Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation: Profound Connotation, Ideological Guidance, and Practical Purport

Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is an inherent requirement of Chinese-path modernization. On October 28, 2022, when inspecting the Yinxu site in Anyang, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed this proposition, stating: “I have long yearned to visit Yinxu. This trip is intended to deepen my study and understanding of Chinese civilization, to make the past serve the present, and to provide reference for better building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.” [1]1 Yinxu is the site of the late Shang Dynasty (c. 1300–1046 BCE) capital near Anyang, Henan Province, known for its oracle bone inscriptions and bronze artifacts. On June 2, 2023, in his speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development, the General Secretary again clearly pointed out: “Continuing to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural country, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from a new starting point is our new cultural mission in the New Era.” [2]2 The Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development was held in Beijing on June 2, 2023, where Xi Jinping delivered a major speech outlining the Party’s cultural policy direction.

建设中华民族现代文明是中国式现代化题中应有之义。2022年10月28日，习近平总书记考察安阳殷墟遗址时首次提出了这个命题，他说：“殷墟我向往已久，这次来是想更深地学习理解中华文明，古为今用，为更好建设中华民族现代文明提供借鉴。” 2023年6月2日，总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上的讲话中再次明确指出：“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。”

As soon as the proposition of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation was put forward, it attracted high-level attention and theoretical analysis from the academic community. First, some examine the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from different dimensions such as theory, value, and practice. Some scholars believe that building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation contains a practical purport of realizing subject liberation and transcendence, a historical purport of reflecting on reality and grasping historical laws, and a civilizational purport of rejecting one-dimensional civilizational models and establishing a holistic civilizational system. Second, some explore the internal connections between building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and concepts such as Chinese-path modernization and cultural mission. Some scholars argue that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a composite civilizational form formed by the mutual integration of three civilizational elements: modern civilization, socialist civilization, and Chinese civilization. Third, some place the building of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation within the great practice of the New Era and the internal logic of the new thought for examination. Some scholars point out that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is an organic integration of traditional Chinese civilization and modernity, with the “five civilizations” [3]3 The “five civilizations” refer to the five-sphere integrated plan: economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization. as its basic components and answering the “questions of China, questions of the world, questions of the people, and questions of the era” as its practical goal. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture emerged in the process of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is an important content and theoretical innovation growth point of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. These discussions, from different dimensions, deeply analyze the ideological connotation, value purport, and practical essentials of the strategic goal and theoretical theme of “building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation” within Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, systematically expounding the basic connotation, main characteristics, construction path, and milestone significance of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. At the new historical starting point of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, answering what the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is and how to build it requires a comprehensive grasp of its profound connotation from the basic relationships among culture, civilization, and modernization.

建设中华民族现代文明这一命题甫一提出，就引起了学界的高度关注与理论分析。一是从理论、价值、实践等不同维度中对中华民族现代文明加以考察。有学者认为，建设中华民族现代文明蕴含着实现主体解放与超越的实践意蕴，又具有反思现实和把握历史规律的历史意蕴，还具有拒斥单向度文明模式、建立整体性文明体系的文明意蕴。二是探究建设中华民族现代文明与中国式现代化、文化使命等概念之间的内在联系。有学者认为，中华民族现代文明是现代文明、社会主义文明与中华文明三种文明要素相互融会而形成的复合型文明形态。三是将建设中华民族现代文明置于新时代的伟大实践和新思想的内在逻辑中考察。有学者指出，中华民族现代文明是中华传统文明与现代性的有机融合，以“五大文明”为基本构成，以答好“中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问”为现实目标。而习近平文化思想在中华民族现代文明建设中应运而生，建设中华民族现代文明是习近平文化思想的重要内容和理论创新增长点。这些论述在不同维度上深入分析了习近平文化思想中关于“建设中华民族现代文明”的战略目标和理论主题的思想内涵、价值意蕴、实践要义，系统阐释了中华民族现代文明的基本内涵、主要特性、建设路径与里程碑意义。在新的历史起点上建设中华民族现代文明，回答什么是中华民族现代文明，怎样建设中华民族现代文明，必须从文化、文明与现代化的基本关系综合把握其深刻内涵。

I. Profound Connotation: The Civilizational Presentation of Modernization

一、深刻内涵：现代化的文明呈现

Understanding and elucidating the profound connotation of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation requires not only careful examination within established, macroscopic intellectual currents but also systematic combing through historical practice where diachronic logic and synchronic unfolding intertwine. From a diachronic logic perspective, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a holistic concept based on history, responding to reality, and oriented toward the future. It has both the historical significance of continuing the cultural lineage and inheriting culture, the practical role of supporting reality and supplying cultural resources, and the future implication of reshaping civilization and creating a new form of human civilization. From a synchronic unfolding perspective, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation contains a complete historical脉络 and a rich content system. From a spatial attribute perspective, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation belongs to the Chinese geographical category; from a subject attribute perspective, it belongs to the category of the Chinese nation; from an institutional attribute perspective, it belongs to the category of socialism; from a temporal attribute perspective, it belongs to the category of modern time, being a civilizational form that connects history, reality, and the future. Based on geographical space and subject attributes, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation not only presents the developmental form of the Chinese nation and Chinese culture in the sense of historical continuity but also expresses the future planning and normative developmental requirements of Chinese civilization.

理解、阐发建设中华民族现代文明的深刻内涵，不仅需要将其置于既定的、宏观的思想源流中加以审慎考察，还需要在历时性逻辑与共时性展开相交织的历史实践中加以系统爬梳。从历时性逻辑来看，中华民族现代文明是一个基于历史、回应现实、面向未来的总体性概念。它既有赓续文脉、传承文化的历史性意义，又有支援现实、供给文化性资源的现实作用，还有再造文明、创造人类文明新形态的未来意涵。从共时性展开来看，中华民族现代文明蕴含着完整的历史脉络和丰富的内容体系。从空间属性来看，中华民族现代文明属于中国地理范畴；从主体属性来看它属于中华民族范畴；从制度属性来看它属于社会主义范畴；从时间属性来看它属于现代时间范畴，是贯通历史、现实和未来的文明形态。立足地理空间与主体属性，中华民族现代文明不仅呈现了中华民族、中华文化在历史延续意义上的发展样态，还表达了对中华文明的未来规划和应然性发展要求。

(I) Civilizational Reflection on Modernization Pays Greater Attention to the Unity of Universality and Particularity

（一）现代化的文明思考更加关注普遍性与特殊性的统一

Modernization is a historical, foreign concept, originating after the European Industrial Revolution, manifested as the unprecedented profound transformation of human society brought about by technological progress and the rapid development of productive forces in modern times. Countries around the world have been drawn into this trend, either actively or passively, and have taken it as a basic goal for promoting national development. Modernization includes characteristics such as urbanization, marketization, and globalization formed during the process of industrialization. Along with the collapse of the feudal system and the rise of the capitalist system, the Western path of modernization became the first paradigm of human modernization. As latecomers, non-Western countries inevitably need to refer to Western modernization experience when choosing the path and direction of modernization, while also maintaining the subjectivity and uniqueness of their own civilization in paradigm reference.

现代化是一个历史性的外来概念，产生于欧洲工业革命之后，表现为近代以来由于技术进步、生产力高速发展所带来的人类社会前所未有的深刻变革。世界各国都或主动或被动地卷入这一潮流之中，并将其作为推动国家发展的基本目标。现代化包含了工业化过程中形成的城市化、市场化、全球化等特征。伴随着封建制度的崩溃和资本主义制度的兴起，西方现代化道路成了人类现代化的第一个范式。作为后来者，非西方国家在选择现代化的路径和方向时不可避免地需要参考西方现代化经验，同时还要在范式借鉴中保持自身文明的主体性与独特性。

The historical process of modernization follows the general principles of historical materialism. In *The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State*, Engels systematically demonstrated the process of division of labor, exchange, and the emergence of classes in prehistoric society, and the resulting barbaric mode of production based on blood ties giving way to the civilized mode of production based on class-state ties. The four great ancient civilizations—Babylon, Egypt, India, and China—formed the civilizations of the Two Rivers, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, and Chinese civilization. At the same time, Marx pointed out that if the productive forces and inventions created in a certain region are in a closed or limited state of intercourse, then some accidental events, “for example, a barbarian invasion, or even an ordinary war, could suffice to force a country with developed productive forces and high needs to start everything from scratch.” [4]4 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The German Ideology* (1845–46), in *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 5 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 52. Marx, “on the premise of the universal development of productive forces and the world intercourse connected with this,” [5]5 Ibid., p. 49. thus concluded that the realization of communism must break through regional limitations, and “communism is only possible empirically as the ‘simultaneous’ act of the ruling peoples ‘all at once’.” [6]6 Ibid., p. 49. Therefore, although civilizations differ greatly, they can, through the universal development of productive forces and the world intercourse connected with this, lead to communist society.

