Scientifically Grasping the Major Practical Significance of the "Second Integration"

In June 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development: "The 'Second Integration' is another ideological emancipation, allowing us to explore theoretical and institutional innovation oriented toward the future within a broader cultural space, fully utilizing the precious resources of China's excellent traditional culture." This important assertion is included in the article "Deeply Understanding the Major Significance of the 'Two Integrations'" in Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has creatively proposed and elaborated on "persisting in integrating the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific realities and with China's excellent traditional culture," particularly putting forward the "Second Integration." As another ideological emancipation, the "Second Integration" has broken the fixed mindset of the opposition between the ancient and the modern through creative transformation and innovative development, broken the path dependence of the opposition between China and the West through integrating China and foreign countries and upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground, and broken the myth of "modernization equals Westernization" through shaping the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization, giving birth to an organically unified and vibrant new cultural organism. Deeply studying Volumes I and II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture* and scientifically grasping the major practical significance of the "Second Integration" is of great significance for us to better shoulder the new cultural mission of the New Era and continue to promote cultural prosperity and build a strong cultural nation at a new starting point.

2023年6月，习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上深刻指出：“‘第二个结合’是又一次的思想解放，让我们能够在更广阔的文化空间中，充分运用中华优秀传统文化的宝贵资源，探索面向未来的理论和制度创新。”这一重要论断收录于《习近平文化文选》第二卷《深刻理解“两个结合”的重大意义》一文中。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记创造性提出并阐述“坚持把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合”，特别是提出“第二个结合”。作为又一次思想解放，“第二个结合”通过创造性转化、创新性发展打破了古今对立的思维定势，通过融通中外、守正创新打破了中西对立的路径依赖，通过塑造中国式现代化的文化形态打破了“现代化=西方化”的迷思，孕育出一个有机统一、富有生命力的新的文化有机体。深入学习《习近平文化文选》第一卷、第二卷，科学把握“第二个结合”的重大现实意义，对我们更好担负起新时代新的文化使命，在新的起点上继续推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国具有重大意义。

Opening a broader cultural space for theoretical and institutional innovation, consolidating cultural confidence and cultural subjectivity

打开理论和制度创新更广阔的文化空间，巩固了文化自信和文化主体性

How to treat history and how to treat traditional culture are major issues that General Secretary Xi Jinping has always pondered and cared about. The article "Ideals and Convictions Are the 'Calcium' in the Spirit of Communists" in Volume I of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture* includes part of General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech during his inspection tour in Guangdong in December 2012. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must never abandon the excellent cultural traditions of the Chinese nation; on the contrary, we must inherit and promote them well, because they are the 'roots' and 'soul' of our nation. If we lose these 'roots' and this 'soul,' we will have no foundation." For a country or a nation to grow upward and develop forward, it cannot do without a foundation, nor can it do with a weak foundation. Especially in China, which has a five-thousand-year civilizational heritage, the profound civilizational foundation and cultural nourishment are indispensable resources for our development of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics today. In Volume I of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that toward traditional culture "we cannot adopt an absolutist attitude of either wholesale acceptance or wholesale rejection." The "Second Integration" clarifies at the ideological level the attitude and method toward Chinese traditional culture, namely, to take its essence and discard its dross, to inherit, absorb, and utilize the excellent content of Chinese traditional culture well, and to truly integrate it closely with the basic principles of Marxism. This clears away the erroneous perceptions of historical nihilism and cultural nihilism, opens up new development space for Marxism and China's excellent traditional culture, pushes adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times to a new level, and provides fundamental guidance and strong support for strengthening cultural confidence and consolidating cultural subjectivity.

怎样对待历史、怎样对待传统文化，是习近平总书记始终思考关切的重大问题。《习近平文化文选》第一卷《理想信念是共产党人精神上的“钙”》一文，收录了2012年12月习近平总书记在广东考察工作时讲话的一部分。习近平总书记指出：“我们决不可抛弃中华民族的优秀文化传统，恰恰相反，我们要很好传承和弘扬，因为这是我们民族的‘根’和‘魂’，丢了这个‘根’和‘魂’，就没有根基了。”一个国家、一个民族要向上生长、向前发展，没有根基不行，根基不牢也不行。特别是在具有五千年文明传承的中国，深厚文明根基和文化滋养是今天我们发展中国特色社会主义事业不可或缺的重要资源。《习近平文化文选》第一卷中，习近平总书记强调对传统文化“不能采取全盘接受或者全盘抛弃的绝对主义态度”。“第二个结合”在思想上明确了对待中华传统文化的态度和方法，就是取其精华、去其糟粕，把中华传统文化中的优秀内容传承好吸收好利用好，真正同马克思主义基本原理紧密结合起来。这就廓清了历史虚无主义和文化虚无主义的错误认知，开辟了马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化新的发展空间，推动马克思主义中国化时代化迈上新台阶，为坚定文化自信、巩固文化主体性提供了根本指引与强大支撑。

