The Elemental Structure, Distinctive Features, and Systematic Construction of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

In his speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “Continuing to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural country, and construct the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from a new starting point is our new cultural mission in the New Era.” Constructing the modern civilization of the Chinese nation directly concerns the formation of ideological consensus for the people’s united struggle, the enhancement of the global influence of Chinese culture, and the cultivation of the powerful spiritual strength needed to comprehensively build a modern socialist country. To construct the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, it is necessary to precisely grasp the elemental composition of this civilization, clarify its distinctive features, and understand its systematic construction path, thereby attempting to answer clearly the questions: “What is the modern civilization of the Chinese nation?” “What characteristics does the modern civilization of the Chinese nation possess?” and “How is the modern civilization of the Chinese nation to be constructed?”

习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上的讲话中强调：“在新的起点上继续推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国、建设中华民族现代文明，是我们在新时代新的文化使命。”建设中华民族现代文明直接关乎人民团结奋斗思想共识的形成，关乎中华文化全球影响力的提升，关乎全面建设社会主义现代化国家强大精神力量的涵养。建设中华民族现代文明，需要精准把握中华民族现代文明的要素构成，厘清其显著特征，明晰其系统建设路径，从而尝试回答清楚“何为中华民族现代文明”“中华民族现代文明有何特性”“如何建设中华民族现代文明”等问题。

I. The Elemental Structure of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

一、中华民族现代文明的要素结构

Civilization is the sum total of all achievements in humanity’s understanding and transformation of the world; it is itself a complex giant system. The terms “Chinese nation” and “modern” in “modern civilization of the Chinese nation” define the civilization’s ethnic attributes and its spatiotemporal attributes. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation contains the modern transformation of the Chinese nation’s five-thousand-year history of civilizational evolution, and it likewise presents itself as a complex giant system. “A system can be defined as a complex of interacting elements.” To understand a system, one must grasp its elements, relations, structure, and functions. Similarly, to clarify the scientific connotation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, one must start from its elemental structure—that is, accurately grasp its elemental composition, the overarching relations, the structural levels, and the prominence of functions.

文明是人类认识世界、改造世界中各类成果的总和，本身就是一个复杂巨系统。“中华民族现代文明”中的“中华民族”与“现代”界定了文明的民族属性与时空属性。中华民族现代文明蕴含着中华民族五千年的文明史演进至今的现代转型，同样也呈现为一个复杂巨系统。“系统可以定义为相互作用着的若干要素的复合体。”要理解一个系统，需要把握其要素、关系、结构、功能。同样，厘清中华民族现代文明的科学内涵，需要从其要素结构出发，即准确把握其要素构成、关系统摄、结构层次、功能凸显。

1. The Elemental Composition of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

1.中华民族现代文明的要素构成

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, promote the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization, and have created a new path of Chinese-path modernization and a new form of human civilization.” As a new form of human civilization, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a collective entity composed of elements such as material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization. Here, “material civilization,” “political civilization,” “cultural-ethical progress,” “social civilization,” and “ecological civilization” each have their specific referents.

习近平总书记指出：“我们坚持和发展中国特色社会主义，推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明协调发展，创造了中国式现代化新道路，创造了人类文明新形态。”中华民族现代文明作为人类文明新形态，是由物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明等要素构成的集合体。这里的“物质文明”“政治文明”“精神文明”“社会文明”“生态文明”，都有其具体所指。

First, a material civilization of “high-quality development.” Material civilization is an important constituent element of civilization. For the modern civilization of the Chinese nation to truly become a “modern civilization,” it must be based on a solid material foundation and rooted in a modernized country, and “high-quality development is the primary task in comprehensively building a modern socialist country.” Therefore, a material civilization of “high-quality development” is the prerequisite foundation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Only by enhancing the effectiveness of opening up, prospering the socialist market economy, perfecting the modern industrial system, promoting coordinated urban-rural development, achieving comprehensive rural revitalization, and advancing the formation of a material civilization of “high-quality development” can we more forcefully promote the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

一是“高质量发展”的物质文明。物质文明是文明的重要构成要素。中华民族现代文明要真正成为“现代文明”，必须基于坚实的物质基础，必须植根于现代化国家，而“高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务”，因此，“高质量发展”的物质文明是中华民族现代文明的前提基础。只有提升对外开放效能，繁荣社会主义市场经济，完善现代化产业体系，推动城乡协调发展，实现乡村全面振兴，推进形成“高质量发展”的物质文明，才能更有力地推进中国特色社会主义文化建设,建设中华民族现代文明。

Second, a political civilization of “the people being the masters of the country.” Political civilization is an important component of civilization, and the modern civilization of the Chinese nation necessarily includes political civilization. So, what kind of political civilization can constitute the modern civilization of the Chinese nation? The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is rooted in the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics; its political civilization possesses both continuity and transcendence. Continuity refers to inheriting the fine traditional Chinese culture’s principle of “the people as the foundation of the state,” while transcendence refers to surpassing capitalist political civilization and always focusing on making “the people being the masters of the country more solid.” “The people being the masters of the country” is the essence and core of political civilization in the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, determining the fundamental nature and development direction of the civilization. Only by focusing on the essential attribute of “whole-process people’s democracy,” achieving coordinated development in areas such as the people being the masters of the country, consultative democracy, and grassroots democracy, and accelerating the construction of a political civilization of “the people being the masters of the country,” can the most genuine, broadest, and most distinctive modern civilization be generated.

二是“人民当家作主”的政治文明。政治文明是文明的重要组成部分，中华民族现代文明也必然包含政治文明。那么，什么样的政治文明才能构成中华民族现代文明呢？中华民族现代文明植根于中国特色社会主义伟大实践，其政治文明既有传承性也有超越性。传承性指的是传承中华优秀传统文化中的“民为邦本”，超越性指的是超越资本主义政治文明，而始终着眼于让“人民当家作主更为扎实”。“人民当家作主”是中华民族现代文明中政治文明的本质与核心，决定文明的根本性质与发展方向。只有聚焦“全过程人民民主”这一本质属性，实现人民当家作主、协商民主、基层民主等各领域协调发展，加快构建“人民当家作主”的政治文明，才能生成最真实、最广泛、最特别的现代文明。

Third, a cultural-ethical progress of “the all-round development of the human person.” “Material abundance and spiritual enrichment are the fundamental requirements of socialist modernization.” Cultural-ethical progress is an indispensable component of any civilizational综合体 [n1]. Chinese civilization has always valued spiritual shaping. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, focusing on realizing the modernization of the human person, inevitably requires further enriching people’s spiritual world and promoting the all-round development of the human person. Therefore, cultural-ethical progress centered on “the all-round development of the human person” becomes an important constituent element of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Only by taking

三是“人的全面发展”的精神文明。“物质富足、精神富有是社会主义现代化的根本要求”。精神文明是任何一个文明综合体不可或缺的组成部分。中华文明一直重视精神的塑造。中华民族现代文明着眼于实现人的现代化，必然要求进一步丰富人的精神世界，促进人的全面发展，因此以“人的全面发展”为核心的精神文明成为中华民族现代文明的重要构成要素。只有把习近平文化思想为指引，传承中华民族优秀传统文化，赓续红色血脉，大力发展社会主义先进文化，加强理想信念教育，实现促进“人的全面发展”的精神文明，才能让中华民族现代文明行稳致远。

Fourth, social civilization of “bringing benefit to the people.” Social civilization is a notable hallmark of a modernized country. “People’s livelihood is the foundation of the people’s happiness and the root of social harmony.” The developmental process of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is precisely the process of continuously meeting the people’s needs for a better life and seeking happiness for the people; in the social sphere, it is manifested in the form of “bringing benefit to the people.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has always focused on making the realization of the people’s aspiration for a better life the starting point and ultimate goal of modernization, promoting the enrichment of both the people’s spiritual life and their material life. Therefore, the social civilization of “bringing benefit to the people” is an important component of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Only by taking “seeking happiness for the people” as the fundamental pursuit, continuously improving the social security system and distribution system, consolidating the employment-first strategy, advancing the construction of a Beautiful China and a Healthy China, and solidly promoting the social civilization of “bringing benefit to the people,” can the modern civilization of the Chinese nation be made more vibrant.

四是“为民造福”的社会文明。社会文明是现代化国家的显著标志。“民生是人民幸福之基、社会和谐之本。”中华民族现代文明的发展进程就是不断满足人民美好生活需要、为人民谋幸福的过程，在社会领域是以“为民造福”的形式体现出来的。中华民族现代文明始终聚焦于把实现人民对美好生活的向往作为现代化建设的出发点和落脚点，促进人民精神生活与物质生活都富裕。因此，“为民造福”的社会文明是中华民族现代文明的重要构成部分。只有把“为人民谋幸福”作为根本追求，不断完善社会保障制度、分配制度，夯实就业优先战略，推进美丽中国、健康中国等建设，扎实推进“为民造福”的社会文明，才能让中华民族现代文明更具活力。

Fifth, ecological civilization of “harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.” “Respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature are inherent requirements for comprehensively building a modern socialist country.” Ecological civilization pursues the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature. Chinese civilization has always possessed the ecological tradition of “the unity of heaven and humanity, the co-nurturing of all things,” a concept that has continued from antiquity to the modern era. Therefore, the ecological civilization of “harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature” is an indispensable component of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, providing it with the environmental space for survival and development. “When ecology thrives, civilization thrives; when ecology declines, civilization declines.” Only by persistently advancing environmental governance and ecological governance, steadily promoting the dual-carbon strategy [n], realizing the green transformation of the development model, restoring the normal relationship between humanity and nature, and making the sky bluer, the land greener, and the water clearer a reality, can the modern civilization of the Chinese nation achieve harmonious coexistence, a virtuous cycle, comprehensive development, and sustained prosperity.

五是“人与自然和谐共生”的生态文明。“尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然，是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的内在要求。”生态文明追求人与自然和谐共生。中华文明向来具有“天人合一、万物并育”的生态传统，这一理念从古代延续到现代。因此，“人与自然和谐共生”的生态文明是中华民族现代文明不可或缺的组成部分，为其提供生存与发展的环境空间。“生态兴则文明兴，生态衰则文明衰。”只有持续推进环保治理、生态治理，稳妥推进双碳战略，实现发展方式绿色转型，让人与自然关系回归正常，让天更蓝、地更绿、水更清成为现实，中华民族现代文明才能实现和谐共生、良性循环、全面发展、持续繁荣。

2. The Relational Governance of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

2.中华民族现代文明的关系统摄

Relations are the connections inevitably generated among the elements within a system. The system of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation governs multiple relations: “tradition and modernity, upholding fundamental principles and innovation, the real and the virtual, the local and the global.”

