The Philosophical Wisdom of “Historical Resolve”

“Historical resolve” is an original category proposed by the Chinese Communists in the New Era based on a broad historical perspective. It refers to the unwavering, steady strategic capability and spiritual realm that historical subjects uphold in order to realize lofty ideals and great goals, grounded in a profound insight into historical laws and the trends of the times. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to “stand on the right side of history,” “maintain historical patience,” and “stand on the side of human progress,” which provides fundamental guidance for understanding the philosophical wisdom contained in “historical resolve.” Viewed from the perspective of a grand view of history, historical resolve is the unity of conformity with laws and conformity with purposes, the unity of long-term goals and stage-based tasks, and the unity of national rejuvenation and human progress, profoundly embodying the rational and value consciousness of the Chinese Communists in advancing the historical process.

“历史定力”是新时代中国共产党人基于宏阔历史视野提出的原创性范畴，意指历史主体在深刻洞察历史规律与时代大势基础上，为实现崇高理想和伟大目标，所秉持的坚定不移、沉着稳健的战略能力与精神境界。习近平总书记强调，要“站在历史正确的一边”,“保持历史耐心”，“站在人类进步的一边”，这为理解“历史定力”蕴含的哲学智慧提供了根本指引。从大历史观审视，历史定力是合规律性与合目的性的统一，是长远目标与阶段任务的统一，是民族复兴与人类进步的统一，深刻体现了中国共产党人推进历史进程的理性自觉与价值自觉。

Standing on the Right Side of History

站在历史正确的一边

Historical resolve is first and foremost manifested in the accurate grasp of the historical juncture and the fundamental choice of the direction of advance, that is, always “standing on the right side of history.” This choice is built upon a profound insight into the general trend of historical development, and is an organic unity of scientifically understanding historical laws, firmly adhering to the people’s standpoint, and courageously making practical decisions. The century-long struggle of the Chinese Communists uniting and leading the Chinese people is a vivid practice and portrayal of this consistent stance.

历史定力，首先体现为对历史方位的准确把握、对前进方向的根本抉择，即始终“站在历史正确的一边”。这一选择建立在对历史发展大势的深刻洞察之上，是科学认识历史规律、坚定恪守人民立场与勇于作出实践决断的有机统一。中国共产党团结带领中国人民进行的百余年奋斗历程，正是这一立场一以贯之的生动实践与写照。

“Standing on the right side of history” fundamentally lies in realizing the dialectical unity of “conformity with laws” and “conformity with purposes.” The historical process, as Engels pointed out, “often advances in leaps and bounds and in a zigzag manner,” [1]1 Friedrich Engels, “Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy,” in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Selected Works, vol. 4 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 247. where right and wrong interweave, progress and regression coexist, presenting a distinct complexity. However, historical materialism reveals that beneath the complex surface, history is ultimately “governed by inner general laws.” [2]2 Ibid. This objective law is the historical inevitability determined by the fundamental contradiction between productive forces and relations of production. Therefore, historical correctness is first embodied in “conformity with laws,” that is, always following and meeting the requirements of objective laws, and consciously acting according to them. The century-long struggle of the Chinese Communists is a model of translating this principled requirement into concrete practice. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, our Party led the people to fight “battles of the superstructure,” “establishing people’s political power and people’s army,” aiming to liberate the productive forces. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Party led the people in establishing socialist relations of production and recognized the need to constantly adjust and improve these relations to better adapt them to the development of productive forces. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, our Party recognized that the basic socialist system does not automatically bring about the development of productive forces; if the institutional mechanisms become rigid, they can also hinder the development of productive forces. This led to the concept that “reform is a comprehensive reform,” focusing on promoting reforms in the economic system and other areas, greatly liberating and developing the productive forces. Entering the New Era, our Party has pushed reform toward “comprehensive” and “deepening” directions, emphasizing that “the basic social contradiction is always developing, so adjusting relations of production and improving the superstructure must correspondingly continue without end.” [3]3 Xi Jinping, “Explanatory Notes on the ‘Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Comprehensively Deepening the Reform of Some Major Issues,’” in At the same time, to adapt to the need to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, we further comprehensively deepen reform and promote the “formation of new relations of production that are compatible with them,” [4]4 Karl Marx, “Preface to the First German Edition of Capital,” in Marx and Engels, Collected Works, vol. 35 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1996), p. 10. embodying the historical resolve to always plan and advance reform in accordance with the laws of social development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes the need to “grasp the laws and general trends of historical development, seize the opportunities of historical change, and act in accordance with the trend,” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up,” December 18, 2018. the essence of which is to require us to integrate our understanding of the laws of history throughout the planning of social change. This also constitutes the solid epistemological foundation for our Party to always stand on the right side of history.

