Developing Advanced Socialist Culture and Resisting Mysticism

Mysticism challenges the authority of Marxism and covets the ideological positions of socialism, which should draw our attention. As an ideology, mysticism neither expounds a worldview according to religious theory nor explains human affairs according to secular thought, presenting multiple attributes that are anti-religious, anti-scientific, and anti-secular. As a technique, mysticism claims to be omnipotent, from becoming a god or sage to curing illnesses and averting disasters, from redeeming individuals to saving the earth. As an organization, mysticism possesses the dual characteristics of both religious groups and folk organizations. Mysticism is regarded by religion as heterodoxy and by the secular world as superstition and witchcraft. Recognizing the harms of mysticism, analyzing the reasons for its rampant spread, exploring the path to resist it, and thereby educating Party members, cadres, and the broad masses of the people to consciously resist mysticism are extremely necessary for holding firm the ideological阵地 of Marxism, promoting the great development and flourishing of socialist culture, and constructing the core socialist values.

神秘主义挑战马克思主义权威、觊觎社会主义意识形态阵地，应当引起我们的重视。作为意识形态，神秘主义既不按宗教理论阐述世界观，也不按世俗思维解释人事，呈现反宗教、反科学和反世俗的多重属性。作为技艺的神秘主义，宣称从成神成圣到治病禳灾、从救赎个体到拯救地球，无所不能。作为组织的神秘主义，兼有宗教团体和民间组织的双重特征。神秘主义被宗教视为旁门左道、被世俗视为迷信巫术。认清神秘主义危害、分析神秘主义肆虐原因，探寻抵制神秘主义的进路，进而教育党员干部和广大人民群众自觉抵制神秘主义，对于坚守马克思主义意识形态阵地、促进社会主义文化大发展大繁荣、构建社会主义核心价值体系，十分必要。

I. The Harms of Contemporary Mysticism

一、当代神秘主义的危害

Mysticism is the theory and practice that the ultimate truth about reality can only be obtained from mystical experience or irrational mystical intuition. The English word mysticism comes from the Latin mysticismus, whose distant origin is the Greek muein, meaning to shut the mouth or close the eyes, "being esoteric, inconceivable, or secret religious practice." [1]1 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. From the perspective of belief, mysticism aims at self-salvation; from the perspective of control, mysticism is not only a means of obtaining material benefits but can also become a tool of thought. Irrational ideas most easily evoke irrational impulses. Once mysticism is "stirred up by apocalyptic frenzy, ideas become weapons and can bring about extremely terrible consequences." [2]2 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Restless mysticism can easily evolve into an uncontrollable social force and ultimately lead to cults.

神秘主义是关于实在的最后真理只能从神秘经验或非理性的神秘直觉中得到的理论和实践。英语mysticism一词来自拉丁文mysticismus，其远源为希腊语muein，意指闭嘴或闭眼，“是秘传的、不可思议的或秘密的宗教实践”[1]。从信仰的角度看，神秘主义意在自我救赎；从掌控的角度看，神秘主义不仅是谋取物质利益的手段，而且可以成为思想的工具。非理性的观念最易唤起非理性的冲动，一旦神秘主义“被天启式的狂热搅混，观念便变成了武器，并且会带来极其可怕的后果”[2]。躁动的神秘主义极易演变为失控的社会力量，并最终导致邪教。

1. Eroding Marxist Ideology

1.侵蚀马克思主义意识形态

Mysticism and Marxism are fundamentally different in worldview and values; it erodes Marxist ideology through mystical methodology. Mysticism is the natural enemy of Marxism; its worldview is fundamentally opposed to dialectical materialism. In terms of values, mysticism pursues "union with God," experiencing happiness through self-realization. In "Eastern mysticism," "Zen," "meditation," and "yoga" all have the meaning of "self-realization" and are ways to obtain truth and enjoy happiness. Marxism holds that the acquisition of truth must go through social practice, which is material, not "utopian." As a value judgment, happiness and pleasure come from the satisfaction of the subject's needs by the object, and are the unity of subjectivity, objectivity, and social historicity. The conflict between mysticism and Marxism on the view of happiness is mainly manifested in the wanton dissolution of the objectivity, i.e., the material foundation, of happiness, treating happiness as a secret realm achievable only through self-realization. In methodology, mysticism uses one-sided, illusory connections to explain the world. Mysticism makes arbitrary connections and then gradually exaggerates the initiative of consciousness. Changing matter through consciousness requires a practical intermediary. In mysticism, the intermediary is abolished, replaced by "extrasensory perception" or "psychokinesis," so that "the human body can change the properties of matter without contacting it." This view has become a consensus in contemporary mysticism and has had a relatively widespread impact on academia and society as a whole. The 1981 Second National Scientific Symposium on Exceptional Human Body Functions had "380 representatives from 106 universities, colleges, and research institutes across 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions," submitting 147 affirmative papers on exceptional functions. Some papers claimed that "exceptional functions" were "a revolution in human thought and consciousness" and "similar to communism." [3]3 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Such views are debatable. Some professional philosophy textbooks, such as *Principles of Dialectical Materialism*, even state: "The manifestation of the initiative of consciousness is only the part that people can currently recognize. The potential of the initiative of consciousness is far from exhausted. The discovery of human body 'exceptional functions' is a new sign increasingly attracting attention from the scientific and philosophical communities. With the development of practice and science, the potential of the initiative of consciousness will be more fully demonstrated." [4]4 *Principles of Dialectical Materialism* is a standard textbook on Marxist philosophy used in Chinese higher education. These facts show that mysticism can also infiltrate mainstream ideology and invade the阵地 of Marxism.

神秘主义与马克思主义在世界观和价值观上根本不同，它通过神秘方法论侵蚀马克思主义意识形态。神秘主义是马克思主义的天然敌人，它的世界观是与辩证唯物主义根本对立的。在价值观上，神秘主义追求“与神合一”，通过自我领悟体验快乐。在“东方神秘主义”那里，“禅”、“冥想”和“瑜伽”都有“自我领悟”的意义，是获得真理享受快乐的途径。马克思主义认为，真理的获得要通过社会实践，这个实践是物质性的，而不是“空想”。作为价值评价，幸福和快乐来自客体对主体需要的满足，是主体性、客观性和社会历史性的统一。神秘主义在幸福观上与马克思主义的冲突，主要体现在肆意消解幸福的客观性即物质性基础，把幸福看作是仅凭自我领悟就能实现的秘境。在方法论上，神秘主义采用片面的虚幻的联系解释世界。神秘主义肆意联系进而逐步夸大意识能动性。意识改变物质需要实践中介。在神秘主义那里，中介被取消，代之以“超感知觉”或“心灵致动”，使“人体可以不接触物质而改变物质的性状”。这种观点在当代神秘主义那里已成共识，对学术界和整个社会造成了较为普遍的影响。1981全国第二届人体特异功能科学讨论会有“来自全国29个省、市、区106所大专院校和科研所、室的380名代表”，提交了147 篇关于特异功能的肯定性论文。有的论文声称，“特异功能”是“人的思想、意识的革命”，和“共产主义有相似之处”[3]。这类观点值得商榷。有的哲学专业教材，如《辩证唯物主义原理》更称：“意识能动性的表现，只是人们目前所能够认识到的部分。意识能动作用的潜力远未穷尽，人体‘特异功能’的发现，就是一个越来越引起科学界和哲学界关注的新征兆，随着实践和科学的发展，意识能动作用的潜力将会愈来愈充分地表现出来。”[4]这些事实说明，神秘主义也可能渗入主流意识形态、侵入马克思主义阵地。

2. Creating Ignorant Culture, Stupefying and Harming Believers

2.制造愚昧文化，愚化和伤害信众

In the childhood of humanity, objective conditions limited understanding, preventing it from reaching essence and giving rise to naive, ignorant mystery. When we can or have already touched upon essence but stubbornly cling to mystery, it manifests as ignorance. Today's mysticism is a culture of ignorance. Who creates mystical culture? What do they intend to do? How is contemporary mystical culture possible? These questions relate to recognizing the essence of mystical culture, cutting off the black hands that create mystery, and eliminating mystical culture.