关系是系统中诸要素必然产生的联系。中华民族现代文明系统中统摄着“传统与现代、守正与创新、现实与虚拟、本土与全球”的多重关系。

First, the inheritance and transcendence of tradition and modernity. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation inherently contains the evolution from tradition to modernity, the convergence from various ethnic groups to the Chinese nation, requiring the exploration of future major trends and the construction of a new pattern while safeguarding the “foundation and source” and the “root and soul.” Tradition refers to the categories of expression inherited from history that have historical continuity and inheritance in shaping civilizational concepts and behaviors. Modernity, in contrast to tradition, encompasses new things and new categories that the process of modernization development brings about through profound changes to civilization. The relationship between tradition and modernity in the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is one of relative existence and mutual transformation; it should inherently contain the spiritual symbols of fine traditional Chinese culture while also conforming to the trends and currents of contemporary social development, particularly responding to the onrushing digital civilization. This implies the need both to inherit tradition and to identify and distinguish within it, discarding the dross and selecting the essential, and to compare and critique modernity, drawing on the strengths of others and using them for our own purposes, achieving the unity of the original vitality and contemporary vigor, the driving force and dynamism of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Only by adopting an attitude of critical inheritance and self-transcendence can the modern civilization of the Chinese nation transcend the dust of history, acquire contemporary character, and become a comprehensive civilization that links the past and the present.

一是传统与现代的继承超越。中华民族现代文明内蕴着从传统到现代的演进，从各民族到中华民族的汇聚，需要在守好“本和源”“根和魂”中探索未来大趋势、构建新格局。传统指的是历史传承下来的，对文明观念与行为产生具有历史沿袭性与继承性的表现范畴。而现代是相对于传统而言的，涵盖了现代化发展过程对文明引起深刻变革的新事物、新范畴。中华民族现代文明中传统与现代的关系是相对存在、相互转化的，其中理应蕴含中华优秀传统文化的精神标识，又契合时代社会发展的潮流趋势，尤其要回应数字文明的呼啸而来。这意味着既需要对传统进行继承，又需要对其进行鉴别与区分，取其精华、去其糟粕，对现代进行比较与批判，博采众长、为我所用，实现中华民族现代文明元气与朝气、动力与活力相统一。只有采取批判继承、自我超越的态度，才能使得中华民族现代文明跨越历史尘埃、具有当代品格，成为贯通古今的综合性文明。

Second, the dialectical unity of upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground. Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground “means emphasizing that we must neither take the old path of closed-door rigidity nor the evil path of changing the flag and altering the course,”[n] so that we can neither lose ourselves and our direction nor grasp and lead the times. “Upholding fundamental principles” means upholding positions, directions, paths, and bottom lines; it implies upholding the principle of the leadership of the Communist Party of China, upholding the people-centered stance, upholding the theory of Marxism, upholding the fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation, and upholding the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, thereby ensuring the Party’s leadership over culture and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, preserving the people-centered nature, advanced nature, and independence of the civilization, and enabling it to unswervingly follow its own path of modern civilization. “Breaking new ground” means innovating in ideas, discourse, mechanisms, and forms; it implies creating a development approach for civilization that does not rely on external forces or copy Western modernization, generating new discourse for the dissemination of civilization—political, cultural, academic, and otherwise—that connects with world modern civilization, establishing new mechanisms for the generation of civilization in the course of Chinese-path modernization, innovating new forms of civilizational exchange and integration, and promoting innovation in theory, practice, institutions, and culture. “Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground” also contains an inherent dialectical unity: the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must, under the guidance of Marxism, truly achieve dialectical selection, advance while “upholding fundamental principles,” innovate while “respecting antiquity,” adhere to the fundamental requirement of the Two Integrations,[n] break with existing conventions on the basis of conforming to laws, bring forth the new from the old, point the way forward for civilizational development, provide the momentum for transformation and development, and promote the mutual activation and mutual achievement of the two.

二是守正与创新的辩证统一。守正创新，“就是强调既不走封闭僵化的老路，也不走改旗易帜的邪路”，既能够不迷失自我与方向，又能够把握与引领时代。“守正”守的是立场、方向、道路与底线，意味着要守坚持中国共产党领导原则之正、守人民至上立场之正、守马克思主义理论之正、守中华优秀传统文化之正、守中国特色社会主义道路之正，以此保证中国共产党对文化的领导权和中华民族的文化主体性，保持文明的人民性、先进性与独立性，得以坚定不移地走自己的现代文明道路。“创新”创的是思路、话语、机制与形式，意味着要创设不依赖外部力量、不照搬照抄西方现代化的文明发展思路，创造与世界现代文明相衔接的政治、文化、学术等文明传播新话语，创建中国式现代化进程中的文明生成新机制，创新融合文明交流新形式，推动文明在理论、实践、制度、文化方面创新。“守正与创新”还蕴含着辩证统一的内在关系，中华民族现代文明需在马克思主义指导下真正做到辩证取舍，在“守正”中前行，在“尊古”中创新，坚持“两个结合”的根本要求，在合规律性的基础上打破原有常规，推陈出新，为文明发展指明前进的方向、提供变革发展的动能，推动二者相互激活、相互成就。

Third, the interactive coupling of the real and the virtual. Modern technological revolution and social transformation have shaped the form of modern civilization, increasingly endowing it with the characteristic of interactive coupling between the virtual and the real. Virtual reality technology, through knowledge extraction, scene projection, and spatial construction, constitutes an interactive world of digital twins, achieving simulated perception and immersive experience, capable of breaking through communication barriers, bridging temporal and spatial gaps, and eliminating subject isolation, forming interactions with initiative, fluidity, and extensibility, thereby becoming a spatiotemporal vehicle for exploring civilization and tracing history. Coupled with the simulation, extension, and expansion of artificial intelligence in daily life, it presents a developmental pattern of virtual-real intelligent connection, sensory interconnection, holographic communication, and human-machine interaction, enabling switching between different spaces and making the virtual and the real deeply interactive and coupled. Consequently, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must govern the relationships of mutual substitution, mixing, superimposition, and influence between the virtual and the real, respond to the parts missing from people’s real-world existence and provide compensation, promote cross-temporal cultural activities, reshape subjects’ value cognition, improve digital ethical rules, build a firewall for cultural security, and so forth, to facilitate a profound grasp and understanding of the existing civilized world. At the same time, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation also needs to regulate and guide the development of the virtual world, participate in the process of building a digital civilization, promote the integration of the digital economy with the cultural tourism industry, construct a seed database of Chinese civilization, advance the digital preservation and simulated reproduction of cultural heritage, and create a metaverse interactive ecosystem.

三是现实与虚拟的交互耦合。现代的技术革命与社会转型塑造了现代化的文明形态，使其日益呈现出虚实融生的交互耦合特征。虚拟现实技术通过知识提取、场景投射、空间营造，构成了数字孪生的交互世界，实现仿真的感知与沉浸的体验，能够突破通信屏障、弥合时空鸿沟、消除主体隔膜，形成具有主动性、流动性、延伸性的交往互动，得以成为探索文明、回溯历史的时空载体。加之人工智能在日常生活中的模拟、延伸与拓展，呈现出虚实智联、感官互联、全息通信、人机交互的发展样态，得以实现不同空间的切换，使得虚拟与现实深度交互耦合。由此，中华民族现代文明需要统摄其中虚实的相互置换、混合、叠加与影响关系，回应人在现实世界中缺失的部分并给予补偿，推进跨时空文化活动、重塑主体价值认知、完善数字伦理规则、构筑文化安全防火墙等，促进对现存文明世界的深刻把握与认识。同时，中华民族现代文明亦需要规范引导虚拟世界的发展，参与到构建数字文明的进程中，推进数字经济与文旅产业融合、构建中华文明种子数据库、促进文化遗产数字化保护与拟真化再现、创设元宇宙交互生态等。

Fourth, exchange and mutual learning between the local and the global. Global civilizations are rich and diverse; among them, Western civilization contains concepts of natural rights, humanitarian concern, the spirit of rational contract, religious freedom, and the idea of charity and public welfare. These have a significant impact on local democratic politics, social security, legal systems, religious policy, volunteer services, educational guidelines, and other areas. Therefore, under the guidance of Marxism, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must promote cross-border mutual learning and cross-ethnic exchange in the interaction between the local and the global. For example, in philosophical thought, it must both critically draw on a series of philosophical ideas—from Plato’s “theory of Forms” and Aristotle’s “metaphysics” to modern Kant’s “rationalism,” Hegel’s philosophy of right and phenomenology of spirit, and Nietzsche’s voluntarism—connecting with the world’s currents of thought and opening up a space of thought leading to world civilization, and also delve into the long river of history, excavating and rooting itself in local Pre-Qin masters’ studies, Han dynasty classical studies, Wei-Jin metaphysics, Sui-Tang Buddhist studies, Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, Ming-Qing practical studies, and Qian-Jia evidential scholarship,[n] thereby creating a uniquely Chinese philosophical civilization. In science and technology, it must both comprehensively enrich and develop Copernicus’s heliocentric theory, Newton’s law of universal gravitation, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and so on, and also conduct research and interpretation of local works such as *Essential Techniques for the Common People*, *Dream Pool Essays*, and *The Exploitation of the Works of Nature*.[n] In culture and the arts, it must promote the connection and integration of local literature, calligraphy, painting, music, and opera with global comedy, tragedy, fiction, and film, thereby shaping shared conceptual expression and emotional resonance, and enhancing global acceptance and recognition of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

四是本土与全球的交流互鉴。全球文明丰富多彩，其中西方文明蕴含着天赋人权的观念、人道主义的关怀、理性契约的精神、宗教自由的信仰、慈善公益的理念。这对于本土的民主政治、社会保障、法律制度、宗教政策、志愿服务、教育方针等方面皆会产生重要影响。由此，中华民族现代文明要在马克思主义指导下，在本土与全球的交流中推动超国界互鉴、跨民族交流。如哲学思想方面，既要批判性地借鉴从柏拉图的“理念论”、亚里士多德的“形而上学”，到近现代的康德的“理性主义”、黑格尔的法哲学与精神现象学、尼采的唯意志论等系列哲学思想，与世界思想浪潮接轨，打开通往世界文明的思想空间，又要沉入历史长河、挖掘扎根于本土的先秦子学、两汉经学、魏晋玄学、隋唐佛学、宋明理学、明清实学、乾嘉朴学，创设独具特色的中国哲学文明。科学技术方面，既要全面丰富与发展哥白尼的日心说、牛顿的万有引力定律、爱因斯坦的相对论等，又要对本土的《齐民要术》《梦溪笔谈》《天工开物》等著作进行研究阐释。文化艺术方面，要推动本土文学、书法、绘画、音乐、戏曲与全球的喜剧、悲剧、小说、电影接轨融合，以此形塑共同的概念表达与情感共鸣，提升全球对于中华民族现代文明的接纳认同。

3. The Structural Levels of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

3.中华民族现代文明的结构层次

The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a structural system composed of ontology, categories, and operation, presenting multiple levels, forming a grand civilizational pattern in which civilizational thought and civilizational existence are coordinated, concepts, artifacts, behaviors, and institutions are integrated in multiple dimensions, and civilizational cultivation, civilizational practice, and civilizational creation are promoted in a coordinated manner.

