Absorbing Nourishment from Thought, Innovating Theoretical Discourse

The theory of world history is a great intellectual achievement of the founders of Marxism in the process of studying historical materialism, providing a scientific prediction and truthful analysis of the laws of development of human society and the course of world history. In today’s world, the degree of economic globalization is unprecedented, while at the same time the problems and challenges commonly faced by human society are exceptionally severe. Faced with worldwide difficulties, the Chinese Communists, taking Marx’s theory of world history as their ideological foundation and theoretical source, have promptly offered the Chinese wisdom and Chinese solution of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Rooted in a new world-historical coordinate, and through continuous innovation in the process of inheriting Marx’s theory of world history, the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind will surely propel world history into a new stage of peace, order, and equality.

世界历史理论是马克思主义创始人在研究唯物史观的过程中的伟大思想成果，对人类社会发展规律及世界历史发展进程做出了科学预测和真理性分析。当今世界，经济全球化程度前所未有，与此同时人类社会共同面临的问题和挑战也异常严峻，面对世界性难题，中国共产党人以马克思世界历史理论为思想之基和理论之源，及时给出构建人类命运共同体的中国智慧和中国方案。立足于新的世界历史坐标，在继承马克思世界历史理论的过程中不断开拓创新，人类命运共同体的构建必将推进世界历史迈向和平、有序、平等的新阶段。

The Theory of World History Provides a Scientific Theoretical Prediction

世界历史理论给出科学理论预测

In the theory of world history, Marx observes history from a global perspective and treats world history as a whole, with nation-states mutually dependent on and influencing one another. In *The Bourgeoisie and the Counter-Revolution*, Marx notes that the occurrence of the bourgeois revolutions in England and France was, in a certain sense, a demand of the entire world at that time, not merely a need of those individual countries. This also illustrates that the linkage among nation-states had already begun to exhibit worldwide characteristics. He further points out that when the contradictory movement of productive forces extends beyond regional boundaries and begins to operate globally, only then can a holistic world history take shape. Humanity’s understanding of the world has evolved from being regional, national, isolated, parallel, and closed to forming a contradictory unity of mutual interdependence, mutual influence, and mutual restraint.

在世界历史理论中，马克思用全球视野来观察历史，并将世界历史视为整体，各民族国家相互依赖并影响彼此。在《资产阶级和反革命》中，马克思提到英法资产阶级革命的发生，在某种意义上是当时整个世界的诉求，而不单是本国的需求，这也说明了各民族国家之间的联动已开始呈现出世界性的特征。他还进一步指出，当生产力的矛盾运动超出地域范围，便会在全球发生作用，这时才能形成整体的世界历史。人类对世界的认识由区域、民族、国家，孤立、平行、封闭到形成相互依存、相互影响和彼此制约的矛盾统一体。

Today, when we look back at the developmental process of human history, we tend to regard it as self-evident, an objective reality requiring no proof. Yet the founders of Marxism had already given a scientific prediction in their own era: “The old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency have been replaced by an all-round interdependence among nations in every sphere. This holds true for material production, and it holds true for intellectual production as well. The intellectual products of individual nations become common property. National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become increasingly impossible, and from the many national and local literatures, a world literature emerges.” [1]1 This quotation is from Marx and Engels, *The Communist Manifesto* (1848), where “literature” (German *Literatur*) is used in the broad sense of written works, including science, art, philosophy, etc. Thus, the world increasingly becomes an organically interconnected whole; not only material production but also intellectual production becomes global. Here, we are pleasantly surprised to see that Marx’s vivid description reads as if it were recording today’s reality. The formation of “world history” makes social development a global activity; all progress in human society is achieved through worldwide competition and interaction. It is precisely by adopting Marx’s global perspective to view the world that we more clearly recognize that all countries have become a community of shared destiny, with unprecedented depth of interdependence—a situation where no country can stand aloof when facing risks and challenges.

今天在我们回望人类历史走过的发展进程时，会认为其理所当然，是不证自明的客观现实。但马克思主义创始人却在他们所在的时代早已给出了科学的预测，“过去那种地方的和民族的自给自足和闭关自守状态，被各民族的各方面的互相往来和各方面的互相依赖所代替了。物质的生产是如此，精神的生产也是如此。各民族的精神产品成了公共的财产。民族的片面性和局限性日益成为不可能，于是由许多种民族的和地方的文学形成了一种世界的文学”。由此，世界越来越成为一个有机联系的整体，不仅物质的生产成为世界性的，精神的生产也是如此。在这里，我们惊喜地看到，马克思的精彩描述，就像记录今天的现实情况一样。“世界历史”的形成使得社会发展已经成为全球性活动，人类社会的一切进步都是在世界竞争和交往中实现的。正是以马克思的全球性视野放眼世界，我们更清楚认识到，世界各国已经成为你中有我、我中有你，相互依存程度空前加深的命运共同体，面对风险挑战时再没有任何国家能够独善其身。