China's excellent traditional culture endows theoretical and institutional innovation with profound cultural support. In Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Theoretical self-awareness and cultural confidence are the strength of a nation's progress; advanced values and ideological emancipation are the source of a society's vitality." Since the beginning of the New Era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has, along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, achieved a series of new major breakthroughs in theoretical innovation and institutional innovation, established Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and continuously developed and improved it in practice, and formed numerous institutional achievements with effective operation and complete elements in the coordinated advancement of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy. In Volume I of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "When we say we must strengthen confidence in the path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, ultimately we must strengthen cultural confidence. Cultural confidence is a more basic, deeper, and more enduring force." In the great journey of advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we have, through creative transformation and innovative development, integrated the value concepts and governance wisdom in China's excellent traditional culture that meet the requirements of the times into theoretical and institutional innovation, making them conform to the basic principles of Marxism while endowing them with distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics. For example, integrating "the people as the foundation of the state" into the people-centered development thought and the system of whole-process people's democracy; integrating "the combined governance of rites and law" into the practice of law-based governance; integrating "the unity of heaven and humanity" into the construction of ecological civilization; integrating "the Great Harmony under Heaven" and "harmony among all nations" into the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind; and so on. It is precisely because of the powerful guidance of the "Second Integration" at the ideological and practical levels that our theoretical and institutional innovation has gained a broader cultural space, and China's excellent traditional culture has also gained practical carriers in theory and institutions. The two complement each other, jointly providing more solid support for continuously opening up new horizons of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times and realizing Chinese-path modernization.

中华优秀传统文化赋予理论和制度创新深厚的文化支撑。《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记指出：“理论自觉、文化自信，是一个民族进步的力量；价值先进、思想解放，是一个社会活力的来源。”新时代以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央沿着中国特色社会主义道路，在理论创新、制度创新上取得一系列新的重大突破，创立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想并在实践中不断发展完善，在统筹推进“五位一体”总体布局、协调推进“四个全面”战略布局中形成诸多运转有效、要素完备的制度化成果。《习近平文化文选》第一卷中，习近平总书记强调：“我们说要坚定中国特色社会主义道路自信、理论自信、制度自信，说到底是要坚定文化自信。文化自信是更基本、更深沉、更持久的力量。”在推进中国特色社会主义事业的伟大征程中，我们通过创造性转化、创新性发展，将中华优秀传统文化中契合时代要求的价值理念、治理智慧融入理论与制度创新，既使其符合马克思主义基本原理，又赋予其鲜明的中华文化特色。比如，将“民为邦本”融入以人民为中心的发展思想和全过程人民民主制度体系；将“礼法合治”融入全面依法治国实践；将“天人合一”融入生态文明建设；将“天下大同”“协和万邦”融入人类命运共同体理念；等等。正是有“第二个结合”在思想和实践层面的有力指引，我们的理论和制度创新拥有了更广阔的文化空间，中华优秀传统文化也有了理论和制度的实践载体，二者相辅相成，共同为不断开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界、实现中国式现代化提供更为坚实的支撑。

Promoting the further consolidation of cultural confidence and cultural subjectivity. The Chinese nation has a long history and splendid culture, but since modern times, Chinese civilization was once tarnished, and national confidence and cultural confidence once waned. Through the efforts of generations of Chinese Communists, national confidence and cultural confidence have been regained. Since the beginning of the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has unequivocally proposed strengthening cultural confidence, listing cultural confidence alongside confidence in the path, theory, and system as the "Four Confidences" of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and clarifying the foundational status of cultural confidence among them. To build a solid cultural confidence, the key lies in basing oneself on the five-thousand-year Chinese civilization, both firmly believing in Marxism and firmly identifying with China's excellent traditional culture. The "Second Integration" not only elevates China's excellent traditional culture to the "root vein" and "spiritual lifeline" of the Chinese nation, revealing the historical inevitability of China's path from the source of civilization, so that confidence in the path, theory, and system is rooted in cultural confidence, but also treats the deep integration and mutual achievement of Marxism and China's excellent traditional culture with an autonomous mindset, enabling Marxism to radiate vigorous vitality in China. At the same time, the "Second Integration" also consolidates the cultural foundation of China's path, enabling Marxism to take root in China's five-thousand-year civilization, consolidating the civilizational foundation of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and laying the internal conditions for achieving spiritual independence and autonomy. This provides strong support for us to create a good ideological and cultural environment and consolidate cultural subjectivity.

