The "Second Integration" and the Emergence of Marxist Atheism in Modern China

To review the scientific writing of the history of atheism in China and abroad, it is necessary to re-examine the spiritualism critique movement that took place in modern China between 1918 and 1919, with *New Youth* as its阵地, in which atheism courageously fought against the thought of ghosts and gods. The victory of the New Culture advocates represented by Chen Duxiu in criticizing "spiritualism" and breaking "ghostly appearances" was the result of the Chinese people independently sweeping away thick layers of dust and consciously choosing advanced ideological weapons. The spiritualism critique in *New Youth* contains genes from fine traditional Chinese culture: patriotism, the struggle against theistic thought, and openness to foreign cultures. The genes of fine traditional Chinese culture displayed in this process contain points of convergence with the people-centeredness, scientificity, and openness of Marxist atheism. This critique cleaned the doorstep for the entry of Marxist atheism into China and effectively "assisted" the development and progress of modern Chinese thought.

回顾科学的中外无神论史书写，需重新审视近代中国发生于1918—1919年之间以《新青年》为阵地展开的那场无神论勇斗鬼神思想的灵学批判运动。以陈独秀为代表的新文化倡导者批“灵学”、破“鬼相”的胜出是中国人自主涤荡厚厚的浮土灰尘而自觉选择先进思想武器的结果。《新青年》灵学批判蕴含着中华优秀传统文化中爱国主义、与有神思想斗争以及对外来文化兼容并包的基因。这一过程所展示出的中华优秀传统文化基因中有着与马克思主义无神论人民性、科学性、开放性相契合之处，为马克思主义无神论在中国的传播打扫了登堂入室的门庭，为近现代中国人思想的发展进步起到了有效“助攻”的作用。

I. The Modern Spiritualism Trend and the *New Youth* Critique of Spiritualism

一、近代灵学思潮与《新青年》灵学批判

Modern China was a period of intense differentiation in ideological beliefs regarding how people explained and transformed the world. Spiritualism, introduced to China in the late Qing and early Republican periods, was an erroneous trend that, under the guise of science, promoted the thought of ghosts and gods and feudal superstition. The critique of spiritualism that took place between 1918 and 1919, with *New Youth* as its阵地, was undoubtedly the scientific voice of atheist thought daring and willing to struggle against the concept of ghosts and gods. It is an important link that cannot be overlooked in studying the history of the development of atheism in China, especially the emergence of Marxist atheism.

近代中国是人们解释世界并改造世界的思想信仰激烈分化时期，清末民初传入中国的灵学，是一股假借科学名义，鼓吹鬼神思想、封建迷信的错误思潮。而发生于1918—1919年之间以《新青年》为阵地的灵学批判无疑是无神论思想勇于并敢于与鬼神观念作斗争的科学之声，是研究中国无神论发展史特别是马克思主义无神论出场不可不察的重要环节。

(1) The Modern Spiritualism Trend Blending China and the West and Its Pseudo-Scientific Veil

(一)中西融汇的近代灵学思潮及其伪科学面纱

Western spiritualism refers to a discipline that, by means of scientific experiments, takes mysterious psychic phenomena related to the spirit as its object of study, mainly involving the survival of the soul, out-of-body experiences, psychokinesis, psychic healing, photography, telepathy, and witchcraft. The study of spiritualism originated in the West. The Society for Psychical Research was first established in Britain in 1882, and the American Society for Psychical Research was formally founded in 1885. In 1901, the British and American societies merged into the American Society for Psychical Research. Western spiritualist research was devoted to proving the existence of the soul and sought through various experiments to achieve so-called spiritual communication. But in fact, with the passage of time and the development of science, "the discipline it studied has never had, and never has had, a common opinion." This means that even in the birthplace of the spiritualist trend, no unified conclusion on the study of the soul was ever reached.

西方灵学是指借助科学实验，以与精神相关的神秘心灵现象为研究对象的学科，主要涉及灵魂存续、脱体经验、心灵施动、心灵治疗、照相术、传心术以及巫术等内容。灵学研究起源于西方，1882年英国最先成立了心灵研究会，1885年美国心灵研究会正式成立。1901年英美两国心灵研究会合并为美国心灵研究会。西方灵学研究致力于证实灵魂的存在，并力求通过各种实验希望能实现所谓的灵魂感应。但事实上，随着时间的推移与科学的发展，“它所研究的学科还没有过并且从未曾有过共同意见”,这就意味着，即使是在灵学思潮的发源地，也没形成过对灵魂研究的统一结论。

Although "spiritualism" was an imported product, the traditional Chinese concept of the soul, as one of the core concepts of religious belief, has existed since ancient times. "In the late Paleolithic period, the Upper Cave Man at Zhoukoudian, Beijing, sprinkled red iron ore powder around the bodies of the dead," "possibly believing that the soul of the deceased could thus find peace." The Yangshao culture already had burial objects. Thereafter, the most essential and core content of traditional Chinese funeral culture, which continued for thousands of years, was the concept of the soul. Since different schools of the concept of the soul mostly believed that the human soul does not perish after death and can be revived in different ways, superstitious practices such as summoning the soul, calming the soul, returning the soul, and collecting the soul were prevalent among the people. The traditional Chinese concept of the soul is a mysticism with an idealist worldview as its ideological core and characterized by instrumental divination and numerology, inherently carrying an indescribable sense of ghostliness. With the deepening of modern Sino-Western cultural exchange, Western spiritualism, cloaked in psychology and experimentalism, combined with indigenous Chinese superstitions about the soul, making spiritualism a fashionable trend of thought in the early Republic of China.

“灵学”虽是舶来品，但中国传统灵魂观作为宗教信仰的核心观念之一自古有之。“旧石器时代晚期，北京周口店山顶洞人在尸体周围撒有赤铁矿粉粒”“可能认为死者的灵魂可以得到平安才这样做的”,仰韶文化已经出现了陪葬品，此后延续数千年的中国传统丧葬文化最本质、最核心的内容便是灵魂观。由于不同的灵魂观流派大都认为人死后灵魂不灭，且能通过不同方式复活，民间多盛行招魂、安魂、还魂、收魂等迷信之术。中国传统灵魂观是以唯心主义世界观为思想内核，自带工具性质的卜筮术数等为表征的神秘主义，与生俱来带有一种不可名状的鬼魅感。随着近代中西文化交流的加深，披着心理学、实验主义外衣的西方灵学与本土固有的灵魂迷信相结合，使灵学成为民国初期一种时髦的思潮。

In modern China, there were mainly spiritualist research groups such as the Shanghai Spiritualism Society, the Spiritualism Research Society, the Precognition Research Society, the Chinese Psychical Research Society, the Hypnosis Association, the Abnormal Psychology Society, the Hypnosis Training Institute, and the Chinese Spirit Research Society. The China Mind Club, founded in Japan in 1910, was the earliest organization for psychic research in China. The Shanghai Spiritualism Society, founded in 1917, became an important organization for the spread of modern spiritualism in China. It promoted ideas such as "the soul is immortal" and "ghosts and gods coexist," and through the "Shengde Altar" and the *Spiritualism Magazine*, it engaged in superstitious activities such as planchette writing and spirit photography under the banner of science. At its peak, the Spiritualism Society established branches and sub-branches in dozens of provinces, cities, and counties, including Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Changsha. The Shanghai Spiritualism Society "not only analogized spiritualism to science but also believed that spiritualism could 'make up for' the deficiencies of science and 'expand' the boundaries of science," thereby creating a social atmosphere in which spiritualism was regarded as "science."

