An Exploration of Qu Qiubai’s Scientific Atheist Thought

Scientific atheism, as the starting point and cornerstone of the Marxist worldview, is a powerful ideological weapon for the proletariat to refute religious theism. Qu Qiubai (1899–1935), an early leader of the Communist Party of China, was an outstanding Marxist theorist and propagandist. He was among the first to apply dialectical materialism and historical materialism to the scientific analysis and critique of theism, including religious theology and secular superstition, thereby forming a relatively systematic body of scientific atheist thought. This promoted the early spread and development of Marxist atheism in China. An in-depth exploration of the logic of formation, main content, and historical contributions of Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought holds significant meaning and function for advancing the research, interpretation, propaganda, and education of Marxist atheism in the New Era.

科学无神论作为马克思主义世界观的出发点和基石，是无产阶级批驳宗教有神论的强大思想武器。中国共产党早期领导人瞿秋白(1899—1935),是一位卓越的马克思主义理论家和宣传家，他较早地运用辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义对宗教神学、世俗迷信等有神论进行了科学的分析和批判，形成了较为系统的科学无神论思想，推动了早期马克思主义无神论在中国的传播与发展。深入探析瞿秋白科学无神论思想的形成逻辑、主要内涵及其历史贡献，对于推进新时代马克思主义无神论的研究阐释和宣传教育具有重要的意义和作用。

I. The Logic of Formation of Qu Qiubai’s Scientific Atheist Thought

一、瞿秋白科学无神论思想的形成逻辑

The formation and development of Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought had a profound theoretical and practical basis. Theoretically, Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought originated from his inheritance of Marxist atheism; practically, it conformed to the needs of waging revolutionary struggle in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

瞿秋白科学无神论思想的形成和发展有着深刻的理论基础和现实基础。从理论上看，瞿秋白的科学无神论思想源自于对马克思主义无神论的继承；从现实上看，瞿秋白的科学无神论思想顺应了在半殖民地半封建社会中开展革命斗争的需要。

(I) Theoretical Source: The Choice of Marxist Atheism

(一)理论之源：对马克思主义无神论的选择

Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought underwent a process from being influenced by the concepts of Buddhism and Daoism, to developing an interest in Tolstoy’s religious moral concept of “love,” and finally to choosing Marxist atheism. Until his heroic martyrdom in Changting, Fujian, in June 1935, Qu Qiubai consistently firmly expounded, defended, and practiced scientific atheist thought, making important contributions to the development of the Sinicization of Marxist atheism.

瞿秋白科学无神论思想经历了从受释道二教观念的影响到对托尔斯泰“爱”的宗教道德观的兴趣，再到对马克思主义无神论的选择。直到1935年6月在福建汀州英勇就义,瞿秋白始终坚定阐释、维护和践行科学无神论思想，为马克思主义无神论中国化的发展做出了重要贡献。

From childhood, Qu Qiubai was influenced by his father’s belief in Daoism, had a special interest in the study of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and once showed a tendency toward “scholar-aristocrat” (名士) inclinations in his ideological concepts. Later, due to family misfortune and the hardships of life, Qu Qiubai fell into spiritual anguish and began to move from Daoism to Buddhism, developing a strong interest in Buddhist studies. The Bodhisattva spirit of Buddhism—seeking enlightenment above and delivering sentient beings below—once became his life pursuit. With the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement in 1919, Qu Qiubai, full of patriotic fervor, was elected as a representative by his classmates at the Russian Language Institute and actively led, organized, and participated in this great patriotic anti-imperialist struggle, prompting a shift in his thinking. During this period, while actively participating in struggle activities, Qu Qiubai also engaged in literary activities, mainly translating and introducing foreign literature, especially Russian literature. He successively translated works by Tolstoy, Gogol, Daudet, and others, publishing them in domestic journals. Among these, Tolstoy’s thought had a considerable influence on him. In his work *Superfluous Words*, he stated, “When I first organized the magazine *New Society* with my friends Zheng Zhenduo, Qu Shiying, and Geng Jizhi, I was a Tolstoyan anarchist.” In particular, Tolstoy’s religious moral concept of “love” made Qu Qiubai feel it “had great value for study,” and he once regarded it as a “good prescription” for transforming society. However, this influence was short-lived, because Qu Qiubai “intellectually quickly turned from Tolstoyan anarchism to Marxism.”

瞿秋白自幼受父亲信奉道教的影响，对于“老”“庄”有特殊研究,思想观念上曾出现过“名士化”的倾向。后来，由于家庭的不幸和生活的艰难，瞿秋白产生了精神的苦闷，开始由道入佛，对佛学产生了浓厚的兴趣，佛教中上证佛道、下化众生的菩萨行精神曾一度成为其人生追求。1919年“五四”运动爆发，瞿秋白满怀爱国热忱，作为俄文专修馆同学公推的代表，积极领导、组织和参与了这场伟大的爱国反帝斗争，促使其思想开始发生转变。这一时期，在积极参加斗争活动的同时，瞿秋白还积极开展文学活动，他主要是翻译和介绍外国文学特别是俄国文学，他先后将托尔斯泰、果戈里、都德等的作品进行了翻译并在国内期刊发表，其中托尔斯泰的思想对其产生了较大的影响，他在《多余的话》中讲到“最早我同郑振铎、瞿世英、耿济之几个朋友组织《新社会》杂志的时候，我是一个近于托尔斯泰派的无政府主义”,尤其是托尔斯泰“爱”的宗教道德观让瞿秋白觉得“很有可以研究的价值”,一度被其认为是改造社会的“良方”。但是，这一影响的时间很短暂，因为瞿秋白在“理智方面是从托尔斯泰式的无政府主义很快就转到了马克思主义”。

In 1920, after reading Bebel’s Russian work *Woman and Socialism*, Qu Qiubai developed “curiosity and an interest in studying the ultimate ideal of socialism.” He therefore joined the Marxist Research Society initiated by Li Dazhao. In the process of engaging with Marxist works, he “slightly grasped a realistic worldview and cosmology” and gradually began to lean toward “materialism.” To further explore the truth of Marxism and simultaneously “shoulder the responsibility for the development of thought in the era of China’s rebirth,” Qu Qiubai served as a correspondent for the *Morning Post* in Soviet Russia. During the two years from the end of 1920 to the end of 1922, he not only investigated the political, economic, diplomatic, ethnic, and other conditions of the world’s first socialist state, including religious issues, but also, while working as a translator and teaching assistant at Moscow’s Far Eastern University, diligently studied Marxist works. Through practical investigation and theoretical study, Qu Qiubai “was fortunate to see the lighthouse in the heart’s sea” and recognized that “the realistic, historical materialism has a real universe; the proletariat, solely for its own interests, also bears the historical mission for human culture.” By this time, he was “no longer a filial son and obedient grandson of the old era, but a lively child of the ‘New Era.’” Marxist atheism, based on dialectical materialism and historical materialism, had already become a powerful tool for him to understand and transform the world. In January 1923, Qu Qiubai returned to China. In the process of integrating theory and practice, he worked hard to spread Marxist atheism and applied it to China’s revolutionary struggle. He successively translated works containing Marxist atheist thought by authors such as Gorev, Gorky, and Morin. Among these, Gorev’s *Proletarian Philosophy—Materialism* systematically expounded on the origin, development, and nature of religion, as well as the religious views of idealism and materialism, becoming an important work for early Marxists to understand scientific atheist thought. At the same time, Qu Qiubai wrote a series of works expounding his scientific atheist thought, such as *An Introduction to Social Philosophy* and *Modern Sociology*, emphasizing that only Marxism could enable people to “break free from the shackles of various religious superstitions and pseudo-sciences.” Belief in Marxism and identification with Marxist atheism were the correct choices Qu Qiubai made in the process of theoretical and practical exploration. The formation and development of his scientific atheism also made him a truly steadfast Marxist pioneer.

