Chapter 11 Chapter Ten: The Last Sun Yefang

At the end of 1979, when Bruce visited Sun Yefang at Xiehe Hospital, he had just undergone a major operation. The doctor spent nearly 5 hours cutting out a large tumor from the liver area that was filled with a four-inch plate.Sun Yefang was extremely weak and his health was not optimistic.His only wish at the time was to write out the "Socialist Economic Theory", which had been in the making for more than ten years. He asked the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to ask several scholars familiar with his theory to assist him in completing this book. Soon, the Institute of Economics dispatched a seven-member writing team composed of Wu Jinglian, Zhang Zhuoyuan and others to carry out this important task.They rented a suite in the Beijing Hotel near Union Medical College Hospital, and went to the ward to talk with Sun Yefang every day, recording and recording.Wu Jinglian recalled that in those days, Sun Yefang's ward became a "thought rescue room". Every time they went there, they could hear the sound of Beethoven's symphony as soon as they arrived at the door. Old Sun's favorite.

A researcher named Deng Jiarong recorded Sun Yefang's selfless working state in "The Biography of Sun Yefang": "In the morning and afternoon, day and night, people kept coming to talk, and people kept sending the first draft. Today he prepares oral materials, and tomorrow Reading and revising the first draft that has been recorded and sorted out, working supernormally, running supernaturally between reasoning and assertion, making the wick of my mind and painstaking efforts creak like a lonely lamp that is about to run out... He had already found that his calf was swollen and his heart was throbbing, but he still didn’t rest. After having a gastrointestinal radiography in the morning, he went to the desk to revise the outline of the chapter "Value and the Law of Value". During the Spring Festival, he only rested for two days. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he Pick up the pen again..."

After a winter and spring, the writing team sorted out an outline of 150,000 words, with a total of more than 20 chapters. Then, Sun Yefang was discharged from the hospital.Then, the work fell into an embarrassing quagmire. The reason for falling into the quagmire is that everyone from Sun Yefang to the writing team has discovered the contradictions of Sun's theory. Since the mid-1950s, more and more people in Chinese economic circles have been dissatisfied with the state of socialist political economy and began to seek to establish a new theoretical system.In this regard, Sun Yefang's courage and achievements are undoubtedly the greatest.

Regarding the fundamental difference between Sun's theoretical system and the traditional socialist political economics system, commentators at that time had two viewpoints: one is the "process theory" he advocated, that is, starting from the analysis of the production process, entering the circulation process, and then The second is his theoretical exposition with the law of value as the core, which for the first time raised value to the status of the basic economic category of socialism.However, Wu Jinglian has his own understanding. He believes that the differences between Sun Yefang's theoretical system and the traditional theoretical system are rooted in the huge difference in their understanding of socialist social and economic relations.

The traditional classical theory regards the whole society as a large factory under the unified command of the central administrative organ, which results in the practice of denying the economic independence of enterprises, denying the role of commodity currency relations and the law of value, and breeds the social economy as a cell. Disadvantages such as impaired enthusiasm and initiative of enterprises. Sun Yefang grasped this core problem of the old system from the very beginning, and tried to rebuild a new theoretical system centered on what he called the law of value.What he wants to establish is an economic system that is limited by the simple reproduction of funds and "monopoly of power, decentralization of small powers".According to his design, enterprises are no longer technically independent workshops in the big factory of society, but become economically relatively independent business entities. It is an enterprise with independent accounting, so their product exchange must be an equivalent exchange." Starting from here, along with the production process, circulation process, and overall process, the concept of value unfolds from abstract to concrete, from simple to complex, Finally back to a "rich population with many provisions and relationships".This constituted Sun Yefang's socialist political economy system.

According to Sun Yefang's above assumptions, it seems that there is not much theoretical difficulty in writing a "Socialist Economics" with a strict structure and a consistent logic.But, in reality, it doesn't work.As early as October 1960, Sun Yefang planned to write this textbook according to the formula of "Das Kapital". He organized a writing team of nearly 40 people to tackle the problem for two years, but failed.By 1964, as a democrat, Sun Yefang had already felt the contradiction between his ideas and the current system.He once said that during the period of the New Democratic Revolution before the founding of New China, when he wrote articles, his thoughts often flowed like a fountain, and he could write them in one go. After the socialist transformation, it became very difficult to write articles. Sometimes it took several months to write an article, and it was impossible to write it.Then he was criticized and imprisoned. He faced the wall in the prison for seven years, thinking hard every day, writing 85 manuscripts silently, thinking that he had figured out all the joints.