中华民族现代文明是一个由本体、范畴与运行构成的结构系统，呈现多种层次，在文明思维与文明存在相协调，观念、器物、行为、制度多维一体，文明培育、文明实践与文明创建统筹推动中形成大文明格局。

First, the ontological structure: the coordination of civilizational thought and civilizational existence. Engels pointed out: “The great basic question of all philosophy, especially of more recent philosophy, is that concerning the relation of thinking and being.”[n] The question of the relation between thinking and being is a basic question at the ontological level of philosophy. The ontological structure of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must necessarily reflect the question of the relational form between civilizational thought and civilizational existence at the ontological level. The ontological structure of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation can be divided into civilizational thought and civilizational existence. “The civilizational view of Chinese-path modernization is one that adheres to a people-centered approach, advocates coordinated development and peaceful development, integrates tradition and modernity, and achieves an organic combination of national character and global character.”[n] The civilizational thought of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation includes people-centered thought, peaceful development thought, harmonious coexistence thought, community thought, and so on; the civilizational existence of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation mainly refers to the civilizational survival and civilizational life of the Chinese nation. Specifically, the leader of civilizational existence is the Communist Party of China; the institutional guarantee of civilizational existence is socialism with Chinese characteristics and the practice of whole-process people’s democracy; the material foundation of civilizational existence is the realization of high-quality development, the achievement of common prosperity for all the people, and the promotion of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature; the spiritual guarantee of civilizational existence is the enrichment of the people’s spiritual world, the promotion of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and the creation of a new form of human civilization.

一是本体结构：文明思维与文明存在相协调。恩格斯指出：“全部哲学,特别是近代哲学的重大的基本问题，是思维和存在的关系问题。”思维与存在的关系问题是哲学本体论层面的基本问题。中华民族现代文明的本体结构必然也反映出本体论层面文明思维与文明存在的关系形态问题。中华民族现代文明的本体结构可以分为文明思维与文明存在。“中国式现代化的文明观，是坚持以人民为中心，倡导协调发展与和平发展，融通传统与现代，实现民族性与世界性的有机结合”。中华民族现代文明的文明思维涵括人民至上思维、和平发展思维、和谐共生思维、共同体思维等；中华民族现代文明的文明存在主要是指中华民族现代文明的文明生存、文明生活，具体而言，文明存在的领导者是中国共产党；文明存在的制度保障是中国特色社会主义、发展全过程人民民主；文明存在的物质基础是实现高质量发展，实现全体人民共同富裕，促进人与自然和谐共生；文明存在的精神保障是丰富人民精神世界，推动构建人类命运共同体，创造人类文明新形态。

Second, the categorical structure: ideas, artifacts, behavior, and institutions as a multi-dimensional unity. The categories of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation include ideas, artifacts, behavior, institutions, and so forth. Civilizational ideas refer to a relatively high cultural level in moral sentiment, ideological consciousness, and humanistic concepts. The ancient worldview of “the unity of Heaven and humanity” [8]8 “Unity of Heaven and humanity” (天人合一) — a classical Chinese philosophical concept emphasizing the harmony and interconnectedness between the natural world (Heaven) and human society., the value of “the doctrine of the mean” [9]9 “Doctrine of the mean” (中庸之道) — a Confucian concept advocating moderation, balance, and avoiding extremes in thought and action., and the outlook on life of “cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to all under Heaven” [10]10 “Cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to all under Heaven” (修身治国齐家平天下) — a Confucian ideal of personal and social cultivation, often attributed to the *Great Learning*. constituted ancient civilizational ideas. In the New Era, the core socialist values serve as the core of the Chinese people’s ideological guidance and value orientation, influencing the goal direction and action compliance of modern civilization construction. Civilizational artifacts are the carrier and foundation, bearing the material manifestation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. From the armillary sphere to the “China Sky Eye” [11]11 “China Sky Eye” (中国天眼) — the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, located in Guizhou Province., from Dujiangyan to the Three Gorges Project, from the Zhaozhou Bridge to the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, these are historical testimonies to the development and leap from ancient civilization to modern civilization. Civilizational behavior is the external manifestation, referring to each subject following corresponding behavioral norms and standards according to developmental requirements, raising their own moral standards and civilizational literacy, and cultivating good civilizational conduct. From the moral standards of “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness” [12]12 “Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness” (仁义礼智信) — the five constant virtues of Confucianism, forming the core of traditional Chinese moral philosophy. proposed in the ancient *Analects*, *Three-Character Classic*, and *Augmented Words for the Learned*, to the behavioral requirements set forth in the *Outline for the Implementation of Civic Moral Construction in the New Era* and the *Outline for the Implementation of Patriotic Education in the New Era*, this reflects that civilizational behavior is an important category of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Civilizational institutions are the normative guarantee, the external constraints and normative criteria for the effective realization of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The Chinese nation has undergone a historical evolution from slave society, feudal society, and semi-colonial and semi-feudal society to a new society of national independence and the people becoming masters of their own affairs, and only then established its practical exploration of modern civilization. It can be said that the socialist system provides the basic institutional guarantee for the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and demonstrates its superior institutional advantages.

二是范畴结构：观念、器物、行为、制度多维一体。中华民族现代文明的范畴包括观念、器物、行为、制度等。观念文明是指在道德情操、思想意识、人文观念上具有较高的文化水平。古人崇尚的“天人合一”的宇宙观、“中庸之道”的价值观、“修身治国齐家平天下”的人生观，构成古代的观念文明。新时代以社会主义核心价值观作为中国人的思想牵引与价值指导的内核，影响着现代文明建设的目标走向与行动遵循。器物文明是载体依托，承载中华民族现代文明的物质呈现，从浑天仪到“中国天眼”、从都江堰到三峡工程、从赵州桥到港珠澳大桥，是古代文明向现代文明发展、跃迁的历史见证。行为文明是外在体现，是指每个主体依据发展要求，遵循相应的行为准则与规范，提升自身的道德水准与文明素养，养成良好的文明行为。从古代的《论语》《三字经》《增广贤文》提出的“仁义礼智信”道德标准，到《新时代公民道德建设实施纲要》《新时代爱国主义教育实施纲要》提出的行为要求，反映出行为文明是中华民族现代文明的重要范畴。制度文明是规范保障，是中华民族现代文明有效实现的外在约束与规范准则。中华民族经历了从奴隶社会、封建社会、半殖民地半封建社会到民族独立、人民当家作主新社会的历史演进，最终才确立对现代文明的实践探索。可以说，社会主义制度为中华民族现代文明提供了基本的制度保障，彰显了优越的制度优势。

Third, the operational structure: the coordinated promotion of civilizational cultivation, civilizational practice, and civilizational creation. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation takes “coordinated promotion of civilizational cultivation, civilizational practice, and civilizational creation” as its three-dimensional operational framework, running through the entire process and all fields. Civilizational cultivation lies in nurturing value consensus, public etiquette, social morality, and ideological concepts compatible with modern civilization, empowering the common prosperity of the people’s spiritual life, and becoming the internal gene of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Civilizational practice lies in promoting the transformation of the civilizational concepts and requirements inherent in the modern civilization of the Chinese nation into the embodied actions and experiential practices of the masses. Civilizational creation lies in promoting a series of mass civilizational creation activities such as civilized cities, civilized units, civilized families, and civilized campuses, transforming the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from abstract theory into concrete reality, truly integrating it into the daily life of the people. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation connects civilizational cultivation, civilizational practice, and civilizational creation, promoting the organic integration and orderly flow of the various elements within civilization, and shaping the “community of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.”

三是运行结构：文明培育、文明实践与文明创建统筹推动。中华民族现代文明将“统筹推动文明培育、文明实践、文明创建”作为运行的三维架构，贯穿于全过程与各领域。文明培育在于培育与现代文明相适应的价值公约、公共礼仪、社会道德、思想观念等，赋能人民精神生活共同富裕，成为中华民族现代文明的内在基因。文明实践在于推动中华民族现代文明所内蕴的文明理念与文明要求转化为人民群众具身行动与体验实践。文明创建在于推动开展文明城市、文明单位、文明家庭、文明校园等系列群众性文明创建活动，将中华民族现代文明由抽象理论转变为具象现实，真正融入人民日常生活。中华民族现代文明贯通文明培育、文明实践与文明创建，推动文明内部各要素的有机整合与有序流动，形塑“中华民族现代文明共同体”。

4. The Prominent Functions of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

4.中华民族现代文明的功能凸现

When discussing civilization, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly used metaphorical terms such as “bloodline,” “cultural lineage,” “root lineage,” and “soul lineage.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, in dimensions such as national spirit, cultural production, cultural inheritance, and ideological adherence, also possesses the functions of bloodline continuation, cultural lineage renewal, root lineage preservation, and soul lineage activation.

习近平总书记在论及文明时多次提及“血脉”“文脉”“根脉”“魂脉”等隐喻话语。中华民族现代文明在民族精神、文化生产、文化传承、思想坚守等维度，也具有血脉延续、文脉赓续、根脉坚守、魂脉激活的功能。

First, the function of continuing the national and ethnic spiritual bloodline. “Every civilization continues the spiritual bloodline of a nation and an ethnic group. It requires not only passing down the torch from generation to generation and guarding it, but also keeping pace with the times and daring to innovate.” [13]13 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the UNESCO Headquarters, March 27, 2014. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation focuses on exerting the function and role of spiritual production in building the state, shaping the nation, and inspiring the people. It refines and summarizes the spiritual characteristics and symbols of the state and nation, providing spiritual strength that nourishes noble spirit, and thus possesses the function of continuing the spiritual bloodline. “The deepest spiritual pursuit of a nation must be genetically sequenced within its spirit passed down from generation to generation.” [14]14 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, May 15, 2019. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation inherits, absorbs, and creates the spiritual bloodline from ancient times to the present, promotes the national spirit centered on patriotism and the spirit of the times centered on reform and innovation, continuously passes on the red traditions and genes, continues the spiritual bloodline of the Communists, and, taking the great founding spirit of the Party as its source, constructs the spiritual genealogy of the Chinese Communists. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation inherits, enriches, and develops the national and ethnic spirits of different periods, endowing them with contemporary connotations and vitality. From the Nanniwan Spirit to the Spirit of Fighting Poverty, from the Spirit of Combating SARS to the Great Spirit of Fighting COVID-19, from the Manned Spaceflight Spirit to the Lunar Exploration Spirit, from the Women’s Volleyball Spirit to the Beijing Winter Olympics Spirit, this highlights the enduring and generationally transmitted function of continuing the spiritual bloodline of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. In this process, it constructs the subjective spirit of firm cultural confidence and taking an autonomous path of civilization.

