Deeply Understanding the Principled Contribution of the Common Values of All Mankind

Values are the core of any ideological and cultural system and an important component of social ideology. Core values are the spiritual bond that sustains a nation and the common ideological and moral foundation of a country. Different nations and cultural circles around the world each have their own core values. Against the backdrop of deepening economic globalization, forging a value consensus and the greatest common denominator among different nations and civilizations is of great significance for promoting the progress of human civilization and the common prosperity of the world. In September 2015, President Xi Jinping, while attending the general debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and delivering an important speech, pointed out: “Peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom are the common values of all mankind and also the lofty goals of the United Nations.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Working Together to Forge a New Partnership of Win-Win Cooperation and Create a Community of Shared Future for Mankind,” speech at the general debate of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly, September 28, 2015. Since then, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized upholding and promoting the common values of all mankind on multiple domestic and international occasions, sparking widespread resonance in the international community. The common values of all mankind proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping have become the basic guideline for leading the progress of human civilization and have made a principled contribution to enriching and developing Marxist value theory.

价值观是一个思想文化体系的核心，是社会意识形态的重要内容。核心价值观是一个民族赖以维系的精神纽带，是一个国家共同的思想道德基础。世界上不同民族、不同文化圈都有自己的核心价值观。在经济全球化深入发展的时代背景下，形成不同民族、不同文明的价值共识和最大公约数，对于推动人类文明进步、世界共同繁荣具有重大意义。2015年9月，习近平主席在出席第七十届联合国大会一般性辩论并发表重要讲话时指出：“和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由，是全人类的共同价值，也是联合国的崇高目标。”此后，习近平总书记在国际国内多个场合强调要坚守和弘扬全人类共同价值，引发国际社会广泛共鸣。习近平总书记提出的全人类共同价值，成为引领人类文明进步的基本遵循，为丰富和发展马克思主义价值理论作出了原理性贡献。

The common values of all mankind transcend geographical boundaries and institutional differences, achieving a profound innovation in value concepts in the history of human thought.

全人类共同价值超越地理边界、制度差异，实现人类思想史上深刻的价值理念创新

Marx and Engels pointed out: “The more the original isolation of separate nationalities is destroyed by the developed mode of production and intercourse and the division of labor between various nations naturally brought forth by these, the more history becomes world history.” [2]2 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The German Ideology* (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 51. With the deepening development of the world historical process, the global common market urgently needs to establish universally recognized value benchmarks, worldwide universal intercourse urgently needs to lay down common value norms, and global governance also urgently needs to find points of convergence of interests that transcend ideology and political systems.

马克思、恩格斯指出：“各个相互影响的活动范围在这个发展进程中越是扩大，各民族的原始封闭状态由于日益完善的生产方式、交往以及因交往而自然形成的不同民族之间的分工消灭得越是彻底，历史也就越是成为世界历史。”随着世界历史进程的深入发展，全球共同市场亟待确立普遍认可的价值基准，世界普遍交往亟须奠定共同的价值规范，全球治理也迫切需要找寻超越意识形态和政治制度的利益交汇点。

General Secretary Xi Jinping, focusing on the “value in general” that transcends social formations, has proposed common values of all mankind that transcend geographical boundaries and institutional differences. This is a profound innovation in value concepts in the history of human thought, the highest abstraction and generalization of the universal value pursuits of all progressive forces in the world. It has laid a common value foundation for the common development of countries and nations with different regions, social systems, ideologies, and religious beliefs, established basic value norms for the universal intercourse of all mankind, and provided a common value bond for the broadest possible unity of the chaotic international community.

习近平总书记着眼于超越社会形态的“价值一般”，提出超越地理边界、制度差异的全人类共同价值，是人类思想史上一次深刻的价值理念创新，是对世界上一切进步力量普遍价值追求的最高抽象和概括，为不同地域、不同社会制度、不同意识形态、不同宗教信仰的国家和民族共同发展奠定了共同价值基础，为全人类的普遍交往确立了基本价值规范，为纷乱的国际社会实现最广泛的团结提供了共同价值纽带。

To deeply understand the common values of all mankind, it is necessary to grasp their core connotations.

