The Profound Connotation, Distinctive Characteristics, and Value Implications of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is both a major theoretical proposition and a vivid practical project. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has deep roots and a scientific soul; it is the product of the era in which the basic principles of Marxism are integrated with China’s specific realities and with the finest traditional Chinese culture. It is the inevitable result of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times and of the integration of the finest traditional Chinese culture with Marxism. It is the practical confirmation that scientific socialism has taken root in China, and that socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese-path modernization have effectively manifested the essence of scientific socialism. It is the resilient bond that connects the hearts and destinies of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people, and the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation draws inexhaustible momentum and infinite potential from China’s revolution, construction, reform, and the New Era; from the dialectical interaction between theoretical innovation based on practical innovation and practical innovation guided by scientific theory, it continuously gains the rich vitality of emancipating the mind and transforming thinking, as well as the powerful synergy of unifying thought and striving together in unity. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation obtains rich nourishment and firm confidence from the creative transformation and innovative development of the finest traditional Chinese culture; from the integrated innovation and innovative integration of the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese-path modernization, it acquires the modernity and actuality of striving upward, toward goodness, and forward. Through the practical process and phased achievements of creating a new form of human civilization, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation continuously exerts the greatest strength of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, increasingly radiates the brilliance of Marxist truth, and gradually manifests the firm confidence in advancing toward the bright prospect of communism.

建设中华民族现代文明既是重大的理论命题，又是生动的实践课题。中华民族现代文明根脉深厚、魂脉科学，是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的时代产物，是马克思主义中国化时代化、中华优秀传统文化与马克思主义贯通的必然结果；是科学社会主义在中国落地生根，中国特色社会主义、中国式现代化使科学社会主义本质得到有效呈现的实践确证；是中国共产党、中国人民、中华儿女心灵相通、命运与共的坚韧纽带。中华民族现代文明从中国革命、建设、改革、新时代中获得无穷动能和无限势能，从实践创新基础上的理论创新和科学理论指导下的实践创新辩证互动中不断获得解放思想、变革思维的丰富活力和统一思想、团结奋斗的强大合力。中华民族现代文明从中华优秀传统文化的创造性转化、创新性发展中获得丰厚滋养和坚毅自信，从中国特色社会主义和中国式现代化道路、理论、制度、文化的集成创新与创新集成中获得向上向善向前的现代性和现实性。中华民族现代文明通过创造人类文明新形态的实践进程和阶段性成果，持续发挥中国特色社会主义制度的最大优势，日益散发马克思主义的真理光辉，逐步彰显奔向共产主义美好前景的坚定自信。

I. The Profound Connotation of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

一、中华民族现代文明的深刻内涵

The Chinese nation created a splendid ancient civilization, yet in modern times it once fell into a situation where the nation was humiliated, the people suffered, and its civilization was covered in dust. The sons and daughters of the Chinese nation rose up in the revolutionary struggle against imperialism and feudalism, explored and advanced in socialist transformation and construction, blazed the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in reform and opening up and socialist modernization, advanced the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the nation on the new journey of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era and Chinese-path modernization, and promoted the progress of human society toward a bright future amid the deep interaction between changes unseen in a century and the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Through the ongoing vivid practice of Chinese-path modernization, they deeply contemplate and answer major theoretical and practical questions such as what kind of modern civilization of the Chinese nation to build and how to build it, and what kind of modern civilization of human society to build and how to build it. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core unites and leads the people of all ethnic groups across the country, with a strong historical initiative, a keen problem-oriented awareness, and a powerful practical subject determination, to build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and create a new form of human civilization. This effectively fulfills the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, and vividly interprets the lofty realm and global vision of seeking progress for humanity and common harmony for the world.

中华民族创造了灿烂的古代文明，近代以来却一度陷入国家蒙辱、人民蒙难、文明蒙尘的境地，中华儿女在反帝反封建的革命斗争中奋起，在社会主义改造和建设中探索前行，在改革开放和社会主义现代化建设中开辟中国特色社会主义道路，在新时代中国特色社会主义和中国式现代化新征程中推进强国建设、民族复兴，在世界百年未有之大变局和中华民族伟大复兴战略全局深入互动中推动人类社会迈向光明未来，以进行时的中国式现代化生动实践深度思考回答建设什么样的中华民族现代文明、怎样建设中华民族现代文明，建设什么样的人类社会现代文明、怎样建设人类社会现代文明等重大理论和实践课题。以习近平同志为核心的党中央团结带领全国各族人民，以强劲的历史主动精神、强烈的问题导向意识、强大的实践主体定力，建设中华民族现代文明、创造人类文明新形态，有效践行了为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴的初心和使命，生动诠释了为人类谋进步、为世界谋大同的崇高境界和天下情怀。

(I) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Discourses on Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

（一）习近平总书记关于建设中华民族现代文明的重要论述

In October 2022, during an inspection in Anyang, Henan Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed “building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.” In June 2023, at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping further elaborated on “continuing to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural country, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation at a new starting point.” On July 7, 2023, during an inspection in Jiangsu Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is an inevitable requirement for advancing Chinese-path modernization. In October 2023, the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology, and Cultural Work formally proposed Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. As an original theoretical viewpoint, an autonomous discursive concept, and a leading goal and task within Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation possesses innovativeness and breakthrough significance.

2022年10月，习近平总书记在河南安阳考察时首次提出“建设中华民族现代文明”；2023年6月，习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上进一步就“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”作出深刻阐述。2023年7月7日，习近平总书记在江苏考察时提出建设中华民族现代文明是推进中国式现代化的必然要求。2023年10月，全国宣传思想文化工作会议正式提出习近平文化思想，中华民族现代文明作为习近平文化思想中的原创性理论观点、自主性话语概念、引领性目标任务，具有创新性和突破性。

The proposal of this innovative theory and strategic deployment for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation stems from General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound grasp and deep reflection on the millennia-long historical and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, as well as on the rich practice of the Communist Party of China leading the Chinese people through more than a century of arduous exploration into modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the inheritance and development of the finest traditional Chinese culture, proposing the “Two Creations” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. policy for the finest traditional Chinese culture. Regarding what kind of creative transformation and innovative development of the finest traditional Chinese culture to promote, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out the need to “excavate the ideas, humanistic spirit, and moral norms of the finest traditional Chinese culture.” Using the traditional Chinese emphasis on “investigating things to acquire knowledge, making intentions sincere, rectifying the mind, cultivating the self, regulating the family, and governing the state to bring peace to all under heaven” [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. as a metaphor, he indicated the requirements of modern society at the individual, social, and national levels. The value orientation of this both inherits the moral concepts of the finest traditional Chinese culture and embodies the spirit of the times, revealing that the finest traditional Chinese culture contains important insights for solving the problems facing contemporary humanity, which must be inherited and developed in light of the conditions of the era. Regarding why it is necessary to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of the finest traditional Chinese culture, from a positive dimension, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “the finest traditional Chinese culture, with a long history and profound depth, is the crystallization of the wisdom of Chinese civilization.” It has influenced the way Chinese people think and behave, enriched the spiritual world of the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and nurtured the value consciousness of the Chinese people. It is a more fundamental, broader, and deeper spiritual driving force for the Chinese nation, and “the foundation for the inheritance and development of a country and a nation.” From a negative dimension, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “abandoning tradition and losing the foundation is equivalent to cutting off one’s own spiritual lifeline,” and “a nation that abandons or betrays its own history and culture not only cannot develop but is likely to stage one historical tragedy after another.” The erroneous tendency to “look down upon” or “fail to see” the nation’s excellent traditional culture will ultimately fall into the quagmire of historical nihilism. Regarding how to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of the finest traditional Chinese culture, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to both uphold fundamental principles and break new ground. Upholding fundamental principles lies in “clearly explaining the historical origins, development context, and basic direction of the finest traditional Chinese culture, and clearly explaining the unique creations, value concepts, and distinctive features of Chinese culture.” Breaking new ground requires adhering to the principle of making the past serve the present and weeding through the old to bring forth the new, “treating it with discernment and inheriting it with a critical approach, rather than exalting the past over the present or using the past to negate the present,” ensuring that “the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese nation adapt to contemporary culture and coordinate with modern society.”

建设中华民族现代文明这一创新理论和战略部署的提出源于习近平总书记对中华民族数千年历史文化底蕴、对中国共产党带领中国人民历经百余年艰辛探索迈进现代化丰富实践的深刻把握和深入思考。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记高度重视中华优秀传统文化的传承发展，提出中华优秀传统文化的“两创”方针。关于推动什么样的中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展，习近平总书记指出，要“挖掘中华优秀传统文化的思想观念、人文精神、道德规范”，并以中华优秀传统文化中讲究“格物致知、诚意正心、修身齐家、治国平天下”为喻，表明现代社会对个人层面、社会层面和国家层面的要求，其价值旨归既传承了中华优秀传统文化的道德观念，又体现了时代精神，昭示了中华优秀传统文化蕴藏着解决当代人类面临的难题的重要启示，必须结合时代条件加以继承和发扬。关于为什么要推进中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展，从正向维度看，习近平总书记指出，“中华优秀传统文化源远流长、博大精深，是中华文明的智慧结晶”，影响了中国人的思想行为方式、丰富了中华儿女的精神世界、涵养了中国人民的价值自觉，是中华民族更基础、更广泛、更深厚的精神动力，“是一个国家、一个民族传承和发展的根本”。从逆向维度看，习近平总书记强调，“抛弃传统，丢掉根本，就等于割断了自己的精神命脉”，“一个抛弃或者背叛了自己历史文化的民族，不仅不可能发展起来，而且很可能上演一幕幕历史悲剧”，那种“看不起”“看不见”民族优秀传统文化的错误倾向，最终必将陷入历史虚无主义的泥沼。关于如何推进中华优秀传统文化的创造性转化、创新性发展，习近平总书记强调，既要守正，又要创新。守正在于“要讲清楚中华优秀传统文化的历史渊源、发展脉络、基本走向，讲清楚中华文化的独特创造、价值理念、鲜明特色”；创新要秉持古为今用、推陈出新的原则，“有鉴别的对待、有扬弃的继承，而不能搞厚古薄今、以古非今”，确保“中华民族最基本的文化基因与当代文化相适应、与现代社会相协调”。