在人类的童年时代，客观条件限制使认识无法达到本质而产生幼稚蒙昧的神秘，当我们能够或已然触及本质却固持神秘，就体现为愚昧。今天的神秘主义是一种愚昧文化。谁制造了神秘文化？他们意欲何为？当代神秘文化何以可能？这些问题关系到认清神秘文化本质、斩断制造神秘的黑手并消除神秘文化。

Mysticism is the result of collective creation. Thinkers and politicians representing the interests of the ruling class, along with folk shamans and leaders of secret organizations representing their own interests, jointly create mystical culture for profit. Nature worship, totem worship, and ancestor worship were the most primitive folk consciousness, which were accepted as state consciousness during the Yin-Shang period. From then on, mysticism as state consciousness became a tool of rule, legitimizing the state and royal power. This tradition is the thought of "unity of heaven and man" that runs through the entire feudal society. The concept of "unity of heaven and man" matured in the pre-Qin period, with Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi all holding this concept. By the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu's interpretation had developed from emphasizing the identification and harmony of "heaven" and "man" into an organic, holistic cosmic schema of "heaven-man interaction" and感应. Dong Zhongshu's interpretation of "heaven-man interaction" had already removed human subjective initiative, replacing it with human submission and compliance to "heaven." Like his view of "solely revering Confucianism," this was an ideological tool serving the rule of the rulers. Western Han Confucianism, even at the time of its exclusive status, already harbored a latent crisis. The "heaven-man interaction" cosmology of Eastern and Western Han Confucianism was gradually extended by scholars of the New Text school into apocryphal theology. This mystical learning, which predicted the rise and fall of national fortunes and changes in human affairs, often fabricated prophecies (also called prophecy rhymes or rumors) to suit rebellions or eliminate hidden dangers, and was already deliberate deception.

神秘主义是集体创作的结果，代表统治阶级利益的思想家、政治家和代表一己利益的民间巫觋、秘密组织领导者共同制造了神秘文化，用以谋利。自然崇拜、图腾崇拜和祖宗崇拜是最原始的民间意识，到了殷商时代被接受为国家意识。自此往后，作为国家意识的神秘主义就成了统治的工具，为国家和王权的合法性作注。这种传统就是贯穿整个封建社会的“天人合一”思想。“天人合一”观念成熟于先秦，孔、孟、老、庄都有这种观念。及至汉代的董仲舒，其含义已由强调“天”“人”的认同与和谐发展为“天人相通”而感应的有机的整体的宇宙图式。董仲舒所诠释的“天人感应”已将人的主观能动性去除，代之以人对“天”的臣服和顺应，这和他的“独尊儒学”观点一样，是为统治者的统治服务的思想工具。西汉儒学早在其地位独尊之时，即已潜伏着危机。两汉儒学“天人感应”的宇宙观，在今文经学家那里被逐渐推衍为谶纬神学。这种预测国运兴衰、人事更替的神秘学问，常常为了顺应造反或者清除隐患而编造谶言（亦称谶谣、谣言），已是故意的欺骗。

Eastern mysticism has a complex system. In *The Mysterious Gate of the Eastern Heavenly Kingdom*, Huang Lunsheng divides witchcraft into (1) Ritual witchcraft: sacrificing to heaven (sun god, moon god, stars), sacrificing to earth (earth god), sacrificing to ghosts (ancestors, releasing souls from purgatory, summoning souls, expelling demons). (2) Divinatory witchcraft: divination techniques (heaven divination, earth divination, sun-moon divination, star divination, wind-rain-cloud divination, animal divination, plant divination, dream divination, Plum Blossom Yijing divination, lot divination, and prophecy), oracle bone divination, Yijing divination, Wenwang divination and coin divination, character analysis, planchette writing, chicken divination, physiognomy (geomancy, physiognomy, Qimen Dunjia, astrology). (3) Taboo witchcraft. By comparison with witchcraft, mysticism can be divided into ritual mysticism, divinatory mysticism, and taboo mysticism. While retaining some content of sacrifice and divination, contemporary mysticism has abandoned the complex content of traditional mysticism, reflecting the utilitarian characteristics of fast-food culture. Qigong, exceptional functions, mysterious health preservation, and various cult theories are the main varieties of contemporary mysticism.

东方神秘主义有一个复杂的系统。黄伦生在《东方天国的神秘之门》中把巫术分为（1）祭礼巫术：祭天（日神、月神、星辰）、祭地（土地神）、祭鬼（祖先、超度亡灵、招魂、驱除鬼魅）。（2）卜兆巫术：占术（天占、地占、日月占、星占、风雨云占、动物占、植物占、梦占、梅花易数占、签占和谶语）、卜术（龟骨卜、易筮、文王课与金钱卜、拆字、扶乩、鸡卜）、相术（堪舆、相术、奇门遁甲、星命之学）。（3）禁忌巫术。比照巫术，神秘主义可分为祭祀神秘主义、占卜神秘主义和禁忌神秘主义。当代神秘主义除保留了部分祭祀和占卜内容外，抛弃了传统神秘主义的繁复内容，反映出快餐文化的功利主义特质。气功、特异功能、神秘的养生和各种邪教理论是当代神秘主义的主要品种。

From the perspective of reception, "mysticism means self-deception or dazed mental confusion," [5]5 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. and its believers are a group that is "without self" or "loses self again." Self-consciousness should have a material basis; an individual's physical strength, family wealth, high status, and smooth career will strengthen the self. Conversely, natural weakness (frail body, humble origins) means lacking or having no self. Life circumstances then cause one to lose the self again; great joy and great sorrow (such as sudden wealth or sudden bankruptcy) easily give people the revelation of the impermanence of fate. When people cannot find the real path of change in things, cannot understand the dialectics of abnormal events and normal events, contingency and necessity, they entrust their lives to gods and spirits, falling into the mire of mysticism. Emptiness, loneliness, isolation, and helplessness are the common circumstances of those without self or who have lost self again. When care and education are absent, mysticism will become "the feeling of a heartless world" and "the opium of the people," arriving as expected.

就接受角度说，“神秘主义意味着自我欺骗或恍惚的思想混乱”[5]，其信仰者是“没有自我”或“再度失去自我”的一群。自我意识应有物质基础，个体的膂力、家境的殷实、地位的崇高和事业的顺畅会强化自我。反之，天然的弱者（身体虚弱、出身寒微）就缺少或没有自我。生活际遇则让人再度失去自我，大喜大悲（如一夜暴富或一夜破产）容易给人以命运无常的启示。当人们找不到事物变化的真实路径，理解不了异常事件与平常事件、偶然与必然的辩证法，就会寄人生于神灵，进入神秘主义泥淖。空虚寂寞孤立无助是没有自我或再度失去自我者的共同境遇，当关怀和教育缺位，神秘主义就会成为“无情世界的感情”和“人民的鸦片”，如期而至。

Occultists control the occult-belief market, reaping in those who have no self and those who have lost themselves again, and they promote belief for maximum profit by every conceivable means. Exploiting the weaknesses of human nature, through endless indoctrination, brainwashing, hypnosis and suggestion that exceed physiological limits, repeating lies a thousand times, they cause you to accept occult theories and occult facts in a state of hallucination; they cut you off from the ties of science and reason, causing you to lose yourself in a closed "field" [6]6 Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that originated in China in the early 1990s, which the Chinese government officially designated as a cult (xiejiao) in 1999 and subsequently banned, leading to a sustained nationwide crackdown. full of mystery, temptation and terror, thereby becoming dependent on a spirit or the incarnation of a spirit, turning you into a "fool." Voltaire said that superstition is a fool meeting a swindler and believing the swindler. When a fool meets a swindler, occultism becomes possible.