推动文化自信和文化主体性更加巩固。中华民族有着悠久的历史和灿烂的文化，但近代以来，中华文明一度蒙尘，民族自信和文化自信一度消沉。在一代代中国共产党人的努力下，民族自信、文化自信得以重拾。新时代以来，习近平总书记旗帜鲜明提出坚定文化自信，把文化自信同道路自信、理论自信、制度自信并列为中国特色社会主义“四个自信”，明确文化自信在其中的基础性地位。筑牢文化自信，关键在立足五千年中华文明，既坚定对马克思主义的信仰，又坚定对中华优秀传统文化的认同。“第二个结合”既把中华优秀传统文化提升为中华民族的“根脉”和“精神命脉”，从文明根源上揭示了中国道路的历史必然性，使道路自信、理论自信、制度自信根植于文化自信之中，又以自主心态看待马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的深层融合和相互成就，使马克思主义在中国焕发旺盛生命力。同时，“第二个结合”还筑牢了中国道路的文化根基，使马克思主义扎根中华五千年文明，夯实了中国特色社会主义文化的文明基底，为实现精神上的独立自主奠定内在条件。这为我们营造良好思想文化环境、坚定文化主体性提供了有力支撑。

As another ideological emancipation, the "Second Integration" fundamentally breaks the outdated framework that constrains cultural development, allowing culture to deeply integrate into national governance, social life, and individual development, simultaneously expanding the physical space and spiritual creative space for cultural existence and development, injecting a continuous endogenous driving force into cultural development, systematically consolidating cultural confidence, and laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.

“第二个结合”作为又一次思想解放，从根本上打破了束缚文化发展的陈旧框架，让文化深度融入国家治理、社会生活、个人发展，同步拓展了文化存在、发展的物理空间与精神创造空间，为文化发展注入了源源不断的内生动力，系统性巩固文化自信，为繁荣新时代中国特色社会主义文化奠定了坚实基础。

In creative transformation and innovative development, breaking the "dispute between the ancient and the modern," giving birth to an organically unified new cultural life form

在创造性转化、创新性发展中破除“古今之争”，造就了一个有机统一的新的文化生命体

In Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "'Integration' is not a 'platter,' not a simple 'physical reaction,' but a profound 'chemical reaction,' giving birth to an organically unified new cultural life form." The new cultural life form is a brand-new achievement after the profound "chemical reaction" between the soul vein of Marxism and the root vein of China's excellent traditional culture, marking the complete transcendence of the "dispute between the ancient and the modern" that has troubled China for a hundred years since modern times and its dualistic way of thinking. In the process of China's excellent traditional culture realizing its renewal from tradition to modernity, it has truly gained a firm cultural self in the cultural sense, cultural subjectivity has been comprehensively established, and an organically unified new cultural life form has acquired a more stable and distinct spiritual core.

《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记指出：“‘结合’不是‘拼盘’，不是简单的‘物理反应’，而是深刻的‘化学反应’，造就了一个有机统一的新的文化生命体。”新的文化生命体是马克思主义魂脉与中华优秀传统文化根脉发生深刻“化学反应”后的崭新成果，标志着近代以来困扰中国百年的“古今之争”及其二元对立的思维方式被彻底超越。中华优秀传统文化在实现从传统向现代的更新进程中，真正拥有了文化意义上的坚定自我，文化主体性得以全面确立，一个有机统一的新的文化生命体具有了更加稳固、鲜明的精神内核。

Dispelling the "ancient-modern debate" and establishing the principle of cultural innovation. For a long time, on the question of inheriting and developing traditional Chinese culture, there have been cognitive differences along dimensions such as tradition versus modernity and the native versus the foreign. The proposal of the "Second Integration" further clarifies the important mission of forging a new cultural life-form, connecting ancient and modern, bridging internal and external, and, with a broad civilizational vision and far-reaching historical thinking, unifies ideological understanding, bridges cognitive differences, and dispels ideological misconceptions. On the one hand, the proposal of the new cultural life-form firmly safeguards the root of Chinese civilization, refusing to simply dismiss China's five-thousand-year civilization as a "burden of modernization" and negate it; on the other hand, it consistently treats traditional culture with the scientific attitude of taking the essence and discarding the dross, promoting the active integration of the ancient civilization into the modern context, thereby transcending the limitations of cultural conservatism and revivalism. This path of cultural innovation breaks through the intellectual impasse of "ancient and modern as either/or," establishes the brand-new principle of cultural innovation of "upholding the orthodox without being antiquated, respecting antiquity without reverting to it," and marks the Chinese nation's arrival at a new height on the spiritual level. It not only provides powerful spiritual impetus and cultural support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, but also contributes uniquely Chinese experience to the pluralistic development of world civilization.