现代化的历史进程遵循历史唯物主义一般原理。恩格斯在《家庭、私有制和国家的起源》中系统展示了史前社会的分工、交换及阶级产生的过程，及在此基础上形成的以血缘为纽带的野蛮的生产状态让步于以阶级国家形式为纽带的文明的生产方式。古巴比伦、古埃及、古印度、中国四大文明古国形成了两河文明、古埃及文明、古印度文明及中华文明。同时，马克思指出，如果某一个地域所创造出来的生产力和发明处于一个封闭的或交往不广的状态，那么一些偶然的事件，“例如蛮族的入侵，甚至是通常的战争，都足以使一个具有发达生产力和有高度需求的国家陷入一切都必须从头开始的境地”。马克思“以生产力的普遍发展和与此相联系的世界交往为前提”，因而得出共产主义的实现必须打破地域性的限制，“共产主义只有作为占统治地位的各民族‘一下子’同时发生的行动，在经验上才是可能的”。因此，文明之间虽然差别巨大，但是能够在生产力的普遍发展和与此相联系的世界交往中通向共产主义社会。

However, historical materialism is never dogma; the specific path of civilizational modernization requires concrete analysis. In his later years, Marx himself put forward new thoughts on the development path of Eastern societies. Between 1879 and 1882, he wrote millions of words of *Ethnological Notebooks* and *The Chronological Excerpts*, further deepening the understanding of the laws of civilizational development in different regions. Based on his historical and sociological research on the land system of Eastern civilizations and its evolution, he clearly proposed that the development of different civilizations cannot simply apply the Western European model. In particular, Marx’s later in-depth exploration of the social structures of historically long-standing regions such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America provides important inspiration and significant reference value for our in-depth understanding of the modernization process of civilizations and the interconnections and differences between Eastern and Western revolutions. China’s path to modernization must necessarily proceed from the historical reality of the development of Chinese civilization. In modern times, China was reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. The Communist Party of China, with its original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation, has always taken the realization of national modernization as its goal. The Party deeply recognized that only socialism could develop China, and after the victory of the New Democratic Revolution, it established the socialist system. Mao Zedong, believing that lessons should be drawn from the Soviet Union, proposed and formed the path of China’s industrialization. After reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping, based on the experience and lessons of socialist construction, emphasized the need to re-understand what socialism is and how to build socialism, advocated emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, both preventing wholesale Westernization and liberating from the absolutized and rigid understanding of the specific ideas and conclusions of classical Marxist writers, and thereby proposed taking the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

但历史唯物主义从来不是教条，具体文明现代化的发展道路需要具体分析。晚年马克思就对东方社会的发展道路提出了新的思考。1879至1882年间，他撰写了数百万字的《古代社会史笔记》和《历史学笔记》，进一步深化了对不同地区文明发展的规律性认识。他基于对东方文明土地制度及其演变的历史学、社会学研究，旗帜鲜明地提出不同文明的发展不能简单套用西欧模式。特别是马克思在晚年对亚洲、非洲以及拉丁美洲等历史悠久地区的社会结构进行了深入探究，这些研究对于我们深入理解文明的现代化进程，以及东方与西方革命之间的相互联系和区别具有重要的启示意义和重大的参考价值。中国的现代化之路必然要从中华文明发展的历史现实出发。近代以来，中国沦为半殖民地半封建国家。中国共产党以为人民谋幸福、为民族谋复兴为初心使命，始终以实现国家现代化为目标。党深刻地认识到只有社会主义才能发展中国，在新民主主义革命胜利以后，建立起社会主义制度。毛泽东认为要吸取苏联的教训，提出并形成了中国工业化的道路。改革开放以后，邓小平基于社会主义建设的经验教训，强调要重新认识什么是社会主义和怎样建设社会主义的问题，主张解放思想、实事求是，既要防止全盘西化，又要从对马克思主义经典作家具体设想和结论的绝对化、僵化的理解中解放出来，进而提出了走中国特色社会主义的道路。

(II) The Civilizational Perspective of Modernization Pays More Attention to the Endogenous Driving Force of Culture

（二）现代化的文明视角更加注重文化的内生动力

The new cultural mission of the New Era emphasizes “promoting cultural prosperity and building a strong cultural country” alongside “building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.” The internal logic contained therein highlights the unique significance and driving role of culture in advancing civilizational development and constructing civilizational forms. From a Marxist perspective, culture is constituted by the spiritual production activities and products created through human mental labor that express spiritual value, as well as by language, art, beliefs, customs, law, knowledge, morality, capabilities, habits, and so forth, formed in the course of socio-historical development. As social consciousness, culture is determined by social being and also reacts upon social being. Compared with material production, the process of cultural production more fully embodies the spiritual value of the subject and the objectivity of intellectual labor. Compared with the products of material labor, cultural products are not only the practical activities that best embody the subject’s value and “species-essence” [7]7 “Species-essence” (类本质) is a term from Marx’s *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*, referring to humanity’s conscious, free, and universal productive activity as its defining characteristic. characteristics, but also the spiritual elements that best satisfy people’s unique spiritual needs and promote practical development. “Every step forward in culture was a step toward freedom.” [8]8 Friedrich Engels, *Anti-Dühring*, Part I, Chapter 11. The civilizational historical perspective and civilizational viewpoint place greater emphasis on the anchoring effect and unique role of culture in different stages of social development and in the histories of various nations, and pay more attention to the historical subjectivity of humanity and practical initiative that culture manifests. Therefore, culture is not only an important marker distinguishing civilizational types and stages of development, but also the spiritual driving force, external manifestation, and vehicle of transmission that promotes civilizational development. Cultural inheritance and civilizational development constitute a historical process of successive continuity and continuous forward movement.

新时代新的文化使命强调“推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国”与“建设中华民族现代文明”。其中蕴含的内在逻辑突出说明了文化在推动文明发展、构建文明形态中的独特意义与推进作用。在马克思主义看来，文化是由人类脑力劳动创造的、表现精神价值的精神生产活动与产物，以及在社会历史发展过程中形成的语言、艺术、信仰、习俗、法律、知识、道德、能力、习惯等等。作为社会意识，文化由社会存在所决定，也反作用于社会存在。相较于物质生产而言，文化的生产过程更加体现主体的精神价值、思想劳动的对象性。相较于物质劳动产品而言，文化产品不仅是最能体现主体价值与“类本质”特征的实践活动，还是最能满足人的独特精神需要、推动实践发展的精神要素。“文化上的每一个进步，都是迈向自由的一步。”而文明史观、文明视角更加强调文化在不同社会发展阶段、各类民族历史中的锚定效应与独特作用，更加关注文化所彰显的人的历史主体性和实践能动性。因此，文化不仅是区别文明类型与发展阶段的重要标志，还是推动文明发展的精神动力、外在体现与传承载体。文化传承与文明发展，是一个前后相继、不断向前的历史过程。

Fine traditional Chinese culture shapes Chinese civilization and promotes its historical development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stated, “Fine traditional Chinese culture contains many important elements, such as the social ideal of a world for all and common good for all; the governance philosophy of the people as the foundation of the state and governance by virtue; the tradition of great unity under a single system with diversity in unity; the family-country sentiment of cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world, and of sharing responsibility for the rise and fall of the state; the spiritual pursuit of embracing all things with virtue and illuminating the Way with bright virtue; the economic ethic of enriching the people, ensuring their well-being, and balancing righteousness and benefit; the ecological concept of harmony between humanity and nature and the coexistence of all things; the philosophical thought of seeking truth from facts and the unity of knowledge and action; the thinking method of grasping the two extremes and using the mean, and of maintaining the mean to achieve harmony; and the way of interaction based on trust, good-neighborliness, and affinity with benevolence. These together shape the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization.” [9]9 Xi Jinping, speech at a symposium on cultural heritage, June 2, 2023.

中华优秀传统文化塑造着中华文明、推动着中华文明的历史发展。习近平总书记表示，“中华优秀传统文化有很多重要元素，比如，天下为公、天下大同的社会理想，民为邦本、为政以德的治理思想，九州共贯、多元一体的大一统传统，修齐治平、兴亡有责的家国情怀，厚德载物、明德弘道的精神追求，富民厚生、义利兼顾的经济伦理，天人合一、万物并育的生态理念，实事求是、知行合一的哲学思想，执两用中、守中致和的思维方法，讲信修睦、亲仁善邻的交往之道等，共同塑造出中华文明的突出特性”。

(III) The civilizational narrative of modernization places greater emphasis on concern for the state of human existence

（三）现代化的文明叙事更加强调对人的生存状态的关怀

The traditional narrative of modernization emphasizes aspects such as the path and indicators of modernization. The civilizational narrative focuses more on the uniqueness of the historical development of different nations and countries in the process of modernization, as well as the state of human existence in different historical periods. In traditional Chinese culture, the “Commentary on the Qian Hexagram, The Text” in the *Yizhuan* [10]10 *Yizhuan* (易传) is a commentary on the *Zhouyi* (周易, *Book of Changes*), traditionally attributed to Confucius. states, “When the dragon appears in the field, the world is civilized,” meaning “literary brilliance and brightness, cultural virtue shining brightly.” The “Bi Hexagram” in the *Zhouyi* [11]11 *Zhouyi* (周易, *Book of Changes*) is an ancient Chinese divination text and one of the Confucian classics. states, “Civilization stops at what is proper; this is human culture,” explaining the turn toward humanistic education and value concepts.

