Recently, a video of a heated debate between a teacher and a high school student, who holds that Marxism is not a part of Chinese traditional culture, went viral.

In the untranslated video originally posted on Chinese social media, a high school student confronted his teacher who was trying to advocate Marxism. “Being a Chinese intellectual with at least some conscience, I have to tell the truth — we are not Chinese. You know why? Because what’s in our brains is Marxist teachings rooted in Russia. It is not the authentic traditional Chinese culture that understands the oneness of heaven and humanity. Wouldn’t you agree? What you have just used to criticize me is merely Marxist materialism.”

The student continued. “Let me ask you. How many countries, good countries, still treat Marxism as precious? Not even Russia, not even Germany! What is Marxism? It is not a predictive model. It is a philosophy of violence, of political struggle!”

The teacher answered the student by asking: “Where did Marxism come from? If you don’t know, then how can you say there are problems with Marxism?”

The student replied, “There is no connection between the origins of Marxism and its content.” After being asked about the relationship between the two, the teacher became evasive.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the changes in Eastern Europe, Marxism has becomea long-abandoned dogma worldwide.

Ironically, Chinese educational officials recently inspected 29 universities in China. The officials stressed the Chinese government’s request to adjust the schools’ curriculum in response to students looking up to Western values of freedom and democracy and discarding Marxist teachings.

Translated by Cecilia

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