“站在历史正确的一边”，其根本在于实现“合规律性”与“合目的性”的辩证统一。历史进程，正如恩格斯指出的那样，“常常是跳跃式地和曲折地前进的”，其间正确与谬误交织，前进与倒退并存，呈现出鲜明的复杂性。然而，历史唯物主义揭示，纷繁复杂的表象之下，历史终究“受内在的一般规律支配”。这个客观规律就是由生产力与生产关系的基本矛盾运动所规定的历史必然性。因此，历史正确性首先体现为“合规律性”，即始终遵循和符合客观规律的要求，自觉地按规律办事。中国共产党的百余年奋斗历程正是把这一原则性要求转化为具体实践的典范。新民主主义革命时期，我们党领导人民打“上层建筑的仗”，“建立人民政权、人民军队”，旨在解放生产力。社会主义革命和建设时期，党领导人民建立社会主义生产关系，并认识到需要不断地调节和完善社会主义生产关系才能使其更好地适应生产力的发展；改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，我们党认识到社会主义基本制度并不能自动带来生产力的发展，如果体制机制僵化，同样会阻碍生产力的发展，并形成“改革是全面的改革”的理念，着力推动经济体制等各领域改革，极大解放和发展了生产力。进入新时代，我们党推动改革向“全面”和“深化”的方向发展，强调“社会基本矛盾总是不断发展的，所以调整生产关系、完善上层建筑需要相应地不断进行下去”，同时，为适应加快发展新质生产力的需要，进一步全面深化改革，推动“形成与之相适应的新型生产关系”，体现了始终遵循社会发展规律筹划和推进改革的历史定力。习近平总书记强调，要“把握住历史发展规律和大势，抓住历史变革时机，顺势而为”，其本质就是要求我们将对历史的规律性认识，贯穿于谋划社会变革的始终，这也构成了我们党始终站在历史正确一边的坚实认识论根基。

However, history is not a subjectless, self-contained process; it is also the unfolding of human activities pursuing and realizing their own purposes, and thus possesses “conformity with purposes.” Within the perspective of Marxist philosophy, this “purposiveness” is not an abstract moral presupposition external to real history, but is rooted in the internal demand of historical subjects to transcend their existing state of existence, ultimately pointing to the ultimate goal of “the free and comprehensive development of the individual.” The Chinese Communists have concretized this philosophical “conformity with purposes” into the fundamental tenet of “serving the people wholeheartedly.” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important assertion that “the people’s hearts are the greatest politics” [6]6 “The times and the trend” (时与势) is a Chinese political idiom referring to the favorable historical moment and the overall direction of development. profoundly reveals that always pursuing the realization of the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people is the essential requirement for our Party to consciously “stand on the right side of history.” The consciousness of being “people-centered” runs through all the Party’s theories and practices. Entering the New Era, this principle has been creatively unfolded through a series of governance practices, such as focusing on the people’s needs for a better life, winning the battle against poverty, promoting high-quality development, and developing whole-process people’s democracy, and has been continuously transformed into practical results, coalescing into a powerful historical synergy.