1920年，瞿秋白在读了倍倍尔的俄文《妇女与社会主义》后，对“社会主义的最终理想发生了好奇心和研究的兴趣”,所以加入了李大钊发起的马克思主义研究会，在接触马克思主义相关著作过程中“略略领会得唯实的人生观及宇宙观”,逐渐开始倾向于“唯物主义”。为了进一步探求马克思主义的真理，同时“担一份中国再生时代思想发展的责任”,瞿秋白担任了《晨报》驻苏俄新闻记者，从1920年底到1922年底的两年时间里，他不仅对世界上第一个社会主义国家苏俄进行了包括宗教问题在内的政治、经济、外交、民族等多方面状况的考察，还在担任莫斯科东方大学翻译和助教的过程中努力研究马克思主义的著作，在现实的考察和理论的钻研中，瞿秋白“幸而见着心海中的灯塔”,认识到“唯实的，历史的唯物论有现实的宇宙，无产阶级唯自己利益，亦即为人类文化担负历史的使命”,此时的他已经“不是旧时代之孝子顺孙，而是‘新时代’的活泼稚儿”,基于辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义的马克思主义无神论已然成为他认识世界和改造世界的有力工具。1923年1月，瞿秋白返回国内，在理论与实践的结合过程中努力传播马克思主义无神论，并且将其应用于中国的革命斗争之中，他先后翻译了郭列夫、高尔基、摩陵等包含马克思主义无神论思想的作品，其中郭列夫的《无产阶级哲学——唯物论》系统阐述了宗教起源、发展、性质以及唯心论与唯物论的宗教观等内容，成为早期马克思主义者了解科学无神论思想的重要著作。与此同时，瞿秋白还撰写了一系列阐释其科学无神论思想的论著,如《社会哲学概论》《现代社会学》等，强调只有马克思主义才能使人们“脱离种种宗教迷信和伪科学的束缚”。对马克思主义的信仰、对马克思主义无神论的认同，是瞿秋白在理论与实践探索过程中的正确选择，其科学无神论的形成与发展也使其真正成为一名坚定的马克思主义先行者。

(II) Practical Necessity: The Inevitable Requirement of the Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Feudal Struggle

(二)现实之需：反帝反封建斗争的必然要求

Marx and Engels once pointed out: “The real content of all epoch-making systems arises from the needs of the period that produced them.” Qu Qiubai was born and grew up in the old semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The aggression of imperialism and the rule of feudal forces caused the rampant spread of doctrines of ghosts and gods. Scientific atheism became the inevitable choice for refuting religious theism and clearing away the ideological obstacles to the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle. Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought was precisely produced to meet the needs of this era.

马克思、恩格斯曾指出：“一切划时代的体系的真正的内容都是由于产生这些体系的那个时期的需要而形成起来的。”瞿秋白出生和成长于半殖民地半封建的旧社会，帝国主义的侵略和封建势力的统治造成了鬼神学说的肆意横行，科学无神论成为批驳宗教有神论、扫清反帝反封建思想障碍的必然选择，瞿秋白的科学无神论思想正是适应这一时代需要而产生的。

On the one hand, imperialism carried out cultural aggression under the cloak of religion, attempting to impose the shackles of religious theology on the Chinese people. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, imperialist aggression against China reached a new climax. In addition to all means of military, political, diplomatic, and economic aggression, they also used religion for ideological and cultural aggression. With the support of Western governments and churches, a large number of Western missionaries poured into China under the pretext of “doing good and saving people.” From the coast to the interior, from cities to villages, they aggressively occupied land, built churches, preached about God, and advocated entering “heaven” after death. Under the guise of spreading religion, they were in fact the vanguard of imperialist aggression against China. As Qu Qiubai analyzed the purpose of imperialist missionary work in China in his article *The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China*: “First, to penetrate China’s interior, investigate China’s detailed conditions, and prepare imperialist plans for aggression against China; second, to deceive the Chinese people with sweet words, making them believe in the happiness of the afterlife and telling them not to resist imperialism.” The proliferation of Western religion during this period made Qu Qiubai realize that only by deeply conducting research and propaganda on scientific atheism, and exposing and criticizing the essence of religious theism, could the masses’ thought be liberated, freeing them from the enslavement and shackles of religious theology, and enabling them to actively participate in the great struggle against imperialist aggression.

一方面，帝国主义披着宗教的外衣进行文化侵略，企图给中国人民戴上宗教神学的枷锁。19世纪末20世纪初，帝国主义对中国的侵略达到了新的高潮，它们除了采取一切军事、政治、外交和经济的手段进行侵略以外，还利用宗教进行思想和文化的侵略。在西方列强政府和教会的支持下，大量西方传教士打着“行善救人”的幌子涌入中国，从沿海到内地，从城市到乡村，大肆侵占土地，建立教堂，宣扬上帝，鼓吹死后可以进“天国”,藉以传教之名，实为帝国主义侵华的先遣队。正如瞿秋白在《中国革命和中国共产党》一文中对帝国主义在华传教目的的分析：“第一，跑入中国内地，调查中国的详细情形，准备帝国主义侵略中国的计划；第二，用花言巧语欺瞒中国人民，使中国人民迷信死后的幸福，叫他们不要反抗帝国主义。”这一时期西方宗教的泛滥使瞿秋白认识到，只有深入开展科学无神论的研究和宣传，对宗教有神论的本质进行揭露和批判，才能使广大民众的思想得以解放，摆脱宗教神学的奴役和束缚，从而才能够积极参与到反对帝国主义侵略的伟大斗争之中。

On the other hand, the feudal rulers exploited theocratic ideology and secular superstition to delude the people, thereby weakening the consciousness of resistance among the broad masses. In old China, the feudal rulers, under the pretext of the “divine right of kings,” deified themselves in order to maintain, consolidate, and strengthen their rule. This made theocratic ideology a “great rope” that had bound the Chinese people for thousands of years. Although the Xinhai Revolution [4]4 The Xinhai Revolution (1911) overthrew the Qing dynasty and ended over two thousand years of imperial rule in China, establishing the Republic of China. overthrew the feudal monarchy and weakened theocratic ideology to a certain extent, with Yuan Shikai’s [5]5 Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) was a Chinese military and political leader who briefly served as the first president of the Republic of China and later declared himself emperor in 1915, an act that sparked widespread opposition and failed. restoration of the monarchy and his advocacy of “sacrificing to Heaven and worshipping Confucius,” various arguments promoting theocratic ideology once again raised their heads. At this time, secular superstitious activities and ideas inseparable from theocratic ideology—such as kneeling to Heaven and Earth, worshipping gods and sacrificing to ghosts—also spread. Various superstitious organizations and their publications appeared one after another. Superstitious activities such as altar planchette writing [6]6 Planchette writing (扶乩) is a form of divination in which a stick or planchette is used to write characters in sand or on a board, supposedly under the guidance of spirits; it was a common practice in Chinese folk religion. were very active, and articles promoting gods, immortals, ghosts, and monsters dared to be published in newspapers and periodicals, stirring up trouble. As Qu Qiubai said: “The man-eating feudal ethics were still baring their fangs and brandishing their claws; the intimidation of the King of Hell and the underworld, the worship of the ‘upright and incorruptible official’ … were still enveloping everything, exerting an extremely stubborn resistance to the growth of revolutionary class consciousness in an invisible way.” Theocratic ideology and secular superstition had a broad influence in China at that time, not only among the common people but also in intellectual circles, where some were deluded by them and even joined their ranks. This made Qu Qiubai deeply realize that to break the shackles and oppression of feudal thought, it was necessary to direct the edge of criticism against theocratic ideology and secular superstition, using scientific atheism to sweep away the backward concepts—such as autocracy and feudal superstition—that hindered revolutionary progress in the patriarchal clan society.