破除“古今之争”，确立文化创新原则。长期以来，对于中华传统文化的传承发展问题，存在传统与现代、本土与外来等维度的认知差异。“第二个结合”的提出，进一步明确造就新的文化生命体的重要使命，贯通古今、打通内外，以宏阔的文明视野、深远的历史思维，统一了思想认识，弥合了认知差异，破除了思想误区。新的文化生命体的提出，一方面牢牢守护了中华文明的根脉，拒绝将中华五千年文明简单视为“现代化的包袱”而加以否定；另一方面，始终以取其精华、去其糟粕的科学态度对待传统文化，推动古老文明主动融入现代语境，超越了文化保守主义与复古主义的局限。这一文化创新路径突破了“古今非此即彼”的思想困局，确立了“守正不守旧、尊古不复古”的崭新文化创新原则，标志着中华民族在精神层面抵达新的高度，既为中华民族伟大复兴提供了强大的精神动力与文化支撑，也为世界文明的多元发展贡献了独具特色的中国经验。

Providing profound civilizational root support for the new cultural life-form. In the second volume of *Selected Cultural Works of Xi Jinping*, General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "Without China's five-thousand-year civilization, where would Chinese characteristics come from? Without Chinese characteristics, how could there be the successful path of socialism with Chinese characteristics that we follow today?" [n] Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture are not cultural entities existing independently of each other, but rather are mutually interpenetrating and deeply integrated, generating a wholly new organic cultural whole in which each is present within the other. Through creative transformation and innovative development, the philosophical thought, humanistic spirit, and moral concepts contained in fine traditional Chinese culture are distilled into vibrant cultural elements, endowed with new connotations of the times, and integrated into modern practice, coordinating with the value concepts and institutional arrangements of contemporary society, so that the ancient civilization radiates new vitality in modern society and truly realizes making "fine traditional Chinese culture become modern." At the same time, through the localization of the discourse system, the civilizational expansion of theoretical connotations, and the deep integration of the cultural bloodline, fine traditional Chinese culture infuses Marxism with rich historical and cultural nourishment, enabling it to take root thoroughly in the soil of Chinese civilization, possessing a distinct Chinese style, Chinese manner, and profound civilizational foundation, and truly realizing making "Marxism become Chinese." The new cultural life-form formed through the "Second Integration" upholds both the soul of Marxism and the root of fine traditional Chinese culture, becoming the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization. Contemporary Chinese practice shows that modernization need not come at the cost of severing one's own cultural tradition, nor is tradition necessarily an obstacle to modernization; it is entirely possible, through the organic integration of tradition and modernity, to construct a new cultural form that both meets the requirements of modernity and maintains its own cultural subjectivity.

为新的文化生命体提供深厚的文明根脉支撑。《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记指出：“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？”马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化不是彼此独立存在的文化实体，而是彼此贯通、深度融通，生成一个你中有我、我中有你的全新有机文化整体。通过创造性转化、创新性发展，中华优秀传统文化中蕴含的哲学思想、人文精神、道德理念被萃取为富有生命力的文化因子，拥有新的时代内涵，并融入现代实践，与当代社会的价值理念和制度安排相协调，令古老文明在现代社会焕发新的生机，真正实现了让“中华优秀传统文化成为现代的”。与此同时，中华优秀传统文化通过话语体系的本土化改造、理论内涵的文明拓展、文化血脉的深度融入，为马克思主义注入丰厚的历史文化滋养，使其彻底扎根于中华文明沃土，拥有鲜明的中国风格、中国气派和深厚的文明根基，真正实现了让“马克思主义成为中国的”。经由“第二个结合”形成的新的文化生命体，既坚守马克思主义魂脉，又坚守中华优秀传统文化根脉，成为中国式现代化的文化形态。当代中国的实践表明，现代化不一定要以割断自身文化传统为代价，传统也不必然是现代化的阻碍，完全可以通过传统与现代的有机融合，建构出既符合现代性要求又保持自身文化主体性的新的文化形态。

The "Second Integration" regards tradition as the root of modern culture and modernity as the new birth of traditional culture. This scientific view of ancient and modern constructs, at both the theoretical and practical levels, a brand-new framework for the relationship between ancient and modern, establishing for the development of Chinese culture a subjectivity based on its own civilizational tradition. The new cultural life-form completes the epochal leap of Chinese civilization as "an old state taking on a new mission," [n] providing a deep and intrinsic cultural support for national rejuvenation.