然而，历史并非无主体的自在过程，它同时是人类追求和实现自身目的的活动展开，因而具有“合目的性”。在马克思主义哲学视域中，这一“目的性”，并非外在于现实历史的抽象道德预设，而是植根于历史活动主体超越自身既有生存状态的内在要求，并最终指向“人的自由全面发展”这一终极目标。中国共产党将这一哲学层面的“合目的性”具体化为“全心全意为人民服务”的根本宗旨。习近平总书记关于“民心是最大的政治”的重要论断深刻揭示，始终追求实现最广大人民的根本利益，是我们党自觉“站在历史正确的一边”的本质要求。“以人民为中心”的自觉贯穿于党的全部理论与实践。进入新时代，这一原则通过聚焦人民美好生活需要、打赢脱贫攻坚战、推动高质量发展、发展全过程人民民主等一系列治国理政实践得以创造性展开，并不断转化为现实成果，凝聚起磅礴的历史合力。

“Conformity with laws” and “conformity with purposes” are dialectically unified in practice. In the theoretical innovation and practical creation of the Chinese Communists, the unity of “conformity with laws” and “conformity with purposes” has been continuously and actively realized and elevated. “Standing on the right side of history” requires both the clarity to perceive laws and the firmness to uphold values, and even more so, the need to forge the two into a scientific theory that guides practice. Our Party insists on integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, continuously advancing and developing Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, forming a sharp ideological weapon for the Party to perceive the times and plan for the future. This transforms the objective necessity of historical development into a high degree of consciousness in strategic practice, and firmly establishes the people’s value pursuit on the scientific grasp of the movement of real contradictions. This profound dialectical unity determines that the Party’s strategic choices are both scientific judgments that conform to truth and just actions that demonstrate morality, thereby ensuring that it maintains profound strategic sobriety and unshakable historical resolve amidst the tests of changing circumstances.

“合规律性”与“合目的性”在实践中辩证统一。在中国共产党的理论创新和实践创造中，“合规律性”与“合目的性”的统一不断得到能动实现与升华。“站在历史正确的一边”，既需要洞察规律的清醒与坚守价值的坚定，更需要将二者熔铸为指引实践的科学理论。我们党坚持把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，不断推进和发展中国化时代化的马克思主义，形成党洞察时代、谋划未来的锐利思想武器，将历史发展的客观必然转化为战略实践的高度自觉，将人民的价值追求牢固建立在对现实矛盾运动的科学把握之上。这种深刻的辩证统一，决定了党的战略抉择既是契合真理的科学判断，也是彰显道义的正义行动，从而确保了其在风云变幻的考验中始终保持深远的战略清醒与不可撼动的历史定力。

Maintaining Historical Patience

保持历史耐心

“Maintaining historical patience” is the practical form of historical resolve in the temporal dimension, embodied as a strategic composure and practical wisdom of continuous struggle displayed by historical subjects on the basis of a profound insight into the long-term, complex, and tortuous nature of the historical process. Historical resolve provides directional guidance and value support for historical patience, while historical patience is the confirmation of capability and practical manifestation of historical resolve in long-term practice. The two mutually define and are dialectically unified.

“保持历史耐心”是历史定力在时间维度上的实践形态，体现为历史主体在深刻洞察历史进程的长期性、复杂性和曲折性的基础上，所展现出来的一种战略从容和接续奋斗的实践智慧。历史定力为历史耐心提供方向指引与价值支撑，历史耐心则是历史定力在漫长实践中的能力确证与实践彰显。二者相互规定、辩证统一。