深刻理解全人类共同价值需要把握其核心内涵。

First, the common values of all mankind are the value guidelines for worldwide universal intercourse. A value concept truly conducive to worldwide universal intercourse must possess a normative function, capable of effectively guiding and correcting the behavior of world intercourse and providing basic value criteria for it. The West always attempts to elevate its own values into “universal values” for all mankind. However, true universality cannot be based on a single cultural form, nor can it be abstracted solely from the partial practice of the West; it should be a universal consensus and the greatest common denominator that embraces different civilizations. Therefore, the so-called “universal values” of the West are not genuine universal values; they are essentially universality disguised by Western particularity, false universal values. The common values of all mankind are a value consensus formed based on the common practical activities of all mankind, abstracted from different civilizations around the world, to meet the common needs and common interests of all mankind. This consensus is committed to “expanding the convergence of interests and drawing the largest concentric circle,” [3]3 “Drawing the largest concentric circle” is a Chinese political metaphor for maximizing unity and consensus among diverse groups. committed to凝聚 [condensing] the value common denominator of people with different forms of democracy, different faith pursuits, different cultural backgrounds, and different regions, thereby providing value guidelines for worldwide universal intercourse.

第一，全人类共同价值是世界普遍交往的价值遵循。一种真正有助于世界普遍交往的价值理念，必须具有规范功能，能够有效引导和匡正世界交往行为，为世界交往提供基本的价值准则。西方总是试图将自己的价值观提升为全人类的“普世价值”，然而，真正的普遍性不可能奠基于单一文化形态之上，也不可能仅仅从西方这一局部实践中抽象出来，而应该是包容不同文明的普遍共识和最大公约数。因此西方所谓“普世价值”并非真正的普遍价值观，本质上是由西方的特殊性伪装起来的普遍性，是虚假的普世价值观。全人类共同价值是基于全人类的共同实践活动，从世界各地不同文明中抽象出来、为满足全人类的共同需要和共同利益而形成的价值共识。这种共识致力于“扩大利益汇合点，画出最大同心圆”，致力于凝聚不同民主形式、不同信仰追求、不同文化背景、不同地区人民的价值公约数，从而为世界性的普遍交往提供价值遵循。

Second, peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom are the common values of all mankind. Peace and development are the common cause of humanity, fairness and justice are the common ideal of humanity, and democracy and freedom are the common pursuit of humanity. We should understand with a broad mind the different understandings of the connotation of values among different civilizations, not impose one’s own values and models on others, and refrain from ideological confrontation.

第二，和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由是全人类共同价值。和平与发展是人类的共同事业，公平与正义是人类的共同理想，民主与自由是人类的共同追求。要以宽广胸怀理解不同文明对价值内涵的认识，不将自己的价值观和模式强加于人，不搞意识形态对抗。

Third, the common values of all mankind lay the value foundation for building a community with a shared future for mankind. A community with a shared future for mankind is both a community of interests and a community of values, fully expressing the common interest relations and value pursuits of all mankind. “Common values” are the value consensus of universal significance for all mankind and are the value base and ballast stone for building a community with a shared future for mankind. We must uphold the common values of all mankind of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, promote the building of a new type of international relations, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and jointly create a better future for the world.

第三，全人类共同价值为构建人类命运共同体奠定价值基础。人类命运共同体是利益共同体，也是价值共同体，充分表达了全人类共同的利益关系和价值追求。“共同价值”是全人类具有普遍意义的价值共识，是构建人类命运共同体的价值底座和压舱石。我们要坚守和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值，推动构建新型国际关系，推动构建人类命运共同体，共同创造世界更加美好的未来。

The common values of all mankind are the basic guideline for leading the progress of world civilization today and have made a principled contribution to enriching and developing Marxist value theory.

