Chinese-Path Modernization Is a Completely New Form of Human Civilization

The process of modernization is a process of continuously shaping human civilization, and modernized civilization is a proposition for evaluating the value of modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Chinese-path modernization is deeply rooted in fine traditional Chinese culture, embodies the advanced nature of scientific socialism, draws on and absorbs all outstanding achievements of human civilization, represents the direction of progress for human civilization, and presents a new picture different from the Western model of modernization; it is a completely new form of human civilization.” Referring to Chinese-path modernization as “a completely new form of human civilization” is the overall evaluation by contemporary Chinese Marxism and Marxism in the 21st century of the civilizational value of Chinese-path modernization. Evaluation is a deep grasp of value relations; “it does not primarily map the existing value world into the human mind, but rather uses the initiative and creativity of thought to reveal the value relations behind phenomena and construct a future value world.” Therefore, to fully grasp this evaluative proposition concerning Chinese-path modernization, one must profoundly reveal the underlying logic of its generation, the comparative value of its persistence, and the future direction of its development as a “completely new form of human civilization.”

现代化的过程是人类文明不断形塑的过程，现代化文明是关于现代化价值的评价命题。习近平总书记指出：“中国式现代化，深深植根于中华优秀传统文化，体现科学社会主义的先进本质，借鉴吸收一切人类优秀文明成果，代表人类文明进步的发展方向，展现了不同于西方现代化模式的新图景，是一种全新的人类文明形态。”以“一种全新的人类文明形态”指称中国式现代化，是当代中国马克思主义、21世纪马克思主义对中国式现代化文明价值的总体评价。评价是对价值关系的深度把握，“它主要不是将现有的价值世界映射在人的脑海里，而是运用思维的能动性、创造性去揭示现象背后的价值关系，建构未来的价值世界”。因此，要想全面把握这一关于中国式现代化的评价命题，就要深刻揭示作为一种“全新的人类文明形态”，中国式现代化得以生成的背后逻辑、得以持存的比较价值、得以光大的未来指向。

I. Chinese-Path Modernization Integratively Creates a New Form of Human Civilization

一、中国式现代化集成创造人类文明新形态

Chinese-path modernization, “because it stands at the summit of creative undertakings, is filled with boundless confidence.” The great creation of Chinese-path modernization is not an arbitrary creative activity of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people, but a civilizational integration of existing premises and conditions such as fine traditional Chinese culture, scientific socialism, and the essence of human civilization. From a philosophical perspective, this integrative creation manifests as “a quality with the capacity for choice.” According to Aristotle’s understanding, this is a “doctrine of the mean” concerning virtue: “the mean lies between excess and deficiency,” “it is a hitting upon the middle,” and “it is the highest good and extreme beauty.” Chinese-path modernization is not a modernization that rejects tradition, nor one that disregards theory, nor one that ignores the “other”; rather, it creatively achieves a居中协调 [n1] and comprehensive innovation between tradition and modernity, theory and reality, and the self and the “other.” It enables Chinese civilization, socialist civilization, and all outstanding achievements of human civilization to interpenetrate and mutually connect on Chinese soil, shaping a new civilizational form that integrates the original self, the true self, and the self proper [n2] into one, and integratively creates a new form of human civilization.

中国式现代化，“因其站立于创造性的事业的顶峰而充满无限的自信”。中国式现代化的伟大创造，不是中国共产党和中国人民随心所欲的创造活动，而是对中华优秀传统文化、科学社会主义、人类文明精粹等既有前提和条件的文明集成。这种集成式创造，从哲学上看，表现为“一种具有选择能力的品质”。按照亚里士多德的理解，这是一种关于德性的“中庸之道”：“中庸在过度和不及之间”，“是对中间的命中”，“是最高的善和极端的美”。中国式现代化不是唯(拒斥)传统的现代化，不是唯(漠视)理论的现代化，也不是唯(不顾)“他者”的现代化，而是创造性地实现了在传统与现代、理论与现实、自我与“他者”之间的居中协调、综合创新，使中华文明、社会主义文明以及一切人类优秀文明成果在中国大地上彼此融通、互相会通，塑造了集本我、真我、自我三位于一体的新文明样态，集成创造了人类文明新形态。

First, Chinese-path modernization shapes the civilizational original self by promoting fine traditional Chinese culture. Defining the modernization path with “Chinese path” profoundly reveals the “Chinese characteristics” of Chinese-path modernization and clearly elucidates that the civilizational origin of Chinese-path modernization lies in China, especially in the long-lasting and ever-renewing fine traditional Chinese culture. As General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Without the five-thousand-year

其一，中国式现代化在弘扬中华优秀传统文化中塑造文明本我。以“中国式”定义现代化道路，深刻揭示了中国式现代化的“中国特色”，深刻阐明了中国式现代化的文明本源在中国，特别是在绵延久远、历久弥新的中华优秀传统文化当中。正如习近平总书记指出的：“如果没有中华五千年文明，哪里有什么中国特色？如果不是中国特色，哪有我们今天这么成功的中国特色社会主义道路？”中华民族在五千多年的历史变迁与文明创造中，培育形成、丰富发展了独特而富有价值的文化传统，中华优秀传统文化蕴含中国人民体悟人生、洞察时势、俯仰天地、观察世界的文化视角、价值主张、理论思维，诠释了中华文明的文化高度与实践智慧，是中华民族屹立于激荡时代的文化根基，是中国人民自信回答中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问的文化底气。如果说，正是因为“在希腊哲学的多种多样的形式中，几乎可以发现以后的所有看法的胚胎、萌芽”，从而使“我们在哲学上以及在其他许多领域中不得不一再回到这个小民族的成就上来”，那么，中华优秀传统文化蕴含的博大精深的中华民族精神，则要求我们不断从中寻得价值给养、获得思想启迪。

The creation of Chinese-path modernization is no accident; it is the result of a deep excavation of China’s cultural traditions and civilizational foundations. Chinese-path modernization is both nurtured and nourished by fine traditional Chinese culture, and it fully activates the contemporary value, global significance, and civilizational appeal of that culture, enabling Chinese civilization to encounter the present era in a form of vibrant transformative development (现代). Chinese-path modernization, characterized by “a huge population,” promotes fine traditional Chinese culture such as “the people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is secure, the state is at peace” and “diminish the upper to benefit the lower, and the people’s joy knows no bounds.” Chinese-path modernization, characterized by “common prosperity for all the people,” promotes fine traditional Chinese culture such as “the people too are weary and worn; let them but enjoy a modest well-being” and “the way to govern a state is to enrich the people first.” Chinese-path modernization, characterized by “the coordination of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress,” promotes fine traditional Chinese culture such as “virtue is the root, wealth is the branch” and “when the granaries are full, the people know propriety; when food and clothing are sufficient, they know honor and disgrace.” Chinese-path modernization, characterized by “harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature,” promotes fine traditional Chinese culture such as “the unity of heaven and humanity, the Dao follows nature” and “the unity of heaven and humanity, all things grow together.” Chinese-path modernization, characterized by “taking the path of peaceful development,” promotes fine traditional Chinese culture such as “work together with one heart, coexist in harmony” and “uphold trust and cultivate good-neighborliness, cherish benevolence and be kind to neighbors.”

