V. G. BUROV, Doctor of Philosophy

Nanjing has gone down in Chinese history for its involvement in many significant events. It was the capital of the country three times: at the beginning of the last Chinese Ming Dynasty (XIV-XVII centuries AD), then the Taiping state, founded by the leaders peasant uprising (mid-XIX century), and finally the Kuomintang created the Republic of China (in the 30s-40s of the XX century). Currently, Nanjing is center of Jiangsu Province, one of the fastest growing regions of China.

In the summer of 2008, I visited Nanjing for the fourth time in more than twenty years. I once again walked through the old, long-familiar streets, which are mostly preserved in the same form. There are the same low, low-rise buildings. However, there are also noticeable changes. Over the years of reforms, a large number of multi-storey residential buildings, office buildings, and large shopping centers have been built. And the Fujiyuan quarter, where I visited more than once, was radically transformed by the restoration - the buildings of the old building changed their appearance, as if returning to the old pre-revolutionary times. This neighborhood is a pleasant place to walk - there are many shops selling souvenirs and handicrafts, restaurants and eateries. In the evenings, the quarter is crowded, it is a favorite place of rest for Nanking residents.

By protecting the ancient world, Nanjing retains its involvement in the country's history, which compares favorably with the capital - Beijing, where there are very few old buildings left, so the city is becoming more and more similar to the megacities of Western countries.

COURSE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

On this visit, I literally did not recognize the "campus" of Nanjing University - modern buildings have replaced the old low-rise academic buildings and dormitories. The Chinese leadership pays the most serious attention to the development, or rather, modernization of the higher education system. This is primarily reflected in the construction of new academic buildings and laboratories equipped with the latest science and technology (which is recognized by both Russian scientists and teachers), dormitories for undergraduates and postgraduates (now 4 to 6 people live in rooms, previously 8 to 12), residential buildings for teachers, sports facilities buildings and hotels.

As a rule, new "campuses" are built either on the outskirts of cities, or even at a distance 20 - 30 - 40 km away from them. I happened to see them in Shanghai, Suzhou, Xi'an, Guangzhou (in the latter, not far from the city - on an island with an area of 22 hectares, there are new "campuses" of ten leading universities in Guangzhou). In Nanjing, new buildings of the Nanjing University, Polytechnic and Pedagogical Universities have already been built or are being built outside the city (the hotel of the latter, where I visited, "pulls" no less than 4 stars). Of course, there is one problem that is painful for China : previously there were peasant fields in these territories, and it is natural that the peasants are very reluctant to part with their former source of existence, since they have to turn into workers. And although they are provided with comfortable apartments, their income is usually less than before, when they were engaged in vegetable growing or fruit growing.

China understands the importance of the "knowledge economy" and invests huge amounts of money in it.

The author expresses his sincere gratitude to the Nanjing University Center for Marxist Studies and its Director, Prof. Zhang Yibing.

funds, most of them are provided by the state, the rest is earned by universities at the expense of students ' money. Education in Chinese universities is paid, which is quite understandable due to the large number of applicants due to the size of the population and the growth in their overall standard of living. Parents of students I interviewed complained that "two people - a father and mother-have to work for one" to pay for their university education. And not only at the university. Paid education also exists at the highest level of secondary school. Nevertheless, despite all the complaints and complaints, parents manage to "support" their children during their studies at the university.

Speaking about the peculiarities of the current system of higher education in China, it is necessary to note the respect for the faculty, which can be called, perhaps, a privileged layer of Chinese society. The salary of higher school teachers has increased significantly. For the purchase of apartments (in a market economy, not only university education has become paid, but also the purchase of new housing), they are granted a preferential loan for at least 20 years. Many of my friends in the last 5 - 10 years have already bought new apartments starting from 100 sq. m. m or more. Chinese professors have also begun to purchase cars for personal use, and significant funds are allocated in foreign currency when traveling on foreign research trips. From what has been said, we can conclude that the standard of living of the teaching staff in China is higher than in Russia, although twenty years ago it was quite the opposite.

Due to the huge population in China, the retirement age of 60 years is strictly observed. However, exceptions are allowed for university teachers. Professors can be of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th categories (formally, there is also a title - "professor of the first category", but all my Chinese interlocutors found it difficult to name at least one such person). So, professors of the 3rd and 4th categories (and, of course, associate professors) are required to retire at the age of 60. As for professors of the 2nd category, the retirement age is determined by the rules of each university, but it can not exceed 65 years. Only individual national-level professors (there are relatively few of them) can work up to 70 years, and there are also life professors. Teachers, especially retired professors, do not break ties with their university, they receive a pension here, they are invited to various events.

