Engineers of the human soul | |||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 人類靈魂的工程師 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 人类灵魂的工程师 | ||||||||||
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Russian name | |||||||||||
Russian | Инженерычеловеческихдуш | ||||||||||
Romanization | Inzhenery chelovecheskikh dush |
"Engineers of the human soul" was a term applied to writers and other cultural workers by Joseph Stalin.
The phrase was apparently coined by Yury Olesha. Viktor Shklovsky said that Olesha used it in a meeting with Stalin at the home of Maxim Gorky,and it was subsequently used by Stalin,who said «КакметковыразилсятоварищОлеша,писатели—инженерычеловеческихдуш»("As comrade Olesha aptly expressed himself,writers are engineers of human souls"). [1]
During his meeting with writers in preparation for the first Congress of the Union of Soviet Writers,Stalin said:"The production of souls is more important than the production of tanks.... And therefore I raise my glass to you,writers,the engineers of the human soul" (Joseph Stalin,"Speech at home of Maxim Gorky",26 October 1932). It was taken up by Andrei Zhdanov and developed into the idea of Socialist realism.
Deng Xiaoping spoke approvingly of "engineers of the human soul" in the post-Mao era, while also condemning the "Gang of Four". Deng stated:
Writers and artists should conscientiously study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought so as to enhance their own ability to understand and analyse life and to see through appearances to the essence. We hope that more and more comrades in their ranks will become real engineers of the human soul. In order to educate the people, one must first be educated himself; in order to give nourishment to the people, one must first absorb nourishment himself. And who is to educate and nourish our writers and artists? According to Marxism, the answer can only be: the people. [2]
In 2018, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, stated that “Teachers are the engineers of the human soul and the inheritors of human civilization. They carry the important task of spreading knowledge, spreading ideas, spreading truth, shaping soul, shaping life, and shaping newcomers. The fundamental task of education must be nurturing capable young people well-prepared to join the socialist cause. Better education and guidance are needed to build the noble ideal of Communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics among the students.” [3]
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1989. In the aftermath of Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng succeeded in consolidating power to lead China through a period of Reform and Opening Up that transformed its economy into a socialist market economy. He is widely regarded as the "Architect of Modern China" for his contributions to socialism with Chinese characteristics and Deng Xiaoping Theory.
Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Republic of China. A difference between Maoism and traditional Marxism–Leninism is that a united front of progressive forces in class society would lead the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies rather than communist revolutionaries alone. This theory, in which revolutionary praxis is primary and ideological orthodoxy is secondary, represents urban Marxism–Leninism adapted to pre-industrial China. Later theoreticians expanded on the idea that Mao had adapted Marxism–Leninism to Chinese conditions, arguing that he had in fact updated it fundamentally and that Maoism could be applied universally throughout the world. This ideology is often referred to as Marxism–Leninism–Maoism to distinguish it from the original ideas of Mao.
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The Sino-Albanian split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the People's Republic of China in the period 1972–1978.
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Deng Xiaoping Theory, also known as Dengism, is the series of political and economic ideologies first developed by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. The theory does not reject Marxism–Leninism or Maoism, but instead claims to be an adaptation of them to the existing socioeconomic conditions of China.
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