神秘主义者掌握着神秘信仰市场，尽收没有自我和再度失去自我者，并为利益最大化而推广信仰，无所不用其极。利用人性的弱点，以超过生理极限的絮絮叨叨的灌输、洗脑、催眠和暗示，一千遍地重复谎言，使你在幻觉中接受神秘理论和神秘事实；隔绝你与科学和理性的联系，使你在一个封闭的、充满神秘、诱惑和恐怖的“场”中迷失自我，从而依赖神灵或神灵的化身，变成“傻子”。伏尔泰说，迷信是傻子遇到骗子并相信了骗子。傻子遇到骗子，神秘主义就成为可能。

3. Causing social turmoil, undermining social harmony

3.造成社会动荡，破坏社会和谐

Socialism rejects the idea of the unity of heaven and man [7]7 Huidaomen (会道门) refers to a broad category of traditional Chinese secret societies and religious sects, often with syncretic beliefs, that were active in the late imperial and Republican periods. The new People's Republic of China launched a campaign to suppress them in the early 1950s, viewing them as politically subversive and ideologically backward., eliminates reactionary and backward occult consciousness through breaking the old and establishing the new, ends the long-term occupation of the state ideological front by occultism, and fundamentally changes the history of occultism. The surviving occultism retreats to the folk sphere, becoming a hidden, fluid, casual, scattered, and changeable folk consciousness, losing its legitimate status. Even so, the fundamental attributes and functions of occultism have not changed; it can still delude believers, gather people into sects, and stir up unrest. If the various social problems faced in the contemporary era cannot be satisfactorily resolved through proper channels, occultism will pay attention, and it is easy for it to trigger extreme reactions, causing social turmoil. We must have a clear understanding of this.

社会主义摈弃天人合一思想，通过破旧立新消除反动的落后的神秘主义意识，结束了神秘主义长期霸占国家意识形态阵地的状态，彻底改变了神秘主义的历史。而残存的神秘主义退归民间，成为潜藏的、流动的、随意的、分散的、善变的民间意识，失去了它的合法性地位。虽然如此，神秘主义的根本属性和作用并没有改变，它仍能蛊惑信众、聚众结社、躁动闹事。当代面临的种种社会问题如果正途不能完满解决，神秘主义就会关注，并容易引发过激的反应，引起社会动荡。对此，我们要有清醒的认识。

First, this destructiveness is latent. Any belief group formed by a social trend of thought possesses the potential for social activity. Once it receives a call and is deluded, the potential becomes actual force; once it confronts society, the actual force becomes destructive.

第一，这种破坏性是潜在的。任何由社会思潮组成的信仰群体都具有社会活动的潜能，一旦获得感召和蛊惑，潜能就会成为现实的力量；一旦对抗社会，现实的力量就具有破坏性。

Second, this destructive power has been repeatedly proven by reality. Under the deception of occult cult leaders, believers typically travel a road of no return from doubt to trust, from passivity to blind action, from limited contribution to bankruptcy, and even to the sacrifice of their lives. The Order of the Solar Temple, the Children of God, Heaven's Gate, and Aum Shinrikyo are all examples of this. Fal

第二，这种破坏力已经被现实一再证明。在神秘教主的欺骗下，信众通常会经历一条从怀疑到信赖、从被动到盲动、从有限贡献到倾家荡产、以至献出生命的不归路。太阳圣殿教、上帝的女儿、上帝拯救飞碟会、奥姆真理教，都是如此。法轮功信徒生病不吃药，贻害自身；为了消业自残或杀人，危害社会。即使是轻微的神秘主义修炼，如用闭气缺氧以至昏眩的气功体验，以反常体位拉扯的方法修炼瑜伽，以巫术请神治病，也会造成对身体的伤害。在气功泛滥的年月里，练功出偏和走火入魔成为社会问题，个体的伤痛汇合起来就是社会之痛，使社会失和。

Third, mysticism creates conflicts among various ideologies. The contradiction between mysticism and mainstream ideology appears not only in academia, on lecture podiums, and in classrooms, but also in our daily lives: mystical culture disseminated through mass media, indulgence in theistic beliefs, superstition among public figures, public memorial ceremonies enthusiastically attended by local officials, mystical tourist attractions, mystical health and beauty regimens, mystical therapies, the temple economy, and the culture of ghosts and gods. From an educational perspective alone, the scientific worldview that ideological and political teachers instill in students during limited class hours is often completely offset by the mysticism that is ubiquitous and ten times or a hundred times more prevalent.

第三，神秘主义造成了各种意识形态的冲突。神秘主义对主流意识形态的抵牾不仅出现在学术上、讲坛上、课堂上，也出现在我们日常的生活中：经由大众传媒传播的神秘文化、对有神信仰的放纵、公众人物的迷信、地方官员热衷的公祭、神秘的旅游看点、神秘养生养颜、神秘疗法、庙宇经济和鬼神文化。仅就教育的视角看，思想政治教师在有限的课时里向学生灌输的科学世界观，往往被十倍百倍于它的俯拾皆是的神秘主义抵消殆尽。

Fourth, the ultimate goal of mysticism is to dissolve mainstream ideology. Mysticism dreams of restoring its former glory, spares no effort to provide mystical explanations for nature and human affairs, and seeks to dominate people's thoughts, influence politics, fundamentally shake the foundations of mainstream ideology, and lure people onto the wrong path. As the mysticism of Falun Gong, which degenerated into a cult, declared, "I am actually engaged in ideology." [6]6 Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that originated in China in the early 1990s, which the Chinese government officially designated as a cult (xiejiao) in 1999 and subsequently banned, leading to a sustained nationwide crackdown.

第四，神秘主义的终极目的是消解主流意识形态。神秘主义梦想恢复曾经的辉煌，千方百计在自然和人事上做出神秘解释，并欲统治人们的思想、左右政治、从根本上动摇主流意识形态的根基，引诱人们走上歧途。如演变成邪教的法轮功神秘主义宣称的那样，“我实际上是在搞意识形态”。

II. Reasons for the Rampant Spread of Contemporary Mysticism

二、当代神秘主义肆虐的原因

In modern times, China has experienced three waves of mysticism. The first was the metaphysics formed by the combination of Western mysticism and indigenous witchcraft in the early 20th century. The second was the secret societies and religious sects (huidaomen) in the early period after liberation. [7]7 Huidaomen (会道门) refers to a broad category of traditional Chinese secret societies and religious sects, often with syncretic beliefs, that were active in the late imperial and Republican periods. The new People's Republic of China launched a campaign to suppress them in the early 1950s, viewing them as politically subversive and ideologically backward. The third was the phenomenon of "exceptional human body functions" (renti teyi gongneng) from 1979 to 1999. [8]8 "Exceptional human body functions" (人体特异功能) refers to a wave of popular belief and state-sponsored research in the late 1970s through the 1990s claiming that some individuals possessed paranormal abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, or psychokinesis, often linked to traditional Chinese concepts of qi. Although the causes of these mystical agitations are complex and intertwined, abstractly speaking, they are nothing but the result of the interaction between history and reality, culture and psychology, and institutions and politics.