For Sun Yefang, this fatal pain was even greater than physical pain.For Wu Jinglian, who also experienced this kind of ideological struggle, he felt the same for Sun Yefang.Although he is a junior of Sun Yefang, he also devoted himself to the struggle against the Kuomintang regime and the construction of New China because of his yearning for democracy and freedom. The ideal is out of tune. Wu Jinglian found that Sun's theory has huge internal contradictions that are difficult to justify, which are prominently manifested in his commodity-values. Sun Yefang proposed to use the principle of equivalent exchange to handle and adjust the relationship between production units and regions, "putting value on the basis of the law of value", but the concept of value is only applicable to social forms with commodity exchange and production .If we want to analyze the value category under the condition of socialism, we have to analyze the commodity relationship under the condition of socialism, and admitting the existence of commodity relationship under the condition of socialism contradicts the classical theories since Marx.As a result, huge contradictions appeared in Sun Yefang's theoretical system. In Sun Yefang's own words, on the one hand, he "opposes the theory of natural economics" and advocates "thousands of laws, ten thousand laws, and the first law of value." "Against commodity economic theory" and oppose market regulation.

In the article "On Sun Yefang's Economic Theory System" (written in September 1984), Wu Jinglian described Sun Yefang's pain and hesitation. Economists who have a deep understanding of economic life deeply feel that the economy organized according to traditional theories cannot run smoothly, which is not conducive to the development of productive forces, will bring a series of contradictions, and cause great social waste, so they are determined to He created a new theoretical system different from Stalin's socialist political economy; on the other hand, as an economic theory worker who had received Soviet traditional theoretical education since his youth, he could not completely get rid of the shackles of traditional socialist economic theory. A certain incompleteness in theory... On the one hand, he clarified that the design of the economic system must conform to objective economic laws, and on the other hand, he tried to demonstrate that these practices are not incompatible with the classic Marxist writers on the relationship between commodity and money under the condition of public ownership. The thesis of demise contradicts and is perfectly consistent with it.

In order to achieve this "combination", Sun Yefang even put forward the theory of "two values".The so-called "No. 1 value" is the exchange value determined by market supply and demand, which reflects the relationship between subjects with different economic interests, and only exists in the "commodity economy". "No. 2 value" is the value defined by Marx in the first volume of "Das Kapital". It is the average socially necessary labor consumption to produce a certain use value, and it is only a calculation tool.The purpose of this calculation is to encourage all enterprises to save social labor. It does not need to be affected by market price fluctuations, nor does it reflect the relationship between different stakeholders.On the surface, this theory solves the logical contradiction of value but no commodity, but it cannot solve the contradiction that actually exists between the two models.

Wu Jinglian recalled that Sun Yefang was very satisfied with his theory of "two values" at one time, thinking it was a "sharp weapon", but when he came into contact with practical problems, the contradictions became very obvious and had to be revised repeatedly. In the end, the theory of the two values The division becomes so blurred that it cannot be determined.For example, once they discussed the issue of product allocation. They allocated grain or oil from Northeast China to East China. Due to the low price of the base in Northeast China, there was a phenomenon of disadvantage. The crux of the problem lay in the economic interests between different regions and enterprises. So, this Is the value relationship between them "No. 1 value" or "No. 2 value"?Obviously the former, not the latter.

