Today we are holding the inaugural meeting of the Natural Science Research Society, and I wholeheartedly support it.


For natural science is an excellent discipline; it can solve practical problems concerning food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Therefore, everyone should endorse it and engage in the study of natural science.


Some people contend that China has never had a tradition of natural science, but this view is incorrect.
From the very beginning of human habitation in China, people have needed to eat, and to secure food they must engage in production. In this process, the seeds of natural science were sown and gradually developed over time. It is merely that, in the past, natural science was not systematized as a coherent body of knowledge.


Natural science serves as an instrument through which people strive for freedom.
To attain freedom within society, one must employ social science to understand and transform society, thereby effecting social revolution. Similarly, to achieve freedom in the natural world, one must apply natural science to comprehend nature, overcome its constraints, and reshape it, thus securing liberation from its limitations.


The task of transforming nature falls under the guidance of social science; yet, under capitalist conditions, the development of natural science is impeded. Hence, it is imperative to reform this irrational social order.


Under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the Border Region has undertaken social transformation, altering the relations of production. As a result, the preconditions for harnessing and transforming nature have been established, and productive forces have steadily grown. This is evident in the region’s mass production campaigns and agricultural–industrial exhibitions. Consequently, the current social system of the Border Region is conducive to the advancement of natural science.


Although the Border Region’s economy remains backward, undertaking this work is all the more meaningful. With concerted effort, we can surely transform it into a better place.


Marxism encompasses natural science; therefore, we ought to study it. Otherwise, there will remain too many mysteries in the world, and such ignorance disqualifies one from being regarded as a true revolutionary.


Printed from the news report published in the Xin Zhonghua Daily on March 15, 1940.