另一方面，封建统治者利用神权思想和世俗迷信蛊惑人心，以削弱广大人民群众的反抗意识。在旧中国，封建统治者假借“君权神授”的说辞神化自己，从而达到维护、巩固和加强其统治的目的，这使得神权思想成为几千年来束缚中国人民的一条“极大的绳索”。辛亥革命虽然推翻了封建帝制，一定程度上削弱了神权思想，但是，随着袁世凯复辟帝制，提倡“祭天祀孔”,各种鼓吹神权思想的论调再次抬头，此时，同神权思想密不可分的跪拜天地、敬神祭鬼的世俗迷信活动及其思想也在蔓延，各种迷信组织及其刊物相继出现，社坛扶乩等迷信活动十分活跃，宣传神仙鬼妖的文章也敢于公诸报刊，兴风作浪。正如瞿秋白所言：“吃人的礼教仍旧是在张牙舞爪，阎王地狱的恐吓，青天大老爷的崇拜……仍旧是在笼罩着一切，无形之中对于革命的阶级意识的生长，发生极顽固的抵抗力”。神权思想和世俗迷信在此时的中国有着广泛的影响，不仅在民间，而且在知识界也有人为其所惑，甚至与其为伍。这使瞿秋白深切地感悟到，要打破封建思想的束缚和压迫，必须要将批判的锋芒指向神权思想和世俗迷信，以科学无神论来扫清宗法社会中存在的专制主义、封建迷信等阻碍革命进步的落后观念。

II. The Main Connotations of Qu Qiubai’s Scientific Atheist Thought

二、瞿秋白科学无神论思想的主要内涵

The emergence of atheism is not only the result of being “midwifed” by religious theism but also grew and developed in opposition and struggle against religious theism. As Engels said: “Atheism, as the mere negation of religion, always has reference to religion; without religion it does not exist itself.” Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought is prominently manifested in his analysis of the basic issues of religion, such as its formation, development, and social role, using dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and in revealing the relationship between religious theism and idealism. At the same time, based on China’s actual social conditions, he engaged in deep reflection on how to guide the broad masses to break free from the shackles of religious theism.

无神论的产生不仅是宗教有神论“催生”的结果，也是在同宗教有神论的对立和斗争中成长和发展起来的，正如恩格斯所说：“无神论作为对宗教的单纯的否定，它始终要涉及宗教，没有宗教，它本身也不存在。”瞿秋白的科学无神论思想突出表现为以辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义分析了宗教的形成与发展、社会作用等基本问题，揭示了宗教有神论同唯心论的关系问题。同时，他还立足于中国的社会现实状况，对如何引导广大人民群众摆脱宗教有神论的束缚进行了深入思考。

(I) A Scientific Explanation of the Formation and Development of Religion

(一)对宗教形成与发展的科学阐释

Qu Qiubai believed that “to study any phenomenon, one must observe its emergence, development, and extinction.” Regarding religion, which gives rise to the concept of deities, he used dialectical materialism and historical materialism as weapons in his *Outline of Social Science* [7]7 *Outline of Social Science* (《社会科学概论》) is a work by Qu Qiubai, published in 1924, which applies Marxist theory to the analysis of social phenomena. to focus on analyzing its origin, transformation, and process of extinction.

瞿秋白认为，“凡是研究一种现象，必须观察他的发生、发展及消灭”,对于产生神灵观念的宗教，他在《社会科学概论》中以辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义作为武器，集中分析了其起源、变迁和消亡过程。

First, regarding the origin of religion, Qu Qiubai clearly pointed out that “religion is a product of social labor.” He believed that in early human cooperative labor, people inevitably faced struggles against nature. Due to a lack of scientific knowledge, primitive humans could neither understand nor cope with the cruel natural world and complex natural phenomena. They could only rely on “religious concepts to deceive themselves (faith),” thinking that this would “summon up courage, stir up emotions, and engage in production.” At the same time, they had to use certain ritual actions to express reverence and awe for these concepts. This was the earliest form of religion. This view of Qu Qiubai’s clarified that religion is a product of the development of human society, a “phantom of a god in the other world” formed by humans for better survival and development under conditions of low levels of knowledge and productive forces. It actually negated the existence of any god in the material world.

首先，对于宗教的起源，瞿秋白明确指出，“宗教是社会劳动的产物”。他认为，在人类早期协作劳动中，必然要面临着同自然的斗争，而由于科学知识的匮乏，原始人类对于残酷的自然界和复杂的自然现象既不能认识也不能应对，只能依靠“宗教式的概念以自欺(信仰)”,认为这样才能“鼓起勇气，激励情绪，以从事生产”,同时还要以一定的行动仪式来展现对这种概念的尊崇和敬畏，这便是最早的宗教形式。瞿秋白的这一观点明确了宗教是人类社会发展的产物，是人类在知识水平和生产力水平较低状况下为更好生存与发展而形成的“彼岸之神的幻影”,实际上否定了一切神在物质世界的存在。

Second, Qu Qiubai comprehensively elaborated on the process of religious transformation. He believed that the development of religion “follows the overall development of society.” In different stages of social development, the content of religious belief in deities differed: from the “animism” of primitive society to the totemic “fetishism” of fishing and hunting society; from the “ancestor worship” of patriarchal clan society to the crude “polytheism” of small-scale peasant economy; from the “hierarchical religion” of feudal society to the “monotheism” of capitalist society. The image of gods also evolved from “mostly beasts” to “man creating gods in his own image and likeness.” In his view, the fundamental reason for religious transformation lay in “technological progress giving rise to science or philosophy,” which made “the riddles of nature gradually cease to be important issues,” but “the riddles of society again gave rise to layer upon layer of obstacles.” Therefore, the gods of religion gradually concealed their “human” features, replacing them with abstract concepts such as “benevolence,” “compassion,” and “love.” Through his discussion and analysis of religious transformation, Qu Qiubai made people realize that so-called sacred religion is merely a projection of human relations onto the heavens; it is not that gods created humans, but that humans created gods for themselves.

其次，瞿秋白对于宗教的变迁历程进行了全面的阐述。他认为，宗教的发展是“跟着总的社会发展而进”,在不同社会发展阶段，宗教的神灵信仰有着不同的内容，从原始社会的“万物有灵论”到渔猎社会图腾式的“拜物教”,从宗法社会中的“祖先教”到小农经济里简陋的“多神教”,从封建社会的“等级教”到资本主义社会的“一神教”,神的形象也由“大抵是禽兽”发展到“人按照自己的形象和情状制造出神来”。在他看来，宗教变迁的根本原因在于“技术进步而有科学或哲学”,从而使得“自然界的疑谜渐渐地不成重要问题”,但“社会的疑谜又起重重孽障”,因此，宗教的神渐渐隐去“人形”的面目，而以“仁”“慈”“爱”等抽象观念代替。瞿秋白通过对宗教变迁的论述和分析，使人们认识到所谓神圣的宗教只不过是人间关系在天上的投影，不是神创造了人，而是人为自己创造了神。

Finally, Qu Qiubai believed that religion would inevitably move toward extinction with the proletariat’s revolutionary struggle. He argued that since religion originates from humanity’s superstition about the forces of nature and society and thrives under the exploitation and oppression of the bourgeoisie, once these riddles are broken and exploitation and oppression are eliminated, religion would lose the conditions for its existence and move toward extinction. The class capable of achieving this goal would inevitably be the proletariat. In his view, on the one hand, “the proletariat grows up in high technology, so the riddles of nature are no longer a problem for them”; on the other hand, the proletariat, through prolonged class struggle, gradually comes to understand the causality of social phenomena, “not needing to guess, but to truly explain phenomena.” Moreover, as the most advanced and revolutionary class in human history, the proletariat “absolutely has no need for the exploitation system; not only does it not deceive itself or others, but it also strives to avoid being deceived by others.” Therefore, all this makes the proletariat “inevitably oppose religion, clear away all superstition about nature and society,” and firmly “engage in class struggle and the great undertaking of transforming the world and society.” When the proletariat truly achieves the transformation of human society, all exploitation systems and class struggles will be eliminated, and then “religion will have no further room for existence.”

