On Relational Civilization and Its Position in the New Form of Human Civilization

“Civilization is a practical matter.” Riding the “wind-and-fire wheels” of production practice, humanity bid farewell to the age of barbarism and crossed the threshold of civilized society. The term “civilization” in its modern sense emerged in France in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. In Huntington’s view, the concept of civilization was proposed by French scholars of the late eighteenth century in opposition to the “state of barbarism.” Although there are no fewer than one hundred definitions of civilization in academic circles, since the concept was introduced, humanity has in fact constructed a relatively stable “civilization–barbarism” binary framework of thought, in which civilization expresses a state of “enlightenment” and “progress” as opposed to “barbarism.” This progressiveness is manifested not only in the sphere of material production and the sphere of spiritual culture, but also in the sphere of human relations, especially social relations, taking the form of relational civilization or social-relational civilization. Relational civilization is a major achievement of human social progress, an organic component of human civilization, and a new form of civilization that we must pay close attention to and actively pursue in creating a new form of human civilization. So, what is relational civilization? Why must we create relational civilization? What position does relational civilization occupy in the new form of human civilization? How shall we create relational civilization? For questions such as these, we will provide a preliminary answer under the guidance of the Marxist view of civilization and Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, and earnestly advance the construction and development of human relational civilization from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

“文明是实践的事情。”踏着生产实践的“风火轮”,人类告别了野蛮时代而迈进文明社会的门槛。现代意义的“文明”术语出现于19世纪中晚期的法国。在亨廷顿看来，文明这一概念是由18世纪晚期法国学者相对于“野蛮状态”而提出的。尽管学界关于文明的定义不下100种，但自文明概念提出以来，人类其实建构了一种相对稳定的“文明—野蛮”二分法的思维框架，即文明表达的是与“野蛮”相对应的“开化”与“进步”状态。这种进步性，既体现在物质生产领域、精神文化领域等，又体现在人类关系领域特别是社会关系领域，表现为关系文明或社会关系文明。关系文明是人类社会取得进步的重大成果，是人类文明的有机组成部分，也是我们创造人类文明新形态需要高度关注并积极追求的新的文明形式。那么，何谓关系文明?为何要创建关系文明?关系文明在人类文明新形态中居于何种地位?我们将如何创造关系文明?对于诸如此类的问题，我们将以马克思主义文明观和习近平文化思想为指导予以初步回答，从理论和实践两方面认真推进人类关系文明的建设与发展。

I. Human Civilization Faces Two Major “Physical” Problems [1]1 “Physical” (形而下, *xing er xia*) refers to concrete, tangible matters, as opposed to metaphysical or abstract principles, in the traditional Chinese philosophical distinction between “what is above form” (形而上) and “what is below form” (形而下).

一、 人类文明面临两大“形而下”的问题

Since entering civilized society, over the course of several millennia, humanity has been arduously advancing the construction of civilization. Up to the present day, although it has manifested a form of “integral civilization” that includes material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization, ecological civilization, and so on, and has achieved remarkable accomplishments, it also faces increasingly serious problems. “Today, we also live in a world of contradictions. On the one hand, material wealth is constantly accumulating, scientific and technological progress is changing with each passing day, and human civilization has developed to its highest level in history. On the other hand, regional conflicts occur frequently, global challenges such as terrorism and refugee waves rise one after another, poverty, unemployment, and widening income gaps increase, and the world faces rising uncertainty.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Work Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind,” speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017. The many “uncertainty” difficulties facing human civilization today are concretized into two major development problems: the problem of insufficient development and the problem of inharmonious development. In January 2017, President Xi Jinping pointed out in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017: “The world economy has been in a prolonged slump, and the problems of the wealth gap and the North-South gap have become more prominent.” [3]3 Xi Jinping, “Jointly Shoulder the Responsibility of Our Times and Promote Global Growth,” keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017, Davos, January 17, 2017. Summarized, these problems are: insufficient global growth momentum, making it difficult to meet the basic needs of some people; and unbalanced global development, making it difficult to meet people’s expectations for a better life.

自迈入文明社会以来，在数千年的时间里，人类一直在艰难地推进着文明建设。发展到今天，尽管呈现出包括物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明等在内的“整体文明”形态，取得了骄人的成就，但也面临着日益严重的问题。“今天，我们也生活在一个矛盾的世界之中。一方面，物质财富不断积累，科技进步日新月异，人类文明发展到历史最高水平。另一方面，地区冲突频繁发生，恐怖主义、难民潮等全球性挑战此起彼伏，贫困、失业、收入差距拉大，世界面临的不确定性上升。”当今人类文明面临的诸多“不确定性”难题，具象化为两大发展问题：发展不够的问题和发展不和的问题。2017年1月，习近平主席在世界经济论坛2017年年会开幕式上的主旨演讲中指出：“世界经济长期低迷，贫富差距、南北差距问题更加突出。”这些问题概括起来，即全球增长动能不足，难以满足一些人的基本需求；全球发展失衡，难以满足人们对美好生活的期待。

What is called “insufficiency” refers to the fact that development, in terms of quantity and quality, cannot reach a level that can satisfy the basic needs of all people. On our “small globe,” there are still a considerable number of people who lack adequate food and clothing and struggle to make a living. They “have no shelter from wind and rain, and no food to fill their stomachs; they have no one to turn to for help, and are afflicted with illness.” [4]4 This phrasing echoes classical Chinese descriptions of extreme poverty and hardship. What is called “inharmoniousness” refers to, from the standpoint of humanity, the phenomenon of imbalance and disharmony in human relations arising from conflicts of interest, improper means, and other reasons during development. “The wealth owned by the richest one percent of the global population exceeds the total wealth of the remaining ninety-nine percent of the population. Income distribution inequality and unbalanced development space are worrying. There are still more than 700 million people living in extreme poverty worldwide. For many families, having a warm house, sufficient food, and stable work is still a luxury. This is the biggest challenge facing the world today and also an important cause of social unrest in some countries.” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Work Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.” The “inharmoniousness” of development is mainly manifested in three aspects: first, inharmoniousness in human-to-human relations, including inharmonious relations between individuals, between individuals and society, between nations, and between the present generation and future generations; second, inharmoniousness in human-nature relations, with increasingly serious ecological and environmental problems being a concrete manifestation of this inharmoniousness; third, inharmoniousness in the relationship between humanity’s material existence and spiritual existence, where the hardships of survival in reality or the tension and distortion of human-to-human relations cause dissatisfaction and discomfort in people’s spiritual psychology, leading to a deformed and painful mode of existence for people, causing many to have problems in their spiritual psychology.

所谓“不够”,是指发展在数量和质量等方面难以达到能够满足所有人基本需求的地步。我们所在的“小小寰球”,尚有相当多的人不得温饱，生计艰难。他们“风雨不遮，食不果腹；求告无门，疾病缠身”。所谓“不和”,是指站在人类的立场来看，人类关系在发展中因利益冲突、手段失当等原因而出现了失衡、失和的现象。“全球最富有的百分之一人口拥有的财富量超过其余百分之九十九人口财富的总和，收入分配不平等、发展空间不平衡令人担忧。全球仍然有七亿多人口生活在极端贫困之中。对很多家庭而言，拥有温暖住房、充足食物、稳定工作还是一种奢望。这是当今世界面临的最大挑战，也是一些国家社会动荡的重要原因。”发展之“不和”主要表现在三个方面：其一，人人关系的不和，包括人与人、人与社会、国家与国家、当代人与后代人之间关系的不和；其二，人天关系的不和，日趋严重的生态环境问题就是这种不和的具体表现；其三，人的物质性存在和精神性存在之间关系的不和，现实中的生存困顿或人人关系的紧张扭曲等造成了人们精神心理上的不满和不适，由此导致了人的畸形化、痛苦化的生存样态，使得不少人在精神心理方面存在问题。

The problem of insufficient development reveals that our existing construction of civilization has not yet been carried out solidly or fully enough, and needs to be further resolved by strengthening construction in areas such as material civilization, spiritual civilization, and social civilization. So, how is the problem of inharmonious development to be resolved? This requires us to put forward the concept of relational civilization and seek to resolve the problem of inharmonious development by building a relational civilization.

发展之不够的问题，揭示了我们现有的文明建设开展的还不够扎实充分，需要通过加大诸如物质文明、精神文明、社会文明等建设予以进一步解决。那么，发展之不和的问题将如何解决呢?这就要求我们提出关系文明的概念，设法通过建设关系文明来解决发展之不和的问题。

II. What Is Relational Civilization

二、 何谓关系文明

“There is only one trend in today’s world, and that is peace, development, cooperation, and win-win outcomes. History and reality both prove that those who follow the trend prosper, and those who go against it perish.” [6]6 Xi Jinping, “Work Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.” In accordance with the general trend of historical development and the problems existing in reality, the concept of relational civilization can be said to be emerging naturally, and the creation of relational civilization is timely. What is called relational civilization refers to the positive achievements people have made in the practical process of creating and improving human relations (human relations include social relations but are not equal to social relations; their extension is greater than that of social relations). In other words, relational civilization refers to the excellent state of coordination, balance, and harmony that human relations exhibit after practical governance, corresponding to the state of imbalance, tension, opposition, and even mutual harm in human relations. The proposal and formation of relational civilization marks the extension and expansion of human civilization into the field of human relations, and the advancement and elevation of human relations, especially social relations, as a whole toward the realm of civilization. In terms of content structure, relational civilization includes the following specific aspects: first, a series of basic human relations move from tension and opposition toward coordination and harmony, including improvements or enhancements in the relations between humans and nature, between humans and humans, and between humanity’s material existence and spiritual existence; these all belong to the practical achievements of relational civilization; second, a series of positive theoretical achievements formed or obtained in the practical process of improving and optimizing human relations, such as the systems concept, the thought of sustainable development, the idea of symbiosis, the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, the concept of a community of life for humans and nature, the “Two Mountains” theory [7]7 “Two Mountains” theory (两山论) refers to Xi Jinping’s formulation that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” (绿水青山就是金山银山), emphasizing the value of ecological protection for economic development., and so on; these theoretical achievements provide worldview and methodology guidance for the proposal and construction of relational civilization, and in a certain sense belong to the theoretical achievements of relational civilization; third, the establishment and improvement of a series of social norms and mechanisms that maintain and improve human relations, such as the principle of good faith, the principle of mutual assistance, the principle of collectivism, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the “three principles” of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and so on; these can be regarded as the institutional achievements of relational civilization.