近代以来，我国出现了三次神秘主义高潮。第一次是20世纪初西方神秘主义与本土巫术结合而成的玄学，第二次是解放初期的会道门。第三次是1979－1999年的人体特异功能。这些神秘主义躁动的原因虽然错综复杂，但抽象出来，无非是历史和现实、文化与心理、制度与政治交互作用的结果。

1. Mystical Factors in Traditional Culture

1.传统文化的神秘主义因素

Lu Xun said that Chinese culture is originally shamanistic in nature. [9]9 Lu Xun (1881–1936) was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature and a critical intellectual. The phrase "Chinese culture is originally shamanistic" is a paraphrase of his argument that the roots of Chinese civilization lie in shamanic practices. Historically, religious forces in China have never been strong enough to dominate imperial power. The patriarchal morality based mainly on Confucian belief became the consistent mainstream ideology for over two thousand years. Because there was no single dominant religious rule, a mystical belief that combined religiosity and secularity, coexisted with crudeness and affinity, and prioritized utility over morality was inevitable. Starting from the concepts of revering spirits and offering sacrifices to ancestors, and respecting heaven and protecting the people in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, under the guidance of the Book of Changes and the Eight Trigrams, yin-yang and the five elements, the theory of primordial qi (yuanqi lun), and the concept of heaven and man (tianren guan), we continuously engaged in mystical practices such as geomancy (fengshui) and divination and prediction. From the state and its altars of the imperial court to the life, old age, illness, and death of the common people, everything was encompassed in a big bag of mystical culture. This included a strong desire, limited by knowledge, to use mystical revelations to foresee human affairs, but more often it was deception to fool subjects in order to maintain rule. For the common people, the desire to foresee the future and change the present situation was always linked to unpredictable fate. The less control they had, the more they placed their hopes in spirits; the less they could change, the more they hoped for miracles. The consciousness of miracles is an eternal theme in traditional Chinese culture. It was only in modern times, when Marxism was introduced to China, and when the Communist Party of China used the power of class to smash an old world and build a new one, that people gradually abandoned mystical consciousness and established the idea of rationally transforming the world, thereby creating the new situation in New China where people believed in Marxism and believed in science. From the elimination of secret societies and religious sects in the early period after liberation to the long period after the end of the Cultural Revolution, mysticism lay low and communism sang triumphant songs for the following two reasons. First, the effective control of mainstream ideology; second, people's enthusiasm for socialism, their longing for communism, and their trust in the Communist Party. If the socialist cause had advanced by leaps and bounds as we had envisioned, if it had smoothly entered communism like the progression from elementary cooperatives, to advanced cooperatives, to people's communes, then breaking the old and establishing the new would have been carried through to the end. The "Down with the Confucian Shop" from the May Fourth Movement and the "Smash All Ox-Gods and Snake-Spirits" of the "Cultural Revolution" would have advanced to a newer stage, and Chinese-style mysticism would have had nothing to cling to and could not survive. [10]10 "Down with the Confucian Shop" (打倒孔家店) was a slogan of the May Fourth Movement (1919), which called for rejecting traditional Confucian values. "Smash All Ox-Gods and Snake-Spirits" (横扫一切牛鬼蛇神) was a radical slogan from the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), used to denounce all perceived remnants of the old society, including traditional beliefs and practices. However, we experienced the turmoil of the "Cultural Revolution," took detours, and suffered setbacks. This changed the two factors that controlled mysticism, creating the first cause of the contemporary mystical agitation: the revival of shamans and swindlers, and the emergence of heretical sects. On the other hand, after the Cultural Revolution, people's enthusiasm for changing the status quo and building the country did not fade but rather increased. When we woke up and found ourselves lagging behind, we had an impulse to catch up, which created the second cause of the contemporary mystical agitation: using mystical methods—exceptional human body functions—to surpass the world. The third cause of contemporary mysticism is the existence of fertile soil for mysticism: the blind followers who need to change their fate. The hidden seeds of mysticism with ulterior motives sprouted under exceptional thinking and grew in the fertile soil of mysticism. It is undeniable that the reform path after the "Cultural Revolution" was themed "science changes destiny," but the extraordinary mystical path existed from the beginning and continued until people discovered its threat, discovered its absurdity, and until those with ulterior motives could no longer play it out. This turmoil lasted for twenty years. The lesson is painful. If fantasy could fulfill our wishes, why would we need practice? If mystical powers were boundless, why would we use real swords and guns? If exceptional human body functions could cure diseases and ward off disasters, what need would there be for science and technology? Due to the lack of a reliable and real path, the fantasy of reaching heaven in one step was doomed to fail. When promises cannot be fulfilled, if mysticism does not choose to leave the stage quietly, it will inevitably turn to evil.

鲁迅说，中华文化本姓巫。历史上，我国的宗教力量从来没有强大到驾驭皇权的程度，以儒家信仰为主的宗法道德成为两千多年一以贯之的主流意识形态。由于没有一家独大的宗教统治，宗教性和世俗性的统一、简陋性和亲和性并存、功利多于道义的神秘信仰就在所难免。从商周的尊神祭祖、敬天保民理念开始，我们在周易八卦、阴阳五行、元气论和天人观指引下，不断进行着堪舆风水、占卜预测的神秘主义实践，上至朝廷的江山社稷、下至百姓的生老病死，都囊括在一个神秘文化的大口袋中。其间不乏局限于认识而欲借助神秘启示预知人事的强烈愿望，但更多的是愚化臣民以维护统治的欺骗。就百姓来说，预知前程改变现状的渴望始终与无常命运相联系，越是不能把握，越寄希望于神灵，越是无法改变，越寄希望于奇迹。奇迹意识是中国传统文化的永恒主题。只是到了近代，当马克思主义传入中国，当中国共产党以阶级的力量砸碎一个旧世界、建成一个新世界后，人们才逐渐抛弃神秘意识，树立理性地改造世界的思想，从而造就了新中国人们相信马克思主义、相信科学的崭新局面。从解放初肃清会道门到文化大革命结束后的很长一段时间，神秘主义之所以偃旗息鼓、共产主义凯歌高奏，是因为以下两个原因。第一，主流意识形态的有效控制；第二，人们对社会主义的热情、对共产主义的向往和对共产党的信任。如果社会主义事业像我们预想的那样突飞猛进，如果像从初级社、高级社到人民公社那样顺利进入共产主义，破旧立新就会贯彻到底，从五四开始的“打倒孔家店”到“文化大革命”的“横扫一切牛鬼蛇神”就会推进到更新的局面，中国式的神秘主义也就无所附丽无法生存。但是我们出现了“文化大革命”的动乱，走了弯路，受了挫折，这使控制神秘主义的两个因素发生了改变，造成了当代神秘主义躁动的第一个原因：巫觋和骗子复活，旁门左道产生。另一方面，文化大革命后人们改变现状建设国家的热情不是消退了、而是进一步高涨。当我们一觉醒来发现已经落伍，我们就有一种奋起直追的冲动，这就造成了当代神秘主义躁动的第二个原因：用神秘方法——特异功能——赶超世界。当代神秘主义的第三个原因是存在神秘主义的沃土：需要改变命运的盲从的群众。潜藏的别有用心的神秘主义种子，在特异思维下发芽，在神秘主义沃土里成长。不可否认，“文化大革命”后的改革之路是以“科学改变命运”为主题的，但超常的神秘之路一开始就存在并持续到人们发现它的威胁、发现它的荒诞、别有用心者再也玩不下去为止，这一折腾就是二十年。教训是沉痛的。如果玄想能够达成愿望，我们何必实践？如果神秘法力无边，我们何必使用真刀真枪？如果特异功能可以治病禳灾，那么科学技术有何必要？由于缺乏真实可靠的路径，一步登天的玄想注定不能实现。当许诺无法兑现，神秘主义如果不是选择黯然离场，那就必然走向邪恶。

2. The Shaking of the Materialist Worldview and the Weakening of Marxist Ideology

2.唯物主义世界观的动摇和马克思主义意识形态的弱化

The mysticism group is constituted as follows: a handful of masters and researchers with ulterior motives, a large number of believers, and even more blind followers, among whom there are not a few self-righteous pseudo-Marxists who endorse and annotate mysticism, as well as half-baked and incomplete Marxists. In the agitation of mysticism, the basic principles of dialectical materialism are mechanically and metaphysically distorted, and the initiative of consciousness is infinitely expanded. They propagate ear-recognition of characters and extrasensory perception to disrupt the material basis of sensation; they exaggerate the initiative of consciousness into the determinacy of consciousness; they understand “seeing is believing” as meaning that what the visual organ perceives is real existence; they take the infinity of cognition as the theoretical basis for wild thoughts; and they treat possible existence as actual existence. This commits the errors of mechanical materialism and idealist dialectics, thereby weakening the Marxist ideology in these individuals and in these specific epistemological and methodological aspects, replacing it with mysticism. In the agitation of mysticism, some people lose scientific rationality, their materialist convictions waver, and they move from denying mysticism to doubting it, and then to half-believing it. This is a manifestation of the shaking of the materialist worldview. More seriously, mysticism is infused into Marxist ideology, entering people’s minds through textbooks, lectures, and classrooms, diluting and weakening Marxism.

