Symposium on the Academic Thought and 90th Birthday of Chen Zhihua Held at the World Socialism Research Center
On the afternoon of June 30, 2024, a symposium on the scholarly thought and 90th birthday of Chen Zhihua was held at the CASS World Socialism Research Center. Experts and scholars from the CASS World Socialism Research Center, the Institute of Marxism Studies, the Institute of World History, as well as Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Association for the Study of Soviet and East European History, attended the symposium. They summarized and discussed Comrade Chen Zhihua’s philosophy of historical research, his style of scholarship, and his personal character. The symposium was presided over in succession by Luo Wendong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the CASS Institute of Marxism Studies; Wu Enyuan, former Director of the CASS Institute of Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies; and Guo Chunsheng, Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Contemporary Socialism at Shandong University.
Li Shenming, former Vice President of CASS and Director of the World Socialism Research Center, delivered a speech congratulating Teacher Chen Zhihua on his 90th birthday and recalled details of their time working together. He said with deep emotion: "I came to work at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in September 1998. I remember getting to know Comrade Zhihua less than a month after I reported for duty. Shortly thereafter, Comrade Li Tieying, then a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and President of CASS, suggested that I immediately organize a team to study the major topic of why the Soviet Union's Party and state perished [1]. Comrades such as Chen Zhihua, Wu Enyuan, Zhang Shuhua, Ma Weixian, Liu Shulin, and Wang Tingyou were the core members of our project group. Researching this major topic of the demise of the Soviet Party and state has been the lifelong aspiration of many of us. On this occasion of celebrating Zhihua’s 90th birthday, I calculate that I have worked closely with him for 27 years. The People's Republic of China, a socialist state, was miraculously born 28 years after the founding of the Communist Party of China, and 14 years after the Zunyi Conference established Chairman Mao’s leadership in the Red Army and the CPC Central Committee [2]. Now, calculating that I have worked with Comrade Zhihua and others for 27 years, I am both very happy and overcome with emotion, lamenting how quickly time flies [3]. Looking back, I deeply feel that Comrade Zhihua is not only my colleague but also my elder brother, teacher, and an exemplar to be followed."
Li Shenming also spoke highly of Chen Zhihua’s rigorous and serious work attitude and his significant contributions to the World Socialism Research Center. He pointed out that for many years, as a standing member of the World Socialism Research Center, a member of the editorial board of the journal World Socialism Studies, the executive editor of the Stay Alert to Danger: World Socialism Small Booklet Series, and a key writer for the television political documentary Stay Alert to Danger [4], Comrade Zhihua has participated in almost every aspect of the Center’s work.
Liu Zuokui, Director of the CASS Institute of World History, stated that holding this commemorative symposium was highly necessary. It serves both as a summary of Mr. Chen’s glorious past academic career and as an intellectual exchange to inspire future generations to be proactive [5]. He noted that Mr. Chen was among the first group of Honorary Members of CASS, served as Deputy Director of the Institute of World History, and was the President of the first, second, and third councils of the Chinese Association for the Study of Soviet and East European History, making outstanding contributions to the development of social sciences in China. Mr. Chen is one of the important founders and pioneers of Soviet and East European historical studies at the Institute of World History, contributing exceptionally to the disciplinary and academic discourse development of Soviet history in China. His rigorous spirit of scholarship inspires later scholars to scale academic heights. Mr. Chen has also been contributing to the development of the Chinese Academy of History [6]. He has not only completed many far-reaching research results and made prominent contributions to the field of world socialism studies but also donated the manuscript of the book Biography of Kropotkin, which he had cherished for nearly 40 years, to the Library and Archives of the Chinese Academy of History. This demonstrates his deep patriotic devotion [7] to the CASS and the Chinese Academy of History, as well as the boundless care an elderly scholar has for the Academy’s work.
Luo Wendong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Marxism Studies, pointed out that on the eve of the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the great Communist Party of China, the holding of this symposium on Chen Zhihua’s scholarly thought and 90th birthday carries important theoretical, practical, and historical significance. He stated that the CPC's duration in power has exceeded that of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The demise of the Soviet Party and state caused a major setback for the world socialist movement; however, the CPC has not only withstood one major historical test after another but has also created miracle after miracle. Today, three generations of scholars in Soviet history and the international communist movement are discussing Mr. Chen’s 90th birthday, which portends that the cause of Chinese socialism and the international communist cause will be passed down like a torch and remain evergreen [8]. He highly praised Teacher Chen Zhihua’s work Ninety Years of Life: My Memoirs, considering the book rich in content, well-illustrated, and full of historical and political wisdom. He summarized: Teacher Chen has creatively applied Marxist theory—especially historical materialism—to his academic research. He is a great scholar in the study and interpretation of modern Russian history, particularly Soviet history and the history of world socialist development. In the study of Soviet issues, he has played the role of a "pillar in the midst of the stream," turning the tide [9].