创造中国式现代化绝不是偶然的，而是深度挖掘我国的文化传统与文明底蕴的结果。中国式现代化既被中华优秀传统文化浸润哺育，又充分激活了中华优秀传统文化的当代价值、世界意义、文明魅力，使中华文明以生命洋溢的转化发展(现代)形态同当今时代照面。以“人口规模巨大”为特色的中国式现代化，弘扬了“民惟邦本，本固邦宁”“损上益下，民说无疆”等中华优秀传统文化；以“全体人民共同富裕”为特色的中国式现代化，弘扬了“民亦劳止，汔可小康”“治国之道，富民为始”等中华优秀传统文化；以“物质文明和精神文明相协调”为特色的中国式现代化，弘扬了“德者本也，财者末也”“仓廪实而知礼节，衣食足而知荣辱”等中华优秀传统文化；以“人与自然和谐共生”为特色的中国式现代化，弘扬了“天人合一，道法自然”“天人合一，万物并育”等中华优秀传统文化；以“走和平发展道路”为特色的中国式现代化，弘扬了“和衷共济，和合共生”“讲信修睦，亲仁善邻”等中华优秀传统文化。

Second, Chinese-path modernization shapes its true civilizational self in exalting the advanced essence of scientific socialism. The “true civilizational self” here aims to reveal the essence of Chinese-path modernization, namely, the socialist modern civilization created under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which prominently embodies the advanced nature of scientific socialism. Scientific socialism is both an advanced theory and an advanced practice. Unlike previous philosophers who buried themselves in interpreting the world, Marx decisively oriented the foundation of his theoretical exploration toward “social reality.” In his critique of social reality, Marx, through the “two great discoveries” of historical materialism and the theory of surplus value, brought to light the basic fact that previous bourgeois politicians and thinkers had ignored or obscured—the historicity of capitalism—and scientifically expounded the historical inevitability of socialism replacing capitalism, thereby founding scientific socialism (Marxism). From its very inception, the theory of scientific socialism was destined to be put into practice, that is, the practice of scientific socialism. The October Revolution, with the thunder of its victory, enabled scientific socialism to achieve a historic leap from theory to practice, while also profoundly enlightening the Chinese nation’s quest for rejuvenation, which had tasted the bitterness of “all roads leading nowhere.” “The victory of the October Revolution and the rise of socialism were the great trends of the world at that time. Our Party emerged from this world trend and marched at the forefront of the times.” The birth of the Communist Party of China and its leadership practice provided a reliable backbone for China’s cause of scientific socialism and its exploration of the path to modernization.

其二，中国式现代化在高扬科学社会主义先进本质中塑造文明真我。这里的文明真我，旨在揭示中国式现代化的本质，即中国共产党领导创造的社会主义现代化文明，突出体现了科学社会主义的先进性。科学社会主义既是先进理论，又是先进实践。有别于以往埋头解释世界的哲学家，马克思将其理论探索的根基决定性地导向了“社会现实”。在对社会现实的批判中，马克思以唯物史观与剩余价值学说“两大发现”，将以往资产阶级政治家、思想家等忽视或者掩盖的基本事实——资本主义的历史性——澄明出来，科学阐述了社会主义替代资本主义的历史必然性，创立了科学社会主义(马克思主义)。科学社会主义理论自诞生伊始，就注定要付诸实践，即科学社会主义实践。十月革命以胜利的炮声使科学社会主义实现了从理论到实践的历史性跃迁，同时也深刻启迪了遍尝“道路不通”之苦的中华民族的复兴求索。“十月革命的胜利，社会主义的兴起，就是当时的世界大势。我们党从这个世界大势中产生，走在了时代前列。”中国共产党的诞生及其领导实践，使中国的科学社会主义事业、现代化道路探索有了可靠的主心骨。

Lenin pointed out: “We must at all times keep our ultimate aim in view, and at all times propagate and defend the proletarian ideology—the doctrine of scientific socialism, i.e., Marxism—against distortion, and continue to develop it.” Over the past century and more, the Communist Party of China has both held high the theoretical banner of scientific socialism (Marxism) and continuously formed Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, upholding and innovating and developing scientific theory, opening up the Chinese path of scientific socialism, and providing theoretical supply and practical wisdom that keep pace with the times for the creation of Chinese-path modernization. In particular, since the 1980s and 1990s, during the historical stage when world socialism was faltering or even regressing, ideological arguments such as the “end of history” thesis and the “demise of socialism” repeatedly resurfaced, while China’s cause of scientific socialism moved against the current and achieved vigorous development, successfully initiating and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and proposing and advancing Chinese-path modernization. Especially after decades of cumulative development, when the historical orientation of socialism with Chinese characteristics factually came to rest in the New Era, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era—the Marxism of contemporary China and the Marxism of the 21st century—China created great achievements in the New Era, successfully promoted and expanded Chinese-path modernization, summarized and refined the theoretical framework of Chinese-path modernization, made the contemporary value and world significance of Chinese-path modernization more prominent, and left a deep mark in the history of the development of scientific socialism. “Scientific socialism is full of vigor in 21st-century China, and Chinese-path modernization offers a new choice for humanity to achieve modernization.” [14]14 This quotation is from the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC (2022).

列宁指出：“应当时刻不忘我们的最终目的，随时进行宣传，保卫无产阶级的意识形态——科学社会主义学说，也就是马克思主义——不被歪曲，并使之继续发展。”百余年来，中国共产党既高擎科学社会主义(马克思主义)理论旗帜，又不断形成中国化时代化的马克思主义，守正、创新、发展科学理论，开拓科学社会主义的中国道路，为中国式现代化的创造提供了与时俱进的理论供给与实践智慧。特别是20世纪80—90年代以来，在世界社会主义延宕甚或倒退的历史阶段，“历史终结论”“社会主义消亡论”等意识形态论调不断沉疴泛起，中国的科学社会主义事业则逆势向上，实现了蓬勃发展，成功开创、发展了中国特色社会主义，提出并推动了中国式现代化的发展。尤其是经过数十年的发展累积，当中国特色社会主义的历史方位事实地坐落于新时代之际，在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想这一当代中国马克思主义、21世纪马克思主义的指引下，中国开创了新时代伟大成就，成功推进和拓展了中国式现代化，总结提炼出中国式现代化的理论框架，使中国式现代化的时代价值和世界意义更加凸显，在科学社会主义发展史上画下浓重的一笔。“科学社会主义在二十一世纪的中国焕发出新的蓬勃生机，中国式现代化为人类实现现代化提供了新的选择”。

It must be pointed out that the civilizational essence and true self of Chinese-path modernization are unified in the “historical integration” of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture. Although Marxism scientifically indicates the “general prospect” of the development of human society, socio-historical reality is concrete and rich, containing endless “twists and turns.” Only when the basic principles of Marxism are integrated with the specific realities and historical traditions of each country can the blueprint of the cause of scientific socialism become a beautiful reality. The great creation of Chinese-path modernization takes the Two Integrations as its fundamental methodology: on the one hand, it uses Marxism to “organize” China’s specific realities and fine traditional Chinese culture; on the other hand, it uses China’s specific realities and fine traditional Chinese culture to “influence” Marxism. Precisely because of this, Chinese-path modernization can both embody the civilizational attributes of scientific socialism and absorb the essence of Chinese civilization, becoming a form of human civilization that meets the needs of the times.

