The first CASS Forum on Historical Materialism and Marxist Historical Theory was held in Beijing on Sept. 18.

 

The first CASS Forum on Historical Materialism and Marxist Historical Theory was held in Beijing on Sept. 18.

In the keynote speech, Wang Weiguang, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), pointed out the great significance of holding the forum on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. 

The purpose of the forum is to promote the guiding role of Marxism, strengthen Marxist historical studies and build CASS into a  stronghold of Marxism, he said. 

Wang expressed his hopes that the academic event could be held annually to forge a quality forum committed to developing historical materialism and innovating Marxist historical theory.

The development of historical materialism was a significant revolution in the history of thought. If Karl Marx (1818-83) had never formulated historical materialism, mankind would have still been groping for ways to make sense of social life and history. As the only scientific conception of history, it is a reliable guide to historical studies, so we must adhere to the fundamentals and scientific methodologies of historical materialism and stand firm against historical nihilism, Wang said.

Gao Xiang, secretary-general of CASS and editor-in-chief of the Social Sciences in China Press under CASS, also criticized historical nihilism at the forum.
 

Emerging in recent years, historical nihilism distorts and fabricates history with selected historical fragments to reject the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese socialist system. It not only goes against scientific spirit and principle of historiography but also misleads the public and contaminates society, posing grim challenges to Marxist historical science, Gao said.
 

History is the best textbook, and textbooks must present real history. To this end, we should stick to the theoretical guidance of historical materialism, carry on the fine traditions of Marxism and dare to speak out against various wrong trends of thought, Gao added.
 

Gao further called for long-term, holistic and developmental perspectives in historical studies. A real historian must be well versed in philosophy, he said. It is inadvisable to place a singular emphasis on evidence, because evidence is merely a means of historical studies. We must put ourselves in people’s shoes and give history back to them, he said.
 

With regard to the purposes of the forum, Gao said it aims to gather scholars to discuss how to advance historical materialism, explore problems facing Chinese historiography, discriminate and analyze all sorts of ethos, and deliver clear, resounding voices of Marxist historical science on major theories and matters of principle.

 

 

Tang Hongli is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.