At the same time, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and Chinese-path modernization emerge in the same direction, and General Secretary Xi Jinping’s discourse on Chinese-path modernization contains rich ideological connotations. First, as socialism with Chinese characteristics enters the New Era, the transformation of the principal contradiction in society determines the historical juncture at which China finds itself, which becomes the national conditions foundation for understanding and grasping Chinese-path modernization. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. made the scientific judgment that “the principal contradiction in Chinese society has been transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development.” On the new journey of the New Era, the historical task of achieving the second centenary goal [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. is precisely to focus on resolving this principal contradiction. At the ceremony marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “Uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and promote the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization.” Under the mutual innovation of theory and practice, the theory of building a strong country and the practice of building a strong country have comprehensively and systematically summarized the main features, promotion principles, essential requirements, goals and tasks, strategic deployments, and major relationships of Chinese-path modernization, initially constructing a theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and enriching and developing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Innovations in practice, deepening in understanding, sublimation in theory, and leaps in thought indicate that the Communist Party of China has further deepened and expanded its understanding of the laws of Chinese-path modernization and the issue of world modernization, achieving new theoretical results, institutional results, and practical results, revealing the logical unfolding path and spiraling upward trajectory among Chinese-path modernization, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and the new form of human civilization.

与此同时，中华民族现代文明与中国式现代化同向而生，习近平总书记关于中国式现代化的论述蕴含丰富的思想内涵。首先，中国特色社会主义进入新时代，社会主要矛盾的转化决定了我国所处的历史方位成为认识和把握中国式现代化的国情基础。党的十九大报告作出“我国社会主要矛盾已经转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾”的科学论断，新时代新征程，实现第二个百年奋斗目标的历史任务就是要着力解决这一主要矛盾。在庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会上，习近平总书记指出，“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”。在理论和实践的交互创新催生下，强国理论和强国实践全面系统总结了中国式现代化的主要特征、推进原则、本质要求、目标任务、战略部署、重大关系等，初步构建起中国式现代化理论体系，丰富发展了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想。实践上的创新、认识上的深入、理论上的升华、思想上的飞跃，表明中国共产党进一步深化拓展了对中国式现代化规律和世界现代化问题的认识，取得了新的理论成果、制度成果、实践成果，揭示了中国式现代化、中华民族现代文明、人类文明新形态间的逻辑展开理路和螺旋上升轨迹。

(II) Academic Exploration of the Basic Connotation of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

（二）学术界关于中华民族现代文明基本内涵的学理探究

The academic analysis of the basic connotation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation exhibits characteristics of multi-perspective and multi-dimensional exploration. First, based on the perspective of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan [3]3 Arnold J. Toynbee, *Civilization on Trial* (New York: Oxford University Press, 1948)., it grasps the profound connotation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from a systematic concept and holistic thinking, and from a political height regards the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation as “holistic civilization construction,” which “is a civilization system integrating political civilization, material civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization.” Second, based on a narrow cultural perspective, it views the modern civilization of the Chinese nation as a全新的文化生命体和文化有机体 [a全新的 cultural life form and cultural organism], the result of the blending and fermentation of various elements from ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign. The fine traditional Chinese culture is the essence and intellectual crystallization of this civilization. This崭新的文化生命体 [崭新 cultural life form], “through the Second Integration [4]4 Norbert Elias, *The Civilizing Process*, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994)., has solidified the roots and soul of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation,” inherently containing the Chinese path of cultural development and the modern paradigm of Chinese cultural development. It is a comprehensive reflection on erroneous trends such as cultural centralism, cultural relativism, and cultural restorationism in the course of independence and self-reliance, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and openness and inclusiveness, ultimately making the modern civilization of the Chinese nation “an advanced civilization with distinct cultural subjectivity.” Third, based on a broad civilizational perspective, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation possesses the general attributes of civilization and is the sum total of the material and spiritual achievements of humanity in transforming the world. Some scholars believe that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is not only the result of the innovation of traditional Chinese culture but also a new contribution made by the Chinese nation to human civilization in the process of moving toward the world, embodying “the organic unity of inheriting Chinese civilization and respecting human civilization.” Some scholars, taking the Chinese nation as the subject and based on time and space, summarize it as: a modern civilization with the outstanding characteristics of the Chinese nation, a modern civilization development form of the Chinese nation, and also the modern form of Chinese civilization; it is the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization and also a highly developed socialist modern civilization with Chinese characteristics led by the Communist Party of China. Other scholars, from a multi-dimensional civilizational perspective, position the modern civilization of the Chinese nation as “in the garden of world civilizations, it is the civilization of the Chinese nation; in the development of human social forms, it is a socialist civilization; in the long-standing Chinese civilization, it is a modern civilization.” Fourth, based on the perspective of Chinese-path modernization, some scholars believe that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation originates from the historical process of Chinese-path modernization, and through expressions such as “the civilizational form presented by Chinese-path modernization construction,” “the new civilizational form of Chinese-path modernization led by the Communist Party of China,” “the civilizational concept gradually formed in the unfolding process of Chinese-path modernization,” “the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization formed through the Second Integration,” and “the vision of cultural development of Chinese-path modernization,” they confirm the historical inevitability of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation emerging alongside Chinese-path modernization. Fifth, based on the perspective of the new form of human civilization, it is believed that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has created a new form of human civilization, achieving the deconstruction and reconstruction of the concepts of modernization and modernity with a strong Western-centric color, containing a critique of Western “modernity,” manifesting the exchange and mutual learning of modern diverse civilizations and the blueprint for a “new modernity,” and “is a civilization that conforms to the development direction of human civilization and incorporates the essence of civilizations from all nations of the world.” Sixth, based on the perspective of generative logic, it grasps the basic connotation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from historical, theoretical, and practical approaches. The upholding of fundamental principles and breaking new ground in the long-standing civilization of the Chinese nation, the inheritance and development of the CPC’s century-long cultural construction practice, the崭新 presentation of the Second Integration, and the continuous creation of the new form of human civilization have jointly brought about the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Some scholars, based on the historical dimension, value dimension, and future dimension, point out that the Second Integration points the direction for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The Two Integrations [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. are its logical starting point, and the theoretical connotation should be grasped within the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and the new form of human civilization. Seventh, based on a methodological perspective, it clarifies that grasping the scientific connotation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation requires clarifying four important extended issues, namely, “making clear that modernization does not equal Westernization and modern civilization does not equal Western civilization, making clear the mutual compatibility between the basic principles of Marxism and the fine traditional Chinese culture, making clear the relationship between Chinese-path modernization and Chinese civilization, and making clear the contribution of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation to today’s world.” Eighth, based on an integrated perspective, some scholars have made a detailed explanation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from the historical dimension, modernization dimension, cultural dimension, and global dimension, summarizing its basic implications and essential stipulations.

学术界对中华民族现代文明基本内涵的研析，展现了多视角、多维度探索的特点。一是基于“五位一体”总体布局视角，从系统性观念和整体性思维把握中华民族现代文明的深刻内涵，站在讲政治的高度将中华民族现代文明建设作为“整体性文明建设”，“是集政治文明、物质文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明为一体的文明体系”。二是基于狭义文化视角，将中华民族现代文明视为全新的文化生命体和文化有机体，是古今中西各种要素氤氲化醇的结果，中华优秀传统文化是这一文明的精华和智慧结晶，这种崭新的文化生命体“经由‘第二个结合’，筑牢了中华民族现代文明的根脉和魂脉”，内在蕴含文化发展的中国道路和中华文化发展的现代范式，是在独立自主、守正创新、开放包容中对文化中心主义、文化相对主义、文化复古主义等错误思潮的全面省思，最终使中华民族现代文明成为“具有鲜明文化主体性的先进文明”。三是基于广义文明视角，中华民族现代文明具有文明的一般属性，是人类改造世界的物质成果和精神成果的总和。有学者认为，中华民族现代文明既是中华传统文化推陈出新的结果，又是中华民族在走向世界的过程中对人类文明作出的新贡献，体现了“继承中华文明与礼敬人类文明的有机统一”。有学者以中华民族为主体，根据时空方位将其概括为：中华民族突出特性的现代文明，是中华民族的现代文明发展形态，也是中华文明的现代形态；是中国式现代化的文化形态，也是中国共产党领导的高度发达的具有中国特色的社会主义现代文明。还有学者从多维度文明视角出发，将中华民族现代文明定位为“在世界文明百花园中，是中华民族的文明；在人类社会形态的发展中，是社会主义的文明；在历史悠久的中华文明中，是现代的文明”。四是基于中国式现代化视角，部分学者认为，中华民族现代文明发轫于中国式现代化的历史进程，分别以“中国式现代化建设呈现的文明样态”“中国共产党领导的中国式现代化文明新形态”“中国式现代化展开过程中逐渐形成的文明观念”“经由‘第二个结合’形成的中国式现代化的文化形态”“中国式现代化文化发展的愿景展现”等表述证实了中华民族现代文明伴随中国式现代化出场的历史必然性。五是基于人类文明新形态视角，认为中华民族现代文明创造了人类文明新形态，实现了对带有浓厚西方本位色彩的现代化和现代性概念的解构与重构，蕴含对西式“现代性”的抨击，是对现代多元文明交流互鉴的彰显以及“新型现代性”的擘画，“是一种符合人类文明发展方向、兼具世界各民族文明精华的文明”。六是基于生成逻辑视角，从历史进路、理论进路与实践进路把握中华民族现代文明的基本内涵[。对中华民族悠久文明的守正创新、对中国共产党百年文化建设实践的继承开拓、对“第二个结合”的崭新呈现、对人类文明新形态的接续创造共同造就了中华民族现代文明。有学者基于历史向度、价值向度和未来向度，指出“第二个结合”为建设中华民族现代文明指明了方向。“两个结合”是其逻辑起点，要在中国式现代化理论体系和人类文明新形态中把握该理论内涵。七是基于方法论视角，阐明把握中华民族现代文明科学内涵要明晰拓延出的四个重要议题，即“说清楚现代化不等于西方化、现代文明不等于西方文明，说清楚马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化的彼此契合，说清楚中国式现代化与中华文明的关系，说清楚中华民族现代文明之于当今世界的贡献”。八是基于集成视角，有学者从历史维度、现代化维度、文化维度、全球维度对中华民族现代文明作出详尽阐释，总结了中华民族现代文明的基本意蕴和本质规定。

The academic theoretical overview of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has clarified current thinking on its basic connotation, laying a solid foundation for deepening subsequent research. By reviewing existing views, the authors find that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is inseparable from the historical continuity of Chinese civilization and the practical impetus of Chinese-path modernization. It must be examined within the holistic perspective of Chinese civilization and the practical transformation of Chinese-path modernization, using civilization to seek rejuvenation for the nation. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a form of socialist civilization with Chinese characteristics jointly created by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, guided by the soul of Marxism and deeply rooted in the fine traditional Chinese culture, using civilization to seek happiness for the people. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is an important component of the system of human civilization, creating a new form of human civilization, using civilization to seek common good for the world.

