Wang Guang: The Socialist Road is the Inevitable Choice of Modern Chinese History
Denying the historical inevitability of modern China’s turn toward socialism is a key tenet of the erroneous ideological trend of historical nihilism [1]. This trend claims that modern China’s movement toward socialism was a "historical misunderstanding" or a "historical accident," attempting to dissolve the historical inevitability and rationality of socialist China. In essence, its goal is nothing less than to force socialist China to change course and take the capitalist road. Both history and reality provide a resounding negative response to such erroneous views.
Imperialist Aggression Stifled China’s Development
Before the Opium War, China was an independent and unified feudal state with a self-sufficient natural economy as its economic base. After the Opium War, China gradually lapsed into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society [2]. The reasons for this were, on one hand, the corrupt rule and ignorant incompetence of the Qing government, and on the other, the barbaric aggression and frantic plundering by the Great Powers. Almost all of today’s developed nations were once part of the criminal ranks that invaded and looted China in the modern era. Imperialist forces coerced the Qing government into signing a series of unequal treaties, controlling China politically, economically, and militarily to extract maximum economic gain.
According to statistics, from the time Britain forced China to sign the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842 until 1919, the Great Powers coerced China into signing nearly 1,000 unequal treaties. These resulted in the fragmentation of the nation’s territory and internal misery for the people, bringing China to the brink of national extinction. Among these, the Treaty of Shimonoseki alone required a compensation of 200 million taels of silver to Japan, plus an additional 30 million taels to "redeem" the Liaodong Peninsula—while the Qing government’s total annual fiscal revenue at the time was only about 80 million taels. In the Boxer Protocol [3], the indemnity demanded by the Powers reached a staggering 450 million taels of silver; with annual interest included, the total principal and interest amounted to over 982 million taels. What the Qing government paid to the Powers was not merely "funds," but the blood and sweat of the entire Chinese people. On March 1, 1899, Edwin H. Conger, the U.S. Minister to China, reported to the State Department: "In fact, no other place is left for the United States except the province of Chihli [Zhili]." He emphasized, "However, this province, together with Tianjin, which serves as the export outlet for all of North China, is bound to become one of the permanent commercial prizes of the Orient." The poet Tan Sitong [4] wrote in his poem Feelings: "Nothing in this world can offset the sorrows of spring / One can only wail toward the vast dark sky / Four hundred million people weep together / Where on this earth is our Divine Land [5]?" This is a true and poignant description of the historical tragedy of modern China.
Facing the "sturdy ships and powerful guns" [6] of the Great Powers, the Chinese people of that time repeatedly attempted to learn from the West, undergoing a process that moved from adopting Western technology (artifacts) to adopting Western systems and ethics. However, this "learning" was not successful. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Imperialist aggression shattered the fond dreams of the Chinese about learning from the West. It was very strange—why did the teachers always commit aggression against their pupils? The Chinese learned quite a lot from the West, but it would not work and the ideals could never be realized." This demonstrates that the Great Powers would not allow China to become strong; their aim was only to keep China as a dumping ground for their commodities, a source of raw materials, and a "blood-making pool" for their capital. The Powers firmly stifled China's development, ensuring China could only exist as a colony or appendage of capitalist nations. It was not until the "salvos of the October Revolution" brought Marxism-Leninism to China that the Chinese people discovered, amidst the dense darkness, another choice—the socialist road.
Repeated Struggles of Modern China Ultimately Ended in Failure
A great nation possesses an unyielding will. Faced with the tragic situation of modern China—ceded territories, paid indemnities, and the "carving of the melon" [7]—the great Chinese people did not remain silent or sink into oblivion. The Taiping Rebellion, the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform, the Boxer Movement, and the Revolution of 1911—generations of Chinese people struggled in succession, bitterly seeking national liberation and national strength. Comrade Mao Zedong noted: "From the time of China's defeat in the Opium War of 1840, advanced Chinese experienced countless difficulties in seeking the truth from the Western countries. Hong Xiuquan, Kang Youwei, Yan Fu, and Sun Yat-sen represented this group of people who looked to the West for truth before the Communist Party of China was born." However, these struggles failed to resolve the historical tasks facing modern China and ultimately ended in failure.
