Gong Xuezeng: Professor Lü Daji and the Study of Marxist Views on Religion
The renowned religious studies scholar Mr. Lü Daji has passed away due to illness. As his student, I will never forget the teachings and support my mentor provided throughout my life. Mr. Lü’s academic achievements were multifaceted and recognized across the scholarly community. This article will focus solely on his significant contributions to the study of the Marxist view of religion as an expression of deep remembrance.
After the founding of New China, research on the Marxist view of religion that possessed true scientific significance began after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978. Its base was the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), led by the then-director Mr. Ren Jiyu. The specific tasks fell to the Research Office of Religious Theory (then called the Research Office of Scientific Atheism), headed by Lü Daji.
I. Presiding over the Editing of Marx, Engels, and Lenin on Religion
The editing and publication of Marx, Engels, and Lenin on Religion (Ma En Lie lun zongjiao) was the top priority for the Institute of World Religions at the time, aimed at providing a fundamental theoretical basis for religious scholarship. The Institute mobilized its entire staff to excerpt quotes on religion from the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. Based on these materials, Lü Daji, Lei Zhen, and Xie Yuchun took Responsibility for classifying and organizing them into the book Marx, Engels, and Lenin on Religion. After a trial editing phase, it was published for internal circulation [1] by China Social Sciences Press in July 1979.
Based on a re-reading and study of the entire body of work by Marx, Engels, and Lenin concerning religious issues, the book carefully distilled the basic viewpoints of the Marxist view of religion and compiled representative works into a volume of over 300,000 characters. It was the first academic reference monograph by Chinese scholars since the founding of New China to comprehensively display the rich content of the Marxist view of religion. The first part of the book, in the form of thematic excerpts, detailed the discourses of Marxist classical writers on religion, covering the guiding ideology of Marxist religious studies, the essence of religion, the roots of its existence, its origin and development, its social function, the withering away of religion, the attitudes and principles of the proletarian party toward religious issues, the critique of theological dogmas and religious worldviews, and reviews of historical atheist thought. The second part selected representative works by Marx, Engels, and Lenin on religion. From this book, people saw that the Marxist view of religion contains incredibly rich content and that many fields still require research. Looking back, although the book had not yet completely shed certain influences of that time in its summary of the Marxist view of religion, it generally laid a relatively detailed documentary foundation for the later comprehensive study of the Marxist view of religion by the academic community.
II. Leading the Publication of High-Level Research Papers
Following the completion of the edited volume Marx, Engels, and Lenin on Religion, Lü Daji published "The Formation and Development of the Marxist View of Religion: A Historical Overview of the Theories and Works of Marx and Engels on Religion" in the third issue of Studies in World Religions (Shijie zongjiao yanjiu) in 1985. In 1986, he published "On Lenin’s View of Religion" across the first and second issues of Religious Studies (Zongjiaoxue yanjiu). From a research perspective, these works detailed the full scope of the religious views of Marx, Engels, and Lenin, providing a scientific analysis and evaluation. These papers exerted a major influence on the early development of research into the Marxist view of religion within the academic community at that time.
III. Clearly Proposing that Chinese Religious Studies Must Adhere to Marxism
During the process of "setting things right" [2] after the end of the "Cultural Revolution," the vast majority of scholars believed that the deviation from Marxism during the "Leftist" years—especially during the "Cultural Revolution"—was not a problem of Marxism itself, but rather a result of our failure to truly learn and apply Marxism well. While it was correct to criticize dogmatic attitudes toward Marxism and clear away "Leftist" influences, one could not go to the other extreme of denying the scientific guiding role of the basic principles of Marxism, including the Marxist view of religion.