近代中国主要有上海灵学会、灵学研究社、预知研究会、中国心灵研究会、催眠协会、变态心理学会、催眠养成所、中国精神研究会等灵学研究团体,1910年成立于日本的中国心灵俱乐部是中国最早研究心灵的组织。1917年创立的上海灵学会成为中国近代灵学传播的重要组织，其鼓吹“灵魂不灭”“鬼神共存”等思想，通过“盛德坛”和《灵学丛志》,打着科学的旗号从事扶乩与灵魂摄影等迷信活动。鼎盛时期，灵学会在北京、天津、武汉、长沙等几十个省、市、县建立分坛、分会。上海灵学会“不仅将灵学比附为科学，而且认为灵学能‘弥补’科学不足，‘拓展’科学之边界”,进而在社会营造灵学即“科学”的氛围。

In terms of membership composition, the core members or associates of the Shanghai Spiritualism Society were mainly well-known public figures and prestigious intellectuals. The president was Yu Fu, manager of the Shanghai Civilization Book Company. Educators such as Lu Feikui and medical scientists such as Ding Fubao were members of the society, and the translator Yan Fu was an associate. The participation of numerous experts and scholars undoubtedly increased the credibility of spiritualism's analogy to "science." In terms of structural organization, the Shanghai Spiritualism Society took "enlightening human nature and studying principles" as its purpose. By imitating the Western model of disciplinary division in science, it established positions for studying the *I Ching*, mathematics, religion, etc., cloaking its religious and superstitious activities in a scientific guise. In terms of methodological application, experimental means used by Western spiritualism to prove the survival of the soul were borrowed and combined with indigenous Chinese planchette writing techniques to create the illusion that spiritualism had been verified by scientific experiments, catering to the public's reverence for and pursuit of science during the New Culture Movement. At the same time, supporters of the Spiritualism Society believed that Western science had the limitation of emphasizing matter over spirit, and that spiritualist research could "make up for" this defect, attempting to incorporate spiritualism into the scientific system and thereby "expand" the boundaries of science.

从成员组成看，上海灵学会骨干会员或具有会友身份的人多以社会知名人士及享有盛名的知识分子为主，会长是上海文明书局经理俞复，教育家陆费逵、医学家丁福保等是灵学会会员，翻译家严复是灵学会会友，众多专家学者的加盟无疑增加了灵学比附“科学”的信服力。从结构设置层面看，上海灵学会以“启瀹性灵，研究学理”为宗旨，通过效仿西方科学分科建制模式，设立研究周易、数学、宗教等职位，为其宗教迷信活动披上科学的外衣。从方法应用层面看，西方灵学证实灵魂存续的实验手段被借用过来，并与中国本土的扶乩之术结合，制造灵学被科学实验所证实的假象，迎合了新文化运动时期民众对科学的崇尚与追求。与此同时，灵学会支持者认为西方科学存在重物质轻精神的局限，灵学研究可以“弥补”这一缺陷，并试图将灵学纳入科学体系，进而“拓展”科学的边界。

(2) The Course of the *New Youth* Critique of Spiritualism, 1918–1919

(二)1918—1919年《新青年》灵学批判经过

Although the rise of modern spiritualism indirectly reflects the turn and differentiation in the thought and beliefs of intellectuals in the early Republic of China—some placing their hopes for national salvation on morality, spirit, and religion, attempting to realize the appeal of "saving the nation through spiritualism" through Western psychic theories—its nature of promoting religious ghosts and gods and feudal superstition ran counter to the scientific propositions of the New Culture Movement, "becoming a turbid current in the Chinese intellectual world during the May Fourth period." A struggle between science and pseudo-science, atheism and theism, was inevitable.

近代灵学的兴起虽然从侧面反映出民国初期知识分子在思想、信仰层面的转向与分化，一部分人将救亡图存的希望寄托在道德、精神、宗教上，企图通过西方心灵学说实现“灵学救国”诉求，但其宣扬宗教鬼神、封建迷信的本性与新文化运动的科学主张南辕北辙，“成为五四时期中国思想界的一股浊流”,一场科学与伪科学，无神与有神之争在所难免。

From May 1918 to April 1919, *New Youth* published three concentrated critiques of the spiritualist trend. In January 1918, the *Spiritualism Magazine* was first published. "The first volume of the first issue contained several articles on ghosts, as well as several articles on humanities. Among them, Ding Fubao's 'My Ideal Theory of Ghosts' and Yu Fu's 'Letter to Wu Zhihui' seemed most effective in supporting 'spiritualism.'" In response to the propaganda of ghost and god theories and the superstitious activities of the Shengde Altar since the *Spiritualism Magazine* was founded, the first concentrated critique of spiritualism was formed, with the May 15, 1918 issue of *New Youth*, Volume 4, Number 5, as its阵地. Chen Duxiu, Liu Bannong, and Chen Daqi all wrote articles and correspondence to critique spiritualism. Among them, Chen Daqi's "Refuting 'Spiritualism'" mainly used scientific truth to reveal the absurdity of planchette writing; Chen Duxiu's "Questioning the Theory of Ghosts" directly refuted the spiritualist theory of ghosts; Liu Bannong pointed out the absurdity of using planchette writing to inquire about phonology; and Qian Xuantong criticized the various strange tales of sages, immortals, buddhas, and monsters, as well as the bizarre theories of ghosts and gods, in the *Spiritualism Magazine*.

从1918年5月到1919年4月，《新青年》一共出现三次针对灵学思潮的集中批判。1918年1月《灵学丛志》创刊，“第一期第一卷载鬼文若干篇外，又载人文若干篇，其中丁福保君之《我理想之鬼说》及俞复君之《吴稚晖书》二篇，似于扶持‘灵学’,最为有功”。针对《灵学丛志》创刊以来宣扬的鬼神之说及盛德坛迷信活动，形成了以1918年5月15日出版的《新青年》第四卷第五号为阵地的第一次对灵学的集中批判。陈独秀、刘半农、陈大齐等纷纷撰写文章、通信展开对灵学的批判。其中陈大齐的《辟“灵学”》主要以科学之真理揭示扶乩术之荒谬，陈独秀的《有鬼论质疑》直接驳斥灵学有鬼论，刘半农指明扶乩问音韵行为的荒唐所在，钱玄同则针对《灵学丛志》上各种圣贤仙佛怪事、神鬼怪说等给予批判。

The fifth volume, second issue of *New Youth*, published on August 15, 1918, launched the second high tide of the critique of spiritualism. The fierce attacks on the *Journal of Spiritual Studies* by the aforementioned advocates of the New Culture aroused great dissatisfaction among supporters of spiritualism. Yi Yixuan published “A Reply to Mr. Chen Duxiu’s ‘Questioning the Theory of Ghosts’” in *New Youth*, refuting Chen Duxiu’s eight “incomprehensible points” questioning the existence of ghosts point by point. He insisted that ghosts have form but no substance, fabricated the theories of “ghosts dwelling in a netherworld” and “seeing ghosts through spiritual power,” and “proved” the existence of ghosts and spirits by borrowing the names of philosophical ontology and scientific experiments. Liu Shuya then wrote “A Refutation of Mr. Yi Yixuan” to support Chen Duxiu’s theory of no ghosts, likewise seizing on eight flaws in Yi Yixuan’s views and refuting them one by one. Together with Chen Duxiu’s “On the Destruction of Idols” and “Postscript to Yi Yixuan’s ‘Reply to Mr. Chen Duxiu’s Questioning the Theory of Ghosts’” published in the same issue, as well as Yi Baisha’s “The Philosophers’ Theory of No Ghosts” and Chen Duxiu’s “Random Thoughts (12)” from the previous first issue of volume five of *New Youth*, these formed another confrontation between atheism and the doctrine of ghosts and spirits.

1918年8月15日出版的《新青年》第五卷第二号，掀起灵学批判第二次高潮。前述新文化倡导者对《灵学丛志》的猛烈攻击引起灵学支持者的极大不满，易乙玄在《新青年》发表《答陈独秀先生〈有鬼论质疑>》针对陈独秀质疑有鬼说的八个“不可解者”进行逐条驳斥，坚持认为鬼有形无质，并编造了“鬼居幽界”说和“灵力见鬼”论，借用哲学本体论与科学实验之名对鬼神存在加以“证明”。刘叔雅则著《难易乙玄君》一文支持陈独秀的无鬼论，同样抓住易乙玄观点的八处纰漏逐一进行反驳。加上同期刊发的陈独秀《偶像破坏论》《易乙玄答陈独秀先生〈有鬼论质疑〉附识》以及此前《新青年》第五卷第一号易白沙的《诸子无鬼论》、陈独秀的随感录(十二)等文章，形成无神论与鬼神学说的又一次交锋。

On December 15, 1918, *New Youth* published an article by a reader named Mo Deng, “A Study of Ghostly Apparitions,” which argued that phenomena such as photographing ghosts and automatic writing really existed, being the capture of human bodily radiation by science and technology. In response, Wang Xinggong and Chen Daqi used relevant chemical and physical knowledge to counter this. Subsequently, these three individuals debated the issue of “ghostly apparitions and telepathy” in the correspondence column of *New Youth* on April 15, 1919. Mo Deng, based on his personal experience in Macau of seeing a lame fortune-teller whose predictions were accurate, insisted that ghostly apparitions could communicate with people. Wang Xinggong, using materialist monism as his weapon, argued that Mo Deng’s view that “the human mind can gather matter” had “no basis for existence in science.” Chen Daqi pointed out bluntly that the lame fortune-teller Mo Deng mentioned was “merely good at reading expressions and tones; he certainly does not truly have telepathy.” This formed the third high tide of *New Youth*’s critique of spiritualism. Thereafter, *New Youth* began to disseminate Marxist theory, and articles criticizing spiritualism gradually decreased.

