The Three-Dimensional Historical Foundation of Historical Materialism

Historical materialism, born in the 19th century, was a great revolution in the history of human philosophy. Its genesis runs through Marx and Engels’ holistic understanding and interpretation grounded in modern industrial practice, possessing both a historiographical and a philosophical dimension. The materialist conception of history is a rational form constructed by inheriting, criticizing, and transcending the tradition of the “general historical philosophy” represented by Hegel’s “totality of historical view.” Its revolutionary character with respect to “general historical philosophy” lies in “returning the content of history to history itself,” that is, it is a total historical philosophy established in the productive practice of “real individuals,” achieving a scientific answer to the “general history” of the development of human society.

诞生于19世纪的历史唯物主义是人类哲学史上的一次伟大变革，其生成史贯穿着马克思恩格斯立足现代工业实践之上的总体性理解和阐释，兼具史学与哲学双重向度。唯物史观是在继承、批判与超越以黑格尔为代表“一般历史哲学”的“总体史观”传统所建构的合理形态，其对“一般历史哲学”的革命性在于“将历史的内容还给历史”，即是一种建立在“现实的个人”的生产实践之中的总体历史哲学，实现对人类社会发展“历史一般”的科学解答。

The Dimension of Internal and External Isomorphism between Natural History and Human History

自然史与人类史内外同构向度

History is the practical history of “real individuals” based on material production. Marx and Engels’ understanding of “history” from the perspective of “human activity” differs from historiography’s partial restoration and verification of “historical facts,” and also from “general historical philosophy,” which constructs history outside of history using absolute spirit. Instead, it confirms historical existence and essence from the practice of the unity of historical subject and object, that is, the “real history” that understands society as a whole. On this basis, *The German Ideology* further stipulates that “history can be examined from two aspects and can be divided into natural history and human history.” Understanding the historical process with the new materialism’s “concept of practice” revolutionized religious views of history, geographical views of history, human nature views of history, rational views of history, etc., in the history of Western philosophy, pointing out that the history of human society is a “natural historical process.” This view of history understands “history” as a practical process of mutual transformation between the “naturalization of history” and the “historicization of nature,” meaning that the unfolding of natural history and human history is not an abstract process detached from human activity, but a total interpretation of the relationships among humans, nature, and society.

历史是以物质生产为基础的“现实的个人”的实践史。马克思恩格斯从“人的活动”出发理解“历史”不同于历史学对“史实”的一定程度还原与证伪，也不同于“一般历史哲学”在历史之外运用绝对精神构设历史，而是从历史主客体相统一的实践中确证历史存在与本质，也就是把社会作为一个整体理解的“现实的历史”。在此基础上，《德意志意识形态》进一步规定了“历史可以从两方面来考察，可以把它划分为自然史和人类史”。以新唯物主义的“实践观”理解历史过程，变革了西方历史哲学史上宗教史观、地理史观、人性史观、理性史观等，指出人类社会历史是“自然历史过程”。这种历史观把“历史”理解为“自然历史化”与“历史自然化”实践互化过程，意味着自然史与人类史的展开不是脱离人的活动的抽象过程，而是对人、自然、社会之间关系的总体性诠释。