Contemporary Chinese religious studies cannot deviate from the guidance of Marxism. In this regard, Lü Daji’s perspective was representative. In the "Introduction" to his edited volume A General Theory of Religious Studies (Zongjiaoxue tonglun, 1989 edition), he specifically expounded on the relationship between the historical materialist conception of history and the methodology of religious studies. He pointed out that we cannot maintain a religious-like superstitious attitude toward Marxist religious theory, nor can we use quotes from classical writers to replace concrete analysis of religious phenomena. However, the Marxist view of religion was established on the foundation of Marxist philosophy; its basic spirit and main content have stood the test of historical practice and remain vital today. The Marxist historical materialist conception of history provides us with guiding methodological principles in four areas: first, do not explain religion through the history of religion itself, nor use other human spiritual factors to explain the essence of religion; second, religion is part of social consciousness and the superstructure, determined by the economic base of society—only within the economic base can the basis and essence of religion be found; third, the development of religion is determined by social development—only by analyzing the historical process of how the superstructure adapts to the development of the economic base can the objective laws of religious development be found; fourth, in class society, it is necessary to use the viewpoint of class struggle and the method of class analysis to explain the relationships between people, and to explain the religious relationship between humans and gods on the foundation of social relations between people, thereby correctly revealing the social function and historical role of religion. It must be said that at that time, it was rare for someone in the field of religious studies to demonstrate such a clear attitude in upholding basic Marxist viewpoints, and he maintained this philosophy throughout his career.
IV. A New Understanding of Engels’ Thesis on the Essence of Religion
Among the discourses of Marx, Engels, and Lenin, there are many "Religion is..." assertions. Most scholars agree with Engels’ famous passage in Anti-Dühring: "All religion, however, is nothing but the fantastic reflection in men’s minds of those external forces which control their daily life, a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supernatural forces." This was considered the most scientific revelation of the essence of religion, and many regarded it as the Marxist definition of religion.
As to whether Engels’ assertion could serve as a scientific definition of religion, Lü Daji concluded through his own research that, strictly speaking, this assertion only concerns the essence of the "conception of God." While it might be considered a definition of the conception of God, it remains insufficient as a definition for "religion" as a whole. While the conception of God is indeed the core of religion, the entirety of religion is not equal to a "conception of God," as religion is a social system with a complex structure. Building upon Engels’ assertion, Lü Daji proposed his own definition of religion: "Religion is a type of social consciousness regarding supernatural and super-physical forces, as well as the behavior of faith and worship expressed toward them; it is a socio-cultural system that synthesizes, standardizes, and institutionalizes this consciousness and behavior." This perspective has become the mainstream view in the field of religious studies.
V. Establishing the Important Position of the Marxist View of Religion in the History of Western Religious Studies from an Academic Perspective
If for a long period after the founding of New China, research on the Marxist view of religion revolved mainly around its role as the guidance for the Party and state in handling religious issues and was limited to exposition, then the beginning of the 1990s marked a liberation and deepening of thought in this field, as the Marxist view of religion began to be treated as an object of academic research.
In 1994, Lü Daji’s A History of Western Religious Theories (Xifang zongjiao xueshuo shi) was published by China Social Sciences Press. This book, for the first time, examined the religious views of Marx and Engels as a stage in the development of Western religious theory, evaluating their theoretical value and historical status. The author argued that the religious theories of Marx and Engels have their own characteristics—namely, the application of historical materialism in theory and methodology to explain various basic religious issues. Historical materialism is the unique worldview and methodology of Marx and Engels, and the religious theory established upon it thus possesses the unique characteristics of Marxism. The Marxist view of religion can be called the "historical materialist view of religion" or "historical materialist atheism." It can also be said that the Marxist view of religion is the most thorough and thus the most scientific form of atheism. It discarded any "theological tails" retained by past forms of atheism; it neither retained religion for the ruling class nor for the masses. It negated not only the silent, rational God of the Deists and the divinity pervasive in all things of the Pantheists but also Feuerbach’s "religion of love" built upon pure human nature. Under the specific historical conditions of the time, this fully demonstrated their theoretical thoroughness and spirit of political fearlessness. Like their entire system of communist thought, the religious views of Marx and Engels ignited the sparks of revolution among many nations worldwide, exerting a magnitude and depth of influence unprecedented from ancient times to the present. However, the formation of these characteristics was by no means "water without a source or a tree without roots" [3]; rather, it was the natural result of the long developmental process of Western religious theory.