传统意义上的现代化叙事强调现代化路径、指标等方面。文明叙事更着眼于现代化过程中不同民族、国家历史发展的独特性及不同历史时期人的生存状态。在中国传统文化中，《易传·乾·文言》中有“见龙在田，天下文明”，意指“文采光明，文德辉耀”；《周易·贲卦》中的“文明以止，人文也”，阐释了人文教化和价值理念的转向。

The history of the word “civilization” contains rich cultural and social connotations. It originates from the ancient Latin *civis* and *civilis*. These two roots essentially describe a superior way of life distinct from a state of barbarism, emphasizing the living standards and behavioral norms of citizens in a city or society. In ancient Roman society, *civis* specifically referred to a person enjoying the citizenship rights of a certain city, while *civilis* encompassed various behavioral norms and social responsibilities related to citizenship, implying a relatively civilized and orderly way of life. Later, the concept of *civilité* developed, specifically referring to refined and cultivated behavior, which marked that an individual not only followed the law but also displayed an inner sense of propriety and respect for others. The Marxist view of civilization is built on the foundation of historical materialism. Marx and Engels believed that “civilization is a practical matter, a social quality,” [12]12 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The German Ideology*. and that “the fruits of civilization—the productive forces already acquired” [13]13 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*. are humanity’s creative practical activity. Based on the research of the American primitive society historian Lewis Henry Morgan, Engels divided human society into the stages of savagery, barbarism, and civilization. Humanity in the stages of savagery and barbarism existed in primitive societies with extremely backward productive forces. In people’s productive practice, due to the emergence of iron tools, productive forces were greatly enhanced, further leading to the division of handicraft industry and agriculture. With the development of commodity exchange, the emergence of merchants, the rise of private ownership, the disintegration of the clan system, and the formation of the state, human society gradually entered the era of civilization. Engels said, “The era of civilization is the period in which the further processing of natural products is learned, the period of genuine industry and art.” [14]14 Friedrich Engels, *The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State*. After entering the era of civilization, the development of human society has gone through multiple civilizational forms. Different perspectives have different expressions for the development of civilizational forms. From the perspective of social formations expressing the developmental characteristics of civilization, there are slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and socialist society, reflecting social class relations. From the perspective of modes of production expressing the developmental process of civilizational forms, there are agricultural civilization, industrial civilization, and ecological civilization, reflecting the relationship between humanity and nature. From the perspective of humanity’s mode of existence expressing the developmental process of civilizational forms, it proceeds from “relations of personal dependence” to “personal independence founded on objective dependence,” and then to “free individuality, based on the universal development of individuals and on their subordination of their communal, social productivity as their social wealth,” [15]15 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*. these three stages reflecting the degree of human freedom and emancipation. Therefore, the theoretical investigation and practical exploration of modernization should be comprehensively grasped from the internal connections and essential characteristics of civilizational development. Traditional modernization theory focuses on humanity’s mode of production, looks down upon the relationship between humanity and nature from a macro perspective, and regards industrialization and urbanization as the most important features and key indicators of modernization, while neglecting the situation of humanity within modernization. Marx criticized the capitalist era of civilization for “separating from man his objective essence as something merely external and material, and does not consider man’s content to be his true reality,” [16]16 Karl Marx, *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*. pointing out the “extreme hypocrisy and its barbaric nature” [17]17 Karl Marx, “The Future Results of British Rule in India.” of bourgeois civilization. Therefore, only by transcending the civilizational form characterized by enslavement can there be a “truly universal civilization.” [18]18 Karl Marx, “The Future Results of British Rule in India.” Examining modernization through a civilizational narrative not only places the relationship between humanity and nature on a more equal footing but also places greater emphasis on the harmonious state among people. Concern for humanity’s mode of existence and living conditions in the history of modernization can effectively resolve the predicament of human alienation in modernity, embodying the value pursuit of human civilization.

civilization一词的历史蕴含了丰富的文化和社会层面的意涵。其起源于古拉丁文中的civis和civi-lis，这两个词根本质上描述的是一种区别于野蛮状态的优越生活方式，强调了城市或社会中公民的生活标准和行为准则。在古罗马社会中，civis特指享有某城市公民权的人，而civi-lis则涵盖了与公民身份相关的各种行为规范和社会责任，暗示一种较为文明有序的生活方式。后来发展出civilite这一概念，专指那些文雅和有教养的行为，这些行为标志着个体不仅遵循法律，而且表现出一种内在的礼仪和尊重他人的态度。马克思主义文明观建立在历史唯物主义基础之上。马克思、恩格斯认为“文明是实践的事情，是社会的素质”， “文明的果实——已经获得的生产力”就是人的创造性的实践活动。恩格斯根据美国原始社会史学家摩尔根的研究，把人类社会分为蒙昧时代、野蛮时代和文明时代，蒙昧时代和野蛮时代的人类处在生产力极端落后的原始社会。在人们的生产实践中，由于铁制工具的出现，生产力得到了大大提高，进一步产生了手工业和农业的分工，随着商品交换的发展、商人的出现、私有制的产生、氏族制度的瓦解、国家的形成，人类社会逐步进入文明时代。恩格斯说：“文明时代是学会对天然产物进一步加工的时期，是真正的工业和艺术的时期。”进入文明时代以后，人类社会的发展又历经了多种文明形态。不同视角对文明形态的发展有不同表述。从社会形态上表述文明的发展特征，有奴隶社会、封建社会、资本主义社会、社会主义社会，体现着社会阶级关系；从生产方式上表述文明形态的发展过程，有农业文明、工业文明、生态文明，体现着人与自然的关系；从人的存在方式上表述文明形态的发展过程，就是从“人的依赖关系”到“以物的依赖性为基础的人的独立性”，再到“建立在个人全面发展和他们共同的、社会的生产能力成为从属于他们的社会财富这一基础上的自由个性”，这三个阶段体现着人的自由和解放程度。因此现代化的理论考察与实践探索更应当从文明发展的内在联系和本质特征上综合把握。传统现代化理论着眼于人类生产方式，以宏观视角俯视人与自然的关系，将工业化、城市化视作现代化的最主要特征与关键指标，而忽略了人在现代化中的处境。马克思批评资本主义文明时代“使人的对象性本质作为某种仅仅是外在的、物质的东西同人分离，它不认为人的内容是人的真正现实”，指出了资产阶级文明的“极端伪善和它的野蛮本性”。所以，只有超越奴役性质的文明形态才是“真正的普遍的文明”。以文明叙事考察现代化，不仅将人与自然关系放置到更加平等的地位上，而且更加重视人与人之间的和谐状态。对现代化历史中人的存在方式、生活状态的关怀，能有效化解现代性中人的异化困局，体现出人类文明的价值追求。

II. Ideological Guidance: The Action Guide for Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

二、思想遵循：建设中华民族现代文明的行动指南

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has profound connotations and far-reaching implications. It is not only the action guide for the Party’s propaganda, ideological, and cultural work and for the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, but also the ideological compass for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation in the New Era. Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation means taking Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as the fundamental guide.

习近平文化思想内涵深厚、意蕴深远。它不仅是党的宣传思想文化事业、中国特色社会主义文化建设的行动指南，还是新时代建设中华民族现代文明的思想指引。建设中华民族现代文明，就是要以习近平文化思想为根本遵循。

(I) Consolidating the Subjectivity of Chinese Culture to Cultivate the Vitality of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

（一）巩固中华文化主体性培植中华民族现代文明的生命力

Consolidating the subjectivity of Chinese culture manifests the civilizational genes of Chinese-path modernization. In June 2023, at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Chinese civilization is the only great civilization in the world that has continued unbroken and developed in the form of a state to this day. This fully proves that Chinese civilization possesses cultural subjectivity and vigorous vitality for self-development, responding to challenges, and opening up new horizons.” Cultural subjectivity is the common cultural characteristics and ideological foundation of a given social group in practice; it is an expression of existence that concerns emotional identification and points to historical reality, and it manifests at the cultural level the subjective quality a nation displays in its historical practice. Cultural subjectivity grows out of the long-standing history of Chinese civilization, is rooted in the genes and bloodline of the Chinese nation, is the source of strength for the development of the Chinese nation, and possesses exuberant vitality. Attention to cultural subjectivity in the process of modernization reflects a new recognition by contemporary Marxism of the role and position of civilizational forms and their modalities in promoting the development of human society, and provides the civilizational foundation and connotation for Chinese-path modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly stated: “Only by standing on the magnificent five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization can we truly understand the historical inevitability, cultural connotation, and unique advantages of the Chinese path.”