需要指出的是，中国式现代化的文明本我与真我统一于马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化的“历史结合”中。马克思主义虽然科学指明了人类社会发展的“总的前景”，但社会历史现实是具体的、丰富的，包含无穷尽的“曲折蜿蜒”，马克思主义基本原理唯有同各国具体实际、历史传统结合起来，科学社会主义的事业蓝图才能成为美好现实。中国式现代化的伟大创造以“两个结合”为根本方法论，一方面以马克思主义“整理”中国具体实际、中华优秀传统文化，另一方面以中国具体实际、中华优秀传统文化“影响”马克思主义。正因如此，中国式现代化才能既体现科学社会主义的文明属性，又汲取中华文明的精粹，成为符合时代需要的人类文明样态。

Third, Chinese-path modernization shapes the civilizational self in dialectically learning from and absorbing the “other.” Modernization is ultimately a process of self-realization of a specific subject. Beyond the subject’s self, there are countless “others,” and the civilizational picture of world modernization unfolds in the interaction between subject and object. In modern times, the “other” of modernization that China directly (passively) encountered was the West. Faced with this “other,” China once declined, falling into the historical predicament of “backwardness—being beaten.” In this predicament, China naturally regarded the West as an object of learning, because “if one refuses to learn from the ‘other,’ not only can the ‘self’ not achieve growth, but it cannot even fundamentally guarantee the existence of the ‘self.’” If the so-called “learning from the barbarians to control the barbarians” of the Westernization Movement [15]15 The Westernization Movement (洋务运动, c. 1861–1895) was a late Qing dynasty effort to adopt Western military technology and industrial methods while preserving Confucian institutions. displayed a certain selfhood in learning from the “other,” then the Hundred Days’ Reform [16]16 The Hundred Days’ Reform (戊戌变法, 1898) was a failed 103-day period of top-down institutional and educational reforms modeled on Western constitutional monarchies, suppressed by the Qing court. and the Xinhai Revolution [17]17 The Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命, 1911) overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China, but failed to achieve stable democratic governance. meant that this selfhood faded to a certain extent. Of course, the learning selfhood of the Westernization Movement was essentially the self-preservation of the feudal ruling class, and feudal rule itself was precisely the shackle that China’s modernization movement had to break. But learning from the “other” cannot directly make one the “other.” On the one hand, modern Chinese society did not have the historical soil to cultivate Western modernization; the colonial plunder, bloody violence, and exclusion of the “other” that characterized the construction of Western modernization were precisely what Chinese historical tradition fundamentally rejected. Forcible transplantation or grafting could only lead to “acclimatization problems,” and “genetic mutations” in the biological sense are even rarer in the reality of human society. On the other hand, a basic fact of the changes in world history is that the Western “other” only sought to make the East subordinate to and controlled by the West, and never allowed “the East to become the West,” let alone “the East wind prevailing over the West wind.” [18]18 “The East wind prevailing over the West wind” (东风压倒西风) is a classical Chinese idiom, famously used by Mao Zedong in 1957 to signify the ascendancy of socialist forces over capitalist ones. The Hundred Days’ Reform and the Xinhai Revolution, which took the institutional design of Western modernization as their direct model, were doomed to fail amid internal and external difficulties. The lesson of modern Chinese history is that the path of completely abandoning the self in an attempt to transform into the “other” in learning modernization is a wrong road. Only by shaping the self in dialectically learning from and absorbing the “other” can China’s modernization construction embark on the broad road of creating a new form of human civilization.

其三，中国式现代化在辩证学习吸收“他者”中塑造文明自我。现代化终归是特定主体的自我实现过程，在主体自我之外，包含无数“他者”，世界现代化的文明图景就是在主客体互动中铺展开来的。近代以后，中国直接(被动)遭遇的现代化“他者”就是西方，在这个“他者”面前，中国一度衰落，陷入了“落后—挨打”的历史处境。在这种处境下，中国自然而然地将西方视为学习的对象，因为“如果拒绝学习‘他者’，不仅‘自我’无法实现成长，甚至不能从根本上保证‘自我’的存在”。如果说洋务运动所谓的“师夷长技以制夷”显示了向“他者”学习的某种自我性，那么戊戌变法、辛亥革命则意味着这种自我性在一定程度上的消退。当然，洋务运动这种学习自我性，本质上是封建统治阶级的自我保存，而封建统治本身就是中国的现代化运动要冲破的枷锁。但学习“他者”并不能直接成为“他者”。一则在于，近代中国社会并不存在培育西方现代化的历史土壤，西方现代化建构中的殖民掠夺、血腥暴力、排斥“他者”等恰恰是被中国历史传统根本拒斥的，强行移植或嫁接只能导致“水土不服”，生物学意义上的“基因突变”在人类社会现实中更为鲜见。二则在于，世界历史变迁的一个基本事实是，西方“他者”只是力图使东方从属于、受制于西方，决不允许“东方成为西方”，更不允许“东风压倒西风”。以西方现代化制度设计为直接样板的戊戌变法、辛亥革命注定只能在内外交困中陷落失败。中国近代历史的启示是，完全放弃自我以求转化为“他者”的现代化学习是一条歧路，只有在辩证学习吸收“他者”中塑造自我，中国的现代化建设才能走上创造人类文明新形态的康庄大道。

Chinese-path modernization is the creation of the civilizational self in dialectically learning from and absorbing the “other.” The creation process of Chinese-path modernization is not closed or blocked, but a process of consciously learning from the “other” to shape the self, a process of dialectically absorbing all the achievements of human civilization for our own use. Mao Zedong specifically pointed out: “Our policy is to learn from the strong points of all nations and all countries, learn all that is genuinely good in the political, economic, scientific, technological, literary and artistic fields. But we must learn with an analytical and critical eye, not blindly, and we must not copy everything mechanically or transplant indiscriminately. Their shortcomings and defects, of course, should not be learned.” Therefore, after the founding of New China, in the face of the Soviet Union as the “other,” China could without hesitation shift from “taking the Soviet Union as our teacher” to “taking the Soviet Union as a mirror.” After reform and opening up, and especially since the New Era, this subjective self-consciousness of shaping the self in dialectically learning from and absorbing the “other” has been continuously strengthened, and Chinese-path modernization is the historical achievement and civilizational example of this subjective self-consciousness. Chinese-path modernization is neither a slavish imitation of the Western modernization model nor a creation divorced from the path of human civilization development; it is a self-creation that fully absorbs the essence of human civilization, cultivated and grown on China’s own soil. Those arguments that regard Chinese-path modernization and socialism with Chinese characteristics as a “deformation of Western modernization,” “state capitalism,” “new bureaucratic capitalism,” or “capital socialism” fundamentally ignore or even turn a blind eye to the attribute of “self-creation” of Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化即在辩证学习吸收“他者”中的自我文明创造。中国式现代化的创造过程不是封闭的、阻塞的，而是自觉学习“他者”以塑造自我的过程，是辩证吸收人类一切文明成果以为我所用的过程。毛泽东特别指出：“我们的方针是，一切民族、一切国家的长处都要学，政治、经济、科学、技术、文学、艺术的一切真正好的东西都要学。但是，必须有分析有批判地学，不能盲目地学，不能一切照抄，机械搬用。他们的短处、缺点，当然不要学。”因此，新中国成立后，在苏联这一“他者”面前，中国可以不迟疑地从“以苏为师”转向“以苏为鉴”。改革开放以后，特别是新时代以来，这种在辩证学习吸收“他者”中塑造自我的主体自觉不断得到强化，中国式现代化便是这一主体自觉的历史成果与文明例证。中国式现代化不是对西方现代化模式的亦步亦趋，也不是远离人类文明发展道路的创造，而是充分汲取人类文明精粹的自我创造，是在中国自己的土壤上培育长成的。那些认为中国式现代化、中国特色社会主义是“西方现代化变形”“国家资本主义”“新官僚资本主义”“资本社会主义”等的论调，就是根本忽视甚或无视中国式现代化的“自我创造”属性的表现。

Marx pointed out: “Generally speaking, entirely new historical creations are bound to be misunderstood, in that, as long as they may have some similarity to old, even dead, forms of social life, they are mistaken for copies of those forms of social life.” But the civilizational integrated creativity of Chinese-path modernization gives us reason to confidently state that Chinese-path modernization and the new form of human civilization it creates “are not a simple continuation of the template of our country’s history and culture, not a simple application of the template envisioned by Marxist classical writers, not a reprint of the socialist practices of other countries, and not a copy of the development of modernization abroad.”