最后，瞿秋白认为宗教必然随着无产阶级的革命斗争而走向消亡。他认为，宗教既然根源于人类对于自然界和社会力量的迷信，盛行于资产阶级的剥削压迫，那么一旦打破这些疑谜、消灭剥削压迫，宗教也就因失去生存的条件而走向消亡，而能够实现这一目标的必然是无产阶级。因为在他看来，一方面“无产阶级生长于高等技术里，对于自然界的疑谜早已不成问题”;另一方面，无产阶级在长期的阶级斗争中渐渐了解社会现象的因果，“不用猜度，却要真正的解释现象”,此外，无产阶级作为人类历史上最先进、最革命的阶级，他们“绝对无需乎剥削制度，不但不用自欺欺人，而且要力求免除别人的欺罔”,因此，这些都使得无产阶级“必然反对宗教，廓清一切对于自然及社会的迷信”,坚定地“从事于阶级斗争及改造世界社会的伟业”,而当无产阶级真正实现人类社会的改造之后，一切的剥削制度和阶级斗争都被消灭，那么“宗教更无存在的余地”。

(II) A Dialectical Analysis of the Social Role of Religious Theism

(二)对宗教有神论社会作用的辩证分析

Qu Qiubai pointed out: “The absolute requirement of Marxist theory is to place any social problem within a specific historical scope when analyzing it.” Therefore, although he vigorously opposed religious theism, when examining its social role, he still placed it within a specific historical scope for dialectical analysis.

瞿秋白指出：“马克思主义理论的绝对要求，是要在分析任何一个社会问题的时候，把它放在一定的历史范围里面。”因此，他虽然竭力反对宗教有神论，但是在看待宗教有神论社会作用的时候，他仍然将其置于一定的历史范围中进行辩证的分析。

On the one hand, Qu Qiubai affirmed that religious theism, as part of human civilization, once played a positive role in certain historical periods. He believed that religion in primitive times was “necessary for cooperative labor,” because it enabled people at that time to “summon up courage, stir up emotions, and engage in production.” Moreover, religion in this period “often combined the functions of modern science, art, customs, morality, and philosophy into a vague system, serving as a tool for society to adapt to nature: transmitting experience, harmonizing emotions, and practicing cooperative labor (rituals).” Therefore, religion played a positive role in promoting the development of human society in primitive times. After the advent of class society, religious theism gradually evolved into a tool for the ruling class to intimidate, tame, and intimidate the ruled class. Of course, religious theism in this period “was sometimes also used by the ruled class as a tool for class struggle against oppression.” In his *Controversial Issues in the Chinese Revolution* [8]8 *Controversial Issues in the Chinese Revolution* (《中国革命中之争论问题》) is a work by Qu Qiubai, written in 1927, addressing debates within the Chinese Communist Party about revolutionary strategy., Qu Qiubai once said: “From the ‘Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends’ in *Water Margin* [9]9 *Water Margin* (《水浒传》) is a classic Chinese novel about a group of outlaws; the “Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends” are the 108 main characters, who are said to be reincarnations of stars., the paper men and paper horses of the White Lotus Sect [10]10 The White Lotus Sect (白莲教) was a secret religious society that led several uprisings against imperial rule in China, notably during the Qing dynasty., the talismans and spells of the Boxers [11]11 The Boxers (义和团) were a Chinese secret society that led an anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising in 1899–1901, known as the Boxer Rebellion., to the various ‘magic arts’ of the Red Spear Society [12]12 The Red Spear Society (红枪会) was a Chinese peasant self-defense and secret society active in the early 20th century, often involved in local resistance against warlords and bandits. and the Hard Belly Society [13]13 The Hard Belly Society (硬肚会) was a Chinese folk religious and self-defense group active in the early 20th century, known for its belief in invulnerability through magical practices. today, these are all insurrectionary tactics that peasants resort to when they are at their wits’ end.” He believed that although these Taoist-style superstitions were foolish and laughable, “their spirit of resistance is very admirable.” Of course, Qu Qiubai always maintained that the positive role played by religious theism was temporary and secondary, while its negative role in hindering social progress and development was primary.

一方面，瞿秋白肯定了宗教有神论作为人类文明的一部分，曾经在一定的历史时期发挥着积极的作用。他认为，原始时代的宗教是“共同劳动之中所必须的”,因为它可以使当时的人们“鼓起勇气，激励情绪，以从事生产”,并且，这一时期的宗教“往往兼有现代是科学、艺术、风俗、道德、哲学的职任，混成一隐约的系统，以为社会适应自然的工具：传授经验，整齐情绪，练习共同劳动(仪式)”,所以，宗教在原始时代起到了推动人类社会发展的积极作用。进入阶级社会以后，宗教有神论逐渐演变成为统治阶级恐吓、驯服和震慑被统治阶级的工具，当然，这一时期的宗教有神论“有时亦为受统治阶级所利用以为反抗压迫的阶级斗争之工具”,瞿秋白在《中国革命中之争论问题》中就曾讲道：“从《水浒传》中的天罡地煞起，白莲教的纸人纸马，义和团的符咒，一直到现今红枪会、硬肚会的种种‘法术’,都是农民于无可如何之中寻出来的暴动战术。”他认为，这些道教式的迷信，虽然愚妄可笑，但是“他们这种反抗的精神是非常之可敬的”。当然，瞿秋白始终认为，宗教有神论所发挥的积极作用是短暂的、次要的，其阻碍社会进步与发展的消极作用才是主要的。

On the other hand, Qu Qiubai, basing himself on the Marxist method of class analysis, exposed the reactionary class essence and negative social role of religious theism. First, Qu Qiubai held that religious theism greatly shackles people’s thinking. He pointed out that religious belief merges with the concept of life’s duties, so that the commandments of the heavenly gods, “the sovereign heaven and the sovereign earth truly look down upon this” [14]14 “皇天后土实鉴临之” (huang tian hou tu shi jian lin zhi): A classical Chinese phrase invoking heaven and earth as witnesses, often used in oaths or solemn declarations., and so forth become the main content of duty, and “gradually become fixed as religious rituals,” and all these “create a prison for the spirit and the body, locking everything up tight.” Second, Qu Qiubai held that religious theism is a tool of class rule. He pointed out that as humanity entered class society, the functions of religion in “transmitting experience” and “practicing collective labor” gradually disappeared, leaving only the function of “regulating emotions,” and this function grew with class rule; the ruling class used this function “to intimidate the ruled class, to make them docile, to suppress their feelings and intentions, so as to drive them.” In his essay “Long Live Soviet Power!” he also stated, “the bourgeoisie also uses various religions or morals to narcotize the oppressed classes,” so that the broad masses of the oppressed classes have “no opportunity to participate in the political power of the bourgeoisie” and also “cannot enjoy democratic rights and freedoms.” Finally, Qu Qiubai held that religious theism hinders the progress and development of science. He pointed out that in the feudal era, inventors of technology could “monopolize their techniques through ‘hereditary transmission,’ even entrusting them to myths,” giving rise to “chieftains, shamans, Confucian pastors, and the like,” so that “the technological civilization that was originally meant to develop social evolution instead became a wart hindering social evolution”; in capitalist society, bourgeois scholars, fearing that “pure and strict scientific causality” applied to social phenomena would expose the exploitative nature of the bourgeoisie and trigger proletarian revolution, would rather use religion to create beliefs about social phenomena, and “dare not and will not use scientific methods to study” social phenomena. All this shows that religious theology has already become a fetter on social progress and development.