The Taiping Rebellion, representing the interests of the peasantry, dealt a heavy blow to the reactionary rule of the Qing government and colonial forces in China. Its Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty reflected the peasantry’s demand for equality and the abolition of feudal exploitation, representing the highest achievement of this revolutionary movement. In essence, however, these demands would have kept the productive forces stagnant on the basis of a scattered small-peasant economy; far from promoting the development of social productive forces, they would have "turned back the clock" on history. The fall of Tianjing (Nanjing) became the swan song of the peasantry’s independent leadership of the revolutionary movement.
The Hundred Days' Reform reflected the political aspirations of China’s early national bourgeoisie, but this nascent class was too weak and severely detached from the masses, pinning its hopes solely on the support of a single Emperor. Under the counterattack of conservative interest groups, the reform perished in a hundred days. The Revolution of 1911, representing the interests of the Chinese bourgeoisie, overthrew the Qing government and ended the monarchical autocracy that had lasted for thousands of years. Yet, it did not change the semi-colonial and semi-feudal nature of old Chinese society, nor did it complete the historical tasks of national independence and people's liberation. There were many reasons for the ultimate failure of the Taiping Rebellion, the Hundred Days' Reform, and the Revolution of 1911, but they can be summarized into two points: first, the lack of guidance by advanced theory; second, the lack of support from the broad masses of the people. Only the Communist Party of China, born at a time of national peril, could meet these requirements.
The Socialist Road is the Choice of History and the People
General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly pointed out: "The history of China since modern times has fully proven: direction determines the road, and the road determines destiny. The path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the historical choice made by the Chinese people since 1840, especially since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, after all other attempts at national salvation met with failure. It is the fundamental achievement attained by the CPC and the people through arduous struggle and at a great cost." This important statement is a profound synthesis of modern Chinese history. It deeply demonstrates that modern China’s move toward socialism was the choice of history and the choice of the people.
The success of the CPC and the success of socialism in China are neither accidental nor the result of mere luck; they possess an internal historical inevitability. This inevitability is prominently reflected in two aspects. First is the steadfast adherence to the guidance of the scientific theory of Marxism, and the continuous innovation and development of Marxism according to the evolution of the times and practice. Marxism is a "great cognitive tool," best at grasping the essence of problems amidst complex phenomena, identifying key points in intricate relationships, and deriving scientific truth from a multitude of conflicting ideologies. It is precisely under the guidance of Marxism that our Party has combined the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform to achieve one glorious victory after another. Under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era—which is the Marxism of contemporary China and the twenty-first century—contemporary China is advancing on the road to rejuvenation like a ship "sailing on a strong wind to break through ten thousand miles of waves."
Second is the persistent adherence to a people-centered approach, unswervingly fulfilling the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation. How one views the role of the people in world history is the watershed that distinguishes a Marxist party from all other political parties. Marxism always adheres to the materialist view of history (mass viewpoint), regarding the people as the true driving force in the creation of world history. The CPC has always maintained the fundamental purpose of serving the people, sharing the same fate and breathing the same air as the people. "The country is the people, and the people are the country." General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "As long as it wins the people's trust and gains their support, the Party can overcome any difficulty and be invincible." In other words, without the adoration and support of the broad masses, no political party can achieve anything. "If the Heavens had feelings, they too would grow old; the right way for the human world is through many changes [8]." This is precisely where the historical inevitability, historical truth, and historical morality of modern China’s turn toward socialism lie.
The course of history has its internal logic, hidden wisdom, and profound inspiration. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "Understanding the history of China since modern times is very important for understanding the ideals and the path forward for the Chinese people today. A unique historical destiny, a unique cultural tradition, and unique national conditions determine that China must take a developmental path suited to itself." Today, a review and examination of modern Chinese history prove once again: socialism in China is by no means a "historical misunderstanding" or a "historical accident," but the inevitable choice of the path of modern Chinese history.
(The author is a researcher at the Institute of History Theory, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) Source: Guangming Daily, February 13, 2025 Online Editor: Huihui