马克思指出：“一般说来，全新的历史创举都要遭到被误解的命运，即只要这种创举与旧的、甚至已经死亡的社会生活形式可能有某些相似之处，它就会被误认为是那些社会生活形式的翻版。”但中国式现代化的文明集成创造性，使我们有理由自信表达，中国式现代化及其创造的人类文明新形态“不是简单延续我国历史文化的母版，不是简单套用马克思主义经典作家设想的模板，不是其他国家社会主义实践的再版，也不是国外现代化发展的翻版”。

II. Chinese-Path Modernization Constructs a New Picture of Human Civilization Different from Western Modernization

二、中国式现代化构建有别于西方现代化的人类文明新图景

In the proposition of modernization, the simple formula “modernization = Westernization” was once firmly rooted in people’s minds (especially those in late-developing modernization countries), and modern civilization seemed to be the “patented product” of Western modernization, leaving countries of the world seemingly no choice but the Western modernization model on their path toward modernization. The saying “the moon abroad (the West) is rounder than China’s” is a vivid discursive example. Chinese-path modernization is not a “Chinese copy” of the Western modernization model, but a new socialist modernization path that has jumped out of the overall sequence of Western capitalist modernization, started anew, and been created to embody Chinese characteristics. It is sufficient to break the above misunderstanding and generate a new picture of human civilization from within.

在现代化的命题当中，“现代化=西方化”这一简单公式曾牢固地扎根于人们(特别是后发现代化国家的人们)的头脑中，现代文明似乎是西方现代化的“专利产品”，世界各国趋向现代化的道路似乎除了西方现代化模式别无选择。所谓的“外国(西方)的月亮比中国的圆”，便是一种形象的话语例证。中国式现代化不是西方现代化模式的“中国复写”，而是跳出西方资本主义现代化的整体序列、另起炉灶创造出来的体现中国特色的社会主义现代化新道路，足以打破上述误解，内生出现代化的人类文明新图景。

The formula “modernization = Westernization” appears clear, yet in fact it “mystifies” the relationship between modernization and Westernization. What is called Westernization is essentially Western capitalist modernization; hence what is mystified is the relationship between modernization and Western capitalist modernization. The process of modernization is the process of the development of human society. In this sense, regardless of sequence or quality, modernization is the necessary path for the development of all nations and countries. Here “modernization” has shed its concrete social form and qualitative determination, manifesting as “modernization in general.” Western countries such as Britain and the United States are the forerunners of modernization; Western capitalist modernization is a particular historical form of “modernization in general,” reflecting the “historically social determination” of modernization. But as Marx pointed out, “the mystification of the capitalist mode of production, the reification of social relations,” simultaneously means “the direct fusion of material relations of production with their historical and social determination.” [19]19 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 3, Chapter 48. The translation follows the standard English edition. Western capitalist modernization, through the “magic wand” of its apologists, miraculously accomplishes a “direct fusion” with “modernization in general,” thereby concealing its own historical character. Objectively speaking, Western capitalist modernization has indeed, in a certain sense, established the normative form of “modernization in general.” Or rather, it is precisely because the Western pioneering modernizing powers opened up the Western model of modernization through a concrete path, and because of the hegemonic posture of this modernization, that other countries have developed a general recognition of modernizing development. But Western capitalist modernization is, in the final analysis, only a particular expression of “modernization in general”; it is not itself “modernization in general.”

“现代化=西方化”这一公式看似清晰，实际上却把现代化同西方化的关系“神秘化”了。所谓的西方化，实质上是西方资本主义现代化，故被神秘化的是现代化同西方资本主义现代化的关系。现代化的过程是人类社会发展的过程，在此意义上，不论先后好坏，现代化都是一切民族国家发展的必由之路。这里的“现代化”已经脱掉了具体的社会形式和性质规定，表现为“现代化一般”。西方英美等国是现代化的先行者，西方资本主义现代化是“现代化一般”的特殊历史形式，反映了现代化的“历史社会规定性”。但正如马克思指出的，“资本主义生产方式的神秘化，社会关系的物化”，同时意味着“物质的生产关系和它们的历史社会规定性的直接融合”。西方资本主义现代化借由其卫道士的“魔法棒”，神奇地完成了同“现代化一般”的“直接融合”，从而掩盖了自身的历史属性。客观来说，西方资本主义现代化确实在一定意义上确定了“现代化一般”的规范形态，或者说，正是因为西方先发现代化强国以具体化的道路开辟了现代化的西方模式，并且因为这种现代化的强势姿态，造成了其他国家对现代化发展的普遍认同。但西方资本主义现代化归根结底只是以其特殊表现了“现代化一般”，本身并不是“现代化一般”。

Marx pointed out: “All social life is essentially practical. All mysteries which lead theory to mysticism find their rational solution in human practice and in the comprehension of this practice.” Viewed from the historical practice of human modernization, Western capitalist modernization itself contains a “dialectical aspect of civilization”: its positive side lies in the fact that Western modernization has indeed greatly spurred the growth of humanity’s overall material wealth (creating unprecedented enormous social material productive forces in a short period) and also promoted the development of the human spirit (especially making spiritual production world-historical in character); its negative side lies in the fact that, in the course of the construction and promotion of Western modernization, the reality of capital-centeredness causing universal human loss repeatedly reemerges, the reality of severe polarization causing a proliferation of social contradictions repeatedly reemerges, the reality of materialist expansion causing spiritual atrophy repeatedly reemerges, and the reality of external expansion and plunder causing the scars of war repeatedly reemerges. “The epoch of civilization moves in a ‘vicious circle,’ in contradictions which it is constantly re-creating and which it is never able to overcome.” [20]20 Friedrich Engels, *The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State*. In particular, many active imitators or forced imitators of Western modernization have not shared in the joy of success of the Western modernization model; instead, together with the Western countries, and even to a greater degree, they have experienced the pain of failure. It is precisely because of Westernization’s civilizational obscuring of modernization that some late-developing modernizing countries have developed a rejection of modernization.

马克思指出：“全部社会生活在本质上是实践的。凡是把理论引向神秘主义的神秘东西，都能在人的实践中以及对这种实践的理解中得到合理的解决。”从人类现代化的历史实践来看，西方资本主义现代化本身包含“文明的辩证面”：其积极面在于，西方现代化确实极大拉动了人类整体物质财富的增长(短时间内创造了前所未有的巨大社会物质生产力)，也促进了人类精神的发展(尤其是使精神的生产也具有了世界历史性)；其消极面在于，在西方现代化建构及推广的进程中，以资本为中心造成人的普遍失落的事实不断重现，两极分化严重造成社会矛盾丛生的事实不断重现，物质主义膨胀造成精神世界萎靡的事实不断重现，对外扩张掠夺造成战争伤痕的事实不断重现。“文明时代是在‘恶性循环’中运动，是在它不断地重新制造出来而又无法克服的矛盾中运动”。特别是，诸多西方现代化的积极模仿者抑或被迫模仿者，并没有分享到西方现代化模式的成功喜悦，反倒与西方国家一道甚至程度更深地体验了失败痛苦。正是由于西方化对现代化的文明遮蔽，一些后发现代化国家产生了对现代化的拒斥心理。

If Marx and Engels only revealed the portents of socialism in theoretical form, then the victory of the October Revolution in Russia announced in practical form the formal opening of the historical period of socialist construction. Socialism is a form of modernization fundamentally different from capitalism, and socialist modernization must necessarily give rise to a civilizational landscape fundamentally different from capitalist modernization. The dissolution of the Soviet Union once made the “end of history” thesis [21]21 The “end of history” thesis was advanced by Francis Fukuyama in 1989, arguing that the end of the Cold War marked the endpoint of humanity’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy. clamorous; Fukuyama even asserted: “Today we find it hard to imagine a world that is radically better than our own, or a future that is not essentially democratic and capitalist.” [22]22 Francis Fukuyama, *The End of History and the Last Man* (1992). In reality, treating the historical setback of socialist modernization as the inevitable fate of socialism is just as absurd as treating the historical success of capitalist modernization as the eternal proof of capitalism. The Soviet Union’s socialist practice was itself a historically and socially determined form of “modernization in general,” and moreover a particular historically determined form of “socialist modernization in general.” The more crucial significance of the Soviet Union’s socialist modernization collapsing midway is that it provided historical lessons for later socialist modernization and the construction of its civilizational form. “There is no great historical disaster without being compensated by historical progress” [23]23 Friedrich Engels, letter to Nikolai Danielson, October 17, 1893. — this is what we should firmly believe in the process of creating socialist modernization and socialist civilization.

