Backwardness brings on beatings by others[1] (simplified Chinese: 落后就要挨打; traditional Chinese: 落後就要挨打), or the backward will be beaten up,[2] backwardness proves vulnerable to attack,[3] is a viewpoint put forward by Joseph Stalin. This claim attributes China's beating to its technological backwardness.[4] It is a slogan used by the Chinese government to "guide" Chinese people to understand the modern Chinese history.[5]
| Initiator | Joseph Stalin |
|---|---|
| Origin | On the Tasks of Economic Workers |
| Introduced | February 4, 1931 |
| Backwardness brings on beatings by others | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 落后就要挨打 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 落後就要挨打 | ||||||
| |||||||
Definition
edit"Backwardness brings on beatings by others" literally means that if you are backward, you will be beaten.[6] This phrase is mostly for countries, it implies that backward countries are naturally subject to invasion and exploitation.[7]. Stalin initially puts forward this idea in his speech On the Tasks of Economic Workers, delivered on February 4, 1931:
To slacken the tempo would mean falling behind. And those who fall behind get beaten. But we do not want to be beaten. No, we refuse to be beaten! One feature of the history of old Russia was the continual beatings she suffered because of her backwardness. […] They beat her because it was profitable and could be done with impunity. […] Such is the law of the exploiters — to beat the backward and the weak. It is the jungle law of capitalism. You are backward, you are weak — therefore you are wrong; hence you can be beaten and enslaved. You are mighty — therefore you are right; hence we must be wary of you.[8]
Evaluations
editSome Chinese scholars have questioned the statement that "backwardness brings on beatings by others". Zhu Weizheng argued that the backwardness of political civilization was the fundamental reason why the late Qing China was beaten by the Western powers.[9] According to Hu Haiou, the real reason why the late Qing China was beaten was because of its backward concept.[10]
References
edit- ↑ Johannes Nugroho (June 11, 2015). "Sinophobia lurks beneath the surface in Indonesia". Today.
- ↑ "Chinese Strategic Missile Defense: Will It Happen, and What Would It Mean?". Arms Control Association. 12 November 2015.
- ↑ Henry He (22 July 2016). Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China. Routledge. pp. 129–. ISBN 978-1-315-50044-7.
- ↑ Pui-lam Law (30 March 2012). New Connectivities in China: Virtual, Actual and Local Interactions. Springer. pp. 190–. ISBN 978-94-007-3910-9.
- ↑ "It's not true that "backwardness brings on beatings by others"". Financial Times. 2008-01-08.
- ↑ "Opinion: China Not to Blame for US Opioid Epidemic". The News Lens. 2018-04-18.
- ↑ F. Xu (19 September 2000). Women Migrant Workers in China's Economic Reform. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-0-333-97809-2.
- ↑ Stalin, J. V. (1954) [February 4, 1931]. "The Tasks of Business Executives". Works. Vol. 13, 1930 - January 1934. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House. pp. 31–44.
- ↑ "The backwardness of political civilization is the cause of the beating". QQ. 2014-02-09.
- ↑ "The real reason for being beaten is that the concept is backward". China Times. Jul 20, 2018.