Founded by Chinese scholars themselves
It aims to solve China's own national problems
——Re-reading Fei Xiaotong's "The Pattern of Diversity and Integration of the Chinese Nation"
Wu Zhonghua
In the early days after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the party and the government carried out a comprehensive combing and study of the thorny ethnic issues left over from the old China with brand-new ideas and 100-fold enthusiasm, and have always explored the way to gradually resolve them in the course of continuous social development. Along with this process, a theory founded by Chinese scholars to solve China's own national problems, the theory of "pluralism and unity of the Chinese nation", also came into being. In 1988, while attending an academic conference at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Mr. Fei Xiaotong published his famous paper "The Pattern of Diversity and Integration of the Chinese Nation", which caused great repercussions in the international anthropology, ethnology and sociology circles. In the more than 30 years since the publication of the article, the academic community has made many academic discussions on this theory put forward by Fei Xiaotong, the sage of the Democratic League.
The General Branch of Wuhou District of the Democratic League of Chengdu has collected several historical materials of Fei Xiaotong, the sage of the Democratic League, from which we can feel the rigor and perseverance of Mr. Fei Xiaotong's academic research, and lay a solid theoretical foundation for the foundation of Chinese sociology.
Historical material 1: In 1957, he published "A Few Words About Sociology"
On February 20, 1957, Wen Wei Po published Fei Xiaotong's article "A Few Words About Sociology" (collected by the General Branch of Wuhou District, Chengdu City) of the Democratic League.
On February 20, 1957, Wen Wei Po published Fei Xiaotong's article "A Few Words About Sociology". In the article, he wrote: "We are using anthropological methods to investigate and study the sociological ...... of modern Chinese society" and "many new relations of production have emerged in the process of socialist transformation and socialist construction. The change in the relations of production requires corresponding changes in the various relations in other areas. There are objective laws governing these changes, and if we can grasp these objective laws, then the transformation will be smoother, and if we cannot understand these laws, we will suffer. ”
He also studied political relations, saying, "I have recently investigated a number of party and non-party co-working relations, and I have come to realize that there is a very complicated subject here, and that is how to establish political relations among the people in a socialist society. This issue can include more contents, such as the application of the people's congress system and the mutual supervision of democratic parties...... These are new problems of humanity, problems of political relations between man and man after the abolition of class. ”
He also said that the study of the relationship between people should adopt a scientific attitude and a factualistic investigation: "There is a very important relationship between people, but it is very rare to seriously investigate and study it as an important part of social life. Nowadays, no matter where you are, there are big problems in love, marriage, couples, pensions, children, etc...... With the rapid progress of society, it is necessary to establish relations in these areas that are compatible with the new relations of production, and it is inevitable that these chaotic phenomena will arise at the time of the alternation of the old and the new. If we do not adopt a scientific attitude and conduct investigation and study in a realistic manner, these problems will not be properly resolved, and many people will have unstable lives, ideological fluctuations, and even violations of law and discipline, which will be very unfavorable to socialist construction. ”
Mr. Fei Xiaotong hoped to establish a sociological research institute in the Academy of Sciences, and also proposed that research should be carried out in an organized, led, and planned manner.
Mr. Fei Xiaotong wrote at the beginning of the article: "Recently, Mr. Wu Jingchao has raised the issue of the status of sociology in the new construction." Wu Jingchao (1901-1968), a native of She County, Anhui Province, was a Chinese sociologist. Wu Jingchao was also a member of the China Democratic League, and in 1952 Wu Jingchao joined the China Democratic League, and served as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Standing Committee of the Democratic League, a member of the Second Central Committee of the Democratic League, and a member of the second, third, and fourth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. As a first-generation sociologist in China, Wu Jingchao was the most important representative of urban sociology in the first half of the 20th century, focusing on the study of society from an economic perspective, especially urban society, and also discussing the ideal city and other issues.
Historical material 2: In 1981, Fei Xiaotong was awarded the Huxley Medal by the Royal Anthropological Society, the highest academic honor in international anthropology
On November 4, 1981, Nanning Evening News reported that Mr. Fei Xiaotong won the highest academic honor award in international anthropology (collected by the General Branch of Wuhou District, Chengdu of the Democratic League)
On November 4, 1981, the Nanning Evening News published a press release from Xinhua News Agency: Fei Xiaotong, a famous social anthropologist in mainland China, will receive the Huxley Medal, the highest academic honor in international anthropology, the Royal Anthropological Society. He was the first scholar in China to receive this honor.
