The Natural Force Sources of Productive Forces and New Quality Productive Forces

The theory of new quality productive forces required for high-quality development is the inheritance and development of the theory of productive forces founded by Marx and Engels. When we theoretically summarize and generalize new quality productive forces, especially grasp their essential determinations, the theory of productive forces founded by Marx and Engels should be its most fundamental intellectual resource and most important theoretical basis.

高质量发展所需要的新质生产力理论是对马克思恩格斯创立的生产力理论的继承和发展，我们从理论上对新质生产力进行总结概括特别是把握其本质规定时，马克思恩格斯创立的生产力理论就应当是其最根本的思想资源和最重要的理论依据。

The constituent elements of productive forces and the three major sources of natural forces

生产力的构成要素及三大自然力来源

In the understanding of the theory of productive forces founded by Marx and Engels, the "theory of constituent elements of productive forces" has long occupied a dominant position. Its core content has three points: first, productive forces are a structurally complex system; second, they are composed of three basic elements and one important factor—the three basic elements are the means of labor (or instruments of labor, among which the most important are the tools of production), the objects of labor, and the laborers, and the one important factor is science and technology; third, the development of productive forces is manifested in the development of their constituent elements, especially the transformation of the tools of production. However, because this theory of constituent elements of productive forces does not touch upon, at a deep level, the issue of the sources and formation mechanisms of productive forces as an objective material force, it falls into various difficulties in explaining productive forces and their development. For example, productive forces are an objective material force formed by humans in production practice that influences and transforms nature, but the "qualities" of the various elements involved in the theory of constituent elements of productive forces are not directly material forces, and the "qualities" of each element also differ from one another; another example is that the "basic elements" in the theory of constituent elements of productive forces are actually the "simple elements of the labor process" described by Marx in *Capital*, and natural productive forces are different from the labor process; and so on.

在对马克思恩格斯创立的生产力理论的理解中，生产力“构成要素说”长期占据统治地位，其核心内容有三：第一，生产力是一个结构复杂的系统；第二，它由三个基本要素和一个重要因素所构成——其中的三个基本要素即劳动资料（或称劳动手段，其中最重要的是生产工具）、劳动对象和劳动者，一个重要因素即科学技术；第三，生产力的发展就体现为其构成要素的发展特别是其中的生产工具的变革。然而，由于这种生产力构成要素说并未从深层次上触及生产力作为一种客观物质力量的来源和形成机制问题，致使其在说明生产力及其发展的过程中陷入种种疑难。如生产力是人类在生产实践中形成的影响和改造自然界的客观物质力量，但生产力的构成要素说所涉及的各个要素的“质”并非直接就是物质力量，而且各个要素的“质”也彼此不同；又如，生产力的构成要素说中的“基本要素”实则是马克思在《资本论》中所述“劳动过程的简单要素”，自然生产力不同于劳动过程；等等。

In fact, in *Capital* and its manuscripts, Marx and Engels not only provided an in-depth exposition of the issue of the sources and formation mechanisms of productive forces, but also formed their clear views on this issue. Specifically, in the view of Marx and Engels, as an objective material force for humans to transform nature, productive forces originate from three major natural forces: first, the natural force of humans themselves, including human physical strength, intelligence, willpower, etc.; second, the natural force of social labor, i.e., the material force generated through cooperation and division of labor; third, the natural forces in nature, i.e., those known and unknown forces hidden in nature outside humans themselves, such as wind power, the power of water currents, steam pressure, electromagnetic force, the power converted from nuclear energy, etc. It should be pointed out that these three major natural forces are not directly productive forces; they manifest as actual productive forces only when they are developed and utilized in the production practice where humans influence and transform nature. Therefore, the formation mechanism of productive forces can be regarded as the mechanism by which humans develop and utilize the above three major natural forces in production practice, and the level of development of productive forces depends on the degree to which humans develop and utilize the above three major natural forces in production practice, which is directly related to the development of science and technology. Because to develop and utilize the natural force of social labor, corresponding social science and technology are needed; to develop and utilize the natural forces in nature, corresponding natural science and technology are needed. It is in this sense that we regard science and technology as the "primary productive force."

实际上，在《资本论》及其手稿中，马克思恩格斯不仅对生产力的来源和形成机制问题进行过深入阐述，而且还形成了他们关于这一问题的明确观点。具体而言，在马克思恩格斯看来，作为人类改造自然界的客观物质力量，生产力来源于三大自然力：一是人自身的自然力，包括人的体力、智力、意志力等；二是社会劳动的自然力，即通过协作和分工所产生的物质力量；三是自然界中的自然力，即那些蕴藏于人自身之外的大自然中的已知的和未知的力量，如风力、水流的动力、蒸汽的压力、电磁力、核能转化的动力等。需要指出的是，此三大自然力并非直接就是生产力，只有当它们在人类影响和改造自然界的生产实践中被开发利用，它们才展示为事实上的生产力。因此，生产力的形成机制可视为人类在生产实践中形成的开发利用上述三大自然力的机制，而生产力的发展水平就取决于人类在生产实践中对上述三大自然力的开发利用程度，它与科学技术的发展直接相关。因为要开发利用社会劳动的自然力，就需要相应的社会科学技术；要开发利用自然界的自然力，就需要相应的自然科学技术，正是在此意义上，我们将科学技术视为“第一生产力”。