Natural history and human history are the external isomorphism of historical forms on the basis of practice. Based on the latest scientific advances of the 19th century, Engels introduced the “arrow of time” into the natural world, outlining the scientific picture of the evolution of nature from the four dimensions of the origin of the universe, the origin of the earth, the origin of life, and the origin of humans. Human history is like the history of natural technology, “noting how organs serving as instruments of production are formed in the life of plants and animals.” [1]1 "Karakorum Pass" (卡夫丁峡谷, Kāfūdīng Xiágǔ) is the standard Chinese translation of the "Caudine Forks" (Latin: Furculae Caudinae), a narrow mountain pass in ancient Samnium (near modern Benevento, Italy). In 321 BCE, the Roman army was forced to surrender there and pass under a yoke of spears, a symbol of utter defeat. Marx and Engels used this as a metaphor for the brutal, exploitative stage of capitalist development that a society might have to endure. The question of "crossing the Caudine Forks" refers to the possibility of a society bypassing the full capitalist stage of development to transition directly to socialism. Plant and animal organs are generated in interaction with the natural environment, a diversified process independent of human will. Human history also presents itself as “primary, secondary, tertiary, etc., types,” [2]2 This is a paraphrase of a key concept from Marx and Engels in *The German Ideology*: "The extent to which the productive forces of a nation are developed is shown most manifestly by the degree to which the division of labour has been carried." The specific phrasing here is a common Chinese scholarly formulation. manifesting as diverse historical forms.

自然史与人类史是在实践基础之上历史样态的外在同构。恩格斯曾基于19世纪最新科学进展，把“时间之矢”引入自然界，从宇宙起源、地球起源、生命起源和人类起源四重维度勾勒出自然界演化的科学图景。人类史如同自然工艺史，“注意到在动植物的生活中作为生产工具的器官是怎样形成的”。动植物器官在与自然环境的相互作用中生成，是不以人的意志为转移的多样化过程，人类史也呈现为“原生的、次生的、再生的等等类型”，表现为多样化历史样态。

Natural history and human history are the internal isomorphism of historical laws on the basis of practice. This is based on the historical necessity isomorphism of the “metabolic interaction” between humans and nature, and it also manifests in two complex situations: one is the “general sense” isomorphism of the laws of human history and the laws of natural history, embodied in the intrinsic connection between the material production relations between humans and nature and a certain social condition; the social relations between people are an in-depth development of the production relations between humans and nature. Humans are born through labor. This is not only because labor can produce the metabolic relationship between humans and nature, but also, at a deeper level, because people produce a series of social relations due to their cooperative relations in labor. The other is the “special sense” isomorphism of historical laws and natural laws. As a specific historical form in human history, in capitalist society, the relationship between humans and nature is in a state of opposition. Human history dominated by the logic of capital “seems” to undergo unconscious, blind, mechanical movement like natural history. Human history detached from reality and not constrained by objective laws has degenerated into a “defense” of natural history by bourgeois ideology. Eliminating the “alienated” state between human history and natural history requires returning to the active practice of the historical subject. In the production of material goods, humans expand from the relationship between humans and nature to the social relations between people, and realize the organic unity of the relationship between humans and nature and the relationship between people in labor.

自然史与人类史是在实践之上历史规律的内在同构。这是基于人与自然“物质变换”的历史必然性同构，又表现为两种复杂情形：一种是人类史规律与自然史规律“一般意义”同构，体现为人与自然之间的物质生产关系同一定社会状况的内在关联，人与人之间的社会关系是对人与自然生产关系的深入发展。人是通过劳动诞生的，这不仅在于劳动能够生产出人与自然之间的物质变换关系，更深层次还在于人们由于劳动中的合作关系而生产出一系列的社会关系。另一种是历史规律与自然规律的“特殊意义”同构。作为人类史上的特定历史形态，资本主义社会中人与自然之间处于对立的状态，资本逻辑主导下的人类历史“仿佛”与自然历史一样做无意识的、盲目的、机械式运动。脱离现实的、不受客观规律制约的人类史已然沦为资产阶级意识形态的自然史“辩护”。消除人类史与自然史之间的“异化”状态要回归历史主体的能动实践，人在物质资料生产中由人与自然关系拓展到人与人的社会关系，并在劳动中实现人与自然和人与人的关系的有机统一。