如果说马克思、恩格斯还只是以理论的形式揭示了社会主义的征兆，那么俄国十月革命的胜利则以实践的形式宣告了社会主义历史建设期的正式开启。社会主义是根本有别于资本主义的现代化形式，社会主义现代化也必然要内生出根本有别于资本主义现代化的文明图景。苏联解体一度使“历史终结论”甚嚣尘上，福山甚至断言：“今天的我们难以想象一个在根本上比我们这个世界更好的世界，或者一个在本质上并非民主主义和资本主义的未来。”实际上，把社会主义现代化的历史顿挫视为社会主义的必然性命运，同把资本主义现代化的历史成功视为资本主义的永恒性证明，是同样荒唐的。苏联的社会主义实践本身亦是“现代化一般”的社会历史规定形式，并且是“社会主义现代化一般”的特殊历史规定形式。苏联社会主义现代化建设中道崩殂的更为关键的意义在于，它为后来者的社会主义现代化及其文明形态的建构提供了历史镜鉴。“没有哪一次巨大的历史灾难不是以历史的进步为补偿的”，这是我们在创造社会主义现代化和社会主义文明过程中应当坚定相信的。

Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization and socialist modern civilization, not the modernization or modern civilization of any other ism. Taking the path of socialist modernization was itself the firm choice of the Chinese people and Chinese history in modern times. Once upon a time, China’s quest to learn from Western capitalist modernization was shattered in the experience of “the teacher always bullying the student,” [24]24 A common Chinese expression referring to the historical experience of China’s attempts to learn from Western powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which were repeatedly met with imperialist aggression and exploitation. encountering a series of failures. In contrast, the socialist modernization exploration led by the Communist Party of China has gone from victory to victory, successively creating great achievements in the New Democratic Revolution, the socialist revolution and construction, reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. Without the leadership of the Communist Party of China, without choosing the socialist path, without advancing China’s socialist construction, there would be no victorious development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and no great creation of Chinese-path modernization. “Socialism” is the most essential determination of Chinese-path modernization, the most distinctive marker distinguishing Chinese-path modernization from the Western modernization model, and the “original color of civilization” in the endogenous landscape of Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化是社会主义现代化、社会主义现代文明，而不是什么其他主义的现代化、什么其他主义的现代文明。走社会主义现代化道路，本身是近代以来中国人民和中国历史的坚定选择。曾几何时，中国学习西方的资本主义现代化求索，在“先生总是欺负学生”中幻灭，遭遇了一连串的失败。而中国共产党领导的社会主义现代化探索，则从胜利到胜利，接续创造了新民主主义革命、社会主义革命和建设、改革开放和社会主义现代化建设、新时代中国特色社会主义的伟大成就。如果没有中国共产党的领导，没有选择社会主义道路，没有推进中国的社会主义建设，就没有中国特色社会主义的胜利开辟与发展，没有中国式现代化的伟大创造。“社会主义”是中国式现代化最关乎本质的规定，是中国式现代化有别于西方现代化模式最为鲜明的标识，是中国式现代化内生图景中的“文明原色”。

When we examine Chinese-path modernization in thought, what intuitively appears before us is the “general picture” of the civilizational form of Chinese-path modernization. To define Chinese-path modernization by socialist modernization correctly grasps the “general character of the general picture,” “but it does not suffice to explain the details that constitute this general picture; and unless we know these details, we cannot see the general picture clearly. To understand these details, we must extract them from their natural or historical connections and study them separately according to their characteristics, their special causes and effects, etc.” [25]25 Friedrich Engels, *Anti-Dühring* (1878), Introduction. The Chinese characteristics of Chinese-path modernization constitute a concrete grasp of the “details” of Chinese-path modernization and a concrete revelation of the endogenous civilizational landscape of Chinese-path modernization. It is precisely through the conscious summation of the Chinese characteristics of Chinese-path modernization that our understanding of socialist modernization becomes deeper and our comprehension of the uniqueness of Chinese-path modernization becomes more comprehensive. The 20th National Congress of the CPC [26]26 The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in October 2022. made clear that the Chinese characteristics of Chinese-path modernization mainly comprise five aspects: Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all the people, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical progress in harmony, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of taking the path of peaceful development. These five Chinese characteristics of Chinese-path modernization outline, as a whole, a completely new civilizational landscape different from the Western modernization model.

在思维中考察中国式现代化，直观呈现在我们眼前的是关于中国式现代化文明形态的“总画面”。以社会主义现代化规定中国式现代化虽然正确把握了中国式现代化的“总画面的一般性质”，“却不足以说明构成这幅总画面的各个细节；而我们要是不知道这些细节，就看不清总画面。为了认识这些细节，我们不得不把它们从自然的或历史的联系中抽出来，从它们的特性、它们的特殊的原因和结果等等方面来分别加以研究”。中国式现代化的中国特色就是对中国式现代化的“各个细节”的具体把握，以及对中国式现代化内生文明图景的具体揭示。也正是对中国式现代化的中国特色的自觉总结，使我们对社会主义现代化的理解更为深入，对中国式现代化之独特性的理解更加全面。党的二十大明确，中国式现代化的中国特色主要包含五方面内容，即中国式现代化是人口规模巨大的现代化，是全体人民共同富裕的现代化，是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化，是人与自然和谐共生的现代化，是走和平发展道路的现代化。中国式现代化的这五大中国特色，从整体上勾勒出有别于西方现代化模式的全新文明图景。

Unlike the Western developed countries such as Britain and the United States, whose populations when they began or led modernization were in the millions, tens of millions, or at most hundreds of millions, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population (over a billion). Chinese-path modernization aims to bring the entire population of over a billion Chinese people into modern society as a whole. The construction process of Chinese-path modernization is a process of consciously basing itself on the social reality of a huge population to develop modernization; its policy design, value embedding, and action choices are always actively oriented toward solving the development problems inherent in the reality of a huge population. For example, China won the battle against poverty, [27]27 The “battle against poverty” refers to the targeted poverty alleviation campaign launched by the CPC creating an unprecedented miracle in the history of human poverty reduction, historically resolving the problem of absolute poverty, and entering a new stage of solidly advancing common prosperity; it adheres to the path of people-centered new-type urbanization, advancing the largest and fastest urbanization in world history; it continuously safeguards people’s livelihood and well-being, building the world’s largest social security system.

