Deeply Grasp the Scientific Logic of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization

The official publication of the first volume of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Ecological Civilization* provides authoritative teaching materials and theoretical guidance for us to deeply study, learn, and interpret Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. In the process of vigorously advancing the construction of a socialist ecological civilization, we must deeply grasp the historical logic, theoretical logic, and practical logic of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, as well as their unity, and strive to achieve the integration of learning, thinking, and acting, and the unity of knowledge, conviction, and practice.

《习近平生态文明文选》第一卷的正式出版，为我们深入学习和研究阐释习近平生态文明思想提供了权威教材与理论指引。在大力推进社会主义生态文明建设的过程中，我们必须深刻把握习近平生态文明思想的历史逻辑、理论逻辑、实践逻辑及其统一，努力做到学思行贯通、知信行合一。

Consolidating the Foundation of the Historical Outlook for Ecological Civilization Construction

为生态文明建设夯实历史观基础

The construction of any ideological system must adhere to deriving theory from history. General Secretary Xi Jinping examines and grasps ecological civilization from the height of a grand historical outlook, grounding the Party’s innovative theories on ecological civilization on a long-standing and profound historical logic.

任何思想体系的建构都要坚持论从史出。习近平总书记站在大历史观的高度审视和把握生态文明，使党的生态文明创新理论建立在久远深厚的历史逻辑之上。

A history of human civilization is a history of the practical creation of the working people, but without nature, the working people can create nothing. “Viewed historically, when the ecology thrives, civilization thrives; when the ecology declines, civilization declines.” [1] This scientific thesis proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping elevates the relationship between humanity and nature, and between civilization and ecology, to the height of a historical outlook. It profoundly elucidates the historical materialist fact that history is situated within nature and civilization is embedded in ecology, and it deeply reveals the dialectical historical force that generates history and civilization through the interaction of history and nature, and of civilization and ecology. In response to the error of the Young Hegelians in separating nature and history, Marx and Engels, when founding historical materialism, not only put forward the view that social being determines social consciousness but also regarded historical materialism—the sole historical science—as the science studying the interrelationship between human history and natural history. In this way, they elevated the relationship between human history and natural history to the level of a historical-philosophical issue of equal significance to the fundamental question of the historical outlook. Today, the thesis that “when the ecology thrives, civilization thrives; when the ecology declines, civilization declines” points to the scientific path for realizing the unity of the Marxist view of nature and the Marxist view of history. It highlights the ecological civilization implications of historical materialism and consolidates the scientific foundation of the historical outlook for ecological civilization construction.

一部人类文明史就是劳动人民实践创造的历史，但没有自然界，劳动人民什么也不能创造。“历史地看，生态兴则文明兴，生态衰则文明衰。”习近平总书记提出的这一科学论断，将人与自然、文明与生态的关系上升到了历史观的高度，深刻阐明了历史置于自然、文明嵌入生态的历史唯物论事实，深刻揭示了通过历史和自然的互动、文明和生态的互动而生成历史和文明的历史辩证法力量。针对青年黑格尔派割裂自然和历史的错误，马克思恩格斯在创立历史唯物主义的时候，不仅提出社会存在决定社会意识的观点，而且将历史唯物主义这一唯一的历史科学看作研究人类史和自然史相互关系的科学，这样，就将人类史和自然史的关系问题提升到与历史观基本问题具有同等程度意义的历史哲学问题的高度。今天，“生态兴则文明兴，生态衰则文明衰”的论断，指明了实现马克思主义自然观和马克思主义历史观相统一的科学路径，凸显出历史唯物主义的生态文明意蕴，夯实了生态文明建设的科学历史观基础。

