Marx once cast his gaze on Shanghai Capital | Wang Yanan | Marx

This year marks the 205th anniversary of the birth and 140th anniversary of the death of Karl Marx, the revolutionary mentor of the proletariat and working people worldwide. Many Shanghai residents go to the Fuxing Park to pay their respects to the commemorative statues of Marx and Engels amidst the lush greenery.

Marx's name first appeared in China

In the late Qing Dynasty, Shanghai had a diverse urban management, social structure, and cultural form. With advanced communication, numerous newspapers, and a gathering of progressive intellectuals, it became the earliest window through which Marxism was introduced to China.

In February 1899, the 121st volume of the Universal Communique, sponsored by the Shanghai Broadcasting Society, began serializing the joint translation of "The Great Classmate" by British missionary Timothy Li and local scholar Tsai Erkang. The first chapter published, "The Scenery of the Present World," talked about "Marx, the famous leader of the Hundred Workers," and said, "Marx's words say: 'The power of a person who corrects stocks and handles affairs covers all continents, surpassing the scope of a monarchy or a country.'". Among them, the translator made a mistake in Marx's nationality, so he made a correction in the third chapter of "The Theory of Striving for Progress" published in April: "In the modern school of thought, there is a new school that emphasizes the safety of the people, such as the German horse Ke Si, who is mainly focused on capital." This is the first time that Marx's glorious name has appeared in China, attracting the attention of the intellectual community.

The first chapter of "Big Classmates" published in the Universal Communique discusses Marx

The Guanghui Society was a publishing institution established by European and American missionaries in Shanghai in 1887, with an average annual output of about 100 books. When Emperor Guangxu prepared for the Reform Movement, he purchased 129 books, of which 89 were printed by him. Among the more than 10 publications organized by the Guanghui Society, the Universal Communique has the largest circulation and is commonly referred to as the "Big Classmate" or "New Learning for the People" when introducing various socialist studies in Europe and America. Among the local literati hired by the association to assist in the spread of Western learning to the East, Cai Erkang was born in Nanxiang, Jiading. He had previously moved to Nanhui County and lived in Shencheng for a long time. He successively worked for the "Shen Bao", "Zi Lin Hu Bao", "News Bao", and "Wan Guo Gong Bao". During his tenure as the Chinese editor in chief of the Universal Communique, he was rewarded with outstanding abilities, such as the supervisor who paid Mr. Cai 315 yuan for eleven months of study. The translation of Western books by the association usually adopts the method of "Western translation and Chinese narration", such as the "Big Classmate" published in May 1899, which was first printed in 2000 copies and was interpreted by Timothy Li and written by Tsai Erkang. In Chapter 8, "Strategies for Nurturing the People in the Present World," it is mentioned that "Germany values scholars for nurturing the people, and there are many famous figures, one is Marx, and the other is Engels.". This indicates that Tsai Erkang was the first person to translate "Marx" as "Marx".

The book "Big Classmate" by Timothy Li and Cai Erkang

Since then, various Chinese translations of "Marx" have emerged in books and magazines, such as "McCarthy", "Marquez", "Garu Malucus", "Karl Malk", "Malukas", "Kail Mac", "Magus", and so on. However, Tsai Erkang's writing was precise, and his translation of "Marx" was similar in pronunciation to German, in line with the language habits of Chinese, making it easy to read and write. Ultimately, it became the fixed Chinese translation of the main founder of Marxism.

The portrait of Marx made its first appearance in China

In 1907, there was a bookstore on Wangping Street in Shanghai with the World Society logo. The large picture album "Sixty People in the Near World" sold featured a portrait of Marx taken in London, England in 1875. It also introduced that "Magus, a German sociologist and jurist," and later London, engaged in writing. In 1864, the "International Workers' Union" was established. His most famous work was "Industry". This is the first time that the portrait of Marx has appeared in China, and it appears lifelike due to its high printing quality.

The Portrait of Marx in "Sixty People in the Near World"

In the summer of 1920, the founding group of the CPC established Youxin Printing House, the earliest red printing agency in Shanghai, in order to print the Communist Manifesto translated by Chen Wangdao. In August, the first Chinese translation of the Communist Manifesto was published, with a total of 1000 copies printed. The cover featured a bust of Marx, with words such as "The First Type of Socialist Research Series", "Co authored by Mages Angels", and "Translated by Chen Wangdao" printed on it; In September, a second edition was released, still printing 1000 copies. The bust of Marx on the cover of this book is from "Sixty People in the Near World".