有别于英美等西方发达国家开始或者领跑现代化时，其人口规模少则百万级、千万级，多则上亿级，中国式现代化是人口规模巨大(十数亿)的现代化。中国式现代化旨在使十数亿的中国人口整体迈进现代化社会。中国式现代化的建构过程是自觉立足于我国人口规模巨大的社会现实以发展现代化的过程，其政策设计、价值嵌入、行动选择总是积极面向解决内生于人口规模巨大这一现实的发展难题。比如，中国打赢脱贫攻坚战，创造了人类减贫史上前所未有的奇迹，历史性地解决了绝对贫困问题，共同富裕迈入扎实推进新阶段；坚持走以人为核心的新型城镇化道路，推进实现世界历史上规模最大、速度最快的城镇化；不断保障民生福祉，建成世界上规模最大的社会保障体系。

Unlike Western modernization, where the Matthew effect of “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” constantly reappears, Chinese-path modernization is firmly committed to the common prosperity of all the people. Severe polarization between rich and poor is a basic feature of Western capitalist modernization. The early-modernizing countries, through a modernization led by elites and capital, brought their own nations into modern civilization, but at the same time produced the still-unresolved (and unresolvable) problem of severe polarization between rich and poor. In fundamental contrast, common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism and an important feature of Chinese-path modernization. The process of constructing Chinese-path modernization is both a process of making the wealth cake bigger and a process of distributing the wealth cake well; it is a process of modernization construction that replaces polarization with common prosperity for all the people. In China’s modernization process, it both upholds development as the “hard truth” [28]28 A reference to Deng Xiaoping’s famous dictum that “development is the hard truth” (发展才是硬道理). and persistently works to resolve problems such as the urban-rural gap, the regional gap, and the income gap, to crack down on problems such as the “chive-cutting” [29]29 “Chive-cutting” (割韭菜) is a Chinese metaphor for repeatedly extracting profits from a group, akin to “fleecing” or “milking” investors or consumers. style of capital expansion and the disorderly development of capital, and to strive to enable all the people to co-build and co-share the fruits of modernization development.

有别于西方现代化使“贫者愈贫，富者愈富”的马太效应不断重现，中国式现代化矢志追求全体人民的共同富裕。两极分化严重是西方资本主义现代化文明的基本特征。先发现代化国家通过精英和资本主导的现代化，将其本国带入现代文明，同时也产生了至今未解(无解)的贫富两极分化严重等难题。与之根本不同的是，共同富裕是社会主义的本质要求，是中国式现代化的重要特征。中国式现代化的建构过程，既是做大财富蛋糕的过程，也是分好财富蛋糕的过程，是以全体人民共同富裕取代两极分化的现代化建构过程。在中国的现代化进程中，既坚持发展的“硬道理”，又持之以恒地解决城乡差距、地区差距、收入差距等问题，破解“割韭菜”式的资本扩张、资本无序发展等问题，着力使全体人民共建并共享现代化发展成果。

Unlike Western modernization, which creates a “state of imbalance” between material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, Chinese-path modernization is a modernization in which material civilization and cultural-ethical progress are coordinated. From the perspective of the history of human modernization, Western modernization is a “serial” modernization; its construction process often follows an order of material first, spirit later. Chinese-path modernization, by contrast, is a “parallel” modernization, which compresses time and space to condense the achievements of Western modernization at high quality, and in particular, to a certain extent, resolves the problem of the lack of coordination between material civilization and cultural-ethical progress in the modernization process. From the early period of reform and opening up, when the principle of “grasping two things with both hands and making both things hard” [30]30 “Grasping two things with both hands and making both things hard” (两手抓、两手都要硬) refers to the policy of simultaneously developing material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, first articulated in the early reform era. was applied, to the coordinated development concept since the New Era, the Communist Party of China has followed Marx’s theory of comprehensive production, emphasized the coordination and unity of material production and spiritual production, and stressed that material civilization and cultural-ethical progress advance side by side. Through long-term effort, a picture of coordinated development of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress—in which high-rise buildings “stand everywhere” and the spiritual edifice “stands towering”—is now being demonstrated with iron-clad facts in the great practice of Chinese-path modernization.

有别于西方现代化造成物质文明和精神文明的“失衡状态”，中国式现代化是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化。从人类现代化的发展史来看，西方现代化是“串联式”的现代化，其建构过程往往遵从先物质、后精神的发展秩序，而中国式现代化是“并联式”的现代化，以时空压缩的形式高质量凝聚了西方现代化的成就，特别是在一定程度上破解了现代化进程中的物质文明和精神文明发展不协调的问题。从改革开放初期的“两手抓、两手都要硬”，到新时代以来的协调发展理念，中国共产党遵循马克思全面生产理论，注重物质生产同精神生产协调统一，强调物质文明和精神文明并驾齐驱。经过长期努力，既有高楼大厦“遍地林立”又有精神大厦“巍然耸立”的物质文明和精神文明协调发展的图景，正在中国式现代化伟大实践中以铁一般的事实显示出来。

Unlike Western modernization, which creates antagonistic opposition between humans and nature, Chinese-path modernization is a modernization that respects nature, protects nature, and pursues the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. In the course of Western capitalist modernization, the process of humanizing nature did not display “the beauty of harmony”; instead, nature was reduced to a tool for humans, subordinated to the needs of capital’s self-expansion, thereby leading to intense antagonism between humans and nature, and in particular triggering nature’s “fierce revenge” on humans. Chinese-path modernization, by contrast, is a green-type modernization. Green development is the mode of modernization development that the Communist Party of China has proposed, in the course of exploring Chinese-path modernization, for the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put into practice the Marxist view of ecology, promoted the ecological wisdom of Chinese civilization, summarized the CPC’s experience in green environmental protection, consciously responded to China’s serious environmental pollution, ecosystem degradation, and other ecological problems, clearly proposed the “green development concept,” emphasized that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, promoted green as the distinctive background of China’s high-quality development, truly changed the backward concept of “pollute first, treat later,” and painted a modernized civilizational picture of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

有别于西方现代化造成人与自然矛盾对立，中国式现代化是尊重自然、保护自然，追求人与自然和谐共生的现代化。在西方资本主义现代化历程中，人化自然的过程并没有表现出“和谐之美”，而是自然被降低为人的工具，服膺于资本增殖的需要，由此导致了人与自然的激烈对立，特别是引发了自然对人的“激烈报复”。而中国式现代化是绿色型现代化，绿色发展是中国共产党在探索中国式现代化历程中面向人与自然和谐共生提出的现代化发展方式。特别是党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央践行马克思主义生态观、弘扬中华文明生态智慧、总结中国共产党绿色环保经验，自觉回应我国环境污染严重、生态系统退化等生态问题，明确提出“绿色发展理念”，强调绿水青山就是金山银山，推动绿色成为我国高质量发展的鲜明底色，真正改变了“先污染，后治理”的落后观念，绘就人与自然和谐共生的现代化文明画卷。

Unlike the non-peaceful nature of Western modernization construction, Chinese-path modernization is a modernization that takes the path of peaceful development. The modernization of the early-developing Western countries is a modernization filled with bloodshed and violence. Some accumulated wealth and created markets for their modernization through external colonial expansion and plunder; others created conditions for their modernization by forcibly buying or seizing large quantities of resources from other countries through aggression; still others achieved their modernization by launching aggressive wars, challenging the international order, and plundering other countries. The construction process of Chinese-path modernization, by contrast, is a process of activating the peace tradition of Chinese civilization and a process of creating the lofty cause of human peace—this is an obvious fact supported by countless examples. The great creation of Chinese-path modernization overall manifests the “logic of peace” in the development of human civilization and is a plan for peaceful development that China has contributed to all of humanity.