神秘主义群体是这样构成的：个别别有用心的大师和研究人员、大量的信仰者和更多的盲动者，其间不乏为神秘主义背书作注的自以为是的假马克思主义者和一知半解的不彻底的马克思主义者。在神秘主义躁动中，唯物辩证法基本原理被机械地形而上学地篡改，意识的能动性被无限扩大。他们宣扬耳朵识字超感知觉以打乱感觉的物质基础，他们把意识的能动性夸大为意识决定性、把“眼见为实”理解为视官所感就是真实存在、把认识的无限性当作胡思乱想的理论基础、把可能存在当作现实存在，犯了机械唯物主义和唯心辩证法的错误，从而使马克思主义意识形态在这些人身上、在这些具体的认识论和方法论上被弱化，为神秘主义所取代。在神秘主义躁动中，一些人丧失科学理性，唯物主义信念动摇，对神秘主义从否定到怀疑、再到半信半疑，这就是唯物主义世界观动摇的表现。更为严重的是，神秘主义被掺入马克思主义意识形态，通过教材、讲座、课堂而进入头脑，马克思主义被稀释和弱化。

3. The Relative Lag in Policy and Academia

3.政策和学术的相对滞后

Contemporary mysticism entered the academic and political context from the very beginning. However, because we lacked adequate academic preparation, policy-wise this movement evaded regulation. First, our understanding of qigong was insufficient. Qigong has complex origins and an evolving history, including Daoist techniques or yoga. In Daoism, it was a shortcut to attaining the Dao; in yoga, it was a path to communion with the divine; in folk organizations (such as the Boxers [11]11 The Boxers (Yihequan) were a Chinese secret society and martial arts movement that led an anti-foreign, anti-Christian uprising in 1899-1901, known as the Boxer Rebellion. They believed their practices rendered them invulnerable to bullets.), it was a means of resisting enemies; and among ordinary people, it was a method for strengthening the body. However, the qigong distorted by mysticism is not as simple as the mere exercise of moving the limbs and strengthening the body that we assume; rather, it involves a set of mystical experiences and techniques. To achieve longevity and eternal vision, Daoists not only used furnace fire to refine “external elixirs” such as the Great Return Pill (mercuric oxide, lead oxide) and the Lesser Return Pill (mercuric sulfide), poisoning themselves, but also regarded their own bodies as furnaces, refining an “internal elixir” through “sinking qi into the dantian.” When long-stagnant waste qi was forced out, they hallucinated that a qi pathway had opened, unaware that the dizzy state achieved by holding the breath was caused by oxygen deprivation. In the early days after the founding of New China, to address the fitness needs of the people in a situation of scarce doctors and medicine, the health department promoted Liu Guizhen’s [12]12 Liu Guizhen (1920-1983) was a Chinese qigong practitioner whose “New Qigong Therapy” was officially promoted by the Chinese government in the 1950s as a health exercise. exhalation and inhalation technique, which became contemporary qigong, a gymnastic-style fitness method. However, in the hands of mysticism, corresponding to the Daoist concept of “external qi,” qigong even acquired a notion of “external qi.” This nonexistent “external qi,” combined with intention, was touted as having the ability to extinguish fires, grab tumors, increase production, and perform various forms of prediction. The lag in academia led to policy indecision. Contemporary mysticism has always faced scientific questioning and resistance. However, because everything was under debate, and authoritative conclusions required the test of time and practical verification, the only approach to mysticism was an ambivalent one, stating that “human exceptional functions are not our research focus; before they are fully verified by science, they should no longer be introduced or publicized in newspapers and periodicals, nor should criticism or organized debate be conducted.” [13]13 This refers to a policy stance taken by the Chinese government in the early 1980s regarding “human exceptional functions” (人体特异功能), a term for paranormal abilities like telepathy and clairvoyance. The “three no’s” were: no introduction or publicity in the press, no criticism, and no organized debate. Although the cautious attitude of the “three no’s policy” reduced disputes, it simultaneously created an absence of criticism of human exceptional functions, allowing mystical research and performances to continue.

当代神秘主义一开始就进入了学术和政治的语境，然而，由于我们没有很好的学术准备，以至于在政策上让这场运动逃避了规制。首先，我们对气功的认识不足。气功有道术或瑜伽等复杂来源和不断演变的历程。在道家那里，它是得道的捷径；在瑜伽那里，它是通神的途径；在民间组织那里（如义和拳），它是御敌的手段；在普通百姓，它是强身健体的方法。但是，被神秘主义所曲解的气功并没有我们所认为的活动筋骨锻炼身体这样简单，而是有一套神秘的体验和技术。道家为了长生久视，不仅用炉火炼出大还丹（氧化汞、氧气铅）、小还丹（硫化汞）这样的“外丹”来毒害自己，而且还把自己的身体也看作一个炉子，通过“气沉丹田”来炼“内丹”。当久闭的废气要冲出时，就幻觉通了气路，而不知那种因闭气所达到的昏眩状态，是缺氧所致。新中国成立初期，我国卫生部门为解决缺医少药情况下老百姓健身问题而推广了刘贵珍的吐纳术，这就是当代气功，一种体操式健身方法。但是，到了神秘主义那里，对应道家“外丹”的概念，气功居然有了“外气”一说。这种子虚乌有的“外气”与意念结合，被吹嘘具有灭火、抓瘤、增产和各种预测能力。学术的滞后带来政策上的无所适从。当代神秘主义始终遭到科学的质疑和抵制，但是，由于一切都在争论中，权威的结论尚需时间的考验和实践的确证，对待神秘主义就只能采取一种两可的态度，称“人体特异功能不是我们研究重点，在科学上还没有充分证实之前，今后在报刊上不再介绍和宣传，也不要进行批评和组织争论”。“三不政策”所持谨慎态度虽然减少了争端，但同时造成了人体特异功能批评的缺位，使神秘研究和表演持续进行。

III. Resolving Contemporary Belief Issues on a Materialist Foundation

三、在唯物论基础上解决当代信仰问题

1. Strengthen Education in Materialism and Atheism, Resist Idealism

1.加强唯物论和无神论教育，抵制唯心主义

No matter how mysticism flaunts its epistemological basis, and no matter what cultural disguise it adopts, its epistemological foundation is necessarily idealist. After classical philosophy, various schools of philosophical thought emerged in succession, while Marxist philosophy was neglected, creating the agitation of contemporary mysticism. Today, when phenomenological analysis, linguistic analysis, or semiotic analysis provide us with new perspectives for understanding the world, some postmodern philosophers who are fixated on a single novel cognitive method have gone too far. They dare to blur the boundary between materialism and idealism, declaring that anything goes or nothing works, that “idealism is bad, but materialism is worse,” thereby pushing ontology into a context of skepticism or relativism. Under such a view of cognition, materialism can only be mechanical materialism or vulgar egoism, while on issues concerning absolute truth or ultimate truth, it becomes either an obviously knowable apriorism or a subjective idealism that can be resolved solely through mental experience. Leaving aside the aesthetic sense of the Sufi tradition, our daily life today is already surrounded by various idealist arguments and methods, such as emphasizing mystical qigong, yoga that claims to achieve union with the divine through certain postures, the disease concept of “I think I am sick, so I am sick; I don’t think I am sick, so who can make me sick,” and mystical medical techniques including chicken blood therapy, hand-swinging therapy, and urine therapy. Concrete, necessary connections in reality are replaced by fictional, abstract, possible connections, and dialectical materialism is challenged. These facts are sufficient to show that the propaganda and education of a scientific epistemology remains an unfinished task requiring our efforts. “Some comrades sometimes regard peasants as materialist philosophers, thinking that just one lecture on natural science is enough to make peasants believe that God does not exist.” [14]14 This is a paraphrase of a point made by Vladimir Lenin in his 1922 work “On the Significance of Militant Materialism,” where he criticizes the naive belief that a single science lecture can eradicate religious belief among peasants. In fact, peasants are very troubled; they worry that “God really exists,” so they “worship both Communist Party members and God” to “make the crops more reliable.” [15]15 This is a reference to a description of peasant religious practice in Lenin’s “On the Significance of Militant Materialism,” where he notes peasants hedging their bets by worshipping both Party members and God. “First impressions are strongest” is a cognitive inertia, requiring us to stay ahead of mysticism in the dissemination of a scientific epistemology. “The journal of militant materialism must tirelessly conduct atheistic propaganda,” “tell them facts from all aspects of actual life,” and “use various methods to rouse them from all sides.” [16]16 These are direct quotations from Lenin’s “On the Significance of Militant Materialism,” advocating for persistent atheistic propaganda and the use of concrete examples from daily life.