另一方面，瞿秋白立足于马克思主义的阶级分析法，揭露了宗教有神论的反动阶级本质和消极社会作用。首先，瞿秋白认为宗教有神论极大地禁锢了人们的思想。他指出，宗教信仰同人生的义务观念合流并进，使得天神的戒律、“皇天后土实鉴临之”等等成为义务的主要内容，并且“渐渐的固定而成宗教的仪式”,而这些都“造成了精神上身体上的牢狱，把一切都锢闭住了”。其次，瞿秋白认为宗教有神论是阶级统治的工具。他指出，随着人类进入阶级社会，宗教所具有的“传授经验”“练习共同劳动”的作用逐渐消失，只保留了“整齐情绪”的作用，并且随着阶级统治而增大，统治阶级利用这一作用“以恐吓受治阶级，使之驯服，镇慑他们的情意，以供驱使”。他在《苏维埃政权万岁》中也讲道，“资产阶级还利用各种宗教或道德麻醉被压迫的阶级”,使得广大被压迫阶级既“没有机会参加资产阶级的政权”,也“不能享用德谟克拉西的权利和自由”。最后，瞿秋白认为宗教有神论阻碍着科学的进步与发展。他指出，在封建时代，技术发明者对其技术“可以垄断‘世授’甚至于托之神话”,而产生“酋长、巫祝、儒牧等人”,使得“那技术文明原本是发展社会进化的，到此反成阻滞社会进化的赘疣”;在资本主义社会，资产阶级学者因为惧怕“纯正严格的科学因果律”应用于社会现象而揭露资产阶级的剥削本质、引发无产阶级革命，因此，宁愿用宗教制造对社会现象的信念，也“不敢用亦不肯用科学方法去研究”社会现象。这些都表明宗教神学已然成为社会进步与发展的桎梏。

(3) Revealing the Relationship between Religious Theism and Idealism

(三)揭示了宗教有神论同唯心论的关系问题

Lenin once pointed out that “philosophical idealism is nothing but a disguised, embellished ghost story” [15]15 V. I. Lenin, *Materialism and Empirio-Criticism* (1909), Chapter 6, Section 1., indicating the close connection between idealism and religious theism. Therefore, in the struggle between atheism and theism, the struggle between materialism and idealism is necessarily also contained. As a staunch materialist, Qu Qiubai not only thoroughly elucidated the relationship between religious theism and idealism, but also closely integrated the critique of idealism with the critique of religious theism, achieving a thorough critique of religious theology, which also became a distinctive feature of his scientific atheist thought.

列宁曾指出，“哲学唯心主义不过是隐蔽起来的、修饰过的鬼神之说”,表明了唯心论同宗教有神论之间的密切联系。因此，在无神论和有神论的斗争中，必然还包含着唯物论和唯心论的斗争。作为坚定的唯物主义者，瞿秋白不仅深入阐明了宗教有神论同唯心论之间的关系问题，还将批判唯心论同批判宗教有神论紧密结合起来，实现了对宗教神学的彻底批判，这也成为其科学无神论思想的显著特征。

First, Qu Qiubai elucidated the “kinship” relationship between religious theism and idealism. He clearly stated: “Idealist doctrines are in fact close to religious concepts — only expressed in a milder form.” First, he held that both religious theism and idealism regard spirit as something that can exist independently of matter; religious theism “generally holds that there is another mysterious force above nature, and human consciousness is the expression of this mysterious force”; idealism asserts that “spirit” is the source of all things, using “some property of ‘spirit’ as the cause” to explain all cosmic phenomena and all properties of matter. Second, he held that both religious theism and idealism affirm creationism; religious theism preaches the existence of gods and deities, holding that gods or deities created the world and humanity; he listed legends such as “the Memphis superstition that the god Ptah created the world just as a mason builds a house” and “some places thought the universe was woven by a goddess”; while idealism holds that “before the creation of heaven and earth, there existed a non-human, divine ‘spirit,’” which created the world and humanity. Finally, he held that both religious theism and idealism lead the origin of the world toward mystification; religious theism uses supernatural divine power to explain phenomena unknown to people, holding that “outside matter there is this abstract, abstruse ‘Way’ (道) that governs society and history”; while idealism’s “‘thought’ exists independently, without foundation, so they must create many ‘mysteries,’” such as God, “supreme reason,” “cosmic will,” and so on. In short, in Qu Qiubai’s view, religious theism and idealism differ only in form; they are essentially consistent, supporting and relying on each other, jointly opposing the materialist epistemology.

第一，瞿秋白阐明了宗教有神论同唯心论的“亲缘”关系。他明确指出：“唯心论的学说其实近于宗教的观念，——不过形式上说得和缓些罢了”。首先，他认为，无论是宗教有神论还是唯心论都将精神视可以脱离物质的存在，宗教有神论“大致都以为自然界之上另有一神秘的力量，人的意识是这神秘力量的表现”;唯心论则认定“精神”是万物之源，以“‘精神’的某种性质为原因来解释”一切宇宙现象和一切物质的性质。其次，他认为宗教有神论和唯心论都肯定创世说，宗教有神论宣扬神和上帝等的存在，认为是神或上帝创造了世界和人类，他列举了“孟菲斯迷信符塔神造世界和石匠造房屋一样的”“有的地方又以为宇宙是一个女神织出来的”等传说;而唯心论认为“开天辟地以前便先有一非人的神的‘精神’存在”,是它创造了世界和人类。最后，他认为，宗教有神论和唯心论都将世界本原引向了神秘化，宗教有神论以超自然的神力来解释人们未知的现象，认为“物质之外有此等抽象玄虚的‘道’支配社会及历史”;而唯心论的“‘思想’是独立存在的，无所依据的，所以他们要造出许多‘神秘’来”,如上帝、“最高理性”“宇宙意志”等等。总之，在瞿秋白看来，宗教有神论和唯心论只有形式上的差别，二者在本质上具有一致性，它们相互支持和依赖，共同反对唯物主义的认识论。

Second, Qu Qiubai, basing himself on the basic viewpoint of materialism, exposed the absurdity of religious theism in the process of criticizing idealism. He inherited the Marxist materialist viewpoint, holding that “there is no spirit independent of matter; the state of matter determines the state of spirit,” and clearly stated that outside the material world there is no other world of any kind, such as heaven, hell, the three realms [16]16 Three realms (三界): In Buddhist cosmology, the realms of desire, form, and formlessness; here used as an example of a non-material world posited by religious belief., idealism, and so on. Based on this scientific understanding, he pointed out that the root error of idealism lies in denying the existence of the objective world, and “explaining cosmic or social phenomena based on subjective, idealistic, psychological interpretations,” which makes idealism “have no choice but to flee into religion.” Qu Qiubai further pointed out that spiritualism and all idealisms “all originate from the primitive animism of early peoples”; when nature is examined from a scientific viewpoint, “the viewpoint of animism can no longer exist.” He cited Kant and Laplace’s “nebular hypothesis” to confirm that the cosmic origin theory of the creation of heaven and earth and the Christian seven-day creation contradict the facts; he also cited Darwin’s theory of biological evolution and cell theory to show that human origins definitely do not come from divine creation. These not only refuted the idealist view that “spirit precedes matter” with materialism, but also exposed the deceptiveness of religious theism’s false doctrines, thoroughly shaking the theoretical foundation on which religious theism relies for its existence.

