The Communist Party of China (CPC)’s Understanding of the Principal Social Contradictions in China
The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly made an important judgment that "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era", and made a new summary of the changes in the main social contradictions in our country in the new era-"The main social contradictions in our country have been transformed into the contradictions between the people’s growing needs for a better life and the unbalanced development". This is our party’s new summary of the main social contradictions in Socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era according to the changes of the times and national conditions. At the same time, it also emphasizes that the basic national conditions that China is still in the primary stage of socialism for a long time have not changed, and China’s international status as the largest developing country in the world has not changed. The whole party should firmly grasp the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism and firmly base itself on the greatest reality of the primary stage of socialism.
The Communist Party of China (CPC)’s understanding of the main social contradictions in our country is gradually deepened and continuously developed with the different historical periods and stages of social development in our country. The Party’s correct understanding and grasp of the main social contradictions in China is an important prerequisite for our Party to scientifically judge the national situation and correctly formulate major policies, and it is of great theoretical and practical significance for leading the whole Party and the people of the whole country to promote the development of China’s revolution, construction and reform.
1. The party’s understanding of the main social contradictions during the new-democratic revolution.
After the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China society faced various complicated social contradictions. Since the Opium War, China began to fall into a dark situation of internal troubles and foreign invasion. The imperialist countries carved up their spheres of influence in China, and the feudal landlord class cruelly oppressed the peasants. The bourgeoisie colluded with imperialism, and at the same time, they were intertwined with the feudal landlord class to jointly oppress the working masses, and the mountains and rivers were broken, making the people miserable. In this grim situation, how to correctly understand and grasp the main social contradictions in China and formulate practical policies and measures accordingly? Guided by Marxism, the Communist Party of China (CPC) made a profound understanding and summary of China’s national conditions, especially the main social contradictions. After a long period of exploration, the Communist Party of China (CPC) people, represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, came to the conclusion: "The contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation, feudalism and the masses of the people are the main contradictions in modern China society." "The contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation is the most important contradiction among all kinds of contradictions." It was based on a correct understanding of the principal contradictions at that time that our Party scientifically formulated the line, principles and policies of the new-democratic revolution in different periods, United and led the people of the whole country through arduous and unremitting struggle, and finally overthrew the three mountains that were pressing on the people of China and won the great victory of the new-democratic revolution.
2. The Party’s understanding of the main social contradictions during the period of socialist transformation and construction.
After the founding of New China, what are the main contradictions in our society? The earliest summary of the main social contradictions in China after the founding of New China was the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held by the CPC Central Committee in Xibaipo from September 8 to 13, 1948, namely the "September Meeting" in the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. In an important speech delivered at this meeting, Mao Zedong pointed out: "After the bourgeois democratic revolution is completed, the main contradiction within China is the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and the external contradiction is the contradiction with imperialism." Liu Shaoqi also pointed out at this meeting: "In the new democratic economy, the basic contradiction is the contradiction between capitalism (capitalists and rich peasants) and socialism. After the victory of the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution, this is the main contradiction in the new society. " He particularly emphasized: "We should clearly see this contradiction. This struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is a struggle between socialism and capitalism. " This is the first time that the leaders of our party discussed the main social contradictions in China after the founding of New China.
In the early days of the founding of New China, there were many economic sectors in China. "At that time, the main contradiction in rural areas was the contradiction between feudalism and democracy, not the contradiction between capitalism and socialism, so it took two to three years to implement land reform in rural areas." "After the victory of the new-democratic revolution and the completion of the land system reform in the whole country, the main domestic contradictions have turned into contradictions between the working class and the bourgeoisie, and between the socialist road and the capitalist road." On this basis, our party has formulated the general line of "transition period", that is, to gradually realize the socialist industrialization of the country and the socialist transformation of agriculture, rival industries and capitalist industry and commerce in a fairly long period of time. This task was basically completed by the end of 1956.
With the successful completion of socialist transformation, China society has realized the transformation from a new democratic society to a socialist society. From September 15th to 27th, 1956, the Eighth National Congress of communist party was held in Beijing. The Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China correctly analyzed the changes of class relations and major domestic contradictions in China after the socialist transformation was basically completed, and clearly pointed out that after the socialist transformation was basically completed in China, "the major domestic contradiction is already the contradiction between the people’s demand for establishing an advanced industrial country and the reality of a backward agricultural country, and the contradiction between the people’s need for rapid economic and cultural development and the current situation that economic and cultural cannot meet the people’s needs." The essence of this contradiction is the contradiction between the advanced socialist system and the backward social production when the socialist system in China has been established. The solution to this contradiction is to develop social productive forces and implement large-scale economic construction. For the first time, the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China systematically summarized the main social contradictions in China during the period of socialist construction.