From the perspective of its object of study, Marx’s early research on world history also took European countries as its main object, but Marx’s way of observing the world was always global in scope, with its ultimate focus on all human society. Hence, he maintained a critical stance toward Hegel’s “Eurocentrism.” [2]2 Hegel’s philosophy of history posited that world history moves from East to West, culminating in the Germanic world, a view often characterized as Eurocentric. Marx criticized this teleological and ethnocentric framework. Especially when Marx turned his research attention to the study and exploration of the Eastern world, the choice of a multilinear path under different national conditions inherently became a necessary step in transcending “Eurocentrism.” Marx believed that Eastern societies could follow a path of social development different from that of Western capitalist countries. To this day, China has successfully explored a path of development with Chinese characteristics that suits its own national conditions, offering a choice of path and model different from the West to the vast number of countries in the world that aspire to escape poverty and pursue development. It inherits and develops Marxism’s critical spirit toward “Eurocentrism,” breaks through the theoretical domain of “Western-centrism,” strives to promote the process of multipolarization in the world, seeks to build a new type of international relations, and thereby advances the equal, fair, and shared development of all humanity.

从研究对象看，马克思世界历史的早期研究也是以欧洲国家为主要研究对象，但马克思观察世界视角始终是放眼全球，落脚于整个人类社会，因而对黑格尔的“欧洲中心论”持批判态度。尤其是当马克思把研究的关注点放到了对东方世界的研究与探索时，不同国情下的多线论道路选择则内在地成为超越“欧洲中心主义”的题中之义。马克思认为东方社会可以走与西方资本主义国家不同的社会发展道路。时至今日，中国成功探索出符合本国国情的中国特色社会主义发展道路，为世界广大渴望摆脱贫困谋求发展的国家提供了不同于西方的道路和模式选择，发展继承马克思主义对“欧洲中心主义”的批判精神，并打破“西方中心主义”理论论域，努力推动世界多极化进程，力求打造新型国家关系，进而推动全人类的平等、公平、共享发展。

Examining the Contemporary Coordinates of World-Historical Development

审视世界历史发展的当代坐标

According to Marx’s view on the driving forces of world history, productive forces and universal intercourse are the fundamental forces propelling world history forward. The foundation of capitalist world history is industrial capacity dominated by the logic of capital; therefore, the Industrial Revolution becomes one of the most important perspectives for understanding the course of world history. The previous industrial revolutions brought human society into an era of unprecedented prosperity, but at the same time, they also caused enormous consumption of energy and resources, exacted a huge environmental and ecological cost, sharply widened the contradiction between humanity and nature, and thereby accelerated the arrival of the industrial “green revolution.” On the one hand, the level of social informatization has advanced by leaps and bounds, science and technology change with each passing day, and the accumulation of human wealth has reached an unprecedented level. On the other hand, the global wealth gap is becoming increasingly severe, regional conflicts continue, nationalism and populism are on the rise, and uncertain threats and challenges such as refugee crises, food crises, environmental crises, and health risks have risen sharply. The world is facing changes unseen in a century.

按照马克思世界历史发展动力的观点，生产力和普遍交往是推动世界历史向前发展的根本动力。资本主义世界历史的根基就是资本逻辑主导下的工业能力，因而，工业革命成为理解世界历史发展进程最重要的一个视角。前几次工业革命使得人类社会的发展进入了空前繁荣的阶段，与此同时，也造成了巨大的能源、资源消耗，付出了巨大的环境代价、生态成本，急剧地扩大了人与自然之间的矛盾，也因而加速了工业“绿色革命”的到来。一方面，社会信息化水平突飞猛进，科技水平日新月异，人类财富积累达到前所未有的程度；另一方面，全球性贫富差距日趋严重，地区冲突不断，民族主义、民粹主义抬头，难民危机、粮食危机、环境危机、健康威胁等不确定性威胁和挑战严重上升，世界正面临百年未有之大变局。

Specifically, after 2008, the trend of “deglobalization” has risen. “Deglobalization” is a self-sublation of Western-style globalization. In particular, it must be made clear that Western countries are not fundamentally engaged in “deglobalization” or a “complete reversal of globalization”; rather, this is a reflux of capital, taking as its starting point the one-sided construction of capitalist interests, taking as its foundation the reconstruction of the institutional system of Western global economic dominance, and taking as its main manifestation the retraction of nation-states and regional spaces. Through such actions, they seek to change the current multipolar-beneficiary situation of globalization and rebuild a “selective globalization” that benefits only the developed Western countries. World leadership no longer depends on wars among great powers, but on the capacity to provide public goods to the world.