“当今世界的潮流只有一个，那就是和平、发展、合作、共赢。历史和现实都证明，顺潮流者昌，逆潮流者亡。”依据历史发展的大势和现实存在的问题，关系文明的理念可以说呼之欲出，关系文明的创建正当其时。所谓关系文明，是指人们在创建和改善人类关系(人类关系包括社会关系但不等于社会关系，其外延要大于社会关系)的实践进程中所取得的积极成果。换言之，关系文明是指人类关系经过实践治理所表现出来的协调、平衡、和谐的优良状态，其对应的是人类关系的失衡、紧张、对立甚至互害的状态。关系文明的提出和形成，标志着人类文明向人类关系领域的延伸和扩展以及人类关系特别是社会关系在整体上向文明境界的迈进和跃升。从内容结构上看，关系文明包括如下几方面具体的内容：其一，人类一系列基本关系从紧张和对立中走向协调与和谐，包括人与自然关系、人与人关系、人的物质性存在和精神性存在关系的改善或改进，这些都属于关系文明的实践成果；其二，在改善优化人类关系的实践进程中所形成或取得的一系列积极的理论成果，如系统观念、可持续发展思想、共生主义理念、人类命运共同体理念、人与自然生命共同体理念、“两山”论，等等，这些理论成果为关系文明的提出及其建设提供世界观和方法论指导，在某种意义上说，属于关系文明的理论成果；其三，一系列维持和改善人类关系的社会规范及其机制的建立与健全，如诚信原则、互助原则、集体主义原则、和平共处五项原则、共商共建共享“三共”原则等等，这可以看作是关系文明的制度成果。

The concept of “relational civilization” embodies two logical dimensions: the civilization of relations and the mutual learning of civilizations. The so-called civilization of relations means using the concepts, principles, requirements, and methods of civilization to coordinate and balance various human relations, causing them to undergo positive changes conducive to the intergenerational survival and sustainable development of humanity, or seeking to promote the civilized transformation and development of human relations and achieve corresponding positive results. The so-called mutual learning of civilizations refers to the situation where civilizations of different subjects, on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment, engage in exchange, integration, and common development. If the civilization of relations pertains to human relations themselves, then the mutual learning of civilizations pertains to the already existing civilizations of different subjects. The normalization or mutual learning of civilizational relations is a compliance with the laws of the development of human civilization and is key to ensuring the healthy and smooth development of human civilization. General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important expositions on the exchange and mutual learning of human civilizations, which serve as the basic guidelines for our understanding of the mutual learning of civilizations or the normalization of civilizational relations. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Civilizations become richer through exchange and more colorful through mutual learning. Any civilization, no matter which country or nation’s social soil it grows from, is fluid and open. This is an important law of the spread and development of civilizations.” [8]8 Xi Jinping, “Carry Forward the Spirit of the Silk Road and Deepen China-Arab Cooperation” (speech at the opening ceremony of the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, June 5, 2014), *People’s Daily*, June 6, 2014. Precisely because there exists the “law of exchange and mutual learning” in the spread and development of civilizations, “we must respect the diversity of civilizations, promote dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, and must not be arrogant, belittle other civilizations and nations. Human history tells us that attempting to establish a single civilization’s dominance over the world is merely an unrealistic fantasy.” [9]9 Xi Jinping, “Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” (speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017), *People’s Daily*, January 20, 2017. Adhering to the dimension of mutual learning of civilizations requires opposing concepts such as the superiority of a particular civilization, the clash of civilizations, and civilizational centrism.

“关系文明”的概念体现着两种逻辑向度：关系的文明化和文明的互鉴化。所谓关系的文明化，是指要以文明的理念、原则、要求和方式协调平衡人类各种关系，使之发生积极的有利于人类世代生存和可持续发展的变化，或者设法促使人类关系获得文明化的改造、发展并取得相应的积极成果。所谓文明的互鉴化，是指不同主体的文明在相互尊重、平等相待的基础上呈现交流交融、共同发展的情况。如果说关系的文明化是对人类关系本身而言的，那么，文明的互鉴化是对业已存在的不同主体的文明而言的。文明关系的正常化或互鉴化，是对人类文明发展规律的遵循，是确保人类文明获得健康顺利发展的关键。习近平总书记就人类文明交流互鉴发表了一系列重要论述，是我们把握文明互鉴化或文明关系正常化的基本遵循。习近平总书记指出：“文明因交流而多彩，文明因互鉴而丰富。任何一种文明，不管它产生于哪个国家、哪个民族的社会土壤之中，都是流动的、开放的。这是文明传播和发展的一条重要规律。”正由于存在着文明传播和发展的“交流互鉴规律”,因而，“我们要尊重文明多样性，推动不同文明交流对话、和平共处、和谐共生，不能唯我独尊、贬低其他文明和民族。人类历史告诉我们，企图建立单一文明的一统天下，只是一种不切实际的幻想”。坚持文明的互鉴化向度，就要反对文明优越论、文明冲突论、文明中心论等观念。

The proposal of “relational civilization” has ample practical basis, and more critically, constructing the paradigm of “relational civilization” has extremely important guiding significance for people’s social interactions and for how humans “deal with” nature. Based on the practical basis for the generation of relational civilization and its methodological guiding function, we can divide relational civilization into two types: actual relational civilization and normative relational civilization. So-called actual relational civilization is an objective revelation of the positive results or major progress achieved by people in handling and optimizing human relations at present. These positive results actually constitute the practical basis for the proposal of relational civilization, or the manifestation of the realization of relational civilization. In October 2015, in his speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, UK, President Xi Jinping pointed out that in today’s world, openness, inclusiveness, and diverse mutual learning are the main themes; in today’s world, mutual connection and interdependence are the major trends; in today’s world, peace, development, cooperation, and win-win outcomes are the main melodies. [10]10 Xi Jinping, “Jointly Shouldering the Responsibility of the Times and Promoting Global Development” (speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, UK, October 21, 2015), *People’s Daily*, October 22, 2015. These expressions such as “main themes,” “major trends,” and “main melodies” actually describe the important progress humanity has made in the construction of international relational civilization. They can be said to be a kind of actual relational civilization or a relational civilization that is emerging in reality. The actively constructed community with a shared future for mankind and the community of life for man and nature are undoubtedly important manifestations of the realization and crystallization of relational civilization.

“关系文明”的提出有着充分的现实依据，更为关键的是，建构“关系文明”范式，对于人们的社会交往以及人与自然“打交道”等具有极其重要的范导意义。我们根据关系文明生成的现实依据及其方法论导向功能，可将关系文明划分为两种：实然性的关系文明和应然性的关系文明。所谓实然性的关系文明，是对当下人们在处理和优化人类关系方面所取得的积极成果或发生的重大进展的一种客观揭示，这种积极成果实际上就构成了关系文明得以提出的现实依据，或是关系文明现实化的表现。2015年10月，习近平主席在英国伦敦金融城市市长晚宴上的演讲中指出，当今世界，开放包容、多元互鉴是主基调；当今世界，相互联系、相互依存是大潮流；当今世界，和平、发展、合作、共赢是主旋律。这些“主基调”“大潮流”“主旋律”等说法实际上表达了当今人类在国际关系文明建设方面所取得的重要进展，可以说是一种实然性的关系文明或是在现实中正在出现的关系文明。正在积极构建的人类命运共同体、人与自然生命共同体，无疑是关系文明现实化、结晶化的重要表现。

On the one hand, relational civilization has the function of revealing and reflecting; on the other hand, it also has a normative role. In other words, the fundamental purpose of proposing and constructing relational civilization is to carry out a civilized transformation of current human relations. Thus, relational civilization also has a normative guiding significance. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, currently, “Humanity is in a period of major development, major transformation, and major adjustment. World multipolarity and economic globalization are deepening, social informatization and cultural diversification are advancing, a new round of technological and industrial revolutions are gestating and growing, countries are interconnected and interdependent, global destinies are shared and closely linked, the rise of peaceful forces far exceeds the growth of war factors, and the trend of the times toward peace, development, cooperation, and win-win outcomes is even stronger.” [11]11 Xi Therefore, we “must abandon the old thinking of zero-sum games and ‘you lose, I win,’ establish a new concept of win-win and mutual benefit, take into account the interests of others while pursuing one’s own interests, and promote common development while seeking one’s own development.” [12]12 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *The German Ideology* (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 43. This “abandoning the old thinking of zero-sum games and ‘you lose, I win,’ establishing a new concept of win-win and mutual benefit” is essentially, within the context of relational civilization, a longing for and call for peaceful and harmonious international relations and a fair and just international order. Furthermore, our construction of a beautiful China and a beautiful world is actually a longing for and pursuit of a harmonious and symbiotic relationship between humans and nature.

关系文明一方面具有揭示反映的功能，另一方面还具有规范性作用。换言之，提出并建设关系文明的根本目的，就是要对当下的人类关系进行文明化的改造，这样，关系文明同时又具有了应然性的范导意义。正如习近平总书记所指出的，当前，“人类正处在大发展大变革大调整时期。世界多极化、经济全球化深入发展，社会信息化、文化多样化持续推进，新一轮科技革命和产业革命正在孕育成长，各国相互联系、相互依存，全球命运与共、休戚相关，和平力量的上升远远超过战争因素的增长，和平、发展、合作、共赢的时代潮流更加强劲”。因而，我们“要摒弃零和游戏、你输我赢的旧思维，树立双赢、共赢的新理念，在追求自身利益时兼顾他方利益，在寻求自身发展时促进共同发展”。这种“摒弃零和游戏、你输我赢的旧思维，树立双赢、共赢的新理念”,实质上是在关系文明的语境下对和平和谐的国际关系、公平正义的国际秩序的一种向往和呼唤。还有，我们建设美丽中国、美丽世界，其实是对和谐共生的人天关系的一种向往和追求。

III. The Practical Basis of Production for the Formation of Relational Civilization

三、 关系文明形成的生产实践基础

From the perspective of the Marxist view of civilization, civilization is formed and develops on the basis of human productive practice. Different forms of human productive practice give rise to different forms of civilization. For example, material production primarily generates material civilization, spiritual production primarily generates spiritual civilization, and ecological production primarily generates ecological civilization. So, what is the practical basis of relational civilization? It is the production of human relations. It is on the basis of the production of human relations that relational civilization arises, and the production and reproduction of human relations continuously drive the development of relational civilization.