The relationship between humanity and nature is a process of historical construction. Ecological factors are key variables affecting the existence and evolution of civilizations; the “four great ancient civilizations” [2] all originated in ecologically superior regions. In prehistoric times, humanity was bound by blind natural necessity. Since agriculture is the economic form most closely related to nature, China’s agricultural civilization formed simple ecological cultural ideas such as “the unity of heaven and humanity” and “the Dao follows nature,” as well as agricultural production practices and major projects like the Dujiangyan irrigation system and mulberry-fish pond systems. [3] However, ecological environmental degradation caused by human factors also led to the decline of other ancient civilizations besides Chinese civilization. Subsequent industrial civilization raised the level of development of productive forces but caused a rupture in the metabolic interaction between humanity and nature, giving rise to an ecological crisis. In Western societies, industrial civilization, the market economy, and capitalism share a structural isomorphism; the logic of capital is the deep-seated cause of the ecological crisis, and the shortcomings of the capitalist development model must be profoundly reflected upon. Now, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, trending toward greenness, intelligence, and ubiquity, is unfolding vigorously, promoting the transformation of human civilization toward digitalization and intelligence, and providing new opportunities and possibilities for ecological civilization construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping regards ecological civilization as “the historical trend of the development of human civilization” and “a major achievement of the progress of human society,” profoundly elucidating the historical position of ecological civilization.

人与自然关系是一个历史建构的过程。生态要素是影响文明存在和演化的关键变量，“四大文明古国”均发源于生态优越的地区。在史前时代，人类受盲目的自然必然性的束缚。由于农业是与自然关系最为密切的经济形式，我国的农业文明形成了“天人合一”“道法自然”等朴素的生态文化思想以及都江堰、桑基鱼塘等农业生产实践及重大工程。但人为原因导致的生态环境退化，也造成除中华文明之外的其他文明古国的衰落。随后的工业文明提升了生产力发展水平，但造成了人与自然之间物质变换的断裂，酿成了生态危机。在西方社会，工业文明、市场经济、资本主义具有同构性，资本逻辑是造成生态危机的深层原因，必须深刻反思资本主义发展模式的弊端。现在，以绿色、智能、泛在为趋势的新一轮科技革命和产业变革方兴未艾，促进人类文明向数字化、智能化方向转型，为生态文明建设提供了新的机遇和可能。习近平总书记将生态文明视为“人类文明发展的历史趋势”和“人类社会进步的重大成果”，深刻阐明了生态文明的历史方位。

Consolidating the Foundation of the View of Nature for Ecological Civilization Construction

为生态文明建设夯实自然观基础

General Secretary Xi Jinping calls for drawing on outstanding intellectual and cultural resources from the “sum total of human knowledge” to innovate and develop the Party’s theory, putting forward a methodology of comprehensive innovation. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is a scientific model of comprehensive innovation, thereby forming a broad and profound theoretical logic.

习近平总书记要求在“人类知识的总和”中汲取优秀思想文化资源来创新和发展党的理论，提出了综合创新的方法论。习近平生态文明思想是综合创新的科学典范，由此形成了博大精深的理论逻辑。

Building an ecological civilization is a theoretical innovation formed by taking Marxism—especially Marxist thought on the relationship between humanity and nature—as the “soul vein,” taking over five thousand years of Chinese civilization—especially fine traditional Chinese culture—as the “root vein,” and incorporating the achievements of world civilizations—especially the results of thought on sustainable human development. It is the theoretical sublimation and practical crystallization of the Chinese Communist Party’s unremitting exploration of ecological civilization construction, possessing a distinctive character of comprehensive innovation. The mechanical view of nature formed in the modern West, which separates subject and object, is an ideological cause of the ecological crisis. In reflecting on the ecological crisis, although anthropocentrism and ecocentrism each hold their own positions on values, neither sees the organic connection between humanity and nature. Looking back at history, the ancient Chinese organic view of nature of the unity of heaven and humanity, the dialectical materialist view of nature of Marxism, which regards humanity and nature as beings and relations with oneness, and the ecological and systemic views of nature formed in modern philosophy on the basis of the concept of the ecosystem proposed by ecological science and systems science—all reveal that humanity and nature form a whole. On the basis of scientifically summarizing existing theoretical achievements, General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively put forward the proposition that “humanity and nature are a community of life,” regarding humanity and nature as an organic ecosystem. This achieves a major innovation in the view of nature and consolidates the scientific foundation of the view of nature for ecological civilization construction.