具体看，2008年之后，“逆全球化”潮流抬头。“逆全球化”是西式全球化的自我扬弃，尤其需要明确的是，实质上西方国家并非根本性的“去全球化”或“全球化根本逆转”，而是以资本主义利益单向构建为出发点，以重构西方全球经济主宰制度体系为根本、以民族国家和区域空间回缩为主要表征的资本回流。以此行动来改变目前全球化多极受益的局面，重建仅对西方发达国家有利的“选择性全球化”。世界的领导权不再取决于大国间的战争，而是取决于为世界提供公共产品的能力。

A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind Is Moving from Concept to Reality

人类命运共同体在从理念变为现实

The development of world history is not merely material production and economic globalization; it also includes intellectual products and value identification. The value of the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind lies in the fact that we need to think, from the perspective of the common destiny of humanity, about the meaning and mission of how human society should develop. In the present era, we need to construct value concepts based on the common interests and destiny of humanity, promoting world peace and development, and realizing a value concept that truly contributes to the historical progress of human society. The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind points the way for humanity’s future development. It is a value concept that, on the basis of respecting the diversity and equality of world civilizations, emphasizes relying on the people of the world, serving the people of the world, and enabling the people of the world to share the fruits of development.

世界历史的发展不是单纯的物质生产活动和经济全球化，也包括精神产品和价值认同，人类命运共同体理念提出的价值就在于，我们需要从人类共同命运出发来思考人类社会如何发展的意义和使命。当今时代，我们需要建构基于人类共同利益和命运的，促进世界和平与发展，实现真正意义上助力人类社会历史发展进步的价值理念。而人类命运共同体理念的提出，为人类未来的发展指明了方向，它是在尊重世界文明多样性和平等性的基础之上，强调一切要依靠世界人民、一切为了世界人民、让世界人民共享发展成果的价值理念。

Marx’s theory of world history has already pointed out for us the beautiful blueprint and grand goal of the development of human society. However, due to the objective constraints of the era in which they lived, Marx and Engels did not specify when or in what way this ideal would be realized. Based on Marx’s theory of world history, building a community with a shared future for mankind will continue to explore and advance on the path toward further human development. The real world is complex and full of uncertainties; the development of world history faces many uncertain factors. In the challenge of moving toward a higher stage of world history, building a community with a shared future for mankind concretizes and puts into practice the long-term goals of human development, and, taking the Belt and Road Initiative as a starting point, contributes Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to humanity in the historical process of sharing a common destiny.

马克思世界历史理论已为我们指明了人类社会发展的美好蓝图和宏伟目标。但由于所处时代的客观因素制约，马克思恩格斯并未给出这一理想何时及以何种方式得以实现。基于马克思世界历史理论，构建人类命运共同体将在进一步实现人类发展的道路上继续探索前行。现实世界错综复杂，世界历史发展面临诸多不确定性因素，在走向世界历史更高阶段的挑战中，构建人类命运共同体把人类发展远景目标具体化、实践化，并且以“一带一路”倡议为抓手，为人类在命运与共的历史进程中贡献中国智慧、中国方案。

In the present era, no nation, ethnicity, or individual can completely detach themselves or remain unaffected. Building a community with a shared future for mankind should be grounded in the present, and we must accurately recognize the fact that the trend of economic globalization dominated by capitalism has not yet come to an end. The complex interweaving of the survival interests and developmental destinies of various countries and nations demands that we cannot continue to develop in the old ways of cognition; we need to transcend the shackles and constraints of capitalist civilization and move toward a higher level of coexistence and state of existence. Particular attention must be paid, at the level of a community where human destinies are shared, to the feasibility and practicality of development plans. This objectively requires that, in the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind, we maintain a calm and sober attitude, base ourselves on reality, creatively explore feasible solutions to global development challenges, actively guide humanity to move forward hand in hand, seek development through struggle in the face of risks and challenges, and seek coexistence through cooperation in the face of divergent interests.

当今时代任何民族、国家和个体都无法彻底剥离和独善其身。构建人类命运共同体应立足当下，要准确认知资本主义主导的经济全球化趋势还未终结的事实。各国各民族之间生存利益和发展命运交错复杂性态势要求我们，不能在以过去的认知方式发展，需要超越资本主义文明的桎梏和束缚，走向更高水平的共存现实和生存状态，尤其要注重在人类命运与共的共同体层面，考虑发展方案的可行性和实践性。这就客观上要求，在构建人类命运共同体的过程中，保持冷静、清醒的态度，立足于现实，创造性探寻应对全球发展难题的可行性方案，积极指引人类携手前行，在面对风险挑战中以斗争求发展，在面对利益分歧时以合作求共存。

In summary, a thorough understanding of the intrinsic relationship between Marx’s theory of world history and the thought of a community with a shared future for mankind bears on the direction of global governance and the common destiny of humanity, on the scientific guidance of the developmental trend of world history, and on the development of contemporary Marxism. History and facts tell us that a community with a shared future for mankind is a path for humanity to move from a “false community” toward a “true community.” [3]3 “False community” and “true community” are references to Marx and Engels’ distinction in *The German Ideology* between the illusory community of class society and the genuine community of communism.

总而言之，透彻了解马克思世界历史理论与人类命运共同体思想内在关系，事关全球治理与人类共同命运走向，事关对世界历史发展趋势的科学引领，事关当代马克思主义的发展。历史和事实告诉我们，人类命运共同体是人类由“虚幻共同体”走向“真正共同体”的一条路径。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