李霞文 刘海乐译

1921年7月23日，中国共产党第一次全国代表大会在上海法租界的一处住宅中举行，中国共产党由此正式创建。

距此时77年前的1848年2月，马克思和恩格斯撰写的《共产党宣言》在英国伦敦正式出版。这一份共产党人向全世界公开说明自己的观点、目的和意图的宣言，成为此后共产主义者崇信的经典。

19世纪，席卷西方的资本主义浪潮造就了数量巨大、以劳动力赚取工资度日的现代工人。大机器生产和细致的分工，使得工人变成了机器的附属物，恰似卓别林的电影《摩登时代》描绘的情景。资本家只需提供维持工人生活和延续后代所必需之生活资料的费用，就可无限度地榨取他们的剩余劳动价值，工人们因此陷入赤贫状态。马克思在《共产党宣言》中说“资产阶级不仅锻造了置自身于死地的武器;它还产生了将要运用这种武器的人——现代的工人，即无产者。”工人们进行着不断的抗争。马克思预言由资产阶级造就出的无产阶级将成为资产阶级的掘墓人，并担负起解放全人类的使命。

19世纪末的欧洲，应验了马克思和恩格斯的预言：以工人阶级为基础、信仰社会主义意识形态的群众党派以惊人的速度增长。此时，马克思主义的学说得到系统阐释，成为工人阶级政党信奉的理论。人们相信马克思的断言：共产党组织起来的工人阶级将是光荣未来的创造者，历史和科学都显示出共产主义最终的胜利是历史的必然。1917年的俄国十月革命，令人对共产主义的最后胜利坚信不疑。第一次世界大战于1918年结束，戰后的欧洲混乱不堪，由莫斯科而起的革命浪潮遍及全球。

回望19世纪，“由于西方列强的入侵，由于封建统治的腐败，中国逐渐成为半殖民地半封建社会，山河破碎，生灵涂炭，中华民族遭受了前所未有的苦难。”1919年因抗议巴黎和会强加于中国的不平等条约，五四运动爆发。这是继辛亥革命后，中国革命的又一波浪潮。

五四运动后，那些立志推翻帝国主义和封建主义统治，实现国家繁荣的知识分子，面对纷至沓来的国外各路思潮和理论，日渐认识到只有马克思主义揭示了人类社会的发展规律，提供了反对帝国主义和封建主义、建立繁荣富强中国的社会革命理论，提供了组织革命政党的正确方法。最终，他们选择了马克思主义。这为中国共产党的建立提供了思想和理论武器。

五四运动中，青年学生、知识分子和城市工人联手反帝反封建。

肇始于洋务运动，发展于辛亥革命后的中国民族工业，造就了中国近代的产业工人。他们成为城市中重要的社会力量。辛亥革命前后兴起的新式教育，培育了一代具有新思想、新知识的青年知识分子，他们中的许多优秀分子成为后来改变中国命运的领袖人物。先进的知识分子感受到中国工人阶级坚定的革命精神和强大力量，他们向工人宣传马克思主义，积极投身群众运动，促进了马克思主义与中国工人运动的结合。这为中国共产党建立做好了队伍准备。

1920年10月，李大钊等人在北京建立共产党早期组织，在此前后，在武汉、长沙、济南、广州等也分别建立了共产党组织;旅日、旅法的华人也成立了共产党早期组织。雨后春笋般出现的共产党早期组织，为中国共产党的正式成立做好了组织准备。

1921年7月23日，在共产国际的帮助下，来自各地的13名早期共产党组织成员，代表着全国50名党员，在上海召开了中共第一次全国代表大会。大会通过的中国共产党纲领提出：要把工人、农民和士兵组织起来，推翻资本家阶级的政权;确定党的根本政治目的是实行社会革命。这次大会标志着中国出现了以马克思列宁主义为行动指南，以实现社会主义和共产主义为奋斗目标的统一的无产阶级政党。

中国共产党诞生于中华民族内忧外患、社会危机空前深重的背景下;诞生于马克思列宁主义同中国工人运动相结合的进程中。中国共产党的创建，是近代中国社会演变和国际共产主义运动发展的必然结果。

2016年7月1日，在庆祝中国共产党成立95周年大会上，习近平总书记阐明了中国共产党创立的深刻历史意义。“中国产生了共产党，这是开天辟地的大事变。这一开天辟地的大事变，深刻改变了近代以后中华民族发展的方向和进程，深刻改变了中国人民和中华民族的前途和命运，深刻改变了世界发展的趋势和格局。”

On July 23， 1921， the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC） convened in a residential building in the French concession area of Shanghai， heralding the birth of the CPC.