1918年12月15日，《新青年》刊登了读者莫等的文章《鬼相之研究》,认为摄鬼相、念写等真实存在，是科学技术对人体放射物的捕捉。对此，王星拱、陈大齐利用相关的化学、物理知识进行反击。随后，此三人又在1919年4月15日的《新青年》通信专栏针对“鬼相他心通”问题进行了辩论。莫等以在澳门亲见一跛脚相士算命之准为依据，坚持认为鬼相能与人相通。而王星拱以物质一元论为武器认为莫等所秉持的“人心能聚物质”的观点“在科学上无存在之理由”;陈大齐则直截了当地指出莫等所说的跛脚相士“不过善于察言观色罢了，未必真有他心相通”,进而形成《新青年》对灵学批判的第三次高潮。此后，《新青年》开始传播马克思主义学说，关于灵学批判的文章逐步减少。

The three concentrated critiques of spiritualism by *New Youth* from 1918 to 1919 upheld the dignity of science and enlightened the national character (see Table 1). The hypocritical nature of the Shanghai Spiritualism Society, which used the name of science to propagate religious superstition about ghosts and spirits, was gradually recognized by the public. The society’s membership gradually decreased, and the *Journal of Spiritual Studies* suffered serious delays in publication. This year-long contest between spiritualism and anti-spiritualism ultimately ended in the victory of atheism, creating the intellectual conditions for the subsequent emergence of Marxist atheism in modern China.

1918—1919年《新青年》针对灵学的三次集中批判，维护了科学的尊严，启迪了国民性(见表1)。上海灵学会借科学之名宣扬宗教鬼神迷信的虚伪本性逐渐被民众认知，灵学会会员逐渐减少，《灵学丛刊》拖刊严重。这场持续一年之久的灵学与反灵学博弈最终以无神论的胜利告终，为此后马克思主义无神论在近代中国出场创造了思想条件。

II. The Critique of Spiritualism in *New Youth* Provided the Cultural Soil for the Emergence of Marxist Atheism

二、《新青年》灵学批判提供马克思主义无神论出场的文化土壤

The New Culture Movement, with *New Youth* as its bastion, was an ideological and cultural movement initiated by modern Chinese progressive intellectuals. This movement both criticized and inherited traditional Chinese culture: what it criticized were the feudal ethical codes, hierarchical norms, and autocratic politics that were unsuited to the needs of the times; what it inherited were the true spirit of traditional culture that enhanced the cohesion and centripetal force of the Chinese nation, such as patriotism, love of family, and love of the people. The critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* from 1918 to 1919 embodied genes of fine traditional Chinese culture, including the spirit of patriotism, the tradition of struggle against theistic thought, and an attitude of inclusiveness and synthesis toward foreign cultures. This movement of criticizing spiritualism centrally displayed the genes of fine traditional Chinese culture and also provided favorable cultural soil for the emergence of Marxist atheism.

以《新青年》为阵地的新文化运动是中国近代先进知识分子发起的一场思想文化运动。这场运动对于中国传统文化既有批判又有传承，批判的是其不适应时代需要的封建伦理纲常、专制政治，继承的是传统文化中的爱国、爱家、爱民等增强中华民族凝聚力、向心力的真精神。1918—1919年《新青年》灵学批判中蕴含着爱国主义精神、与有神思想斗争的传统以及对待外来文化兼容并蓄的态度等中华优秀传统文化基因。这场灵学批判运动集中展示了中华优秀传统文化的基因，也为马克思主义无神论的出场提供了良好的文化土壤。

(1) The Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Feudal Essence of the Critique of Spiritualism in *New Youth* Was a Manifestation of Patriotism

(一)《新青年》灵学批判反帝反封建本质是爱国主义的彰显

Patriotism is a precious spiritual asset in fine traditional Chinese culture. “In the long river of the several-thousand-year continuous development of the Chinese nation, patriotism has always been the stirring main theme, always a powerful force inspiring the people of all our ethnic groups to strive ceaselessly.” [4]4 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Symposium for Literary and Art Workers” (October 15, 2014), *People’s Daily*, October 16, 2014. The spirit of patriotism is rooted in the self-sufficient mode of production of agrarian society, the political concepts of “the family and the state as one structure” and “unity under heaven,” and the moral culture of “cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to all under heaven.” Throughout the long course of history, it has manifested as unswerving loyalty to the country, concern for the nation and the people, unyielding national integrity, and heroic acts of self-sacrifice. As an important component of fine traditional Chinese culture, patriotism has shed the feudal ethics of “loyalty to the monarch” and the “hierarchical norms” culture. Especially against the backdrop of modern China suffering Western aggression, it became a spiritual force to unite people’s hearts and rally the masses, striving for the complete independence and liberation of the Chinese nation. The critique of spiritualism with *New Youth* as its bastion from 1918 to 1919 was essentially an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal political struggle under the conditions of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, manifesting the long-standing gene of patriotism.

爱国主义是中华优秀传统文化中的宝贵精神财富，“在中华民族几千年绵延发展的历史长河中，爱国主义始终是激昂的主旋律，始终是激励我国各族人民自强不息的强大力量”。爱国主义精神根植于农耕社会自给自足的生产方式，“家国同构”“天下一统”的政治观念以及“修身齐家治国平天下”的道德文化。在漫漫历史长河中表现为忠贞不渝的报国之志、忧国忧民的家国情怀、不屈不挠的民族气节以及慷慨赴死的英雄壮举。爱国主义作为中华优秀传统文化的重要内容，剔除了封建社会的“忠君”伦理和“纲常”文化。特别是在近代中国遭受西方侵略的背景下，成为凝聚人心、团结民众，以求中华民族彻底独立和解放的精神力量。1918—1919年以《新青年》为阵地的灵学批判本质上是半殖民地半封建社会性质下的一场反帝反封建政治斗争，彰显了自古有之的爱国主义基因。

Since the Opium War, the aggression of Western colonizers against China, in addition to ceding territory and paying indemnities, was also manifested in cultural invasion and ideological control. The supporters of spiritualism put forward the fallacies of “saving the nation through spiritualism” and “saving the nation through ghosts and spirits,” which completely deviated from social progress and precisely catered to the wishes of the Western powers. The advertisement of the Shanghai Spiritualism Society unabashedly declared: “We have heard that European and American philosophers study the science of spiritual wisdom, writing mysterious books, advancing by leaps and bounds. Our society arises to respond to them.” This shows that Chinese spiritualism was closely linked to Western idealism and religious theology, and as a Chinese variant of Western spiritualism, it served to deceive and paralyze the Chinese people. This ran completely counter to the New Culture Movement’s advocacy of “saving the nation through science.” In response, Liu Shuya accused spiritualism of being nothing more than “borrowing the words of Western scholars to adorn one’s own theories” and “using philosophical jargon to dress up the theory of ghosts,” stating that “in an era of flourishing science, such things that delude the world and deceive the people cannot be allowed to harm people.” Lu Xun vehemently denounced the Shanghai Spiritualism Society: “A bunch of deluded insects in Shanghai… neglect human affairs and flock to the path of ghosts. This is what is meant by ‘when a state is about to perish, it listens to the spirits’!” [5]5 Lu Xun, “Random Thoughts (33),” *New Youth*, vol. 5, no. 4 (October 15, 1918). Thus, the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* acquired, in a certain sense, the characteristic of opposing imperialist cultural control.