在马克思主义文明观看来，文明是在人的生产实践基础上形成并发展的。人的生产实践不同，以其为基础所生成的文明形式也不相同。例如，在物质生产基础上主要生成了物质文明、在精神生产基础上主要生成了精神文明、在生态生产基础上主要生成了生态文明等。那么，关系文明的实践基础又是什么呢?这就是人类关系的生产，正是在人类关系生产的基础上产生了关系文明，人类关系的生产和再生产不断推动着关系文明的发展。

The Marxist theory of production is a theory of comprehensive production. In the *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*, Marx put forward the concept of “comprehensive production.” After comparing human production with the “production” of animals, Marx wrote: “The animal produces only what it immediately needs for itself or its young; the production of the animal is one-sided, whereas the production of man is comprehensive.” [13]13 Karl Marx, “Letter to Pavel Vasilyevich Annenkov,” December 28, 1846, in *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 38 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982), p. 96. According to the Marxist theory of comprehensive production, human society is an organism. For this organism to survive, it must continuously carry out the transformation of matter, energy, and information with the surrounding natural world. To this end, it must continuously engage in material production activities. Because “any nation, if it stops working, not just for a year, but for a few weeks, will perish.” [14]14 Lei Feng (1940–1962) was a soldier of the People’s Liberation Army celebrated as a model of selfless dedication and service to the people; the “Lei Feng spirit” was promoted by the CPC as a moral exemplar. Of course, human material production activities are not carried out blindly or spontaneously, but under the guidance of certain concepts and consciousness. For this reason, people must also carry out spiritual production activities. Spiritual production is the “production of ideas, concepts, and consciousness,” [15]15 The “four major global initiatives” refer to the Global Development Initiative (2021), the Global Security Initiative (2022), the Global Civilization Initiative (2023), and the Global Governance Initiative (2023), proposed by Xi Jinping. primarily the production of systematized and theorized spiritual products. To maintain its existence, the social organism must also carry out the production of human beings themselves, that is, the reproduction of the species. The initial social relations were formed in the process of the production of human beings themselves: “The family was initially the only social relation.” [16]16 Xi Jinping, “Working Together to Forge a New Future of China-Latin America and the Caribbean Relations,” speech at the China-LAC Forum, July 17, 2014. It is precisely the natural requirement of the production and reproduction of human beings themselves that constitutes the powerful driving force for material production and spiritual production. When society developed into modern times, due to the emergence of anti-ecological behaviors in production and life, under the “warning” of severe ecological crises, people discovered the existence and importance of ecological production, seeing that in the interaction between humans and nature, in addition to material production, there is also ecological production, in which humans participate, mainly used to repair, protect, and maintain ecosystems.

马克思主义的生产理论是一种全面生产理论。在《1844年经济学哲学手稿》中，马克思就提出了“全面生产”的概念。在将人的生产和动物的“生产”进行了对比之后，马克思这样写道：“动物只生产它自己或它的幼仔所直接需要的东西；动物的生产是片面的，而人的生产是全面的。”在马克思主义全面生产理论看来，人类社会是一个有机体，这种有机体要存在下去，就需要不间断地与周围自然界进行物质、能量以及信息的转换活动，为此，就要不断进行物质生产活动。因为“任何一个民族，如果停止劳动，不用说一年，就是几个星期，也要灭亡”。当然，人的物质生产活动不是盲目地、自发地进行的，而是在一定的观念意识支配下进行的，为此，人们还要开展精神生产活动。精神生产就是“思想、观念、意识的生产”,主要是创造系统化、理论化的精神产品的生产。社会有机体要维持自己的存在，还必须进行人类自身的生产，即种的繁衍。最初的社会关系就是在人自身生产的过程中形成的，“家庭起初是唯一的社会关系”。正是人自身生产和再生产的天然要求构成了物质生产以及精神生产的强大动力。当社会发展到近现代以后，由于在生产和生活中出现了反生态的行为，在严重的生态危机的“警示”下，人们发现了生态生产的存在及其重要性，看到了在人与自然的交往中，除了物质生产之外，还存在着由人所参与的主要用于修复、保护、维持生态系统的生态生产。

The Marxist category of “comprehensive production” also includes the production and reproduction of human relations, especially social relations. The reproduction of human relations, especially social relations, achieved through human activity, includes two situations: simple reproduction and expanded reproduction. Simple reproduction of social relations is the “cloning”-style reproduction of existing social relations, that is, the complete continuation of original social relations. Expanded reproduction of social relations means a clear expansion or growth of social relations on the original basis, including expanded reproduction in a quantitative sense and expanded reproduction in a qualitative sense. Expanded reproduction in a quantitative sense is the expansion of the scope of social relations of the same nature. Expanded reproduction in a qualitative sense is the emergence and development of social relations with new qualities, thereby causing significant changes in the appearance of social relations and social life. In a certain sense, social history is the history of the continuous production and reproduction of human relations, especially social relations.

马克思主义的“全面生产”范畴，还包括人类关系特别是社会关系的生产和再生产。通过人的活动而实现的人类关系特别是社会关系的再生产，包括简单再生产和扩大再生产两种情况。社会关系的简单再生产，是将原有的社会关系“克隆”式地再生产出来，即完全延续原来的社会关系。社会关系的扩大再生产，则意味着在原有的基础上社会关系明显的扩展即增长，包括量的意义上的扩大再生产和质的意义上的扩大再生产。量的意义上的扩大再生产，是同一性质的社会关系在涉及范围上的扩大。质的意义的扩大再生产，是具有新质的社会关系的产生和发展，从而使社会关系和社会生活面貌发生显著变化。某种意义上说，社会历史就是人类关系特别是社会关系不断生产和再生产的历史。

“The production of life, both of one’s own in labor and of fresh life in procreation, now appears as a twofold relation: on the one hand as a natural, on the other as a social relation – social in the sense that it denotes the co-operation of several individuals, no matter under what conditions, in what manner and to what end.” [12]12 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *The German Ideology* (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 43. Thus, social relations among people do not exist prior to people, but are formed in the productive activities through which people transform nature and in the numerous activities of intercourse carried out on this basis. This indicates that the production of relations and material production emerge at least simultaneously. If material production and its material civilization are very important, then relational production and its relational civilization are also very important. People’s activities of transforming nature cannot be individualistic acts; rather, they are “the co-operation of several individuals” formed through mutual intercourse among individuals. It is precisely this mutual intercourse or interaction among people that gives rise to human relations, including social relations. “What is society, whatever its form may be? The product of men’s reciprocal action.” [13]13 Karl Marx, “Letter to Pavel Vasilyevich Annenkov,” December 28, 1846, in *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 38 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982), p. 96. From the perspective of the production of human relations, what we call relational civilization is the manifestation of the level of production of human relations, especially social relations, and their positive achievements; it is expressed as the progressive state of human relational production and the life of intercourse. Marx, taking historical development as his thread and based on the evolution of modes of production, divided the history of human civilization according to the stage-characteristics of social relations into three stages: relations of personal dependence, relations of material dependence, and the all-round development of the individual – these attest to the progressive history of human civilization.

“生命的生产，无论是通过劳动而生产自己的生命，还是通过生育而生产他人的生命，就立即表现为双重关系：一方面是自然关系，另一方面是社会关系；社会关系的含义在这里是指许多个人的共同活动。”可见，人们之间的社会关系并非先于人而存在，而是形成于人们改造自然的生产活动以及在此基础上所开展的诸多交往活动中。这表明，关系生产和物质生产至少同时出现，如果说物质生产及其物质文明很重要，那么，关系生产及其关系文明也很重要。人们改造自然的活动不可能是个体化的行为，而是通过个体之间的相互交往而形成的“许多个人的共同的活动”。正是这种人与人之间的相互交往或交互作用而形成了人类关系包括社会关系。“社会——不管其形式如何——是什么呢?是人们交互活动的产物。”我们基于人类关系生产的视角来看，所谓关系文明，是人类关系特别是社会关系生产水平及其积极成果的体现，表现为人类的关系生产和交往生活的进步状态。马克思就曾以历史发展为脉络，基于生产方式的演进，根据社会关系的阶段性特征而将人类文明史划分为人的依赖关系、物的依赖关系、人的全面发展三个阶段——它们证成着人类文明的进步史。

For a long time, we have divided human civilization into such categories as material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, ecological civilization, and information civilization. Civilizations in different spheres each reveal the improvement and progress of human relations in their respective spheres. For example, material civilization expresses the improvement and progress of material relations of production; cultural-ethical progress expresses the improvement and progress of relations in the sphere of spiritual culture; political civilization expresses the improvement and progress of relations in the political sphere; social civilization expresses the improvement and progress of relations in the narrow sphere of social life; and ecological civilization expresses the harmony and progress of the various elements of the ecosystem, especially the relationship between humans and nature. If this is the case, then all the above-mentioned civilizations in different spheres study the issue of “relations” – does this conflict with “relational civilization”? In other words, can “relational civilization” be established? The answer is certainly yes: the concept of relational civilization can fully be proposed, and its construction is imperative.

