The Chinese Communists’ Understanding and Critique of Capitalist Modernization

Relying on the technological and institutional advantages formed by modernization, the Western great powers forced open the door of modern China. The vast disparity between China and the West awakened China’s advanced elements. Schemes to save the nation by emulating capitalist modernization, such as “Chinese learning as the substance, Western learning for practical use” or even “wholesale Westernization,” made their grand appearances one after another. The landlord class and the bourgeoisie, based on their own interests and different understandings of modernization, put forward various reform plans, yet they neither explored a modernization path that would enrich the country and strengthen the people, nor changed the humiliating state of the nation being oppressed and the people being enslaved. To realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, advancing modernization must serve as both the means and the prerequisite. For a relatively economically and culturally backward country to achieve modernization, blindly copying capitalist modernization will only reduce it to a dependency; it must open up a new path of modernization through the sublation of capitalist modernization. The Chinese Communists have never blindly worshipped or imitated capitalist modernization; they have consistently insisted on transcending it through critique.

西方列强凭借现代化形成的技术和制度优势，打开了近代中国的大门，中西方的悬殊差距警醒着中国的先进分子，“中体西用”甚至“全盘西化”等效仿资本主义现代化的救亡图存方案粉墨登场。地主阶级和资产阶级基于自身的利益考量和对现代化的不同理解推出了各种变革方案，却没有探索出富国强民的现代化道路，也没有改变国家被压迫、民族被奴役的屈辱状态。要实现中华民族伟大复兴，必须以推进现代化为手段和前提，而经济文化相对落后国家要实现现代化，照搬照抄资本主义现代化只会沦为附庸，必须在对资本主义现代化的扬弃中开辟出新的现代化道路。中国共产党人对资本主义现代化从来都不是盲目崇拜和模仿，而是坚持在批判中超越。

The Proletarian Nature of the Critical Stance: Exposing the Narrowness of Capitalist Modernization

批判立场的无产阶级性：揭露资本主义现代化的狭隘性

People immersed in the prosperous spectacle of capitalist modernization easily smooth over the painful memories of primitive accumulation of capital, and in the process of reification, they gradually lose their critical consciousness and motivation to transcend capitalist modernization. However, the classical Marxist writers were not blinded by the surface prosperity of capitalism. In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels revealed that capitalist modernization subjects the proletariat to the bourgeoisie, rural areas to the rule of cities, and the East to the domination of the West. They expressed deep sympathy for the plight of the proletariat and the vast backward countries, and from the standpoint of the proletariat, they criticized the then-flourishing capitalist modernization. The Chinese Communists have inherited the class standpoint of the classical Marxist writers. In their critique of capitalist modernization, they take the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people as the primary consideration, directly targeting the negative effects that capitalist modernization brings to the people. These include: criticizing that the Western-style modernization path cannot solve the poverty problem of the broad masses, benefiting only a minority and failing to enrich the majority; criticizing that Western-style modernization brings severe ecological problems to human society, endangering people’s lives and health, and focusing on “the ‘eight major public nuisance incidents in the world’ that occurred in Western countries, which had a huge impact on the ecological environment and public life”; criticizing that capitalist modernization leads to the distorted development of human beings and the impoverishment of the spiritual world, and so on. These critiques expose the inhumane side of capitalist modernization, all of which manifest the Chinese Communists’ concern for the people trapped in the quagmire of the negative effects of capitalist modernization.

沉浸于资本主义现代化繁荣景象的人们很容易抹平资本原始积累的痛苦记忆，也很容易在物化中逐渐丧失对资本主义现代化的批判意识和超越动力。但是，马克思主义经典作家没有被资本主义的表面繁荣遮蔽睿智的眼光。在《共产党宣言》中，马克思、恩格斯就揭示了资本主义现代化使得无产阶级从属于资产阶级、农村屈服于城市的统治、东方从属于西方等问题。他们对无产阶级和广大落后国家的遭遇报以深切同情，站在无产阶级立场上批判当时如火如荼的资本主义现代化。中国共产党人继承了马克思主义经典作家的阶级立场，在对资本主义现代化批判中将最广大人民群众的根本利益作为首要考量因素，直指资本主义现代化给人民群众带来的负面效应，包括：批判西方式现代化道路无法解决广大人民群众的贫困问题，只会让少数人受益，无法让多数人富裕起来；批判西方式现代化给人类社会带来严重的生态问题，危及人民的生命健康，关注“发生在西方国家的‘世界八大公害事件’对生态环境和公众生活造成巨大影响”；批判资本主义现代化导致人的畸形发展、精神世界匮乏，等等。这些批判揭露了资本主义现代化不人道的一面，无不彰显着中国共产党人对深陷资本主义现代化负效应泥淖中的人民群众的关心。

