Abstract: Excessive labor refers to externally imposed labor that reaches a level harmful to workers' health and even undermines their labor capacity itself.While technological progress was originally intended to enhance labor efficiency and liberate humans from labor,it has paradoxically led to deeper entanglement in excessive labor.From the perspective of Marxist political economy,this contradiction stems from several structural factors:the commodity economy's production orientation toward exchange value,the surplus population generated by technological advancement,the emergence of "partial labor" and "partial workers" driven by social division of labor,and the intensification of labor caused by mechanization and automation.These forces collectively contribute to the persistence and deepening of the paradox.To alleviate excessive labor in contemporary society,it is essential to promote a development philosophy centered on the people,strengthen legislation for the protection of labor rights,and uphold and improve the basic economic and distribution systems of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Key words: excessive labor, compulsory labor, technological progress, Marxism, people-orientation