The Worldview and Methodological Significance of Adhering to the Systems Concept

The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC points out: “We must adhere to the systems concept. All things are interconnected and interdependent. Only by observing things from the perspective of universal connection, comprehensive system, and development and change can we grasp the laws governing the development of things.” This important exposition fully demonstrates the worldview and methodological significance of adhering to the systems concept. How should we understand the systems concept and use it to guide the development of the Party’s and the state’s various undertakings? Studying the classic works of Marxism can provide us with rich intellectual inspiration.

党的二十大报告指出：“必须坚持系统观念。万事万物是相互联系、相互依存的。只有用普遍联系的、全面系统的、发展变化的观点观察事物，才能把握事物发展规律。”这一重要论述，充分表明了坚持系统观念所具有的世界观和方法论意义。如何理解系统观念并以其指引党和国家各项事业发展？研读马克思主义经典著作，能够为我们带来丰富思想启迪。

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Dialectical materialism holds that the material world is universally connected and constantly changing and developing. Every objective thing is interconnected and interacts with the surrounding things, as well as with its own parts and elements, thereby forming an organic and unified whole, namely, a system. From the inorganic world to the organic world to human society, whether it is particles, cells, families, or the universe, living organisms, or states, they can all be called systems. Correspondingly, the systems concept is first and foremost a basic view of things existing, changing, and developing as systems, although it has different expressions in different eras and cultures.

唯物辩证法认为，物质世界是普遍联系和变化发展的。每个客观事物同周围其他事物及其自身各部分与要素之间，均是相互联系、彼此作用的，从而构成了一个有机统一的整体，即系统。从无机界、有机界到人类社会，不论是粒子、细胞、家庭，还是宇宙、生物、国家，都可以称之为系统。与此相适应，系统观念首先是关于事物作为系统而存在、变化、发展的基本观点，尽管它在不同的时代与文化中有着不同的表述。

As early as when he founded dialectical materialism, Marx explicitly put forward the term “organic system (organism)” and elaborated in detail on the relationship between system and elements, the wholeness and structure of the system, and the organization and evolution of the system itself. Marx said: “This organic system itself as a totality has its own presuppositions, and its development towards totality consists precisely in subordinating all elements of society to itself, or in creating out of itself the organs it still lacks. This is how the organic system historically becomes a totality. Becoming a totality is a moment of its process, of its development.” Following this principle, Marx completed in *Capital* the analysis of the internal structure of bourgeois society, expounded the systematic movement process in which production, exchange, distribution, and consumption are interconnected and mutually constrained, making this social organism clearly present itself in theory, and thereby revealing the basic laws and overall trends of the development of human society as a complex system.

早在创立唯物辩证法之时，马克思即已明确提出“有机系统（体制）”一词，详细阐释了系统与要素的关系、系统的整体性和结构性、系统自身的组织及其演化等基本问题。马克思说：“这种有机体制本身作为一个总体有自己的各种前提，而它向总体的发展过程就在于：使社会的一切要素从属于自己，或者把自己还缺乏的器官从社会中创造出来。有机体制在历史上就是这样生成为总体的。生成为这种总体是它的过程即它的发展的一个要素。”以此为遵循，马克思在《资本论》中完成了对资产阶级社会内部结构的剖析，阐述了生产、交换、分配、消费诸环节相互联系、彼此制约的系统运动过程，使这个社会有机体在理论上清晰地呈现出来，进而揭示出作为复杂系统的人类社会发展的基本规律和总体趋势。

Engels also repeatedly used the concept of “system” in *Anti-Dühring*, *Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy*, and *Dialectics of Nature*. He believed that great advances such as the “three great discoveries of 19th-century natural science” had enabled people to form an understanding that the entire system constituted by nature and all its processes are in systemic connection, pushing science to prove this continuously from parts and from the whole, that is, by appealing to the facts provided by empirical science, “to depict a clear picture of the connection of nature in an approximately systematic form.”

恩格斯也在《反杜林论》《路德维希·费尔巴哈和德国古典哲学的终结》《自然辩证法》中多次使用“系统”的概念，认为“19世纪自然科学的三大发现”等巨大进步，使人们形成了关于整个自然界所构成的体系及其全部过程皆处于系统联系中的认识，推动科学不断从部分中和整体上去证明它，也就是诉诸经验科学所提供的事实，“以近乎系统的形式描绘出一幅自然界联系的清晰图画”。

The main views of Marx and Engels on the systems concept constitute an important part of dialectical materialism. Lenin once summarized this by saying: “This method regards society as a living organism in constant development (and not as something mechanically combined and therefore capable of having all sorts of social elements arbitrarily fitted into it); to study this organism, it is necessary objectively to analyze the relations of production that constitute the given social formation, and to study the laws of its functioning and development.” It is precisely because of the important contributions of Marx and Engels to the systems concept that many researchers of modern systems theory regard Marx as the founder of this field.