全人类共同价值是引领当今世界文明进步的基本遵循，为丰富和发展马克思主义价值理论作出原理性贡献

The common values of all mankind are the latest achievement of Marxist value theory in contemporary China and the world today. They are one of the original and iconic concepts of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, greatly enriching and developing Marxist value theory. The reason why the new form of human civilization created by Chinese-path modernization occupies an important position in the world civilization landscape is that, while manifesting core socialist values, it reflects the common values of all mankind; while adhering to cultural subjectivity, it merges into the tide of human civilization development; while carrying forward its own value ideals, it contributes value concepts and knowledge achievements with universality to the “sum total of human knowledge.” [4]4 “The sum total of human knowledge” is a phrase Xi Jinping has used to describe the collective intellectual achievements of humanity.

全人类共同价值是马克思主义价值理论在当代中国和当今世界发展的最新成果，是习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想具有原创性、标识性的概念之一，极大丰富和发展了马克思主义价值理论。中国式现代化创造的人类文明新形态之所以在世界文明版图中占据重要位置，是因为其在彰显社会主义核心价值观的同时，反映了全人类共同价值；在坚守文化主体性的前提下，汇入人类文明发展大潮；在发扬自身价值理想的基础上，为“人类知识的总和”贡献具有普遍性的价值理念和知识成果。

The common values of all mankind take into account the dual connotations of value in general and value in particular, remedying the one-sidedness that focuses on only one aspect while neglecting others. The common values of all mankind, on the premise of acknowledging the differences in value practices among different countries, nations, social systems, and ideologies, have drawn the value concentric circle of different human civilizations, manifesting the unity of value commonality and value in general. The so-called “universal values” of the West are false universality, universality that erases differences, abstract identity. They advocate constructing a homogeneous value order that transcends time and space, negate the particularity of values, and pursue an absolute identity without principles, without differences, without contradictions, and immutable. The outcome is “sameness without harmony; sameness cannot sustain.” [5]5 A classical Chinese saying from the *Zuo Zhuan* (Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals), meaning that forced uniformity leads to disharmony and cannot sustain development. The common values of all mankind advocated by China are true universality, universality that embraces contradictions and differences, concrete identity. They emphasize the commonality behind diversity, pursue principled and differentiated harmonious coexistence, ultimately achieving “harmony in diversity; harmony gives birth to new things.” [6]6 A classical Chinese saying from the *Analects of Confucius* (13.23), meaning that harmony is achieved through the coexistence of differences, and that diversity generates new things.

全人类共同价值兼顾价值一般与价值特殊的双重内涵，弥补了只及一点不及其余的片面性。全人类共同价值是在承认不同国家、不同民族、不同社会制度和意识形态价值差异性实践的前提下，画出了人类不同文明的价值同心圆，彰显了价值共同性和价值一般的统一。西方所谓“普世价值”是假的普遍性，是消磨差异的普遍性，是抽象的同一性，主张建构超越时空的同质性价值秩序，否定价值的特殊性，追求无原则、无差别、无矛盾和凝固不变的绝对同一，结局就是“同而不和”“同则不继”。中国倡导的全人类共同价值是真的普遍性，是包容矛盾和差异的普遍性，是具体的同一性，强调多样性背后的共同性，追求有原则、有差别的和谐共处，最终是“和而不同”“和实生物”。

There is an essential difference between the common values of all mankind and the so-called “universal values” in the delimitation of the scope of value commonality. The common values of all mankind emphasize the finitude of temporal, spatial, and subject conditions, and do not attempt to use a specific value to “cover” all countries, regions, nations, and subjects. The so-called “universal values,” on the other hand, emphasize the infinitude of value commonality and do not set temporal, spatial, or subject boundaries for their own scope of application. Why is the West so keen on weaving the myth of “false universality”? Marx and Engels revealed the secret: “In order to achieve their own ends, they are compelled to represent their own interest as the common interest of all members of society, that is, expressed in ideal form: they have to give their ideas the form of universality, and represent them as the only rational, universally valid ones.” [7]7 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The German Ideology* (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 53. The so-called “universal values” of the West are in fact nothing but the particular values of the West, values born from the unique cultural soil of the West.