巩固中华文化主体性彰显了中国式现代化的文明基因。2023年6月，习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上指出：“中华文明是世界上唯一绵延不断且以国家形态发展至今的伟大文明。这充分证明了中华文明具有自我发展、回应挑战、开创新局的文化主体性与旺盛生命力。”文化主体性，是一定的社会群体在实践中共同的文化特征与思想基础，是一种关涉情感认同、指向历史现实的存在表达，是在文化层面彰显一个民族在历史实践所表现的主体性质。文化主体性生长于源远流长的中华文明史，植根于中华民族的基因和血脉，是中华民族发展的力量源泉，具有蓬勃的生命力。对现代化进程中文化主体性的关注，体现了当代马克思主义对文明形态及其形式在推动人类社会发展中的作用和地位的新认识，为中国式现代化提供了文明的基础和内涵。习近平总书记明确指出：“只有立足波澜壮阔的中华五千多年文明史，才能真正理解中国道路的历史必然、文化内涵与独特优势。”

Consolidating the subjectivity of Chinese culture is an important condition for cultivating the vitality of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Cultural subjectivity is manifested not only in periods of historical stability—social life, institutional design, value pursuits—but also, and even more so, in the cultural vitality displayed during unstable historical periods. Under external shocks such as war and disaster, cultural vitality declines or even disappears, and civilizations decline or even become interrupted—this is not uncommon. In modern times, the development of Western capitalist industrial civilization placed Western civilization in a dominant position in its collision with Chinese civilization. Realizing Chinese-style modernization and promoting the modernization of Chinese civilization are the core challenges testing Chinese cultural subjectivity. Resolving the civilizational crisis of modern times necessarily requires absorbing and drawing lessons from the Western modernization paradigms that were successful at the time. The difficulties encountered by modern China in its transformation toward modernization triggered doubts about traditional Chinese culture; the theory of “wholesale Westernization” [19]19 “Wholesale Westernization” (全盘西化) was a cultural and political stance influential among some Chinese intellectuals in the early twentieth century, particularly during the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth period, advocating the complete adoption of Western values, institutions, and lifestyles as the path to national salvation. increasingly became an influential cultural concept, and traditional Chinese culture was even simply negated as an old culture hindering social progress. The modernization crisis of civilization not only severely weakened the subjectivity of Chinese culture but also created a predicament in which traditional Chinese culture, when confronting modern civilization, lacked vigor and could not engage in equal dialogue. It can be said that effectively resolving the crisis of modernity is a key indicator for testing cultural subjectivity and vitality. The subjectivity of Chinese culture is built on the foundation of a splendid Chinese civilization that has long been in a leading position, and also on the foundation of a tenacious cultural vitality that has repeatedly risen from the ashes. Cultural subjectivity is continuously consolidated with the development of the times and practice, and cultural vitality needs to be cultivated through the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture.

巩固中华文化主体性是培植中华民族现代文明的生命力的重要条件。文化主体性不仅表现在社会生活、秩序设计、价值追求等历史稳定时期，还更多地体现在非稳定历史时期中展现的文化生命力。在战争、灾难等外来冲击下，文化生命力衰落乃至消逝，文明走向没落甚至中断屡见不鲜。近代以来，西方资本主义工业文明的发展，使得西方文明在与中华文明的碰撞中处于强势地位。实现中国式的现代化、推动中华文明现代化，是考验中华文化主体性的核心挑战。化解近代以来的文明危机，必然要吸收借鉴当时取得成功的西方现代化范式。近代中国在现代化转型中遭遇的困难，引发了对中华传统文化的质疑，“全盘西化”论日益成为影响巨大的文化观念，中华传统文化甚至被简单地作为阻碍社会进步的旧文化而被否定。文明的现代化危机不仅严重削弱了中华文化的主体性，还造成了中华传统文化在面对现代化文明时气血不足、难以平等对话的窘境。可以说，有效化解现代性危机，是检验文化主体性、生命力的关键指标。中华文化的主体性建立在长期以来处于领先地位的灿烂的中华文明的基础之上，也建立在不断浴火重生的顽强的文化生命力的基础之上。文化主体性是随着时代和实践的发展不断得到巩固的，文化的生命力需要在传统文化创造性转化和创新性发展中培植。

(II) “Understanding the Substance and Realizing Its Function,” the Unity of Substance and Function, Enhances the Regenerative Capacity of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

（二）明体达用、体用贯通提升中华民族现代文明的更生力

“Understanding the substance and realizing its function” (mingti dayong), the unity of substance and function (tiyong guantong), not only reflects the ideological pursuit and theoretical character of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought; its conceptual construction also reflects that Xi Jinping’s cultural thought itself possesses the characteristic of the “Second Integration.” [20]20 The “Second Integration” (第二个结合) refers to the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture, as distinct from the “First Integration” of Marxism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution and construction. It was formally proposed by Xi Jinping in 2021 and elaborated at the 2023 Cultural Heritage and Development Symposium. “Substance” (ti) and “function” (yong) appeared as early as in pre-Qin thought, and later, through the absorption of Buddhist philosophical thought, developed into an important pair of categories in the Chinese philosophical conceptual system. The intellectual orientation of “substance-function” (tiyong) thinking lies in integrating entity and function, essence and phenomenon, and operates at the foundational source of the laws of nature and society, within the relationship between entity and function. Xi Jinping’s cultural thought combines the “substance-function” thinking with the basic principles of Marxism, merging the theoretical foundation and the innovation of thought within “substance-function.” Xi Jinping’s cultural thought itself is a classic example of the “Second Integration” and a theoretical demonstration of the self-regeneration of fine traditional Chinese culture.

明体达用、体用贯通不仅反映了习近平文化思想的思想追求与理论品格，其意涵建构也反映了习近平文化思想本身具有“第二个结合”的特征。“体”与“用”早在先秦思想中便出现，而后在吸纳佛教哲学思想中发展为中国哲学概念体系中的一对重要范畴。 “体用”思维的致思取向在于融通实体与功能、本质与现象，运思于自然社会规律基源处、实体与功能的关系中。习近平文化思想将“体用”思想与马克思主义基本原理相结合，将理论的基底与思想的开新融会于“体用”之中。习近平文化思想本身就是“第二个结合”的经典范例，是中华优秀传统文化自我更生的理论展示。

Enhancing the regenerative capacity of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation requires deepening the understanding of the laws of development of civilization and culture—that is, “understanding the substance” (mingti). Contemporary China’s cultural construction must be guided by Marxism, promote the understanding of the laws governing the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, consolidate subjectivity in the “Second Integration,” and explore the contemporary value of the fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation. After the New Culture Movement, [21]21 The New Culture Movement (新文化运动, c. 1915–1920s) was an intellectual and cultural movement in China that promoted modern values such as science and democracy, critiqued traditional Confucian culture, and paved the way for the spread of Marxism. the spread and Sinicization of Marxism renewed Chinese culture. Mao Zedong believed that “ever since the Chinese learned Marxism-Leninism, the Chinese people have taken the initiative in spirit from a passive state. From that time on, the era in modern world history when Chinese people and Chinese culture were looked down upon should come to an end.” Entering the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping further proposed the “Two Integrations,” [22]22 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) are the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture. The latter was added by Xi Jinping to the original formulation by integrating the basic principles of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture, using the light of Marxist truth to awaken and stimulate the vibrant cultural essence within the profound heritage of Chinese civilization, and endowing it with new contemporary connotations. The profound spirit and deep wisdom of the Chinese nation are integrated more deeply into the theoretical system of Marxism, effectively interconnecting the essence of Marxism with the essence of traditional Chinese culture, converging into new theoretical advantages of the New Era. The integration of the two has created an organic and unified new cultural life form, embodying the contemporary essence of Chinese culture and the Chinese spirit. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the “most powerful manifestation” of the regenerative capacity of Chinese civilization.

提升中华民族现代文明的更生力需要深化对文明、文化发展规律的认识，即“明体”。当代中国的文化建设必须要以马克思主义为指导，推进对中国特色社会主义文化建设规律的认识，在“第二个结合”中巩固主体性、发掘中华民族优秀传统文化的当代价值。新文化运动以后，马克思主义的传播与中国化，使中华文化得到了更新。毛泽东认为“自从中国人学会了马克思列宁主义以后，中国人在精神上就由被动转入主动。从这时起，近代世界历史上那种看不起中国人，看不起中国文化的时代应当完结了”。进入新时代，习近平总书记进一步提出了“两个结合”，将马克思主义基本原理与中华优秀传统文化结合，借助马克思主义的真理光芒，唤醒并激发中华文明深厚底蕴中生机勃勃的文化精华，赋予其新的时代内涵。将中华民族的崇高精神和深邃智慧更深层次地融入马克思主义的理论体系，有效地把马克思主义的精髓与中华传统文化的精华相互贯通，聚变为新时代新的理论优势。两者的结合造就了一个有机统一的新的文化生命体，体现了中华文化和中国精神的时代精华，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义是中华文明更生力的“最有力体现”。

Enhancing the regenerative capacity of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation requires integrating the basic understanding of the laws of cultural and civilizational construction into the practical paths, methods, and means of cultural construction in the New Era—that is, “realizing its function” (dayong). How to achieve “realizing its function” means integrating the standpoints, viewpoints, and methods of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the roadmap and task book for cultural construction in the New Era. The original ideas and guiding methods contained in Xi Jinping’s cultural thought must be applied to the fulfillment of the new cultural mission of the New Era, especially by firmly grasping the major requirements of the “Seven Efforts.” [23]23 The Two Integrations (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. The Second Integration (第二个结合) is the latter. It is necessary to recognize, with systematic thinking and a problem-oriented approach, the fundamental position of Party leadership within the “Seven Efforts”; to deeply understand the special status, value functions, mechanisms, and development plans of ideological work, value guidance, news and public opinion, in promoting the “Two Creations” [24]24 See note [23]. of fine traditional Chinese culture, cultural undertakings and cultural industries, international communication capacity, and mutual learning among civilizations within the cultural mission; and to understand the integrated interaction, interdependence, and coupled linkage between each “effort” and other components of the system. Thus, on the basis of a profound understanding of the internal coherence between the epistemological and practical methodological levels of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, and through a macro-level understanding of the laws of cultural construction and civilizational development, a historical breakthrough in the practical process at the concrete level can be achieved.