Wu Enyuan, former Director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies, summarized four prominent academic contributions made by Teacher Chen Zhihua: Teacher Chen is a founder of the discipline of Soviet history in China and promoted the establishment and development of the Chinese Association for the Study of Soviet and East European History; he is a promoter of major progress in China's Soviet historical research, with works covering all stages of Soviet historical development; he is a founder of the development of Soviet history education, having initiated the recruitment and enrollment of doctoral students in the field of Soviet history in China; and he has made important contributions to major issues in the field of Soviet history, such as the October Revolution, the critique of Mikhail Gorbachev’s historical nihilism [10], and the study of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Yu Haiqing, Deputy Director of the Institute of Marxism Studies and Executive Deputy Director of the World Socialism Research Center, spoke highly of Teacher Chen Zhihua’s scholarly style and personal character, describing him as an elegant and wise scholar, an approachable elder, and a low-profile, humble colleague. He stated that Teacher Chen’s charismatic character—neither arrogant toward superiors nor condescending toward the less fortunate—is something everyone should spend their lives learning [11].
Chen Zhihua, an inaugural CASS Honorary Member and Executive Editor of the Stay Alert to Danger: World Socialism Small Booklet Series, expressed his gratitude to the guests and signed copies of his book Ninety Years of Life: My Memoirs. He stated: "I am an ordinary researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. I have simply lived a bit longer; I cannot claim to have any prominent academic contributions. If I have truly achieved some results in my work, that is only what a Communist Party member should do, and credit should first go to the Party's leadership and the collaboration of my colleagues." Chen Zhihua introduced some features of the book: "The time span of the book is 90 years. But I did not write about everything that happened in those 90 years; I only wrote about things related to the era. As long as it reflects the face of the era and its changes, I wrote about it whether it was a large or small matter. Large matters include Khrushchev’s 1959 visit to China; small matters include gnawing on corn buns [12] around a stove in the office of the Sijiqing People's Commune in Beijing. To the right of the title on the cover are ten characters—'Writing of life experiences, recording the vicissitudes of the era'—which are the key to understanding this book. I have firmly grasped the proposition that 'people are always people within history, and life experiences are etched with the rings of history.' I hope everyone will offer their opinions after reading it."
Experts and scholars including Zhang Shengfa, President of the Chinese Association for the Study of Soviet and East European History; Zhang Jianhua and Li Xing, Grade-II Professors at the School of History of Beijing Normal University; Huang Lifu, Wang Xiaoju, and Hou Aijun, Researchers at the CASS Institute of World History; and others attended and delivered remarks. The guests collectively wished Comrade Chen Zhihua a smooth passage beyond the age of one hundred, synchronized with the compilation of the hundred-volume Stay Alert to Danger: World Socialism Small Booklet Series.
Profile of Chen Zhihua: Chen Zhihua was born in 1934 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He graduated from Shanghai Gezhi High School in 1952 and was admitted to the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University that same year. In 1959, he graduated from the Faculty of History at Leningrad University in the Soviet Union. From 1959 to 1969, he taught at Renmin University of China. Starting in 1969, he worked in the organs of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC. In 1978, he was transferred to the CASS Institute of World History, where he served as Director of the Research Office of Socialist History and Deputy Director of the Institute, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the journal World History. He was titled Researcher in 1985 and was specially approved as a doctoral supervisor by the State Council Academic Degrees Committee that same year. In 1992, he was recognized as an expert receiving the State Council Special Allowance. In 2006, he was named among the first group of Honorary Members of the CASS.
He is currently a standing member of the World Socialism Research Center and Executive Editor of the Stay Alert to Danger: World Socialism Small Booklet Series. He previously served as Director of the History Teaching and Research Department of the CASS Graduate School, Professor at the Academy, member of the World History Group of the National Social Science Fund Review Committee, and Chairman of the History Group of the Middle School History Textbook Review Committee of the State Education Commission. In 1987, he was elected as a member of the Executive Bureau of the International Commission on the History of the Russian October Revolution under the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS).
Text and Images: Li Xiaohua, Shan Chao