全人类共同价值与所谓“普世价值”在价值公共性的范围划定上存在本质区别。全人类共同价值强调时空与主体条件的有限性，并不试图用某种特定的价值“涵盖”一切国家、地区、民族与主体；所谓“普世价值”则强调价值公共性的无限性，并不为自身适用范围设定时空与主体边界。西方为什么热衷编织“虚假的普遍性”的神话？马克思、恩格斯揭示了其奥秘：“为了达到自己的目的不得不把自己的利益说成是社会全体成员的共同利益，就是说，这在观念上的表达就是：赋予自己的思想以普遍性的形式，把它们描绘成唯一合乎理性的、有普遍意义的思想。”西方所谓“普世价值”事实上不过是西方的特殊价值，是产生于西方独特文化土壤的价值观。

The common values of all humanity relatively distinguish between values and the forms of their realization, transcending the cognitive error of the West, which conflates the two. Values and the forms of realization of values (i.e., value models) are different. Generally speaking, different values correspond to different forms of realization. But it must also be seen that the same values can manifest themselves in entirely different value models. For example, the forms of realization of capitalist democracy can be either a two-party system or a multi-party system, either a presidential system or a parliamentary system, either a constitutional monarchy or a democratic republic, either direct democracy or indirect democracy. Conversely, the same value model may reflect different values behind it. For instance, both China and the West have democratic elections; China embodies the concept of whole-process people’s democracy, whose essence is the people being masters of the country; the West embodies bourgeois democratic values, whose essence is capital being masters of the country.

全人类共同价值把价值观念与价值实现形式相对区分开来，超越了西方将二者混为一谈的认知误区。价值观念与价值观念的实现形式（即价值模式）是不同的。一般来说，价值观念不一样，价值观念的实现形式也不一样。但也要看到，同样的价值观念，完全可以表现为不同的价值模式。比如，资本主义民主的实现形式，既可以是两党制也可以是多党制，既可以是总统制也可以是议会制，既可以是君主立宪制也可以是民主共和制，既可以是直接民主也可以是间接民主。相反，同样的价值模式，背后可能体现出不同的价值观念。比如，同为民主选举，中国体现的是全过程人民民主理念，本质是人民当家作主；西方体现的是资产阶级民主价值，本质是资本当家作主。

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We should, with a sense of responsibility for the future of humanity, understand with an open mind the different perceptions of values by different civilizations, respect the exploration of different peoples for the paths to realize their values, and concretely and practically embody the common values of all humanity in the practice of realizing the interests of our own people.” China has always been an advocate of the common values of all humanity, but these common values do not pursue identical forms of realization or practical paths. That is to say, China advocates peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, but it will not export its social system, development path, or democratic model, nor will it seek a uniform form of value realization. Our opposition to so-called “universal values” is not an opposition to the value concepts of freedom, democracy, or human rights themselves, but rather an opposition to the West’s disregard for the distinction between values and their forms of realization, equating the specific forms of realization of freedom, democracy, and human rights with the values themselves, and unconditionally and indiscriminately promoting them to the world outside the West.

习近平总书记指出：“我们要本着对人类前途命运高度负责的态度，以宽广胸怀理解不同文明对价值内涵的认识，尊重不同国家人民对价值实现路径的探索，把全人类共同价值具体地、现实地体现到实现本国人民利益的实践中去。”中国始终是全人类共同价值的倡导者，但全人类共同价值不追求相同的价值实现形式和实践路径。也就是说，中国倡导和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由，但不会输出中国的社会制度、发展道路、民主模式，不会谋求齐一化的价值实现形式。我们反对所谓“普世价值”，并不是反对自由、民主、人权等价值理念，而是反对西方无视价值观念与价值实现形式的区别，将自由、民主、人权等的具体实现形式等同于价值观念本身，无条件地、无差别地推广于西方以外的世界。