The generation mechanism and internal contradictions of the productive forces of capital

资本的生产力的生成机制及内在矛盾

Marx and Engels pointed out in the *Communist Manifesto*: "The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together." How were such enormous productive forces formed? Marx answered this question in *Capital*. In brief, the capitalist production process, with the movement of capital's valorization as its main axis, possesses the characteristics of a general production process, but in essence it is a process of producing surplus value; driven by profit (in essence surplus value) and compelled by the coercive force of competition, capital exhausts every means in this production process to develop and utilize the natural force of humans themselves, the natural force of social labor, and the natural forces in nature, thereby forming those enormous productive forces. However, as Marx pointed out: in the capitalist production process, these enormous productive forces do not manifest as the productive forces of labor, but as the "productive forces of capital." The reason for this is that the three major natural forces, as sources of productive forces, are all capitalized in the capitalist production process: labor power, which carries the natural force of humans themselves, can enter the labor process only when purchased as a commodity by capital; the material carrier of the natural force of social labor (a certain production organization formed by division of labor and cooperation) is also formed driven by capital; and the various devices for developing and utilizing the natural forces in nature (such as the steam engine) also need to be purchased by capital and applied in production. However, just as the existence and development of the capitalist mode of production have their historical limits, so too do the existence and development of the productive forces of capital have their historical limits. To grasp this historical limit logically, we need to reveal the internal contradictions of the productive forces of capital.

马克思恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中指出：“资产阶级在它的不到一百年的阶级统治中所创造的生产力，比过去一切世代创造的全部生产力还要多，还要大。”如此巨大的生产力是如何形成的呢？马克思在《资本论》中对此作出了回答。简言之，以资本增殖运动为主轴的资本主义生产过程具有一般生产过程的特征，但其本质上是一个剩余价值的生产过程；在利润（本质上是剩余价值）驱使以及竞争压力的强制作用下，资本在这种生产过程中竭尽所能地将人自身的自然力、社会劳动的自然力、自然界的自然力开发利用出来，由此才形成了那种巨大的生产力。但是，正如马克思指出的那样：在资本主义生产过程中，这种巨大的生产力并不表现为劳动的生产力，而是“资本的生产力”。之所以如此，是因为作为生产力来源的三大自然力在资本主义生产过程中都被资本化了：负载着人自身的自然力的劳动力作为商品由资本出资购买才能进入劳动过程，社会劳动的自然力的物质载体（由分工与协作所形成的一定的生产组织）亦由资本推动形成，开发利用自然界的自然力的各种装置（如蒸汽机）也需资本购买并运用于生产当中。然而，正像资本主义生产方式的存在与发展有其历史限度一样，资本的生产力的存在与发展也有其历史限度。从逻辑上把握这种历史限度，需要我们揭示资本的生产力的内在矛盾。

The internal contradictions of the productive forces of capital, i.e., the unity of opposites contained within them, among which the core relationship is the unity of opposites between the development of productive forces and the valorization of capital. With the development of the productive forces of capital, the unity between the development of productive forces and the valorization of capital is inevitably replaced by opposition, which becomes dominant. On the one hand, in the process of the development of the productive forces of capital, the development of productive forces essentially originates from the increased degree of development and utilization of the three major natural forces by capital in the production process. To maximize its own valorization, the extreme use of the three major natural forces and the constant attempt to break through their limits become an inherent requirement of capital, thereby causing damage to the three major natural force sources of productive forces, including the atrophy and decline of labor power, the destruction of natural ecosystems, etc., ultimately slowing the development of productive forces. On the other hand, as the degree of opposition between the development of productive forces and the valorization of capital deepens, the productive forces of capital will also increasingly approach their boundary of existence. In other words, the specific form of productive forces under the capitalist mode of production increasingly becomes an obstacle to the development of productive forces. Marx profoundly elucidated in *Capital* and its manuscripts: the sublation of this capital form of productive forces is both the interest demand of the ever-strengthening working class and the objective requirement of the development of productive forces.