学术界对中华民族现代文明的理论概述，廓清了当前关于中华民族现代文明基本内涵的思想，为后续研究的深化奠定了坚实基础。笔者梳理已有观点发现：中华民族现代文明离不开对中华文明的历史延续和中国式现代化的实践催生，必须将其置于中华文明的整体性视域和中国式现代化的实践变革中加以考察，以文明为民族谋复兴。中华民族现代文明是中国共产党领导中国人民共同创造的、在马克思主义魂脉指引下和中华优秀传统文化根脉厚植下形成的中国特色社会主义文明形态，以文明为人民谋幸福。中华民族现代文明是人类文明体系的重要组成部分，创造了人类文明新形态，以文明为世界谋大同。

(III) A Reasonable Positioning of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation in Historical Genesis and Global Vision

（三）在历史生成与世界视野中对中华民族现代文明的合理定位

Based on historical materialism and its inherent historical perspective, civilization is embedded in human social activities, belongs to the category of superstructure, and is an action and process that achieves its own development along with human practical activities. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “After long-term efforts, we are more capable than any previous era of resolving the ‘ancient-modern and Chinese-Western debate,’ and we are also more urgently in need than any previous era of a batch of cultural achievements that fuse the ancient and modern and integrate China and the West.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is the result of the organic combination and thorough integration of the root vein of fine traditional Chinese culture and the soul vein of Marxism, taking the beneficial achievements of human civilization as external reference and Chinese-path modernization as its practical basis. It is a socialist modern civilization created by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC. This civilization is a civilizational creation and civilizational practice that connects the ancient and modern, integrates China and the foreign, and unifies knowledge and action.

基于唯物史观及其内在历史视域，文明内嵌于人类社会活动，属于上层建筑范畴，是伴随人类实践活动实现自身发展的行动和进程。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”。中华民族现代文明是中华优秀传统文化根脉和马克思主义魂脉有机结合、融会贯通的结果，以人类文明有益成果为外部借鉴，以中国式现代化为实践基础，是中国共产党领导中国人民创造的社会主义现代文明。这一文明是贯通古今、融汇中外、融通知行的文明创造和文明实践。

The new form of civilization created by the modern civilization of the Chinese nation embodies the CPC’s holistic view of civilization based on the practice of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan. In practice, it manifests as continuously promoting the organic unity of material abundance and spiritual enrichment, common prosperity for all the people and the comprehensive development of individuals, comprehensive social progress and sustained ecological optimization, domestic harmony and world peace, and the inheritance of the ancient and the expansion of the future. On the one hand, understand the modern civilization of the Chinese nation in its historical genesis. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has its context of emergence in the New Era, while simultaneously being rooted in the millennia-old civilization of the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “If we do not understand China from the perspective of its long-standing historical continuity, it is impossible to understand China, impossible to understand modern China, and even more impossible to understand future China.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. The fine traditional Chinese culture nurtured in the long river of history provided fertile soil for the emergence of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, developing the modern form of Chinese civilization. On the other hand, grasp the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from a world perspective. With the acceleration of the process of civilizational exchange, Western scholars, in the course of their research, have recognized to varying degrees the limitations of Western civilization. For example, the British historian Arnold Toynbee, in *Civilization on Trial*, when discussing Eurocentrism, considered it an illusion arising from temporary superiority in material terms and questioned whether Western civilization is filled with a cultural gene of aggression, exploitation, and enslavement of other nations. [3]3 Arnold J. Toynbee, *Civilization on Trial* (New York: Oxford University Press, 1948). The German sociologist Norbert Elias, in *The Civilizing Process*, broke away from traditional Western perspectives and viewpoints, analyzing the process of civilizational development from the connection between changes in human psychological structure and social structure, turning “the problem of civilization into a social problem and an object of historical research.” [4]4 Norbert Elias, *The Civilizing Process*, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994). Chinese-path modernization and the new form of human civilization created by the modern civilization of the Chinese nation have forged a path of Chinese-path modernization different from Western modernization, manifesting value rationality in aspects such as ideas and concepts, moral norms, value systems, humanistic spirit, aesthetic interest, and emotional patterns, making new contributions to human civilization.

中华民族现代文明创造的文明新形态体现了中国共产党基于“五位一体”总体布局实践的整体文明观，在实践中表现为不断增进物质富足与精神富有、全体人民共同富裕与人的全面发展、社会全面进步与生态持续优化、国内和睦与世界和平、古今传承与未来拓展的有机统一。一方面，在历史生成中理解中华民族现代文明。中华民族现代文明有其生发的新时代语境，同时，植根中华民族数千年文明。习近平总书记指出：“如果不从源远流长的历史连续性来认识中国，就不可能理解中国，也不可能理解现代中国，更不可能理解未来中国。”在历史长河中孕育的中华优秀传统文化为中华民族现代文明的产生提供了丰厚沃土，发展出了中华文明的现代形态。另一方面，从世界视野中把握中华民族现代文明。随着文明交流进程的加快，西方学者在研究过程中，不同程度地认识到西方文明的局限性，例如，英国历史学家汤因比在《文明经受着考验》中谈及西方中心论时，认为其是因在物质方面取得暂时优势产生的错觉，并质疑西方文明充斥着侵略、剥削、奴役其他民族的文化基因；德国社会学家诺贝特·埃利亚斯在《文明的进程》中摆脱了西方传统视角和眼光，从人的心理结构和社会结构的变化联系解析文明发展的进程，将“文明问题变成了一个社会问题和历史研究的对象”。中国式现代化、中华民族现代文明创造的人类文明新形态，走出了一条不同于西方现代化的中国式现代化道路，在思想观念、道德规范、价值体系、人文精神、审美意趣、情感样式等方面彰显价值理性，为人类文明作出新的贡献。

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

二、中华民族现代文明的鲜明特征

(I) Academic Research and Interpretation on the Features of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

（一）学术界关于中华民族现代文明特征的研究阐释

Regarding the features of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, there are three representative views in academia: First, research and elaboration centered on the five prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization summarized and proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, namely “prominent continuity, prominent innovation, prominent unity, prominent inclusiveness, and prominent peacefulness,” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 14. to study the features of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The focus is on explaining the relationship among the five characteristics, emphasizing that the key position of continuity is the premise and result of the other characteristics. Second, based on the needs of the times, summarizing the distinctive features of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation that keep pace with the times. Some scholars believe that “the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has the political feature of people-centeredness, the compositional feature of systematicity, and the functional feature of problem-orientation.” Some scholars believe that “the modern civilization of the Chinese nation contains both the prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization and the civilizational traits of the New Era, including five major traits: people supremacy, innovation, coordination, inclusiveness, and peace.” Some scholars, starting from the construction process, believe that “the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has four major features: the coherence of the ancient and modern, the comprehensiveness of the construction fields, the spirituality of the construction content, and the wholeness of the construction object.” Other scholars believe that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has significant features such as profound and enduring historical and cultural heritage, typical modern developmental nature, distinct innovation, and broad inclusiveness. Third, based on strategic goals, summarizing distinctive features, namely modernity, ethnicity, civilizationality, and historicity, with emphasis on the historical implications of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Some scholars believe that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is “a composite civilization containing dual dimensions of diachronic and synchronic aspects, a higher-level civilization manifesting the unity of regularity and purposiveness, and a new type of civilization embodying the dialectical unity of universality and particularity.”

关于中华民族现代文明的特征，学术界有三种具有代表性的观点：第一，围绕习近平总书记概括提出的中华文明五大突出特性，即“突出的连续性、突出的创新性、突出的统一性、突出的包容性和突出的和平性” 对中华民族现代文明的特征进行研究阐述。重点阐释五大特性的关系，强调连续性的关键地位是其他特性的前提和结果。第二，立足时代需求总结中华民族现代文明与时俱进的鲜明特征。有学者认为，“中华民族现代文明具有人民性的政治特征，具有系统性的组成特征，具有问题性的功能特征”。有学者认为，“中华民族现代文明既蕴含中华文明的突出特性，又有新时代的文明特质，包括人民至上、创新、协调、包容、和平等五大特质”。有学者从建设过程出发，认为“中华民族现代文明具有古今的融贯性、建设领域的全面性、建设内容的精神性、建设对象的整体性四大特征”。还有学者认为，中华民族现代文明具有绵延厚重的历史文化底蕴、典型的现代发展性、鲜明的创新性、博大的包容性等显著特征。第三，立足战略目标总结鲜明特性，即现代性、民族性、文明性、历史性，重点强调中华民族现代文明的历史意蕴。有学者认为，中华民族现代文明是“蕴含历时态与共时态双重向度的复合文明，是彰显合规律性与合目的性相统一的高级文明，是体现普遍性与特殊性辩证统一的新型文明”。

(II) Distinctive Features of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation from a Comparative Perspective

（二）比较视野下中华民族现代文明的鲜明特征

The modern civilization of the Chinese nation inherits the five prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization and presents new features that conform to the characteristics of the times. Exploring its distinctive features from a comparative perspective includes: compared to human civilization, it embodies the integration of ethnicity and globality; compared to ancient Chinese civilization, it embodies the interaction of timeliness and developmental nature; compared to other civilizations (regional civilizations), it embodies the unity of subjectivity and inclusiveness.