The category of historical patience profoundly interprets the dialectical tension between subjective initiative and objective conditionality. Marx pointed out that people “make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.” [7] Historical patience first manifests as full respect for and scientific analysis of these “given conditions.” However, historical patience is by no means passive accommodation, but rather active action and creative initiative within the constraints of this framework. This initiative is manifested in two levels of unity: at the strategic level, maintaining the stability of direction, ensuring that amidst complexity, the fundamental goals and core paths clarified by historical resolve remain unswayed and unshaken; at the practical level, highlighting the gradualism of action, using the spirit of the nail [8] and the wisdom of “reaching the vast and subtle,” [9] scientifically decomposing the grand blueprint into sequential, step-by-step practical steps. Through persistent and steady efforts, we gradually solve problems, accumulate conditions, and open up new prospects. As Xunzi said, “What has not changed through a hundred kings is sufficient to serve as the constant Way. Through rises and falls, respond to them with this constant; when the principle is constant, there is no disorder. Not knowing the constant, one does not know how to respond to change.” [10] The “constant Way” here can be understood as the fundamental laws and direction grasped by historical resolve; while “responding to change” is the strategy and ability to advance the cause flexibly and pragmatically according to time and circumstances, while respecting the premise of the “constant Way.” What it embodies is precisely historical patience. The dialectical unity in China’s reform and opening up process—between the exploratory spirit of bold trials and bold ventures and the pragmatic rhythm of steady progress—is a vivid portrayal of continuously exerting historical creativity within the constraints of respecting real conditions, and achieving historical progress through gradual accumulation.

历史耐心这一范畴深刻诠释了主体能动性与客观条件性的辩证张力。马克思指出，人们“是在直接碰到的、既定的、从过去承继下来的条件下”创造历史的。历史耐心首先体现为对这些“既定的条件”的充分尊重与科学分析。然而，历史耐心绝非被动顺应，而是在此约束框架内的主动作为与能动创造。这种能动性表现为两个层面的统一：战略层面保持定向的稳定性，于纷繁复杂中，始终保持由历史定力所廓清的根本目标与核心路径不偏移、不动摇；实践层面凸显行动的渐进性，以钉钉子精神和致广大而尽精微的智慧，将宏伟蓝图科学分解为前后衔接、循序渐进的现实步骤，通过持之以恒、稳扎稳打的努力，逐步破解难题、积累条件、开拓新局。正如荀子所言，“百王之无变，足以为道贯。一废一起，应之以贯，理贯不乱。不知贯，不知应变”。这里的“道贯”，可理解为历史定力所把握的根本规律与方向；而“应变”，则是在尊重“道贯”的前提下，因时因地制宜、灵活务实地推动事业前进的策略与能力，其所体现的正是历史耐心。我国改革开放进程中大胆试、大胆闯的探索精神与蹄疾步稳的务实节奏之辩证统一，正是在尊重现实条件约束中持续发挥历史创造性、通过渐进性积累实现历史性进步的生动写照。

Demonstrating historical stamina while maintaining historical patience profoundly embodies the principle of the unity of historical continuity and periodicity. History is not an accumulation of isolated events, but an organic whole that evolves based on the movement of internal contradictions. Marx pointed out that the development of social formations is “a process of natural history,” and that “a society, even after it has discovered the natural laws of its own movement... can neither skip over nor abolish by decree the natural phases of its development.” [4]4 Karl Marx, “Preface to the First German Edition of Capital,” in Marx and Engels, Collected Works, vol. 35 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1996), p. 10. This assertion indicates that any progress of historical significance inevitably manifests as a continuous process composed of several interconnected and sequentially advancing concrete historical stages. The realization of grand goals cannot be achieved overnight; it is destined to be “a historical process gradually accomplished through one phased goal after another.” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up,” December 18, 2018. Here, historical stamina manifests as a strategic sobriety based on a “long-duration” perspective, which always anchors practical vision in the deep currents and future direction of historical movement; historical patience, in turn, embodies the practical wisdom and spiritual quality of this strategic sobriety when confronting the “long-term nature” of history. It demands that the subject plan for the long term with the mindset of “achievement need not be in my tenure,” and fulfill the core tasks of each stage with the responsibility of “achievement must include my contribution,” thereby realizing qualitative change through persistent quantitative accumulation. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, “We must maintain historical patience, adhere to making progress while maintaining stability, advancing step by step, and continuously pushing forward,” which is precisely a precise grasp of this dialectic. Currently, the strategic blueprint and successive efforts to comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization are a model of historical stamina steadily guiding the continuous development of history through historical patience.

