and“proletariat revolutionary”in Critique of the Gotha Program.

2.Lin Yungai’s ideology of distribution on the basis of labor

Lin Yungai writes in the Outline of the Construction of Socialism Country that“the paid labor in social system needs particular encouragement;higher payment will attract more people to do the job”，which reflects the thought of distribution according to one’s performance in Critique of the Gotha Program.Lin Yungai describes the situation of distribution according to one’s performance in the first phase of communist society.

3.Cai Hesen’s ideology of dictatorship of the proletariat and the ideology for the transition period

At the end of the letter，Cai Hesen writes that“the space is limited so I cannot finish all that I want to say.I just want to add that:I think there is a major transformation since the victory of the October Revolution of Russia，namely‘the proletariats’gain the regime to change the society’.Ignorant people tend to believe that the dicta-torship of the proletariat answers violence with violence;whereas they have no idea that Lenin and the Communist Party have repeatedly claimed that dictatorship is an indispensable method in the transition period from capitalism to communism.By the time the social organization and world organization of communism are fulfilled，classes will have been wiped out with the extinction of regime and country.”

The letter the Important Discussions of the Communist Party written by Cai Hesen to Mao Zedong puts forward the proposal of establishing“communist party”，and more importantly，raises the important thoughts of“the dictatorship of the proletariat”and“transition period”.

Despite that Cai Hesen’s idea of“the dictatorship of the proletariat”and“transition period”has referred to Lenin and the thought that“dictatorship is an indispensable method in the transition period from capitalism to communism”，which reflects the important content of The State and Revolution written by Lenin，it is rooted in the Lenin’s research result of Critique of the Gotha Program.

4.Li Da’s ideology of dictatorship of the proletariat and the ideology for the transition period

Li Da summarizes five types of Marxism socialism in his article Marxism Socialism，and he directly mentions the content of Critique of the Gotha Program，such as“…there is a political transition period during the transformation from capitalism to socialism，which is labor dictatorship，as is quoted from Critique of the Gotha Program，1874.”

Ⅲ.Translation and dissemination of critique of the gotha program after the founding of the CCP

1.Introduction of Critique of the Gotha Program by Chen Duxiu

Socialist criticism by Chen Duxiu comes from his speech in Guangzhou Public Law College.He notes in Socialist Criticism that“…the dictatorship of the proletariat means that propertied class is not allowed to gain regime，which is the only route to wipe out propertied class in class struggle and abolish all classes.”“Actually，Marx says explicitly in Critique of the Gotha Program that there is a transitional period between capitalist society and communist society，which is quite necessary in terms of politics.The political transition period is the political dictatorship of proletariat revolutionary.

In 1922，Chen Duxiu published Marxism Theory，which consists of four parts.The last part of the article，namely the fourth part“the dictatorship of labor”，further explains“the dictatorship of labor”after the third part，“class struggle”.Chen Duxiu quotes a lot from The Communist Manifesto by Marx to explain the significance of taking the helm of the state by class struggle on the part of the proletariat.”

By the end of Marxism Theory，Chen Duxiu quotes Critique of the Gotha Program by Marx once again as the conclusion.Chen Duxiu writes that“he says that‘there is a transitional period between capitalist society and communist society，which is quite necessary in terms of politic.The political transition period is the political dictatorship of proletariat revolutionary in his book Critique of the Gotha Program.”

2.Introduction of the three periods of realizing communism in Critique of the Gotha Program by Shi Cuntong

Shi Tongcun introduces the communist society of Marx in five parts in his article Marx’s Communist Society published in the New Youth.The valuable part is that Shi Tongcun quotes a lot from Critique of the Gotha Program to prove the communist society of Marx.The article is brilliantly argued and well-reasoned，which is quite convincing.

In the first part，preface，Shi Tongcun thinks that Marx’s socialism is a scientific socialism，which is quite different from utopian socialism.Communism can be achieved in three phases，as is recorded in Critique of the Gotha Program by Marx in 1875.The first phase is the transition period of revolution;the second phase is the immature stage of communism(which is generally known as the phase of socialism);the third phase is the completion period of communism.

This article is the earliest Chinese version of Critique of the Gotha Program，which has great theoretical importance to the practice of young communists and help promote the spread of Marxism in China when there is a lacking in the full translation of Critique of the Gotha Program domestically.

3.Selective translation of Critique of the Gotha Program by Chong Yuan

In 1922，Deng Zhongxia publishes Communism and Anarchy in the first issue of Herald with the signature of Chong Yuan.His article analyzes the difference between anarchy and communism by quoting a lot from Critique of the Gotha Program.It is the second translation of Critique of the Gotha Program after the founding of CCP.

This article comes from a letter of his friend’s.Later on，a journalist of Herald think that what Chong Yuan and his friend discuss is quite important，so it is published in the newspaper.Chong Yuan quotes a lot from Critique of the Gotha Program to solve his friend’s confusion over the similarity between the ultimate political view of anarchy and communism.Besides，Chong Yuan focuses on the problem of transition period between capitalism and communism and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Ⅳ.Characteristics of the translation and dissemination of critique of the gotha program in the early times

1.From fragmentary translation to paragraph and section translation

In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China，few intellectuals translated Critique of the Gotha Program.Only a Japanese scholar introduces Marx and Lasalle in Socialist Party Suppression and Social Policy，which fails to exert realistic influence.Most translations of magazines are confined to the introduction of Marx and Engels as well as The Communist Manifesto.

Relevant chapters and paragraphs of Critique of the Gotha Program had been translated between the May 4th Movement and the founding of CCP.With the victory of the May 4th Movement and the October Revolution of Russia，many intellectuals with Marxism theory accomplishment translated parts of Critique of the Gotha Program in newspapers and magazines，including communists Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu and Lin Yungai who belongs to the Kuomintang，all of whom have made great contribution to the translation of Critique of the Gotha Program.

2.Limited to thoughts of proletarian struggle and distribution on the basis of labor

As one of the important creeds of scientific socialism，Critique of the Gotha Program boasts abundant thoughts.However，early translations tend to be limited to the thoughts of proletarian struggle and distribution on the basis of labor，which is due to the fact that after the victory of the October Revolution of Russia and the founding of CCP，Chinese people began to adopt and do research on the“useful”parts of Marxism.As a result，the translation of Critique of the Gotha Program selectively translates the thoughts of the dictatorship of the proletariat and proletarian revolutionary struggle，such as the thought of“distribution according to one’s performance”of Lin Yungai，“the dictatorship of the proletariat”of Cai Hesen and the“dictatorship of labor”of Chen Duxiu during the transition period.

3.Fragmentary translation of critique of the gotha program laying foundation for the widespread dissemination of Marxism in China

The fragmentary translation of Critique of the Gotha Program lays foundation for the widespread dissemination of Marxism in China.The dissemination of Marxism in early period tends to be limited to the introduction of Marx and Engels and surplus value theory.With the deepening understanding of Marxism，monographs of Marx and Engels have been spread to China，such as The Communist Manifesto，Das Kapital and Critique of the Gotha Program fully translated by Xiong Deshan in the monthly magazine of Jin Ri，all of which have laid widespread theoretical foundation for the dissemination of Marxism in China.

Notes:

〔1〕林代昭、潘國華:《馬克思主義在中國(上冊)》，清華大學出版社，1983年，第62-63頁。

〔2〕《馬克思恩格斯文集(第3卷)》，北京:人民出版社，2009年，第434頁。

〔3〕《新青年》第6卷，第9卷。