中华民族现代文明继承了中华文明的五大突出特性，呈现了符合时代特点的新特征，从比较视野探赜其鲜明特征，包括相较人类文明体现了民族性和世界性的交融、相较中华古代文明体现了时代性和发展性的互动、相较其他文明（区域文明）体现了主体性和包容性的统一。

First, the integration of ethnicity and globality. Compared to the overall modern civilization of humanity, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation embodies the integration of ethnicity and globality, and the unity of ethnicity and globality has become an important feature and basic experience in the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Its ethnicity is manifested in: the modern civilization of the Chinese nation possesses a unique civilizational structural system. This civilizational structural system has been expanded along with the progressive practice of the CPC uniting and leading the Chinese people to promote Chinese-path modernization, gradually forming a civilizational structural system covering material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has its unique value system and value orientation. This unique value system and value orientation originate from the continuation of the historical process of Chinese civilization and from the critical inheritance of traditional Chinese culture, becoming the source of cultural confidence in the New Era. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation has its unique mode of creation. Created through the Two Integrations, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has broken away from the zero-sum game thinking of either/or, dismantled the false logic of civilizational estrangement, and ultimately constructed a new cultural life form in the dialectical interaction of “using Marxism to transform China” and “using China to transform Marxism.” [6]6 “Using Marxism to transform China” (以马化中) and “using China to transform Marxism” (以中化马) are shorthand formulations for the dialectical process described by the Two Integrations, where Marxism is adapted to the Chinese context while Chinese tradition is reinterpreted through Marxism. In this process, it is necessary both to make Marxism Chinese through the nourishment of fine traditional Chinese culture and to strengthen the flag-bearing and direction-setting, consolidate consensus through Marxism, and manifest the national characteristics and modern connotations of Chinese civilization.

一是民族性和世界性的交融。相较人类整体性现代文明，中华民族现代文明体现了民族性和世界性的交融，民族性与世界性的统一成为中华民族现代文明建设的重要特征和基本经验。其民族性表现在：中华民族现代文明拥有独特的文明结构体系。这一文明结构体系伴随中国共产党团结带领中国人民推动中国式现代化的进步实践得到拓展，逐渐形成涵盖物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明的文明结构体系。中华民族现代文明有其独特的价值体系和价值取向，这种独特的价值体系和价值取向源于对中华文明历史进程的延续，源于对中华传统文化的批判继承，成为新时代坚持文化自信的本源。中华民族现代文明有其独特的创造模式，经由“两个结合”创造的中华民族现代文明摆脱了非此即彼的零和博弈思维，拆解了文明隔阂的不实逻辑，最终在“以马化中”和“以中化马”的辩证互动中构建新的文化生命体。在这一过程中，既要通过中华优秀传统文化的滋养使马克思主义成为中国的，又要通过马克思主义强化举旗定向、凝聚共识，彰显中华文明的民族特征和现代内涵。

The world-oriented nature of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is manifested in the following: The construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation follows the general laws of the development of modern human civilization. Human society progresses from the lower to the higher, and the forms of human civilization advance from the lower to the higher along with the acceleration of the modernization process. The classical Marxist writers believed that modern civilization means moving from narrow, closed national histories to world history; through global division of labor, interaction, and exchange, it “makes the production and consumption of all countries cosmopolitan.” [7]7 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Communist Manifesto* (1848). In promoting its own modernization and the construction of modern civilization, the Chinese nation follows the open trend of globalization and, through opening up to the outside world, has achieved its own leapfrog development. The construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has successfully drawn on the beneficial experience of Western modern civilization. When evaluating Western modern civilization, Marx and Engels elucidated the progressive role of Western modern civilization; the material, political, and cultural-ethical progress created by Western capitalist society greatly broke the shackles of low levels of productive forces, feudal systems, and religious superstition. Since modern times, the Chinese nation has undergone arduous exploration to move from decline to rejuvenation. In the early stages of exploring modernization, it drew on the experience of Western modernization, for example, by establishing and improving a market economy system to advance material civilization, strengthening democracy and the rule of law to advance political civilization, and learning from the lessons of Western modernization that pitted humans against nature to advance an ecological civilization featuring harmony between humans and nature. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a new form of civilization formed on the basis of absorbing the outstanding achievements of world civilizations. It is a component of the world civilization system and has made original contributions and exerted a positive influence on modern human civilization. The Chinese-path modernization has broken the previous myth that modernization equals Westernization, providing a completely new path of modernization for developing countries and contributing Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to building modern human civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation confirms that there is no distinction between superior and inferior civilizations; the diversity and richness of modern human civilization should be acknowledged.

中华民族现代文明的世界性表现在：中华民族现代文明的建设遵循人类现代文明发展的一般规律。人类社会从低级走向高级，人类文明形态伴随现代化进程的加快由低级走向高级，马克思主义经典作家认为，现代文明意味着从狭隘封闭的民族历史走向世界历史，它通过全球分工、交往、交流“使一切国家的生产和消费都成为世界性的了”，中华民族在推动自身现代化建设和现代文明建设进程中遵循全球化发展的开放趋势，通过对外开放，实现了自身的跨越式发展；中华民族现代文明的建设成功借鉴了西方现代文明的有益经验。马克思、恩格斯在评价西方现代文明时阐明了西方现代文明的进步性作用，西方资本主义社会创造的物质文明、政治文明、精神文明极大地破除了生产力水平低下、封建制度、宗教迷信的禁锢。近代以来，中华民族为从没落走向复兴经历了艰辛探索，在现代化建设探索初期借鉴了西方现代化建设经验，例如，通过建立健全市场经济体制推进物质文明，加强民主法治建设推进政治文明，吸取西方社会人与自然对立的现代化建设教训、推进人与自然和谐共生的生态文明。中华民族现代文明是在吸收世界优秀文明成果基础上形成的新的文明形态；中华民族现代文明是世界文明体系的组成部分，对人类现代文明具有原创性贡献和积极影响。中国式现代化道路打破了以往现代化等于西方化的迷思，为广大发展中国家提供了全新的现代化建设道路，为建设人类现代文明贡献了中国智慧、提供了中国方案；中华民族现代文明证实了文明没有优劣之分，应承认人类现代文明的多样性和丰富性。

Second, the interaction between contemporaneity and developmental character. Compared with ancient civilization, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation embodies the interaction between contemporaneity and developmental character. Contemporaneity means that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has emerged in a new historical stage of development, possessing a completely new historical coordinate. This new historical stage of development was jointly created by the Communist Party of China uniting and leading the Chinese people through the New Democratic Revolution, the socialist revolution and construction, reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and the great transformations of the New Era over the past decade. In this process, the Chinese nation achieved national independence, national prosperity, and the happiness of the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Today, we are closer, more confident, and more capable than at any time in history of achieving the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation produced in this historical stage is a more progressive form of civilization. Compared with ancient civilization, the structural system of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has a completely new appearance, manifested as, under the leadership of the CPC and the scientific guidance of Marxism and its achievements in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, the creation of “a material civilization of leapfrog development of productive forces, a political civilization where the people are the masters of the country, a cultural-ethical progress that meets the spiritual needs of the people, a social civilization that enhances people’s well-being, and an ecological civilization featuring harmony between humans and nature.” This forms the view of civilization evolved over the hundred-year history of the CPC and is a model of civilizational continuity.

二是时代性和发展性的互动。相较古代文明，中华民族现代文明体现了时代性与发展性的互动。时代性意味着中华民族现代文明是在新的历史发展阶段产生的，具有全新的历史坐标。全新的历史发展阶段是中国共产党团结带领中国人民经历了新民主主义革命、社会主义革命和建设、改革开放和社会主义现代化建设、新时代10年伟大变革共同创造的，中华民族在这一过程中实现了民族独立、国家富强、人民幸福。习近平总书记指出：“今天，我们比历史上任何时期都更接近、更有信心和能力实现中华民族伟大复兴的目标。”在这一历史阶段产生的中华民族现代文明是更为进步的文明形态。中华民族现代文明的文明结构体系相较古代文明具有全新的面貌，体现为在中国共产党的领导下，在马克思主义及其中国化时代化成果的科学指引下，创造了“生产力跨越式发展的物质文明、人民当家作主的政治文明、满足人民精神生活需要的精神文明、增进民生福祉的社会文明、人与自然和谐共生的生态文明”，形成了中国共产党百年历史演进的文明观，是文明赓续的典范。

Developmental character reveals the transcendence of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation over ancient and modern civilization. “Chinese civilization is a whole that includes a brilliant ancient civilization, a tarnished modern civilization, and a modern civilization moving toward rejuvenation.” The historical process of Chinese civilization generally presents a spiral upward state from splendid ancient civilization—civilizational decline and sinking—to civilizational re-rejuvenation. At the same time, the developmental character of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is also reflected in the fact that the goal of transcendence is to create a new civilization. This new civilization is a transformation from an ancient form to a modern form, a qualitative leap in the form of civilization.