不管神秘主义如何标榜自己的认识论依据，也不管它采用何种文化伪装，其认识论基础必然是唯心主义的。古典哲学之后、各种流派的哲学思潮不断涌现、而马克思主义哲学受到冷落，造成了当代神秘主义躁动。在现象分析、语言分析或符号分析给我们提供了认识世界新视角的今天，一些偏执于某一新颖的认识方法的后现代哲学家却走得太远。他们敢于模糊唯物主义与唯心主义的界限，宣称什么都行或什么都不行、“唯心主义不好、唯物主义更坏”，从而使本体论进入怀疑主义或相对主义语境。在这样的认识观下，唯物主义只能是机械的唯物主义或庸俗的利己主义，而在关系到绝对真理或终极真理的问题上，就是明明可知的先验论或仅凭心灵体验就能解决的主观唯心主义。剔除审美意义上的苏菲主义传统不说，我们今天的日常生活已经被各种唯心主义的论调和方法包围，如强调神秘的气功、宣称通过某种招式而达到与神合一的瑜伽、“我想病，我就病；我不想病，谁能病我”的疾病观、包括鸡血疗法、甩手疗法和尿疗在内的神秘医术等等。现实的具体的必然联系被虚构的抽象的可能联系替代，唯物辩证法受到了挑战。这些事实足以说明，对于科学的认识论的宣传教育，仍然是一项没有完成的工作，需要我们努力。“某些同志有时把农民看作唯物主义哲学家，以为只要做一次自然科学演讲，就足以使农民相信上帝是不存在的。”其实农民很苦恼，他们担心“真有上帝”，所以既“敬拜共产党员，又敬拜上帝”，以“使庄稼更靠得住些”[6]。“先入为主”是认识的惰性，它要求我们在科学认识论的传播上要走在神秘主义前面，“战斗唯物主义刊物的杂志必须不倦地进行无神论的宣传”，“告诉他们实际生活各个方面的事实”，“用种种方法从各方面使他们振作起来”[7]。

2. Improve Social Systems, Eliminate the Soil for Mysticism

2.完善社会制度，消除神秘主义的土壤

We must improve the distribution system at the material level and the honor system at the ideological level, using institutions to eliminate mysticism. Regarding the distribution system, we must pursue fairness. If people can obtain what they need in the real world, they will not turn to gods and spirits. Social fairness can eliminate the realistic basis of mysticism. So-called fairness does not mean “making all people equal to each other,” but rather “abolishing classes,” including abolishing the “class differences” between “workers and peasants.” [17]17 This is a reference to Friedrich Engels’s “Principles of Communism” (1847), where he defines the abolition of class distinctions, including those between workers and peasants, as the goal of communism. For a long time, urban-rural differences and worker-peasant differences have actually existed in our country, and we are using institutions to narrow these differences. The measures in the government work report of the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress [18]18 The Eleventh National People’s Congress (NPC) was the national legislature of China from 2008 to 2013. Its Fourth Session was held in March 2011. regarding “reasonably adjusting income distribution relations,” such as the “minimum wage system,” the regulation of “excessively high incomes,” and “standardizing the order of income distribution,” all touch upon the institutional level of distributional fairness. In the past, facing the contradiction between fairness and efficiency, we adopted a series of policies encouraging “getting rich first” to accelerate economic development, doing what Engels called “not directly in our interest” but “had to” be done, [19]19 This is a reference to a letter from Friedrich Engels to Friedrich Adolph Sorge in 1892, where Engels discusses the necessity of sometimes taking measures that are not directly in the long-term interest of the working class for the sake of immediate political progress. leading to the differentiation of social strata and the gap between rich and poor. Now, some have already become wealthy first, the economic foundation is basically stable, and the time is ripe to promote common prosperity institutionally and let all the people share the fruits of reform and opening up. Regarding the honor system, we must pursue justice, establish and improve the Party and state honor system from the perspective of recognition, so that people value noble honors, and recognize from the standpoint of social status and value that making immortal contributions to the people is the greatest common interest and personal honor.

要完善物质层面的分配制度和意识形态层面的荣誉制度，用制度消除神秘主义。就分配制度而言，我们要追求公平。人们在现实世界能够得到，就不会求助于神灵。社会公平能够消除神秘主义的现实基础。所谓的公平，并不是要“使所有的人彼此平等”，而是要“消灭阶级”，包括消灭“工农之间”的“阶级差别”[8]。长期以来，我们的城乡差别、工农差别实际地存在着，我们正在用制度缩小这些差别。十一届全国人大四次会议政府工作报告关于“合理调整收入分配关系”的措施，如“最低工资制度”、对“过高收入”的调控和“规范收入分配秩序”，都涉及了分配公平的制度层面。曾经，在公平和效率这对矛盾面前，我们为加快经济发展采取了一系列鼓励“先富”的政策，做了恩格斯所说的“不直接符合我们的利益”却“不得不”做的事情[9]，出现了社会阶层的分化和贫富悬殊。现在，部分人已经先富裕起来，经济基础基本稳固，从制度上推动共同富裕、让全体人民共享改革开放的成果的时机已经成熟。就荣誉制度而言，我们要追求正义，从认同的角度建立健全党和国家的荣誉制度，使人们重视高尚荣誉，从社会地位和价值上认同为人民建立不朽功勋是最大的共同利益和个人荣誉。

3. Uphold the Party’s Leadership, Build a Political Great Wall Against Mysticism

3.坚持党的领导，构筑抵制神秘主义的政治长城

The question of belief in contemporary China has both universality and particularity, and both a collective dimension and an individual dimension. In terms of universality, the question of belief is an ever-present and omnipresent question of ideas, involving all levels of social life and shaping our worldview, outlook on life, and values. In terms of particularity, the severity and complexity of China’s belief question is manifested not only in its being the crux of many of our social problems, nor only in the lack of effective methods for resolving these problems, but more importantly in its bearing on what banner we raise and what path we take. In terms of individuality, belief concerns each person’s growth and career, is an individual’s life need, and is closely bound up with human existence. In terms of collectivity, shared belief concerns our shared values and the vitality of the collective, influences the cause of the collective, and affects the construction of the socialist core value system and the success or failure of the socialist cause. Experience proves that those forms of mysticism that contradict socialist ideology and erode the socialist organism often possess a strong concealment in their period of emergence and development; they often use the name of freedom of belief to carry out the reality of spreading belief, use the name of cultural inheritance to carry out the reality of ignorance and superstition, use the name of academic research to carry out the reality of deconstructing politics, and use the name of caring for believers to carry out the reality of seeking wealth and harming life. The secret societies and religious sects [20]20 Secret societies and religious sects (会道门): A term used in the early PRC for a range of folk religious and sectarian groups, often with millenarian or mystical beliefs, that were suppressed as counter-revolutionary organizations during the early 1950s. at the beginning of the founding of New China used mystical beliefs to delude the masses, carried out the reality of swindling money and sex during the period when the foundations of socialism were unstable, even to the point of wanting to occupy a mountain and proclaim themselves king and saint, or resisting the government and disturbing society. Contemporary mysticism uses science as a pretext, takes the name of researching unknown things, mysterious phenomena, and mysterious culture, uses the principle of the infinity of cognitive movement and the non-supremacy of truth as an excuse, and uses the reason that there are no forbidden zones in academia to embolden the growth of cults, the performance of sorcerers and shamans, and the rampancy of swindlers. And some individual Party cadres and members have abandoned their Marxist belief, colluded with mystics, and created an extremely bad social impact. Facts prove that freedom of belief easily conceals the lack of firmness in the belief of Communists, allowing non-Marxists to gain a foothold and prosper, harming the socialist cause. It is precisely on the dialectical unity of the universality and particularity, the individuality and collectivity of belief that we must uphold the Party’s leadership over ideology, uphold Marxist materialism and scientific atheism, clearly distinguish love from hate, and resolutely resist mysticism.