第二，瞿秋白立足于唯物主义的基本观点，在批判唯心论的过程中揭露了宗教有神论的荒谬。他继承了马克思主义的唯物论观点，认为“没有离物质而独立的精神；物质的状态能决定精神的状态”,并且明确指出在物质世界之外并无任何别种世界，如天堂、地狱、三界、唯心等等。根据这一科学的认识，他指出，唯心论的错误根源在于否认客观世界的存在，而“根据主观的、理想上心理上的解释，去说明宇宙或社会现象”,这使得唯心论“便不得不遁入宗教”。瞿秋白进一步指出，灵性论以及一切唯心论“都是由初民的万物有灵论里出来的”,当以科学的观点考察自然的时候，“那万物有灵论的观点便不能再存在了”,他列举康德和拉普拉斯的“星云说”,印证了开天辟地的宇宙源起说以及基督教七日创世纪与事实相违异,他还列举了达尔文的生物进化论以及细胞学说来表明人类的起源绝不是源自于神的创造，这些不仅以唯物论驳斥了唯心论“精神先于物质”的观点，而且也揭露了宗教有神论虚假学说的欺骗性，彻底动摇了宗教有神论赖以存在的理论根基。

(4) Guiding People to Break Free from the Shackles of Religious Theism

(四)引导人们摆脱宗教有神论的束缚

As an early leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Qu Qiubai gradually came to recognize in the process of theoretical research and practical exploration that science, education, and cultural revolution are powerful weapons against religious theism, and also important tools for guiding the broad masses of the people to break free from the shackles of theological concepts and superstitious ideas, and to raise their revolutionary consciousness of resisting exploitation and oppression.

作为中国共产党的早期领导人，瞿秋白在理论研究和实践探索的过程中逐渐认识到，科学、教育和文化革命是反对宗教有神论的有力武器，也是引导广大人民群众摆脱神学观念和迷信思想束缚、提高反抗剥削和压迫的革命意识的重要工具。

First, upholding scientific truth. Qu Qiubai held that “the authority of science is supreme,” especially playing an important role in the struggle against religious theism: on the one hand, he pointed out that the progress of natural science enables “people to increase their power over nature,” thereby allowing them to explore the laws of natural phenomena to solve various mysteries of nature, reducing dependence on gods and deities; on the other hand, he pointed out that the progress of social science enables people to gradually form a correct understanding of the laws of human social development, thereby enabling them to “observe all phenomena with a scientific worldview, purely objectively examine external things,” obtain true knowledge, and expose the fallacies of religious theism. He also stated in his essay “On Zola” that “Catholicism and science can never be reconciled under any circumstances; science is the end of Catholicism,” making clear that science is the sharp weapon for breaking religious theism. In short, Qu Qiubai held that science is “the method for conquering natural forces,” and that one must “study science, spread science,” and carry out “the movement to popularize Marxist-Leninist science among the masses,” in order to break all the shackles of religious superstition.

第一，推崇科学真理。瞿秋白认为“科学的威权至高无上”,尤其是在同宗教有神论的斗争中发挥着重要作用：一方面，他指出，自然科学的进步使“人对于自然增进自己的权利”,从而能够探析自然现象的规律以破解种种自然界的疑谜，减少对神和上帝的依赖；另一方面，他指出，社会科学的进步使人们逐渐形成对人类社会发展规律的正确认识，从而能够“以科学的宇宙观去观察一切现象，纯粹客观的考察外界事物”,获得真理的认识，揭露宗教有神论的谬误。他还曾在《关于左拉》一文中指出，“天主教和科学却无论如何也不能够调和，科学是天主教的末日”,明确了科学才是破除宗教有神论的利器。总之，瞿秋白认为，科学是“征服天行的方法”,要“研究科学，传播科学”,要在大众之中“进行马列主义的科学大众化的运动”,以此来打破一切宗教迷信的束缚。

Second, developing education for the common people. Qu Qiubai believed that the ruling class’s monopoly on knowledge and education had caused the broad masses to remain conservative and ignorant, thereby enabling the widespread dissemination of theocratic ideas and feudal superstition. He pointed out that in the theological era “the private ownership of knowledge” had already “developed to its fullest extent”; religious leaders and scholars had “appropriated for themselves” the knowledge created by all of humanity and turned it into “dogmas, schools of thought, family rules, and esoteric transmissions” to be monopolized and taught, resulting in “those with little knowledge having even less, and those with much knowledge having even more,” ultimately causing those with little knowledge to “abandon their spiritual life, even losing their ability to seek knowledge,” and thus fall prey to the deception of religious theism. Qu Qiubai believed that only by “implementing education for the common people,” “enabling everyone to become literate, to understand politics, and allowing workers and peasants to enter universities and study profound knowledge,” could the broad masses shake off the shackles of religious theism in the process of raising their cultural and intellectual level. Furthermore, in June 1923, in the “Draft Program of the Communist Party of China” that he drafted, Qu Qiubai included “implementing compulsory education and the absolute separation of education from religion” as one of the Communist Party of China’s minimum program points, which became one of the earliest visible policy provisions of the CPC on handling the relationship between education and religion.

第二，发展平民教育。瞿秋白认为，统治阶级对知识教育的垄断造成了广大民众的守旧和愚昧，从而使得神权思想和封建迷信得以广泛传播。他指出，在神学时代“知识的私有制”已经“发达到极完备的了”,教主和学者将全人类共同创造的知识“据为己有”,并将其变为“信条、学派、家法、秘传”来进行垄断传授，导致“知识少的人就因此更少，知识多的人就因此更多”,最终使得知识少的人“抛弃他的精神生活，以至失去他求知识的能力”,从而蒙受宗教有神论的欺骗。瞿秋白认为，只有“实施平民教育”,“使大家都识得字，都懂得政治，使工人、农民都能够进大学，研究高深的学问”,才能使广大人民群众在提高文化知识的过程中摆脱宗教有神论的束缚。此外，1923年6月，瞿秋白还在其起草的《中国共产党党纲草案》中，将“实行义务教育，教育与宗教绝对分离”作为中国共产党的最小限度党纲之一，这成为中国共产党处理教育与宗教问题较早可见的政策性规定。

Third, carrying out a cultural revolution. As a pioneer and founder of the early Marxist cultural theory of the Communist Party of China, Qu Qiubai deeply recognized in the course of his cultural research and creative work that “China’s laboring masses still live a medieval-style cultural life—storytelling, historical romances, folk ditties, peep shows,连环画 [n], makeshift theater performances… everywhere the Chinese gentry and bourgeoisie use these mass literary forms as tools to impose slave education on the laboring masses.” These reactionary mass literary forms all “manifest the rule of feudal consciousness” and imperceptibly become an obstacle to the growth of revolutionary class consciousness. Therefore, he believed that it was necessary to launch “a truly mass cultural movement—to overthrow the superstitions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc., and all the ideological fetters of patriarchal society, and to oppose the ideological influence of the bourgeoisie and rich peasants, etc.” Furthermore, he pointed out that carrying out a Soviet cultural revolution required, on the one hand, a “resolute proletarian standpoint” and efforts to create revolutionary mass literature to replace reactionary mass literature; on the other hand, it required propagating the theory of Marxism-Leninism “into the hearts of the broad masses.” In addition, he noted that within the “new cultural revolution” there must also be “a powerful contingent for revolutionary struggle” to “oppose all cultural fetters of feudal remnants, purge the influence of feudal remnants on the consciousness of the masses, and overthrow all the slavish thinking of imperialism and the comprador class.”