发展性揭示了中华民族现代文明相较古代文明和近代文明实现的超越。“中华文明是一个包含着辉煌的古代文明、蒙尘的近代文明和走向复兴的现代文明的整体”，中华文明的历史进程总体呈现从灿烂的古代文明——文明衰落陆沉——文明再复兴的螺旋式上升状态。与此同时，中华民族现代文明的发展性还体现在超越的目标是再造新文明，这种新文明是从古代形态向现代形态的转变，是文明形态的质的飞跃。

Third, the unity of subjectivity and inclusiveness. Compared with other civilizations, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation embodies the unity of subjectivity and inclusiveness. The subjectivity of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is based on the continuous history of Chinese civilization and the practical confirmation of contemporary cultural consciousness, confidence, and self-strengthening. On the one hand, Chinese civilization is rooted in the Chinese nation’s “million-year history of humanity, ten-thousand-year history of culture, and over five-thousand-year history of civilization.” This long and continuous history determines the uniqueness of the Chinese nation’s mode of production, way of life, and mode of thinking, constituting the first expression of its distinction from other civilizations. On the other hand, the subjectivity of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is reflected in the active choice of Marxism at critical historical junctures, achieving the integration and alignment of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture. This has become “another ideological emancipation” [8]8 A reference to the “Second Integration” (the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s excellent traditional culture), which Xi Jinping has described as “another ideological emancipation.” for the CPC in promoting theoretical and practical innovation, the spiritual source of the CPC’s cultural consciousness and cultural confidence, and a powerful ideological weapon for promoting cultural prosperity and building a culturally strong country. That is, “for any culture to stand firm and go far, to have guiding power, cohesive power, shaping power, and radiating power, it must have its own subjectivity.” [9]9 Xi Jinping, speech at a symposium on cultural heritage, 2023.

三是主体性和包容性的统一。相较其他文明，中华民族现代文明体现了主体性和包容性的统一。中华民族现代文明的主体性基于中华文明绵延不断的历史生成和当代文化自觉自信自强的实践证成。一方面，中华文明植根中华民族“百万年的人类史、一万年的文化史、五千多年的文明史”，悠长绵延的历史决定了中华民族的生产方式、生活方式、思维方式具有独特性，是区别于其他文明的第一重表达。另一方面，中华民族现代文明的主体性体现在历史紧要关头对马克思主义的主动选择，实现了马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的融通契合，成为中国共产党推动理论与实践创新的“又一次思想解放”，是中国共产党文化自觉、文化自信的精神之源，成为推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国的强大思想武器，即“任何文化要立得住、行得远，要有引领力、凝聚力、塑造力、辐射力，就必须有自己的主体性”。

The inclusiveness of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is reflected in its continuous pursuit of the cause of human peace. The love of peace is deeply engraved in the blood of the Chinese nation. The values of the Chinese nation, with “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and fidelity” [10]10 The five constant virtues of Confucian ethics. at their core, demonstrate Chinese wisdom in solving problems for human society. The Western philosopher Bertrand Russell believed: “The Chinese possess, in their highest ethical qualities, qualities which the modern world urgently needs. Among these, the attitude of peace is placed first; it seeks to resolve disputes on the basis of justice rather than resorting to force.” The modern civilization of the Chinese nation inherits the pacifist tradition of excellent traditional Chinese culture, resolutely opposes hegemonism and power politics, consistently pursues an independent foreign policy of peace, advocates world peace and global development, and is committed to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. This is a contemporary portrayal of the Great Harmony society. [11]11 The Confucian ideal of a harmonious, equitable society. The inclusiveness of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation is also reflected in its persistent adherence to the cause of openness. For example, Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, formed on the basis of a series of open practices in the New Era, embody a profound concern for changes in the world and changes of the times. In the process of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, a modern civilization system has been constructed that is rooted in Chinese traditions, draws on the essence of world civilizations, possesses Chinese characteristics, and conforms to world trends. Upholding peacefulness and openness, it has achieved the harmonious coexistence of different civilizations. Chinese civilization, through absorbing diverse elements, has been renewed over time, becoming a spiritual force driving the progress of human civilization.

中华民族现代文明的包容性体现在对人类和平事业的不断追求中。爱好和平深深镌刻在中华民族的血液里，中华民族以“仁义礼智信”为核心的价值观彰显了为人类社会解决难题的中国智慧。西方哲学家罗素认为：“中国人至高无上的伦理品质，现代世界极需要它们。在这些品质中，把和平的态度放在第一位，它寻求在公正的基础上解决争端而不是诉诸武力。”中华民族现代文明继承了中华优秀传统文化中的和平主义传统，坚决反对霸权主义和强权政治，始终奉行独立自主的和平外交政策，倡导世界和平和全球发展，致力于推动构建人类命运共同体，是大同社会的当代写照。中华民族现代文明的包容性还体现在对开放事业的不断坚持，例如，在新时代系列开放实践基础上形成的习近平外交思想和习近平文化思想体现了对世界之变、时代之变的深刻关切。在改革开放和社会主义现代化进程中建构了扎根中国传统、汲取世界文明精华，具有中国特色、符合世界潮流的现代文明体系，秉持和平性和开放性，实现了不同文明的和谐共存，中华文明在兼收并蓄中历久弥新，成为推动人类文明进步的精神力量。

(3) The Manifestation of the Advantages of the Distinctive Characteristics of the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

（三）中华民族现代文明鲜明特征的优势显现

In terms of the theoretical advantages of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, the soul of Marxism and the roots of fine traditional Chinese culture are important sources of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and the foundation and premise for promoting theoretical innovation in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. Marxism, which emerged in practice, is an open theoretical system. Engels pointed out in *Capital*: “Marx’s whole world outlook is not a doctrine, but a method. It provides not ready-made dogmas, but a starting point for further research and the method used for that research.” [12]12 Xi Jinping, "Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects" — Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, October 16, 2022. Treating Marxism as a rigid, immutable theory violates the spiritual essence of Marxist theory. Lenin explicitly opposed regarding Marxism as “an immutable and sacred dogma” and clearly stated in *Our Programme* that Marxism should be advanced in accordance with actual circumstances. [13]13 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations," May 15, 2019. For over a hundred years, Chinese Communists have adhered to integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities, creating entirely new theoretical achievements including Mao Zedong Thought and the system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the New Era, on the basis of the “First Integration,” the “Second Integration” was proposed, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was established, becoming a powerful ideological weapon guiding the cause of the Party and the state, representing “integrated innovation rooted in Chinese civilization.” [14]14 Xi Jinping, "Jointly Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" — Speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Use Marxism to activate the vital and excellent factors within fine traditional Chinese culture and endow them with new contemporary connotations, injecting the great spirit and rich wisdom of the Chinese nation more deeply into Marxism,” [15]15 Samuel P. Huntington, *The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order* (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 20. thereby realizing the integrated innovation of Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture.

就中华民族现代文明的理论优势而言，马克思主义魂脉和中华优秀传统文化根脉是习近平文化思想的重要来源，是推动马克思主义中国化时代化理论创新的基础和前提。在实践中产生的马克思主义是开放的理论体系，恩格斯在《资本论》中指出：“马克思的整个世界观不是教义，而是方法。它提供的不是现成的教条，而是进一步研究的出发点和供这种研究使用的方法。”把马克思主义视为僵化的、一成不变的理论违反了马克思主义理论的精神实质。列宁鲜明地反对将马克思主义当作“一成不变和神圣不可侵犯的教条”，并在《我们的纲领》 中明确指出，应根据实际情况将马克思主义推向前进。百余年来，中国共产党人坚持将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合，创造了包括毛泽东思想、中国特色社会主义理论体系等在内的全新理论成果。新时代在“第一个结合”的基础上提出“第二个结合”，创立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，成为指导党和国家事业的强大思想武器，是“植根中华文明的融合创新”。习近平总书记指出，“用马克思主义激活中华优秀传统文化中富有生命力的优秀因子并赋予新的时代内涵，将中华民族的伟大精神和丰富智慧更深层次地注入马克思主义”，实现了马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的融合创新。

In terms of practical advantages, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation endows scientific socialism and modernization development with Chinese characteristics, consolidating the civilizational foundation of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the practical exploration of Chinese-path modernization. Engels pointed out: “The so-called ‘socialist society’ is not an immutable thing; like any other social system, it should be regarded as a society that is constantly changing and reforming.” [16]16 This appears to be a paraphrase or indirect citation; the original source could not be immediately identified. Taking Marxism as its guiding ideology, the Communist Party of China united and led the Chinese people to overthrow the “three great mountains” of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, achieving national independence and people’s liberation. It established the socialist system in New China, which was then poor and blank, and at a critical historical juncture, relied on reform and opening up to drive China’s leapfrog development, opening up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The great transformations of the New Era over the past decade demonstrate that the path of development of socialism with Chinese characteristics is growing ever broader. History has already proven that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation inherently contains the “integration of the ideological essence of Marxism with the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture, and the fusion with the common values unconsciously used by the people in their daily lives,” [17]17 A classical Chinese ideal, often attributed to the sociologist Fei Xiaotong, expressing the vision of harmonious coexistence of diverse cultures. which objectively constitutes the logical force ensuring the steady and long-term progress of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the path of Chinese-path modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The path of socialism with Chinese characteristics has been taken under the guidance of Marxism, and it has also emerged from the over 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization.” [18] Rooted in the fertile soil of over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation has taken solid steps that unify historical depth, contemporary practicality, and bright prospects along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese-path modernization, presenting a powerful momentum in which the historical process, the current reality, and the future journey are closely linked and unstoppable.