The Comprehensiveness of the Critical Dimension: Revealing the Many Defects of Capitalist Modernization

批判维度的全面性：揭示资本主义现代化存在的诸多弊端

Unlike the feudal landlord class, the Chinese Communists adopt a positive and open attitude toward modernization, deeply understanding that only modernization can realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Yet, unlike the bourgeoisie, the Chinese Communists maintain a sober understanding and high vigilance toward modernization within the framework of the capitalist system. In the process of promoting modernization, the Chinese Communists focus on drawing lessons from the experiences of capitalist modernization and are adept at discerning the latter’s defects and drawbacks, with the aim of avoiding them in the process of advancing socialist modernization. The comprehensiveness of the critical dimension is reflected in the following: First, capitalist modernization is a modernization of expansion and plunder. Modernization is a symbol of the progress of human society, but the fundamental purpose of the bourgeoisie in promoting modernization is not to benefit humanity, but to attempt to establish a ruling order and exploitative structure in which the advanced countries oppress the backward

不同于封建地主阶级，中国共产党人对现代化报以积极开放的态度，深知唯有现代化才能实现中华民族伟大复兴；但又不同于资产阶级，中国共产党人对资本主义制度框架下的现代化又保持着清醒的认知和高度的警惕。中国共产党人在推动现代化过程中注重吸取资本主义现代化的经验教训，善于洞察后者存在的缺陷与弊端，以期在推进社会主义现代化建设过程中予以规避。批判维度的全面性体现在：第一，资本主义现代化是扩张掠夺的现代化。现代化是人类社会进步的象征，但资产阶级推动现代化的根本目的不是造福人类，而是试图建立起先发国家压迫后发国家的统治秩序和剥削结构。习近平总书记指出：“西方国家的现代化，充满战争、贩奴、殖民、掠夺等血腥罪恶，给广大发展中国家带来深重苦难。”第二，资本主义现代化是物质主义膨胀的现代化。资本主义现代化带来的物质成就令人侧目，但人们的精神世界并没有同步提升，反而呈现空虚、扭曲和分裂。习近平总书记指出：“西方早期的现代化，一边是财富的积累，一边是信仰缺失、物欲横流。”第三，资本主义现代化是人与自然失衡的现代化。在数百年的现代化进程中，资本主义现代化对环境的无度索取和破坏不断累积，所引发的生态危机已经成为悬在人类头上的达摩克利斯之剑。习近平总书记指出：“近代以来，西方国家的现代化大都经历了对自然资源肆意掠夺和生态环境恶性破坏的阶段，在创造巨大物质财富的同时，往往造成环境污染、资源枯竭等严重问题。”第四，资本主义现代化是两极分化、贫富悬殊的现代化。资本主义现代化所带来的生产力飞跃和财富快速增长使得人类具备消除贫困的物质条件。但是，资本主义生产方式建立在少数人剥削多数人的剩余劳动和剩余价值的“中心—边缘”结构基础之上，可以实现少数人的富裕，却难以达成共同富裕。

The Dialectical Nature of the Critical Method: Viewing Capitalist Modernization in a One-Divides-into-Two Manner