On February 27th, 1957, Mao Zedong delivered an important speech on Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People at the 11th (enlarged) meeting of the Supreme State Council, which was revised and supplemented and published in People’s Daily on June 19th of that year. In this important speech, Mao Zedong systematically discussed the Marxist theory of contradiction, pointing out that the basic contradiction in socialist society is still the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production, economic base and superstructure. At the same time, there are two different kinds of social contradictions in socialist society, namely, the contradiction between ourselves and the enemy and the contradictions among the people, which are completely different in nature. The former is antagonistic in nature, so it is necessary to adopt compulsory and dictatorship methods to solve it, while the latter is non-antagonistic, so it can only be democratic and educational. Mao Zedong also proposed that correctly handling contradictions among the people should be the theme of the country’s political life. Generally speaking, our party’s understanding of the main social contradictions in this period is correct and realistic. Later, due to some "Left" tendencies in the Party, the Party’s understanding of the main social contradictions was biased. On October 9, 1957, the Third Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward the conclusion that "the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the contradiction between the socialist road and the capitalist road" is the main contradiction in our society at present; The second meeting of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in May 1958 proposed that before the socialist society was built, the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road,It has always been the main contradiction within our country. The party’s mistakes in understanding the main contradictions in the socialist period led to a series of major policy and decision-making mistakes of our party and state.
3. The Party’s understanding of major social contradictions during the period of reform, opening up and socialist modernization.
The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in 1978 opened a new era of China’s reform, opening up and socialist modernization. On March 30, 1979, at the retreat of the Party’s theoretical work, Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of reform and opening up, made an important exposition on the basic contradictions and main contradictions in socialist society. He pointed out: "The basic contradictions are still the contradictions between the relations of production and productivity, and the contradictions between the superstructure and the economic base." "As for what is the main contradiction at present, that is, the main problems or central tasks that the whole Party and the people must solve at present, because the Third Plenary Session decided to shift the focus of work to socialist modernization. Our productivity development level is very low, which is far from meeting the needs of the people and the country. This is the main contradiction in our current period, and solving this main contradiction is our central task. "
It is on the basis of the above explanation that the Resolution on Several Historical Issues of the Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China, adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party on June 27th, 1981, fully affirmed the formulation of the Party’s Eighth Congress and further streamlined and refined it: "The main contradiction to be solved in China is the contradiction between the people’s growing material and cultural needs and backward social production. The focus of the work of the party and the state must shift to socialist modernization centered on economic construction, greatly develop social productive forces, and gradually improve people’s material and cultural life on this basis. " This generalization has become an important basis for the party to formulate various lines, principles and policies in the process of reform, opening up and socialist modernization.
4. Socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era, the party’s understanding of the main social contradictions.
After long-term efforts, Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, which is a new historical orientation for China’s development. Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s entry into a new era indicates that the principal contradiction in our society has also undergone new changes. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made a new summary of the main social contradictions in China in the new era of Socialism with Chinese characteristics. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out in the report of the 19th National Congress: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the main contradiction in our society has been transformed into the contradiction between the people’s growing need for a better life and the unbalanced development." The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China also summarized the reasons for the changes in the main social contradictions in our country: China has stably solved the problem of food and clothing for more than one billion people, achieved a well-off society on the whole, and will soon build a well-off society in an all-round way. People’s needs for a better life are increasingly extensive, which not only puts forward higher requirements for material and cultural life, but also demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security and environment are increasing day by day. At the same time, the level of China’s social productive forces has improved significantly on the whole, and the social productive capacity has entered the forefront of the world in many aspects. The more prominent problem is the insufficient development imbalance, which has become the main constraint to meet the people’s growing needs for a better life.
The major social contradiction change in our country is a historic change related to the overall situation of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s construction. This change requires us to focus on solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development on the basis of continuing to promote development and better meet the people’s growing needs in economy, politics, culture, society and ecology. Of course, at the same time, we must also see that the changes in the main contradictions in our society have not changed our judgment on the historical stage of socialism in China, the basic national conditions that China is still in the primary stage of socialism and its international status as the largest developing country in the world has not changed.
In a word, the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s understanding of the principal social contradictions in our country keeps pace with the times with the development of the times and the specific changes of China’s national conditions. The process of deepening the Party’s understanding of the principal social contradictions in our country marks that our Party’s understanding of the laws governing the development of human society and socialist construction has reached a new level, which is the new development of Marxist theory of contradictions and the new development of Marxism in China.
(Author: Han Zhenfeng, Dean of the School of Marxism of Beijing Jiaotong University, and researcher of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center of Beijing Supreme Leader in New Era; This article is the result of the special task of the Ministry of Education to study and explain the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China)