In December 1920, under the leadership of the founding group of the CPC, the Shanghai Printing Trade Union was established. The 18th volume of the Labor Weekly reported: "In order to seek the happiness that workers should have, workers from various printing bureaus in our city have initiated the organization of a 'Shanghai Printing Union'." "They have now founded another 'Friendly Pictorial', specifically to promote an increase in the living standards of workers and to transform society. 'On the cover of the inaugural issue of' Friendly Pictorial ', there is a portrait of Marx in the upper left corner, as well as a handwritten' Karl Marx Mages'. The handwritten English text on the top right side is' THE WORLD FRIEND ', with the Earth pattern printed in the lower right corner, clearly implying the meaning of' proletarians from all over the world unite '.". The portrait of Marx in the Youshi Pictorial also refers to "Sixty Famous People in the Near World".

In 1907 in Shanghai sales of the world's sixty celebrities

The World Society, which publishes "Sixty Famous People in the Near World," was founded by Li Shizeng, Zhang Jingjiang, Wu Zhihui and others in Paris, France in 1906. It publishes the weekly magazine "New Century" and the illustrated magazine "World", and has a sales bookstore in Shanghai. Later, due to the founding of the Republic of China, his fellow countrymen who lived in Paris traveled to China one after another. The magazine "World" only published two volumes, and the magazine "Sixty Famous People in the Near World" only published one episode, thus dropping out. In 1936, Li Shi used the Boxer Indemnity refunded by France to rebuild the World Society and open the World School at 393 Fukaisen Road in Shanghai. He later discussed investment with Shanghai World Book Company, and in 1937, the company reprinted "Sixty Celebrities in the Near World".

The first release of the "Marx Memorial Book" in China

In July 1921, the first National Congress of the CPC was held in Shanghai. The First Resolution of the CPC adopted by the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: "The basic task of the Party is to establish industrial trade unions. Where there is more than one industrial department, trade unions should be organized; where there is no large industry but only one or two factories, factory trade unions that are more suitable for local conditions can be established." On August 11, the Secretariat Department of the China Labor Union, the general organ that publicly leads the national labor movement, was established in Shanghai. For the first time, China has launched the "Marx Memorial Book", which was compiled and printed by the Secretariat of the Chinese Labor Union.

The Marx Memorial Book is a 32 page edition with a total of 35 pages. The cover bears a bust of Marx, indicating that it was published on May 5, 1922 and is not for sale. The book includes three articles. In "On the 10th Anniversary of Marx's Birth: A Tribute to Workers and Students," it is praised that "Marx was not only a knowledgeable great thinker, but also a warrior in the actual movement of social transformation."; At the same time, it is explicitly pointed out that "we should commemorate him as a great economist, because he invented a unique theory of value and surplus value in economics, giving new and true explanations to the meaning of capital and labor." "We should commemorate him as a great sociologist, a great philosopher of history, because he invented the materialist view of history, which gave us the principles of human social and historical movements, and gave us the scientific method of studying social and educational history." "We should commemorate him as the most powerful socialist, because he invented the theory of class struggle and labor dictatorship, which gave the world's proletarian working class the policy of self rescue."; Finally, we call on workers and students to "learn from Marx and become a hardworking warrior.". The biography of Marx, written by William Libknecht, the founder of the German Social Democratic Party, vividly introduces Marx's life of struggle for the proletarian revolutionary cause. Chen Duxiu's "Marxist Theory" systematically explains the theory of surplus value, historical materialism, class struggle, and labor dictatorship of Marxist theory in four parts, and extensively cites the discourse of the Communist Manifesto, Capital, the French Civil War, and Critique of the Gotha Program.

The Marx Memorial Booklet, compiled and printed in May 1922

May 5, 1922, was the 104th anniversary of Marx's birth. For the first time, the CPC held a grand commemorative activity, and held commemorative meetings in cities with party organizations all over the country. The commemorative meeting in Shencheng was held in Huaien Hall, North Sichuan Road, Shanghai in the name of the academic community. On June 30th, in a report by Chen Duxiu, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of China, to the Comintern, it was stated that "on May 5th, a commemorative meeting for Marx was held in all places where the Communist Party of China is located, and 20000 copies of Marx's commemorative books were scattered." This shows that the number of printed copies of the "Marx's Commemorative Book" is numerous and its influence is widespread.

The first fully translated Chinese version of Capital has been released

Translating all of Capital into Chinese was a fervent expectation of revolutionary and progressive intellectuals in our country for a long time. In 1924, Guo Moruo formulated the "Five Year Plan" for translating "Capital" in Shanghai, stating that "if one could die for translating" Capital ", it would be a glorious death." However, due to various difficulties, the plan was not fulfilled. Due to the fact that "Capital" is a vast and profound encyclopedia of Marxism, with the original work consisting of three large volumes and several thousand pages, accurate translation requires a solid understanding of economics and extensive knowledge. In addition, the bookstore is afraid of taking risks, so a complete Chinese translation has not been published.