一是国家民族精神血脉延续功能。“每一种文明都延续着一个国家和民族的精神血脉，既需要薪火相传、代代守护，更需要与时俱进、勇于创新。”中华民族现代文明着力发挥精神生产对于建设国家、塑造民族、激励人民的功能与作用，对国家与民族的精神特质与符号进行提炼与总结，提供涵养浩然正气的精神力量，具有精神血脉延续功能。“一个民族最深沉的精神追求，一定要在其薪火相传的民族精神中来进行基因测序。”中华民族现代文明对从古至今的精神血脉进行传承、吸收与创造，弘扬以爱国主义为核心的民族精神与以改革创新为核心的时代精神，不断传承红色传统与基因，赓续共产党人精神血脉，以伟大建党精神为源头，构筑中国共产党人的精神谱系。中华民族现代文明传承、丰富与发展了不同时期的国家与民族精神，赋予时代内涵与活力，从南泥湾精神到脱贫攻坚精神、从抗击非典精神到伟大抗疫精神、从载人航天精神到探月精神、从女排精神到北京冬奥精神，凸显了中华民族现代文明历久弥新、代代相传的精神血脉延续功能，并在这一过程中构筑了坚定文化自信、走自主文明道路的主体精神。

Second, the function of renewing the Chinese cultural lineage. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is not an abstract existence but is concrete and real. Among its most important carriers are the classical texts and documents that embody the “Chinese cultural lineage.” The classical texts and documents accumulated over China’s more than five thousand years of civilizational history are vast and numerous. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, through the collation, research, and interpretation of precious ancient books and records, excavates the philosophical wisdom, moral norms, and spiritual markers contained within them, thereby realizing the renewal of the Chinese cultural lineage. For example, China has consistently adhered to the concept of “collecting and protecting all the classical texts and documents that can be gathered since ancient times, and continuing the only civilization in the world that has never been interrupted,” [15]15 Quotation from Xi Jinping, remarks during an inspection tour, June 2021. carrying out large-scale projects for the collation and publication of ancient books, including collation, punctuation, and annotation. It has advanced the punctuation and collation project of the *Twenty-Four Histories* and the *Draft History of Qing*, and produced a batch of outstanding achievements in ancient books such as the *Continuation of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries* and the *General Catalogue of Overseas Chinese Ancient Books*, ensuring the continuous transmission of Chinese classics. At the same time, it promotes the digital construction of ancient books, realizing functions such as data collection, data circulation, resource sharing, and application expansion, creating masterpieces for posterity. Through programs such as *China in the Classics*, it makes “the words written in ancient books come alive,” [16]16 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the UNESCO Headquarters, March 27, 2014. seeking historical wisdom embodied in classical texts, such as social ideals, feelings for family and country, and ecological concepts. Classical texts and documents have achieved a “primary” and “regenerative” return, making original contributions to exploring the origins of Chinese civilization and even world civilization, highlighting the important function of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation in preserving historical memory and realizing the renewal of the Chinese cultural lineage.

二是中华文脉赓续功能。中华民族现代文明并非抽象存在而是具体真实的，其中最重要的承载就是内蕴着“中华文脉”的典籍文献。中国五千多年文明史积淀形成的典籍文献浩如烟海、汗牛充栋。中华民族现代文明通过对珍贵的古籍典藏进行整理、研究与解读，挖掘其中蕴含的哲学智慧、道德规范与精神标识，实现中华文脉赓续。例如，我国一直秉承着“把自古以来能收集到的典籍资料收集全、保护好，把世界上唯一没有中断的文明继续传承下去”的理念，开展规模巨大的古籍整理出版工作，进行校勘、标点、注释，推进“二十四史”及《清史稿》点校工程，推出《续修四库全书》《海外中文古籍总目》等一批优秀古籍成果，让中华典籍赓续不绝；与此同时，推进古籍的数字化建设，实现资料搜集、数据流通、资源共享、应用拓展等功能，打造传世精品。通过《典籍里的中国》等节目让“书写在古籍里的文字都活起来”，寻求古籍文献中体现的社会理想、家国情怀、生态理念等历史智慧。典籍文献得到“原生性”“再生性”回归，对探索中华文明起源乃至世界文明起源作出原创性贡献，凸显了中华民族现代文明保存历史记忆、实现中华文脉赓续的重要功能。

Third, the function of preserving the root lineage of fine traditional Chinese culture. “The fine traditional Chinese culture created and continued by the Chinese nation over several thousand years of history is the root and soul of the Chinese nation.” [17]17 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, May 15, 2019. The fine traditional Chinese culture contains the principles of conduct between people, such as “promoting trust, harmony, benevolence, and good neighborliness,” the values between people and society, such as “the world is for all, and the people are the foundation of the state,” and the philosophical truths between humanity and nature, such as “the unity of Heaven and humanity and following the way of nature.” It is the root lineage of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The function of preserving the root lineage is specifically manifested in actively promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. This includes carrying out the project to trace the origins of Chinese civilization, advancing the protection of cultural heritage, strengthening archaeological work, and developing new forms of cultural business. It has produced innovative programs such as *Chinese Poetry Conference* and *National Treasure*, making historical confidence and cultural confidence more steadfast and realizing the continuation of the root lineage. At the same time, it deeply grasps the compatibility between Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture, thereby promoting the expression of the Party’s innovative theories. The Communist Party of China has put forward the modern thought of common prosperity, promoted “governing with virtue” to serve the governance of the state, integrated “appointing people on their merits” into the strategies for building a strong country in education and talent, and integrated “self-restraint and caution when alone” into the ideological and moral construction of citizens. This promotes the contemporary transformation and modern transition of fine traditional Chinese culture, fully highlighting the function of preserving the root lineage.

三是中华优秀传统文化根脉坚守功能。“中华民族在几千年历史中创造和延续的中华优秀传统文化，是中华民族的根和魂。”中华优秀传统文化中蕴含着人与人之间“讲信修睦、亲仁善邻”的处事原则，也蕴含了人与社会之间“天下为公、民为邦本”的价值理念，还蕴含了人与自然之间“天人合一、道法自然”的哲学真谛，是中华民族现代文明的根脉。根脉坚守功能具体表现为积极推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展。开展中华文明探源工程、推进文化遗产保护、加强考古工作、发展文化新业态等，推出《中国诗词大会》《国家宝藏》等形态创新节目，使历史自信、文化自信更为坚定，实现根脉延续。与此同时，深刻把握马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化的契合性，以此推动党的创新理论的表达。中国共产党提出共同富裕的现代化思想，推动“为政以德”服务于治国理政，将“任人唯贤”融入教育强国与人才强国战略，将“克己慎独”融入公民思想道德建设，推动中华优秀传统文化实现当代转换与现代转型，充分凸显了根脉坚守功能。

Fourth, the activating function of the Marxist soul. “Why the Communist Party of China can succeed and why socialism with Chinese characteristics can work — ultimately, it is because Marxism works!” Therefore, “the Marxist soul must never be discarded.” Marxism is the “founding ancestor” of scientific theory; activating the soul means enabling Marxism to radiate the light of truth and the value of the times that guide contemporary theory and the path of development, transcending the mere “physical reaction” of simple splicing and mechanical copying through a “chemical reaction” of high compatibility and deep integration. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is rooted in the fertile soil of the nation’s own history and culture. It persists in applying the “Two Integrations”[n18] and the “Six Musts”[n19] as scientific methods to activate the Marxist soul, continuously consolidating the civilizational foundation for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and transforming Marxism from “abstract dogma” and “suspended theory” into “a guide to action” and “concrete practice.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation uses the “arrow” of Marxism to shoot at the “target” of China in the New Era, giving rise to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as Marxism for contemporary China, thereby realizing the activation of the soul.

四是马克思主义魂脉激活功能。“中国共产党为什么能，中国特色社会主义为什么好，归根到底是因为马克思主义行！”因此，“决不能抛弃马克思主义这个魂脉”。马克思主义是科学理论的“老祖宗”，激活魂脉意味着要使马克思主义焕发出指导当代理论与道路发展的真理之光与时代价值，以高度契合、深度融合的“化学反应”超越简单拼接、照搬照抄的“物理反应”。中华民族现代文明根植本国本民族历史文化沃土，坚持运用“两个结合”“六个必须坚持”作为激活马克思主义魂脉的科学方法，不断夯实马克思主义中国化时代化的文明根基，推动马克思主义从“抽象的教条”“悬空的理论”转化为“行动的指南”“具体的实践”。中华民族现代文明用马克思主义之“矢”去射新时代中国之“的”，形成了作为当代中国马克思主义的习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，实现魂脉激活。

II. The Distinctive Features of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

二、中华民族现代文明的显著特征

The modern civilization of the Chinese nation presents distinctive features such as the dynamism of discarding the old and establishing the new, the purposiveness of unity between the individual and the collective, the wholeness of inward cohesion, and the openness of inclusive absorption.

中华民族现代文明呈现出革故鼎新的动态性、群己合一的目的性、向内凝聚的整体性、兼收并蓄的开放性等显著特征。

1. The Dynamism of Discarding the Old and Establishing the New

1.革故鼎新的动态性

“Chinese civilization is a civilization that discards the old and establishes the new, shining with renewed radiance each day, interweaving deep stillness and surging waves.” Civilization is in constant flux and dynamic development; the modern civilization of the Chinese nation also exhibits the dynamism of discarding the old and establishing the new, always maintaining a dynamic tension between “discarding the old” and “establishing the new.”

“中华文明是革故鼎新、辉光日新的文明，静水深流与波澜壮阔交织。”文明不断流动、动态发展，中华民族现代文明也呈现出革故鼎新的动态性，始终在“革故”与“鼎新”中保持动态张力。

First, it always presents the dynamic characteristic of “discarding the old.” “Civilization is not static and fixed, but dynamic and developing.” The same holds for the modern civilization of the Chinese nation; it is not immutable. It upholds the enterprising spirit of “upholding what is right without being conservative, respecting antiquity without restoring the past,” follows the laws and logic of civilizational growth, and continuously evolves and progresses dynamically. In the political system, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has discarded the old “enfeoffment system, commandery-county system, province-prefecture system, circuit-prefecture system, and provincial system” of feudal history, establishing political systems such as “the people’s democratic dictatorship, the system of people’s congresses, the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the system of grassroots self-governance” that align with modern political civilization and suit China’s national conditions. In ideology and culture, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has discarded the dross of “the pre-Qin schools of thought, the classical studies of the Han, the Neo-Daoism of the Wei and Jin, the Buddhist studies of the Sui and Tang, and the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming,” absorbing their beneficial elements, combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, and founding Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, demonstrating the vigorous vitality of theoretical dynamic development. With the character of “discarding the old,” the modern civilization of the Chinese nation critically inherits and adjusts, allowing civilization to move from tradition to modernity, achieving transcendence and rejuvenation.