当代中国的信仰问题，既有普遍性也有特殊性，既有群体性也有个体性。就普遍性而言，信仰问题是无时不在无处不有的观念问题，它涉及社会生活各个层面，并左右我们的世界观、人生观和价值观；就特殊性而言，我国信仰问题的严重性和复杂性不仅表现为它是我国众多社会问题的症结所在，也不仅在于解决这些问题还缺乏行之有效的方法，更重要的是它关系到我们举什么旗、走什么路。就个体性而言，信仰关系到每个人的成长和事业，是个人的生命需要，与人生息息相关。就群体性而言，共同的信仰关系到我们共同的价值观和群体的活力，影响到群体的事业，影响到社会主义核心价值体系构建和社会主义事业的成败。经验证明，那些抵牾社会主义意识形态、侵蚀社会主义机体的神秘主义，在其发生和发展时期往往具有很强的隐蔽性，他们往往以信仰自由为名、行信仰传播之实，以文化传承为名、行愚昧迷信之实，以学术研究之名、行解构政治之实，以关怀信众为名、行谋财害命之实。新中国成立初的会道门，就是利用神秘信仰蛊惑群众，在社会主义根基不稳时期行骗财骗色之实，以至欲占山为王称圣称尊，或对抗政府扰乱社会。当代神秘主义以科学为幌子，以研究未知事物、神秘现象和神秘文化为名，以认识运动的无限性和真理的非至上性原理为借口，以学术无禁区为理由，为邪教壮大、巫觋作法、骗子横行张目。而个别党员干部放弃自己的马克思主义信仰，与神秘主义者沆瀣一气，造成了极坏的社会影响。事实证明，信仰自由容易掩盖共产党人信仰的不坚定，让非马克思主义者钻营得势，危害社会主义事业。正是在信仰的普遍性与特殊性、个体性和群体性的辩证统一上，我们要坚持党对意识形态的领导权，坚持马克思主义唯物论和科学无神论，爱憎分明，坚决抵制神秘主义。

To uphold the Party’s leadership over ideology, it is necessary to strengthen the building of the ruling Party and ensure a high degree of unity within the Party on the question of belief. “Unification” is the basic operation of ideology; through “constructing a unified form,” it can “encompass people within collective identity regardless of their differences and divergences, thereby establishing and supporting relations of domination.” [21]21 The quotation is from Don Cupitt, *Postmodern Mysticism*, p. 21, as cited in the original text’s endnote [1] (here [P14]). Materialism is the essence of Marxism, and atheism is the foundation of the Marxist worldview. Only by resisting the ideology of mysticism can the Party spirit of Communists achieve a high degree of unity on the basis of these “two theories.” Some Marxist political parties in Western Europe, after the communist movement entered a low tide, based on the characteristics of strong religious forces, relaxed their requirements on the “two theories” for Party members in order to help Marxist parties escape their predicament. But compromise did not improve the situation of Marxist parties there. This fact proves that only by continuously strengthening their own construction according to the requirements of the times and resisting all forms of idealism and theism can Marxist political parties forever remain invincible.

坚持党对意识形态的领导权，就要加强执政党建设，保障党在信仰问题上高度统一。“统一化”是意识形态的基本操作，通过“构建一种统一的形式”，可以把人们“包罗在集体认同性之内而不问其差异和分歧，从而建立和支撑统治关系”[10]。唯物论是马克思主义的精髓，无神论是马克思主义世界观的基础。抵制神秘主义意识形态，共产党人的党性才能在“两论”基础上高度统一。西欧一些马克思主义政党在共产主义运动进入低潮后，根据宗教势力强大的特点，为使马克思主义政党走出困境，对党员的“两论”要求有所放松。但妥协并没有使那里的马克思主义政党处境更好。这一事实证明，马克思主义政党只有不断按时代的要求加强自身建设，抵制一切形式的唯心主义和有神论，才能使自己永远立于不败之地。

4. Strengthen academic research and theoretical critique of mysticism

4.加强对神秘主义的学术研究和理论批判

Attention must be paid to academic research and theoretical critique of the following viewpoints. First, mysticism is traditional culture and must be promoted. Those holding this view wave the banner of populism to win the patriotic sentiment of the masses. For example, applying for the protection of cultural heritage such as boiling eggs in boys’ urine or the “escape arts” of the marketplace; this kind of directional deviation easily leads those recipients who lack basic scientific spirit and humanistic literacy to identify with mysticism. Second, mystical belief is free. True, belief is always free, but collective consciousness requires regulation. An individual’s freedom of belief is valid only when it does not hinder others’ freedom of belief. If a mystical belief erodes the nobility and purity of collective belief, if collective belief hinders the state ideology, then such freedom lacks legitimacy. Third, mysticism enjoys academic freedom. Some researchers engage in the propagation of mysticism precisely under the guise of value neutrality and academic freedom, but an important connotation of academic freedom is the freedom of academic criticism. Those closed mystical research circles that publish their own books, run their own journals, and establish their own academic groups always evade questioning and criticism. Once criticized, they cry injustice. Mysticism lacks the demeanor and courage to accept academic criticism and therefore does not qualify to enjoy academic freedom. Fourth, mysticism has contemporary value. Within a utilitarian perspective, mysticism can create harmony and has instrumental significance. This is a stale idea long criticized by Marx. Although “religion is the feeling of a heartless world,” and “the self-consciousness of a self that has lost itself or is still to find itself,” religion is also “the opium of the people.” [22]22 The phrases are from Marx’s *Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. Introduction* (1844). We implement the Party’s policy of freedom of religious belief, but we do not allow mysticism to cloak itself in religious garb to engage in anti-scientific activities. Because mysticism is not only “the opium of the people” but also a vulgar and anti-scientific idealist consciousness. Fifth, materialism cannot satisfy people’s need for belief. As a driving force in life, the power of belief lies not in the perfection of its depiction of the “afterlife,” but in whether that “afterlife” is beautiful enough to be reliable and whether the path to reach the “afterlife” is feasible—that is, whether it is “believable.” Mysticism claims that through mere self-experience one can achieve “union with the divine”; the path is convenient, and the destination is also perfect, but both the path and the result are illusory and unreal, and therefore not “believable.” Taking the unbelievable as belief is a paradox that idealism cannot reconcile. Only materialism resolves the problem of “belief” and “believability.” Through a scientific view of history, it points to humanity’s lofty ideal and the realistic path to realize that ideal; through dialectics, it provides the ideological path for individual ideals to submit to social ideals and for finite life to merge into the infinite river of history, making “immortality” possible. Marxism does not need paradoxical, false beliefs. In the view of Communists, devoting one’s finite life to the infinite service of the people can realize the immortal value of individual life and enable the individual to achieve eternal life in history.