“第二个结合”将传统看作现代文化的根脉，将现代看作传统文化的新生。这种科学的古今观在理论和实践层面构建了古今关系的全新框架，为中华文化发展确立了基于自身文明传统的主体性。新的文化生命体完成中华文明“旧邦新命”的时代跃升，为民族复兴提供深沉内在的文化依托。

Breaking the "China-West debate" through upholding the orthodox and innovating while integrating China and abroad, and holding fast to the Chinese cultural stance amid the clash of civilizations

以融通中外的守正创新破除“中西之争”，在文明激荡中坚守了中华文化立场

In the first volume of *Selected Cultural Works of Xi Jinping*, General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "With regard to our traditional culture and foreign things, we should make the past serve the present and foreign things serve China, discard the dross and select the essential, eliminate the false and retain the true, and, after scientific sublation, make them serve our purposes." The "Second Integration" insists on taking ourselves as the principal and making things serve our use, resolving the "China-West debate" through upholding the orthodox and innovating while integrating China and abroad. It both holds fast to the Chinese cultural stance and absorbs the outstanding achievements of global civilization, thoroughly transcending the binary opposition between "wholesale Westernization" and "closed-door exclusionism," and forming a civilizational form that possesses both native roots and a world vision.

《习近平文化文选》第一卷中，习近平总书记指出：“对我国传统文化，对国外的东西，要坚持古为今用、洋为中用，去粗取精、去伪存真，经过科学的扬弃后使之为我所用。”“第二个结合”坚持以我为主、为我所用，在融通中外的守正创新中破解“中西之争”，既坚守中华文化立场，又吸纳全球优秀文明成果，彻底超越了“全盘西化”与“封闭排外”的二元对立，形成兼具本土根脉与世界视野的文明形态。

Firmly grasping the initiative in ideology and culture. In the first volume of *Selected Cultural Works of Xi Jinping*, General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "The mutual agitation of various ideological and cultural currents and the more frequent exchange, integration, and confrontation among different civilizations further highlight the strategic position of ideological and cultural strength in competition over comprehensive national power." This important exposition makes clear the urgency and importance of grasping the initiative in ideology and culture. From the "Second Integration," one can deeply feel that our Party has already firmly grasped the initiative in ideology and culture. This initiative can be grasped from both the historical and the practical levels. Viewed along the historical thread, since modern times, the nation endured humiliation, the people suffered, and civilization was cast into dust; the Chinese nation once lacked confidence in cultural matters and lost itself. In dealing with the question of "China" and "the West," it often fell into binary opposition: some blindly excluded things foreign, causing cultural development to lose the vitality of modern transformation; others cast aside their own foundations and willingly became appendages of Western civilization. The "China-West debate" is in essence a protracted controversy, triggered by the impact of Western civilization on modern China, over the relationship between "the native and the foreign" and "the self and the other." The "Second Integration" allows Marxism to take deep root in the soil of Chinese culture, uses the power of truth to activate Chinese civilization, enables us to achieve spiritual independence and self-mastery, and gives the Chinese nation and the Chinese people a firm self in the cultural sense, with cultural confidence finding its fundamental support. With this subjectivity, we firmly grasp the initiative in ideology and culture, neither belittling ourselves before Western civilization nor closing ourselves off conservatively before traditional culture, truly achieving "taking ourselves as the principal and making things serve our use," and independently absorbing all the outstanding achievements of human civilization. Viewed in terms of practical significance, the intensity of competition among countries in ideology, values, and other areas has not diminished in the slightest; on the contrary, it continues to extend into finer and deeper domains. Therefore, firmly grasping the initiative in ideology and culture bears on social harmony and stability and on the long-term peace and security of the state. The "Second Integration" emphasizes combining the fundamental tenets of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture, which both clarifies the scientific guidance of Marxist truth and promotes the common values of all humanity, and enables all Chinese people to draw richer spiritual nourishment from fine traditional Chinese culture and traditional wisdom, so that in confronting the complex and volatile situation in the ideological sphere, we uphold a firm stance and basic value judgments, achieving "I stand unshaken as a mountain." [n]