There are many similar contradictions in Sun Yefang's theoretical system.For example, he attached great importance to the issue of circulation. However, the so-called circulation refers to the exchange of commodities with money as the medium. Sun Yefang insisted on a theoretical premise, that is, there is neither commodity nor currency in a socialist economy. Decoupling, leaving commodities to find the necessity of exchange and circulation".In this way, the theory ran into a dead end. According to Wu Jinglian's analysis, Sun Yefang's dilemma was actually a dilemma on the theoretical premise, and the creation of "On Socialist Economy" was an impossible task. Fast forward to 1982. In February, Sun Yefang was hospitalized again due to the spread of liver cancer. Seeing that the days were numbered, he proposed to speed up the progress of his creation. In July, he took his writing team to Qingdao and stayed in the Navy Sanatorium to "retreat" to write.Both Wu Jinglian and Zhang Zhuoyuan accompanied their children.On the coast of the Yellow Sea, between the sun rising and the moon setting, accompanied by the sound of waves beating against the rocks and Beethoven's "Symphony of Destiny", Sun Yefang made his last charge for his theoretical construction.The chapters written by the writing group have been written, but how to connect these "parts" into a logical and coherent system?The writing team deduced and discussed over and over again, but it was still hard to win. After returning from Qingdao, Sun Yefang seemed to have realized that the task was impossible to complete.Wu Jinglian recalled that Sun Yefang told him many times afterwards that the planning system must not be repaired, but must be overthrown and restarted. In November 1982, bedridden, he dictated on the hospital bed, and Wu Jinglian and Zhang Zhuoyuan wrote the last article in his life, "Quadrupling in 20 Years Is Not only Politically Guaranteed but also Technologically Economic Guaranteed", which has great impact on China's economic development. The growth expresses incomparable optimism, and at the same time points out heavily that "major fundamental reforms must be made to the old management system". One month later, on December 9, he wrote his will: "After my death, my body will be handed over to the hospital for medical autopsy. There will be no farewell ceremony for the body, no ashes left, and no memorial service. Old colleagues, hold a commentary or criticism meeting on my economic views. I hope that the views that everyone thinks are correct will be widely publicized; jeopardize society." In the history of contemporary Chinese economics and academics, Sun Yefang is a greater tragedy than Gu Zhun. When Gu Zhun left this cold world, although he was completely forgotten and abandoned, he knew that he had found the right answer. What he regretted was that he didn't know when the bright day would come, and he couldn't wait for it. that day.However, for Sun Yefang, this idealistic, intelligent, courageous and upright person, it was not until the last moment of his life that he truly realized that the theoretical building to which he devoted all his energy and enthusiasm was actually built on On an unbearable sandy beach.There is no greater tragedy in the world than this. Compared with Bruce and Sikh in Eastern Europe, Sun Yefang, who is not inferior in theoretical talent, has more regrets. Bruce, who had similar views with him and hit it off at first sight, conducted a profound review of the "Lange Theory" and the "Bruce Model" named after himself, and eventually abandoned "market socialism".In 1989, he co-authored the book "From Marx to the Market: Socialism's Quest for the Economic System" with K. Lasky, another Polish-born British economist. In the book, he clearly pointed out that the exclusion of the capital market The "market socialism" outside and his own "planned economic model including market mechanism" - "decentralization model" are "defective models".In addition, he drew the conclusion from the lessons of Eastern Europe: the reform of the economic system must be conditional on the reform of the political system, and political reform cannot solve the problem by replacing leaders, and measures must be taken from the system to ensure that we will not return to the old track .Economic reforms are often opposed by those in power because they touch the vested interests of those in power.In the final analysis, reform is a political and social issue, and the attitude and reaction of the people are very important.In the sensational book "From Marx to the Market", he completely revised his reform model and theory. On the one hand, he recognized the values ​​of socialism, but at the same time he expressed doubts about the compatibility and combination of public ownership and market economy. democratic socialism. After leaving China, Sikh is also constantly revising his theory. In 1989, the "Velvet Revolution" broke out in Eastern Europe, and Sikh once again devoted himself to the public life of his motherland. He returned to China and served as the economic advisor to Havel, the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia. Later, he returned to Switzerland and continued to study "when the traditional After the end of the socialist system in China, the question of reform no longer exists, what is the best path for the country". In 1991, Sikh published the book "Socialism Today: Socialism Changing Connotation", linking socialism with freedom, democracy, and humanitarianism.Like Bruce's choice, Sikh eventually moved from market socialism to democratic socialism. Wu Jinglian even compared Sun Yefang with his fellow economist Xue Muqiao in his oral history in his later years.He said: "Sun