第三，开展文化革命。作为中国共产党早期马克思主义文化理论的开创者和奠基人，瞿秋白在文化研究和创作过程中深刻地认识到，“中国的劳动民众还过着中世纪式的文化生活，说书，演义，小唱，西洋镜，连环图画，草台班的戏剧……到处都是中国的绅士资产阶级用这些大众文艺做工具，来对于劳动民众实行他们的奴隶教育”,这些反动的大众文艺都“表现着封建意识的统治”,在无形之中成为革命的阶级意识生长的阻力。因此，他认为，必须要开展“真正群众的文化运动——打倒孔教、佛教、道教等等的迷信和一切宗法社会的思想上的束缚，反对着资产阶级和富农等等的思想上的影响”,并且，他进一步指出，开展苏维埃的文化革命，一方面必须要有“坚决的无产阶级立场”,努力创造革命的大众文艺以取代反动的大众文艺，另一方面要将马克思列宁主义的理论“宣传到广大的群众之怀”,此外，他指出，在“新的文化革命之中”还要有一只“革命斗争的强有力的队伍”以“反对一切封建残余的文化上的束缚，肃清封建残余对于群众的意识上的影响，打倒一切帝国主义和买办阶级的奴才思想”。

III. The Historical Contributions of Qu Qiubai’s Scientific Atheist Thought

三、瞿秋白科学无神论思想的历史贡献

As a Marxist, Qu Qiubai conducted in-depth research on Marxist atheism and applied it to the struggle against religious theism and feudal superstition in China’s real society, greatly promoting the dissemination and development of Marxist atheism in China. He consistently adhered to a materialist viewpoint in observing, analyzing, and studying religious theism, profoundly exposing its hypocritical veil, deepening people’s understanding of the essence of religious theism and secular superstition, playing an important role in educating and guiding people to break free from the shackles of religious theism, and advancing the development of the proletarian revolutionary struggle.

作为一名马克思主义者，瞿秋白对马克思主义无神论进行了深入的研究，并且将其运用于同中国现实社会中宗教神学和封建迷信的斗争之中，极大地推动了马克思主义无神论在中国的传播和发展。他始终坚持以唯物主义的观点来观察、分析和研究宗教有神论，深刻揭露了其虚伪的面纱，深化了人们对宗教神学和世俗迷信的本质认识，对于教育和引导人们摆脱宗教有神论的束缚发挥了重要作用，推动了无产阶级革命斗争的发展。

First, through his exposure and critique of the essence of religious theism, Qu Qiubai provided a powerful ideological weapon for people to understand and oppose religious theism. After the Opium War, with the invasion of imperialism, China gradually degenerated from a feudal society into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, which also caused the thought of ghosts and gods to gradually exhibit characteristics of a confluence of ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign elements: on the one hand, Chinese feudal theist ideas such as the Mandate of Heaven, the divine right of kings, and secular superstition continued to exist, and traditional theist thought like Buddhism and Taoism remained prevalent; on the other hand, Western religious theism, protected by unequal treaties, poured into China and spread wantonly. These various forms of theist thought converged into a countercurrent, hindering the development of democracy and science in modern China. Especially after the failure of the Xinhai Revolution [n], “with the rise of the trend to revere Confucius and restore ancient ways, spiritualism and the thought of ghosts and gods also prevailed in Chinese society for a time.” This made Qu Qiubai realize that without exposing the mysterious veil of theism and without fiercely criticizing various theist ideas, the goal of liberating the people’s thought could not be achieved. To this end, Qu Qiubai not only provided a detailed explanation of the origin, transformation, and extinction of religious theism but also conducted an in-depth analysis of its essence and function, thoroughly exposing the absurdity and harm of religious theism. This not only made people gradually realize that “saying the Heavenly Emperor and Bodhisattva, saying the ancestors, saying Jesus will protect us” were merely tricks to deceive the people, and that “these things like immortals, gods, and devils have no place in the material world,” but also continuously stimulated people’s consciousness of resistance against theocratic thought, playing an important role in curbing the rampant spread of religious theism and secular superstition among the people at that time.

第一，瞿秋白通过对宗教有神论本质的揭露和批判，为人们认识和反对宗教有神论提供了有力的思想武器。鸦片战争以后，随着帝国主义的入侵，中国由封建社会逐渐沦为半殖民地半封建社会，而这也使得在鬼神思想上逐渐呈现出古今中外交汇的特点：一方面，天命论、君权神授说、世俗迷信等中国封建有神论思想继续存在，传统的佛教、道教等神学思想依然盛行；另一方面，在不平等条约庇护下的西方宗教神学涌入中国，并且肆意传播。这些形形色色的有神论思想汇聚成一股逆流，阻碍了近代中国民主与科学的发展，尤其是在辛亥革命失败以后，“随着尊孔复古思潮的兴起，灵学、鬼神思想也在中国社会盛行一时”,这使瞿秋白认识到，不揭露有神论的神秘面纱，不猛烈批判各种有神论思想，就无法达成民众思想解放的目标。为此，瞿秋白不仅对宗教有神论的起源、变迁和消亡等问题进行了详细的阐释，而且还对宗教有神论的本质和作用进行了深入的分析，彻底揭露了宗教有神论的荒谬和危害，不仅使人们逐渐认识到“说什么天皇菩萨，说什么祖宗，说什么耶稣，会保佑我们”只是哄骗民众的伎俩,神仙、上帝、魔鬼等等“这些东西在物质世界里老实没有他们的位置”,而且也不断激发了人们对于神权思想的反抗意识，这对于遏制当时宗教神学和世俗迷信在民间的泛滥发挥了重要作用。

Second, through his in-depth theoretical research and practical exploration of Marxist atheism, Qu Qiubai promoted its dissemination and development in China. As a renowned theorist and propagandist within the Party, he made the dissemination and development of Marxist atheism an important mission in his early propagation of Marxism. On the one hand, Qu Qiubai, taking advantage of his proficiency in Russian, used the translation of works containing Marxist atheism as his weapon. He successively translated and published works such as Bebel’s *The Socialization of Society*, G. V. Plekhanov’s [n] *The Social Views of the Russian Proletariat*, A. M. Deborin’s [n] *The Philosophy of the Proletariat—Materialism*, and F. Mehring’s [n] *Historical Materialism*, as well as programmatic documents like the *Program of the Communist International*. These works included not only a comprehensive exposition of the Marxist atheist stance and viewpoint but also an in-depth analysis of a series of basic issues concerning religious theism, as well as methods and means to eradicate religious theism. They systematically propagated Marxist atheism in China earlier and more comprehensively than before, playing an important role in enhancing the influence of Marxist atheism in China at that time. His translations were also highly recognized. On December 24, 1943, Mao Zedong wrote a letter recommending Qu Qiubai’s translation of *The Philosophy of the Proletariat—Materialism* to Liu Shaoqi, saying: “Gorev’s *Materialism* had a translation by Qu Qiubai; I have read it, and it is good.” On the other hand, Qu Qiubai actively based himself on China’s actual national conditions, writing a series of works containing his scientific atheist thought, such as *An Introduction to Social Philosophy*, *Modern Sociology*, *An Outline of Social Science*, *An Overview of the Materialist Worldview*, *The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China*, *The Strategy of the Chinese Revolution and the Peasant Movement*, and *The Soviet Cultural Revolution*. These works focused on exposing and criticizing the essence of religious theism and secular superstition, dialectically analyzing their social functions, studying the close connection between religious theism and idealism, and also exploring how to guide the broad masses to break free from the shackles of theocratic superstition under the prevailing social conditions. This not only further enriched the ideological content of Marxist atheism but also effectively promoted the development of the Sinicization of Marxist atheism.

