Preface

Systems Dialectics, is a work which reflects our new age.

Recalling the past, I find those eventful years really unforgettable. Looking to the future, I can not stop a myriad thoughts rushing into my mind.

It was my four years in prison during the “cultural revolution” that aroused in me a quest for the meaning of life. Prison is normally no paradise for philosophy, but to me it was like a paradise. The books I was allowed to read in prison were restricted to a few works by Mao Zedong, such as On Contradiction, On Practice, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, Where Do Correct Ideas Come From? and the "little red book," Quotations from Chairman Mao, which every-body always had to have in his hand at that time. I did not know whether those years were just a nightmare or were reality, but during that time, in order not to deteriorate as a Communist and to kill time behind bars, every day I sat cross-legged, facing the wall, and read. As time went by, to my surprise, I was able to repeat the texts of these books from memory, without missing a single word. Such reading kindled in me a kind of interest in philosophy. The high walls, the electrified wire netting, the iron-barred doors, the urinal, the stink, the bad air, the cries, the curses .... all vanished from my senses. This calm aloofness helped me fly out of my cage and roam freely in the kingdom of philosophy. It was at that time that I started questioning. According to my understanding then, the philosophy of dialectical materialism seemed synonymous with the dialectics of contradiction; however, I wondered, why did the law of the unity of opposites only admit struggle and neglect identity, that is, only admit that "one divides into two" but neglect "two or more combine into one?" Even though it was hardly possible to make any deep exploration at that time because of the restrictions of incarceration, the question lingered on in my mind. This may have been the starting point, as a result of which I am attempting to study systems dialectics today.

Human society is fascinating, but the road of human life is rugged and rough. In the 1950s I studied engineering physics in the Soviet Union for five years, when I also familiarized myself with the dialectics characterized by the Four Laws (formulated by Stalin). Later, during the 1980s, I studied modern management science and systems science in the United States. Although at that time I had no curiosity about the philosophy of systems dialectics, the above two periods of learning did widen my field of vision and help me to understand the world and accumulate the necessary basic knowledge needed for studying systems dialectics.

In 1983 the tide of the times pushed me to the position of a mayor. Although I did not want to be a “philosopher-mayor”, not for a single moment can a mayor do without systems dialectics. A city is a multi-level, multi-dimensional systematic whole consisting of various professions and departments. The management of a modern city is an enormous systems engineering project in which a large number of factors are intertwined. If one depends on traditional ways of thinking it will be difficult to differentiate what is primary from what is secondary. Nor can all problems be readily solved just by grasping the principal contradiction, especially today, in the period of reform and opening up to the outside world. If we only emphasize "crossing the river by feeling for the stones," it will be hard for us to adapt to the present situation, when the times require us to forge ahead against a swift current. All kinds of problems I encountered in real life within a few years of work as a mayor prodded me to make new explorations, that is, to observe, study, plan, construct and manage a city, and to solve its problems using the concept of the systematic whole and dialectical structure, and using a multi-polar, multi-level method of thinking. Due to such systems dialectical practice, I achieved some good results in my work, and sometimes the whole indeed proved to be greater than the sum of its parts. It was also the philosophy-based practice I pursued in those few years that laid a solid foundation for my study of systems dialectics.

The pantheon of Marxist philosophy is sacred. However, the life and practice of the current times are spurring “new philosophies” to enter this sacred pantheon. The road to the combination of Marxist philosophy with modern systems philosophy is rough and dangerous, but the life and practice of the current times force us to take the road of great synthesis and great unity. I admire the theme song of the television series Journey to the West: “Tell me where the road is. The road is under your feet .... ”

The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party adopted the ideological line of "Emancipate the mind and seek truth from facts." This new ideological line has created a more tolerant environment, and life and practice have paved the way for new ways of thinking to enter the pantheon of Marxist philosophy, in 1987 and 1988 I had a chance to study at the Central Party School, a rare opportunity for me to seek a way of combining Marxist philosophy and systems philosophy. I listened attentively to experts and scholars passing on new knowledge. With great eagerness I read large quantities of Chinese and foreign reference materials, I learned humbly from my teachers and schoolmates, discussing a number of questions with them. As always happens, once practice collides and combines with theories a leap will take place in cognition. The same thing happened to me. Step by step I realized that the systematic thinking in modern systems theory and the dialectical thinking of Marxism are in keeping with each other in their content, essence and characteristics. From an ontological point of view, the world is matter, and the material world is systematic. The "unity" in the law of the unity of opposites in dialectical materialism is nothing but the "wholeness" or "systematicity" in systems theory. Using this basic understanding as the junction point, seeking the unity of these two philosophies, I formulated the concept of philosophy of systems dialectics. With the support, help and encouragement of many experts and scholars, and in the midst of pressing affairs, I worked persistently on the development and improvement of this concept, and finally I completed this book, Systems Dialectics.

The book consists of six chapters: Chapter One is the introduction; Chapter Two, based on the dialectical concept of matter, deals with the concept of systems, the concept of process and the concepts of time and space; Chapter Three expounds the four principal laws of systems dialectics, i.e., the law of integral optimization, the law of qualitative change in structure, the law of conversion between different levels and the law of harmony of different aspects, as well as the mutual relationship among these laws; Chapter Four explains the five categories of systems dialectics, i.e., the category of connection, the category of development, the category of process, the category of society and the category of cognition; Chapter Five deals with the epistemology, methodology and theory of value of systems dialectics; and Chapter Six discusses the practical significance of systems dialectics. I hope that this book can make a contribution to the enrichment and development of Marxist philosophy.

The road is long, but, after all, it is under our feet and we should go forward bravely. The English poet Byron preferred that what he wrote would float and go with flowing water. I do not. I hope to see this book evoke strong responses the way a single stone stirs a thousand ripples. I hope that philosophers, especially the philosophers in China, will not stint their comments and criticisms, and that we will together open up the road to a new philosophy which features the spirit of the current times.

This book was first published by the Inner Mongolia People's Publishing House, and now a revised edition has been published by the People's Publishing House. While working on this book I received great support and effective help from experts and scholars from several central and Inner Mongolia work units. Enthusiastic comrades did a great deal of work for me, and editors expended enormous amounts of energy on this book. Allow me to express my cordial thanks and sincere respects to all of them.