The common values of all humanity relatively distinguish between ideological attributes and human attributes, avoiding the limitation of a perspective that focuses solely on ideological attributes. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Countries differ in history, culture, system, and level of development, but the people of all countries pursue the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom.” Values themselves are ideology; there is no so-called “values” that are detached from ideological attributes and purely objective and neutral. However, it is also wrong to put political ideology in command on the issue of values. Values that adapt to different temporal and spatial scopes have different stances and subject presuppositions, and their ideological attributes also vary in strength. The so-called “universal values” highlight the stance of capital, have a clear subject presupposition, represent the fundamental interests of the bourgeoisie, belong to bourgeois ideology, and thus possess strong capitalist ideological attributes. For example, so-called “freedom” is the freedom of “capital” and the possessors of capital; so-called “democracy” is democracy within the bourgeoisie, democracy among capitalists, a game for the rich; so-called “human rights” are the rights of the bourgeoisie; “the equal exploitation of labor power is capital’s primary human right”; “one of the principal human rights proclaimed is bourgeois property rights”; so-called “equality” is “the equal exploitation of labor power,” is “bourgeois equality before the law,” is equality before the law of value, is the principle of commodity exchange of “exchanging equivalents for equivalents,” is the principle of equivalent exchange by which the asset-holder purchases the labor power of the proletarian, is the equality of exchanging what my labor creates for me, is equality in buying and selling, is “simply calling inequality equality”; so-called “fraternity” demands that the exploited love and cooperate with the exploiters, demands that the proletariat respect and love the bourgeoisie, demands that the proletariat be grateful to the bourgeoisie. The common values of all humanity, on the other hand, condense the value consensus of different human civilizations, reflect the greatest common denominator of value concepts universally recognized by people of all countries, transcend differences in ideology, social system, and level of development, highlight the stance of all humanity, represent the common interests of all humanity, belong to an inter-subjective value consensus, are not exclusively attached to any fixed set of political ideological systems, and have no specific political ideological purpose, thus possessing weak ideological attributes. Therefore, China’s advocacy of the common values of all humanity by no means implies exporting ideology or exporting values to the rest of the world.

全人类共同价值把意识形态属性和人类属性相对区分开来，避免了专注意识形态属性的视域局限。习近平总书记指出：“各国历史、文化、制度、发展水平不尽相同，但各国人民都追求和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值。”价值观本身就是意识形态，不存在脱离意识形态属性、纯粹客观中立的所谓“价值观”。但在价值观问题上，搞政治意识形态挂帅也是错误的。适应不同时空范围的价值观，其立场站位和主体预设不尽一样，其意识形态属性也是有强弱之别的。所谓“普世价值”凸显的是资本立场，有着明确的主体预设，代表了资产阶级的根本利益，从属于资产阶级意识形态，因而具有强烈的资本主义意识形态属性。比如，所谓“自由”，就是“资本”和资本占有者的自由；所谓“民主”，就是资产阶级内部的民主，就是资本家之间的民主，就是有钱人的游戏；所谓“人权”，就是资产阶级的权利，“平等地剥削劳动力，是资本的首要的人权”“被宣布为最主要的人权之一的是资产阶级的所有权”；所谓“平等”，就是“平等地剥削劳动力”，就是“法律面前的资产阶级的平等”，就是价值规律面前人人平等，就是“用等价物交换等价物”的商品等价交换原则，就是资产者购买无产者劳动力的等价交换原则，就是用我的劳动创造之物与我交换的平等，就是买卖平等，就是“简直把不平等叫做平等”；所谓“博爱”，就是要求被剥削者与剥削者互爱合作，就是要求无产者与资产者互敬互爱，就是要求无产阶级向资产阶级感恩戴德。全人类共同价值则凝聚了人类不同文明的价值共识，反映了世界各国人民普遍认同的价值理念的最大公约数，超越了意识形态、社会制度和发展水平差异，凸显的是全人类立场，代表了全人类的共同利益，属于主体间的价值共识，不专属于某一套固定的政治意识形态体系，没有特定的政治意识形态目的，因而具有弱意识形态属性。因此，中国倡导全人类共同价值，绝不意味着向全世界输出意识形态、输出价值观。

(The author is Secretary-General of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance])

（作者为中央党校（国家行政学院）习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心秘书长）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心