THE FATE OF A STUDENT FROM A PEASANT FAMILY

During my last stay in Nanjing, I was constantly accompanied by doctoral student Sun. He is 25 years old - a very modest, purposeful young man, like most of his peers, brought up in the spirit of traditional Chinese morality. He once said to me:"When I get back on my feet and earn money, I will definitely help my parents, they helped me get an education."

Sun hails from Anhui Province, in the center of the country, one of the poorest in China. In July 1991, I had the opportunity to visit this province for the only time, when our delegation visited one of the villages. We were shown a rich (by the standards of that time) peasant house - two rooms, an earthen floor, a thatched roof, a radio, simple household goods. The lack of land and its insufficient level of fertility forced many farmers to rent out their plots of land and go to the latrine industry in the cities of the rapidly developing East and South of China, the coastal regions.

Sun graduated from the village school. There was no electricity in the village at that time, and he had to study by candlelight (it should be borne in mind that many parts of China, including Anhui, are located in the subtropical zone and it gets dark there early - at 6 - 7 pm). Thanks to his perseverance, Sun managed to pass the university entrance exams. Tuition was paid for by parents who had to work hard. They are engaged in growing wheat, as well as vegetables and fruits, there are also domestic animals.

Most of the peasant children do not stand up to competition when entering a university with the children of citizens. According to Sun, his home village has 500 households, approximately 2,500 inhabitants, and only two of his peers, besides him, were able to get a higher education. Peasant families can have two or three children, and Sun himself has a younger brother and sister. The rule of "one family - one child" is strictly observed only in cities, but in villages they allow indulgences, especially if the first child is a girl, in this case the birth of a second child is allowed in three years. Realizing the futility of peasant labor, many villagers, if their means allow them, after primary or six-year school -

they send their children to boarding schools in the parish towns, where their younger sister Sunya is currently studying.

In recent years, after the new leadership came to power (Hu Jintao - Wen Jiabao) a number of serious measures were taken to ease the situation of Chinese peasants, in particular, all taxes were abolished for up to five years, and fixed fixed prices for the products of their labor were established. So, if earlier the Sun family's income per year was 10,000 yuan, now it is 30,000 yuan (1 US dollar is currently equal to 6.8 yuan). Still, these funds are not enough to support Sun's studies at the university. Therefore, he has to constantly earn extra money - home tutoring, doing any day work. But he is optimistic about the future, and in September 2008 he went on a one-year internship at one of the English universities at the expense of the state on the topic of his doctoral dissertation on one of the sections of Marxist theory.

MARXIST STUDIES IN CHINA

In contrast to Russia, where research on Marxism was effectively curtailed after 1991, in China, on the contrary, this research goes on a broad front. Marxism is studied in all higher educational institutions.

There are several very influential centers of Marxist studies in the country - in Harbin (Heilongjiang University), Guangzhou (Guangzhou State University). Sun Yat-sen University), Beijing (People's University of China), Shanghai (Fudan University), Nanjing (Nanjing University). Their activities are funded by the Ministry of Education.

In 2005, within the framework of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Academy of Marxism was established, several journals dedicated to it are published, and there is a Society for the History of Marxist Philosophy.

However, compared to the period before the so-called policy of reform and openness, i.e. before 1979, there is one fundamental difference in this issue: if then the study was scholastic, dogmatic in nature, when they were engaged in a simple chewing of the provisions of the classics of Marxism, now Chinese scientists are trying to reveal the true, authentic meaning of the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin to use them in modern conditions to understand the trends of world social development in the era of globalization. Of course, today the old trend still retains its influence, but it does not determine the nature of the current stage of studying Marxist thought.

In this regard, much attention is paid to the study of the latest trends in Marxism, in particular, Western Marxism. Since the 80s of the last century, the works of their representatives have been translated in China (and some of them have not yet been translated into Russian), in addition, studies of Chinese Marxists devoted to their work are published.