在保持历史耐心中彰显历史定力，深刻体现了历史连续性与阶段性相统一的原则。历史并非孤立事件的堆积，而是基于内在矛盾运动演进的有机整体。马克思指出，社会形态的发展是“一种自然历史过程”，“一个社会即使探索到了本身运动的自然规律……它还是既不能跳过也不能用法令取消自然的发展阶段”。这一论断表明，任何具有历史意义的进步，都必然呈现为由若干相互衔接、循序递进的具体历史阶段构成的连续性过程。宏伟目标的实现不可能一蹴而就，它注定是“由一个一个阶段性目标逐步达成的历史过程”。在此，历史定力表现为一种基于“长时段”视野的战略清醒，即始终将实践视野锚定在历史运动的深层脉络和未来走向上；而历史耐心，体现的正是这种战略清醒在面对历史“长期性”时的实践智慧和精神品质，它要求主体以“功成不必在我”的境界谋划长远，以“功成必定有我”的担当完成每一阶段的核心任务，通过持之以恒的量变积累实现质变。习近平总书记强调，“要保持历史耐心，坚持稳中求进、循序渐进、持续推进”，正是对这一辩证法的精准把握。当前，以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的战略擘画与接续奋斗，正是历史定力通过历史耐心稳步引领历史连续性发展的典范。

Standing on the Side of Human Progress

站在人类进步的一边

Historical stamina also inherently includes a global vision and civilizational responsibility that transcend national boundaries, that is, to establish one’s own position and responsibility within the grand process of “world history,” and consciously “stand on the side of human progress.” This profoundly indicates that, at the crossroads of world historical development, historical stamina manifests as a sober judgment and active shaping of the direction of civilization, as well as a rational consciousness that integrates the cause of the nation-state into the historical process of humanity and contributes to human progress.

历史定力还内在包含超越民族国家界限的全球视野与文明担当，即在“世界历史”的宏大进程中确立自身方位与责任，自觉“站在人类进步的一边”。这深刻表明，在世界历史发展的十字路口，历史定力体现为对文明发展方向的清醒判断与主动塑造，以及将民族国家事业融入人类历史进程并贡献于人类进步的理性自觉。

From the perspective of the grand view of history, “human progress” is a directional concept that measures the movement of history on a universal dimension. Marx and Engels, by founding historical materialism, achieved a scientific revolution in the understanding of world history. They pointed out that “the transformation of history into world history” is an objective material movement process. This process, driven by the logic of capital, brought about immense development of productive forces and great abundance of material wealth, laying the foundation for the liberation of all humanity. However, as American scholar Immanuel Wallerstein revealed, this process is embedded with a profound “systemic paradox”: while capital weaves a global network and creates unprecedented wealth, it also produces structural imbalances between the center and the periphery, tensions between civilizations, and even antagonism. Therefore, “standing on the side of human progress” is by no means a simple endorsement of the established hegemonic system or a linear narrative of progress; rather, it is a “critical construction” based on the perspective of historical dialectics. It requires us to penetrate the complex surface phenomena with a “long-duration” vision, to discern the deep structural contradictions, and to commit ourselves to sublating the antagonistic and exclusive core of the old logic, thereby promoting the evolution of history toward a more just, inclusive, and sustainable form of civilization.