第二，瞿秋白通过对马克思主义无神论的深入理论研究和实践探索，推动了其在中国的传播与发展。作为党内著名的理论家和宣传家，他在早期传播马克思主义的过程中，也将传播和发展马克思主义无神论作为自己的重要使命。一方面，瞿秋白利用精通俄文的有利条件，将翻译包含马克思主义无神论的作品作为自己的武器，先后翻译并发表了倍倍尔的《社会之社会化》、郭范仑夸的《俄国无产阶级之社会观》、郭列夫的《无产阶级之哲学——唯物论》、摩陵的《历史的唯物主义》等作品以及《共产国际党纲》等纲领性文件，其中不仅包括对马克思主义无神论立场和观点的全面阐释，还有对宗教有神论一系列基本问题的深入分析以及破除宗教有神论的方式和方法，在国内较早地全面系统宣传了马克思主义无神论，对于当时提高马克思主义无神论在中国的影响力发挥了重要作用。他的这些译著也得到了高度认可，1943年12月24日，毛泽东就曾写信向刘少奇推荐瞿秋白所译的《无产阶级之哲学——唯物论》,他说：“郭列夫的《唯物论》,瞿秋白曾有译本，我看过，还好。”另一方面，瞿秋白还积极立足于中国的现实国情，撰写了《社会哲学概论》《现代社会学》《社会科学概论》《唯物论的宇宙观概述》《中国革命和中国共产党》《中国革命和农民运动的策略》《苏维埃的文化革命》等一系列包含其科学无神论思想的著作，重点对宗教神学和世俗迷信的本质进行了揭露和批判，对其社会作用进行了辩证分析，对宗教神学同唯心论的紧密联系进行了研究，此外还就在当时社会状况下对如何引导广大民众摆脱神权迷信的束缚进行了探讨，这不仅进一步丰富了马克思主义无神论的思想内容，还有效推动了马克思主义无神论中国化的发展。

Third, through his reflections on how to break religious theism, Qu Qiubai provided important reference for the early Chinese Communist Party’s exploration of conducting atheist propaganda and education and handling religious issues. In order to broadly unite and mobilize all revolutionary forces, he placed particular emphasis on educating and guiding the broad masses to shake off the shackles of theocratic thought and secular superstition, and he believed that “this is a cause of the masses, a responsibility of the advanced elements to lead the masses.” Therefore, Qu Qiubai led by example, basing himself on the actual conditions of Chinese society, and conducted an in-depth analysis of the social role, manifestations, influence, and harm of religious theism at the time. He held that only under the leadership of the proletariat, through promoting scientific truth, developing popular education, and carrying out a cultural revolution, could the broad masses of the people achieve ideological liberation in the process of raising their scientific and cultural knowledge, “attaining the broadest and freest development,” and thus free themselves from religious superstition with a strong revolutionary struggle consciousness. At the same time, on the basis of earnestly studying and summing up the experience of revolutionary struggle, Qu Qiubai formed some concrete practical understandings. He not only strongly approved of the practice of the Hunan peasants in the 1927 movement of “overthrowing the Jade Emperor, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, the City God of All Under Heaven, the City God Lord, the Earth God, the Five Sage Spirits, and the Great Fox Immortal” to break the bonds of theocracy, but also explicitly proposed using “the strength of the proletarian revolutionary movement” to sweep away the “superstitious old-style organizations” such as the Society of Brothers and Elders (Gelaohui) and the Triads (Sandianhui) of the time and “control their masses,” so as to strengthen the forces of revolutionary struggle. Moreover, during his tenure as People’s Commissar for Education in the Soviet Area, Qu Qiubai also encouraged and required that Lenin Primary Schools, Vocational Middle Schools, Short-Term Normal Schools, etc., “must become local cultural centers,” organizing student propaganda teams to “carry out constant struggles against feudal superstition and reactionary ideology among the broad masses.” These beneficial reflections, which conformed to the actual conditions of China’s revolutionary struggle, provided useful reference for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and education on atheism at the time. In addition, through his analysis of the conditions for the extinction of religion, Qu Qiubai recognized that religion would persist in Chinese society for a long time. Therefore, during his tenure as an early leader of the Party, he put forward some ideas on handling religious issues, such as “absolute separation of education from religion,” “separation of religion from foreign-run missionary schools, all such schools must register with the local government,” and that under the Soviet regime “for citizens of the working class, regardless of gender, religion, nationality, or level of education, true equality shall be realized.” These all provided important inspiration for the Chinese Communist Party’s later practical handling of religious issues.

第三，瞿秋白通过对如何破除宗教有神论的思考，为中国共产党早期探索开展无神论宣传教育和处理宗教问题提供了重要的借鉴。为了广泛团结和动员一切革命力量，他尤为重视教育和引导广大民众摆脱神权思想和世俗迷信的束缚，并且认为“这是大众的事业，这是先进分子领导大众的责任”。因此，瞿秋白以身作则，立足于中国社会的现实状况，对当时宗教有神论的社会作用、表现、影响及危害等问题进行了深入的分析，认为，只有在无产阶级的领导下，通过推崇科学真理、发展平民教育、开展文化革命等才能够使广大人民群众在提高科学文化知识的过程中实现思想的解放，“得到最广泛最自由的发展”,从而以强烈的革命斗争意识从宗教迷信中解脱出来。同时，瞿秋白在认真研究、总结革命斗争经验的基础上，形成了一些具体的实践认识，他不仅极为认同1927年湖南农民在运动中通过“打倒玉皇大帝、元始天尊、天下都城隍、城隍老爷、土地公、五圣神、大狐仙”来破除神权束缚的做法，而且还明确提出要以“无产阶级革命运动的实力”扫除当时的哥老会、三点会等“迷信的旧式组织”并“驾驭他们的群众”,以增强革命斗争的力量，而且，在担任苏区教育人民委员期间，瞿秋白还鼓励和要求列宁小学、职业中学、短期师范等“必须成为当地的文化中心”,组织学生的宣传队“在广大群众之中，经常实行反对封建迷信及反动意识的斗争”。这些符合中国革命斗争实际的有益思考，对当时中国共产党开展无神论的宣传教育提供了有益的借鉴。此外，瞿秋白通过对宗教消亡条件的分析，认识到宗教在中国社会中还会长期存在，因此，在担任党的早期领导人的过程中，他曾提出一些关于处理宗教问题的想法，如“教育与宗教绝对分离”“宗教与外国办的教会学校分离，所有这些学校均应在当地政府登记”、苏维埃政权之下“对于劳动阶级的公民，不分男女，不分宗教，不分国籍，不分智识程度，而实现真正的平等”等，这些都为后来中国共产党在实践中处理宗教问题提供了重要的启示。

IV. Summary

四、小结

As an outstanding Marxist theorist of the early Chinese Communist Party, Qu Qiubai was a pioneer in spreading and developing Marxist atheism. Rooted in the special national conditions of modern China as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, he insisted on using dialectical materialism and historical materialism to refute religious theism. Not only did he profoundly expose the reactionary class essence and negative social role of religious theism through a scientific explanation of its formation and development, but he also, in summing up and reflecting on historical experience, pointed out the practical direction for the broad masses of the people to shake off theological shackles and break secular superstition, forming a scientific atheist thought rich in content and with distinct characteristics of the times. This made a great contribution to promoting the Sinicization of Marxist atheism and enriching the ideological content of Marxist scientific atheism. In today’s increasingly complex ideological struggle, various theist currents of thought are influencing people’s thinking in more covert ways. An in-depth exploration of Qu Qiubai’s scientific atheist thought has important practical implications for strengthening scientific research and propaganda education on Marxist atheism in the New Era, and for curbing the spread of theist thought and secular superstition.

作为中国共产党早期杰出的马克思主义理论家，瞿秋白是传播和发展马克思主义无神论的先驱。他立足于近代中国半殖民地半封建社会的特殊国情，坚持运用辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义对宗教有神论进行批驳，不仅在对宗教有神论形成与发展的科学阐释中深刻揭露了其反动阶级本质和消极社会作用，还在历史经验的总结与反思中为广大人民群众摆脱神学束缚、破除世俗迷信指明了实践方向，形成了颇具时代特色且内容丰富的科学无神论思想，对推动马克思主义无神论中国化的发展、丰富马克思主义科学无神论的思想内容做出了巨大贡献。在意识形态斗争日益复杂的今天，种种有神论思潮正以更为隐蔽的方式对人们的思想产生影响，深入探究瞿秋白的科学无神论思想，对于加强新时代马克思主义无神论的科学研究和宣传教育工作，遏制有神论思想和世俗迷信的泛滥，有着重要的现实启示意义。

Author’s Bio: Xiao Kaiqiang, doctoral candidate at the School of Marxism, Nankai University.

作者简介：肖凯强，南开大学马克思主义学院博士研究生