建设生态文明是以马克思主义尤其是马克思主义关于人与自然关系的思想为“魂脉”、以五千多年中华文明尤其是中华优秀传统文化为“根脉”、兼收并蓄世界文明尤其是人类可持续发展思想成果所形成的理论创新成果，是中国共产党不懈探索生态文明建设的理论升华和实践结晶，具有鲜明的综合创新的特质。西方近代形成的主客二分的机械自然观是造成生态危机的思想原因。在反思生态危机中，尽管人类中心主义和生态中心主义在价值观上各执一词，但都没有看到人与自然的有机联系。回顾历史，中国古代天人合一的有机自然观，马克思主义关于人与自然是具有一体性的存在和关系的辩证唯物主义自然观，现代哲学在生态科学和系统科学提出的生态系统概念的基础上形成的生态自然观和系统自然观，都揭示出人与自然是一个整体。在科学总结既有理论成果的基础上，习近平总书记创造性地提出了“人与自然是生命共同体”的命题，将人与自然看作一个有机的生态系统，实现了自然观的重大创新，夯实了生态文明建设的科学自然观基础。

Totality is a distinctive feature of Marxism. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization concerns all aspects and the entire process of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It has an intrinsic connection with Xi Jinping’s economic thought, Xi Jinping’s thought on the rule of law, Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, Xi Jinping’s thought on strengthening the military, Xi Jinping’s diplomatic thought, and the holistic approach to national security. It is a theoretical system with totality. This is another important aspect of its broad and profound theoretical logic. For example, “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” is a basic proposition and distinctive symbol shared by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and Xi Jinping’s economic thought. It contains the idea that protecting the ecological environment means protecting natural values and increasing natural capital, reveals the principle that protecting the ecological environment means protecting productive forces and improving the ecological environment means developing productive forces, points to the path of transforming ecological environmental advantages into eco-economic advantages such as ecological agriculture, ecological industry, and ecological tourism, and requires that lucid waters and lush mountains continuously exert ecological, economic, and social benefits, thereby becoming a major principle that must be adhered to in socialist economic construction and ecological civilization construction.

总体性是马克思主义的鲜明特征。习近平生态文明思想关系到中国特色社会主义事业的各方面和全过程，与习近平经济思想、习近平法治思想、习近平文化思想、习近平强军思想、习近平外交思想以及总体国家安全观存在着内在关联，是一个具有总体性的理论体系。这是其博大精深的理论逻辑的又一个重要方面。例如，“绿水青山就是金山银山”是习近平生态文明思想和习近平经济思想共有的基本命题与鲜明标识，蕴含着保护生态环境就是保护自然价值和增值自然资本的思想，揭示出保护生态环境就是保护生产力、改善生态环境就是发展生产力的道理，指明了把生态环境优势转化为生态农业、生态工业、生态旅游等生态经济优势的路径，要求使绿水青山持续发挥生态效益和经济社会效益，进而成为社会主义经济建设和生态文明建设必须坚持的重大原则。

The Scientific Integration of Practical Wisdom in Ecological Civilization Construction

生态文明建设实践智慧的科学集成

Practice yields true knowledge; practice must be included in the complete “definition” of things—this is the practical logic of Marxism. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is the scientific integration of practical wisdom in ecological civilization construction.