长期以来，我们将人类文明划分为诸如物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明和生态文明以及信息文明等。不同领域的文明都揭示了各自领域人类关系改善和进步的情况。例如，物质文明表达了物质生产关系的改善和进步，精神文明表达了精神文化领域关系的改善与进步，政治文明表达了政治领域关系的改善与进步，社会文明表达了狭义的社会生活领域关系的改善和进步，生态文明表达了生态系统各要素尤其是人与自然关系的和谐与进步。那么，上述不同领域的文明都要研究“关系”问题，这是否和“关系文明”形成了冲突呢?换言之，“关系文明”能成立吗?答案当然是肯定的：关系文明的概念完全可以提出，对它的建设也势在必行。

Although civilizations in different spheres each represent the progressiveness of relations in their respective spheres, this sphere-specific “progress” has the limitation of being confined to its own domain. On the one hand, conflicts often arise between civilizations in different spheres; on the other hand, some “social relations,” such as international relations and interpersonal relations, have not yet been fully incorporated into the construction and development of “sphere-specific civilizations.” More importantly, although we have been vigorously promoting the construction of multiple types of civilization, human civilization as it has developed to the present day is facing a serious impact from “developmental disharmony,” and the problem of developmental disharmony has already dimmed the luster of human civilization. Therefore, we need to adhere to a systems perspective, adopt a generalized research approach and method, and on the basis of grasping the commonality of the “relations” involved in different forms or spheres of civilization, refine and generalize them, thereby rising to the height of a general “relational civilization,” and directly, specially, and systematically explore the phenomenon of the civilization of human relations, including the essence, laws, mechanisms, and trends of relational civilization. It can be seen that the proposal of “relational civilization” has a solid realistic foundation or basis in the practice of civilization. In the past, people carried out the construction of relational civilization in different spheres. Now, in light of the deepening of understanding, the development of practice, and the emergence of new problems, it is urgently necessary to construct a new form of civilization – relational civilization – so as to enrich and perfect the content structure of human civilization while ensuring the survival and development of human civilization. In fact, the concept of civilization itself contains the phenomenon of relations of intercourse or social relations and their development and improvement; the concept of relational civilization is the condensation and generalization of this progressive phenomenon.

尽管不同领域的文明都表征着各自领域关系的进步性，但这种领域性的“进步”具有画地为牢式的局限性。一方面，不同领域的文明之间常常发生冲突；另一方面，一些“社会关系”如国际关系、人际关系等还没有被完全纳入“领域性文明”的建设发展中；更为重要的是，尽管我们一直在大力推进多种文明建设活动，但人类文明发展到今天，正面临着来自“发展不和”的严重影响，发展不和的问题已经使人类文明黯然失色。因而，我们需要坚持系统观念，采取一般化的研究思路和方法，在把握不同形式或领域的文明所涉“关系”之共性的基础上进行提炼概括，从而上升到一个总的“关系文明”的高度，正面、专门、系统探讨人类关系的文明化现象，包括关系文明的本质、规律、机制、趋势等。可见，“关系文明”的提出有着扎实的现实基础或文明实践基础。以往，人们在不同的领域进行着关系文明的建设活动，现在，根据认识的深化、实践的发展、新问题的涌现，就迫切需要建构一种新的文明形态——关系文明，在丰富完善人类文明内容结构的同时以确保人类文明的存续和发展。事实上，文明这一概念本身包含着交往关系或社会关系及其发展改进的现象，关系文明的概念就是对这一进步现象的凝练与概括。

IV. The Position and Role of Relational Civilization in the New Form of Human Civilization

四、 关系文明在人类文明新形态中的地位和作用

Although the concept of “relational civilization” has not been formally and explicitly proposed, for a long time, in the practical process of leading the people in modernization construction, the Party has presented a distinct concept and practice of promoting the construction of relational civilization, and has achieved positive results. After the founding of New China, because the socialist system was established and the broad masses of the people became masters of the country, we strengthened education in collectivism, vigorously promoted the spirit of Lei Feng, [14]14 Lei Feng (1940–1962) was a soldier of the People’s Liberation Army celebrated as a model of selfless dedication and service to the people; the “Lei Feng spirit” was promoted by the CPC as a moral exemplar. advocated the concept of “everyone for me, and I for everyone,” and generally established equal and harmonious interpersonal relations. Entering the new century, our Party proposed the idea of building a harmonious society, which can be said to be a top-level plan with the nature of “relational civilization” construction. In the New Era especially since the New Era, under the domination of the dynamic lever of seeking to resolve the principal contradiction (relation) in society, on the basis of vigorously promoting the construction of material civilization, we have simultaneously promoted the construction of political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, ecological civilization, etc., and, in combination with the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, comprehensively deepened reform, comprehensively built a modern socialist country, actively pursued the all-round social progress and the all-round development of the individual, and achieved positive progress in the adjustment, improvement, and harmonious optimization of relations between people, relations between humans and nature, and relations within the human body and mind.

虽然并未正式和明确提出“关系文明”的概念，但长期以来，党在领导人民进行现代化建设的实践进程中，呈现出鲜明的推进关系文明建设的理念和实践，并取得了积极成果。新中国成立后，由于确立了社会主义制度，广大人民当家作主，我们加强集体主义教育，大力弘扬雷锋精神，倡导“人人为我，我为人人”的理念，总体上建立了平等和谐的人际关系。进入新世纪，我们党提出构建和谐社会的主张，可以说是一次具有“关系文明”建设性质的顶层规划。新时期尤其是新时代以来，我们在设法解决社会主要矛盾(关系)这一动力杠杆的支配下，在大力推进物质文明建设的基础上，同时推进政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明等建设，并结合“五位一体”的总体布局和“四个全面”的战略布局，全面深化改革，全面建设社会主义现代化国家，积极追求社会的全面进步和人的全面发展，使我国在人与人关系、人与自然关系和人的身心关系等的调整改善、和谐优化方面都取得了积极进展。

Socialist China not only vigorously promotes the civilization of social relations domestically, but also actively advocates the civilization of international relations internationally. In 1954, China, together with India and Myanmar, jointly initiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. This was a major pioneering undertaking in the history of international relations and made a historic contribution to promoting the establishment of a just and reasonable new type of international relations. In the mid-1980s, Deng Xiaoping put forward the strategic judgment that peace and development are the themes of the times, which provided a basic era-based basis for us to promote the construction of relational civilization. Since the New Era, against the general background that “peace, development, cooperation, and win-win have become the trend of the times,” our Party has put forward such Chinese concepts and propositions as building a community with a shared future for mankind, the four major global initiatives, [15]15 The “four major global initiatives” refer to the Global Development Initiative (2021), the Global Security Initiative (2022), the Global Civilization Initiative (2023), and the Global Governance Initiative (2023), proposed by Xi Jinping. and calling for the promotion of peaceful development and common development. It can be said that this has formally sounded the era bugle for the construction of international relational civilization on a global scale. On a global scale, Chinese-style development or Chinese-path modernization is also a practical path of actively promoting the construction of relational civilization. It can be said that socialist China is a model for promoting the development of relational civilization. First, China’s development is peaceful development. “China has repeatedly publicly stated that China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, and will also promote all countries to jointly adhere to peaceful development. China will actively assume more international responsibilities and work with all countries in the world to uphold human conscience and international justice.” [16]16 Xi Jinping, “Working Together to Forge a New Future of China-Latin America and the Caribbean Relations,” speech at the China-LAC Forum, July 17, 2014. Second, China’s development is cooperative development. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that China’s development “is cooperative development. We will adhere to the concept of common development, carry out economic and technological cooperation with all countries in the world on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, and promote our own development and the common development of all countries through cooperation.” [17]17 Xi Jinping, “Toward a Community of Shared Finally, China’s development is also common development. “China’s adherence to the concept of common development will not waver. In today’s world, the people of all countries are a community with a shared future where they share weal and woe; markets, capital, resources, information, talent, etc., are all highly globalized. Only when the world develops can all countries develop; only when all countries develop can the world develop.” [18]18 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022, at which Xi Jinping delivered a report outlining It can be seen that China’s development in the New Era not only embodies the implication of the coordination of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, but also embodies our active pursuit of building an international relational civilization. In a certain sense, the concept and practice of relational civilization have already been clearly presented in the process of Chinese-style development.

社会主义中国不仅在国内大力推进社会关系的文明化工作，而且在国际上积极倡导国际关系的文明化。1954年，中国和印度、缅甸共同倡导了互相尊重主权和领土完整、互不侵犯、互不干涉内政、平等互利、和平共处五项原则。这是国际关系史上的重大创举，为推动建立公正合理的新型国际关系做出了历史性贡献。20世纪80年代中期，邓小平提出了和平与发展是时代主题的战略判断，这为我们推进关系文明建设提供了基本的时代依据。新时代以来，在“和平、发展、合作、共赢成为时代潮流”的大背景下，我们党又提出了构建人类命运共同体、四大全球倡议以及呼吁推进和平发展、共同发展等中国理念和主张，可以说在世界范围内正式吹响了建设国际关系文明的时代号角。在世界范围内，中国式发展或中国式现代化同时也是一条积极推进关系文明建设的实践之路，可以说，社会主义中国是推进关系文明发展的典范。首先，中国的发展是和平发展。“中国多次公开声明，中国将坚定不移走和平发展道路，同时也将推动各国共同坚持和平发展。中国将积极承担更多国际责任，同世界各国一道维护人类良知和国际公理。”其次，中国的发展是合作的发展，习近平总书记指出，中国的发展“是合作的发展，我们将坚持共同发展的理念，在平等互利的基础上开展同世界各国的经济技术合作，通过合作促进自身发展和各国共同发展”。最后，中国的发展也是共同的发展。“中国坚持共同发展，理念不会动摇。当今世界，各国人民是一个休戚与共的命运共同体，市场、资金、资源、信息、人才等等都是高度全球化的。只有世界发展，各国才能发展；只有各国发展，世界才能发展。”可见，新时代的中国发展既体现着物质文明与精神文明相协调的意蕴，更体现着我们对建设国际关系文明的积极追求。在某种意义上说，关系文明的理念和实践已然清晰地呈现于中国式发展进程中。

After completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we have seized the momentum to embark on a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC [18]18 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022, at which Xi Jinping delivered a report outlining listed "creating a new form of human civilization" as one of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization. We should take advantage of the "favorable wind" of creating a new form of human civilization to explicitly put forward the proposition of creating "relational civilization." In a certain sense, the proposal of a new form of human civilization is a confirmation of relational civilization, and our creation of a new form of human civilization naturally encompasses the creation of relational civilization. Or, we need to further grasp the meaning of relational civilization within the context of the new form of human civilization. First, in terms of content and structure, what makes the new form of human civilization new is that human civilization continuously expands and incorporates new dimensions in its connotative structure through interaction with human practice; that is, it must reflect and signify the creation and improvement of human relations, and solidify and express the progress or positive achievements in the domain of human relations in the form of "civilization." This also indicates that one important reason why human civilization has acquired a "new form" in the practical creation of Chinese-path modernization in the New Era is that we have injected the factor or form of relational civilization into human civilization. This is a generalization and absorption of the concepts and practices of the Chinese Communists in advancing relational civilization. Human civilization that has "incorporated" relational civilization thereby proves its own attribute of being a "new form." In other words, the new form of human civilization cannot be separated from relational civilization; a new form of human civilization lacking relational civilization would be incomplete and have major deficiencies. Second, in terms of practical efficacy, human civilization is not only indicative but also overcoming; that is, it develops forward by overcoming the various costs and problems that hinder and damage the progress of human civilization. Because the progress of civilization and its costs, development and problems, are dialectically unified. This unity also indicates that the reason the new form of human civilization possesses new qualities also lies in its adherence to a problem-oriented practical approach. Only by formally proposing the concept of relational civilization and consciously and purposefully carrying out the construction of relational civilization in practice can we truly overcome the problem of "developmental disharmony" encountered by human civilization against the backdrop of the current changes unseen in a century, thereby achieving the healthy and sustained development of human civilization. In short, the new form of human civilization that has "incorporated" relational civilization, on the basis of vigorously overcoming practical problems, has advanced the development of human civilization to a new historical stage.