提升中华民族现代文明的更生力需要把对文化、文明建设规律的基本认识融入新时代文化建设的实践路径、方式方法当中，即“达用”。如何做到“达用”，就是要将习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的立场观点方法融入新时代文化建设的路线图和任务书当中。把习近平文化思想中所蕴含的原创性思想与引领性方法运用到新时代新的文化使命践行当中，特别是要牢牢把握“七个着力”的重大要求；要以系统思维和问题导向认识到党的领导在“七个着力”中的根本性地位，深刻领会到意识形态工作、价值引领、新闻舆论，在推动中华优秀传统文化“两创”、文化事业和文化产业发展、国际传播能力、文明交流互鉴在文化使命中的特殊地位、价值功能、机制作用、发展规划，以及每个“着力”与系统中其他组成部分之间的融合互动、依存贯通、耦合联动，从而在深刻理解习近平文化思想理论层面的认识论与实践层面的方法论的内在贯通之上，通过对文化建设、文明发展的宏观规律性认识，实现具体层面的实践过程的历史性突破。

The unity of substance and function (tiyong guantong) means closely combining the building of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation with the advancement of Chinese-path modernization. Only by adhering to Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, which is characterized by “understanding the substance and realizing its function” and the unity of substance and function, as the ideological guideline for cultural construction in the New Era, can we, on the basis of continuously consolidating cultural subjectivity, enhance historical initiative and ideological initiative, and shoulder the new cultural mission of the New Era.

体用贯通就是要把建设中华民族现代文明和推进中国式现代化密切地结合起来。只有坚持以明体达用、体用贯通的习近平文化思想作为新时代文化建设的思想遵循，才能在不断巩固文化主体性的基础上，增强历史主动性和思想主动性，担负起新时代新的文化使命。

(III) Expanding the Value Orientation of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation through the Cultural Mission

（三）以文化使命拓展中华民族现代文明的价值观照

The value crisis triggered by contemporary capitalist modernization is continuously shaking the theoretical system and practical development of modernization. The disorderly expansion and self-destruction of capital are the root of the modernity crisis of capitalist civilization. The logic of capital brings every component of the civilizational system under the domination of the logic of exchange, alienating everything that human subjectivity manifests into an alien force dominating individual existence, while the Enlightenment rationality that constructed the blueprint of human productive forces falls into self-doubt and moves toward anti-intellectualism. The shaking of the edifice of reason has also shaken the cultural foundation of the Western civilizational paradigm. The cry that “God is dead” prophesied the tendency of Western culture to move toward nihilism in its internal logic. The fundamental paradox inherent in the Christian culture at the core of Western civilization converges with the contemporary crisis of reason, shaking the foundation on which modernity subsists. It is precisely out of reflection on the value dimension and cultural foundation of modernity that Western academic circles have raised the question of whether the crisis of modernity will lead to the end of modernization. It can be said that the Western modernization paradigm has triggered a cultural crisis at the value level that threatens its own existence.

当代资本主义现代化引发的价值危机持续动摇着现代化理论体系与实践发展。资本的无序扩张和自我毁灭是资本主义文明现代性危机的根源。资本逻辑将文明体系的各个组成部分纳入交换逻辑的支配范畴，把人的主体性所彰示的一切异化为支配个人存在的异己力量，而构筑起人类生产力蓝图的启蒙理性陷入了自我怀疑，走向了反智主义。理性大厦的动摇也震撼了西方文明范式的文化基础。“上帝已死”的疾呼预言了西方文化在内在逻辑上走向虚无主义。内蕴于西方文明内核的基督教文化中的根本性悖论与当代理性危机交汇，撼动了现代性存续的地基。也正是出于对现代性价值维度和文化根基的审思，西方学界产生了现代性危机是否会导致现代化终结的疑问。可以说，西方现代化范式在价值层面引发了威胁自身存在的文化危机。

The cultural mission can address the spillover risks of the modernity cultural crisis. Today’s capitalist-dominated globalization connects the world into a whole not only economically but also culturally. The cultural hegemony composed of intellectual imperialism and spiritual imperialism not only carries out ideological control and infiltration of other civilizations but also spills over the modernity cultural crisis of its own existence into the modernization processes of other civilizations. Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation requires not only recognizing the deep logic and practical problems of the modernity cultural crisis from the perspective of the basic principles of Marxism but also promoting cultural prosperity and building a strong cultural country to construct the contemporary cultural foundation that supports Chinese-path modernization and to resolve the modernity crisis. This requires us to use the Two Integrations [23]23 The Two Integrations (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. The Second Integration (第二个结合) is the latter. to construct a new-era socialist culture with rich ideological layers, profound value implications, and diverse forms of expression, and to forge it into the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

文化使命可应对现代性文化危机的溢出性风险。当今资本主义主导的全球化不仅在经济上，也在文化上将世界连成一个整体。知识帝国主义与精神帝国主义组成的文化霸权不仅对其他文明进行意识形态控制和渗透，也将自身存在的现代性文化危机溢出到其他文明的现代化进程当中。构建中华民族现代文明不仅要从马克思主义基本原理的角度认清现代性文化危机产生的深层逻辑与现实问题，还要以推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国构建支撑起中国式现代化的时代文化基础与化解现代性危机。这就要求我们通过“两个结合”构筑思想层次丰富、价值蕴含深刻、表现形式多样的新时代社会主义文化，并将其熔铸到中华民族现代文明之中。

The cultural mission can enrich the value system of Chinese-path modernization and promote the common values of humanity. The value crisis of Western modern civilization has not only structural causes in capitalist modernization but also unique cultural factors dominated by instrumental rationality. Overcoming the value crisis requires both the practical transcendence of socialist modernization and the value transcendence of the cultural mission. The value declarations and ideological discourses of Chinese civilization concerning what it means to be human constitute unique cultural resources that supplement the Western value crisis. In contemporary China, the core socialist values, rooted in fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture, have become the value support driving Chinese-path modernization. This requires us both to lead new-era cultural construction with the core socialist values and to enrich and enhance the modernizing function of the core values through cultural construction, thereby using the value system forged by the core values to respond to the value crisis of modernization. At the same time, the cultural mission should also contribute to promoting the common values of all humanity. The common values of humanity that Chinese-path modernization emphasizes—people-centeredness, sharing, fairness and justice, and harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature—are also the theoretical pursuit and developmental aspiration of the cultural mission.

文化使命可丰富中国式现代化的价值体系，弘扬人类共同价值。西方现代文明的价值性危机不仅有资本主义现代化的结构性原因，也存在工具理性主导的独特文化因素。克服价值性危机既需要社会主义现代化的实践超越，也需要文化使命的价值超越。中华文明关于人之为人的价值宣示与思想论说，构成了补充西方价值性危机的独特文化资源。在当代中国，植根于中华优秀传统文化、革命文化和社会主义先进文化的社会主义核心价值观成为推动中国式现代化的价值支撑。这就要求我们既要以社会主义核心价值观引领新时代文化建设，又要以文化建设丰富、提升核心价值观的现代性功能，从而以核心价值观所熔铸的价值体系应对现代化的价值性危机。同时，文化使命也应当为弘扬全人类共同价值做出贡献。中国式现代化所注重的人民性、共享性、公平正义、人与自然和谐共生等全人类共同价值，也是文化使命的理论追求与发展向往。

III. Practical Purport: The Construction Path of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

三、实践旨趣：中华民族现代文明的建设路径

Chinese civilization has always followed a specific historical logic in its transformation toward modernization. It is precisely through the integrative creation of the Second Integration [24]24 See note [23]. that it has strengthened cultural confidence, achieving a new form of its own modernization construction; through the great practice of Chinese-path modernization, it has achieved the practical foundation of its own modernization construction; through clarifying the coupling and symbiosis of historical mission and cultural mission, it has achieved the Chinese characteristics of its own modernization construction; and through cultural exchange and mutual learning between China and foreign countries, it has achieved the world value of its own modernization construction.