The Dimension of Two-Way Connection between History and the Future

历史与未来的双向贯通向度

Marx and Engels’ search for an answer to “where is capitalist society heading” was conducted within the temporal coordinates of “past—present—future.” As a science concerning the historical process of human society, the temporal view of historical materialism has a complete historical flow. Discovering the new world and its inherent “future dimension” in the critique of the old world is where the thinking of historical materialism surpasses others, and it is also the value orientation of the construction of the new historical view. As Carr stated, “History acquires meaning and objectivity only when it establishes a continuous coherence between the past and the future.” [3]3 This is a direct quotation from the Preface to the 1872 German edition of the *Communist Manifesto* by Marx and Engels. This new philosophy oriented towards the future is not a “utopian” fantasy, but a holistic grasp of the logic of historical movement based on practice. It includes both the critical inheritance of past historical and civilizational achievements and the scientific foresight of future prospects, achieving a total understanding of historical laws in the logical chain of “explanation—critique—foresight.”

马克思恩格斯对于“资本主义社会向何处去”的求解是在“过去—现在—未来”的时间坐标中进行的。作为关于人类社会历史进程的科学，历史唯物主义时间观有着完整的历史流向，在批判旧世界中发现新世界及其蕴含的“未来向度”是历史唯物主义致思超越之处，也是新历史观建构的价值指向。正如卡尔所言，“只有在过去与未来之间建立一种持续不断的连贯时，历史才获得意义与客观性”。这种面向未来的新哲学不是“乌托邦”空想，而是建基于实践之上对历史运动逻辑的整体把握，既有对以往历史文明成果的批判继承，又有对未来图景的科学预见，在“解释—批判—预见”的逻辑链中通达对历史规律的总体性认知。

Marx and Engels’ holistic grasp of history is a holistic grasp of “historical time,” not indulging in individual, non-essential, external fragments of time, and using a large number of contingent events to pave the way for historical necessity. The complex situation of historical time requires establishing a “reflective” way of thinking to enhance cognitive consciousness, that is, Hegel’s “reflection takes thought itself as its content and strives to make thought conscious of itself as thought.” [4]4 "Grand view of history" (大历史观, dà lìshǐ guān) is a term used in contemporary Chinese Marxist discourse to denote a holistic, long-term, and dialectical perspective on historical development, often contrasted with fragmented or nihilistic views of history. While inheriting Hegel’s processual thinking of reflection and re-reflection, negation and re-negation, Marx and Engels also reflected on and transformed his “speculative reflection” with “practical reflection.” “Practical reflection” advocates “taking the opposite path from actual development,” [5]5 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 1, Afterword to the Second German Edition. grasping the qualitative stipulations of a social formation with a certain economic relation as its core under specific temporal and spatial conditions, and reproducing the generative history of human existence itself through the subject’s narrative method of “retrospective thinking.”

马克思恩格斯对历史的总体把握是对“历史时间”的总体把握，而不是耽于个别、非本质、外在的时间片段，并借助大量偶生性事件为历史必然性开辟道路。历史时间的复杂情势要求树立“反思性”思维方式增进认知自觉，也就是黑格尔的“反思以思想的本身为内容，力求思想自觉其为思想”。马克思恩格斯在继承黑格尔反思与再反思、否定之否定过程性思维方式的同时，也以“实践反思”对其“思辨反思”予以反思与改造。“实践反思”主张“采取同实际发展相反的道路”，把握一定时空条件下以某种经济关系为内核的社会形态质性规定，经由主体“从后思索”的叙事方式再现人的存在本身的生成史。

The new philosophy that emphasizes the future links the logic of historical development with the practical movement of communism. The realization of communism is the result of the contradictory movement of productive forces and relations of production, economic base and superstructure unfolding in historical time and space, essentially constituting the fundamental driving force of historical progress and development. The proletariat participates in the practice of creating the future and requires the ideological guidance and spiritual support of historical materialism. Historical materialism is a future-oriented philosophy in the dimension of historical time. It not only achieves a holistic grasp of historical laws in social practice but also studies and judges the trend of historical development through scientific methods. It is the unity of scientificity and foresight.