在全面建成小康社会之后，我们又乘势开启了全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程，党的二十大报告将“创造人类文明新形态”列为中国式现代化的本质要求之一。我们应当借助创造人类文明新形态的“东风”明确提出创建“关系文明”的主张。在某种意义上说，人类文明新形态的提出是对关系文明的一种确认，而我们创造人类文明新形态当然涵盖了对关系文明的创建，或者说，我们需要在人类文明新形态的语境下进一步把握关系文明的意涵。其一，在内容结构上，人类文明新形态之所以新，关键在于人类文明是在和人类实践的互动中不断进行着内涵结构方面的拓展与纳新，即它要反映并标识人类关系的创建和改善情况，要将人类关系域的进步或积极成果以“文明”的形式固化并表现出来。这同时表明，人类文明在新时代中国式现代化的实践创造中，之所以获得了“新形态”,一个重要表现，就是我们在人类文明中注入关系文明的因素或形式，是对中国共产党人推进关系文明的理念和实践的概括与吸纳，而“纳新”了关系文明的人类文明，证成着自身的“新形态”属性。换言之，人类文明新形态离不开关系文明，离开了关系文明的人类文明新形态将是不完整的、有重大缺漏的。其二，在现实功效上，人类文明不仅具有标识性，更具有克服性，即它是在对阻碍和损害人类文明进步的种种代价、问题的克服中向前发展的。因为文明的进步和代价、发展和问题是辩证统一的。这种统一也表明了人类文明新形态之所以具有新质性，还在于它坚持的是一条问题导向的实践进路，只有正式提出关系文明的概念，并在实践中有意识、有针对性地进行关系文明建设，才能在当前百年未有之大变局的时代背景下真正克服人类文明所遭遇的“发展不和”的问题，从而实现人类文明的健康持续发展。总之，“纳新”了关系文明的人类文明新形态，在大力克服现实问题的基础上将人类文明的发展推进到了新的历史阶段。

The new form of human civilization embodies the relationship between "the one" and "the many." What is called "the one" expresses the meaning of "unity" and "integrality." "Unity" means that the new form of human civilization possesses advanced and leading qualities in the development of contemporary human civilization, representing the direction of human civilization's development. "Integrality" means that the various elements constituting the new form of human civilization form an indivisible whole. Within the new form of human civilization, apart from relational civilization, the other five major civilizations [19]19 This passage is a quotation from General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech at a forum on cultural heritage, summarizing key elements of traditional Chinese thought. possess a high degree of unity among themselves, while relational civilization and the other five major civilizations also share a unified relationship of mutual dependence and interaction. Mutual dependence expresses the close relationship between relational civilization and the five forms of civilization, where each contains the other. Relational civilization cannot be separated from the five civilizations; within relational civilization are contained the factors and "shadows" of the five civilizations, and the five civilizations provide supporting roles for the generation and development of relational civilization. The five civilizations also cannot be separated from relational civilization; within the five civilizations are contained the content or factors of relational civilization. In practice, only when relational civilization is well-constructed can it provide basic guarantees for the construction and development of the five civilizations. The unity of relational civilization and the other five civilizations, and the integrality resulting from it, constitute the new form of human civilization with new qualitative characteristics.

人类文明新形态体现着“一”和“多”的关系。所谓“一”表达的是“一元性”和“一体性”之意。“一元性”是指人类文明新形态在当今人类文明的发展中具有先进性和引领性，代表着人类文明发展的方向。“一体性”是指构成人类文明新形态的各要素之间形成了一个不可分割的整体。在人类文明新形态中，除了关系文明，其他五大文明之间具有高度的统一性，而关系文明和其他五大文明之间同样具有相互依存和相互作用的统一性关系。相互依存表达的是关系文明和其他五种文明形式之间是一种你中有我、我中有你的密切关系。关系文明离不开五种文明，在关系文明中包含着五种文明的因素和“影子”,而五种文明为关系文明的生成和发展提供着支撑作用；五种文明也离不开关系文明，在五种文明中包含着关系文明的内容或因素，在实践中只有将关系文明建设好了，才会为五种文明的建设发展提供基本的保障作用，关系文明和其他五种文明的统一及其导致的一体性构成了具有新质态的人类文明新形态。

What is called "the many" expresses diversity and difference. Diversity means that the new form of human civilization is composed of a variety of sub-civilizations; it is a unity of "5+1." Difference means that there are clear boundaries, different functions, or different objects of civilization between different sub-civilizations, especially between relational civilization and the other five civilizations. Although there is some overlap between them, overall, relational civilization and the other five civilizations cannot replace each other. The other five civilizations, in general, are a type of entity-based, domain-specific, or elemental form of civilization, corresponding to the sphere of material production, the sphere of political activity, the sphere of spiritual production, the sphere of social life, and the sphere of ecological production. Although the construction activities of these domain-specific civilizations also have the function of civilizing and adjusting the human relations involved in different domains, relational civilization is the positive achievement obtained from the overall civilizing transformation of general human relations. It focuses not only on relations within different domains but also, more importantly, on relations between different domains, and it also carries out civilizing adjustments and transformations of human relations that are not covered by the five civilizations. Relational civilization is relatively not an entity-based civilization but a relational-state civilization, reflecting human interaction activities, including the interaction between humans and nature, and the positive achievements obtained from them.

所谓“多”,表达的是多样性和差异性。多样性是指人类文明新形态是由多种多样的子文明构成的，它是“5+1”的统一体；差异性是指不同的子文明之间尤其是关系文明和其他五种文明之间具有清晰的界限、不同的功能或不同的文明化对象，彼此虽然具有一定的重叠性，但总体上关系文明和其他五种文明之间无法相互替代。其他五种文明，在总体上是一类实体型、领域性或要素性的文明形式，对应的是物质生产领域、政治活动领域、精神生产领域、社会生活领域和生态生产领域。这些领域性的文明建设活动，虽然也有对不同领域所涉及的人类关系进行文明化改造和调整的功能，但关系文明是从总体上对一般性的人类关系进行文明化改造而取得的积极成果，它既着眼于不同领域内部的关系，更着眼于不同领域之间的关系，还对五种文明所涉及不到的人类关系进行着文明化的调整和改造。关系文明相对而言不是实体型而是关系态的文明，反映的是人的交往活动包括人与自然的交往活动及其取得的积极成果。

Some might say that the narrow sense of social civilization already contains social relational civilization. But to confine relational civilization merely within "social civilization" would truly "underestimate" or "wrong" relational civilization. Relational civilization should not be limited to social civilization; its meaning, status, and role far exceed the scope of social civilization in the narrow sense. It should be separated out and become a new form of civilization parallel to the other five civilizations. This requires us, based on the needs of the development of human civilization, to study relational civilization positively and systematically, and to grasp issues such as the connotation, manifestations, characteristics, significance, and measures for constructing relational civilization.

有人可能会说，在狭义的社会文明中就包含着社会关系文明，但如果把关系文明仅仅局限于“社会文明”之中，实在是“小看”或“委屈”了关系文明。关系文明不应该局限于社会文明之中，它的意涵及其地位、作用远远超出了狭义的社会文明的范畴，它应该被独立出来，成为和其他五种文明相并列的新的文明形式。这就要求我们要根据人类文明发展的需要，正面系统地研究关系文明，把握关系文明的内涵、表现、特征、意义以及建设的举措等问题。

V. How to Construct Relational Civilization

五、 如何构建关系文明

The category of "relational civilization" has both worldview significance and methodological significance. The worldview significance of relational civilization lies in its revelation of the ontology of relations. In other words, why do we propose, study, and construct relational civilization? Because the existence of things exists in a unified form of entities or substances and relations. The world we inhabit is a material world, and matter manifests as substantive matter and relational-state matter. Matter, as well as the connections of matter and the movement of matter caused by connections, all possess ontological significance. Marx and Engels pointed out: "Among the inherent characteristics of matter, the first and most important characteristic is motion." [20]20 This refers to a shift in 20th-century Western philosophy, particularly in phenomenology and critical theory, toward intersubjectivity and communicative action (e.g., Jürgen Habermas). So, how is motion generated? It is generated in the mutual connections of things, that is, in their mutual interaction. "These objects are in a certain kind of connection, which implies that they are interacting, and their interaction is motion." [21]21 The "four major global initiatives" refer to the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, and Global Governance Initiative, proposed by China in the 2020s. Thus, we "can only know objects by observing them in their mutual relations, in their motion." [22]22 This phrase, "各美其美、美美与共," is a classical Chinese idiom often used by sociologist Fei Xiaotong to advocate mutual respect among cultures. It can be seen that the ontological status of the existence of relations provides fundamental practical support for us to focus on and study human relations from the perspective of civilization. To understand the world, we must proceed from both material ontology and relational ontology. To understand the world, we must grasp not only the ontology of matter but also the ontology of relations or connections. Our timely proposal and vigorous promotion of the construction of relational civilization actually has sufficient theoretical basis, and it also endows the construction of relational civilization with an overarching and comprehensive significance.