鸦片战争以来，西方殖民者对中国的侵略除割地赔款外，还表现在文化入侵与思想控制上。灵学支持者提出与社会进步完全背离的“灵学救国”“鬼神救国”谬论，恰好迎合了西方列强心意。上海灵学会广告堂而皇之地宣称“比闻欧西哲学家研究灵智之学，撰著神秘之书，一日千里。本会起而与之相应”。这表明，中国灵学与西方唯心主义、宗教神学联系紧密，并作为西方灵学的中国变种行使欺骗麻痹中国人民的作用。这与新文化运动“科学救国”的主张背道而驰，对此，刘叔雅指责灵学无非是“假借西洋学者之言以文饰己说”“以哲学的话头装点有鬼论”,“科学昌明的时代，万不能容这种惑世诬民的东西来作怪害人”。鲁迅痛斥上海灵学会：“沪上一班昏虫……人事不修，群趋鬼道，所谓国将亡听命于神者哉!”由此可见，《新青年》灵学批判在一定意义上具有了反帝国主义文化控制的特性。

In order to control the people’s thoughts, the Beiyang government, which had usurped the fruits of the Xinhai Revolution, constantly stirred up retrogressive tides. Acts such as Yuan Shikai’s imperial restoration and Zhang Xun’s restoration of the Qing dynasty fully demonstrated the ambition of residual feudal forces to maintain their political rule, and the feudal superstitious concepts of ghosts and spirits were their habitual tricks for ideological control. The spiritualist school’s propositions, such as “if the doctrine of ghosts and spirits is not propagated, the nation’s fate will be shortened,” catered to the needs of feudal old forces. In response to the ghost-spirit thought and superstitious activities of the Shanghai Spiritualism Society, Chen Duxiu and others broke away from the previous limitation of only struggling against theism on the surface of issues and at the theoretical level, directly launching attacks on the divine right of kings and feudal autocracy. Liu Shuya, borrowing from “On Spiritual Anomalies,” pointed out that “the governments of modern countries think that this inherited belief in spiritual anomalies is most conducive to maintaining their own power,” and “the throne and the altar must protect and support each other.” Chen Duxiu, in “On the Destruction of Idols,” directly pointed out that since ancient times, monarchs could only confuse the people into superstitiously believing in and worshipping them by using gods to turn themselves into idols, thereby implementing their rule; once the state was lost, they were even more pitiable than ordinary people. This endowed the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* with the epochal significance of opposing feudalism.

为了掌控民众思想，窃取辛亥革命胜利果实的北洋政府不断掀起复古逆潮，袁世凯称帝、张勋复辟等行径充分显示封建残余势力极力维护其政治统治的野心，而封建的鬼神迷信观念则是其进行思想控制的惯用伎俩。灵学派关于“鬼神之说不张，国家之命遂促”等主张迎合了封建旧势力的需求。针对上海灵学会的鬼神思想、迷信活动，陈独秀等人一改往日同有神论斗争只停留在问题表面及学理上的局限，直接向君权神授、封建专制发起攻击。刘叔雅借《灵异论》点明“近世各国的政府想着这因袭的灵异信仰，最利于保持他自己的权势”,“帝位和神坛，是一定要互相保护，互相扶持的”。陈独秀在《偶像破坏论》中直接指出，自古以来的君主只有借助神将自己打造成偶像才能迷惑民众迷信他、崇拜他，才能实行自己的统治，而一旦亡国甚至比普通人都可怜。这就使得《新青年》灵学批判具备反对封建主义的时代意义。

(2) The Critique of Spiritualism in *New Youth* Was a Continuation of the Ancient Struggle Between Atheism and Theism

(二)《新青年》灵学批判是自古无神论与有神论斗争的延续

The critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* during 1918–1919 represented the continuation and development, under new historical conditions, of the struggle between ancient Chinese atheism and theism, and between materialism and idealism. The doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, theories of ghosts and spirits, the theory of the indestructibility of the soul, and superstitions such as divination, fortune-telling, and alchemical arts had always been the content of the struggle between atheism and theism. During the pre-Qin period, idealism and materialism engaged in debate on the philosophical front in the late Spring and Autumn period over whether “Heaven” (天) was a deity with a personal will. By the Qin and Han dynasties, representatives of atheism such as Yang Xiong, Huan Tan, and Wang Chong, proceeding from a naive materialist standpoint, launched a confrontation against the theological teleology that primarily criticized apocryphal theology and alchemical arts. During the Northern and Southern dynasties, the typical representative of atheism, Fan Zhen, building on the atheist thought of his predecessors, used a contingent theory of the original *qi* (元气) naturalism to refute Buddhist karma, and used a monism of form and spirit (形神一元论) and the idea of “form as substance and spirit as function” (形质神用) to criticize the theory of the indestructibility of the soul, sparking a peak in the struggle between atheism and theism since the pre-Qin and Han dynasties. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, atheists represented by Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan again engaged in struggle around the relationship between Heaven and humanity against the idealist thought of the Mandate of Heaven. By the Song, Yuan, and Ming eras, the development of natural sciences such as mathematics, medicine, and astronomy enriched atheist thought, and in the contest between atheization and theism, fundamentally weakened the theoretical foundation of the theological otherworldly realm, pushing the development of atheism to another climax.

1918—1919年的《新青年》灵学批判表现为我国古代无神论与有神论、唯物主义与唯心主义之间斗争在新的历史条件下的继续与发展。天命论、鬼神论、神不灭论以及卜筮算命、神仙术数等迷信，一直都是无神论与有神论斗争的内容。先秦时期，围绕“天”是不是具有人格意志的神的问题，唯心主义与唯物主义在春秋末期的哲学战线上展开争论。到了秦汉时期，无神论的代表人物扬雄、桓谭、王充等从朴素唯物主义立场出发展开以批判谶纬神学、神仙方术为主要内容的反神学目的论的对垒。南北朝时期无神论典型代表人物范缜在继承前人无神论思想的基础上用偶然论的元气自然论驳斥佛教因果报应论，用形神一元论及“形质神用”思想批判神不灭论，掀起自先秦两汉以来无神论与有神论斗争的高峰。隋唐时期，以刘禹锡、柳宗元为代表的无神论者又围绕天人关系同天命论的唯心主义思想展开斗争。到了宋元明时代，数学、医学、天文学等自然科学的发展丰富了无神论思想，无神化在与有神论的较量中从根本上削弱了神学彼岸世界的理论基础，将无神论发展再次推向高潮。

After 1840, the struggle between atheism and theism became more complex, as it not only had to continue the struggle against traditional religious and ghost-spirit thought but also faced the challenge of Christian theology. The strata involved in atheism included not only representatives of the enlightened landlord class such as Gong Zizhen and Wei Yuan, but also the bourgeoisie represented by Tan Sitong and Sun Yat-sen. The critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* pushed the modern struggle between atheism and theism to a climax, becoming an indispensable part of the struggle between atheism and theism throughout history. The contest between atheism and theism exhibited characteristics of long duration, volatility, profundity, pragmatism, and scientificity, providing profound theoretical reference and rich experience for the modern anti-spiritualist debate. For example, Wang Chong of the Eastern Han dynasty, with his monistic natural view of *qi* and his view of form and spirit that “when a person dies, the blood vessels dry up, the essence and *qi* are extinguished, the form decays, and it turns to dust and earth,” as well as his theory of no ghosts that “all ghosts in heaven and earth are not the spirits of the dead, but are produced by people’s thoughts and imaginations,” had a profound influence on later atheist thought. During the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* in 1918–1919, ancient materialist atheist thought became one of the targets attacked by the spiritualist faction. Yi Yixuan declared that Wang Chong’s theory of no ghosts was “not worth refuting” and accused Chen Duxiu of “stealing” Wang Chong’s “theory of ghosts’ clothing” from the *Lunheng* (论衡), saying “why must he fall into the ancients’ rut.” Facing Yi Yixuan’s provocation and questioning, Yi Baisha and Liu Shuya highly affirmed the status of Wang Chong’s atheist thought in Chinese history, believing that he “clarified the absence of ghosts from a physical perspective… his thought and learning were not only rare in ancient China, but also had few peers in modern Europe.” Liu Shuya retorted to Yi Yixuan: “Chen Duxiu’s theory and Wang Chong’s ‘Chapter on Fixing Ghosts’ (订鬼篇)—why are they not worth refuting? Why don’t you, Yi, try to refute them?” The fact that ancient Chinese atheist thought provided spiritual strength and ideological weapons for the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* indirectly confirms that the latter was the continuation and development of the struggle between atheism and theism since ancient times.