牢牢掌握思想文化主动权。《习近平文化文选》第一卷中，习近平总书记指出：“各种思想文化相互激荡，不同文明交流交融交锋更加频繁，进一步凸显了思想文化力量在综合国力竞争中的战略地位。”这一重要论述，点明了掌握思想文化主动权的紧迫性和重要性。从“第二个结合”可以深刻感受到，我们党已经牢牢掌握了思想文化主动权。这一主动权可从历史和现实两个层面把握。从历史脉络上看，近代以来，国家蒙辱、人民蒙难、文明蒙尘，中华民族曾一度在文化问题上缺乏自信、迷失自我。在对待“中”和“西”的问题上，时常陷入二元对立：有的盲目排外、让文化发展丧失了现代转型的活力，有的抛却自身根本、甘愿沦为西方文明的附庸。“中西之争”本质上是近代中国在西方文明冲击下，围绕“本土与外来”“自我与他者”关系展开的持久论争。“第二个结合”让马克思主义深深植根于中华文化沃土，用真理的力量激活中华文明，使我们实现精神上的独立自主，让中华民族和中国人民拥有了文化意义上的坚定自我，文化自信有了根本依托。有了这一主体性，我们牢牢掌握思想文化主动权，既不在西方文明面前自我矮化，也不在传统文化面前封闭保守，真正做到“以我为主、为我所用”，独立自主地吸收人类一切优秀文明成果。从现实意义上看，当前各国在意识形态、价值观念等方面竞争的激烈程度没有丝毫降低，反而不断向细微、深入之处延伸。因此，牢牢掌握思想文化上的主动权，关系社会和谐稳定和国家长治久安。“第二个结合”强调把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化相结合，既明确了马克思主义真理的科学指引，弘扬全人类共同价值，又让全体中华儿女更深入地从中华优秀传统文化和传统智慧当中汲取丰富的精神营养，使我们在面对意识形态领域纷繁复杂局面时，秉持坚定立场和基本价值判断，做到“我自岿然不动”。

It powerfully promotes mutual learning and exchange among human civilizations. In Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Openness and inclusiveness are the driving force behind the development of civilizations.” “Diversity of civilizations is the natural character of the world. History shows us that the flourishing of civilizations and the progress of humanity cannot be separated from the exchange and mutual learning among civilizations.” Viewed from the perspective of advancing the development of human civilization, the “Second Integration” provides countries around the world with a new values framework and methodology for handling the relationship between their own culture and foreign cultures. In dealing with one’s own culture, the “Second Integration” makes clear that one must take root in one’s own national culture, and only by establishing firm cultural confidence and building a core within ideological and cultural life can one preserve oneself amid civilizational exchange and mutual learning and truly achieve openness and inclusiveness. In dealing with the cultures of other countries, the “Second Integration” inherits the ancient wisdom of Chinese civilization, including “the unity of Heaven and humanity,” “harmonious coexistence,” and “holding the two extremes and employing the mean,” replacing the confrontational logic of a clash of civilizations with a mode of thinking based on harmony in diversity and seeking common ground while reserving differences. It makes clear the principle of neither blindly following foreign cultures nor walling oneself off in exclusivism, advocates absorbing with an open mind all the outstanding achievements of human civilization, and at the same time resolutely guards the cultural roots of one’s own nation. In practice, General Secretary Xi Jinping upholds openness and inclusiveness, maintains a global vision, pays attention to the future and destiny of humanity with a world perspective, correctly understands and handles the relationship between China and the world with a grand view of history, promotes the common values of all humanity, and advances the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. With great wisdom he has resolved the “dispute between China and the West,” forcefully refuted the theory of a clash of civilizations, and contributed Chinese wisdom and Chinese strength to the development and progress of human civilization.

有力推动人类文明交流互鉴。《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记指出：“开放包容是文明发展的动力源泉。”“多样文明是世界的本色。历史昭示我们，文明的繁盛、人类的进步，都离不开文明的交流互鉴。”从推动人类文明发展的角度来看，“第二个结合”为世界各国处理本国文化与外来文化的关系提供了新的价值观和方法论。在对待本国文化上，“第二个结合”明确必须植根本国文化，通过树立坚定的文化自信，建立思想文化上的内核，才能在文明交流互鉴中保持自我，真正做到开放包容。在对待他国文化上，“第二个结合”继承了中华文明“天人合一”“和合共生”“执两用中”的古老智慧，用和而不同、求同存异的思维方式取代了文明冲突的对抗逻辑，明确了既不盲从外来文化、也不搞封闭排外的原则，提倡以开阔胸怀吸收人类一切优秀文明成果，同时坚决守住自身文化根脉。在实践中，习近平总书记秉持开放包容，坚持胸怀天下，以世界眼光关注人类前途命运，以大历史观正确认识和处理中国同世界的关系，弘扬全人类共同价值，推动构建人类命运共同体，极具智慧地破解了“中西之争”，有力批驳了文明冲突论，为推动人类文明发展进步贡献中国智慧和中国力量。