要重视对以下观点的学术研究和理论批判。第一，神秘主义是传统文化，必须发扬。持这个观点者打着民粹主义旗帜以博取大众的爱国之心。如申请对童子尿煮鸡蛋或江湖“遁术”等文化遗产的保护，这种导向性偏差，容易使那些没有基本科学精神和人文素养的接受者认同神秘主义。第二，神秘主义信仰自由。不错，信仰总是自由的，但群体意识是需要规范的。个人的信仰自由只有在不妨碍他人信仰自由的情况下才能成立。如果一个神秘的信仰侵蚀了群体信仰的高尚性和纯洁性，如果群体信仰妨碍了国家意识形态，则这样的自由就缺乏了合法性。第三，神秘主义学术自由。部分研究者正是在价值中立和学术自由的幌子下从事神秘主义宣传的，但学术自由的重要内涵是学术批评的自由。那些自出著作自办刊物自立学术团体的封闭的神秘主义研究，实际上总是规避质疑和批评的。一旦遭遇批评，他们就鸣冤叫屈。神秘主义没有接受学术批评的风度和勇气，因而没有享受学术自由的资格。第四，神秘主义有当代价值。在功利主义视野里，神秘主义能够造就和谐，有工具性意义。这是早被马克思批判过的陈腐观念。虽然“宗教是无情世界的感情”，是“没有自我或者再度失去自我者的自我意识”，但同时宗教又是“人民的鸦片”。我们实行党的宗教信仰自由政策，但不允许神秘主义披上宗教外衣从事反科学活动。因为，神秘主义不仅是“人民的鸦片”，而且是一种粗俗的和反科学的唯心主义意识。第五，唯物论不能满足人们的信仰需要。信仰作为人生动力，其力量大小不在于对于“来世”描绘的完美程度，而在于这个“来世”美丽得是否可靠、达到“来世”的途径是否可行，亦即是否可“信”。神秘主义宣称仅仅通过自我体验就能达成“与神合一”，其途径是便捷的，目的地也很完美，但无论途径还是结果，都是虚幻不实的，因而是不可“信”的。把不可信作为信仰，这是唯心主义无法圆融的悖论。只有唯物主义解决了“信”与“可信”的问题，它通过科学的历史观，指出了人类的远大理想与实现这一理想的现实途径；通过辩证法，提供了个人理想服从社会理想、有限生命融入无限历史长河的思想路径，使“不朽”成为可能。马克思主义不需要佯谬的虚假的信仰，在共产主义者看来，把有限的生命投入到无限的为人民服务中去，就能实现个体生命的不朽价值，使个人在历史中永生。

References:

参考文献：

[1]1 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Hou Huiqin, *Marxist Ideological Critique and Contemporary China*, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2010.

[1] 侯惠勤：《马克思主义意识形态批判与当代中国》，北京：中国社会科学出版社，2010年。

[2]2 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Hou Huiqin, ed., *Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin on Ideology*, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2012.

[2] 侯惠勤主编：《马克思恩格斯列宁斯大林论意识形态》，北京：中国社会科学出版社，2012年。

[3]3 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Zhong Kewen, *How Falun Gong Gained Momentum: An Analysis of Qigong and Supernatural Abilities*, Beijing: Contemporary China Publishing House, 1999.

[3] 钟科文：《法轮功何以成势：气功特异功能解析》，北京：当代中国出版社，1999年。

[4]4 *Principles of Dialectical Materialism* is a standard textbook on Marxist philosophy used in Chinese higher education. Huang Lunsheng, *The Mysterious Gate of the Eastern Heavenly Kingdom*, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993.

[4] 黄伦生：《东方天国的神秘之门》，桂林：广西师范大学出版社，1993年。

[5]5 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Tu Jianhua, *The Wandering Specter: Twenty Years of Qigong and Supernatural Abilities*, Guiyang: Guizhou Education Press, 2003.

[5] 涂建华：《徘徊的幽灵——气功特异功能20年》，贵阳：贵州教育出版社，2003年。

(Editor: Liu Dezhong)

（编辑：刘德中）

(Author’s affiliation: Marxist Research Base, Hunan City University)

(作者单位：湖南城市学院马克思主义研究基地)

Online editor: Zhang Jian

网络编辑：张剑

[1]1 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Don Cupitt, *Postmodern Mysticism*, trans. Wang Zhicheng and Zheng Bin, Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2005, p. 21.

[1] 库比特：《后现代神秘主义》，王志成、郑斌译，北京：中国人民大学出版社，2005年，第21页。

[2]2 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Yuan Guiren and Yang Geng, eds., *Marxist Philosophy in the View of Contemporary Scholars: Western Scholars Volume* (Part 1), Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press, 2008, p. 462.

[2] 袁贵仁、杨耕：《当代学者视野中的马克思主义哲学•西方学者卷》（上），北京：北京师范大学出版社，2008年，第462页。

[3]3 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Tu Jianhua, “The Twenty-Year Course and Characteristics of Supernatural Abilities,” *Journal of Hunan City University*, 2009, No. 4.

[3] 涂建华：《特异功能20年历程及其特点》，载《湖南城市学院学报》2009 年第4期。

[4]4 *Principles of Dialectical Materialism* is a standard textbook on Marxist philosophy used in Chinese higher education. Quoted in Yu Guangyuan, *Critique of So-Called Human Supernatural Abilities*, Shanghai: Knowledge Press, 1986, pp. 249-250.

[4] 转引自于光远：《评所谓人体特异功能》，上海：知识出版社，1986年，第249-250页。

[5]5 The source of the quotation is not provided in the original text. Geoffrey Parrinder, *Mysticism in the World’s Religions*, trans. Shu Xiaowei et al., Beijing: China Today Press, 1992, p. 6.

[5] 杰弗里•帕林德尔：《世界宗教中的神秘主义》，舒晓炜等译，北京：今日中国出版社，1992年，第6页。

[6]6 Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that originated in China in the early 1990s, which the Chinese government officially designated as a cult (xiejiao) in 1999 and subsequently banned, leading to a sustained nationwide crackdown. *Complete Works of Stalin*, Vol. 6, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1956, p. 268.

[6] 《斯大林全集》第6卷，北京：人民出版社，1956年，第268页。

[7]7 Huidaomen (会道门) refers to a broad category of traditional Chinese secret societies and religious sects, often with syncretic beliefs, that were active in the late imperial and Republican periods. The new People's Republic of China launched a campaign to suppress them in the early 1950s, viewing them as politically subversive and ideologically backward. *Complete Works of Lenin*, Vol. 43, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1987, pp. 25-26.

[7] 《列宁全集》第43卷，北京：人民出版社，1987年，第25-26页。

[8]8 "Exceptional human body functions" (人体特异功能) refers to a wave of popular belief and state-sponsored research in the late 1970s through the 1990s claiming that some individuals possessed paranormal abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, or psychokinesis, often linked to traditional Chinese concepts of qi. *Complete Works of Lenin*, Vol. 36, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 341.

[8] 《列宁全集》第36卷，北京：人民出版社，1985年，第341页。

[9]9 Lu Xun (1881–1936) was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature and a critical intellectual. The phrase "Chinese culture is originally shamanistic" is a paraphrase of his argument that the roots of Chinese civilization lie in shamanic practices. *Complete Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 28, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1973, p. 587.

[9] 《马克思恩格斯全集》第28卷，北京：人民出版社，1973年，第587页。

[10]10 "Down with the Confucian Shop" (打倒孔家店) was a slogan of the May Fourth Movement (1919), which called for rejecting traditional Confucian values. "Smash All Ox-Gods and Snake-Spirits" (横扫一切牛鬼蛇神) was a radical slogan from the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), used to denounce all perceived remnants of the old society, including traditional beliefs and practices. Thompson, *Ideology and Modern Culture*, trans. Gao Qiang et al., Nanjing: Yilin Press, 2005, p. 71.

[10] 汤普森：《意识形态与现代文化》，高铦等译，南京：译林出版社，2005年，第71页。