就实践优势而论，中华民族现代文明赋予科学社会主义和现代化发展以中国特色，夯实了中国特色社会主义道路和中国式现代化实践探索的文明根基。恩格斯指出：“所谓‘社会主义社会’不是一种一成不变的东西，而应当和任何其他社会制度一样，把它看成是经常变化和改革的社会。”中国共产党以马克思主义为指导思想，团结带领中国人民推翻帝国主义、封建主义、官僚资本主义“三座大山”，实现了民族独立和人民解放，在一穷二白的新中国建立了社会主义制度，在历史紧要关头依靠改革开放推动中国的跃迁式发展，开辟了中国特色社会主义道路。新时代10年的伟大变革昭示中国特色社会主义发展道路越走越宽广。历史业已证明，中华民族现代文明内在蕴含的“把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通、同人民群众日用而不觉的共同价值观念融通”，客观构成中国特色社会主义道路和中国式现代化道路行稳致远的逻辑力量。习近平总书记指出：“中国特色社会主义道路是在马克思主义指导下走出来的，也是从五千多年中华文明史中走出来的。”中华民族现代文明植根5000多年中华文明沃土，迈开了中国特色社会主义和中国式现代化道路具有的历史纵深性、时代实践性、前景光明性相统一的坚实步伐，呈现历史过程、现实进程、未来前程紧密相连且不可阻挡的强大势能。

III. The Far-Reaching Value Implications of Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation

三、建设中华民族现代文明的深远价值意蕴

Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, as an important proposition of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, holds significant value implications for enhancing the historical consciousness and historical initiative of Chinese civilization, promoting the new practice of Chinese-path modernization, creating a new form of human civilization, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

建设中华民族现代文明作为习近平文化思想的重要命题，对增强中华文明历史自觉与历史主动精神、推动中国式现代化新实践、为创造人类文明新形态、构建人类命运共同体具有重要价值意蕴。

(1) Rooted in Deep Fertile Soil: Enhancing the Chinese Nation’s Historical Consciousness and Historical Initiative through Upholding Fundamental Principles and Breaking New Ground

（一）扎根深厚沃土：在守正创新中增强中华民族历史自觉和历史主动精神

Correctly approaching the achievements of Chinese civilization is the key and the foothold in building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The Chinese nation, with a history of one million years of humanity, ten thousand years of culture, and over five thousand years of civilization, has nurtured a profound and extensive Chinese civilization. Only by strengthening the Chinese nation’s historical consciousness and historical initiative can fine traditional Chinese culture nourish Chinese-path modernization.

正确对待中华文明成果是建设中华民族现代文明的关键点和落脚点。具有百万年人类史、一万年文化史、五千多年文明史的中华民族孕育了源远流长、博大精深的中华文明。只有强化中华民族历史自觉和历史主动精神，才能以中华优秀传统文化涵养中国式现代化。

On the one hand, strengthening historical consciousness and historical initiative is reflected in using a scientific attitude to achieve the organic unity of “sinicizing Marxism” and “Marxifying China.” [19] Building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation objectively includes “sinicizing Marxism” and “Marxifying China.” “Sinicizing Marxism” means using Marxism as a guide for action, which has brought about the victory of the New Democratic Revolution, the advancement of socialist transformation and socialist construction, the new progress of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and the historic achievements and historic transformations of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era; it has removed the dross from traditional Chinese culture, eliminated national humiliation, alleviated the people’s suffering, and cleansed the dust from civilization, thereby enhancing the developmental momentum of Chinese civilization. “Sinicizing Marxism” implies that Chinese civilization gains modernity from the scientific system of Marxism. The Communist Party of China unites and leads the people across the country to fully leverage the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, enabling Chinese civilization to display vigorous vitality, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation to show bright prospects, and the comprehensive development of the Chinese people and common prosperity for all to achieve more obvious substantive progress. “Marxifying China” by no means negates the guiding role of Marxism; rather, it means that the Communist Party of China, mastering and applying Marxism as a scientific ideological weapon, on the basis of the Two Integrations, continuously advances the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, integrates the roots of fine traditional Chinese culture with the soul of Marxism, realizes the Party’s theoretical innovation in thought, and promotes historic achievements and historic transformations in the cause of the Party and the state, providing action guidelines and scientific guidance for the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. “Sinicizing Marxism” and “Marxifying China” possess inherent consistency, dialectical unity, historical inheritance, and independent innovation; they interact, mutually include, and integrate innovatively.

一方面，强化历史自觉和历史主动精神体现在用科学的态度实现“以马化中”和“以中化马”的有机统一。建设中华民族现代文明客观包含“以马化中”和“以中化马”。“以马化中”是以马克思主义为行动指南，化来了中国新民主主义革命的胜利，化来了社会主义改造和社会主义建设的推进，化来了改革开放和社会主义现代化建设的新进展，化来了新时代中国特色社会主义的历史性成就、历史性变革；化去了中华传统文化中的糟粕，化去了国家屈辱，化去了人民苦难，化去了文明上的灰尘，使中华文明的发展动力得到增强。“以马化中”意味着中华文明从马克思主义科学体系中获得现代性，中国共产党团结带领全国人民充分发挥中国特色社会主义制度优势，使中华文明呈现勃勃生机，中华民族伟大复兴展现光明前景、中国人民全面发展和全体人民共同富裕取得更为明显的实质性进展。“以中化马”绝不是否定马克思主义的指导地位，而是中国共产党掌握和运用马克思主义这一科学思想武器，在“两个结合”的基础上，不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化，贯通中华优秀传统文化根脉和马克思主义魂脉，实现党的思想理论创新，推动党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革，为中华民族现代文明提供行动指南和科学指引。“以马化中”与“以中化马”具有内在一致性、辩证统一性、历史继承性、自主创新性，二者相互作用、相互包容、融合创新。

On the other hand, promoting the “Second Integration” with a high degree of historical consciousness and historical initiative. The “Second Integration” strengthens the historical depth and cultural richness of the “First Integration.” During the sixth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must never abandon the soul of Marxism, and

另一方面，以高度的历史自觉和历史主动精神推动“第二个结合”。“第二个结合”强化了“第一个结合”的历史纵深感和文化厚重感，习近平总书记在主持中共中央政治局第六次集体学习时指出，“我们决不能抛弃马克思主义这个魂脉，决不能抛弃中华优秀传统文化这个根脉”。两个“决不能”为深入推进“第二个结合”点题指向，两个“决不能”蕴含双重表达：一是不能抛弃根脉和魂脉，根脉和魂脉是实现中华文明现代转型的命脉，只有坚守好根脉和魂脉，才能推进理论创新与实践创新。二是不能割裂根脉和魂脉，实现“根”“魂”贯通是推动文明转型，融合全新文化生命体的根本基础，只有“根”“魂”贯通，才能以魂脉引领根脉，以根脉支撑魂脉，彰显了对守正创新这一科学方法论的坚持和运用。两个“决不能”是继“两个必然”和“两个决不会”立足中国大地的时代表达和原创贡献，印证了“两个决不会”与“两个必然”两大科学社会主义重要论断的真理性，提出实现“两个必然”在理论领域的创新路径，“中国共产党人既要做马克思主义的坚定信仰者和践行者，又要做中华优秀传统文化的传承者和弘扬者”，在坚定“两个必然”“两个绝不会”“两个决不能”等社会主义原理原则中深化对共产党执政规律、社会主义建设规律、人类社会发展规律的认识。在推动“第二个结合”的实践进程中，“经由‘结合’而形成的新文化成为中国式现代化的文化形态”，在马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化的辩证互动中构建了新的文化生命体。

(2) Rooted in Lively Practice: Providing Practical Support for Building the Modern Civilization of the Chinese Nation through Chinese-Path Modernization

（二）立足生动实践：以中国式现代化为建设中华民族现代文明提供实践依托

Chinese-path modernization conforms to the global wave of modernization development while maintaining the unique advantages of modernization construction. Looking at the three waves in the world modernization process, the first wave originated from the First Industrial Revolution, centered in Britain and other Western European regions; the second wave was marked by the Second Electrical Revolution, centered in Eastern Europe and North American countries, affecting a few regions in Latin America and Japan in Asia, etc.; the third wave saw East Asian countries catch up with the global information technology revolution, with its center shifting to Asia, Africa, and other regions. The historical process of the three waves of modernization shows: first, the modernization pattern presents a development trend of the East rising and the West declining; second, contrary to the expectations of some Western scholars, Confucian civilization and Confucian ethics have not become spiritual obstacles to advancing modernization and building modern civilization; on the contrary, they contain spiritual qualities that overcome the limitations of Western modernization. History has confirmed that the Communist Party of China, by leading the New Democratic Revolution and achieving victory, laid the political prerequisite for Chinese-path modernization; by leading the Chinese people to engage in socialist revolution and construction and reform and opening up, it consolidated the material foundation of Chinese-path modernization; and by advancing the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy in the New Era, it achieved the comprehensive and coordinated development of Chinese-path modernization. The various alienating phenomena produced by Western modernization are becoming increasingly prominent, the crisis of Western modernization is growing ever deeper, and the barbarism inherent and long-hidden in Western civilization is gradually being exposed, as it seeks to alleviate domestic contradictions and shift crises through overseas expansion and hegemonism. Chinese-path modernization led by the Communist Party of China "abandons the old path of modernization driven by Western capital logic, modernization of polarization, modernization of materialistic expansion, and modernization of external expansion and plunder,"[12]12 Xi Jinping, "Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects" — Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, October 16, 2022. forging a new path of modernization that manifests the high subjectivity, broad participation, and wide benefit coverage of the Chinese people; modernization of common prosperity; modernization that advocates cultural-ethical progress; and modernization of peaceful development. This inherently presupposes the basic stipulations of Chinese-path modernization and confirms that the Western modernization model and Western modern civilization are no longer the sole frame of reference.