有别于西方现代化建构中的非和平属性，中国式现代化是走和平发展道路的现代化。西方先发国家的现代化是充斥着血腥暴力的现代化。它们或以对外殖民扩张掠夺为其现代化积累财富、创造市场，或以强买、侵略等手段豪夺他国大量资源为其现代化创造条件，或通过发动侵略战争、挑战国际秩序、掠夺别国来实现其现代化。而中国式现代化的建构过程，是激活中华文明和平主义传统的过程，是创造人类和平崇高事业的过程，这是显而易见、例证无数的事实。中国式现代化的伟大创造，总体展现了人类文明发展的“和平逻辑”，是中国贡献给全人类的和平发展方案。

III. Chinese-Path Modernization Marks Out the Beautiful Future Form of Human Civilization Development

三、中国式现代化标注人类文明发展的美好未来样态

In the early 1990s, Deng Xiaoping, reflecting on China’s infrastructure development achievements, once pointed out: “Is the Chinese moon rounder, or the foreign moon rounder? It seems the Chinese moon is also round, even rounder than the foreign one.” [31]31 A remark attributed to Deng Xiaoping during his 1992 southern tour, expressing confidence in China’s achievements and rejecting the notion that foreign things are inherently superior. In the 21st century today, as a more perfect and more elevated “Chinese moon”—Chinese-path modernization—shines both on China and on the world, it represents both the “present state” of human civilization and the “future state” of human civilization. With its grand achievements, Chinese-path modernization reveals its own bright prospects, and while mapping out the future actions for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, it also leads the beautiful future of human civilization development.

20世纪90年代初，邓小平在感慨我国基建发展成就时曾指出：“到底是中国的月亮圆，还是外国的月亮圆。看来中国的月亮也是圆的，比外国圆。”在21世纪的今天，作为更加圆满、更为高悬的“中国的月亮”——中国式现代化，既光照中国，又闪耀于世界，既代表人类文明的“现时态”，又代表人类文明的“未来态”。中国式现代化以其宏阔成就昭示了自身的远大前途，在擘画全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的未来行动的同时，引领了人类文明发展的美好未来。

“Where does human civilization come from” and “where is it going” are major issues concerning the development of all humanity. The “past-ness” of the past relatively reduces the cognitive obstacle to understanding “where human civilization comes from”; the “future-ness” of the future relatively increases the cognitive obstacle to understanding “where human civilization is going.” Marx pointed out: “Although there is no doubt about the question ‘where from,’ the question ‘where to’ is very vague. Not only is there general confusion among all kinds of reformers, but each of them has to admit that he has no definite view of what the future should be.” [32]32 Karl Marx, “Letter to Ruge” (September 1843), in Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 3, p. 142. Where the future of human civilization should “go” seems to be one of the most complex and most difficult questions to answer in the process of human modernization. But in any case, the future must be built on the foundation of reality; without reality as this “matrix,” any planning for the future will inevitably be deceptive or utopian in nature. The future of human civilization can only emerge, be created, and be expanded from the present of human civilization. To go further, without a necessary reality there is no ideal future. As Engels once demonstrated in his understanding of Hegel’s proposition that “what is actual is rational, and what is rational is actual”: “In Hegel’s view, not everything that exists is unconditionally actual. For him, the attribute of actuality belongs only to that which is at the same time necessary.” [33]33 Friedrich Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy, in Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 26, p. 361. Consequently, the beautiful future of human civilization can only be expanded from the necessary reality of human civilization.

人类文明“从何处来”“往何处去”是关系全人类发展的重大问题。过去的“经验性”，相对减轻了人们对人类文明“从何处来”的认识障碍；未来的“未来性”，相对加重了人们对人类文明“往何处去”的认识障碍。马克思指出：“虽然对于‘从何处来’这个问题没有什么疑问，但是对于‘往何处去’这个问题却很模糊。不仅在各种改革家中普遍出现混乱，而且他们每一个人都不得不承认自己对未来应该怎样没有确切的看法。”人类文明的未来该“往何处去”，似乎是横亘在人类现代化进程中最为复杂、最难以解答的问题之一。但无论如何，未来必定肇建于现实基础之上，没有现实这一“母体”，关于未来的任何筹划都不可避免地带有欺骗或者空想性质。人类文明的未来只能从人类文明的现在走出、创造、拓展。更进一步讲，没有必然性的现实就没有理想性的未来。正如恩格斯曾这样论证黑格尔对“凡是现实的都是合乎理性的，凡是合乎理性的都是现实的”的命题的理解，“在黑格尔看来，决不是一切现存的都无条件地也是现实的。在他看来，现实性这种属性仅仅属于那同时是必然的东西”。进而，人类文明的美好未来只能从人类文明的必然性现实中拓展出来。

The great creation of Chinese-path modernization possesses not only profound actuality but also a distinct orientation toward the future. The reason lies in the fact that Chinese-path modernization and the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation share a historical isomorphism. Viewed from the course of the CPC’s century-long struggle, the great achievements of the New Democratic Revolution, socialist revolution and construction, reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era have successively created the fundamental social conditions for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, laid its fundamental political prerequisite and institutional foundation, provided it with a dynamic institutional guarantee and the material conditions for rapid development, and furnished it with more complete institutional guarantees, a more solid material foundation, and a more proactive spiritual force. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC and the third historical resolution[34]34 The Second Centenary Goal refers to building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Party Central Committee both embody this logic. At the opening ceremony of the study seminar on the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping further made it clear that the great

中国式现代化的伟大创造不仅具有深刻的现实性，而且具有鲜明的未来指向性。原因在于，中国式现代化同实现中华民族伟大复兴具有历史同构性。从中国共产党百年奋斗的历程来看，创造新民主主义革命、社会主义革命和建设、改革开放和社会主义现代化建设、新时代中国特色社会主义的伟大成就，接续为实现中华民族伟大复兴创造了根本社会条件，奠定了根本政治前提和制度基础，提供了充满新的活力的体制保证和快速发展的物质条件，提供了更为完善的制度保证、更为坚实的物质基础、更为主动的精神力量。习近平总书记在庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会上的讲话以及党的十九届六中全会通过的第三个历史决议等都体现了这一逻辑。在学习贯彻党的二十大精神研讨班开班式上，习近平总书记又明确指出，这四个历史时期的伟大成就，分别是“为实现现代化创造了根本社会条件”“为现代化建设奠定根本政治前提和宝贵经验、理论准备、物质基础”“为中国式现代化提供了充满新的活力的体制保证和快速发展的物质条件”“为中国式现代化提供了更为完善的制度保证、更为坚实的物质基础、更为主动的精神力量”。从这里即可看出，在当代中国马克思主义、21世纪马克思主义的理论视野中，中国式现代化与推动实现中华民族伟大复兴具有深刻的历史一致性，求索、实现中华民族伟大复兴和创造、推进中国式现代化是同一个历史过程。现在，“实现中华民族伟大复兴进入了不可逆转的历史进程”，已然彰显深刻的历史必然性，中国式现代化的现实性及其未来意义亦愈发凸显。

But the relationship between Chinese-path modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation lies not only in “historical isomorphism” but also in the fundamental “future-oriented guidance” that Chinese-path modernization provides for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The 20th National Congress of the CPC solemnly declared: “From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country in building a great modern socialist country in all respects, achieving the Second Centenary Goal, and comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.” [34]34 The Second Centenary Goal refers to building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In terms of time nodes, it is clearly set that by 2035 we are to “basically realize socialist modernization,” and by the middle of this century we are to “turn China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.” In terms of content dimensions, it is specifically clarified that by 2035 we are to promote an overall leap forward in the construction of China’s economic, political, cultural, social, ecological, and security spheres, while the main objectives and tasks for the five years following the 20th National Congress are to achieve new breakthroughs in high-quality economic development, further raise the level of institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of whole-process people’s democracy, continuously strengthen the cohesion of the Chinese nation and the influence of Chinese culture, improve the multi-tiered social security system, achieve notable results in building a Beautiful China, and further consolidate national security… This, through the setting of a strategic blueprint for Chinese-path modernization, marks the future actions for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and constructs a normative system that meets the needs of the Chinese people for a better future life. “Actions or situations concerning the future are not put forward as prophecies of what will happen in the future, but as what ought to happen or ought to have happened.” [35]35 The authors are citing a passage from the Western Marxist tradition, likely from the critical theorist or analytical Marxist literature, though the specific source is not identified in the original text. The future-oriented guidance of Chinese-path modernization for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is not a “simple prophecy” of when the Chinese nation will achieve its great rejuvenation, but rather, by delineating the “future-ought picture” of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, it comprehensively determines the future direction of action for the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people.