资本的生产力的内在矛盾，即其本身所包含的对立统一关系，其中居于核心地位的关系即生产力的发展同资本的价值增值之间的对立统一关系。随着资本的生产力的发展，生产力的发展同资本的价值增值之间的统一性势必被对立性取代而居于主导地位。一方面，在资本的生产力的发展过程中，生产力的发展本质上源于资本在生产过程中对三大自然力的开发利用程度的提升，为最大限度地实现自身的价值增值，对三大自然力的极限式使用并且试图不断地突破其极限成为资本的内在要求，由此造成对生产力三大自然力来源的破坏，包括劳动力的萎缩与衰退、自然生态系统的破坏等，最终延缓生产力的发展；另一方面，随着生产力的发展和资本的价值增值之间对立程度的不断加深，资本的生产力也将日益逼近其存在界限。换言之，生产力在资本主义生产方式下的特殊形式日益成为生产力发展的阻碍。马克思在《资本论》及其手稿中深刻阐明：扬弃生产力的这种资本形式，既是力量不断壮大的工人阶级的利益诉求，也是生产力发展的客观要求。

The new development philosophy and the essential determination of new quality productive forces

新发展理念与新质生产力的本质规定

In the actual historical process, the sublation of the productive forces of capital is a long and complex process, and the establishment of the socialist system in reality is a decisive link in this process. Under the guarantee of this system, the purpose of social production is no longer the valorization of capital, but is committed to meeting the constantly growing real needs of the people and promoting the comprehensive development of the individual, thereby bringing about a qualitative change in productive forces and their development. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the Xi Jinping era and the formal introduction of the concept of the "New Era" of socialism with Chinese characteristics., the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has, in the practical process of leading the Chinese people in socialist construction, continuously deepened its understanding of the laws of governance by the Communist Party, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society. In this process, it put forward the people-centered development thought and the new development philosophy with innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing as its content, endowing productive forces and their development with a series of determinations in the high-quality development of the New Era [2]2 The "New Era" (新时代) refers to the period of socialism with Chinese characteristics beginning with the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, under the leadership of Xi Jinping., providing fundamental guidance for the generation of new quality productive forces in practice. The summary "advanced quality state of productive forces that conforms to the new development philosophy" clarifies the essential determination of new quality productive forces. From the perspective of the three major natural force sources of productive forces, so-called new quality productive forces are the advanced quality state of productive forces formed in the production practice of developing and utilizing the three major natural forces, taking the new development philosophy as the fundamental guidance and implementing the new development philosophy. In other words, whether the new development philosophy is adhered to and implemented in the production practice of developing and utilizing the three major natural forces is the fundamental criterion for judging whether such productive forces are new quality productive forces.

在现实历史进程中，资本的生产力的扬弃是一个漫长且复杂的过程，社会主义制度在现实中的确立是其中具有决定性意义的环节。在这一制度保障下，社会生产的目的不再是资本的价值增值，而是致力于满足人民群众不断增长的现实需要，促进人的全面发展，由此带来的是生产力及其发展的质的变化。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央在带领中国人民进行社会主义建设的实践进程中不断深化对共产党执政规律、社会主义建设规律、人类社会发展规律的认识，在此过程中提出的以人民为中心的发展思想和以创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享为内容的新发展理念，赋予生产力及其发展在新时代高质量发展中一系列规定，为新质生产力在实践中的生成提供了根本遵循。“符合新发展理念的先进生产力质态”这一概括明确了新质生产力的本质规定。从生产力的三大自然力来源看，所谓新质生产力，就是在开发利用三大自然力的生产实践中以新发展理念为根本遵循、在贯彻新发展理念的生产实践中所形成的先进生产力质态。换言之，是否在开发利用三大自然力的生产实践中坚持和贯彻新发展理念，是判断这种生产力是否是新质生产力的根本标准。

If the productive forces of capital and their development are centered on the movement of capital's valorization, then the productive forces generated in the social production practice that follows and implements the people-centered development thought and the new development concept, and their development, are people-centered, constituting a "people's productive forces" that differ in quality from the productive forces of capital. Specifically, these productive forces and their development take innovation as the first driving force, and use coordinated, green, open, and shared development to expand the development space of productive forces. They can not only cultivate new driving forces for the development of these productive forces in the process of expanding the development space, but also open up new development spaces through continuous innovation, thereby effectively avoiding a series of difficulties encountered by the productive forces of capital in their development process. This represents a qualitative transcendence of the productive forces of capital. Therefore, from the perspective of the theory of productive forces established by Marx and Engels, new quality productive forces are the sublation of the productive forces of capital achieved by the Chinese people in the practice of socialist construction, and a new chapter in the Marxist theory of productive forces written by the Chinese Communists in the practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.

如果说资本的生产力及其发展以资本的价值增值运动为中心，那么，遵循和贯彻以人民为中心的发展思想和新发展理念的社会生产实践中所生成的生产力及其发展则以人民为中心，是一种在质上不同于资本的生产力的“人民的生产力”。具体而言，这种生产力及其发展以创新为第一动力，以协调、绿色、开放、共享发展来开拓生产力的发展空间，不仅能够在开拓发展空间的过程中培育出这种生产力发展的新动力，而且能够通过源源不断的创新开拓出新的发展空间，由此能够有效避免资本的生产力在其发展过程中所遭遇的一系列难题，是对资本的生产力的质的超越。因此，从马克思恩格斯创立的生产力理论看，新质生产力是中国人民在社会主义建设实践中实现的对资本的生产力的扬弃，是中国共产党人在新时代中国特色社会主义建设实践中书写出的马克思主义生产力理论的新篇章。

(The author is an Associate Professor at the School of Marxism, Guangxi University)

（作者系广西大学马克思主义学院副教授）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