“关系文明”的范畴既具有世界观意义，还具有方法论意义。关系文明的世界观意义在于其对关系本体的揭示。换言之，我们为什么要提出并研究、建设关系文明?因为事物的存在，是以实体或实物与关系的形式统一存在的，我们所身处的是一个物质世界，而物质表现为实体性物质和关系态物质。物质以及物质的联系、由联系所导致的物质的运动都具有本体论的意义。马克思、恩格斯指出：“在物质固有的特性中，第一个特性而且是最重要的特性是运动。”那么，运动是如何生成的呢?是在事物的相互联系即相互作用中生成的。“这些物体处于某种联系之中，这就包含了这样的意思：它们是相互作用着的，而它们的相互作用就是运动。”这样，我们就“只有在物体的相互关系之中，在物体的运动之中观察物体，才能认识物体”。可见，关系存在的本体性地位，为我们从文明视角关注和研究人类关系提供了根本的现实支撑。我们认识世界必须从物质本体论和关系本体论出发，我们认识世界既要把握物质的本体性，还要把握关系或联系的本体性。我们适时提出并大力推进关系文明建设，实际上具有充分的学理依据，同时也使得关系文明建设具有了高屋建瓴的总括性意义。

People always produce and live within a series of concrete human relations, especially social relations; social relations are the social form of human practice. Human relations, particularly social relations, are so important to human survival and development that all sciences, including the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, are sciences that study the relations within and between things. Every science is a revelation and reflection of the essence and laws of things in a certain field or aspect, and essence and laws, or the mechanisms of things, as well as the logic or mechanisms of human cognition and practice, or the ubiquitous social norms, all originate from or are generated by the relations of things or social relations, or are revelations and expressions of social relations. This indicates that the study of the relations of things can be said to constitute the main object of study for all sciences. In other words, different sciences study different relations: for example, economics studies economic relations, political science studies political relations, sociology studies the relations of social life, cultural studies studies cultural relations, military science studies military relations, and so on. Thus, the formation and progress of human civilization have not only a philosophical basis and a practical foundation but also the theoretical material foundation provided by all sciences; the diversity and richness of human sciences create and confirm the richness of human civilization.

人们始终是在一系列具体的人类关系特别是社会关系中生产和生活的，社会关系是人的社会实践的社会形式。人类关系特别是社会关系在人的生存和发展中如此重要，以至于一切科学包括人文社会科学和自然科学，都是研究事物内部及事物之间关系的科学。某一门科学都是对某一领域或某一方面事物之本质和规律的揭示与反映，而本质和规律或事物的机理以及人们认识和实践的逻辑或机制、无处不在的社会规范等等，其实都是源于事物关系或社会关系而生成的，或是对于社会关系的揭示与表达。这表明，研究事物的关系，可以说构成了一切科学的主要研究对象。换言之，不同的科学要研究不同的关系，例如，经济学要研究经济关系，政治学要研究政治关系，社会学要研究社会生活的关系，文化学要研究文化关系，军事学要研究军事关系，等等。可见，人类文明的形成和进步，既有哲学依据、实践基础，还有一切科学所提供的理论素材基础，人类科学的多样性、丰富性造就和证成着人类文明的丰富性。

Throughout the evolution of thought in China and abroad, ancient and modern, there has always been a longing and aspiration for the civilization of human relations, as well as the "intellectual explorations" of ancient sages from different perspectives attempting to adjust and optimize tense social relations. It is within these "intellectual explorations" that the seeds of the idea of relational civilization are contained. For example, in the descriptions and aspirations of all ideal societies or beautiful worlds by the ancients, there is always content concerning beautiful and harmonious human relations. If the relations between humans and heaven, especially between people, were not harmonious, it could by no means be called an "ideal society." The excellent traditional Chinese culture "contains important inspirations for solving the difficult problems facing contemporary humanity." The excellent traditional Chinese culture mainly includes: "the social ideal of a world for all and great harmony, the governance thought of the people as the foundation of the state and ruling by virtue, the tradition of great unity under one heaven with multiple elements integrated into one, the family-country sentiment of cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world, with a sense of responsibility for rise and fall, the spiritual pursuit of being generous in virtue and carrying forward the Way, the economic ethics of enriching the people and benefiting life while balancing righteousness and profit, the ecological concept of the unity of heaven and humanity and the coexistence of all things, the philosophical thought of seeking truth from facts and the unity of knowledge and action, the thinking method of grasping the two extremes and using the mean, maintaining the mean to achieve harmony, and the way of interaction based on trust, harmony, and good neighborliness." [19]19 This passage is a quotation from General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech at a forum on cultural heritage, summarizing key elements of traditional Chinese thought. Thus, in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, there are rich conceptual consciousnesses that pursue and improve human relations. With the deepening and expansion of human interaction and the acceleration of globalization, some scholars have pointed out that from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century, philosophical concepts underwent two major shifts. The turn in the 19th century can be called the "practical philosophy" turn, while at the end of the 20th century, "the human view of practice underwent another major transformation, shifting from the traditional single-subject model to a multi-subject intersubjective communicative practice view." [20]20 This refers to a shift in 20th-century Western philosophy, particularly in phenomenology and critical theory, toward intersubjectivity and communicative action (e.g., Jürgen Habermas). The shift in the philosophical concept of communicative practice actually reflects, at the philosophical level, humanity's high regard for communicative activities in cognition and practice; it is a manifestation of the shift in the focus of human practice to the field of social interaction. Communicative practice provides philosophical justification for the proposal of relational civilization. The theories of social interaction and intersubjectivity, which mainly took shape in the 20th century, also contain a wealth of ideas and wisdom from Western scholars attempting to solve complex and tense interpersonal relations. Marx's theory of social interaction and the thought and practice of relational civilization of the Chinese Communists provide the most direct and important theoretical and practical support for our proposal and construction of relational civilization.

在古今中外的思想流变中，始终包含着对人类关系文明化的向往和憧憬，也包含着古代先贤们从不同角度试图调整、优化紧张的社会关系的“思想探索”。正是在这些“思想探索”中包含着关系文明的思想萌芽。例如，在古人关于一切理想社会或美好世界的描述及向往中，都包含着美好和谐的人类关系方面的内容。如果在人天之间特别是人人之间关系不和谐，那断然不能称之为“理想社会”。中华优秀传统文化中就“蕴藏着解决当代人类面临的难题的重要启示”。中华优秀传统文化主要包括：“天下为公、天下大同的社会理想，民为邦本、为政以德的治理思想，九州共贯、多元一体的大一统传统，修齐治平、兴亡有责的家国情怀，厚德载物、明德弘道的精神追求，富民厚生、义利兼顾的经济伦理，天人合一、万物并育的生态理念，实事求是、知行合一的哲学思想，执两用中、守中致和的思维方法，讲信修睦、亲仁善邻的交往之道等。”可见，在中华优秀传统文化中，具有丰富的追求和改善人类关系的观念意识。随着人类交往的加深和拓展，以及随着全球化进程的加速，有学者指出，从19世纪末到20世纪末，哲学观念发生了两次重大转换，19世纪的转折可称之为“实践哲学”的转向运动，而在20世纪末“人类实践观亦再次发生重大变革，从传统单一主体论模式向多极主体间交往实践观转换”。交往实践哲学观念的转向，实际上从哲学层面反映了人类在认识和实践中对交往活动的高度重视，是人类将实践对象重点转移到了社会交往领域的表现，交往实践为关系文明的提出提供了哲学方面的证成。主要形成于20世纪的社会交往理论和主体间性理论也包含着大量的西方学者试图解决复杂紧张的人际关系的主张和智慧。马克思的社会交往理论和中国共产党人的关系文明思想及其实践，为我们提出并建设关系文明提供了最为直接和重要的理论与实践支持。

Proposing and constructing relational civilization is of great significance. In terms of the theoretical significance of constructing relational civilization: First, it greatly enriches and expands Marxist civilization theory and its perspective, advancing the Marxist view of civilization to a new height in keeping with the times. Under the premise of continuous enrichment and development, it enables Marxist civilization theory to continuously respond to new changes and emerging problems in the development of human civilization, allowing the Marxist view of civilization to guide the construction and development of human civilization and the creation of new forms of human civilization with a more robust form and stronger force. Second, it enriches and perfects the systemic structure of human civilization, causing a major shift in the "paradigm" of human civilization and its development, namely, a transformation from domain-type or element-type civilization to interaction-type or relation-state civilization. This results in a basic pattern of "five plus one" in the content structure of human civilization. Such a new qualitative structure of civilization, or pattern of human civilization, reveals the holistic trend of human civilization development and comprehensively and accurately reflects the real state of contemporary human civilization development.

提出并建设关系文明具有十分重要的意义。就关系文明建设的理论意义来看，其一，它极大地丰富和拓展了马克思主义的文明理论和文明视阈，将马克思主义的文明观与时俱进地推进到了一个新的高度，使马克思主义文明理论在不断丰富发展的前提下持续回应着人类文明发展的新变化、出现的新问题，使马克思主义文明观能以更健全的面貌和更强劲的力度来指导人类文明的建设发展以及人类文明新形态的创造。其二，它丰富和完善了人类文明的体系结构，使得人类文明及其发展在“范式”上发生了重大转换，即由领域型或要素型文明向交往型或关系态文明转变，从而使人类文明在内容结构上出现了五加一的基本格局。这样一种新质态的文明结构或人类文明格局，揭示了人类文明发展的整体性趋势，全面准确地反映了当今人类文明发展的真实状况。

In terms of the international significance of constructing relational civilization, building relational civilization is of great importance for implementing the four major global initiatives. [21]21 The "four major global initiatives" refer to the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, and Global Governance Initiative, proposed by China in the 2020s. In other words, to implement the four major global initiatives, it is necessary to simultaneously advance the construction of relational civilization. The Global Development Initiative is based on the commonality and long-term nature of the development of all countries in the world, aiming to achieve sustainable development through common development; the key to the Global Civilization Initiative lies in humanity jointly operating a "garden of civilizations" where "each is beautiful in its own way, and beauty is shared," [22]22 This phrase, "各美其美、美美与共," is a classical Chinese idiom often used by sociologist Fei Xiaotong to advocate mutual respect among cultures. and on this basis, insisting on promoting the common development of global civilizations through exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations; the key to the Global Security Initiative lies in adhering to a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, and forging a new path to security based on dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliance, and win-win rather than zero-sum. The core concept of the Global Governance Initiative is to uphold sovereign equality, abide by international rule of law, practice multilateralism, advocate people-centeredness, and focus on action orientation; the Global Governance Initiative is becoming a new norm of international relations. "To break through the fog and move toward the light, the most powerful force is unity and cooperation, and the most effective method is to work together in harmony." [23]23 This is a quotation from a speech by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the Boao Forum for Asia in 2022. The commonality of the four major global initiatives is essentially to improve human relations from different aspects or perspectives to promote the construction and development of relational civilization. Conversely, constructing relational civilization is an inevitable requirement and the only way to implement the four major global initiatives. The relationship between relational civilization and the four major global initiatives is one of mutual reinforcement. Furthermore, to build a new type of international relations based on cooperation and win-win, to build a harmonious and symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, to build equal and mutually beneficial interpersonal relations, and to build balanced and pleasant relations within the human body and mind, it is even more necessary to carry out the construction of relational civilization. The above-mentioned major relations, as well as a community with a shared future for mankind, a community of life for humans and nature, and a community of harmony between the human body and mind, are both concrete results of the construction of relational civilization and the foundational "stepping stones" that drive us to build relational civilization. They signify the effectiveness of the construction of relational civilization, and the construction of relational civilization will, in turn, play a positive role in promoting the construction of the above-mentioned "communities."

