“文革”中的“无产阶级科学革命”:中国科学院“相对论批判组”再考

" The Proletarian Scientific Revolution" in the Cultural Revolution: The CAS" Relativity Criticism Group" Reexamined

根据笔者近十几年来在国内外收集的相关史料以及对数位重要当事人的访谈,本文对"文革"期间中国科学院"相对论批判组"的发端和衍化做了进一步的详细考察。文章首先回顾了苏联的相对论批判和中国在20世纪60年代初开展的全国性学习唯物辩证法运动,以及二者对当时中国青年思想的重要影响,然后论述了该批判组的发起和组织过程,并结合一些已知的批判组成员的相关经历对批判组发展的四个阶段进行探讨。接着,笔者仔细考证了毛泽东和陈伯达与"相对论批判"运动的关系,并着重讨论了20世纪中期海外反相对论思潮特别是艾弗斯、丁格尔和雅诺西三人的著作对批判组的影响。最后,文章分析了中国"相对论批判"运动的思想根源,并尝试总结了相应的历史经验和教训。本研究表明,"文革"期间对狭义相对论的错误批评源于对辩证唯物论的教条主义诠释、对相对论理论的误解以及缺乏对相对论发展历史的全面了解,而其中有些批评意见也暴露了中国相对论教学与研究工作中的短板和长期被忽视的问题,值得进一步反思和探究。

Based on historical documents collected over the past decade and my interviews with several key eyewitnesses,I have carefully reexamined the inception and development of the“Relativity Criticism Group”in the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)during the Cultural Revolution.This essay first reviews the Soviet criticism of relativity and the Chinese movement of studying dialectical materialism as well as their significant influence on the Chinese youth growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s.Then,it expounds the process of launching and organizing the Group and explores the four stages of its development through the experience of individuals involved with the Group.Moreover,I clarify the connections of Mao Zedong and Chen Boda with the“Relativity Criticism”movement and stress the impact of works by Herbert E.Ives,Herbert Dingle,and Lajos J nossy.I conclude this essay with an analysis of ideological causes of the Chinese“Relativity Criticism”and a summary of relevant historical lessons.This investigation demonstrates that the erroneous Chinese critique against the special theory of relativity resulted from the dogmatic interpretation of dialectical materialism,the misunderstanding of Einstein s theory,and the ignorance of the history of the theory of relativity.Some of the criticism,however,also exposed gaps and long-ignored problems in Chinese teaching and research on the theory of relativity,which deserve further reflection and exploration.