中国式现代化顺应世界现代化发展浪潮，保持现代化建设的独特优势。纵观世界现代化进程中的三次浪潮，第一次浪潮源于第一次工业革命，其中心在英国等西欧地区；第二次浪潮以第二次电力革命为标志，其中心在东欧以及北美各国，波及拉美少数地区和亚洲的日本，等等；第三次浪潮，东亚国家赶上了世界范围的信息技术革命，其中心转移到亚洲、非洲等地区。三次现代化浪潮的历史进程表明：一是现代化格局呈现东升西降的发展趋势；二是并未如部分西方学者预想的那样，即儒家文明、儒教伦理成为推进现代化和建设现代文明的精神阻碍，相反，其蕴含克服西方现代化局限性的精神品格。历史已经证实，中国共产党通过领导新民主主义革命并取得胜利奠定了中国式现代化的政治前提，通过带领中国人民投身社会主义革命和建设、改革开放夯实了中国式现代化的物质基础，通过新时代推进“五位一体”总体布局和“四个全面”战略布局实现了中国式现代化的全面协调。西方现代化产生的种种异化现象日渐突出，西方现代化危机愈加深重，西方文明与生俱来且潜藏已久的野蛮性逐渐暴露，希冀通过海外扩张、霸权主义缓和国内矛盾、转嫁危机。中国共产党领导的中国式现代化“摒弃了西方资本逻辑的现代化、两极分化的现代化、物质主义膨胀的现代化、对外扩张掠夺的现代化老路”，走出一条彰显中国人民高主体性、大参与面和广受益面的现代化、共同富裕的现代化、崇尚精神文明的现代化与和平发展的现代化新路，内在预设了中国式现代化的基本规定，证实了西方的现代化模式和西方现代文明不再是唯一的参照系。

The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, as a form of civilization that develops in tandem with Chinese-path modernization, has always been coordinated with the development path of Chinese-path modernization. First, the successful exploration of the Chinese-path modernization path and the rebirth of traditional Chinese culture have been achieved under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China. The advanced nature and purity of the Communist Party of China determine that it always takes the lofty cause of national rejuvenation and the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people as the starting point and落脚点 of all work. The great creation of Chinese-path modernization and the modern civilization of the Chinese nation advances steadily in the process of the Party's self-revolution and the social revolution led by the Party. Second, Chinese-path modernization is rooted in the expansion of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In terms of nature, Chinese-path modernization and the modern civilization of the Chinese nation embody socialist modernity. Socialist society is a higher social formation than capitalist society. Only by adhering to the basic principles of Marxism, clarifying the fundamental direction of socialism, and consolidating the foundation of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation can we avoid straying onto the closed and rigid old path or the heretical path of changing the banner, thereby broadening the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the path of Chinese-path modernization. Third, the growth and development of new quality productive forces has become a key force for Chinese-path modernization to achieve breakthroughs in strategic scenarios, key fields, and前沿 positions. The growth and development of new quality productive forces and the in-depth implementation of the new development concept continuously call for and stimulate high-tech innovation and innovation in various fields. Productive forces are the ultimate decisive force in the development of human society and the fundamental force driving social change; new quality productive forces are the pathfinders and vanguards among productive forces. Through high-tech innovation and innovation in various fields, releasing innovation as the primary driving force, transforming and upgrading traditional industries, developing and strengthening emerging industries, laying out and cultivating future industries, promoting high-quality development, and supporting and strengthening the modern economic system with a modern industrial system, the modern civilization of the Chinese nation gains a powerful hematopoietic function. The growth and development of new quality productive forces continuously calls for and stimulates comprehensive deepening of reform, requiring the resolute removal of all conceptual and institutional obstacles that hinder and constrain the development of new quality productive forces, leading and driving the overall development of productive forces through the development of new quality relations of production. Using the innovative development momentum of new quality productive forces to achieve momentum transformation, using new quality productive forces to enhance production efficiency and coordination efficiency to achieve efficiency transformation, and using new quality productive forces to accelerate the improvement of supply quality to achieve quality transformation. The three major transformations in the economic and social fields trigger transformations in people's ways of thinking, modes of social production, lifestyles, and modes of national and social governance, providing strong momentum, stimulating infinite vitality, and gathering powerful synergy for the construction and development of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The growth and development of new quality productive forces effectively promotes efficient governance of the state and society. The growth and development of new quality productive forces effectively serves and acts upon the people's creation and sharing of a high-quality life. This requires promoting the organic unity and coordinated improvement of speed, scale, structure, quality, and efficiency in economic and social development, achieving innovation empowerment, stable speed and increased volume, and quality and efficiency improvement in the process of making the cake bigger, making the cake better, and distributing the cake well. The growth and development of new quality productive forces continuously calls for and stimulates a high level of opening up to the outside world. By constructing a new development pattern of dual circulation mutually reinforcing each other and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among diverse civilizations, deepening the interconnectedness of economy and culture, and thereby achieving the interactive co-progress of the Chinese national community and the community with a shared future for mankind.

中华民族现代文明作为与中国式现代化同向而生的文明形态，始终与中国式现代化发展道路相协调。首先，中国式现代化道路的成功探索和中华传统文化的新生是在中国共产党的坚强领导下实现的。中国共产党的先进性和纯洁性决定了其始终将民族复兴的崇高事业和最广大人民的根本利益作为一切工作的出发点和落脚点，中国式现代化和中华民族现代文明的伟大创造在党的自我革命和党领导的社会革命进程中稳健推进。其次，中国式现代化以中国特色社会主义道路的开拓为根基。从性质上看，中国式现代化和中华民族现代文明体现了社会主义现代性，社会主义社会是较资本主义社会更高级的社会形态，只有坚守马克思主义基本原理、明确社会主义根本方向、夯实中华民族现代文明根基，才能不误入封闭僵化的老路和改旗易帜的邪路，使中国特色社会主义道路和中国式现代化道路越走越宽。再次，新质生产力的壮大发展，成为中国式现代化在战略场景、关键领域、前沿阵地取得突破的攻坚力量。新质生产力的壮大发展，新发展理念的深入贯彻，不断呼唤和激发高科技创新及各领域创新。生产力是人类社会发展的最终决定力量，是推动社会变革的根本力量；新质生产力是生产力中的探路先锋和破阵尖兵。通过高科技创新和各领域创新，释放创新这个第一动力，改造提升传统产业，发展壮大新兴产业，布局培育未来产业，推动高质量发展，以现代化产业体系支撑和强化现代化经济体系，使中华民族现代文明具有强大的造血功能。新质生产力的壮大发展，不断呼唤和激发全面深化改革，要求坚决破除阻碍和束缚新质生产力发展的观念上的、体制上的一切障碍，以新质生产关系的发展引领和带动生产力整体发展。以新质生产力创新发展动力实现动力变革，以新质生产力提升生产效率、协同效率实现效率变革，以新质生产力加快提升供给质量实现质量变革。以经济社会领域的三大变革激发人的思维方式、社会生产方式、生活方式、国家和社会治理方式的变革，为建设和发展中华民族现代文明提供强劲动力、激发无限活力、汇聚强大合力。新质生产力的壮大发展，有力促进了国家和社会的高效能治理。新质生产力的壮大发展有效服务和作用于人民群众创造、共享高品质生活。这要求推动经济社会发展实现速度、规模、结构、质量、效益的有机统一和协同提升，在做大蛋糕、做优蛋糕、分好蛋糕中实现创新赋能、稳速增量、提质增效。新质生产力的壮大发展，不断呼唤和激发高水平对外开放。通过构建双循环相互促进的新发展格局、促进多样性文明的交流互鉴，深化经济和文化的血脉相连，进而实现中华民族共同体和人类命运共同体的互动共进。

(III) Looking to the Vast World: Contributing Chinese Wisdom to Creating a New Form of Human Civilization and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

（三）放眼大千世界：为创造人类文明新形态、构建人类命运共同体贡献中国智慧

The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a new presentation of the new form of human civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation, as an existence that unifies nationality and globality, universality and particularity, globalization and localization, indicates that the modern civilization of the Chinese nation "is a civilization formed through continuous exchange and mutual learning with other civilizations,"[13]13 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations," May 15, 2019. which not only has significant meaning but also embodies a keen concern for the community with a shared future for mankind and the overall civilization of the world. With the acceleration of globalization, the civilizations of various countries and nations will inevitably integrate into the overall process of human civilization. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation should realize itself by assuming more responsibilities and making greater contributions to human society.

中华民族现代文明是人类文明新形态的崭新呈现。中华民族现代文明作为民族性和世界性相统一、普遍性和特殊性相统一、全球化和本土化相统一的存在，表明中华民族现代文明“是同其他文明不断交流互鉴而形成的文明”，不仅具有重要意义，而且体现了对人类命运共同体和世界整体文明的热切观照。伴随全球化进程的加快，各国各民族文明最终必然会融入人类整体性文明进程，中华民族现代文明应在为人类社会承担更多责任和更大贡献中实现。

First, civilizational estrangement is the existence of prejudice among subjects of different civilizations, leading to a lack of interaction and communication between different civilizations, thereby forming a phenomenon of mutual isolation and lack of communication. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, "Throughout human history, what has separated people is often not thousands of mountains and rivers, not vast oceans and deep valleys, but the estrangement in mutual understanding."[14]14 Xi Jinping, "Jointly Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" — Speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017. In the garden of human civilizations, due to differences in historical origins, political thinking methods, lifestyles, and value systems among different civilizations, civilizations exhibit differentiated and diverse characteristics. Civilizational differences are the result of natural evolution and long-term accumulation, but some Western countries adhere to ideological thinking and Cold War hegemonic thinking, keen on "building walls and setting up barriers," creating civilizational estrangement. Civilizational estrangement violates the law of universal connection of all things and the trend and direction of the history of human civilization development, ignoring that human civilization is colorful because of diversity and coexists because of integration. Transcending the theory of civilizational estrangement requires acknowledging the diversity of civilizations, continuously transcending the narrow views of the creators of various civilizations, and actively expanding civilizational exchanges. Using civilizational exchange to transcend civilizational estrangement requires all countries to conform to the trend of globalization, continue to expand opening up, especially to strengthen opening up in the cultural field, enhance cultural exchange on the basis of mutual respect, and gradually form a view of civilization that seeks harmony without uniformity.