At the Center for Marxist Studies (CMI) of Nanjing University, I was shown a whole library of more than 60 translated works by representatives of Western Marxism: from its founders - Lukacs, Korsch and ending with their successors in the modern period-Altusser, Lefebvre, Adorno, Marcuse, Habermas and others. According to the Center's employees, the library is in great demand. In the corridor next to the boardroom is a portrait gallery of Western Marxists, who are often invited to give lectures at universities.

According to Chinese scholars, the interest in Western Marxism is explained by the fact that it provides answers to new challenges posed by the course of world development, which could not have appeared during the life and work of Marx and Engels. In short, with the help of Western Marxist ideas, Chinese scientists are trying to "fertilize" the doctrine of socialism.

It should also be borne in mind that China is in the process of forming a modern national Marxism, originating from Mao Zedong, which is recognized as a contribution to the justification of the victory over the Kuomintang and the conquest of power by the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) using the theory of "new democracy". However, the basis of Chinese national Marxism is, of course, Deng Xiaoping's theory, which is expressed in the idea of "socialism with Chinese characteristics", as well as Jiang Zemin's" important idea of three representative offices", according to which the CCP represents the interests of advanced productive forces, advanced strata of society, advanced culture, and the "scientific concept of development" Hu Jintao, whose meaning boils down to the fact that the development of society is complex, and not fragmented.

At the same time, interest in the works of the classics of Marxism does not fade. Prominent Chinese scientist, Director of the Central Research Institute of Nanking University Prof. Zhang Yibing (the author of numerous studies, including the monographs "Back to Marx" and "Back to Lenin", where he opposes the dogmatic interpretation of the ideas of the classics) told me that the CMI has established contact with the Amsterdam-based Center for Social History, which is preparing the complete works of Marx and Engels. Zhang Yibing also proudly told me that during their visit to Russia in April-May 2008, a delegation from their Center purchased a complete set of Pravda newspapers and a number of archival materials related to Lenin (although he complained about the high price they had to pay for them).

The Center has extensive international contacts. In October 2008, at his invitation, a well-known Russian expert on Marx's theoretical heritage, Prof. Bagaturia, who gave a series of lectures. The interest of Chinese scholars in the original works of classical Marxists is explained by the fact that they want to know the true, and not canonized, history of the formation of their views. The interest in Lenin's documents and Soviet periodicals is explained by the fact that one of the research areas of Chinese Marxists is the study of the history of Soviet philosophy, which, for political reasons, was often presented in a journalistic form.

KUOMINTANG AND NANJING

The name of Nanking is associated with a tragic page in modern Chinese history. After the occupation of the city by the Japanese aggressors in December 1937, mass killings of civilians began in it, which turned into a real massacre. It lasted for six whole weeks. In total, more than 300 thousand residents were killed. Currently, a special museum has been opened in Nanjing in memory of these events - the Museum of Memory of the Victims of the Massacre.

An important landmark in Nanjing is the mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the founder of the Kuomintang Party (KMT), the first chairman of the Republic of China, the "father of the state and nation", as it is still called in Taiwan, where the name of Sun Yat-sen is still surrounded by a halo of honor and respect.

In the People's Republic of China, after 1949, there was a very cool attitude towards Sun Yat-sen. His great contribution to the liberation of China from the rule of the Manchu dynasty was recognized, but at the same time, his role in the history of China was always rated lower than that of CCP figures, in particular Mao Zedong.

In recent years, the situation has begun to change, there is less talk about the limitations of his views, and centers and research teams are being created to study his ideas. At the same time, the national identity of the CCP and the Kuomintang in Taiwan is increasingly emphasized. Ideological and political differences between the two parties, according to researchers in China, should not obscure the fact that both are Chinese. Therefore, we should not "fixate" on the past, we should think about the future of the Chinese nation, because all Chinese people, regardless of their place of residence, belong to the same nation with a common history, culture and language. In accordance with the new approach, contact was established with the leadership of not only the Kuomintang, but also the Qin-Mingtang (CMD - "Party of proximity to the People"). In 2007, China was visited by the then Chairman of the State Duma, former Chairman of the Taiwanese Government Liang Zhang, who was given a solemn meeting. This was followed by visits from Song Chanyu, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Central Committee, and other prominent officials of both parties.

Naturally, in the process of establishing contacts with the leadership of the KMT and other Taiwanese parties, Nanjing plays an important role.

The mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen (this is a whole complex of 130 hectares) is located in the Zhongshan National Nature Park, on the outskirts of Nanjing. Its construction lasted three years, starting in 1926. On June 1, 1929, Sun Yat-sen's ashes were moved here from Beijing. The tomb itself (located at an altitude of 70 meters, 392 steps lead up to it) consists of a sacred Hall, or Hall of Worship, in which there is a statue of Sun Yat-sen in a sitting position, sculpted by a French sculptor from Italian marble. In the southern part of the Hall are three doors, above which are engraved the" three popular principles "proclaimed by Sun Yat-sen:" nationalism, people's welfare and democracy." At the back of the Hall is a white marble tomb with the ashes of Sun Yat-sen, and the flag of the Republic of China is depicted on the ceiling. The mausoleum is surrounded by trees, ponds and pavilions.-

us. This is a surprisingly beautiful sight.

Not far from the mausoleum is the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Museum. It was formerly a Buddhist library destroyed during the anti-Japanese war; it became a museum in 1982. In front of the entrance is a statue of the Father of the Republic of China, donated in 1929 by his Japanese friend. Here are collected many documents and writings of Sun Yat-sen himself, as well as works written about him; in a prominent place - the famous saying of the Chinese revolutionary "Tianxia Wei Gong", which can be translated as "The Middle Kingdom is a common property", i.e. belongs to the whole people. In 1994, the Sun Yat-sen Academy was opened on the territory of the memorial in a specially constructed building, which studies his work.

Leaders and functionaries of the Kuomintang, visiting the PRC, always come to Nanjing to visit the mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen - for them this is a sacred place.

Another museum I visited on my last visit to Nanjing was the Presidential Palace, which was recently opened to the general public. It is a building with a rich history, even during the life of the first Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhen, it was his residence; when the Taiping made Nanjing the capital of their state, it was in this place that their government functioned.

On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China in the great Hall of the Presidential Palace. It is said that when Sun Yat-sen escorted all those present to the exit of the hall, the participants of the ceremony considered this a sign of excessive politeness on his part. To which Sun Yat sen said: "You are representatives of the people, the people are the master of the state, I am only its servant, why shouldn't a servant accompany the masters?"

From 1927 to 1937, and then from May 1946 to April 1949, it was the seat of the Kuomintang government headed by Chiang Kai-shek.

The palace consists of a complex of many buildings of various functional purposes. So, in a two-story building called Donghuayuan, the Executive Yuan, i.e., the Kuomintang government, worked. According to Sun Yat-sen, the country's leadership should be carried out in accordance with the "constitution of five powers": in addition to the executive, also legislative (parliament), legal (appointing judges of various levels), examination (responsible for taking exams for applicants for official positions) and control (control over the activities of ministries and departments). (A similar control system still exists in Taiwan.)

The Presidential Palace has several rooms dedicated to the activities of Sun Yat-sen, from the time of his passion for radical ideas to the practical work of creating the Kuomintang; there are many photographs of the 1920s and 1930s, in particular, the first representatives of the Comintern who met with Sun Yat-sen. (An interesting detail is that many of the exhibits seem to be in shadow, but when you approach them, the lights immediately turn on and they appear out of the darkness.)

And one more circumstance draws attention to itself. In accordance with the current practice in Chinese historiography, a political figure or historical figure is evaluated at any given moment, regardless of his further behavior. For example, many photos show Wang Jingwei, who was one of the leaders of the GMD in the 20s and early 30s. Subsequently, he betrayed his homeland by becoming the chairman of the Japanese puppet government, but since in those years he played a progressive role, his photos are present in the historical exhibition. I saw a similar picture a few years ago when I visited the First CCP Congress Museum in Shanghai. There are photos of all its participants, and under two of them it is written-they later became traitors and therefore were shot, but then they were communists. Thus, it seems to emphasize that history cannot be rewritten in favor of momentary political interests, it is what it is. At the entrance to the territory of the "Presidential Palace" there is an exposition telling about its visits by various high-ranking figures of China and other countries. It also features photos of the leaders of Taiwan's KMT and WDC parties.

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When I left Nanking, I couldn't help but feel a sense of joy at coming into contact with this unique and amazing, yet typical Chinese city. Yes, Nanking is developing more slowly than Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, but it is just like other Chinese cities, there are signs of life in modern Chinese society. In Nanjing, as in other cities of the country, there is an unprecedented interest in knowledge, buildings and roads are being built, a polite attitude towards foreign citizens prevails, and transport works well. Of course, the city has its own problems, but where they are not...

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