就关系文明建设的国际意义来看，建设关系文明对于贯彻落实全球四大倡议具有十分重要的意义，或者说，要落实全球四大倡议，必须同时推进关系文明建设。全球发展倡议基于世界各国发展的共同性和长远性，以通过共同发展而实现可持续发展；全球文明倡议的关键在于人类共同经营“各美其美、美美与共”的人类文明“百花园”,并在此基础上坚持通过不同文明的交流互鉴以促进全球文明的共同发展；全球安全倡议的关键在于坚持共同、综合、合作、可持续的安全观，走出一条对话而非对抗、结伴而非结盟、共赢而非零和的新型安全之路。全球治理倡议的核心理念是奉行主权平等、遵守国际法治、践行多边主义、倡导以人为本、注重行动导向，全球治理倡议正在成为一种新的国际关系规范。“冲出迷雾走向光明，最强大的力量是同心合力，最有效的方法是和衷共济。”全球四大倡议的共同之处实质上是从不同方面或角度改善人类关系以促进关系文明的建设发展，反过来，建设关系文明，是贯彻落实全球四大倡议的必然要求、必由之路。关系文明和全球四大倡议之间是互为表里的关系。另外，要建设合作共赢的新型国际关系、建设和谐共生的人天关系、建设平等互利的人人关系、建设平衡愉悦的人的身心关系，更要开展关系文明建设。上述几大关系以及人类命运共同体、人与自然生命共同体、人的身心和谐共同体，既是关系文明建设的具象化的结果，也是推动我们建设关系文明的基础性的“踏脚石”。它们表征着关系文明建设的成效，关系文明的建设反过来也会对上述几大“共同体”的构建起到积极的推动作用。

Constructing relational civilization requires starting from both the conceptual and practical levels. At the conceptual level, a shift from egocentrism to symbiosis must be achieved; that is, to advance the construction of relational civilization, the concept of symbiosis must be established. At the practical level, a shift from mutually harmful development to mutually beneficial development must be achieved; that is, to advance the construction of relational civilization, the path of mutually beneficial development must be taken.

建设关系文明，需要从理念和实践两个层面入手。理念层面要实现由自我中心主义向共生主义的转变，即要推进关系文明建设，必须确立共生主义理念；实践层面要实现由互害型发展向互利型发展的转变，即要推进关系文明建设，必须走互利型发展之路。

(I) In terms of value concepts, a shift from egocentrism to symbiosis must be achieved.

(一)在价值理念方面，要实现由自我中心主义向共生主义的转变

At present, the fundamental value-concept cause of tension and conflict in human relations is the development concept of self-centrism that people have long adhered to. Self-centrism is a worldview and methodology that views the world and handles the relationship between the self and the world based on the supremacy of self-existence. Self-centrism mainly includes multiple forms such as individual self-centrism, national or ethnic self-centrism, and anthropocentric self-centrism. Since the current “human society” is mainly manifested as an “international society”—a “human society” primarily composed and supported by state subjects and their activities—the forms that play a negative role in reality are mainly national self-centrism and individual self-centrism. Governed by the thinking mode of the dichotomy between subject and object, self-centrism “vandalizes” the two-way mutually beneficial subject-object relationship into a one-way, unilateral relationship of seeking profit. It pursues a self-centered worldview, an arrogant view of the subject, a solipsistic view of practice, a selfish view of interests, and adopts in methodology the behavioral principle of “I take my own path, leaving others no path to take,” thereby transforming the relationship between humans and the external world from a reasonable “for-self” relationship into an extreme “only-self” relationship. In summary, self-centrism in essence pursues the principle of maximizing self-interest. This maximization manifests spatially as self-occupation and domination of the “other-self,” and temporally as monopolizing or overdrawing the present at the expense of the future, thus creating phenomena of spatial “islandization” and temporal “generational severance.” As the “culprit of value concepts” causing severe tension and opposition in human relations, under the historical context of implementing the four major global initiatives [24]24 The four major global initiatives refer to the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, proposed by the CPC and the Chinese government in the New Era. and building a community with a shared future for mankind and a community of life for man and nature, it must give way to a new form of value concept that can guide human civilization out of its predicament and provide support for constructing relational civilization. This is the value concept of co-existentialism.

当前，造成人类关系紧张、冲突的根本的价值理念原因，就是长期以来人们所坚持的自我中心主义的发展理念。自我中心主义是一种基于自我存在的至上性而看待世界并处理自我与世界关系的世界观与方法论。自我中心主义主要包括个人自我中心主义、国家或民族自我中心主义、人类自我中心主义等多种形式。由于当前的“人类社会”主要表现为一种“国际社会”——主要是以国家主体及其活动为构件、为支撑的“人类社会”,因而在现实中发挥着负面作用的主要是国家自我中心主义和个人自我中心主义。自我中心主义受主客二分的思维方式所支配，将双向互利的主客体关系，“恶搞”成了单向单边的求利关系，它奉行本我化的世界观、自大化的主体观、唯我化的实践观、自私化的利益观以及在方法论上采取“走我的路，让别人无路可走”的行为准则，从而将人与外部世界的关系由合理的“为我”关系变成了极端的“唯我”关系。概而言之，自我中心主义在本质上奉行的是自我利益最大化原则，这种最大化在空间上表现为以自我霸占和支配“他我”,在时间上表现为以当前垄断或透支未来，从而造成了空间上的“孤岛化”和时间上的“断代化”现象。作为导致人类关系发生严重紧张对立的“价值理念祸首”,在贯彻落实全球四大倡议和构建人类命运共同体、人与自然生命共同体的时代背景下，必须让位于一种能支配人类文明走出困境并为建设关系文明提供支持的新的价值理念形态，这便是共生主义的价值理念。

Co-existence is the universal state and basic mode of existence and development of all things in the universe. From celestial bodies above to nations, societies, and so forth below, all are “co-existential entities” at different levels. The state of “co-existential entities” in human society indicates that there are co-existential relationships between man and nature, between people, and within the human body and mind. Since universal laws of co-existence exist in nature and human society, the conceptual awareness of co-existentialism naturally forms. So-called co-existentialism is a conceptual reflection of universally existing co-existential relationships. Co-existentialism is mainly composed of sub-concepts such as the consciousness of co-existence, the consciousness of co-republic, the consciousness of co-benefit, and the consciousness of co-prosperity. Co-existentialism adheres to the thinking principle of the unity of subject and object, pursues and constructs a two-way mutually beneficial subject-object relationship, thus presenting a systematized worldview, an equalized view of the subject, a co-evolutionary view of practice, a co-beneficial view of interests, and adopts in methodology the principle of “I take my own path, and also let others have a path to take.” The qualities of co-existentialism endow it with powerful worldview and methodological functions for resolving and alleviating tense human relations, thereby becoming the fundamental value-concept foundation for constructing relational civilization.

共生是宇宙万物存在和发展的普遍状态与基本方式。上自宇宙天体，下至国家、社会等均是不同层次的“共生体”。人类社会的“共生体”状态表明，在人与自然、人与人以及人的身心之间存在着共生性关系。既然在自然界和人类社会中存在着普遍的共生法则，自然便形成了共生主义的观念意识。所谓共生主义，就是对普遍存在的共生关系的一种观念反映。共生主义主要由共存意识、共和意识、共利意识和共荣意识等子内容构成。共生主义坚持主客统一的思维原则，追求并建构双向互利的主客体关系，从而呈现出了世界观上的系统化、主体观上的平等化、实践观上的共进化、利益观上的共利化以及在方法论上所采取的“走我的路，也让别人有路可走”的原则。共生主义的品质使其拥有了化解和缓和人类紧张关系的强大世界观与方法论功能，进而成为构建关系文明的基本的价值理念基础。

(II) In terms of the practical path, a transformation must be achieved from mutually harmful development to mutually beneficial development.

(二)在实践道路方面，要实现从互害型发展向互利型发展的转变

At the practical level, the cause of the development model leading to current tense human relations is the still quite prevalent mode of mutually harmful development. So-called mutually harmful development refers to development in which different interest subjects, and between interest subjects and interest objects (natural ecology), inflict mutual harm during specific stages of development. In a certain sense, real people are all “interest persons.” The fundamental problem facing human development is the problem of interests, and social relations are in essence interest relations or relations of benefit and harm. Accordingly, the “disharmony” in social development is actually “disharmony” in interests.