The “Second Integration” breaks free from viewing “China” and “the West” as an opposition between superiority and inferiority, or between advanced and backward. In acknowledging differences and discovering points of convergence, it promotes the deep fusion of the wisdom of the two civilizations. By dismantling the binary opposition between China and the West and holding fast to the stance of Chinese culture amid the surging currents of civilizations, the “Second Integration” not only lays the foundation for prospering the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, but also provides the cultural foundation and Chinese wisdom for constructing a new form of human civilization that combines national character with a global vision. This is an important contribution to the development of human civilization.

“第二个结合”摆脱了将“中”与“西”视为优与劣、先进与落后的对立关系，在承认差异、发现契合中，推动两种文明智慧深度融合。破除中西二元对立之争，在文明激荡中坚守中华文化立场，“第二个结合”不仅为繁荣新时代中国特色社会主义文化奠定了基础，也为构建兼具民族特色和世界视野的人类文明新形态提供了文化根基与中国智慧，是对人类文明发展的重要贡献。

Dispelling the myth that “modernization equals Westernization,” and providing a profound cultural foundation and spiritual driving force for creating a new form of human civilization

破除“现代化=西方化”的迷思，为创造人类文明新形态提供深厚的文化根基与精神动力

In Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly points out that the “Second Integration” “enables the new culture formed through the ‘integration’ to become the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization,” and emphasizes that “Chinese-path modernization is deeply rooted in China’s excellent traditional culture, embodies the advanced nature of scientific socialism, draws on and absorbs all the outstanding achievements of human civilization, represents the direction of progress of human civilization, presents a new picture different from the Western model of modernization, and is a completely new form of human civilization.” These important statements mark a new height in our Party’s understanding of the laws governing the building of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and fully embody our Party’s practical initiative and civilizational self-awareness in creating a new form of human civilization. Chinese-path modernization, through distillation and elevation at the level of ideas and concepts, has formed a cultural form with its own distinctive features, breaking the myth that “modernization equals Westernization.” This not only provides profound cultural support for Chinese-path modernization, but also offers a completely new cultural model for late-developing countries to independently explore their own paths to modernization on the premise of preserving their own civilizational roots.

《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记深刻指出“第二个结合”“让经由‘结合’而形成的新文化成为中国式现代化的文化形态”，强调“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”。这些重要论述标志着我们党对中国特色社会主义文化建设规律的认识达到了新高度，充分体现了我们党开创人类文明新形态的实践主动与文明自觉。中国式现代化在思想观念层面凝练升华，形成了具有自身鲜明特色的文化形态，打破了“现代化=西方化”的迷思。这不仅为中国式现代化提供了深厚的文化支撑，也为后发国家在保持自身文明根脉的前提下自主探索现代化道路提供了全新的文化样本。

Forming the distinctive cultural identity of Chinese-path modernization. In Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping states: “World civilizations are diverse. In the world there is neither a single modernization model to be universally followed, nor a modernization standard applicable to all.” For a long time, the West, relying on its first-mover advantages, has monopolized the discourse on modernization, packaging its own development path as a “universal standard,” and even putting forward the “end of history” thesis, declaring that only the capitalist system can achieve modernization and that the Western liberal democratic system is the ultimate form of human civilization. In fact, Western modernization has been dominated by the logic of capital from beginning to end, and contains inherent defects that cannot be resolved. In the course of industrialization, internal polarization between rich and poor and external plunder and expansion, along with the unbridled exploitation of nature and disregard for spiritual values in the process of development, have already triggered a series of global problems, including enormous wealth gaps, worsening ecological crises, and frequent geopolitical conflicts. The predicament of the Western model itself has proven that capitalist modernization is not the end point of the development of human civilization, still less the optimal choice for human civilization. Against the background of continuous changes in the world economic and political situation and the mutual clash of various cultural currents of thought, “where is the world headed” has become a question of the times that humanity must confront together. The “Second Integration” endows Chinese-path modernization with a distinctive cultural identity different from the Western model, and also opens up new horizons for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the progress of human civilization. Through the “Second Integration,” we take the preservation of cultural subjectivity as the fundamental premise, avoid the two extreme tendencies of “wholesale Westernization” and “cultural restorationism,” firmly guard the roots of Chinese civilization, persist in developing the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, and continuously stimulate the creativity and innovative vitality of culture. We have thus achieved a historic leap of Chinese civilization from “the humiliation of civilization” to “the renewal of civilization,” setting a new model for developing countries to move toward modernization independently and autonomously, and greatly enriching the garden of world civilizations.