注重未来的新哲学把历史发展的逻辑与共产主义现实运动联系起来。共产主义的实现是生产力和生产关系、经济基础和上层建筑之间的矛盾运动在历史时空的延展结果，实质构成历史进步与发展的根本推动力量。无产阶级参与了创造未来的实践，需要历史唯物主义的思想指导和精神支撑。历史唯物主义在历史时间维度上是面向未来的哲学，既在社会实践中实现对历史规律的总体性把握，又通过科学的方法研判历史发展的趋势，是科学性与预见性的统一。

The Dimension of Interaction and Linkage between National History and World History

民族史与世界史交往联动向度

Grasping national history from the overall process and trend of world history. The large-scale industrial production, international division of labor, and capitalist trade market of the 19th century were not only the international background for the generation of historical materialism but also became the content of its “world history” perspective. The so-called “world history” refers to the history since the bourgeoisie “has given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country” [6]6 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Communist Manifesto*, Chapter 1. and, through universal intercourse, nation-states have entered a state of interdependence, making the world integrated or “unified.” Whether it was the early focus on Western European countries such as Britain, France, and Germany, the subsequent attention to other European countries like Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands, or even the later investigation of Russia, India, China, etc., Marx and Engels never confined their vision to the corner of national history of the “Eurocentric view of history.” They always adhered to a world historical perspective that “overflows” national history, grasping the overall process of world history encompassing both Eastern and Western societies with a global vision. World history has become an overall system in which various national histories are interdependent, interactive, and mutually influential.

站在世界史的总体进程和趋势把握民族史。19世纪大工业生产、国际分工体系、资本主义贸易市场不仅是历史唯物主义生成的国际背景，更成为其“世界历史”视野的内容观照。所谓“世界历史”，就是面对资产阶级“开拓了世界市场，使一切国家的生产和消费都成为世界性的了”的现实境遇，各民族国家通过普遍交往，进入相互依存状态，使世界整体化或“一体化”以来的历史。无论早期聚焦英国、法国、德国等西欧国家，此后对波兰、西班牙、荷兰等其他欧洲国家的关注，甚或是晚年对俄国、印度、中国等的考察，马克思恩格斯都没有把自己的目光局限于“欧洲中心史观”的民族史一隅，而是始终坚持“溢出”民族史的世界历史视野，以全球性眼光把握涵盖东西方社会的世界历史总体进程。世界史已经成为各民族史间相互依赖、相互作用、相互影响的整体系统。

Examining the inner essence of world history from the perspective of the developmental path of national histories. In their later years, Marx and Engels examined the possibility and reality of economically backward Russia crossing the capitalist "Karakorum Pass" [1]1 "Karakorum Pass" (卡夫丁峡谷, Kāfūdīng Xiágǔ) is the standard Chinese translation of the "Caudine Forks" (Latin: Furculae Caudinae), a narrow mountain pass in ancient Samnium (near modern Benevento, Italy). In 321 BCE, the Roman army was forced to surrender there and pass under a yoke of spears, a symbol of utter defeat. Marx and Engels used this as a metaphor for the brutal, exploitative stage of capitalist development that a society might have to endure. The question of "crossing the Caudine Forks" refers to the possibility of a society bypassing the full capitalist stage of development to transition directly to socialism. to embark on the socialist path, "depending on the degree of development of its own productive forces and its own internal and external intercourse." [2]2 This is a paraphrase of a key concept from Marx and Engels in *The German Ideology*: "The extent to which the productive forces of a nation are developed is shown most manifestly by the degree to which the division of labour has been carried." The specific phrasing here is a common Chinese scholarly formulation. This demonstrates that the diversity of developmental paths of national histories does not constitute a negation of the laws of world history; the laws of historical development do not "cease to be effective" due to the particularities of national history. The key to understanding the issue lies in "always adapting to the historical conditions of the time, wherever and whenever." [3]3 This is a direct quotation from the Preface to the 1872 German edition of the *Communist Manifesto* by Marx and Engels. This undoubtedly highlights the practical, dialectical, and historical characteristics of historical materialism. All its specific doctrines—such as its view of nature, its view of time, and its view of development—unfold in an interlocking manner within the spatiotemporal coordinates constructed by world history.

