20th Century History of Chinese Thought

Author: Chen Zhefu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-08-01
Features: The "History of 20th Century Chinese Thought" we wrote is primarily a history of political thought. We focus on political thought because it serves as a significant catalyst influencing major events in 20th-century China. To study China in the 20th century, one must first understand its political thought. Additionally, due to the limited scope of the book, we cannot comprehensively cover all aspects of various thoughts without prioritizing. Therefore, we have made political thought the main focus of our book. However, people are the bearers of thought. When we study the political thought of important figures, we also touch upon their philosophical and economic thought. That is why the title of our book remains "History of 20th Century Chinese Thought."
The 20th century was an extraordinary one in China. Over this century, Chinese society underwent numerous major political events, marked by intense and dramatic changes. On Chinese soil, the corrupt rule of the Qing Dynasty was overthrown by the Chinese people. Later, the chaotic warlordism of the Beiyang government was suppressed by revolutionary forces. Subsequently, the domination of the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek was also driven out of the mainland after 22 years of revolutionary struggle. During a certain period, Japanese militarism occupied most of China, but after an 8-year war of resistance, the Chinese people defeated and drove them away.
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, establishing the ruling position of the Communist Party of China throughout the country. In terms of social nature, in the early 20th century, China gradually declined from an independent feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, later becoming an independent socialist society. In the first half of the 20th century, the Chinese people suffered external aggression from imperialism and internal exploitation from feudal forces. The revolutionary task of the Chinese people was to fight for national independence, people's democracy, and people's survival.