1840年后，无神论与有神论的斗争则更为复杂，不仅要同传统的宗教鬼神思想继续进行斗争，还面临基督教神学的挑战，无神论者涉及的阶层不仅有开明地主阶级代表龚自珍、魏源等，还有以谭嗣同、孙中山等为代表的资产阶级。《新青年》的灵学批判将近代无神论与有神论之争推向了高潮，成为历代无神论与有神论斗争中不可或缺的一部分。无神论与有神论之间的较量具有长期性、易变性、深刻性、求实性以及科学性，为近代反灵学论辩提供了深刻的理论借鉴和丰富的斗争经验。例如东汉王充关于“气”的一元论自然观和他所秉持的“人死血脉竭，竭而精气灭，灭而形体朽，朽而成灰土”的形神观，以及“凡天地之间有鬼，非人死精神为之也，皆人思念存想之所致也”的无鬼论，对后世无神论思想影响深远。在1918—1919年《新青年》灵学批判过程中，古代唯物主义无神论思想成为灵学派攻击的对象之一。易乙玄宣称东汉王充的无鬼论“不值一驳”,并指责陈独秀“窃”王充《论衡》中“鬼之衣服之说”“何必落古人的窠白”。面对易乙玄的挑衅与质疑，易白沙、刘叔雅高度肯定了王充无神论思想在中国历史上的地位，认为其“从物理上辨明无鬼”“……思想学识不特为中夏古代所稀见，即欧洲近世亦鲜有俦匹”。刘叔雅反问易乙玄：“陈先生之说，与王充《订鬼篇》之文，何以不值一驳?易子又何妨试一驳之。”中国古代无神论思想为《新青年》灵学批判提供精神力量和思想武器的事实，从侧面印证了后者是自古以来无神论与有神论斗争的继续与发展。

(3) The Theory and Tools of the Critique of Spiritualism in *New Youth* Represent an Inheritance of the Quality of Inclusiveness

(三)《新青年》灵学批判理论与工具是对兼容并蓄品质的继承

Chinese civilization possesses a prominent quality of inclusiveness, and the formation of the quality of inclusiveness in fine traditional Chinese culture has profound historical reasons. In ancient times, the Chinese economy long led the world, and under the influence of the Chinese “tolerance” (容) culture represented by “seeking common ground while reserving differences” (求同存异) and “harmony in diversity” (和而不同), foreign trade and cultural exchanges were frequent. Typical examples include the formation of the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, as well as the introduction and localization of Buddhism. Inclusiveness has always been a characteristic of fine traditional Chinese culture and an important reason for the millennia-long transmission of Chinese civilization. Since ancient times, the goal and result of Chinese civilization’s “tolerance” has been “integration” (融), that is, while respecting differences and embracing diversity, through continuously deepening exchanges, collisions, cooperation, and interaction, it strives to seek consensus, enhance commonality, promote integration, and maintain its own abundant vitality and strong dynamism. In the late Qing dynasty, supporters of spiritualism, based on idealism, combined Western spiritualist experimental content such as “telepathy” and “spirit photography” with local soul-superstition views. The New Culture Movement “used the opponent’s own spear to attack his shield” (以子之矛，攻子之盾). The theories and tools used in the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* included both the inheritance and use of ancient atheist thought and the absorption and reference of knowledge introduced from the West, such as Darwinian evolution, Haeckel’s monism, and related physics, chemistry, and medicine, reflecting the quality of inclusiveness of fine traditional Chinese culture.

中华文明具有突出的包容性，中华优秀传统文化中兼容并蓄品质的形成有着深刻的历史原因。古代中国经济长期领先于世界，在以“求同存异”“和而不同”为代表的中华“容”文化影响下，对外贸易、文化往来频繁。典型代表有路上丝绸之路、海上丝绸之路的形成，以及佛教传入并实现本土化等。兼容并蓄向来是中华优秀传统文化的特质之一，也是中华文明传续千年的重要原因。自古以来，中华文明“容”的目标和结果即在于“融”,就是在尊重差异性、包容多元性的同时，通过不断深入的交流碰撞、合作互动，着力寻求共识，增进共同性，推进一体化，保持自身充沛生机和强大活力。清末灵学支持者正是以唯心主义为理论依据，将西方灵学的“传心术”“照相术”等实验内容与本土灵魂迷信观相结合。新文化运动“以子之矛，攻子之盾”,在《新青年》批判灵学过程中所使用的理论与工具，既有对古代无神论思想的继承与利用，也有对西方传入的达尔文进化论、海克尔一元论、相关物理、化学、医学等知识的吸收与借鉴，体现出中华优秀传统文化兼容并蓄的品质。

The atheist thought manifested by the advocates of atheism during the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* can be said to be a new stage in the development of Chinese atheist thought. This atheist thought was based on natural science and mechanical materialism, taking the critique of Christian theology as the task of atheists, and in particular using natural scientific achievements such as biological evolution, cell theory, and the law of conservation of energy as intellectual weapons to theoretically deny the existence of God and the doctrine of divine creation; using astronomy as a basis, it employed scientific means to prove the materiality of the world and the formation of the solar system, thereby negating the mystery of “Heaven” and discarding the ancient naive atheist interpretation of “Heaven.” At the same time, it raised human agency to a new level of understanding, using modern phenomenology of spirit, human physiology, and human anatomy to provide new explanations for spirit and consciousness, demonstrating that the human brain is the material organ that produces consciousness, and thereby proving the scientific nature of the extinction of form upon death. The critique of spiritualism with *New Youth* as its battleground in 1918–1919 occurred between the Russian “October Revolution” and China’s “May Fourth Movement.” During this process, New Culture advocates represented by Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu began to disseminate and introduce Marxism. In October 1918, Li Dazhao published two articles in *New Youth*, “The Victory of the Common People” (庶民的胜利) and “The Victory of Bolshevism” (Bolshevism的胜利), pointing out that China should take the path of the October Revolution; in April 1919, Chen Duxiu’s two articles, “The Confucian Ethical Code and Feudal Teachings” (纲常名教) and “The Russian Revolution of the Twentieth Century” (二十世纪俄罗斯的革命), showed a strong socialist tendency. After the third wave of the critique of spiritualism was launched in *New Youth* Volume 6, Issue 4, *New Youth* Volume 6, Issue 5 became a special issue featuring a series of articles introducing Marxist theory, represented by Li Dazhao’s “My Marxist Views” (我的马克思主义观) and Gu Zhaoxiong’s “Marx’s Doctrine” (马克思学说). Thereafter, the modern bourgeois enlightenment atheist thought was gradually replaced by Marxist atheism, which was based on the worldview of historical materialism.

《新青年》灵学批判过程中无神论倡导者所表现出的无神论思想，可以说是中国无神论思想发展的新阶段。这种无神论思想是建立在自然科学与机械唯物主义基础上，将批判基督教神学作为无神论者的任务，特别是生物进化论、细胞学说、能量守恒定律等自然科学成果作为在理论上否定上帝存在以及上帝创世学说的知识武器；以天文学为依据，用科学手段证明世界物质性以及太阳系的形成，从而否定“天”的神秘性，摒弃古代朴素无神论者对“天”的解释。同时将人的能动性提高到一个新的认识高度，借助近代精神现象学、人体生理学与人体解剖学对精神、意识进行新的解释，论证人脑是产生意识的物质器官，进而证明人死形灭的科学性。1918—1919年以《新青年》为阵地的灵学批判正处于俄国“十月革命”与中国“五四运动”之间，在这一过程中以李大钊、陈独秀为代表的新文化倡导者开始传播介绍马克思主义。1918年10月，李大钊在《新青年》发表《庶民的胜利》《Bolshevism的胜利》两篇文章，指明中国应该走十月革命之路；陈独秀在1919年4月的《纲常名教》《二十世纪俄罗斯的革命》两篇文章里表现出强烈的社会主义倾向。继《新青年》第六卷第四号掀起第三次灵学批判后，《新青年》第六卷第五号成为以李大钊《我的马克思主义观》、顾兆熊《马克思学说》为代表的一系列介绍马克思主义学说的文章专刊。此后，近代资产阶级的启蒙无神论思想逐渐被以历史唯物主义世界观为理论基础的马克思主义无神论所代替。

3. The Critique of Spiritualism in *New Youth* Forms the Preconditions for the Emergence of Marxist Atheism

三、《新青年》灵学批判形成马克思主义无神论出场的前提条件

On June 2, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development: “Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture have different origins, but there is a high degree of compatibility between them. Only through mutual compatibility can they be organically integrated.” [n] Marxist atheism, as an organic component of Marxism, possesses the same fundamental nature as Marxism. The concepts of valuing humanity over spirits, the materialist tendency, the anti-pseudoscience attitude, and the tradition of inclusiveness presented in the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* exhibit a certain degree of compatibility with the people’s standpoint, theoretical foundation, and scientific and open characteristics of Marxist atheism. This compatibility provides the possibility for the integration of Marxist atheism with fine traditional Chinese culture, forming the preconditions for promoting the emergence of Marxist atheism in China.