立足民族史发展道路透视世界史内在实质。马克思恩格斯晚年审视经济落后的俄国在“取决于自己的生产以及自己内部与外部的交往的发展程度”跨越资本主义“卡夫丁峡谷”走上社会主义道路的可能性与现实性。这表明民族史发展道路的多样性并不构成对世界史发展规律的否定，历史发展规律不因民族史的特殊性而“失效”，理解问题的关键在于“随时随地都要以当时的历史条件为转移”。这无疑彰显了历史唯物主义的实践性、辩证性、历史性特征，其自然观、时间观、发展观等一切具体学说都是在世界历史搭建的时空坐标中环环相扣式展开。

The interaction and interconnection between national histories and world history are sublimated into a spirit of world history. Unlike Hegel's world history, which is unified under the "world historical spirit," historical materialism, grounded in human practice, grasps the capitalist world system on a macro level. In its theory and practice of criticizing capitalist private property, it penetrates the revolutionary and critical spirit within it, implicitly encompassing a comprehensive view of both national histories and world history. The concern for the overall history of the destiny of humanity determined that Marx and Engels viewed history from the perspective of world history, and, by combining this with the contemporary reality of the coexistence of developed and underdeveloped parts of the world, endowed it with the implications of the era. The combination of theory and practice is indeed a revolution in the history of thought.

民族史与世界史之间的交往联动升华为一种世界历史精神。不同于黑格尔统一于“世界历史精神”的世界历史，历史唯物主义立足人类实践对资本主义世界体系宏观把握，在批判资本主义私有制的理论与实践中透视其中革命性与批判性精神，暗含对民族史与世界史的全局观照。对于人类命运总体历史的关注决定了马克思恩格斯从世界历史的角度观看历史，并结合当代世界发达与不发达并存的实际赋予其时代意蕴，理论与实践的结合确实是思想史上的革命。

In summary, historical materialism achieves the internal isomorphism of "natural history—human history" in terms of historical content, the bidirectional connection of "past—present—future" in terms of historical time, and the bidirectional determination of "nation—world" in terms of historical space. This endows the historical totality constituted by its three-dimensional historical foundation with characteristics of unity, diversity, and openness. This "grand view of history" [4]4 "Grand view of history" (大历史观, dà lìshǐ guān) is a term used in contemporary Chinese Marxist discourse to denote a holistic, long-term, and dialectical perspective on historical development, often contrasted with fragmented or nihilistic views of history. based on practice has clearly become an important intellectual resource for the governance of the Chinese Communist Party. It aligns with the theme and essence of the century-long historical development, highlights the role of Marxism in ensuring the correct direction of world historical development in promoting Chinese-path modernization and constructing a new form of human civilization, enables Marxism to radiate vigorous vitality in the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and opens a new historical vista for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

总之，历史唯物主义在历史内容上实现“自然史—人类史”的内在同构，在历史时间上实现“过去—现在—未来”的双向贯通，在历史空间上实现“民族—世界”的双向规定，使三维历史底蕴构成的历史总体呈现出统一、多样、开放特征。这种实践基础上的“大历史观”显然成为中国共产党治国理政的重要思想资源，契合百年历史发展的主题与本质，凸显马克思主义在推动中国式现代化、构建人类文明新形态上确保世界历史发展的正确方向，使马克思主义在中国特色社会主义实践中焕发蓬勃生机，开辟马克思主义中国化时代化的历史新图景。

(The author is a doctoral student at the School of Marxism Studies, Renmin University of China.)

（作者系中国人民大学马克思主义学院博士研究生）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