马克思和恩格斯关于系统观念的主要观点，构成了唯物辩证法的重要内容。列宁曾对此总结道，“这个方法把社会看做处在不断发展中的活的机体（而不是机械地结合起来因而可以把各种社会要素随便配搭起来的一种什么东西），要研究这个机体，就必须客观地分析组成该社会形态的生产关系，研究该社会形态的活动规律和发展规律”。正是由于马克思和恩格斯在系统观念上的重要贡献，许多现代系统理论的研究者都将马克思视为该领域的创始者。

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There is consistency between worldview and methodology; a particular worldview entails a particular methodology. The systems concept is both a fundamental view of the mode of existence of the objective world and an important method for understanding and transforming the external world, embodying the organic unity of worldview and methodology. The Chinese Communists, who take Marxism as their guiding ideology, have always attached great importance to the systems concept. Comrade Mao Zedong stated: “We must not only study the particular contradictions and the essence determined by them in the form of material motion of each major system, but also study the particular contradictions and their essence in each process within the long course of development of each form of material motion.” Looking back at the various historical periods of China’s revolution, construction, and reform, many of the Party’s theoretical and practical innovations—such as the united front as a magic weapon, the “playing the piano” method [1]1 “Playing the piano” method: A metaphor used by Mao Zedong to describe the need for coordinated and balanced work, where all tasks are attended to in a harmonious way, like the ten fingers of a pianist striking the keys., the “national chessboard” thinking [2]2 “National chessboard” thinking: A strategic perspective emphasizing that all parts of the country and all sectors must be coordinated and subordinated to the overall national interest, like pieces on a chessboard., and the strategic policy of “grasping with both hands, both hands being firm” [3]3 “Grasping with both hands, both hands being firm”: A policy formulation from the reform and opening up era, originally referring to the need to simultaneously develop material civilization and cultural-ethical progress.—are all brilliant examples of the conscious application of the systems concept.

世界观和方法论之间具有一致性，有怎样的世界观就有怎样的方法论。系统观念既是对于客观世界存在方式的根本看法，又是认识和改造外部世界的重要方法，体现着世界观与方法论的有机统一。以马克思主义为指导思想的中国共产党人，历来高度重视系统观念。毛泽东同志说过：“不但要研究每一个大系统的物质运动形式的特殊的矛盾性及其所规定的本质，而且要研究每一个物质运动形式在其发展长途中的每一个过程的特殊的矛盾及其本质。”纵观中国革命、建设和改革各个历史时期，党的诸多理论与实践创新，例如统一战线法宝、“弹钢琴”方法、“全国一盘棋”思想、“两手抓、两手都要硬”的战略方针等，无一不是自觉运用系统观念的光辉典范。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, based on the strategic overall plan for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the changes unseen in a century in the world, has made forward-thinking, holistic planning, strategic layout, and overall advancement for all undertakings of the Party and the state. From coordinating the Four Greats [4]4 The Four Greats: A reference to the “Four Greats” (四个伟大), namely, the great struggle, the great project (Party building), the great cause (socialism with Chinese characteristics), and the great dream (the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation). to the overall goals of comprehensively deepening reform and law-based governance, the goals for strengthening the military in the New Era, to the basic strategy for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, the general requirements for Party building in the New Era, and further to the strategic arrangements for building a modern socialist country in all respects and the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization—all are the crystallized wisdom of adhering to the systems concept. Summarizing “adhering to the systems concept” as one of the important contents of the worldview and methodology of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is an original contribution to Marxism by the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative. It not only inherits Marx’s thought on the social organism and Engels’ thought on the “interaction of various social elements,” but also forms its own unique characteristics, emphasizing using strategic thinking to assess the general trend, historical thinking to learn from gains and losses, dialectical thinking to resolve contradictions, systemic thinking to grasp the overall situation, innovative thinking to add momentum, law-based thinking to promote reform, and bottom-line thinking to control risks, so as to view problems from a comprehensive, fundamental, and long-term perspective, and correctly discover, analyze, and solve problems.

党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央立足中华民族伟大复兴战略全局与世界百年未有之大变局，对党和国家各项事业作出前瞻性思考、全局性谋划、战略性布局、整体性推进。从统揽“四个伟大”到全面深化改革和全面依法治国总目标、新时代强军目标，再到新时代坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的基本方略、新时代党的建设总要求，直至全面建成社会主义现代化强国的战略安排、中国式现代化理论体系，均为坚持系统观念的智慧结晶。把“坚持系统观念”归结为习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想世界观和方法论的重要内容之一，是以习近平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人对马克思主义作出的原创性贡献，不仅继承了马克思的社会有机体思想和恩格斯的“各种社会要素交互作用”思想，而且形成了自身的独有特色，强调以战略思维谋大势、以历史思维鉴得失、以辩证思维化矛盾、以系统思维握全局、以创新思维添动力、以法治思维促改革、以底线思维控风险，做到从全面、根本、长远的角度看待问题，正确发现、分析、解决问题。

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The worldview implications and methodological principles of the systems concept fully demonstrate its very broad application in theoretical innovation and practical development, and its extremely guiding significance for the development of all undertakings of the Party and the state. Embarking on a new journey, the development of all undertakings of the Party and the state faces an international and domestic environment where strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges, placing higher demands on adhering to the systems concept.