中华文明在现代化的转化中始终遵循着特定的历史逻辑，正是在“第二个结合”的融创过程中坚定文化自信，实现了自身现代化建设的崭新样态；在中国式现代化的伟大实践中实现了自身现代化建设的实践基础；在厘清历史使命与文化使命的耦合共生中实现了自身现代化建设的中国特色；在中外文化交流与互鉴中实现了自身现代化建设的世界价值。

(I) Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation Must Firmly Establish Cultural Confidence

（一）建设中华民族现代文明必须坚定文化自信

General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture have different origins, but there is a high degree of compatibility between them.” [25]25 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Symposium on Cultural Heritage,” 2023. Therefore, the General Secretary creatively proposed the Two Integrations and held that “the Second Integration is another ideological emancipation,” [26]26 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Symposium on Cultural Heritage,” 2023. opening up a new realm of Marxist theoretical innovation and enabling fine traditional Chinese culture to radiate new vitality in a broader cultural space. This exposition enriches the Party’s ideological line; on the basis of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, it adheres to the soul of Marxism and the root of fine traditional Chinese culture, promotes a new leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times with a high degree of historical confidence and cultural confidence, and enables future-oriented theoretical innovation to embody the contemporary essence of Chinese culture and the Chinese spirit.

习近平总书记明确指出：“马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化来源不同，但彼此存在高度的契合性。”因此，总书记创造性地提出了“两个结合”，并认为“‘第二个结合’是又一次的思想解放”，开辟了马克思主义理论创新的新境界，使得中华优秀传统文化在更广阔的文化空间中焕发新的生命力。这一论述丰富了党的思想路线，在解放思想、实事求是的基础上，坚守了马克思主义的魂脉和中华优秀传统文化的根脉，以高度的历史自信和文化自信，推进了马克思主义中国化时代化的新飞跃，并使得面向未来的理论创新体现着中华文化和中国精神的时代精华。

Chinese civilization replaces the “capital accumulation” logic of Western civilization with “people supremacy.” Chinese civilization focuses on the liberation of humanity and the fate of nation-states from a global perspective, breaking out of the narrow perspective of bourgeois modernization theory. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is the theoretical product of the Two Integrations, creating a new form of human civilization from the cultural dimension. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the important role and status of cultural construction in the development of social civilization, not only highlighting the consciousness and initiative of the Communist Party of China in leading cultural development but also demonstrating the creativity and sense of responsibility displayed by the Chinese people in the historical process. To build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, we must base ourselves on the Second Integration, firmly establish cultural confidence, and enhance the recognition of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

中华文明以“人民至上”摒弃了西方文明的“资本增殖”逻辑。中华文明从全世界的视野来关注人类的解放及民族国家的命运，跳出了资产阶级现代化理论的狭隘视角。中华民族现代文明是“两个结合”的理论产物，从文化维度开创了人类文明新形态。习近平总书记高度重视文化建设在社会文明发展中的重要作用和地位，不仅突显了中国共产党在引领文化发展的自觉性和主动性，也彰显了中国人民在历史进程中所展现的创造力和责任感。建设中华民族现代文明，必须立足“第二个结合”，坚定文化自信，提升中华民族现代文明认同度。

Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must firmly establish cultural confidence, which means settling the value requirements of modernization within the ideological domain of the Second Integration. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that in advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, “cultural confidence is a more fundamental, broader, and deeper confidence—a more basic, deeper, and more enduring force.” [27]27 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Celebration of the 95th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China,” 2016. This thesis profoundly reveals the great significance of cultural confidence for the development of the country and the nation. Cultural confidence is a more fundamental confidence and a more fundamental force; it is the premise and basis for exploring the path, an important source of theoretical innovation and a basic condition for theoretical dissemination, and the value condensation and civilizational presentation of institutional construction. Traditional culture, as a historical phenomenon, is the spiritual presentation of practical history. General Secretary Xi Jinping incorporates culture into the practical process, highlighting the historicity of culture and its close connection with spiritual production. Historical practice that spans time and space, after being condensed through spiritual activity detached from specific production fields, becomes a cultural form that can be recognized and grasped. Culture embodies the wisdom and value pursuits of our predecessors and has a guiding role for the construction of our path, theory, and system today. As Marx pointed out: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.” [28]28 Karl Marx, *The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte* (1852). Incorporating culture into the process of practice highlights the social historicity of practice. This is an important development by General Secretary Xi Jinping of historical materialism and also the epistemological foundation of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought.

建设中华民族现代文明必须坚定文化自信，就是将现代化中的价值要求安顿在“第二个结合”的思想界域内。习近平总书记强调，在推进中国特色社会主义的事业上，“文化自信，是更基础、更广泛、更深厚的自信，更基本、更深沉、更持久的力量”。这一论断深刻揭示了文化自信对于国家、民族发展的重大意义。文化自信是更根本的自信和更根本的力量，是道路探索的前提和根据，是理论创新的重要源泉和理论传播的基础条件，是制度构建的价值凝结和文明呈现。传统文化作为一种历史现象，是实践历史的精神性呈现。习近平总书记把文化纳入实践过程，突出了文化的历史性及其与精神生产之间的密切联系。跨越时间和空间的历史实践，在脱离具体生产场域经精神活动凝结后，成为可以被认识和把握的文化形态。文化体现着先人的智慧与价值追求，对于我们今天的道路、理论、制度的构建具有导向性。正如马克思指出的：“人们自己创造自己的历史，但是他们并不是随心所欲地创造，并不是在他们自己选定的条件下创造，而是在直接碰到的、既定的、从过去承继下来的条件下创造。”把文化纳入实践的过程中，突出了实践的社会历史性，这是习近平总书记对唯物史观的重要发展，也是习近平文化思想的认识论基础。

Only by carrying the new form of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation with cultural confidence can we solidify the spiritual pillar for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. For a nation-state, traditional culture is the root and gene of its existence, concerning the foundation of the state and the destiny of the nation. Cultural identity is the spiritual pillar that凝聚社会共识 [coalesces social consensus], mobilizes social forces, promotes social development, and resists social risks. Cultural confidence is a remedy that empowers the development of the nation and the state, invigorates the spirit, energy, and morale of social members, and diagnoses the unique problems brought by modernity. “The Chinese nation has a long history, Chinese civilization is extensive and profound, and Chinese culture is broad and deep.” The important elements contained in the excellent traditional Chinese culture possess vigorous vitality. Chinese civilization is the only ancient civilization in the world that has not been interrupted. Therefore, the cultural confidence of the Chinese nation has full confidence and backbone. No matter what difficulties and obstacles there have been in history, it is difficult to extinguish the determination of the Chinese nation to restore its former glory. The consistent spiritual pursuit, spiritual characteristics, and spiritual lineage of the Chinese nation enable it to survive tenaciously and develop continuously over thousands of years of history. This is also the foundation and rich nourishment for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

只有以文化自信承载建设中华民族现代文明的崭新形态，才能筑牢建设中华民族现代文明的精神支柱。对于一个民族国家而言，传统文化是其存在的根脉和基因，关系到国本与国运。文化认同是凝聚社会共识、动员社会力量、推动社会发展、抵御社会风险的精神支柱。文化自信是赋能民族、国家发展，提振社会成员精、气、神，诊疗现代性带来的独有问题的良药。“中华民族历史悠久，中华文明源远流长，中华文化博大精深”，中华优秀传统文化所拥有的重要元素具有蓬勃的生命力。中华文明是世界古文明中唯一没有中断的文明，所以，中华民族的文化自信有充分的底气与骨气。无论历史上有过怎样的艰难险阻，都难以磨灭中华民族光复旧物的决心。中华民族一脉相承的精神追求、精神特质、精神脉络，使中华民族能够在几千年的历史长河中顽强生存和不断发展，这也是建设中华民族现代文明的基础和丰厚的滋养。

(II) Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation Must Be Rooted in Chinese-Path Modernization

（二）建设中华民族现代文明必须扎根中国式现代化

How to contribute Chinese wisdom to humanity’s path toward modernization is both a practical need of Chinese-path modernization and a realistic demand for constructing the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