2023年6月2日，习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上强调：“马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化来源不同，但彼此存在高度的契合性。相互契合才能有机结合。”马克思主义无神论作为马克思主义的有机组成部分，其具有与马克思主义相同的根本性质。《新青年》灵学批判所呈现出的重人轻神观念、唯物主义倾向、反伪科学态度以及兼容并蓄传统与马克思主义无神论的人民立场、理论立基、科学与开放特性具有一定的契合度。这种契合为马克思主义无神论与中华优秀传统文化结合提供了可能，形成推动马克思主义无神论在中国出场的前提条件。

(1) The Concept of Valuing Humanity over Spirits Is Compatible with the People’s Standpoint of Marxist Atheism

(一)重人轻神观念与马克思主义无神论人民立场相契合

“Marxism is the theory of the people; it was the first to create an ideological system through which the people achieve their own liberation.” As a component of Marxist theory, Marxist atheism upholds a people-centered approach, opposes all worship of deities, and emphasizes that “man makes religion, religion does not make man.” It holds that man is the supreme essence for man, and demands that man be liberated from the enslavement of gods, so as to realize “the return of man to himself as a social, i.e., truly human, being.” The ancient Chinese idea of “valuing man over spirits” was likewise centered on man, focusing on man’s own existence. Ancient expressions such as “the Way of Heaven is distant, the Way of man is near,” “respect ghosts and spirits but keep them at a distance,” “if you cannot serve man, how can you serve ghosts? … If you do not know life, how can you know death?” and “master the mandate of Heaven and use it” all emphasized human value, human strength, and the meaning of life. Although Marxist human theory and the humanistic spirit of fine traditional Chinese culture differ in terms of time of emergence and specific content, both proceed from man and stress man’s subjective position in the world and in history. The content embedded in the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth* [n7] encompasses both a longing for the liberation of human thought and a pursuit of the liberation of the human body. The anti-spiritualists’ understanding and critique of spiritualist doctrines of ghosts and gods are similar to Marxist atheism’s view of religious theology as an ideological alienation, striving to break through this alienation to achieve historical progress in tandem with the awakening of human reason.

“马克思主义是人民的理论，第一次创立了人民实现自身解放的思想体系。”作为马克思主义理论构成的马克思主义无神论，崇尚以人为本，反对一切神灵崇拜，强调“人创造了宗教，而不是宗教创造了人”,认为人是人的最高本质，要求将人从神的奴役中解放出来，以实现“向自己的人的即社会的存在的复归”。中国古代“重人轻神”的思想同样是以人为中心，关注人的自身存在。古时“天道远，人道迩”,“敬鬼神而远之”,“未能事人，焉能事鬼?……未知生，焉知死”,“制天命而用之”等表述，强调了人的价值、人的力量和生命的意义。虽然马克思主义人学理论与中华优秀传统文化人文精神在出现时间、具体内容等方面存在差异，但两者都是从人出发，强调人在世界、历史中的主体地位。《新青年》灵学批判所蕴藏的内容，既包含对人的思想解放的向往，又包含对人身体解放的追求。反灵学者对灵学鬼神之说的认识与批判，同马克思主义无神论将宗教神学看成是一种思想意识形态的异化，力求突破这种异化实现历史进步与人类理性觉醒同步的思想相近。

In the process of criticizing spiritualism, the spiritualist school promoted Buddhist karma and the cycle of cause and effect. On the day the Shengde Altar [n8] was opened, it claimed to have invited 180 “spirit immortals and buddhas” and “ghost immortals and true men” to entertain, laying bare its superstitious religious practices. In particular, the farce in which Yu Fu [n9] claimed that deceased figures such as Lu Deming, Li Deng, and Jiang Yong [n10] descended to answer Wu Zhihui’s [n11] questions on phonology through planchette writing was “the most powerful in deluding people.” Chen Daqi [n12] sharply pointed out that “the nature of the Chinese people is to delight in being slaves to the ancients, taking pride in being slaves and shame in breaking free from the ancients’ fetters,” and that the spiritualist school’s veneration of ghosts and gods was precisely an exploitation of this slavish mentality. Chen Duxiu [n13] went further in his “Questioning the Theory of Ghosts,” exposing that the spiritual world as conceived by the spiritualist school, where “the distinctions of nationality, language, customs, and clothing are all as in the human world,” was in fact entirely a fantasy based on the human world. In his “On the Destruction of Idols,” he reduced religion to “useless, deceptive idols,” whose “fundamental spirit lies in heteronomous faith, taking divine will as the highest command,” and declared that “they should all be destroyed!” Liu Shuya [n14], in his “On the Strange and the Anomalous,” elevated the critique of the strange and anomalous to the level of a cause and duty “to seek happiness for the masses.” Although the intellectuals of the New Culture Movement [n15] had limitations of pragmatism and utilitarianism in their critique of religion and ghosts, they shared an affinity with the people-centered character of Marxist atheism in their emphasis on human value and the pursuit of human liberation.

在灵学批判过程中，灵学派宣扬佛教因果循环，盛德坛开坛之日声称请来了一百八十位“灵神仙佛”“鬼仙真人”助兴，宗教迷信之行径昭然若揭。特别是俞复阐述陆德明、李登、江永等已逝之人降乩回答吴稚晖音韵之问的闹剧“惑人之力最大”。陈大齐尖锐地指明“中国人之天性，喜为古人奴隶，以能做奴隶为荣，而以脱离古人羁绊为耻”,而灵学派对鬼神的尊崇正是对这种奴性的利用。陈独秀则更进一步在《有鬼论质疑》中揭露灵学派所认为的灵界“见其国籍语言习俗衣冠之个别，悉若人间”,实际上就是依照人间的幻想。他在《偶像破坏论》中将宗教归结为“无用的骗人的偶像”,“其根本精神，则属于依他的信仰，以神意为最高命令”“都应该破坏!”刘叔雅在《灵异论》中将批判灵异提升到“要为人群谋幸福”的事业与义务高度。虽然新文化运动中的知识分子对宗教鬼神的批判存在实用主义和功利主义的局限性，但在看重人的价值、寻求人的解放方面与马克思主义无神论的人民性具有相契合之处。

(2) The Ideological Basis of Atheism and the Theoretical Foundation of Marxist Atheism Are Aligned

(二)无神论的思想依据与马克思主义无神论理论立基相契合

Marxist atheism, precisely by relying on the fundamental theory and method of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, exhibits essential attributes completely different from those of previous atheisms. The atheist thought of the period of the *New Youth* critique of spiritualism had not yet reached the heights of Marxist atheism, but the materialist genes contained in traditional Chinese naive atheism, as well as the monist materialist views held by the anti-spiritualists of the New Culture Movement, aligned with the Marxist atheist requirement that “the roots of faith and religion among the masses should be explained from a materialist standpoint.”

马克思主义无神论正是凭借辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义这一根本理论和方法，表现出与以往无神论完全不同的本质属性。《新青年》灵学批判时期的无神论思想还没有达到马克思主义无神论的高度，但中国传统的朴素无神论思想所蕴含的唯物主义基因以及新文化运动中反灵学者所持有的一元论唯物主义观点，契合马克思主义无神论关于“应该用唯物主义观点来说明群众中的信仰和宗教的根源”的要求。

During the transition from the Shang to the Zhou dynasties, the seeds of materialist thought emerged within the religious theological system. The *Book of Changes* and the *Great Plan* [n16] selected natural substances such as heaven, earth, water, and fire from real life to explain the origins and development of all things in the world. In the Spring and Autumn period, Laozi [n17] elevated the naive materialism of elemental theory to the level of the theory of primordial *qi* [n18]. In the Warring States period, Xunzi [n19] made a breakthrough by explaining “Heaven” in materialist terms, dialectically analyzing the relationship between perceptual and rational knowledge, and establishing an atheism represented by materialism. In the Eastern Han period, Wang Chong [n20] pointed out that the natural meaning of Heaven lies in the material entity constituted by primordial *qi*, systematically criticizing the traditional theory of the Mandate of Heaven. In the Southern Dynasties, Fan Zhen [n21] put forward the view that spirit arises from the physical form, enriching the epistemological content of ancient naive atheism. In the Song and Ming dynasties, Zhang Zai and Wang Tingxiang [n22] overcame the limitations of Fan Zhen, Liu Zongyuan, and Liu Yuxi [n23], who neglected the critique of the Buddhist theological worldview. Using the ontology of primordial *qi* as “vacuity is *qi*,” they settled accounts with the Buddhist “all is mind” religious worldview, becoming another theoretical achievement of ancient naive atheism.