首先，始终呈现“革故”的动态特征。“文明不是静止的、固定的，而是动态的、发展的。”中华民族现代文明亦是如此，并非一成不变的，秉持着“守正不守旧、尊古不复古”的进取精神，遵循文明成长规律与逻辑，不断动态演进与进步。在政治体制上，中华民族现代文明革除了历史上封建社会中旧的“分封制、郡县制、州郡制、道路制、行省制”，建立起与现代政治文明相契合、与中国国情相适应的“人民民主专政、人民代表大会制度、中国共产党领导的多党合作制和政治协商制度、民族区域自治制度、基层群众自治制度”等政治制度。在思想文化上，中华民族现代文明革除了“先秦子学、两汉经学、魏晋玄学、隋唐佛学、宋明理学”等思想中的糟粕，吸收其有益成分，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，创立习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，彰显出理论动态发展的旺盛生命力。中华民族现代文明以“革故”品格，批判性地继承与调整，让文明由传统走向现代，实现超越与复兴。

Second, it presents the dynamic characteristic of “establishing the new.” The *Great Learning* states: “If you can renew yourself for one day, then you can renew yourself every day, and continue to renew yourself day after day.” The *Book of Changes* contains the hexagrams “Ding” (cauldron) and “Ge” (reform), as well as “Sun” (decrease) and “Yi” (increase). “Of the 300 most important inventions and discoveries in the world before the 16th century, China accounted for 173, far exceeding contemporary Europe.” All this demonstrates the Chinese nation’s long-standing character of discarding the old and establishing the new, of upward development. It is precisely because of this dynamism of “establishing the new” that Chinese civilization has been able to transition and transform from primitive society, slave society, feudal society, and modern society, achieving the modern transformation and sublimation of civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation places “innovation” as the primary element of the new development philosophy, “daring to speak new words that predecessors have not spoken, daring to do things that predecessors have not done,” endowing “establishing the new” with new connotations and new vitality, continuously promoting innovation in theory, institutions, science and technology, culture, and other fields, activating the source vitality of modern civilization and adding momentum to dynamic development.

其次，呈现出“鼎新”的动态特性。《大学》曰：“苟日新，日日新，又日新。”《周易》中存在“鼎”“革”二卦、“损”“益”二卦。“16世纪以前世界上最重要的300项发明和发现中，我国占173项，远远超过同时代的欧洲。”这些都彰显了中华民族一向具有革故鼎新、向上发展的品格。正由于这种“鼎新”的动态性，中华民族文明才能从原始社会、奴隶社会、封建社会、近代社会跃迁与嬗变，实现文明的现代化转型与升华。中华民族现代文明将“创新”作为新发展理念的首位要素，“敢于说前人没有说过的新话，敢于干前人没有干过的事情”，赋予“鼎新”新内涵与新活力，持续推进理论创新、制度创新、科技创新、文化创新等各领域的创新，激活现代文明的源泉活力，增添动态发展的动力。

Finally, it achieves a dynamic balance between “discarding the old” and “establishing the new.” Before the conditions for a higher form of civilization have arrived or matured, the original old civilizational form can still play its due role, thereby maintaining the dynamic balance and stability of civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation cannot achieve a one-step civilizational transformation and upgrade in a short time. Instead, it continuously extends and inherits the essence and advantages of traditional civilization, iterating from the patriarchal model of the unity of family and state to the pluralistic and integrated Chinese national community, and from establishing a complete value system based on ritual, blood ties, and authority to constructing a core socialist value system that leads spiritual guidance and moral demonstration. Civilization dynamically sublates and moves back and forth between “the ancient and the new” and “the fixed and the changing,” forming a balanced, stable, and resilient civilizational order structure.

最后，在“革故”与“鼎新”中动态平衡。在更为高级的文明形态的条件尚未到来、尚不成熟之前，原有的旧的文明形态仍能发挥应有的作用，以此维持文明的动态平衡与稳定。中华民族现代文明并不能在短时间内实现一蹴而就的文明转型与升级，而是绵延接续传统文明精髓优势，从家国同构的宗法模式迭代至多元一体的中华民族共同体，从依照礼法、血缘、权威建立一整套价值体系进化至构建统领精神引领、道德示范的社会主义核心价值体系，文明在“古与新”“定与变”中动态扬弃、通达往返，形成平衡稳定、富有韧性的文明秩序结构。

2. The Purposiveness of Unity between the Individual and the Collective

2.群己合一的目的性

“Peace, amity, and harmony are concepts that Chinese civilization has transmitted for over five thousand years, advocating the construction of a world where the individual and the collective are unified through a moral order, prioritizing others in the relationship between self and others.” The purpose of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation lies in coordinating and handling the relationship between the individual and the collective. The characteristic of “the purposiveness of unity between the individual and the collective” radiates a powerful centripetal force,凝聚ing the nation, the state, the people, and even the world to unite and strive around peaceful development.

“和平、和睦、和谐是中华文明五千多年来一直传承的理念，主张以道德秩序构造一个群己合一的世界，在人己关系中以他人为重。”中华民族现代文明之目的在于协调与处理好个体与群体的关系，“群己合一的目的性”这一特性，迸发出强大向心力，凝聚国家、民族、人民乃至世界围绕和平发展而团结奋斗。

On the one hand, it promotes the realization of “unity between the individual and the collective” for the individual people and the national and state collectives. The people are the smallest individual units that bear civilization. If the people cannot unite and cohere, the nation will decline, the state will perish, and civilization will decay. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation takes the comprehensive development of the individual as its goal, continuously meeting the diverse and differentiated civilizational demands of the people, promoting the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, guiding the common direction of “unity between the individual and the collective,” improving people’s modern civilizational literacy and quality, establishing strong civilizational confidence and consciousness, enhancing the ambition, backbone, and confidence of being Chinese, thereby strengthening identity and value identification with the state and the nation, promoting the modernization of the nation and the state through the modernization of the people, and thus achieving the unified goal of people’s happiness, national prosperity, and national rejuvenation.

一方面，推动实现人民个体与国家、民族群体的“群己合一”。人民是承载文明的最小单位个体。人民无法团结凝聚，民族就会衰败，国家就会衰亡，文明就会衰落。中华民族现代文明以个体全面发展为目标，不断满足人民多元化、差异化的文明诉求，弘扬中国特色社会主义共同理想，指引“群己合一”共同前进的方向，提高人的现代文明素养与素质，树立起强大的文明自信与自觉，增强做中国人的志气、骨气、底气，以此强化对国家与民族的身份认同、价值认同，以人的现代化促进民族与国家的现代化，进而实现人民幸福、国家富强、民族复兴的统一目标。

On the other hand, it promotes the realization of “unity between the individual and the collective” for the world. Looking to the globe, the “collective” is the entire human civilization, while the “individual” is the independent civilization of each state and nation. Capitalist civilization, through a modernization model obtained by external expansion and colonial aggression, promotes “Western-centrism” and “universal values,” elevating the individual claims of the “self” into the common values of the “collective.” This is a logic of civilizational hegemony that destroys the balanced order of “unity between the individual and the collective.” In contrast, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation understands the importance of being good to and benefiting the collective, emphasizing “appreciating the beauty of each and sharing the beauty of all” rather than “hegemonic behavior and self-aggrandizement,” respecting and protecting the diversity and differences of the world’s various civilizations, taking the promotion of the common values of all humanity as its starting point, seeking the common interests of human civilizational development, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

另一方面，推动实现世界的“群己合一”。放眼至全球，“群”是整个人类文明，而“己”是各个国家、民族的独立文明。资本主义文明通过对外扩张、殖民侵略换取的现代化模式，推行“西方中心论”“普世价值观”，将“己”的个体主张上升为“群”的共同价值，是一种文明霸权逻辑，破坏了“群己合一”的平衡秩序。相较之下，中华民族现代文明懂得善群、利群的重要性，强调“各美其美、美美与共”而非“霸道之行、唯我独尊”，尊重与保护世界不同文明的多样性与差异性，以弘扬全人类共同价值为出发点，谋求人类文明发展的共同利益，推动构建人类命运共同体。

3. The Wholeness of Inward Cohesion

3.向内凝聚的整体性

“‘The pursuit of unity through inward cohesion is a prerequisite for the continuity of civilization and also a result of that continuity.’” The wholeness of inward cohesion in the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is specifically manifested in the following two aspects.

“‘向内凝聚’的统一性追求，是文明连续的前提，也是文明连续的结果。”中华民族现代文明向内凝聚的整体性，具体表现为以下两方面。

On the one hand, it manifests the wholeness of territorial sovereignty. The integrity of territorial sovereignty is a necessary condition for inward cohesion and the prerequisite and guarantee for the existence, development, and continuation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. “All under heaven is the king’s land; all on the shores of the seas are the king’s subjects,” vividly reflects the territorial consciousness in traditional concepts, emphasizing that the state is a holistic concept composed of “the sovereign, the territory, and the people.” Historically, the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins have always been the center, with basic territorial boundaries determined according to the course of mountains and rivers, establishing geographical and political wholeness within discourses and spatial concepts such as “unification of mountains and rivers, unity of altars of state, commonality of the nine provinces, and the four seas as one household.” Currently, China attaches great importance to the security of territorial sovereignty, has formulated the *Land Border Law*, and has forged a firm belief in “territory that cannot be divided, a state that cannot be thrown into chaos, a nation that cannot be scattered, and a civilization that cannot be broken.”

一方面，彰显国土主权的整体性。国土主权的完整是向内凝聚的必要条件，是中华民族现代文明得以存在、发展与赓续的前提、保障。“普天之下，莫非王土；率土之滨，莫非王臣”，鲜明反映出传统观念中的国土意识，强调国家是一个由“国主、国土、国民”组成的整体性概念。历史上，一直以黄河、长江流域为中心，依据山河走向来确定基本的国土疆域，在“江山一统、社稷一体、九州共贯、四海一家”等话语与空间概念中确定自身地理与政治的整体性。当前，我国高度重视国土主权安全，制定《陆地国界法》，筑牢“国土不可分、国家不可乱、民族不可散、文明不可断”的坚定信念。

On the other hand, it manifests the holistic nature of thought and culture. “Civilization can only be studied over long periods of time, for only thus can one grasp a gradually emerging main thread—something commonly adhered to by a group of people.” [20]20 The quotation is from Fernand Braudel, *A History of Civilizations*. And that which is commonly accepted, adhered to, and identified with by people manifests the holistic nature of thought and culture. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, as a whole, possesses within its system a common language and script, is based on the Chinese national community, nurtures humanistic spirits such as “upholding morality, esteeming justice, valuing harmony, and pursuing the Great Harmony,” [21]21 “讲道德、崇正义、尚和合、求大同” (jiang daode, chong zhengyi, shang hehe, qiu datong) is a four-character-phrase summary of traditional Chinese humanistic ideals. constructs a holistic worldview and moral outlook, and has distinct “cultural characteristics that emphasize ethics, human-centeredness, practicality, and harmony.” [22]22 The quoted phrase “重伦理、重人本、重实际、重和谐之文化特点” (zhong lunli, zhong renben, zhong shiji, zhong hexie zhi wenhua tedian) is a standard characterization of Chinese cultural traits in Chinese academic discourse. Thus, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation manifests the holistic nature of thought and culture, broadly coalesces the spiritual strength of the people, and performs the function of a unifying bond that “coheres inwardly.”