More than seven decades earlier in February 1848， The Communist Manifesto， written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels， was published in London. The work announced the aims and tendencies of communists openly for the whole world to understand. The book has become a political standard studied around the globe and cherished by communist parties all over the world.

In the 19th Century， a capitalist tide swept across the West， creating a massive pool of workers subsisting on wages earned by selling their labor. With the extensive usage of machinery and specific division of labor， workers became indistinguishable from machines， as depicted in Charlie Chaplins Modern Times. The bourgeoisie began arbitrarily exploiting the surplus value of laborers at the minimal cost of basic， necessary means of subsistence. Countless workers fell into extreme poverty. As Marx declared in The Communist Manifesto， “not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons—the modern working class， or the proletarians.” The struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie emerged and has continued ever since. Marx predicted that the proletarians—created by the bourgeoisie—would bring about the latters own demise while liberating mankind.

That prediction came to fruition in Europe in the late 19th century： Working-class parties embraced socialism and communism at a stunning speed. Marxist theories were systematically interpreted and became the doctrine of working-class parties. Marxs declaration that the working class， organized by communist parties， would create a glorious future and ultimately emerge victorious became widely accepted. Russias October Revolution of 1917 further consolidated public confidence in the victory of communism. After the end of World War I in 1918， Europe was left in shambles. The revolutionary tide that started in Moscow swept across the world.

In the 19th century， “following relentless aggression by Western powers and chronic spread of corruption among the countrys feudal rulers， China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial， semi-feudal society. The land of China was laid to waste， the people descended into misery， and the Chinese nation experienced suffering of unprecedented scale.” In 1919， to protest against the exploitative treaty imposed on China at the Paris Peace Conference， the May Fourth Movement broke out， stirring up another revolutionary tide in China soon after the 1911 Revolution.

After the May Fourth Movement， with myriad ideas and theories swarming into China from abroad， Chinese intellectuals determined to overthrow imperialist and feudal rule and achieve prosperity gradually began realizing that Marxism most accurately identified development of human society and provided theories for social revolution that would oppose imperialism and feudalism in favor of building a prosperous， strong China. Eventually， they embraced Marxism as the ideological and theoretical weapon which would serve as the foundation for the CPC.

During the May Fourth Movement， students， intellectuals and urban workers joined hands against imperialism and feudalism.

Chinese society started a long journey towards modernization with the Westernization Movement during the late Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）. Chinas modern industry sprouted during the movement and completed a giant stride forward after the 1911 Revolution， creating the countrys first generation of modern industrial workers who became a major collective force in cities. Thanks to the development of modern education around the 1911 Revolution， a group of young intellectuals with new ideas and philosophies emerged， some of whom became leaders who changed the fate of China. Sensing the revolutionary spirit and powerful strength of the Chinese working class， those intellectuals began to disseminate Marxism amongst Chinese workers and play an active role in social movements. Their endeavors facilitated the integration of Marxism and workers movements in China， laying groundwork for the eventual founding of the CPC.

In October 1920， Li Dazhao （1889-1927）， a central founding member of the CPC， established an early communist organization in Beijing. Soon， communist organizations mushroomed in cities including Wuhan， Changsha， Jinan and Guangzhou， as well as amongst overseas Chinese people living in Japan and France， creating strong organizational foundation for the Party.

On July 23， 1921， with the help of the Communist International， 13 delegates representing communist groups across China gathered in Shanghai to convene the First National Congress of the CPC. The meeting advanced the revolutionary program to “unite workers， peasants and soldiers to overthrow the political power of the capitalist class” and confirmed the fundamental political goal of the Party was to “carry out social revolution.” The congress marked the birth of a united proletarian party guided by Marxism-Leninism and focusing on the realization of socialism and communism in China.

At a time of unprecedented social crisis with the Chinese people smothered by domestic turmoil and foreign aggression， the CPC was born of an integration of Marxism-Leninism and the Chinese workers movement. Its founding was the inevitable result of the evolution of Chinese society and the development of international communist movement.

On July 1， 2016， in a speech at a ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC， Chinese President Xi Jinping， also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee， commented， “The emergence of a communist party in our country was an epoch-making event， which profoundly changed the course of Chinese history in modern times， the fate and future of the Chinese people and nation， and the direction and pattern of world development.”