商周之际，宗教神学体系下出现唯物主义思想萌芽，《易经》《洪范》从现实生活中选取天、地、水、火等自然物质来说明世界万物产生根源及发展变化。春秋时期的老子将元素论的朴素唯物主义提升到了元气论层面。战国时期的荀子突破性地用唯物主义对“天”进行解释，辩证地分析感性认识与理性认识的关系，建立了以唯物主义为代表的无神论。东汉时期的王充指出天的自然意义在于元气构成的物质实体，对传统天命论进行全面系统的批判；南朝齐、梁时期的范缜，提出精神由形体而生的观点，丰富了古代朴素无神论的认识论内容；宋明时期的张载与王廷相，克服了范缜、柳宗元、刘禹锡等忽视佛教神学世界观批判的局限，以“虚空即气”的元气本体论，清算了佛教“一切唯心”的宗教世界观，成为古代朴素无神论的又一理论成果。

In the *New Youth* critique of spiritualism, the spiritualist supporter Yi Yixuan [n24] not only declared the existence of ghosts but even created the claim that ghosts “occupy no space” and dwell in the dark realm—a typical form of mind-matter dualism. Chen Duxiu believed that if dualism were overthrown, the theoretical foundation of spiritualism would collapse. As long as a ghost has a material form or material motion, science would certainly be able to explain it; conversely, if a ghost is formless and qualityless, then the so-called “dark ghost realm” is an illusion. Liu Shuya also emphasized in “On the Strange and the Anomalous” that “the intellectual world of China today is much like that of medieval Europe; there is no other effective remedy except materialist monism.” Wang Xinggong [n25], in his “Reply to ‘Ghosts and Telepathy,’” used an analysis of atomic weight to negate the energy monism held by Mo Deng [n26] with material monism. The materialist monism used by the pioneers of the New Culture Movement in the anti-spiritualist debate was the materialist thought of modern natural science. Although it was not yet guided by systematic dialectical materialism, it played a role in promoting the further introduction and understanding of Marxist atheism.

《新青年》灵学批判中灵学支持者易乙玄不仅宣称鬼的存在，更有甚者创造出鬼“不占空间之位置”而居幽界的说法，其思想属于典型的物灵二元论。陈独秀认为，推倒二元论，灵学的理论基础即可不攻自破，鬼只要有物质形态或物质运动，科学就一定能解释清楚；相反，如果鬼无形无质，那所谓“幽冥鬼界”就是幻觉。刘叔雅也在《灵异论》中强调“今日中国的思想界和欧洲的中古时代差不多，除了唯物的一元论，别无对症良药”。王星拱在其《答<鬼相与他心通>》一文中通过对原子量的分析解释，用物质一元论否定莫等所秉持能量一元论观点。反灵学论辩中新文化运动的先驱者使用的唯物一元论是近代自然科学中的唯物论思想，虽然还没有系统的辩证唯物主义作指导，但这对于进一步引介和理解马克思主义无神论起到了助推作用。

(3) The Anti-Pseudoscience Attitude and the Scientific Character of Marxist Atheism Are Aligned

(三)反伪科学态度与马克思主义无神论科学特性相契合

The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC [n27] states: “We must approach science with a scientific attitude and pursue truth with a spirit of truth.” Marxism’s pursuit of truth is built on scientific theory. Similarly, Marxist atheism possesses a scientific character, that is, it studies religion comprehensively from economic, social, and other fields, and arrives at the scientific conclusion that religion belongs to the superstructure and is determined by the economic base. Although the term “science” appeared in China only in modern times, “investigating things to extend knowledge” (*gewu zhizhi*) [n28] is an important concept in ancient Chinese philosophy. “Investigating things” means exploring the ultimate principles of things with a spirit of getting to the bottom of the matter; “extending knowledge” means extrapolating outward from the knowledge already gained through investigating things, so as to grasp the ultimate laws of all things. Its significance lies in seeking truth and wisdom through observing natural phenomena and exploring the depths of the human inner world. In the Chinese educational system, investigating things to extend knowledge is a basic method of learning and an attitude of pursuing knowledge and broadening one’s horizons. Modern spiritualism was pseudoscientific, utterly at odds with the spirit of pursuing truth in fine traditional Chinese culture and diametrically opposed to the “science” concept advocated by the New Culture Movement. The exposure of superstitious practices such as “planchette writing” and “spirit photography” in the *New Youth* critique of spiritualism from 1918 to 1919 showed an affinity with the scientific characteristics of Marxist atheism.

党的二十大报告指出：“要以科学的态度对待科学，以真理的精神追求真理。”马克思主义对真理的追求是建立在科学理论之上的。同样，马克思主义无神论也具有科学性，即立足经济、社会等领域全方位地对宗教进行研究，并得出宗教属于上层建筑受经济基础决定的科学定位。虽然“科学”一词出现于中国近代，但格物致知是中国古代哲学的一个重要概念。格物就是以打破砂锅问到底的精神探索事物的终极原理；致知就是将已经通过格物获得的知识向外类推，以达到掌握万事万物终极规律的目的。其意义是通过观察自然现象和发掘人类内心世界的深层次，来寻求真理和智慧。在中国教育体系中，格物致知是一种基本的学习方法，也是一种追求知识和增长见识的态度。近代灵学具有伪科学性，与中华优秀传统文化中追求真理的精神大相径庭，与新文化运动所倡导的“科学”理念针锋相对。1918—1919年《新青年》灵学批判对“扶乩”“灵魂摄影”等迷信行为的揭露表现出与马克思主义无神论科学特质的相契合之处。

The spiritualist school regarded planchette writing as a “scientific method” capable of proving the existence of the soul, claiming that through the technique of planchette writing they had verified the fact of communication with the soul. “Spirit photography,” Western “hypnotism,” “thoughtography” and other “scientific” means were used by the spiritualist school to confirm the existence of the soul, in an attempt to give spiritualism a scientific veneer. Lu Xun delivered a penetrating critique of the spiritualist school’s practice of deceiving the masses under the guise of science; he accused these people of “first dragging science this way and that, stuffing ghost-talk into it, so that right and wrong become unclear, and even science takes on an eerie air,” while in fact they were “a bunch of ghost-talkers who most hate science” and “must find a way to eliminate it.” Chen Daqi’s “Refuting ‘Spiritualism’” embodied the progressive thought of refuting the doctrine of ghosts and spirits from the perspectives of biology and psychology. In this article he first made clear that planchette writing was a form of fraud, differing only in being “intentional” or “unintentional”; he then exposed that the “phenomena of planchette writing and the like” so vigorously promoted by the spiritualist school “are, in the view of contemporary psychology, purely phenomena of the abnormal psychology of the planchette operator,” and that “the movement of the planchette is aided by the operator” — it is merely an unconscious muscular movement produced by the planchette operator under psychological suggestion. At the same time, Chen Daqi analyzed and pointed out that the Western experiments such as the magic pendulum and thought-reading, which the spiritualist school used to prove the existence of spirits, were all results of subconscious movement. The strategy of the critics of spiritualism in using science to oppose the pseudoscience of the spiritualist school revealed a process of understanding science that moved from vagueness to gradual clarity.