批判方法的辩证性：一分为二地看待资本主义现代化

As early as the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Chinese Communists recognized the urgency of catching up with capitalist modernization. In 1944, Mao Zedong pointed out: “To defeat Japanese imperialism, industry is necessary; for China’s national independence to have a solid guarantee, industrialization is necessary.” [1]1 Mao Zedong, “We Must Learn to Do Economic Work” (1944), in *Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung*, Vol. 3. This shows that the Chinese Communists never refused to learn from the advanced technology of imperialism or to draw on its beneficial modernization practices simply because they hated imperialist aggression. The Chinese Communists focused on distinguishing products with the attributes of the capitalist system from modernization achievements with universal commonality, discarding the dross and selecting the essence. The achievements of capitalist modernization contain both complex and rich content: some are unique to the nature of the capitalist system, such as colonial expansion, the expansion of materialism, polarization, and the imbalance between humanity and nature, which are by-products endogenous to capitalist modernization and need to be identified and even discarded; others belong to the common achievements of human civilization, such as advanced science and technology, scientific management experience, and outstanding cultural achievements, which need to be studied and drawn upon. The Chinese Communists closely tracked the modernization practices of Western countries, learning from and drawing on their beneficial experiences. In the process of modernization, the Chinese Communists did not work behind closed doors; they have always been observing the advanced practices of other countries, promptly correcting their own cognitive misunderstandings and adjusting their governance direction. In short, the Chinese Communists’ understanding and critique of capitalist modernization adhere to a dialectical attitude: they neither wholly affirm it because of its enormous role in promoting productive forces, nor wholly negate it because of the many problems and drawbacks it possesses. This dialectical critical method not only embodies the theoretical wisdom and practical courage of the Chinese Communists but also provides valuable experience and inspiration for the development of human society.

中国共产党人早在新民主主义革命时期就意识到迎头赶上资本主义现代化的迫切性。1944年，毛泽东指出：“要打倒日本帝国主义，必需有工业；要中国的民族独立有巩固的保障，就必需工业化。”由此可见，中国共产党人从来没有因为痛恨帝国主义的侵略而拒绝学习其先进的技术和借鉴其有益的现代化做法。中国共产党人注重区分具有资本主义制度属性的产物与具有普遍共性的现代化成果，摒弃糟粕而取其精华。资本主义现代化成果包含着既复杂又丰富的内容，有些是资本主义制度性质特有的，如殖民扩张、物质主义膨胀、两极分化、人与自然失衡等属于内生于资本主义现代化的副产品，需要鉴别甚至摒弃；有些则是属于人类文明的共同成果，如先进科技、科学管理经验和优秀文化成果等，需要学习和借鉴。中国共产党人密切追踪西方国家的现代化实践，学习借鉴其有益经验。在现代化建设过程中，中国共产党人没有闭门造车，而是一直在洞察其他国家的先进实践，及时修正自身的认识误区和调整施政方向。总之，中国共产党人对资本主义现代化的认识与批判秉承辩证的态度，既没有因为其推动生产力的巨大作用而全盘肯定，也没有因为其存在的诸多问题和弊端而全盘否定。这种辩证的批判方法，不仅体现了中国共产党人的理论智慧和实践勇气，也为人类社会的发展提供了宝贵的经验和启示。

The Transcendence of the Critical Aim: Surpassing Capitalist Modernization with Chinese-Path Modernization

批判旨向的超越性：以中国式现代化超越资本主义现代化

No matter how profound the force of theoretical critique, it cannot replace practical critique; no matter how many defects capitalist modernization may have, if no effective alternative model of modernization can be put forward, then even the most trenchant critique remains powerless. On the basis of inheriting the outstanding civilizational achievements of capitalist modernization, the Chinese Communists have discarded its dross and added relations of production and superstructural structures that it lacks, thereby achieving a transcendence of capitalist modernization. First, they have consistently adhered to the socialist direction of modernization. After the Opium War, the landlord class attempted to advance modernization within the framework of the feudal social system, and the bourgeoisie attempted to emulate Western-style modernization, but both failed. How to explore a new type of modernization path and end the poverty and weakness of modern China became an important subject of reflection for the Chinese Communists. Second, they have demonstrated the comparative advantages of Chinese-path modernization by courageously participating in competition within the capitalist world. Chinese-path modernization is not a modernization carried out behind closed doors, but a modernization that draws on and assimilates widely; it has both national characteristics and follows the general laws of modernization. Faced with the situation in which the capitalist system still occupies a dominant position in the process of modernization, the Chinese Communists have not chosen to passively avoid conflict or indulge in self-admiration, but have courageously participated in the division of labor and competition of the international market. Third, Chinese-path modernization corrects the deformed and distorted features of capitalist modernization and represents the direction of human modernization. That Chinese-path modernization creates a new form of human civilization does not mean that other countries must follow the Chinese-path modernization path; rather, it means that Chinese civilization, activated by Chinese-path modernization, displays entirely new vitality and patterns, and that Chinese-path modernization, in its value orientation and practical reality, has become a typical model of human modernization.

