The author of this book, Thomas Paine (Thomas Paine) (1737-1809) was born in a family of Christian Quakers in Thetford, Norfolk, England.After dropping out of school at the age of thirteen, he worked as a tailor, teacher and tax official. After arriving in North America in 1774, he participated in the independent revolutionary movement, which lasted for thirteen years.During this period, he served as a newspaper editor, General Green's aide-de-camp, secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Continental Congress, and secretary of the Pennsylvania Assembly.His main contribution was the promotion of the revolutionary movement by the political comments he published at that time.

After the independence of the United States, Paine returned to Europe in 1787, traveled between Britain and France, and actively participated in the revolutionary struggle against feudal autocracy. Before 1802, mainly in France, participated in the French Revolution, obtained French citizenship, and served as a member of the National Assembly.In the French parliament, Paine sided with the Girondins against the execution of King Louis XVI.During the dictatorship of the Jacobin Party, foreign parliamentarians were banned and he was imprisoned in the Luxembourg Prison in Paris (December 1793); he was released in 1794 under the rescue of the then American ambassador to France Monroe, and he still lived in France after he was released from prison. In 1802, he went to America again.At this time his views on American domestic policy were attacked by Federalists. In 1809, died of illness in New York.

This book collects Paine's four main works: , , , and "The Age of Reason".Among them was his first political treatise published in January 1776 after he arrived in North America to join the Revolutionary Movement for Independence.In this political commentary, he slammed the tyranny of the British government, severely criticized the feudal autocratic regime in the UK, and firmly advocated the independence of the North American colonies and the establishment of a republic.His bourgeois democratic thought is clearly reflected in the "Declaration of Independence" drafted by Jefferson.Therefore, it is an important ideological weapon for the North American colonies to get rid of British rule and fight for independence and freedom.After the book was published, it was widely circulated among the residents and among the army.

However, while being enthusiastically praised by the people of North America, it was also hated by the reactionaries who maintained colonial rule.A Scottish missionary, William Smith, who served as the dean of the seminary in Philadelphia, borrowed the name of the ancient Roman patriot "Cato" (cato) as his pseudonym and published an article in the form of letters in the "Philadelphia Newspaper", attacking Paine's propaganda in China. thought of.The second part of this book consists of several political essays written by Paine under the pseudonym "The Resident of the Woods" between March and May 1776 to fight back against "Ketu"; they were published in newspapers one by one at that time.In this debate, Paine focused on refuting the fallacy that "Ketu" compared the contradictory nature of the colony and the suzerain country to the discord between lovers or couples, and clearly stated that the contradictions between the colony and the suzerain country are irreconcilable, and compromise is also irreconcilable. possible.If it is said that some of Zhong's ideas were not noticed by the public at that time, then through this controversy it became well known.Therefore, it further inspired the awakening of the North American people and encouraged their fighting spirit.

The third part of this book is a treatise written by Paine between 1791 and 1791 to refute Edmund Burke's attacks and slanders on the French Revolution and clarify the principles of the French Revolution after he returned to Europe from the United States.He focused on the idea of ​​natural human rights in the "Declaration of Human Rights": all people are born equal, and each generation is equal in rights to the previous generation; freedom is an inalienable right; opinions that individuals like to hold are The state has no right to persecute or punish him; no country has the right to restrain future generations, or to dictate how the world is governed, and the current generation can only deal with contemporary affairs; no one can use others as private property, and no generation can On behalf of private property; once a person dies, his rights and needs disappear with him.

Starting from these principles, Paine severely condemned the feudal autocratic hierarchy and the monarchy that embodied this system.He pointed out that the monarchy was established by gang leaders who divided up their territories or robbed others' territories after they gained power.The greedy nature of any court or courtier is the same, carrying out policies against the interests of the nation.This system is a hereditary inheritance system, which is often supported by wars. There have been many wars caused by competition for the throne in European history.Since the monarchy violates reason, the oppressed have the right to violent revolution against violent rule.Just because Paine called on the British people to emulate the French Revolution and completely wipe out the feudal forces in the novel, the British government announced that he was wanted for "treason" and his book was once banned.

While criticizing the feudal monarchy, he enthusiastically praised the representative system and the republic. The author believes that the representative system can fully discover talents, it concentrates the knowledge necessary for the interests of various parts and the whole of society, and it makes the government mature.A republic is a government constituted and working for the public good of individuals and groups, naturally combined with representative forms, whose end is the general happiness. But as soon as special rights and rewards are given to any one in the government, he becomes the center of all kinds of corruption.

"The Age of Reason" is Paine's book expounding his religious thoughts, the first part was published in 1794, and the second part was published in 1796.He advocated freedom of religious belief and the abolition of state religion; he believed that all state church institutions were used to intimidate and enslave the people.From the self-contradiction and absurdity of the content of the "Bible", the contradiction between the creation story and the scientific data of astronomy, and the deceitful nature of the so-called mysteries, miracles and prophecies, he demonstrated that the Christian theological system is nothing but a fabrication A deceitful thing whose purpose is to gain power and money.He further pointed out that the "Bible" is a book of lies and blasphemy, which ascribes human sins to the command of God, so it has no right to be the way of God.After mercilessly exposing the church's hypocrisy, greed and darkness, Paine declared that he did not believe in any creeds of the Jewish, Roman, Greek and Islamic churches.But he is not an atheist.He believes there is only one God and no other.It is generally believed that he was a "deist".

To sum up, Paine was an Enlightenment thinker during the bourgeois revolution and a staunch fighter against feudalism and religious superstition.He made an indelible contribution to the American Revolution, and his thoughts are also an indispensable treasure in the treasure house of human spirit.These works of his have important reference value for us to understand and study the thoughts and history of the bourgeois revolution period. In this anthology, our library published separate Chinese translations in 1959.The translator is Ma Qinghuai; the translators are Jiang Entian and Wu Yiming.It is a new translation, translated by Wu Yunnan and Wu Youren, edited by Zhu Zengwen.

The first part of "The Age of Reason" was originally published in Chinese translation by Shanghai People's Publishing House in 1959, and the translator was Zhang Shizhu: the second part is a new translation by Zhang Shizhu.We would like to express our gratitude to Shanghai People's Publishing House for agreeing to publish the first part of "The Age of Reason" in this anthology. August 1980