实践出真知，必须把实践包括到事物的完整的“定义”中去，这就是马克思主义的实践逻辑。习近平生态文明思想是生态文明建设实践智慧的科学集成。

General Secretary Xi Jinping applies the concept that “humanity and nature are a community of life” to the great cause of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation, regarding the construction of ecological civilization as a millennium-long plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and putting forward the goal of building a “beautiful China.” A beautiful China is the specific form of ecological civilization construction in contemporary China, requiring the coordinated promotion of reducing carbon emissions, cutting pollution, expanding green development, and increasing growth, and planning development from the height of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. Western modernization has followed an old path of “pollute first, then treat.” Ecocentrism regards being free from the contamination of modernization as the ultimate choice for countries of the “Global South” to protect nature. Western ecological modernization, as a model of reflexive modernization, attempts to achieve a win-win situation of modernization and ecologization within the capitalist framework. In contrast, General Secretary Xi Jinping calls for making the promotion of harmonious coexistence

习近平总书记将“人与自然是生命共同体”的理念，运用到强国建设、民族复兴伟业当中，将建设生态文明看作中华民族永续发展的千年大计，提出了建设“美丽中国”的奋斗目标。美丽中国是生态文明建设在当代中国的具体形态，要求协同推进降碳、减污、扩绿、增长，站在人与自然和谐共生的高度谋划发展。西方现代化走出了一条“先污染后治理”的老路，生态中心主义将免受现代化的浸染作为“全球南方”国家保护自然的最终选择，作为一种自反性现代化模式的西方生态现代化试图在资本主义框架当中实现现代化和生态化的双赢。与其不同，习近平总书记要求将促进人与自然和谐共生作为中国式现代化的本质要求，将其前置性地融入中国式现代化的各方面、全过程，协调推进物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明，统筹推进新型工业化、城镇化、市场化、农业现代化和绿色化。这样，习近平生态文明思想成为建设美丽中国的科学实践论。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has applied the concepts of “humanity and nature form a community of life” and “a community with a shared future for mankind” to global sustainable development, creatively putting forward the concept of “a community of life on Earth” and calling for building “a clean and beautiful world.” Building a clean and beautiful world means scientifically resolving global challenges such as environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, rampant desertification, and global climate warming, strengthening global ecological and environmental governance, and turning the Earth into a common beautiful homeland for all humanity. As a responsible major developing country and a socialist state, China has independently proposed actively and prudently advancing the peaking of carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, vigorously promoting the dissemination of advanced applicable green technologies and industries in Global South countries, and working with the international community to create concrete practical forms of a community with a shared future for mankind and a community of life on Earth. It has become an important participant, contributor, and leader in global ecological civilization construction, fully demonstrating the open vision and broad-mindedness of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

习近平总书记将“人与自然是生命共同体”和“人类命运共同体”的理念运用到全球可持续发展上，创造性地提出了“地球生命共同体”理念，呼吁建设一个“清洁美丽的世界”。建设清洁美丽的世界，就是要科学化解环境污染、生物多样性丧失、荒漠化肆虐、全球气候变暖等全球性问题挑战，加强全球生态环境治理，将地球建设成为全人类共同的美好家园。中国作为一个负责任的发展中大国和社会主义国家，自主提出积极稳妥推进碳达峰碳中和，大力推进先进适用绿色技术和产业在“全球南方”国家传播，与国际社会携手打造人类命运共同体和地球生命共同体的具体实践形态，已成为全球生态文明建设的重要参与者、贡献者和引领者，充分彰显出习近平生态文明思想的开放视野和博大胸怀。

Facing the New Era and the new journey, we must, based on the great practice of socialist ecological civilization construction, deeply grasp the unity of the historical logic, theoretical logic, and practical logic of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, scientifically comprehend the truth power and practical power of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, and fully demonstrate the global contribution of this thought to the progress of human civilization.

面向新时代新征程，我们必须立足于社会主义生态文明建设的伟大实践，深刻把握习近平生态文明思想的历史逻辑、理论逻辑、实践逻辑的统一，科学领悟习近平生态文明思想的真理伟力和实践伟力，充分展示这一思想对人类文明进步的世界性贡献。

(The author is a researcher at the National Academy of Development and Strategy and a professor at the School of Marxism Studies, Renmin University of China.)

（作者系中国人民大学国家发展与战略研究院研究员、马克思主义学院教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心