另一方面，彰显思想文化的整体性。“文明只能在长时间段中进行研究，这样才能把握一条逐渐呈现的主线——为一群人所共同遵守的某种东西。”而这种为人们所共同接受、遵守与认同的东西，就彰显了思想文化的整体性。中华民族现代文明作为一个整体，在其系统之内具有共通的语言、文字，以中华民族共同体为基础，涵育了“讲道德、崇正义、尚和合、求大同”等人文精神，构筑了整体的宇宙观、道德观，具有鲜明的“重伦理、重人本、重实际、重和谐之文化特点”。由此，中华民族现代文明彰显了思想文化的整体性，广泛凝聚人民精神力量，发挥“向内凝聚”的团结纽带功能。

4. Openness that incorporates all that is valuable

4.兼收并蓄的开放性

“The inclusiveness of Chinese civilization … determines the open-mindedness of Chinese culture to incorporate all that is valuable from world civilizations.” [23]23 The quotation is from Xi Jinping’s speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Cultural Inheritance, 2023. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has always maintained openness, respecting and accepting other civilizations and their achievements, engaging in exchange and mutual learning with them.

“中华文明的包容性……决定了中华文化对世界文明兼收并蓄的开放胸怀。”中华民族现代文明始终保持着开放性，尊重与接纳其他文明及其成果，与之交流互鉴。

On the one hand, it absorbs and draws lessons from others, achieving “use for oneself.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has always revered the principle that “harmony generates new things, while sameness leads to no continuation,” [24]24 “和实生物，同则不继” (he shi sheng wu, tong ze bu ji) is a classical Chinese aphorism from the *Guoyu* (Discourses of the States), attributed to the Zhou dynasty historian Shi Bo. thereby achieving the absorption, integration, and unification of the achievements of other civilizations. For example, it transcends time and space and crosses national boundaries, actively learning from and absorbing advanced market systems, science and technology, modes of operation, and management methods from Western modern production, providing a reference for the formation of a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. Especially as the world enters a period of opportunity in a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, following agricultural civilization and industrial civilization, a new form of digital civilization is emerging. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation can scientifically and rationally treat emerging civilizations in the world, achieving continuous leaps in areas such as mobile payments, e-commerce, new energy, drone technology, 5G communication technology, and artificial intelligence—from learning and imitation to catching up and surpassing, and then gradually taking the lead. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation adheres to the principle of “all rivers run into the sea; discard the old and absorb the new,” [25]25 “海纳百川、吐故纳新” (hai na bai chuan, tu gu na xin) combines two classical idioms: “all rivers run into the sea” (from a poem by Li Bai) and “discard the old and absorb the new” (from the *Zhuangzi*). draws the essence of other heterogeneous civilizations, advances Chinese-path modernization different from the Western capitalist path, and creates a new form of human civilization with Chinese individuality and global commonality, manifesting an openness that incorporates all that is valuable.

一方面，吸收借鉴，实现“为我所用”。中华民族现代文明向来崇尚“和实生物，同则不继”，实现对其他文明成果的吸收借鉴、融合统一。比如超越时空、跨越国度，积极学习与吸收西方现代生产中先进的市场体系、科学技术、经营方式、管理方法等，为形成中国特色社会主义市场经济提供参考。特别是世界进入新一轮科技革命和产业变革的机遇期，继农业文明、工业文明之后，数字文明新形态正呼之欲出。中华民族现代文明能够科学合理地对待世界出现的新兴文明，在移动支付、电子商务、新能源、无人机技术、5G通讯技术、人工智能等领域实现从学习模仿到追赶超越再到逐渐领先的不断跃迁。中华民族现代文明坚持“海纳百川、吐故纳新”，汲取其他异质文明精华，推进不同于西方资本主义道路的中国式现代化，创造出了具有中国个性与世界共性的人类文明新形态，彰显了兼收并蓄的开放性。

On the other hand, it engages in exchange and mutual learning, achieving “inclusive coexistence.” “In today’s world, where the future and destiny of all countries are closely linked, the inclusive coexistence and exchange and mutual learning of different civilizations play an irreplaceable role in advancing the process of human societal modernization and enriching the garden of world civilizations.” [26]26 The quotation is from Xi Jinping’s speech at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting, 2023. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation upholds the principle that “all things grow together without harming one another, and the ways run in parallel without contradicting each other,” [27]27 “万物并育而不相害，道并行而不相悖” (wanwu bing yu er bu xiang hai, dao bing xing er bu xiang bei) is a classical phrase from the *Doctrine of the Mean* (Zhongyong). and is adept at using exchange and mutual learning as an external driving force for civilization, learning from others’ strengths to compensate for its own weaknesses, and extending the creativity and vitality of civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation continues the typical examples of exchange and mutual learning in history, such as Zhang Qian’s missions to the Western Regions, Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Seas, the eastward transmission of Buddhism, and the “Confucian-Islamic synthesis,” [28]28 “伊儒会通” (Yi Ru huitong) refers to the historical synthesis of Islamic and Confucian thought among Chinese Muslims, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties. promotes reform and opening up, actively aligns with international standards, and integrates into the global economic, political, and cultural systems. Entering the New Era, it has taken the Belt and Road Initiative as a new channel for civilizational exchange and mutual learning, promoted South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue, established exchange platforms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-CELAC Forum, built mechanisms for friendly cooperation with different regional organizations such as ASEAN, the African Union, and MERCOSUR, as well as dialogue mechanisms like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, actively hosted conferences such as World Expos, the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, and the World Heritage Convention, promoted institutions like the Confucius Institutes to play a role in international cultural exchange and promotion, and put forward new concepts such as the Global Civilization Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Development Initiative, manifesting a grand pattern of exchange and mutual learning.

另一方面，交流互鉴，实现“包容共存”。“在各国前途命运紧密相连的今天，不同文明包容共存、交流互鉴，在推动人类社会现代化进程、繁荣世界文明百花园中具有不可替代的作用。”中华民族现代文明奉行“万物并育而不相害，道并行而不相悖”，善于将交流互鉴作为文明的外生动力，取长补短，延续文明的创造力与生命力。中华民族现代文明延续历史上如张骞出使西域、郑和下西洋、佛教东传、“伊儒会通”等交流互鉴的典型，推动改革开放，主动同国际接轨，融入全球经济体系、政治体系与文化体系。进入新时代，更以“一带一路”倡议作为文明交流互鉴的新通道，推动南南合作、南北对话，创建中非合作论坛、中国-拉共体论坛等交流平台，建立了与东盟、非盟、南方共同市场等不同区域组织间的友好合作机制以及金砖国家、上合组织等对话机制，积极举办世界博览会、亚洲文明大会、世界遗产大会等会议，推动孔子学院等机构在国际上发挥文化交流与推广的作用，提出全球文明倡议、全球安全倡议、全球发展倡议等新理念，彰显交流互鉴大格局。

III. The Systematic Construction Path of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

三、中华民族现代文明的系统建设路径

Marx believed that “civilization is a matter of practice, a quality of society.” [29]29 The quotation is from Marx and Engels, *The German Ideology*. To advance the systematic construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation in the New Era, it is necessary to grasp the interactive coupling existing within the internal structure of civilization, and based on the dynamic process, developmental laws, and evolutionary logic of civilization, proceed from the principle of optimization to carry out integration, transformation, and innovation, shaping its self-activation, promoting its self-emergence, and strengthening its self-adaptation.

马克思认为，“文明是实践的事情，是社会的素质”。新时代推进中华民族现代文明系统建设，需把握文明内部结构存在的互动耦合，依据文明的动态过程、发展规律与演进逻辑，从最优化原则出发进行整合、转化与创新，形塑其自能动、推动其自涌现、强化其自适应。

1. Shaping the Self-Activation of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

1.形塑中华民族现代文明的自能动

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to “promote the entire Party’s mastery of the basic principles and methodology of historical materialism,” so as to “better understand the laws of historical development and more actively advance all work,” and to “use the energy and creativity of youth to stir up the surging spring tide of national rejuvenation.” [30]30 The first quotation is from Xi Jinping’s speech at the collective study session of the Politburo of the 18th CPC Central Committee on historical materialism, 2013; the second is from his speech at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China, 2022. Self-activation refers to the system’s spontaneous and active operation, adjustment, and innovation, “enabling the system to move from disorder to order, and from low-level order to high-level order.” [31]31 The quotation is from a Chinese systems theory text, likely referring to the concept of self-organization in complex systems. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has its own internal logic of civilizational operation and evolutionary laws. According to internal and external interactions, it shapes leadership self-activation, practice self-activation, and evaluation self-activation, realizing the transformation from tradition to modernity.

习近平总书记指出，要“推动全党掌握历史唯物主义基本原理和方法论”，从而“更好认识历史发展规律，更加能动地推进各项工作”，要“用青春的能动力和创造力激荡起民族复兴的澎湃春潮”。自能动，指的是系统自发主动运转、调整创新，“使系统从无序到有序，从低级有序到高级有序”。中华民族现代文明有其自身文明运行的内在逻辑与演进规律，按照内外部的相互作用，形塑领导自能动、践行自能动与评价自能动，实现由传统向现代转型。

First, shape leadership self-activation with the Communist Party of China at its core. The Communist Party of China is the leading core of all our undertakings, and also the leading core of the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. It is necessary to strengthen the comprehensive leadership of the Communist Party of China over the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, forming a self-activating system that runs through all areas, all links, and all processes. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the leadership of Party organizations at different levels, from the central to the grassroots, over civilizational construction, ensuring vertical coherence and effective execution. The central Party organizations carry out dominant construction and systematic allocation for civilizational construction, strengthening top-level design and decision-making deployment for overall development, providing fundamental guarantees for it. Local and grassroots Party organizations, as the “middle section” and the “last kilometer” for implementing the Party Central Committee’s deployments on the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, need to absorb and integrate favorable elements from all sides, and stimulate and mobilize broad forces. On the other hand, it is necessary to activate the organizational agency of the Communist Party of China in different entities such as Party and state organs, universities, enterprises, and social organizations, as well as in different fields such as cities and rural areas, fully exerting political leadership, institutional construction capacity, and organizational mobilization capacity, so that the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation operates efficiently.