Yefang is a traditional Communist Party member. In fact, Gu Zhun and Li Shenzhi are such people. They serve the country and the people, have no selfish thoughts, and are not afraid of any blows for the truth. This is very valuable. But in theory In fact, Sun Yefang has not even reached the level of Xue Muqiao, after all, Muqiao came from an economic theory background, and from the perspective of economic principles, Muqiao's concept is more advanced." Nevertheless, Wu Jinglian still believes that Sun Yefang is the most outstanding representative of the first generation of economists in New China.His spirit of pursuing truth, being brave in self-criticism, and his upright and noble personality are enough for latecomers to draw from them a greater power than academics.Wu Jinglian said to her daughter Wu Xiaolian, one of the most ashamed things I have ever done in my life was criticizing Sun Yefang in the early 1960s; and one of the most moving things in my life was that Sun Yefang ignored me after he was released from prison. Reuse again, even trust later. Gu Zhun and Sun Yefang's actions and character have undoubtedly greatly influenced Wu Jinglian's life, allowing him to find a direction to pursue.He expressed his admiration for the two teachers and friends with the words "Looking up at the mountains and stopping at the scene".The scholarly style is mighty, both rigid and soft, where the Tao lies, and dreams are longed for.In the following years, Wu Jinglian was consistent with his words and deeds, dared to speak out, did not be tempted by fame and fortune, and supported many scholars of the younger generation. These styles are naturally derived from Gu Sun's legacy. In the early 1980s, the grounding of Sun Yefang’s theoretical innovation was a symbolic event, which meant that a generation of economists’ efforts to build a market-oriented environment within the planned economic system had completely failed.However, it also brought an "unexpected legacy", that is, it made the Chinese economy break away from the path of "market socialism" earlier and embarked on a path of growth outside the system.In his later years, Wu Jinglian described this in his article "Market Socialism" and China's Economic Reform (2005). Since the end of the 1970s, China has experimented with expanding the autonomy of enterprises, but the results have not been obvious. Although various methods have been tried, the task of invigorating enterprises has never been achieved.It was under such circumstances that the decision-makers changed the "main battlefield" of reform, from the urban state-owned economy to the rural non-state-owned economy. This was mainly carried out in three aspects: first, the sudden emergence of township enterprises in rural areas; second, opening up to the outside world , to introduce a large amount of international capital; the third is to establish a "special zone" in the south and implement the "regional advancement" of reform and opening up.It is the growth of these forces outside the system that has brought a new look to China's economic landscape. Wu Jinglian concluded that China had experimented and explored in accordance with the idea of ​​"market socialism" to delegate power to state-owned enterprises and expand their autonomy under market regulation, but they did not achieve the expected success.After a change of strategy in the early 1980s, the reforms entered the right track of gradual progress.In essence, this strategy focuses on creating the conditions that allow the private sector to grow from the bottom up, rather than on expanding the autonomy of state-owned enterprises.This is the key to the smooth development of China's economy.Under such a strategic arrangement, China's reform broke through the Soviet dogma and the worship of state ownership. Of course, Sun Yefang was unable to see these impending facts. A series of changes that occurred in the early 1980s caused Wu Jinglian and his colleagues both great excitement and unprecedented confusion.On the one hand, with the start of reform and opening up, the country is changing with each passing day, and the train of revival is already in full swing; ", the failure of Sun Yefang's economic theory, and the abandonment of Eastern European reform experience mean that China's economic reform will take a strange road full of risks. However, where to go, where is the road? In May 1981, after sending Sikh away, Wu Jinglian and others deeply felt that in order to make a theoretical contribution to China's economic development, they needed to seek a more solid foundation than "political economy".While assisting Sun Yefang to sort out the manuscript, they proposed to the Institute of Economics that they hoped to study economics in Western countries.Their request was granted. At the end of 1982, Zhao Renwei went to Oxford University in England. In January 1983, Wu Jinglian received funding from the Ford Foundation and went to Yale University in the United States, the center of neoclassical economics. That year, he was 53 years old. On the afternoon of February 22, 1983, Sun Yefang passed away in Beijing.When Zhou Nan told Wu Jinglian the news on the other side of the ocean, he held the receiver tightly, with thin lips, unable to speak for a long time.After Gu Zhun passed away, he lost another spiritual mentor.Sun Yefang handed over the work of sorting out the academic manuscripts behind him to these juniors, but he knew deeply that this academic path had come to an end, and the conclusion that he devoted all his enthusiasm and time to an outstanding life was "this path is dead" . Outside the window, the starry sky on the east coast of the United States is as clear as water, but his heart is extremely dark.