如何为人类走向现代化贡献中国智慧，既是中国式现代化的实践需要，也是构建中华民族现代文明的现实吁求。

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The excellent traditional Chinese culture contains important inspirations for solving the difficult problems facing contemporary humanity.” Chinese-path modernization is deeply rooted in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, highly compatible with the practical exploration of the Chinese Communists since modern times to save the nation from subjugation and ensure its survival, bearing the distinctive trait of “civilizational continuity and inheritance.” It has achieved a significant leap from the “level of material objects” to the “level of ideology and culture,” refuting the hegemonic discourse of “the East being subordinate to the West,” bearing the distinct imprint of “Chinese-style.” It is a new model of modernization that combines “Chinese identity” and “Chinese characteristics,” embodies the essence of scientific socialism, and is “a new form of human civilization.” Chinese-path modernization has its profound cultural foundation and historical sedimentation, contributing a unique worldview, values, view of history, view of civilization, view of democracy, and view of ecology to the global modernization process. These concepts not only enrich the theoretical connotation of modernization but also demonstrate strong vitality and adaptability in practice, providing the world with a completely new path for modernization development. To realize Chinese-path modernization and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, it is necessary both to solve China’s problems with Chinese wisdom and to take the experiences and lessons of world modernization as a mirror. Chinese-path modernization is the result of the endogenous development and continuous evolution of Chinese civilization. The Western path of modernization has produced many problems of modernity. The modernization of today’s developed Western countries is, in essence, capitalist modernization, reflecting the dependence of people on things. The economic, political, and social structures formed over a long period in Chinese society are very different from the social background of Western modernization; the prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization and the historical stage it is in also determine that Chinese-path modernization cannot take the Western modernization path of primitive accumulation, external expansion, privatization, and multi-party system. The challenges of contemporary society include the intensification of economic inequality, the prevalence of consumerism, the excessive development of individualism, the loss of social trust, the degradation of moral standards, and the tension in the relationship between humans and the environment. These phenomena call on us to re-examine and seek a balanced and harmonious development path. This determines that building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation must be rooted in Chinese-path modernization, not only to resolve China’s modernization problems but also to actively respond to the new issues raised by world modernization development.

习近平总书记指出：“中国优秀传统文化中蕴藏着解决当代人类面临的难题的重要启示。”中国式现代化深深地植根于中华优秀传统文化，与近代以来中国共产党人救亡图存的实践探索高度契合，带有“文明接续传承”的显著特质，实现了从“器物层面”到“思想文化层面”显著跃升，驳斥了“东方从属于西方”的话语霸权，带有“中国式”的鲜明烙印，是一种兼具“中国标识”“中国特色”的崭新的现代化模式，体现了科学社会主义的本质，是“一种全新的人类文明形态”。中国式现代化有其深厚的文化根基和历史沉淀，为全球现代化进程贡献了独特的世界观、价值观、历史观、文明观、民主观和生态观。这些观念不仅丰富了现代化的理论内涵，而且在实践中展现出了强大的生命力和适应性，为世界提供了一种全新的现代化发展路径。实现中国式现代化，建设中华民族现代文明既需要以中国智慧解决中国问题，又需要以世界现代化的经验教训作为镜鉴。中国式现代化是中华文明内生的结果、赓续的产物。西方现代化之路产生了诸多现代性问题。当今西方发达国家的现代化，在本质上是资本主义的现代化，体现了人对物的依赖关系。中国社会长期以来形成的经济、政治、社会结构，与西方现代化的社会背景很不相同；中华文明突出的特性、所处的历史阶段也决定了中国式现代化不能走原始积累、对外扩张、私有化、多党制的西方现代化道路。当代社会的挑战包括经济不平等的加剧、消费主义的盛行、个人主义的过度发展、社会信任的缺失、道德标准的退化以及人与环境关系的紧张等，这些现象呼吁我们重新审视并寻求平衡和谐的发展道路。这就决定了建设好中华民族现代文明必须扎根中国式现代化，不仅要化解中国的现代化问题，还要积极应对世界现代化发展提出的新问题。

Chinese-path modernization is constructed within the bloodline of continuing national culture, and it is also constructed by summarizing the experiences and lessons of world modernization and grasping the laws of world historical development. In October 2020, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee [29]29 The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held in October 2020, adopted proposals for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and long-range objectives through 2035., General Secretary Xi Jinping elaborated on the basic characteristics of Chinese-path modernization: modernization of a huge population, modernization of common prosperity for all, modernization of material and cultural-ethical progress in harmony, modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and modernization along the path of peaceful development. The summary of these five characteristics reflects not only the civilization of the social form but also the civilizational pursuit of the mode of social production and the mode of human existence. From the internal composition of civilization, material civilization, institutional civilization, and spiritual civilization constitute its basic elements. From the general historical trend of the rise and fall of civilizations, along with the continuous development of human practice, civilization presents a spatiotemporal state of “past-present-future.” General Secretary Xi Jinping believes: “Chinese-path modernization is the broad road to building a strong country and national rejuvenation, opening up a new path for humanity to move towards modernization, and creating a new form of human civilization.” Therefore, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization, and its essence is a new form of human civilization.

中国式现代化是在延续民族文化的血脉中构建的，同时也是在总结世界现代化的经验教训，把握世界历史发展规律中构建的。2020年10月，习近平总书记在党的十九届五中全会上阐述了中国式现代化的基本特征：人口规模巨大的现代化、全体人民共同富裕的现代化、物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化、人与自然和谐共生的现代化、走和平发展道路的现代化。五大特征的概括既体现了社会形态的文明，也体现了对社会生产方式与人的存在方式的文明追求。从文明的内部构成看，物质文明、制度文明、精神文明构成其基本要素。从文明兴衰沉浮的一般历史趋势来看，伴随着人类实践的不断向前发展，文明呈现“过去—现在—未来”的时空状态。习近平总书记认为：“中国式现代化是强国建设、民族复兴的康庄大道，开辟的是人类迈向现代化的新道路，开创的是人类文明新形态。”所以，中华民族现代文明就是中国式现代化的文化形态，实质是人类文明新形态。

(III) Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation Must Properly Handle the Relationship between the Historical Mission and the Cultural Mission

（三）建设中华民族现代文明必须处理好历史使命与文化使命的关系

The historical mission of the Party is the practical basis for realizing the cultural mission and building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The 19th National Congress of the CPC put forward the historical mission of the Party in the New Era, and also proposed that the Party must shoulder the new cultural mission of the New Era. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC stated: “Contemporary Chinese Communists and the Chinese people should and certainly can shoulder the new cultural mission, carry out cultural creation in practical creation, and achieve cultural progress in historical progress!” The historical mission of the Party is to seek happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation, and to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. Regarding the cultural mission of the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping summarized it in his speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development as: “Continue to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural country, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation at a new starting point.”

党的历史使命是实现文化使命、建设中华民族现代文明的实践基础。党的十九大提出了新时代党的历史使命，同时也提出了党要担负起新时代新的文化使命。党的十九大报告提出：“当代中国共产党人和中国人民应该而且一定能够担负起新的文化使命，在实践创造中进行文化创造，在历史进步中实现文化进步！”党的历史使命就是要为人民谋幸福、为民族谋复兴，以中国式现代化推进中华民族伟大复兴。关于党的文化使命，习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上的讲话中概括为：“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。”

The historical mission and the cultural mission complement each other. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Chinese-path modernization endows Chinese civilization with modern power, and Chinese civilization endows Chinese-path modernization with profound heritage.” From the basic principles of historical materialism, fulfilling the historical mission requires both the spiritual supply and values provided by the cultural mission, and the cultural mission as a constituent element for completing the historical mission. The cultural mission requires fully absorbing the cultural nourishment of the long river of history, profoundly responding to the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times, continuously promoting the exploration and innovation of the path, theory, and system, and advancing Chinese-path modernization. With the continuous advancement of the historical mission, the overall requirements of Chinese-path modernization for the state of social civilization are becoming increasingly urgent. The historical unfolding of the New Era constantly urges the spiritual value supply, individual development care, and social life design urgently needed by Chinese-path modernization, thus continuously promoting the reconstruction of traditional Chinese civilization’s ideological concepts, academic systems, and other aspects. To achieve cultural progress, it is necessary to engage with the current historical state of civilizational development through Chinese-path modernization. This is not simply a value appeal for the rejuvenation of Chinese civilization, but a realistic need for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

历史使命和文化使命相辅相成。习近平总书记指出：“中国式现代化赋予中华文明以现代力量，中华文明赋予中国式现代化以深厚底蕴。”从历史唯物主义的基本原理来看，完成历史使命既需要文化使命所提供的精神供给与价值，又需要文化使命作为完成历史使命的构成要件。文化使命要求充分汲取历史长河的文化营养，深刻回应中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问，不断推动道路、理论和制度的探索和创新，推进中国式现代化。随着历史使命的不断推进，中国式现代化对社会文明状态的整体性要求愈发急迫。新时代的历史性展开不断催促着中国式现代化所亟须的精神价值供给、个人发展关怀、社会生活设计，因而持续推动着传统中华文明思想观念、学术体系等方面的重构。实现文化进步，必须以中国式现代化切入当下文明发展的历史状态，这不仅仅是简单地出于复兴中华文明的价值吁求，更是中华民族走向伟大复兴的现实需要。