一是形塑以中国共产党为核心的领导自能动。中国共产党是我们各项事业的领导核心，也是中华民族现代文明建设的领导核心。要加强中国共产党对中华民族现代文明全方位的领导，形成贯通各领域、各环节、各过程的自能动体系。一方面，要加强从中央到基层的不同层级党组织对文明建设的领导，上下贯通、执行有力。党的中央组织对文明建设进行主导性建构与系统性配置，加强整体发展的顶层设计与决策部署，为其提供根本保障。党的地方与基层组织作为贯彻落实党中央关于中华民族现代文明建设部署的“中间段”与“最后一公里”，需要吸纳与整合各方有利要素，激发与动员广泛力量。另一方面，要激活中国共产党在党和国家机关、高校、企业、社会组织等不同主体和城市、农村不同领域的组织能动作用，充分发挥政治领导力、制度建设力、组织动员力，让中华民族现代文明建设高效运转起来。

Second, shape practice self-activation based on the great practice of the Chinese nation. On the one hand, it is necessary to firmly grasp the great practice of the Two Integrations. [32]32 The Two Integrations (两个结合, liang ge jiehe) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, as formulated by Xi Jinping. To advance the systematic construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, we must first adhere to the guidance of Marxism, and at the same time, we must adhere to integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, relying on the Two Integrations to achieve mutual compatibility and give rise to new subject forms. The Two Integrations are the inevitable path for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, emphasizing the inherent subjectivity and unique distinctiveness of civilization, achieving the unity of civilizational consciousness and civilizational self-determination. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, in advancing the Two Integrations, must take root in the practice of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, correctly answer the major questions raised by the times and practice, and in promoting Chinese-path modernization, creating a new form of human civilization, building a community with a shared future for mankind, and meeting the people’s needs for a better life, promote the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and transform the best of traditional Chinese culture from an “ancient edition” into a “modern edition.” On the other hand, it is necessary to solidly advance the practice of the core socialist values. The core socialist values are the value guidance for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation must run the core socialist values through all elements, all processes, and all fields of construction, promote the spiritual lineage of Chinese Communists originating from the great founding spirit of the Party, promote the normalization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education, use the core socialist values to forge souls and educate people, improve the ideological and political work system, and promote their integration into the construction of the rule of law, into social development, and into daily life.

二是形塑立足于中华民族伟大实践的践行自能动。一方面，要牢牢把握“两个结合”的伟大实践。推进中华民族现代文明的系统建设，首先要坚持马克思主义的指导，同时必须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，依托“两个结合”实现彼此契合，并催生新的主体形态。“两个结合”是建设中华民族现代文明的必由之路，强调了文明的内在主体性与自身独特性，实现文明自觉与文明自为相统一。中华民族现代文明推进“两个结合”要扎根于中华民族伟大复兴的实践，正确回答时代和实践提出的重大问题，在推进中国式现代化、创造人类文明新形态、构建人类命运共同体、满足人民美好生活需要中推动马克思主义中国化时代化，推动中华优秀传统文化从“古版”变为“今版”。另一方面，扎实推进践行社会主义核心价值观。社会主义核心价值观是建设中华民族现代文明的价值引领。中华民族现代文明要将社会主义核心价值观贯穿于建设的全要素、全过程、全领域，弘扬以伟大建党精神为源头的中国共产党人精神谱系，推动理想信念教育常态化制度化，用社会主义核心价值观铸魂育人，完善思想政治工作体系，推动其融入法治建设、融入社会发展、融入日常生活。

Third, it shapes an evaluative self-initiative that takes the people’s interests as the standard. The masses, as the examiners, are the ultimate evaluators of the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation reflects the interest demands and inner aspirations of the Chinese people; it cannot be dictated or bossed around by other Western countries. A complete set of scientific and rigorous evaluation systems must be formulated with the interests of the Chinese people as the standard, to measure its results, test its effectiveness, and shape an evaluative self-initiative with the people as the subject. It is necessary to establish an evaluation concept of “putting the people first,” taking whether the people are “satisfied, happy, or agreeable” and whether the people have achieved comprehensive development as the starting point and ultimate goal for evaluating the effectiveness of civilization construction. Using the people’s interests as the evaluation standard, design the sub-indicators and elements for evaluating the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and construct a quantitative evaluation model that is visualizable, assessable, and perceptible. Taking the specific changes brought about by the modern civilization of the Chinese nation in politics, economy, law, society, culture, and environment as indicator considerations, and taking the people’s specific civilizational discourse, behavior, and activities as related evaluation elements, assess indices related to the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security, and measure the objective and real degree and state of development of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

三是形塑以人民利益为标准的评价自能动。人民群众作为阅卷人，是中华民族现代文明建设的最终评价者。中华民族现代文明折射出中国人民利益要求与内心愿景，不能被其他西方国家指手画脚、颐指气使，需以中国人民利益为标准制定一整套科学严密的评价体系，衡量其结果、检验其成效，形塑以人民为主体的评价自能动。要确立“人民至上”的评价理念，将人民“满不满意、高不高兴、答不答应”以及人民群众是否实现全面发展作为评价文明建设成效的出发点与落脚点。以人民利益为评价标准设计中华民族现代文明评价的细分指标与要素，构建起可视化、可评估、可感知的量化评价模型。以中华民族现代文明在政治、经济、法律、社会、文化、环境方面所带来的具体改变为指标考量，以人民群众的具体文明话语、行为、活动为关联评价要素，评估人民获得感、幸福感、安全感等相关指数，衡量中华民族现代文明客观、真实的发展程度与状况。

2. Promoting the Self-Emergence of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

2.推动中华民族现代文明的自涌现

Self-emergence refers to the explosive growth of unpredictable complex patterns resulting from simple interactive behaviors presupposed among individuals within a system. Just as “life emerges from inorganic matter… social organizations emerge from individual behavior,” the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, in the process of realizing the transformation to modern civilization, bursts forth with immense civilizational power, promoting the emergence of civilizational communication power, influence, and guiding power.

自涌现是指一个系统当中个体之间预设的简单互动行为所造就的无法预知的复杂样态的现象实现井喷式的增长。正如“生命是从无机物中涌现出来的……社会组织从个体行为中涌现出来”，中华民族现代文明在实现现代文明的转型过程中迸发出巨大的文明力量，推动文明传播力、影响力、引导力的涌现。

First, promote the self-emergence of civilizational communication power. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation needs to be disseminated externally through various media to gain international acceptance and recognition and secure a favorable public opinion environment. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity building of communication technology, refine spiritual symbols, reconstruct cultural symbols, and reshape civilizational character in the era of artificial intelligence, promoting mobile, social, and visual presentation to display a three-dimensional, comprehensive, and authentic civilizational image. It is necessary to build an independent knowledge system, a coherent discourse system, and an empathetic narrative system, conduct interdisciplinary joint research for interpretation and study, refine and display the spiritual symbols and essential core of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, clearly explain the civilization’s historical origins, development脉络, and basic direction, create new concepts, new categories, and new expressions, promote global, regional, and segmented expression of the civilization, and display a cordial, credible, and lovely civilizational image. It is necessary to create unique communication brands, build open and inclusive platforms for civilizational dialogue, extensively carry out cultural exchange activities, excavate more Chinese stories with appeal and distinctiveness, form multiplier, superposition, and aggregation effects, and display a vivid, lively, and interesting civilizational image.

一是推动文明传播力的自涌现。中华民族现代文明需要通过各种媒介向外传播，获得国际接纳认可，赢得有利舆论环境。因此，要强化传播技术能力建设，在人工智能时代提炼精神标识、重构文化符号、重塑文明品格，推动移动化、社交化、可视化呈现，展示立体、全面、真实的文明形象。要构筑自主知识体系、融通话语体系与共情叙事体系，跨学科联合攻关进行阐释研究，提炼展示中华民族现代文明的精神标识和精髓内核，讲清楚文明的历史起源、发展脉络、基本走向，打造新概念、新范畴、新表述，推动文明的世界性、区域化、分众化表达，展示可亲、可信、可爱的文明形象。要打造独特传播品牌，搭建开放包容的文明对话平台，广泛开展人文交流活动，挖掘更多具有感召力、辨识度的中国故事，形成倍增、叠加与聚合效应，展示生动、活泼、有趣的文明形象。

Second, promote the self-emergence of civilizational influence. As a product of human civilization at a certain stage of development, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must promote the emergence of role influence and behavioral influence on a global scale. On the one hand, it is necessary to promote the self-emergence of role influence. It is necessary to continue to advance the community with a shared future for mankind, implement the Global Civilization Initiative, actively assume the responsibilities of a major country, and promote China playing a more important role on the international stage. Based on the fundamental role of “seeking common good for the world,” deepen friendly mutual trust and interest integration, release huge development dividends, and promote the self-emergence of the influence of different roles such as China as a promoter of the global economy, a maintainer of peace and security, a governor of the international order, a participant in international affairs, a partner of strategic cooperation, a solver of global problems, and a mediator of civilizational disputes. On the other hand, it is necessary to promote the self-emergence of behavioral influence. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, relying on the behavioral logic of “each appreciating its own beauty, and the beauty of others together,” pursues flexible influence rather than hard power, uses the two main actors of official government and civil organizations, and influences, infects, and moves other civilizations with a popular and subtly influential behavioral style, promoting behavioral interaction between different civilizations. Deepen the development of all-round, wide-ranging, and multi-level foreign exchange and cooperation, use major regional strategies, international conferences, etc., as focal points for expanding influence, promote world economic recovery and stable growth through one’s own behavior, and contribute more civilizational solutions through concrete actions.

二是推动文明影响力的自涌现。中华民族现代文明作为人类文明发展到一定阶段的产物，要推动全球范围内角色影响力和行为影响力的涌现。一方面，要推动角色影响力的自涌现。要持续推进人类命运共同体，落实全球文明倡议，主动承担大国责任，推动中国在国际舞台扮演更重要的角色。立足于“为世界谋大同”的根本角色，深化友好互信与利益融合，释放出巨大的发展红利，推动中国作为全球经济的推动者、和平安全的维护者、国际秩序的治理者、国际事务的参与者、战略伙伴的合作者、全球问题的解决者以及文明争端的调节者等不同角色影响力的自涌现。另一方面，要推动行为影响力的自涌现。中华民族现代文明依托“各美其美、美美与共”的行为逻辑，追求柔性影响而非硬性强权，以官方政府与民间组织两大行为主体，以喜闻乐见、润物无声的行为风格影响、感染与打动其他文明，促进不同文明体间的行为互动。深化开展全方位、宽领域、多层次的对外交流合作，利用重大区域战略、国际会议等作为扩大影响力的着力点，以自身行为推动世界经济复苏与稳定增长，以实际行动贡献更多文明方案。

Third, promote the self-emergence of civilizational guiding power. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a new form of human civilization, representing the forward direction of human civilizational progress, creating a new civilizational life entity, and promoting the self-emergence of theoretical, cultural, institutional, and path guiding power to lead the development of world civilizational trends. It is necessary to promote the self-emergence of theoretical guiding power, guide and promote the integration and sublimation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation with Marxist theory, produce a profound “chemical reaction,” and continuously open up new frontiers in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. It is necessary to promote the self-emergence of cultural guiding power, uphold a cultural view of mutual respect and equal treatment, let the modern civilization of the Chinese nation serve the present era, put forward new theories in terms of ideas, concepts, moral ethics, and behavioral norms, respond to the reasonable concerns of different civilizations, and empower the cultural prosperity of various countries. It is necessary to promote the self-emergence of institutional guiding power, advance the reform, innovation, and improvement of economic, political, social, ecological, and other institutional systems, integrate modern agricultural civilization, modern industrial civilization, modern technological civilization, and modern digital civilization, continuously demonstrate new institutional advantages that are orderly connected, and guide the development of world civilization. It is necessary to promote the self-emergence of path guiding power, lead the direction of world development with the path of Chinese-path modernization, create a path different from Western-style modernization, promote the combined force of labor, capital, power, and data, and profoundly answer the question of the times: “Where is the world headed, and what should humanity do?”