在实践层面，导致当前人类紧张关系的发展模式缘由，就是迄今相当盛行的互害型的发展方式。所谓互害型发展，是指不同的利益主体之间、利益主体和利益对象(自然生态)之间在特定的发展阶段所产生的相互伤害的发展。在某种意义上说，现实的人都是“利益人”,人类发展所面临的根本问题就是利益问题，社会关系在本质上就是一种利益关系或利害关系。据此可知，社会发展之“不和”其实就是利益上的“不和”。

The process of human civilization has, in most periods, contained mechanisms of mutual harm. Marx pointed out the law of the development of human civilization in a penetrating manner: “When civilization first began, production was founded on the antagonism of ranks, estates, and classes, and finally on the antagonism between accumulated labor and direct labor. Without antagonism there is no progress. This is the law that civilization has followed up to the present day.” [25]25 Karl Marx, “The Poverty of Philosophy,” *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 4, p. 104 (Chinese edition). The series of wars that have occurred among “people” up to the present are basically typical manifestations of zero-sum games. Wright pointed out, “On the ladder of cultural evolution, whether the combatants are villages, city-states, or any group, war is hardly a manifestation of non-zero-sum interaction.” In his view, “Once war is launched, it is filled with zero-sum interactions. When enemy soldiers fight fiercely, each other’s fate becomes a matter of ‘you die or I die’.” [26]26 Robert Wright, *Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny* (Chinese translation), p. 93. In the 21st century, humanity is still playing the “zero-sum game” of war. Some countries or groups assert and realize their interests through war and inflict mutual harm. “Capitalism is inherently violent,” “it is fully armed to deal with domestic and foreign opponents. Its tendency toward force is also increasing.” [27]27 Immanuel Wallerstein, *Historical Capitalism* (Chinese translation), p. 38. Since World War II, especially since the 1960s and 1970s, humanity’s mutually harmful behavior has extended into the field of the man-nature relationship, leading humanity to face new problems of mutual harm in addition to the zero-sum games within society. Moreover, these problems of mutual harm from the man-nature relationship are becoming increasingly severe. British scholar Callum Roberts, in his book *The Unnatural History of the Sea: The Ocean as a Self-Destroying Civilization*, exposes the reality that under humanity’s unrestrained overfishing, marine fishery resources have sharply decreased to the point of near depletion. “These disastrous fishery collapses show that the relationship between humans and fish has changed. Clearly, humans now have the ability to push fish populations to the brink of collapse, even fisheries that have maintained high productivity. In 1883, Huxley asserted that the great ocean fisheries were inexhaustible; however, this view has long been proven wrong.” [28]28 Callum Roberts, *The Unnatural History of the Sea: The Ocean as a Self-Destroying Civilization* (Chinese translation), p. 3.

人类文明进程在大多数时期都存在着互害型机制。马克思就一针见血地指出了人类文明发展的规律：“当文明一开始的时候，生产就开始建立在级别、等级和阶级的对抗上，最后建立在积累的劳动和直接的劳动的对抗上。没有对抗就没有进步。这是文明直到今天所遵循的规律。”迄今为止在“人际”间所发生的一系列战争，基本上都是典型的零和博弈的具体表现。赖特就指出，“在文化演化的阶梯上，不论交战者是村落、城市国家或任何团体，战争都很难是非零和互动的体现”。在他看来，“战争一旦发动，其中就充满了零和的互动，敌对的士兵激战时，彼此的命运就成为不是你死，就是我亡”。在21世纪的今天，人类依然演绎着战争的“零和游戏”,一些国家或集团就是通过战争来主张和实现着自己的利益并进行着相互伤害。“资本主义在本质上具有暴力性”,“它全副武装以对付来自国内和国外的对手。它的武力倾向也在增强”。第二次世界大战以来特别是自20世纪六七十年代以来，人类的互害性行为已经延伸到了人与自然关系领域，导致了人类在面临社会内部的互害性博弈之外又面临着新的互害性问题，而且这种来自人与自然关系领域的互害性问题日益严重。英国学者卡鲁姆·罗伯茨在其所著的《假如海洋空荡荡：一部自我毁灭的人类文明史》一书中，就揭露了在人类无节制的过度捕捞下，海洋渔业资源急剧减少以至于濒临枯竭的现实。“这些灾难性的渔业崩溃，表明人类与鱼的关系已经发生了改变。很显然，人类现在已经有了足以将鱼类族群推至崩溃境地的能力，哪怕是一直维持高生产力的渔业也不例外。赫胥黎在1883年时就曾断言：伟大的海洋渔业是取之不尽、用之不竭的，然而，这一观点早已被证明是错误的。”

When we “look through the telescope of the laws of history to carefully observe” the general trend of social development, we find that “in this world, the degree of interconnection and interdependence among countries is unprecedented. Humanity lives in the same global village, in the same time and space where history and reality intersect, increasingly becoming a community of shared future where you have me and I have you.” [29]29 Xi Jinping, “Working Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind,” speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017. Therefore, “the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak is not the way for human coexistence. Waging wars of aggression, power politics, and hegemony is not the way for human peace. Winner-takes-all and zero-sum games are not the path for human development.” [30]30 Xi Jinping, “Working Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind,” speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017. In other words, mutually harmful development, which focuses only on the driving mechanism while neglecting the balancing and coordinating mechanism, has reached its end under the background of the “high costs” it has incurred. How will we create a harmonious tomorrow and a secure future for humanity? This is the path of mutually beneficial development.

当我们“端起历史规律的望远镜去细心观望”社会发展大势时就会发现，“这个世界，各国相互联系、相互依存的程度空前加深，人类生活在同一个地球村里，生活在历史和现实交汇的同一个时空里，越来越成为你中有我、我中有你的命运共同体”。因而“弱肉强食、丛林法则不是人类共存之道。穷兵黩武、强权独霸不是人类和平之策。赢者通吃、零和博弈不是人类发展之路”。换言之，只注重动力机制而忽视了平衡协调机制的互害型发展，在其所造成的“高代价”的背景下已走到了尽头。我们将如何创造人类和谐的明天、安全的未来?这就是互利型发展之路。

“The world is not the preserve of a single interest, but the preserve of many interests.” Only the scientific principle of mutual benefit is the unerring choice for us to understand and handle the intricate web of interest relations. The Marxist view of interests is in essence a view of mutual benefit. This scientific view of mutual benefit is highly compatible with the civilization of human relations, because the occurrence of a relation requires not only at least two objects (relata) that enter into relation, but also that the occurrence of a relation is in principle always bidirectional. “All natural processes have two aspects; they are based on the relation between at least two acting parts, on action and reaction.” In the social sphere, human relations also possess this bidirectional interactivity. The essence of this bidirectional interactivity is interaction under the domination of interests, and its general principle is to adopt a development model of mutual benefit. When we combine the Marxist view of mutual benefit with the theory of social development, and especially with the development practice of the New Era, a mutual-benefit-type development theory and development path is formed. In General Secretary Xi Jinping’s view of interests, there is contained a “call of the times” to promote mutual-benefit-type development. For example, he advocates “building a balanced and inclusive development model” and demands that all countries in the world “must blaze a new path of solidarity, cooperation and win-win outcomes.” These theses provide important theoretical support for our proposal and implementation of mutual-benefit-type development.

“世界并不是某一独特利益的天下，而是许许多多利益的天下。”唯有科学的互利原则才是我们认识并处理错综复杂的利益关系的不二选择。马克思主义的利益观在本质上就是一种互利观，这一科学的互利观和人类关系的文明化是高度契合的，因为一种关系的发生不但要求至少有发生关系的两个对象(关系项)存在，而且关系的发生原则上总是双向的。“一切自然过程都有两个方面，它们建立在至少两个发生作用的部分的关系上，建立在作用和反作用上。”在社会领域，人类关系当然也存在着双向互动性，这种双向互动的实质就是在利益支配下的互动，其总的原则是要采取一种互利的发展模式。当我们把马克思主义互利观和社会发展理论相结合特别是和新时代的发展实践相结合时，就形成了互利型的发展理论和发展道路。在习近平总书记的利益观中，就包含着要推进互利型发展的“时代主张”,如他倡导“打造平衡普惠的发展模式”,要求世界各国“必须走出一条和衷共济、合作共赢的新路子”等论断，为我们提出并推行互利型发展提供了重要理论支持。

Mutual-benefit-type development refers to a development model that pursues or realizes a pattern and outcome of mutual benefit and reciprocity. Mutual-benefit-type development is the transcendence and sublation of mutual-harm-type development. This development model reveals the mutual-benefit-type mechanism that should exist in the social organism. The internal logic of the mutual-benefit-type mechanism is as follows: benefiting self and benefiting others (mutual benefit) → universal benefit → mutual-benefit-type relations → mutual-benefit-type society → mutual-benefit-type development → harmonious and win-win pattern. The mutual-benefit-type development model presents positive correlation and mutual orientation: from the perspective of “I,” I benefit myself and also benefit others; from the perspective of “the other,” the other benefits me and I also benefit the other. This is the positive correlation of seeking benefit and the practice of moving toward each other. This is a pattern or outcome of co-benefit, co-existence, and co-prosperity; it is an outcome of “beauty in diversity”[31]31 “Beauty in diversity” (美美与共) is a phrase popularized by Chinese sociologist Fei Xiaotong, advocating mutual appreciation and coexistence of different cultures. and inclusive win-win, that is, the realization of common benefit for everyone or the collective through subjective and objective mutual benefit. Only on the basis of mutual-benefit-type development can the construction of relational civilization be truly supported. In other words, mutual-benefit-type development provides a solid practical foundation for relational civilization. It seizes the key point of relational civilization—common benefit—and ensures the realization of common benefit from the perspective of development model or development practice. Only in mutual-benefit-type development can the reciprocity or common benefit of human relations be truly realized, and thus relational civilization be formed.

互利型发展是指追求或实现一种互利互惠格局及其结果的发展模式。互利型发展是对互害型发展的超越和扬弃，这种发展模式揭示了在社会有机体中所应该存在的互利型机制。互利型机制的内在逻辑是这样的：利己利他(互利)→普遍受益→互利型关系→互利型社会→互利型发展→和谐共赢格局。互利型发展模式呈现的是正相关性和相向性，即从“我”的角度看，我利己又利他；从“他”的角度看，他利我我也利他。这就是求利的正相关性和相向而行的做法。这是一种共利共生共荣的格局或结果，是一种美美与共、普惠共赢的结局，即由主客观上的互利实现了大家或集体的共利。只有在互利型发展的基础上，才能真正支撑起关系文明的建设。易言之，互利型发展为关系文明提供了坚实的实践基础，它抓住了关系文明的关键所在——共利，并基于发展模式或发展实践的角度以确保共利的实现，而只有在互利型发展中才能真正实现人类关系的互惠性或共利性，进而形成关系文明。

Author’s bio: Qiu Gengtian, Professor, School of Marxism, Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC (National Academy of Governance).

作者简介：邱耕田，中共中央党校(国家行政学院)马克思主义学院教授。