In January 1928, Guo Dali and Wang Yanan met at the Grand Buddha Temple in Hangzhou. They became friends at first sight and talked about their common ideals of transforming society. They decided to collaborate in translating "Capital". Guo Dali was from Nankang, Jiangxi. In the autumn of 1924, he transferred from Xiamen University to Shanghai Daxia University to study philosophy and began studying Marxist works. After graduating from university, he taught at a high school in Shanghai and then went to Hangzhou. Wang Yanan was from Huanggang, Hubei. He studied at the Department of Education of Wuhan Zhonghua University in the autumn of 1922 and joined the Northern Expedition Army as a political instructor in 1927. After the failure of the Great Revolution, he traveled to Shanghai and then to Hangzhou. Although the two young people were talented, in order to lay a solid foundation, they first collaborated to select and translate influential Western economic works as previews. Subsequently, Guo Dali focused his efforts on translating "Capital", based on the latest German version corrected by the Soviet Marx and Engels Institute, and referring to two English and two Japanese translations. Wang Yanan also actively participated with a very serious attitude. At the end of 1936, Reading Life Publishing House was established in Shanghai. This publishing institution led by the underground Communist Party organization in Shanghai learned that Guo Dali and Wang Yanan were working together to translate "Capital". Ignoring business difficulties, Zheng Yili and Ai Siqi, who were in charge of editing business, came forward to discuss publishing matters with the two individuals, signed a contract for submissions, and allocated half of the raised operating funds as special funds. They provided advance royalties to the two translators on a monthly basis to help them solve their living difficulties.

In the August 13 Incident of 1937, Japanese planes bombed Shanghai indiscriminately. Guo Dali had to lead his whole family into the concession to take refuge, but he couldn't afford the expensive rent. He had to hand over some of the completed translations to the Reading and Life Publishing House, and return to Nankang, Jiangxi with his wife and children. In a difficult environment, he continued to translate Capital. At this time, Wang Yanan has also gone to the mainland, and he has no slackness in translating books. The two individuals, in a dispersed situation, insisted on close cooperation and sent out the completed translation in batches.

During the "isolated island" period, the headquarters of Reading and Life Publishing House moved to the mainland, and the office at the original site was presided over by Zheng Yili. Given the turbulent situation, the concession authorities have relatively relaxed their control over book publishing, the market is sluggish, and paper prices are relatively low. Zheng Yili and others hope to start publishing "Capital" in Shanghai as soon as possible. As the third volume of "Capital" has not been fully translated, the publishing house sent a telegram inviting Guo Dali to come to Shencheng as soon as possible in order to accelerate the progress.

During the "isolated island" period, Zheng Yili and others took a group photo in front of the office of Shanghai Reading and Life Publishing House

After Guo Dali arrived in Shanghai, under simple conditions, he had to rush to translate the remaining chapters of Volume 3 of "Capital", as well as be responsible for coordinating and proofreading all translated manuscripts. He also had to review the newly printed samples with Zheng Yili and others, often too busy to sleep or eat. After three months of joint efforts, they completed the editing and proofreading of the Chinese full translation of Capital. The first volume was published on August 31, 1938, the second volume was published on September 15, and the third volume was published on September 30. So, for the first time, this monumental work in the history of human thought was presented in its entirety to Chinese readers.

The First Edition of the Chinese Full Translation of Das Kapital by Guo Dali and Wang Yanan

In the first complete Chinese translation of "Capital", Guo Dali's "Translator's Postscript" states: "In the first volume, I translated the preface and preface, as well as the first to fourth chapters; in the fifth to the end of the first volume, it was translated by Yanan; in the second volume, the preface and first chapters were translated by Yanan; in the second and third chapters, it was translated by me. However, in the third volume, due to Yanan's more important work, he could only translate a very small part, and the rest fell on my shoulders. I took responsibility for the printing of the entire manuscript to ensure consistency in translation names and tone." 3000 sets, printed in red on the middle part of the cover made of fine grain beige fabric. The three big characters "Capital" are both dignified and beautiful.

In summary, many of the "firsts" in the dissemination of Marxism in China were born in Shanghai. Marx also paid attention to Shanghai, for example, on May 20, 1853, in his book "The Chinese Revolution and the European Revolution", he wrote: "The amount of tea imported from China did not exceed 16167331 pounds in 1793... Now it has exceeded 60 million pounds. Currently, the collection of tea in this season seems to be quite large. From Shanghai's export statistics, it can be seen that it has increased by 2 million pounds compared to the previous year." On October 8, 1858, he wrote in a letter to Engels, "The five port trade and occupation of Hong Kong only produced one result: trade shifted from Guangzhou to Shanghai." On August 5, 1985, China's first large-scale Marx and Engels memorial statue was in the Renaissance Park. Opening ceremony, here embodies eternal red memories. Although Marx had never been to Shencheng, he left a shining "footprint" in this city.

The picture is a commemorative statue of Marx and Engels in the Revival Park. Photo by Xu Yunqian