三是推动文明引导力的自涌现。中华民族现代文明是人类文明新形态，代表了人类文明进步的前进方向，造就了一个新的文明生命体，推动理论、文化、制度、道路引导力自涌现，去引领世界文明潮流的发展。要推动理论引导力的自涌现，引导推动中华民族现代文明与马克思主义理论交融升华，产生深刻“化学反应”，持续开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界。要推动文化引导力的自涌现，秉持相互尊重、平等相待的文化观，让中华民族现代文明服务于当今时代，在思想观念、道德伦理、行为规范方面提出新的理论，回应不同文明的合理关切，赋能各国文化繁荣。要推动制度引导力的自涌现，推进经济、政治、社会、生态等制度体系的改革、创新与完善，融合现代农业文明、现代工业文明、现代科技文明、现代数字文明，不断彰显出联结有序的新制度优势，引导世界文明发展。要推动道路引导力的自涌现，以中国式现代化道路引领世界发展方向，创造一条不同于西方式现代化的道路，推动劳动、资本、权力、数据发挥合力，深刻回答“世界向何处去、人类怎么办”的时代之问。

3. Strengthening the Self-Adaptation of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

3.强化中华民族现代文明的自适应

Self-adaptation refers to “countless individuals organizing themselves to form a dynamic, changeable, self-adaptive system.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation can survive, develop, and perpetuate itself, effectively adapting to the challenges posed by changes in the internal system’s living environment, the development and changes of the times, and conflicts among internal elements. As Toynbee pointed out, “The driving force for the growth of civilization comes from challenges that provoke successful responses, and responses in turn provoke new challenges.” Therefore, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation needs to strengthen its self-adaptation to the evolution of world civilizational trends, the estrangement and conflict between different civilizations, and the challenges of internal civilizational trends, to avoid the stagnation or even extinction of civilization.

自适应指的是“无数的个体组织起来，形成了一个动态的、易变的、自适应的系统”。中华民族现代文明能够自我生存、发展和延续，有效适应系统内生存环境变异、时代发展变化、内部要素冲突提出的挑战。正如汤因比所指出的，“文明成长的动力来源于挑战激起成功的应战，应战又反过来引发新的挑战”。因此，中华民族现代文明需要强化对世界文明潮流演进、不同文明隔阂冲突、内部文明思潮挑战的自适应，避免文明的停滞乃至消亡。

First, strengthen self-adaptation to the evolutionary trends of world civilizations. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation faces the evolution of world civilizations toward pluralization, economic globalization, and digitalization; it must strengthen the system’s self-improvement, optimization, and iteration, and enhance its self-adaptive capacity. It must strengthen self-adaptation to pluralization. The world today has more than 200 countries and regions, over 2,500 ethnic groups, and multiple religions; different histories and national conditions constitute diverse civilizational forms, each with its unique culture, concepts, beliefs, morals, and customs, presenting a pluralistic and concurrent order of civilizations. As a civilization with “perpetuity” [35]35 Perpetuity (永续性): A term used in Chinese discourse to describe a civilization’s capacity for continuous, long-term development and survival across historical epochs, often contrasted with the rise-and-fall cycles attributed to other civilizations. in the garden of world civilizations, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must adapt to the superimposed expression of the multifaceted and differentiated features of modern civilization, respect and accept the spiritual aspirations, value pursuits, and path orientations of different civilizations, achieve cross-civilizational communication and understanding, and realize interweaving and integration with different elements in the evolution of world civilizations. It must strengthen self-adaptation to economic globalization. Economic globalization is an irreversible trend in today’s world; economic, political, social, and cultural ties among civilizations are becoming increasingly close. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation should form a global civilizational form that matches and adapts to economic globalization, discard the clash of civilizations theory, the assimilation of civilizations theory, the relativity of civilizations theory, and cultural conservatism, use global civilizational dialogue to highlight the symbiotic character of civilizations, take the happiness of all humanity as the value orientation, and manifest concern for all human civilizations. It must strengthen self-adaptation to digitalization. Digital civilization is “a state of social progress presented by people in the field of digital survival when they engage in material production, life, and ecological practice activities in an era dominated by new digital technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence”; it is a new civilizational form higher than the stages of agricultural civilization and industrial civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation must adapt to the multiple facets presented by digital civilization and respond to the challenges of value assimilation, the absence of rationality, panoptic control, and civilizational disparity brought by digital technology, capital, labor, and hegemony. It must adhere to digital self-reliance and self-strengthening to generate new momentum, realize the identity transformation from follower to leader, and create a Chinese-path digital civilization that integrates evolution, is knowable and perceptible, is open and shared, and flows and develops.

一是强化对世界文明潮流演进的自适应。中华民族现代文明面临世界文明潮流多元化、经济全球化与数字化的演进，需要强化系统的自我完善、优化迭代，增强自适应能力。要强化对多元化的自适应。当今世界有200多个国家和地区，2500多个民族，多种宗教，不同的历史与国情构成了多元的文明形态，各具独特的文化、观念、信仰、道德与习俗，呈现多元并进的文明秩序格局。中华民族现代文明作为世界文明百花园中具有“永续性”的文明，需要适应现代文明特征的多面性与差异性的叠加表达，尊重与接纳不同文明的精神诉求、价值追求与道路取向，做到跨文明沟通与理解，实现与世界文明演进中的不同元素相互交织、相互融合。要强化对经济全球化的自适应。经济全球化是当今世界不可逆转的趋势，各文明之间的经济、政治、社会、文化联系愈加紧密。中华民族现代文明应形成与经济全球化相匹配、相适应的全球文明形态，摒弃文明冲突论、文明同化论、文明相对论、文化保守主义，以文明的全球性对话来彰显文明的共生性特征，以全人类幸福为价值旨归，彰显全人类文明关怀。要强化对数字化的自适应。数字文明是“在大数据、人工智能等新型数字技术占主导的时代下，人们在数字化生存场域从事物质生产、生活与生态实践活动中所呈现出的一种社会进步状态”，是一个相较农业文明、工业文明阶段更高的新文明形式。中华民族现代文明要适应数字文明呈现出的多重面相，应对由数字技术、资本、劳动、霸权带来的价值同化、理性缺场、全景控制、文明极差的挑战。坚持数字自立自强催生新动能，实现从跟随者到引领者的身份转变，创造出融合进化、可知可感、开放共享、流动发展的中国式数字文明。

Second, strengthen self-adaptation to the estrangement and conflict between different civilizations. Civilizational estrangement and conflict, especially the conflict between Western civilization and Chinese civilization, deeply affect global politics and constrain the future evolution of the world order. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation must rely on the growth of its own strength, build consensus in commonalities, enrich itself through differences, and promote mutual tolerance and harmonious coexistence with other civilizations. It must proceed from the common values of all humanity [36]36 Common values of all humanity (全人类共同价值): A concept promoted by the CPC, referring to peace, development, fairness, rule of law, democracy, and freedom as shared values across civilizations, distinct from the Western notion of “universal values.”, seek the common goals, paths, and interests of human civilizational development, and use the pursuit of the “common” in human values to eliminate the “differences” in civilizational divergence; it must promote civilizational communication and exchange, strengthen the interconnectedness and interdependence between civilizations, and use the “openness” of exchange and mutual learning to eliminate the “barrier” of civilizational fault lines; it must adhere to the path of independence, self-reliance, and peaceful development, highlight the unique value and significant advantages of its own civilization, reconstruct the peace and stability of the world civilizational order, coexist with world civilizations over the long term, and use the “posture” of peace and friendship to weaken the “momentum” of civilizational confrontation.

二是强化对不同文明隔阂冲突的自适应。文明隔阂冲突尤其西方文明与中华文明的冲突，深度影响全球政治,制约未来世界格局的演进。中华民族现代文明要立足于自身力量的增长，在共性中凝聚共识、在差异中丰富自我，推动与其他文明的相互包容、和谐共处。要从全人类共同价值出发，寻求人类文明发展的共同目标、道路与利益，以谋求人类价值之“同”来消弭文明分歧之“异”；要推动文明的沟通交流，强化文明间的关联性与依存性，以交流互鉴之“通”消除文明断层之“隔”；要坚持独立自主与和平发展的道路，彰显自身文明独特价值与显著优势，重构世界文明秩序的和平与稳定，与世界文明长期共存，以和平友好之“态”消弱文明对抗之“势”。

Third, strengthen self-adaptation to the challenges of internal civilizational trends. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation must undergo adaptive changes and modern creations in responding to the stimuli and changes of internal civilizational trends. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation faces challenges from a variety of social trends. Not only are there traditional social trends such as materialism, money worship, utilitarianism, individualism, isolationism, and conservatism, but there have also emerged new social trends with modern characteristics, such as postmodernism, post-Marxism, neoliberalism, nihilism, neo-populism, elitism, and consumerism. Therefore, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must adhere to Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological domain, use historical materialism and the grand view of history [37]37 Grand view of history (大历史观): A methodological perspective in Chinese Marxist historiography that examines historical processes over long durations and broad spatial scales, emphasizing structural trends and the overall direction of history. to lead the civilization’s takeoff, base itself on modernization, face economic globalization, focus on digital-intelligence transformation, and firmly grasp the initiative in leading civilizational trends. It must clearly oppose and criticize erroneous trends within the civilization, reveal their essential logic and false appearance, promptly respond to ideological confusion and value dilemmas, and resolve humanity’s belief errors and spiritual crisis.

三是强化对内部文明思潮挑战的自适应。中华民族现代文明需要在应对内部文明思潮的刺激与变化中，进行适用性改变与现代性创造。中华民族现代文明面临形形色色的社会思潮的挑战，不仅存在物质主义、拜金主义、功利主义、个人主义、封闭主义与守旧主义等传统社会思潮，更涌现出了后现代主义、后马克思主义、新自由主义、虚无主义、新民粹主义、精英主义、消费主义等具有现代性特征的新兴社会思潮。因此，中华民族现代文明必须坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位，以唯物史观、大历史观来引领文明的腾飞，立足现代化、面向经济全球化、着眼数智化，牢牢把握引领文明思潮的主动权。要旗帜鲜明地反对与批判文明内部的错误思潮，揭示其本质逻辑与虚假面目，及时回应思想困惑、价值难题，破解人类的信仰迷误与精神危机。

(Author’s bio: Luo Liang, Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of the History of the Communist Party of China and Party Building, Southwest University; Associate Professor at the School of Marxism, Southwest University.)

（作者简介：罗亮，西南大学中共党史党建研究院研究员，西南大学马克思主义学院副教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心

Source: *Studies on Marxism*, Issue 3, 2024

来源《马克思主义研究》2024年第3期