理论批判的力度再深刻也不能替代实践批判，资本主义现代化存在再多的弊端，如果无法提出行之有效的现代化替代模式，那再犀利的批判也苍白无力。中国共产党人在继承资本主义现代化优秀文明成果的基础上，摒弃其糟粕，添加其所不具备的生产关系和上层建筑结构，实现了对资本主义现代化的超越。一是始终坚持现代化的社会主义方向。鸦片战争后，地主阶级尝试在封建社会制度框架内推进现代化，资产阶级尝试效仿西方式现代化，但均告失败。如何探索一条新式现代化道路，结束近代中国积贫积弱的状态成为中国共产党人思考的重要课题。二是在勇于参与资本主义世界的竞争中彰显中国式现代化的比较优势。中国式现代化不是闭门造车的现代化，而是兼收并蓄的现代化，既有本国特色又遵循现代化的一般规律。面对现代化进程中资本主义制度仍然占据强势地位的状况，中国共产党人没有选择消极避战或孤芳自赏，而是勇于参与国际市场分工和竞争。三是中国式现代化纠正了资本主义现代化的畸形扭曲，代表着人类现代化的方向。中国式现代化开创人类文明新形态，并不意味着其他国家必须走中国式现代化道路，而是意味着中华文明在中国式现代化的激活下展现出全新的活力和样态，意味着中国式现代化在价值取向和现实实践中成为人类现代化的典型。

From the perspective of historical materialism, the transcendence of capitalist modernization by Chinese-path modernization possesses objective inevitability. From the perspective of the relationship between the new and the old, Chinese-path modernization is born on the basis of critically inheriting the achievements of capitalist modernization; the former contains the outstanding civilizational elements of the latter. This also means that when evaluating the issue of Western-style modernization, we must respect objective facts and cannot negate it entirely; otherwise, Chinese-path modernization itself will be harmed. From the perspective of the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production, Western-style modernization is unable to resolve the contradiction between socialized production and the private ownership of the means of production; its development will always be constrained by the basic contradiction of capitalist society, displaying a trend in which the more it develops, the more the contradiction intensifies. On the basis of absorbing the outstanding civilizational achievements of large-scale socialized production by humanity, Chinese-path modernization adheres to the dominant position of public ownership of the means of production and the development path of common prosperity, thereby clearing the fundamental obstacles to the further development of the productive forces. From the perspective of the political superstructure, the leadership of the Party not only determines the fundamental nature of Chinese-path modernization, but also helps ensure that Chinese-path modernization remains anchored to its goals and advances steadily and far, helps stimulate the powerful driving force for building Chinese-path modernization, and helps consolidate the mighty strength for building Chinese-path modernization. From the perspective of the cultural superstructure, adhering to Marxism as the fundamental guiding ideology can provide scientific guidance for Chinese-path modernization and ensure that Chinese-path modernization advances smoothly on the correct track.

从唯物史观的视角看，中国式现代化超越资本主义现代化具有客观必然性。从新旧事物的关系来看，中国式现代化是在批判继承资本主义现代化成果的基础之上孕育而出的，前者蕴含着后者的优秀文明因子。这也意味着我们在评价西方式现代化的问题上要尊重客观事实，不能全盘否定，否则将伤及中国式现代化。从生产力与生产关系的矛盾视角看，西方式现代化无力解决生产社会化和生产资料私人占有之间的矛盾，它的发展会始终受到资本主义社会基本矛盾的制约，呈现出愈发展愈激化矛盾的趋势。中国式现代化在吸收人类社会化大生产的优秀文明成果基础上，坚持生产资料公有制的主体地位和共同富裕的发展道路，扫清了生产力进一步发展的根本障碍。从政治上层建筑来看，党的领导不仅决定中国式现代化的根本性质，而且有利于确保中国式现代化锚定奋斗目标行稳致远、有利于激发建设中国式现代化的强劲动力、有利于凝聚建设中国式现代化的磅礴力量。从文化上层建筑来看，坚持把马克思主义作为根本指导思想，可以为中国式现代化提供科学指引，确保中国式现代化在正确的轨道上顺利推进。

(Author’s bio: Liu Mingming, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Nankai University)

（作者简介：刘明明，南开大学马克思主义学院教授、博士生导师）

(Fund project: National Social Science Fund Ideological and Political Special Project “Research on Improving the Teaching Quality of Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Higher Education Institutions” (23VSZ084))

（基金项目：国家社会科学基金思政专项项目“高校思想政治理论课教学质量提升研究”（23VSZ084））

Online editor: Tongxin

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