Dunhua Zhao is a professor, doctoral advisor, and Chairman of the Philosophy and Religious Department at Peking University, known to many as a learned and genteel lecturer. He can be considered one of the nation’s greatest educators, serving as Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education’s Educational Steering Committee, President of the Chinese Society for the History of Foreign Philosophy, Vice-President of the Chinese Society on Modern Western Philosophy, and President of the Chinese Religions Society. He holds prestigious status in academia. His areas of research concern Western philosophy, Christian philosophy, and Sino-Western comparative philosophy. His works include Karl Popper, 1500 Years of Christian Philosophy,  A Brief History of Western Philosophy, Transcultural Research on Human Nature and Ethics, and more. He has also served as chief editor for A History of Western Humanism, Selections from Original Works on Western Classical Philosophy, and various other works.

To commemorate Karl Marx’s 200th birthday, Professor Zhao published his new work Essentials of Marxist Philosophy. He has provided for us an authentic Marx brought into reality. Essentials of Marxist Philosophy begins with a thorough introduction to the philosophies which most greatly influenced Marx in the development of his own theories. Zhao then dives into a multi-perspective analysis of the theories created and established throughout Marx’s life. Through side-by-side textual comparisons with Marx’s contemporaries and analysis of Marx’s work in the context of various philosophical disciplines – from “enlightenment philosophy” to “critical philosophy,” from “political philosophy” to “practical philosophy” and “dialectical philosophy” – the entirety of Marxist theory is profoundly expounded upon in this masterful tribute. A great portion of the content is based on the author’s abundant and in-depth research of The Complete Works of Marx and Engels (Chinese second edition) as well as historical analyses of this collection from scholars around the globe and the original canon of philosophical analysis of Marxism. This work conducts a clear interpretation and thorough explanation of Marx’s works and their corresponding texts. In this analytical and deeply reflective text, each section completely demonstrates the author’s rigorous academic standards for comparative and textual analysis. The framework of the entire book is an innovation, parting from current models of Marxist research.

Numerous prominent domestic media outlets closely followed this book, and granted it high praise in reviews. An article in Guangming Daily wrote that this book adheres to methods which “combine analysis and synthesis, proof and narration”, as well as “logic and history, speculation and truth” to support its deep interpretations. It provides a new kind of understanding of Marxism, an abundantly inventive and unique work of great academic worth. The article also states, the publishing of this work infuses a breath of fresh air and life to domestic philosophy circles in regards to the research of Marxist philosophy.  It is certain to attract academics to more deeply examine Marxist philosophy (July 16, 2018 Cai Hou).

Chinese Reading Weekly wrote, this book welcomes an exploration of Marxism from the combined perspectives of several fields and disciplines. This must represent the fruit of many years of hard labor for the author to have combined Marxist and Western philosophical research into a single entity. It has opened a new path of study, expanding into an area of research previously unoccupied to propel and make an example of research on Marxism (June 27, 2018 Ziyi Feng).

China Social Sciences Network wrote, this book covers Marxist and Western philosophy, investigates Marxism through the perspective of human thought. This means Marxist research has succeeded in moving on from previous textbook-level analyses and entered into a new direction of significance. Veering from a direction of ideological and political discourse and entering into  academic research, [this book] has opened up the academic context of research on Marxist philosophy (May 22, 2018 Nan Xiao).

Essentials of Marxist Philosophy is a rare and important work in contemporary studies of Marxist philosophy. In regards to pushing forward Chinese academic systems of discourse, the Sinification of Marxist philosophy, moving Chinese theories into the world abroad, and instigating dialogue in the domain of global academic study of philosophy, this book has extremely important academic and practical value.

            The English version of Professor Zhao’s Essentials of Marxist Philosophy is funded by the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences. It is translated by Ms. Lei Shen from Nanjing Xiaozhuang University and will be published in 2022.