Historical data 3: In 1991, Fei Xiaotong put forward the theory of pluralism and unity of the Chinese nation
On May 29, 1991, "Jiefang Daily" reported that "Fei Xiaotong put forward the theory of pluralism and integration of the Chinese nation" (General Branch of Wuhou District, Chengdu City of the Democratic League)
On May 29, 1990, Jiefang Daily published a news report entitled "Fei Xiaotong Puts Forward the Theory of Pluralism and Integration of the Chinese Nation". The main argument can be summarized as follows: The Chinese nation is a national entity that includes the 56 ethnic groups in China, and it is not a general term for the 56 ethnic groups added together, because these 56 ethnic groups together have been combined into an interdependent, unified and inseparable whole, and all the elements of belonging in this national entity already have a higher level of national identity, that is, the feelings and morality of sharing weal and woe, co-existence and death, common honor and disgrace, and common destiny. This argument was later extended by Mr. Chen Liankai to the multi-level theory of national identity consciousness. In the pattern of pluralism and integration, the 56 ethnic groups are the grassroots and the Chinese nation is the high-level.
There is a process of combining scattered and pluralistic into one in the formation of a pattern of pluralism and unity, and there must be a cohesive core in this process. The Han nationality is the unity of the pluralistic grassroots, but it plays a cohesive role to unite the pluralism into one.
High-level identity does not necessarily replace or exclude low-level identity, and different levels can coexist, and even on the basis of different levels of identity, they can develop their original characteristics to form a multilingual and multicultural whole. Therefore, a high-level nation can be said to be essentially a complex that is both integrated and pluralistic, in which there are opposing internal contradictions, which are the unity of differences, and the survival and development of this community can be obtained through growth and change to adapt to the ever-changing internal and external conditions.
The pattern of pluralism and integration of the Chinese nation has been formed over a long period of time, so looking to the future, will the pattern of the Chinese nation change? Will its connotation change? Mr. Fei Xiaotong said: First of all, it should be pointed out that the Chinese nation has undergone two major qualitative changes before entering the 21 st century. The first is that the relations of ethnic inequality over the past few thousand years have not only been denied in law, but have in fact undergone significant changes. The second is that China has begun to embark on the road of industrialization and modernization. Mr. Fei Xiaotong believes that the richer a society is, the more opportunities its members have to develop their personalities. Conversely, the poorer a society is, the more limited the options available to its members to survive. Only if we adhere to the socialist road, the Chinese nation will be a garden of a hundred flowers now and in the future.
Conclusion: Fei Xiaotong is the founder of Chinese sociology and anthropology
Fei Xiaotong (1910.11.2—2005.4.24), a native of Wujiang, Jiangsu Province (now Wujiang District, Suzhou City), a famous sociologist, anthropologist, ethnologist, social activist, one of the founders of Chinese sociology and anthropology, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Seventh and Eighth National People's Congress, and vice chairman of the Sixth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He joined the NLD in 1945 and was appointed executive vice chairman of the Fifth Central Committee of the NLD in 1986. In January 1987, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Democratic League, he was elected chairman of the Fifth Central Committee of the Democratic League. He successively served as Chairman of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Central Committee of the Democratic League. On November 26, 1996, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Democratic League accepted Fei Xiaotong's resignation as chairman. Later, he served as the honorary chairman of the 7th, 8th and 9th Central Committee of the Democratic League.
Fei Xiaotong has always been committed to the teaching and research of sociology, anthropology and ethnology, insisted on going deep into the actual situation to engage in social investigation, and put forward the theory of "five internal organs and six internal organs". Fei Xiaotong believes that in terms of organizational structure, there must be five elements to rebuild a discipline: establish a society to provide communication opportunities for professionals and those who support the development of this discipline; establishment of research institutes; Establishment of the Department of Sociology, which nurtures human resources; In addition, there are special journals and publishing institutions that have set up library and resource centers and disciplines, and have implemented them one by one along this line. In 1979, the Chinese Sociological Research Association was established, and Fei Xiaotong served as its president. In 1980, the Institute of Sociology was established by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with Fei Xiaotong as its director.
Fei Xiaotong is the chief designer of Chinese sociology. Historically, Fei Xiaotong's contribution to Chinese sociology can be broadly divided into three stages. The first stage was before 1949, and most of Fei Xiaotong's classic works on sociology were completed during this period, such as: "Jiangcun Economy", "Rural China", "Imperial Power and Gentry Power", etc., were published in this period. The second stage was from 1949 to before the reform and opening up, which was a bumpy period for Fei Xiaotong, despite adversity, he still spoke up and proposed "a few words for social theory" and "a few words for social theory". The third stage was the period after the reform and opening up in 1979, when Fei Xiaotong rebuilt Chinese sociology. Fei Xiaotong made the overall design of today's Chinese sociology, outlined the blueprint of today's Chinese sociology, and established the empirical style of Chinese sociology. To provide advice and suggestions for solving social problems and curing social diseases.
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Source: Sichuan Provincial Office of Local Chronicles
Text/Photo: Wu Zhonghua (Chairman of the Labor Union of China Railway Long Engineering Group Co., Ltd., member of the Democratic League, senior economist, national registered safety engineer, human resource manager, member of Sichuan Writers Association, member of Chengdu Writers Association, member of Sichuan Local History Society)