从大历史观的视角来看，“人类进步”是一个在普遍性维度上衡量历史运动的方向性概念。马克思、恩格斯通过创立唯物史观，实现了对世界历史理解的科学革命。他们指出，“历史向世界历史的转变”是一个客观的物质运动过程。这一由资本逻辑主导的进程带来了生产力的极大发展和物质财富的极大丰富，为整个人类的解放奠定了基础。然而，正如美国学者沃勒斯坦所揭示的，这一进程内嵌着深刻的“体系性悖论”，即资本在编织全球网络、创造空前财富的同时，也在生产出中心与边缘的结构性失衡、文明间的紧张乃至对抗。因此，“站在人类进步的一边”，绝非对既定霸权体系或线性进步叙事的简单认可，而是一种基于历史辩证法视野的“批判性建构”。它要求我们以“长时段”的眼光穿透纷繁表象，洞察深层矛盾结构，并致力于扬弃旧有逻辑中的对抗性与排他性内核，推动历史朝向更加公正、包容、可持续的文明形态演进。

The Communist Party of China, as a Marxist political party, has consistently practiced “standing on the side of human progress” throughout its century-long struggle. Facing unprecedented global challenges, General Secretary Xi Jinping, standing at the height of all humanity, put forward the major concept of “promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.” This paradigm-innovating concept achieves a triple transcendence in theoretical terms: First, it transcends the traditional realist paradigm of international relations centered on “absolute sovereignty” and “balance of power,” proposing a new type of international interaction ethics based on “relational existence” and “symbiotic philosophy.” Second, it transcends the singular modernity imagination of the “end of history,” promoting the common values of all humanity while respecting the diversity of civilizations. Third, it transcends the pessimistic presupposition of the “clash of civilizations,” aiming to transform the “objective reality” of coexistence among different civilizations into a “subjective construction” of harmonious symbiosis through development practices and institutional innovation. For instance, the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative is not a simple economic cooperation plan; its core is to reshape the logic of global spatial production by promoting all-round connectivity, building a multi-dimensional and interconnected network, breaking down development barriers and geographical divides, and creating new structural conditions for common development. In this process, China’s own development provides the world with a reference for a “state capacity” paradigm that emphasizes effective governance and collective well-being, a paradigm distinctly different from the neoliberal model. Therefore, the historical stamina manifested by “standing on the side of human progress” is essentially a civilizational stamina of “creating within tension.” This stamina indicates that we always stand on the side of “the times and the trend.” [6]6 “The times and the trend” (时与势) is a Chinese political idiom referring to the favorable historical moment and the overall direction of development.

中国共产党作为马克思主义政党，其百余年奋斗历程始终贯穿着“站在人类进步的一边”的自觉实践。面对前所未有的全球性挑战，习近平总书记站在全人类的高度，提出了“推动构建人类命运共同体”的重大理念。这一范式创新的理念，在学理上实现了三重超越：其一，它超越了以“绝对主权”与“均势”为核心的传统现实主义国际关系范式，提出了一种基于“关系性存在”与“共生哲学”的新型国际交往伦理。其二，它超越了“历史终结论”的单一现代性想象，在尊重文明多样性的前提下，弘扬全人类共同价值。其三，它超越了“文明冲突论”的悲观预设，旨在通过发展实践与制度创新，将不同文明共存的“客观现实”转化为和谐共生的“主观建构”。如共建“一带一路”，并非简单的经济合作计划，其核心是通过推动全方位的互联互通重塑全球空间生产逻辑，构建多维立体的互联网络，打破发展壁垒与地理隔阂，为共同发展创造新的结构性条件。在这一过程中，中国自身的发展为世界提供了一种强调有效治理与集体福祉的“国家能力”范式参照，这一范式与新自由主义模式截然不同。因此，“站在人类进步的一边”所彰显的历史定力，本质上是一种“在张力中创造”的文明定力，这一定力表明，我们始终站在“时”与“势”这一边。

(Authors: Xu Hengbing, Xu Di, both professors at the Political College of the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army)

（作者:许恒兵 许迪,均系国防大学政治学院教授）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