形成中国式现代化的独特文化标识。《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记提出：“世界文明是多样的，世界上既不存在定于一尊的现代化模式，也不存在放之四海而皆准的现代化标准。”长期以来，西方凭借先发优势垄断了现代化话语权，将自身发展路径包装为“普世标准”，甚至提出“历史终结论”，宣称只有资本主义制度才能实现现代化，认为西方自由民主制度是人类文明的终极形态。事实上，西方现代化从始至终被资本逻辑主导，内在包含无法化解的固有缺陷，工业化进程中内部的贫富分化、对外的掠夺扩张，发展过程中对自然的无度攫取、对精神价值的漠视，已经引发了贫富差距巨大、生态危机加剧、地缘冲突频发等一系列全球性问题。西方模式自身的困境已经证明，资本主义现代化并不是人类文明发展的终点，更不是人类文明的最优选择。在世界经济政治形势持续变化、各种文化思潮相互激荡的背景下，“世界向何处去”已成为人类必须共同面对的时代之问。“第二个结合”赋予中国式现代化区别于西方模式的独特文化标识，也为中华民族伟大复兴和人类文明进步开辟了新境界。经由“第二个结合”，我们以坚守文化主体性为根本前提，避免“全盘西化”和“文化复古”两种极端倾向，牢牢守住中华文明根脉，坚持发展新时代中国特色社会主义文化，持续激发文化创新创造活力，实现了中华文明从“文明蒙尘”到“文明更新”的历史性跨越，为广大发展中国家独立自主迈向现代化树立了崭新典范，极大丰富了世界文明百花园。

Manifesting the civilizational significance of socialist cultural development. In Volume II of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: “Chinese-path modernization endows Chinese civilization with modern strength, and Chinese civilization endows Chinese-path modernization with profound substance.” In the great process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, we have successfully constructed a new cultural form, manifesting the civilizational significance of socialist cultural development as oriented toward modernization, toward the world, and toward the future. It is a modernization that continues the legacy of an ancient civilization, a modernization that has grown out of the soil of China, embodying the distinctive characteristics of Chinese civilization: continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peace. It is the result of civilizational renewal, not the product of civilizational rupture. We uphold a civilizational outlook of openness and inclusiveness, advocate that different civilizations prosper together through exchange and mutual learning, promote the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom—and put forward the Global Civilization Initiative, advocating that “each civilization is beautiful in its own way, and together they make the world a beautiful place.” The historical practice of Chinese-path modernization has completely shattered the myth that “modernization equals Westernization,” expanded the paths for developing countries to achieve modernization, and contributed Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to solving the common problems facing humanity.

彰显社会主义文化建设的文明意蕴。《习近平文化文选》第二卷中，习近平总书记强调：“中国式现代化赋予中华文明以现代力量，中华文明赋予中国式现代化以深厚底蕴。”在推进中国式现代化伟大进程中，我们成功构建起新的文化形态，彰显了社会主义文化建设面向现代化、面向世界、面向未来的文明意蕴。它是赓续古老文明的现代化，是从中华大地生长出来的现代化，体现了中华文明连续性、创新性、统一性、包容性、和平性的突出特性，是文明更新的结果，而非文明断裂的产物。我们秉持开放包容的文明观，主张不同文明在交流互鉴中共同繁荣，弘扬和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值，提出全球文明倡议，倡导“各美其美，美美与共”。中国式现代化的历史实践彻底打破了“现代化=西方化”的迷思，拓展了发展中国家走向现代化的路径，为解决人类共同面临的问题贡献了中国智慧与中国方案。

The “Second Integration” dispels the myth that “modernization equals Westernization.” It not only manifests the developmental potential of non-Western civilizations and consolidates the cultural foundation for the plural coexistence and symbiotic development of human civilizations, but also, from the holistic perspective of humanity and the world, promotes the common values of all humanity, injecting into the generation of a new form of human civilization a spiritual driving force that transcends capitalist civilization. This constitutes a contribution of profound historical significance to the progress of human civilization.

“第二个结合”破除“现代化＝西方化”的迷思，不仅彰显了非西方文明的发展潜能，夯实了人类文明多元并存与共生发展的文化根基，而且立足人类与世界的整体性视野，弘扬全人类共同价值，为人类文明新形态的生成注入了超越资本主义文明的精神动力，对人类文明进步作出了具有深远历史意义的贡献。

(The author is a researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era of the Central Party School (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研究员）