但中国式现代化同实现中华民族伟大复兴的关系不仅在于“历史同构性”，而且在于中国式现代化对全面推进中华民族伟大复兴具有根本的“未来引领性”。党的二十大庄严宣告：“从现在起，中国共产党的中心任务就是团结带领全国各族人民全面建成社会主义现代化强国、实现第二个百年奋斗目标，以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴。”在时间节点上，明确到2035年要“基本实现社会主义现代化”，到21世纪中叶要“把我国建成富强民主文明和谐美丽的社会主义现代化强国”；在内容向度上，特别明确到2035年，要推动我国经济、政治、文化、社会、生态、安全等各领域建设得到整体性跃升，而党的二十大之后五年的主要目标任务是经济高质量发展取得新突破，全过程人民民主制度化、规范化、程序化水平进一步提高，中华民族凝聚力和中华文化影响力不断增强，多层次社会保障体系更加健全，美丽中国建设成效显著，国家安全更为巩固……这就以对中国式现代化的战略蓝图设定标识了实现中华民族伟大复兴的未来行动，建构了满足中国人民美好未来生活需要的规范体系。“关于未来的行动或情形并不是作为关于将来会发生的事情的预言而提出的，而是作为应该发生或本应该发生的事情而提出来的。”中国式现代化对全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的未来引领性，不是“简单预言”中华民族何时实现伟大复兴，而是要通过擘画中华民族伟大复兴的“未来应然图景”，统筹确定中国共产党和中国人民的未来行动方向。

Planning the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization concerns not only China’s future, but also the world’s future, and even more so the future of human civilization. Admittedly, the historical process of creating Chinese-path modernization and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation possesses historical “particularity,” but the development of history itself contains a profound historical dialectic, being the unity of the universal and the particular, the unity of the general and the specific. The practical process of modernization civilization in contemporary China both creates a Chinese form of socialism and represents the present and future of world socialism; both creates China’s modernization path and sets an example for the vast number of developing countries moving toward modernization, broadening the path of human modernization; both creates the great achievements of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and points out the direction of development for all humanity. The spatiotemporal coordinates of Chinese-path modernization and world modernization, and of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the progress of human civilization, have already intermingled and intersected with each other; the creation of civilization in its Chinese form has acquired distinct world-historical significance. In other words, the historical practice and theoretical innovation of Chinese-path modernization have gradually realized and will further realize a leap from the particular to the universal, from the specific to the general. Marx pointed out that in world history, “what a nation does as a nation, it does for human society; its entire value consists only in the fact that each nation fulfills for other nations one of the main missions (one of the main aspects) through which humanity experiences its own development.” [36]36 This is a paraphrase of a passage from Marx’s early writings, likely from the *German Ideology* or related texts, emphasizing the universal historical role of nations. We have reason to say with confidence that the great achievements of Chinese-path modernization and the comprehensive advancement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are things we do for human society, things we do for the future development of human civilization.

以中国式现代化谋划民族复兴，既关乎中国未来，又关乎世界未来，更关乎人类文明未来。诚然，创造中国式现代化与实现中华民族伟大复兴的历史进程具有历史的“特殊性”，但历史的发展本身蕴含深刻的历史辩证法，是普遍与特殊的统一、一般与特别的统一。当代中国的现代化文明实践进程，既创造着中国形态的社会主义，又代表着世界社会主义的现在与未来；既创造着中国的现代化道路，又为广大发展中国家迈向现代化树立了典范，拓宽了人类现代化道路；既创造着中华民族复兴的伟大业绩，又指明了全人类的发展方向。中国式现代化与世界现代化、中华民族伟大复兴与人类文明发展进步的时空坐标已然彼此交融、交汇，中国形态的文明创造具有了鲜明的世界历史意义。换言之，中国式现代化的历史实践与理论创新逐步实现并将进一步实现从特殊到普遍、从特别到一般的跃升。马克思指出，在世界历史中，“凡是民族作为民族所做的事情，都是他们为人类社会而做的事情，他们的全部价值仅仅在于：每个民族都为其他民族完成了人类从中经历了自己发展的一个主要的使命(主要的方面)”。我们有理由自信地说，中国式现代化的伟大成就与中华民族伟大复兴的全面推进，是我们为人类社会而做的事情，是我们为人类文明未来发展而做的事情。

In this sense, concentrating our efforts on handling China’s own affairs well — persisting in comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization — embodies our responsible attitude toward the future development of human civilization. The future-oriented normative setting of Chinese-path modernization for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation itself contains an overall norm for the future form of the development of human civilization, contributing Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to the bright future of world modernization. Therefore, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and creating a new form of human civilization are directly included in the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization, which fully reflects the world-oriented responsibility of contemporary Chinese Communists and the world-historical value of Chinese-path modernization. It must be pointed out that emphasizing the normative significance of Chinese-path modernization for the bright future of humanity is not intended to “replace” Westernization with Chinese-path modernization, thereby creating a new simplistic and mystified formula of “modernization = Sinicization,” but rather to demonstrate the multiple possibilities, multiple choices, and multiple references for the future development of human civilization. The bright future of humanity must necessarily be created jointly by all of humanity.

在这样的意义上，集中精力办好中国自己的事情——坚持以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴，就体现了我们对人类文明未来发展的负责任态度。中国式现代化对全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的未来规范设定，本身就包含对人类文明发展未来样态的总体规范，为世界现代化的美好未来贡献了中国智慧、中国方案。因此，推动构建人类命运共同体，创造人类文明新形态被直接包含在中国式现代化的本质要求当中，这充分体现了当代中国共产党人的世界担当，体现了中国式现代化的世界历史价值。需要指出的是，强调中国式现代化之于人类美好未来的规范意义，其目的不是以中国式现代化“代替”西方化，从而再造一个“现代化=中国化”的简单神秘化公式，而是显示人类文明未来发展的多可能性、多选择性、多参照性，人类美好未来必然是由全人类共同创造的。

In summary, Chinese-path modernization has historically condensed in contemporary China the “civilizational wisdom” of Chinese civilization, socialist civilization, and other achievements of human civilization, has crossed the “civilizational obstacles” set by Western modernization, has opened up a “new civilizational picture” of modernization development, represents the future of the development of human civilization, and is a brand-new form of human civilization. Chinese-path modernization surges into the tide of history with an irresistible momentum, infusing powerful impetus into the development of human civilization.

总之，中国式现代化在当代中国历史性地凝结了中华文明、社会主义文明以及人类其他文明成果的“文明智慧”，跨越了西方现代化设置的“文明障碍”，开拓出现代化发展的“文明新图景”，代表了人类文明发展的未来，是一种全新的人类文明形态。中国式现代化以不可阻挡之势涌入历史浪潮，为人类文明之发展灌注了强劲动力。

Source: *Journal of University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences*, Issue 3, 2024

文章来源：《中国社会科学院大学学报》2024年第3期

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