Social Sciences in China 2014

Vol. 35, No. 2, 2014

The Asiatic Mode of Production in World History Perspective: From a Universal to a Particularistic View of History

(Abstract)

Tu Chenglin

Discussions on Marx’s “Asiatic mode of production” are essentially about the relationship between the universal and the particularistic view of history. Marx adhered to the world history position, but in the course of formulating his theory of the Asiatic mode of production he moved from universal history to a particularistic view of history; whereas the shift from the “Russian path” and “Russian way” provided by the Russian revolution to Stalin’s doctrine of the “five forms” of social development represented a return from particularistic to universal history. In developing a Chinese view of history, three elements cannot be overlooked: the Chinese pattern of historical development and China’s present development experience; Marx’s theory of social forms and his thoughts on Oriental society in his later years; and the “Russian path” and “systemic transformation” launched by the October Revolution.