VI. Editor-in-Chief of The Marxist View of Religion and Religion in Contemporary China
In December 2007, the Ethnic Publishing House published The Marxist View of Religion and Religion in Contemporary China, edited by Lü Daji as part of the "Selected Works on Religious Research in Contemporary China" series. This series was a key project of the Ethnic Publishing House in 2006, promoted both domestically and abroad. The series consisted of eight volumes, with the volume on the Marxist view of religion naturally falling to Lü Daji to edit. This volume selected representative achievements in the domestic study of the Marxist view of religion since the reform and opening up. It covered overviews of Marxist religious research in New China; studies on the religious views of Marx, Engels, and Lenin; research on the Sinicization of the Marxist view of religion; and the use of the Marxist view of religion to study the social nature and social function of religion. This book played an important role in helping various sectors of society gain a comprehensive understanding of the state of Marxist religious research in China since the reform and opening up.
VII. Summative Reflections: Recognizing and Treating Marxist Religious Theory with a Rational Attitude
In May 2011, Research on Marxist Religious Theory (Markesi zhuyi zongjiao lilun yanjiu) by Lü Daji and Gao Shining was published by China Social Sciences Press and later included in the "Marxist Research Series." This book was the final research result of a major project at CASS presided over by Lü Daji and can be described as his summative work on the study of the Marxist view of religion. The book’s content covered the entirety of religious views from Marx to Lenin, particularly providing a detailed and in-depth exposition of the historical origins of the Marxist view of religion. Its main themes included: recognizing and treating Marxist religious theory with a rational attitude; Enlightenment religious theories from Ancient Greece and Rome to 18th-century France as the first historical background; the religious critique movement launched by the German Young Hegelians in the 19th century and Feuerbach’s humanistic view of religion as the second historical background; the religious views of Marx and Engels during their participation in the Young Hegelians; the formation of the Marxist historical materialist view of religion; the historical materialist view of religion after the Communist Manifesto; Lenin’s view of religion; and religious theory, policy, practice, and reflections during the Soviet era.
The introduction of the book revealed the new understandings Lü Daji had formed over years of research. He argued: First, the discourses of Marx and Engels on religious issues were, on the whole, unfolded as part of Marxist philosophy (especially historical materialism). Their research on religion was their "first step" toward Marxism and holds special significance for the creation of the entire Marxist system. Scholars must deeply understand this special significance. Second, Marxist religious theory is essentially the result of Marx and Engels using historical materialism to conduct a rational analysis of historical religion and religious issues in real life. Today, when we treat Marxist religious theory as an object of academic discussion, we should also use the principles of historical materialism to conduct a historical and materialist analysis of it. Therefore, it is vital to deeply study the specific historical conditions under which Marxist religious theory was proposed, for these conditions determined its concrete content, application, and scope. However, the historical specificity of Marxist religious theory does not mean it no longer possesses universal significance and value. Third, Marxist religious theory must advance with the times and involve constant innovation. The theories of Marx, Engels, and Lenin also constantly changed, were revised, and developed along with changes in socio-historical conditions and the deepening of their understanding of religious issues. Marxist religious theory possesses both historical specificity and historical developability. Therefore, we must comprehensively and systematically study the entire process of Marxist religious theory in its historical development to truly and scientifically grasp its essence.
Regarding his achievements in the study of the Marxist view of religion, Mr. Lü Daji always maintained a humble attitude, never considering his own results to be the best. He often reflected on and publicly admitted some of his shortcomings. Mr. Lü frequently emphasized that while subjectively we strive to use the Marxist historical materialist conception of history as our epistemology and methodology, whether the objective results achieve the expected effect and gain recognition from society falls outside the scope of subjective expectation. Only social practice and historical development can provide a correct judgment. This is also a precious inspiration for those of us who follow.