第一，文明隔阂是不同文明主体间存在偏见，导致不同文明互不往来、各不相通，进而形成彼此隔离、缺乏沟通的隔阂现象。习近平总书记指出，“纵观人类的历史，把人们隔开的往往不是千山万水，不是大海深壑，而是人们相互认知上的隔膜”，在人类文明百花园中，由于不同文明在历史渊源、政治思维方式、生活方式、价值体系等方面存在差异，使文明呈现差异化、多样化特征，文明差异本是自然进化和长期积淀的结果，但部分西方国家奉行意识形态思维、冷战霸权思维，热衷“筑墙设垒”，制造文明隔阂。文明隔阂违背了万事万物普遍联系的规律和人类文明发展史的潮流与趋势，忽视了人类文明因多样而多彩，因交融而共生。超越文明隔阂论需要承认文明的多样性，应不断超越各类文明创造主体的一己之见，积极扩大文明交流。以文明交流超越文明隔阂需要各个国家顺应全球化潮流，继续扩大开放，尤其要加强文化领域的对外开放，在相互尊重中加强文化交流，逐渐形成和而不同的文明观。

Second, the essence of the clash of civilizations theory is to use Western “universal values” to disintegrate the value standards of non-Western countries, in a vain attempt to occupy the moral and public opinion high ground of humanity. In the 1990s, Western scholar Samuel Huntington, with his “clash of civilizations” theory, presupposed a world of multipolar political patterns after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, arguing that “relations between groups and states belonging to different civilizations will not be close; on the contrary, they will often be antagonistic.”[15]15 Samuel P. Huntington, *The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order* (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 20. In fact, civilizational conflict arises in the process of civilizational dialogue and mutual learning; civilizational mutual learning and civilizational conflict are two sides of the same coin in the proposition of civilizational development and evolution, jointly driving the transformation, evolution, and diversification of human civilization. German scholar Harald Müller pointed out that the future trend of the world is not civilizational confrontation and conflict, but civilizational coexistence and dialogue; civilizational conflict cannot represent the future direction of human civilization. The correct direction should be for different civilizational subjects to seek common ground while reserving differences through mutual comparison, to complement each other through mutual reference, and ultimately to enhance consensus on the development of human civilization. Therefore, it is necessary to guard against civilizational centrism and see through the nature of Western countries attempting to create regional conflicts, ethnic conflicts, and civilizational conflicts, profiting from creating contradictions. This kind of clash of civilizations theory, laden with transcendental presuppositions, undoubtedly exacerbates tensions among civilizations. To transcend the clash of civilizations theory, one must respect the diversity of human civilizations, be adept at discovering, exploring, and drawing on the strengths of both local and foreign civilizations, and through mutual reference, achieve mutual promotion and continuous innovation among civilizations. To transcend civilizational conflict through civilizational mutual learning, one should guard against “wholesale borrowing,” adhere to the principle of “taking ourselves as the mainstay and using others for our benefit” in civilizational mutual learning, and resolve, bridge, and transcend civilizational conflict.

第二，文明冲突论的实质是以西方的“普世价值”瓦解非西方国家的价值准则，妄图占据人类道义和舆论制高点。20世纪90年代，西方学者塞缪尔·亨廷顿以“文明冲突论”预设苏联解体后多元政治格局的世界，认为“属于不同文明的国家和集团之间的关系不仅不会是紧密的，反而常常是对抗性的”。事实上，文明冲突在文明对话互鉴中产生，文明互鉴与文明冲突是文明发展演进命题的一体两面，二者共同推动人类文明的变迁、演进和多样化。德国学者哈拉尔德·米勒指出，未来世界的趋势不是文明的对抗和冲突，而是文明的共存与对话，文明冲突无法代表未来人类文明的发展方向，正确的方向应是不同文明主体在相互比较中求同存异，在相互借鉴中相得益彰，最终增进人类文明发展的共识。因此，要警惕文明中心主义，透视西方国家企图制造地区冲突、种族冲突、文明冲突，通过制造矛盾从中获利的本质，这种带有先验预设性的文明冲突论无疑加剧了文明间的紧张关系。超越文明冲突论要尊重人类文明多样性，善于发现、发掘、借鉴本土文明和外来文明的优势，通过相互借鉴，实现文明的互促相长、不断创新。以文明互鉴超越文明冲突，应警惕“拿来主义”，坚持“以我为主、为我所用”的文明互鉴宗旨，化解文明冲突、弥合文明冲突、超越文明冲突。

Third, the essence of the theory of civilizational superiority is Western centrism, that is, the subjective assertion by Western countries that Western civilization is superior to other civilizations. Under the practical narrative of Western countries taking the lead on the path of modernization, some Western countries believe that any country that is economically backward, politically unstable, or culturally uncivilized is the inevitable result of not following Western value standards, thereby labeling their own civilization as superior. No civilization can claim superiority and lord it over other civilizations. It is necessary to recognize that the essence of the Western advocacy of the superiority theory is to defend unilateralism, hegemonism, and power politics, to violate the multilateral aspirations of all countries, and to deny the global trend of peaceful development. Further, only by using civilizational coexistence, civilizational exchange, and civilizational mutual learning to discard metaphysical theories of civilizational superiority and inferiority, self-righteous civilizational centrism, and prejudice-laden clash of civilizations theories can we achieve energy exchange and mutual interpretation among different civilizations, adding luster to the garden of human civilizations.

第三，文明优越论实质是西方中心论，即西方国家鼓吹西方文明优于其他文明的主观论调。在西方国家率先走上现代化道路的实践叙事下，部分西方国家认为凡是经济落后、政治动荡或文明不昌的国家都是不遵循西方价值准则的必然结果，进而给自身文明贴上文明优越的标签。没有哪种文明能够以优越自居，凌驾于其他文明之上。要认清西方文明鼓吹优越论的实质是为单边主义、霸权主义、强权政治辩护，违背各国多边主义诉求，否认世界和平发展趋势。进言之，要以文明共存、文明交流、文明互鉴摒弃形而上学的文明优劣论、自以为是的文明中心论、充满偏见的文明冲突论，才能实现不同文明间的能量交换、能量互释，为人类文明百花园增添光彩。

Fourth, in the process of adhering to “not forgetting the original, absorbing the foreign, and facing the future,” we must build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and create a new form of human civilization. “Not forgetting the original” means neither forgetting the origins of our own national history and culture nor losing our roots; we must firmly grasp the root vein of our own national history and culture. Only by grasping this root vein of fine traditional Chinese culture can we achieve the connection of root and soul when it encounters the soul vein of Marxism. To this end, we must continuously consolidate the subjectivity of Chinese culture and Chinese civilization. This subjectivity endows the Chinese nation with spiritual determinacy, is an important support for the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization, and shows the world China’s unique ideological essence and spiritual identity. Absorbing foreign civilizations requires a broad-minded and inclusive attitude, avoiding blind xenophobia. As some scholars have pointed out: “Dialogue with other traditions helps us to obtain what we need from them, while also allowing us to recognize the treasures within our own tradition.”[16]16 This appears to be a paraphrase or indirect citation; the original source could not be immediately identified. Absorbing foreign civilizations should neither involve simple “wholesale borrowing” nor be done indiscriminately; we must both dare to absorb the foreign and be good at absorbing the foreign. Only by being adept at learning from the outstanding achievements of human civilization, drawing on the strengths of diverse civilizations to compensate for our weaknesses, and aiding independent innovation can we continuously enhance the vitality and vigor of local civilization. Adhering to facing the future requires viewing the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from a developmental perspective. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation we aim to build is a civilization with a forward-looking consciousness, guided by Marxism, and based on an in-depth exploration of the laws of human social development and the laws of the history of human civilization. By grasping these laws, we can master the trends of civilizational development, enhance our forward-looking awareness and research and judgment capabilities, and thereby find certainty amidst the uncertainty of a series of civilizational challenges. The future-oriented modern civilization of the Chinese nation is not oriented toward utopia, but toward a good system, a good life, and a good future. What we aim to build is a better world. This better world relies on building a community with a shared future for mankind, is guided by promoting the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom—and, in creating a new form of human civilization through the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, continuously approaches the ideal state of “each appreciating its own beauty, appreciating the beauty of others; sharing beauty and achieving great harmony under heaven.”[17]17 A classical Chinese ideal, often attributed to the sociologist Fei Xiaotong, expressing the vision of harmonious coexistence of diverse cultures.

第四，要在坚持不忘本来、吸收外来、面向未来的过程中建设中华民族现代文明，开创人类文明新形态。不忘本来既不能忘记本民族历史文化的由来，也不能丢根，要牢牢把握本民族历史文化的根脉。只有把握住中华优秀传统文化这一根脉，当其遇到马克思主义这一魂脉时，才能实现根魂贯通。为此，要不断巩固中华文化、中华文明的主体性，这一主体性赋予中华民族精神定在性，是中华文明具有突出连续性的重要支撑，向世界展示了中国独有的思想精髓和精神标识。吸收外来文明要有海纳百川、有容乃大的胸怀和气度，避免盲目排外。有学者指出：“与其他传统的对话有助于我们从它们那里获取我们所需的东西，同时又让我们认识到自己传统里的宝藏。”吸收外来文明既不能搞简单的“拿来主义”，也不能囫囵吞枣；既要敢于吸收外来，又要善于吸收外来。唯有善于学习人类优秀文明成果，从多样化文明中取长补短，助力自主创新，才能不断增强本土文明的生机与活力。坚持面向未来要以发展的眼光看待中华民族现代文明。我们要建设的中华民族现代文明是具有前瞻意识的文明，是以马克思主义为指导，在深入探究人类社会发展规律和人类文明史规律的基础上，通过对规律的把握掌握文明发展趋势，增强面向未来的前瞻意识和研判能力，进而在面临一系列文明难题的不确定性中寻找确定性。面向未来的中华民族现代文明不是面向乌托邦，而是面向美好制度、美好生活、美好前景，我们要建设的是更加美好的世界，这个美好世界以构建人类命运共同体为依托，以弘扬和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值为导向，在以中华民族现代文明创造人类文明新形态中不断趋向“各美其美，美人之美；美美与共，天下大同”的理想样态。

Authors: Tian Zhijian, Professor at Soochow University

作者：田芝健，苏州大学教授

Online Editor: Jin Qiu

网络编辑：金秋