Responding to the practical demands of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation requires fusing the Party’s cultural mission into its historical mission. This demands that we promote cultural prosperity through “understanding the substance and applying it, integrating substance and application” (明体达用、体用贯通), and take the continuous enrichment of the people’s spiritual world as the value orientation and direct focus of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Promoting cultural prosperity is a practical task for meeting the people’s needs for a better life in the New Era. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC [30]30 The 19th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2017; its report formally declared that the principal contradiction in Chinese society had shifted to one between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. clearly explained the change in the principal contradiction in society in the New Era, among which the unbalanced and inadequate development at the cultural level is even more prominent. It is necessary to vigorously develop cultural undertakings and cultural industries in urban and rural areas, to prosper literature and art, and to further promote fine traditional Chinese culture and the core socialist values. While meeting the people’s material and cultural needs, we must build and develop socialist cultural-ethical progress, overcome the squeezing of the spirit by material desires under market economy conditions, and make material civilization and cultural-ethical progress coordinate. At the same time, we must integrate “understanding the substance and applying it, integrating substance and application” into building a culturally strong country. Building a culturally strong country means combining the construction and development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics with the continuous advancement of social productive forces and the development of socialist modernization. This is the inherent requirement and fundamental force for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Building a culturally strong country is itself an important part of building a great modern socialist country, and it also provides spiritual motivation and intellectual support for building a great modern socialist country. On the basis of promoting cultural prosperity, we must further build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leading power, condense the common value pursuits of all the people, raise the level of civilization in the whole society, and at the same time build a strong country in education, science and technology, and human resources. In the process of promoting Chinese-path modernization to build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, we must tell China’s story well, enhance the country’s cultural soft power, and continuously strengthen the influence and appeal of the Chinese path, the Chinese spirit, and Chinese values.

回应建设中华民族现代文明的实践诉求，就要把党的文化使命熔铸到历史使命当中。这就要求我们在明体达用、体用贯通中推动文化繁荣，把不断丰富人民的精神世界作为建设中华民族现代文明的价值取向和直接着力点。推动文化繁荣是新时代满足人民对于美好生活需要的现实任务。党的十九大报告中明确阐释了新时代社会主要矛盾的变化，其中文化层面的不平衡不充分的发展更为突出。需要在城乡大力发展文化事业、文化产业，繁荣文学艺术，进一步弘扬中华优秀传统文化和社会主义核心价值观。在满足人民物质文化需要的同时，建设和发展社会主义精神文明，克服市场经济条件下物欲对精神的挤压，使物质文明和精神文明相协调。同时还要把明体达用、体用贯通融入建设文化强国之中，建设文化强国就是要使中国特色社会主义文化的建设和发展与不断推进社会生产力和社会主义现代化的发展结合起来，这是建设中华民族现代文明的内在要求和根本力量。建设文化强国本身就是社会主义现代化强国的重要内容之一，同时也为社会主义现代化强国建设提供精神动力和智力支持。在推动文化繁荣的基础上，进一步建设具有强大凝聚力和引领力的社会主义意识形态，凝结全体人民共同的价值追求，提高全社会的文明程度，同时建设教育强国、科技强国、人才强国。在推动建设中华民族现代文明的中国式现代化进程中，讲好中国故事，提升国家文化软实力，不断增强中国道路、中国精神、中国价值的影响力与感染力。

(IV) Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation Must Deepen Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations

（四）建设中华民族现代文明必须深化文明交流互鉴

Within the discourse system of capitalist civilization, whether development occurs or not is presented as a single historical process. Capitalist civilization reduces human civilization to a single path, ignoring the diversity of the development of human civilization, simply imposing single development paths such as “exploiting the periphery” and “colonial plunder” on the foundations of different civilizations around the world. The rapidly developing “industry” has led to “the poverty and suffering of the working masses” increasingly becoming a social norm, and “cash transactions” have increasingly become the sole bond of society; “bribery replaced violent oppression, and money replaced the sword as the first lever of social power.” [31]31 The quoted passage is a paraphrase of Friedrich Engels’s description of the transformation of social power under capitalism, from his work *The Condition of the Working Class in England* (1845). Western modern civilization, premised institutionally on the capitalist system, aims to maintain the ideological representation of its own power and an unequal international system, concealing the political concerns and discursive hegemony of Western countries. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, on the basis of absorbing and drawing on the outstanding achievements of civilizations from all over the world, transcends the “brutal side” of Western civilization with an “open attitude and inclusive mind,” and achieves the rejection of the “narrow-minded concepts” of Western civilization while maintaining its own national characteristics.

在资本主义文明的话语体系中，发展与否呈现的都是单一的历史过程。资本主义文明将人类文明简化为单一路径，忽视了人类文明发展的多样性，简单地将单一的“剥削外围”“殖民掠夺”等发展路径凌驾在世界各国不同文明的基础之上，迅速发展的“工业”导致“劳动群众的贫穷和困苦”日益成为社会常态，“现金交易”日益成为社会的唯一纽带；“贿赂代替了暴力压迫，金钱代替刀剑成了社会权力的第一杠杆”。以资本主义制度为制度性前提的西方现代文明旨在维护自身权力与不平等的国际体系的意识形态表征，隐藏了西方国家的政治关切与话语霸权。中华民族现代文明是在对世界各国优秀文明成果吸收借鉴的基础上，以“开放的姿态、包容的胸怀”超越了西方文明的“野蛮面”，在保持自身民族特色的基础上实现的对西方文明“狭隘观念”的摒弃。

Chinese civilization has been an open and inclusive civilizational system since ancient times. Whether it was the Silk Road during the Han and Tang dynasties or the Maritime Silk Road during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese civilization has continuously grown and developed through exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations. Chinese civilization has always valued absorbing the outstanding achievements of other civilizations, expanding its own vitality and regenerative power through returning to the roots and opening up the new (返本开新) and through civilizational mutual learning. This requires: First, in exchanges and collisions with foreign civilizations, we must be adept at adhering to the position of Chinese civilization, basing ourselves on the original, absorbing the foreign, and facing the future. Chinese civilization has developed through collisions, exchanges, and integration with other civilizations; this is another important law of civilizational development. The process of Chinese-path modernization is also a process of continuously moving towards world history. In this process, civilizations learn from each other through exchange and develop through mutual learning. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “After long-term efforts, we are better positioned than any previous era to resolve the ‘dispute between the ancient and the modern, China and the West,’ and we are also more urgently in need than any previous era of a batch of cultural achievements that fuse the ancient and the modern and connect China and the West.” [32]32 Xi Jinping, speech at a symposium on cultural heritage and development, June 2, 2023. Second, in today’s world, the changes unseen in a century are accelerating, the global economic recovery is weak, the external environment is complex, and fallacies such as the clash of civilizations and the superiority of certain civilizations are resurging. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must “respect the diversity of world civilizations, uphold equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness among civilizations, transcend civilizational estrangement through civilizational exchange, transcend civilizational clashes through civilizational mutual learning, and transcend civilizational superiority through civilizational coexistence.” [33]33 Xi Jinping, speech at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, March 15, 2023. Exchanges and mutual learning among the cultures of various countries have become the norm. We must adopt a more open attitude, actively participate in global cultural exchanges, and promote dialogue and cooperation between different civilizations. Only through exchanges and mutual learning with the civilizations of all countries in the world can we realize the modern material civilization, institutional civilization, cultural-ethical progress, and ecological civilization of the Chinese nation, enhance the cultural connotation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and China’s international influence, build a community with a shared future for mankind, create a new form of human civilization, and point the way for the development of human civilization.

中华文明自古以来就是一个开放包容的文明体系。无论是汉唐时期的丝绸之路，还是明清时期的海上丝绸之路，中华文明始终在与其他文明的交流互鉴中不断壮大和发展。中华文明历来重视吸纳其他文明的优秀成果，在返本开新与文明互鉴中拓展自身文明的生命力、更生力。这就要求：第一，要善于在与外来文明的交流碰撞中，坚持中华文明的立场，立足本来、吸收外来、面向未来。中华文明是在与其他文明的碰撞、交流和交融中得到发展的，这是文明发展的又一个重要规律。中国式现代化的过程也是一个不断走向世界历史的过程。在这一过程中，文明因交流而互鉴、因互鉴而发展。习近平总书记指出：“经过长期努力，我们比以往任何一个时代都更有条件破解‘古今中西之争’，也比以往任何一个时代都更迫切需要一批熔铸古今、汇通中西的文化成果。”第二，当今世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，全球经济复苏乏力，外部环境错综复杂，文明冲突论、文明优越论等沉渣泛起。习近平总书记指出，要“尊重世界文明多样性，坚持文明平等、互鉴、对话、包容，以文明交流超越文明隔阂、文明互鉴超越文明冲突、文明共存超越文明优越”。各国文化的交流与互鉴已经成为一种常态。要以更加开放的姿态，积极参与全球文化交流，推动不同文明之间的对话与合作，只有在与世界各国文明的交流互鉴中，才能实现中华民族现代物质文明、制度文明、精神文明和生态文明，提升中华民族现代文明的文化内涵与中华民族的国际影响力，构建人类命运共同体，创造人类文明新形态，为人类文明的发展指明方向。

(Author’s bio: Liu Lina, researcher at the Donghua University Base of the Shanghai Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

（作者简介：刘丽娜，上海市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心东华大学基地研究员）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心