ZHANG Donggang: Accelerating the Construction of an Autonomous Knowledge System of the Study of Civilization

The 78th United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution proposed by China to establish the International Day for Dialogue Among Civilizations, designating June 10th as the annual observance. On the first International Day for Dialogue Among Civilizations, the front page of “Study Times” published an article by ZHANG Donggang, Chairman of Renmin University of China and Chairman of the National Academy of Development and Strategy, titled “Accelerating the Construction of an Autonomous Knowledge System of the Study of Civilization.” The core points are as follows:

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping, from a comprehensive and strategic perspective, has combined the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and the fine traditional Chinese culture. He has proposed a series of new concepts, thoughts, and strategies, guiding the research on the study of civilization and the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture, providing strong spiritual motivation and solid support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. President Xi emphasized that history is the true record of the formation, development, and rise and fall of a nation and a country, and is a compendium of the knowledge, experience, and wisdom of our predecessors. To move from history to the future, we must establish a discipline system, academic system, and discourse system for civilizational research with Chinese characteristics, style, and manner, providing strong theoretical support for the practice of new forms of human civilization. This profoundly reveals the significant role of civilizational research in national development, national prosperity, and the inheritance of civilization.

At the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, President Xi Jinping innovatively summarized the five prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization: continuity, innovativeness, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness. He emphasized the importance of cultural confidence, shouldering missions, and striving to build modern civilization of the Chinese nation. This offers a Chinese answer to the continuous and innovative development of Chinese civilization. President Xi also proposed promoting the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization, and ecological civilization, creating a new path to Chinese-style modernization and a new form of human civilization. He put forward the Global Civilization Initiative, emphasizing that civilization exchanges should transcend barriers, mutual learning should transcend clashes, and inclusiveness should transcend superiority, thereby constructing a community with a shared future for mankind, having a profound impact on global development.

In April 2022, during his inspection of Renmin University of China, President Xi Jinping emphasized accelerating the construction of a philosophy and social sciences system with Chinese characteristics, promoting the innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, and advancing knowledge and theoretical innovation, so that China’s autonomous knowledge system can stand proudly in the world academic community. President Xi’s discourse, embodying Marxist principles, revealing the laws of civilization development, is a crucial component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. To thoroughly implement his cultural inheritance and development ideology, it is necessary to construct a discipline system of the study of civilization with Chinese characteristics, providing theoretical support for new forms of human civilization.

Building the discipline of the study of civilization not only helps to inherit the deep reflections on civilization by philosophers from both ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, but also has new value and significance in the current era. First, constructing the discipline of the study of civilization helps better explain new forms of human civilization, especially the era value and historical significance of Chinese-style modernization. Second, promoting the study of civilization research helps deeply explore the organic integration of China’s specific realities, fine traditional Chinese culture, and Marxism, highlighting the subjectivity of Chinese civilization. Lastly, building the discipline of the study of civilization strengthens research on civilizations, particularly non-Western ones, breaking the narrative and theoretical foundations of Western cultural hegemony and the clash of civilizations theory, and promoting global civilizational exchanges and mutual learning.

The study of civilization, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, aims to construct a discipline system, academic system, and discourse system with Chinese characteristics, style, and manner. It includes the theory and methodology of the study of civilization, the collation and interpretation of classic texts, the history of Chinese civilization, the history of world civilization, the study of civilizational exchanges and mutual learning, and the new form of human civilization. It is reflected in the basic dimensions of material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization, and ecological civilization. The study of civilization systematically summarize the historical experiences of human civilization evolution, starting from classic civilizational texts and human production and life practices, revealing the scientific connotations of the new form of human civilization with Chinese-style modernization as its basic form.

The study of civilization takes the forms of human civilization as the research object, focusing on the rise and fall of civilizations, summarizing the development models of civilizations, exploring the driving forces of civilization development, and revealing the basic trends of human civilization evolution. The forms of human civilization include four basic stages: the nomadic and gathering era, the agricultural era, the industrial era, and the post-industrial era, evolving successively. The The study of civilization discipline integrates the strengths of Chinese history, world history, philosophy, economics, and political science, forming a unique discipline system, academic system, and discourse system, becoming an important pathway for constructing an autonomous knowledge system in China.

To promote the construction of the study of civilization, we must first start from historical logic, objectively and neutrally clarify the origin, formation, and development process of civilizations around the world and their characteristics, and write a civilization history based on the new “civilization view”. Secondly, we must construct a new theoretical framework based on new empirical research conclusions, especially reflecting the civilization view of Chinese scholars, constructing an autonomous knowledge system of the study of civilization, and restoring the rightful status of Chinese civilization. Lastly, we must summarize the new forms of civilization created by contemporary Chinese practices, answer the future picture of modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and support various aspects of the practice of Chinese-style modernization.

The Communist Party of China and the Chinese people have created a new path of Chinese-style modernization and a new form of human civilization, making significant contributions to solving common human problems. Promoting the study of civilization research and accelerating the construction of an autonomous knowledge system of the study of civilization are of great significance for developing the Marxist view of civilization and breaking free from the shackles of Western centrism. On the new journey, the construction of an autonomous knowledge system of the study of civilization and the Chinese civilization discourse will further expand the theoretical breadth and ideological depth of the new form of human civilization, leading human civilization towards a bright future of a “community of free individuals”. (Translated by ZHANG Yuqing; Proofread by YANG Fanxin)