灵学派将扶乩看成能够证明灵魂存在的“科学之法”,认为通过扶乩之术证明了能与灵魂相通的事实。“灵魂摄影”、西方“催眠术”“念写”等“科学”手段被灵学派用来证实灵魂存在，试图为灵学进行科学的包装。鲁迅对灵学派假借科学之名迷惑国人的行为批判得一针见血，他指责这些人“先把科学东扯西拉，孱进鬼话，弄得是非不明，连科学也带了妖气”,事实上却是“一班好讲鬼话的人，最恨科学”,“便须想一个方法排除他”。陈大齐的《辟“灵学”》体现了从生物学、心理学上反驳鬼神之说的进步思想。他在这篇文章中首先明确扶乩是一种作伪，只是“有意”与“无意”的区别，随后揭露灵学派极力推崇的“扶乩等现象……在现今心理学视之，纯属扶者之变态心理现象”,“乩之动，扶者助之”,不过是扶乩之人在受到心理暗示之下产生的一种无意识的肌肉运动,同时陈大齐分析指明西方的魔摆(Magic pedulum)、测思术(Thought-reading)等灵学派用以证明神灵存在的实验，都是下意识(subconscionsness)运动的结果。灵学批判者利用科学反对灵学派伪科学的策略，显示出对科学的认识由模糊到逐渐清晰的过程。

(4) The Compatibility of Eclecticism and the Open Character of Marxist Atheism

(四)兼容并蓄传统与马克思主义无神论开放特性相契合

Marxism is a constantly developing and open theory. Marxist atheism is inseparable from Marxism as a whole, and therefore also possesses the characteristic of openness. On the one hand, the process of the emergence and formation of Marxist atheism fully demonstrates its openness and inclusiveness. Marxist atheism was produced on the basis of Western atheist thought, in the process of criticizing Western religious theology. Just as Marxism eclectically absorbed German classical philosophy, British classical political economy, and French utopian socialism, the atheist thought represented by Lucian, Lucretius and others during the Renaissance, as well as the atheist thought based on natural science during the Enlightenment, all became important intellectual sources of Marxist atheism. At the same time, Marxist atheism “fully inherited the historical tradition of materialism from 18th-century France and from Feuerbach in the first half of the 19th-century Germany, that is, the historical tradition of absolute atheism and materialism resolutely opposed to all religion.” Subsequently, with the successive publication of articles and documents such as “Theses on Feuerbach,” “The Holy Family,” “The German Ideology,” and “The Communist Manifesto,” and with the critique and exposure of capitalist society at that time, Marxist atheism was finally established on the basis of historical materialism and the theory of surplus value.

马克思主义是不断发展的开放的理论。马克思主义无神论同马克思主义是不可分离的整体，因此也具备开放性的特征。一方面，马克思主义无神论的产生形成过程充分展示出其开放包容性。马克思主义无神论是在西方无神论思想基础之上，在批判西方宗教神学的过程中产生的。如同马克思主义对德国古典哲学、英国古典经济学和法国空想社会主义的兼容并蓄，文艺复兴时期以琉善、卢克莱修等为代表的无神论思想，以及启蒙运动时期以自然科学为基础的无神论思想，都成为马克思主义无神论的重要思想来源。与此同时，马克思主义无神论又“完全继承了法国18世纪和德国19世纪上半叶费尔巴哈的唯物主义历史传统，即绝对无神论的、坚决反对一切宗教的唯物主义的历史传统”。此后随着《关于费尔巴哈的提纲》《神圣家族》《德意志意识形态》《共产党宣言》等文章和文献的陆续发表以及对当时资本主义社会的批判与揭露，在唯物史观和剩余价值论基础上，马克思主义无神论最终创立。

On the other hand, “the history of the development of Marxism is the history of Marx, Engels, and their successors constantly developing in accordance with the development of the times, practice, and knowledge, and the history of constantly absorbing all excellent ideological and cultural achievements in human history to enrich themselves.” In its development, Marxist atheism must continuously accept and absorb advanced ideological and cultural achievements from around the world, which provides the possibility for its integration with fine traditional Chinese culture. Similarly, eclecticism is precisely the characteristic of the inclusiveness of fine traditional Chinese culture. This characteristic not only provided scientific theory and tools for the critique of spiritualism in *New Youth*, but its open-minded spirit of “the sea admitting all rivers” [29]29 The sea admitting all rivers (海纳百川): a classical Chinese idiom, originally from a line by the Jin dynasty poet Yuan Hong, often used to describe broad-mindedness and inclusiveness. and “harmony in diversity” [30]30 Harmony in diversity (和而不同): a Confucian concept from the *Analects*, meaning to maintain harmony while respecting differences, without blind conformity. also resonated with the openness of Marxist atheism, clearing obstacles for Chinese culture to accept Marxist atheism and integrate with it. Marxist atheism is a scientific and advanced theory capable of injecting theoretical vitality into the five-thousand-year-old Chinese culture, enabling it to regain its youth. Fine traditional Chinese culture provided the cultural soil for Marxist atheism to take root in China. The openness of Marxist atheism and the inclusiveness of fine traditional Chinese culture both express an inherent demand for absorbing diverse elements, discarding the outdated and embracing the new, and pursuing innovative development. This resonance provided the premise and foundation for the ultimate integration of the two.

另一方面，“一部马克思主义发展史就是马克思、恩格斯以及他们的后继者们不断根据时代、实践、认识发展而发展的历史，是不断吸收人类历史上一切优秀思想文化成果丰富自己的历史”。马克思主义无神论在发展时要不断地接纳吸收世界范围内先进的思想文化成果，这为与中华优秀传统文化相结合提供了可能。同样，兼容并蓄是中华优秀传统文化包容性所在，这种特性不仅为《新青年》灵学批判提供了科学理论和工具，其“海纳百川”“和而不同”的开放情怀，也与马克思主义无神论的开放性相契合，为中华文化接受马克思主义无神论，并与之相结合扫清了障碍。马克思主义无神论是科学的、先进的理论，能够为五千年中华文化注入再度焕发青春的理论活力。中华优秀传统文化为马克思主义无神论在中国落地生根提供了文化土壤。马克思主义无神论的开放性和中华优秀传统文化的包容性都表达了一种兼收并蓄、吐故纳新、创新发展的内在诉求，这种契合为二者的最终结合提供了前提和基础。

IV. Conclusion

四、结语

The critique of spiritualism waged from 1918 to 1919 with *New Youth* as its platform was a typical case of “metabolism” and “radical renewal” in the realm of ideological belief in modern China, and also a landmark event worthy of being recorded in the annals of Chinese atheism. The many points of resonance between fine traditional Chinese culture and Marxist atheism manifested in this process played a role in “hearing the voice before seeing the person” [31]31 Hearing the voice before seeing the person (未见其人先闻其声): a classical Chinese literary expression, originally from the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber*, used here metaphorically to indicate that the resonance between Chinese culture and Marxist atheism prepared the ground for the latter’s arrival before it was fully established. in promoting the emergence of Marxist atheism in modern times. Subsequently, Li Dazhao and others accurately expressed the early Chinese Marxists’ understanding of scientific atheism during the “Anti-Christian Movement” of 1922. Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai and others, in the “Debate on Science and Metaphysics” of 1923–1924, used Marxist dialectical materialism and historical materialism as the weapons of debate, boosting the formal emergence of Marxist atheism in modern China. Today, only by adhering to scientific atheism can we fully practice the core socialist values; only by adhering to scientific atheism can we realize true freedom of religious belief; only by adhering to scientific atheism can we manifest the unique advantages of fine traditional Chinese culture; only by adhering to scientific atheism can we achieve the historical transcendence of socialist culture. This is the arduous task and inevitable requirement posed by the New Era for ensuring the continued presence of Marxist atheism.

1918—1919年以《新青年》为阵地的灵学批判是近代中国思想信仰领域“新陈代谢”“焕然一新”的典型案例，也是可以载入中国无神论史册的标志性事件。这一过程中所表现出的中华优秀传统文化与马克思主义无神论的诸多契合之处，在推动马克思主义无神论在近代出场上起到了“未见其人先闻其声”的作用。此后，李大钊等在1922年的“非基督教运动”中准确地表达出中国早期马克思主义者对科学无神论的理解。陈独秀、瞿秋白等又在1923—1924年的“科玄论战”中将马克思主义辩证唯物主义与历史唯物主义作为论战的法宝，助推马克思主义无神论在近代中国的正式出场。时至今日，只有坚持科学无神论，才能全面践行社会主义核心价值观；只有坚持科学无神论，才能实现真正的宗教信仰自由；只有坚持科学无神论，才能彰显中华优秀传统文化的独特优势；只有坚持科学无神论，才能实现社会主义文化的历史性超越。这是新时代对确保马克思主义无神论持续在场提出的艰巨任务和必然要求。

(About the authors: Liu Yan, doctoral candidate at the School of Marxism, Northwestern Polytechnical University; Hu Chaoyang, associate professor at the School of Marxism, Anqing Normal University)

（作者简介：刘艳，西北工业大学马克思主义学院博士研究生；胡朝阳，安庆师范大学马克思主义学院副教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心