系统观念的世界观意蕴和方法论原则充分表明，它在理论创新与实践发展中具有十分广泛的运用，对于党和国家各项事业发展极富指导意义。开启新征程，党和国家各项事业发展面临着战略机遇与风险挑战并存的国际国内环境，对坚持系统观念提出更高要求。

The world today is undergoing changes unseen in a century. The international landscape is in a process of accelerated evolution. World multipolarity, economic globalization, social informatization, cultural diversification, and the deepening of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation are advancing, and the international balance of power is undergoing profound adjustment, bringing new strategic opportunities for China’s development. Concurrently, some uncertain and unpredictable factors have increased significantly. The impact of the century-old pandemic is far-reaching, anti-globalization sentiment is rising, unilateralism is markedly increasing, protectionism is heating up, the world economic recovery is sluggish, local conflicts and turmoil are frequent, and global problems are intensifying. The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. Currently, China is in a critical period of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Whether it is the great transformation of the past decade in the New Era, the successful advancement and expansion of Chinese-path modernization, or the creation and development of a new form of human civilization, all these provide multiple advantages and conditions for the development of the Party’s and the state’s undertakings. At the same time, however, deep-seated contradictions affecting reform, development, and stability still exist; the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development remains prominent; bottlenecks restricting high-quality development have not yet been fully unblocked; scientific and technological innovation capacity is insufficient and weak; and various “black swan” and “gray rhino” events may occur at any time.

当今世界正经历百年未有之大变局，国际格局正处于加速演进的过程中，世界多极化、经济全球化、社会信息化、文化多样化、新一轮科技革命和产业变革深入发展，国际力量对比深刻调整，给中国的发展带来新的战略机遇。与之相伴随，一些不确定难预料因素明显增加，世纪疫情影响深远，逆全球化有所抬头，单边主义明显上升，保护主义不断升温，世界经济复苏乏力，局部冲突动荡频发，全球性问题加剧，世界已进入新的动荡变革期。当前，我国正处于实现中华民族伟大复兴的关键时期，不论是新时代十年的伟大变革，还是中国式现代化的成功推进和拓展、人类文明新形态的创造与发展，都为党和国家事业发展提供了多方面的优势和条件。但同时，影响改革发展稳定的深层次矛盾仍然存在，发展不平衡不充分问题依旧突出，制约高质量发展的瓶颈尚未完全打通，科技创新能力不足不强，各种“黑天鹅”“灰犀牛”事件随时可能发生。

In response, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has explicitly designated the systems concept as a scientific method of thinking for advancing the cause of the Party and the state. Adhering to the systems concept to promote high-quality development and advance Chinese-path modernization requires, from the perspective of strategic thinking, coordinating both domestic and international imperatives and managing the two major tasks of development and security; from the perspective of historical thinking, linking and understanding the past, present, and future of economic and social development, and comprehensively grasping achievements, problems, experiences, and lessons; from the perspective of dialectical thinking, on the basis of upholding the principle of nationwide coordination, better leveraging the initiative of the central government, local governments, and all parties; from the perspective of systems thinking, comprehensively considering multiple factors such as politics and economics, the immediate and the long term, and the material and the cultural, and holistically planning the systematic project of economic and social development; from the perspective of innovative thinking, correctly recognizing that high-quality development depends on innovation, and fully mobilizing the people's enthusiasm for innovation; from the perspective of law-based thinking, using good laws to promote development and ensure good governance, and employing legal methods to resolve deep-seated problems facing economic and social development; from the perspective of bottom-line thinking, focusing on preventing and defusing major risks and challenges, and achieving a development that organically unifies quality, structure, scale, speed, efficiency, and security.

对此，以习近平同志为核心的党中央将系统观念明确为推进党和国家事业发展的科学思想方法。坚持以系统观念推动高质量发展，推进中国式现代化，需要从战略思维出发，统筹国内国际两个大局，办好发展安全两件大事；从历史思维出发，把经济社会发展的过去、现在和未来贯通起来认识和思考，全面把握成就、问题、经验和教训；从辩证思维出发，在坚持全国一盘棋的基础上，更好地发挥中央、地方和各方面积极性；从系统思维出发，综合考虑政治和经济、当前和长远、物质和文化等多方面因素，全面谋划经济社会发展这一系统工程；从创新思维出发，正确认识高质量发展要靠创新，充分调动人民的创新积极性；从法治思维出发，以良法促进发展、保障善治，运用法治方式解决经济社会发展面临的深层次问题；从底线思维出发，注重防范化解重大风险挑战，实现质量、结构、规模、速度、效益和安全有机统一的发展。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