The humanistic connotation of Chinese modernization

　　In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "From now on, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country to build a great modern socialist country in an all-round way, realize the second centenary goal, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization." "The historical facts of the development of human civilization clearly tell us that there is no ready-made path to modernization, and there is no fixed model, and China must follow its own path of modernization. In fact, from the perspective of culture and humanities, Western modernization has its obvious drawbacks: from the beginning, it neglects to care for and care for people, which leads to the alienation of human nature and makes people lose their spiritual and spiritual freedom, and there is a cultural paradox in the process. Chinese modernization highlights the consciousness of "people", is committed to the modernization of people themselves, and maintains the harmony of human nature, which has its unique cultural characteristics and humanistic implications.

　　Transcendence of Western modernization

　　For China, "modernization" is a foreign word. The wave of modernization first began in the developed countries of Europe and the United States. Generally speaking, the process of transformation from tradition to modernity in Western society is the process of modernization; "Modernization" is a description and summary of the overall and all-round innovation process of modern Western society, which includes all aspects of economic, political, scientific, technological, religious, ideological, and cultural changes. Of course, the "modernization" we are talking about today is not the same as Westernization, but the pursuit of the common goal of the development of human society. Modernization is a dynamic concept, and from a practical point of view, modernization is always on the way.

　　As far as the West is concerned, although the development of modern society is basically synchronized with the process of modernization, modernization is not synonymous with "progress", and this kind of "modernization" is actually worthy of reflection and criticism. While Western modernization shows its achievements in "development", "progress" and "innovation", it also shows a contradictory state of pros and cons. For example, the modern capitalist material civilization restricts the development of human personality; Scientific rationality is reduced to instrumental rationality, which rejects human intelligence and spirituality and creates new superstitions (superstitions about science that result from the cult of science). In this case, "skepticism", as the rational spirit of human beings, has launched a reflection and interrogation on modernization itself and its achievements. This is very prominent in the field of Western literature.

　　Romanticism in the 18th and 19th centuries was the first large-scale reflection and rebellion against modernization in the history of European culture. The Romantics could not accept the damage of modern Western industrial civilization, rationalism, and utilitarianism to the human soul, and eagerly looked forward to the liberation and freedom of individual spirit and emotion. After Romanticism, 19th-century realist literature reflected on and rebelled against modernization from another perspective. Most writers of realism are reflective, skeptical, and critical of modernity, so this kind of literature is also called "critical realism". It can be said that the rebellion of Romanticism against industrial civilization and modern civilization is manifested in realist literature as the exposure and criticism of the contradictions of capitalist society and the alienation of human beings, which has a strong social criticism function, and shows the resistance and resistance to the "modernization" process of Western society and civilization. Both of these literary currents embody the concern and love for people in the context of Western modernization in the spirit of humanitarianism.

　　Marx and Engels made a profound reflection and criticism of Western capitalist modernization from a scientific level. Marx's analysis of the "progress" brought about by modernization and the new oppression caused by human beings reveals the alienation of human nature in capitalist society, as well as the inherent contradictions and cultural paradoxes of modernization. Marx's reflection and criticism of Western modernization expressed a humanistic vision for the development of modern society: to avoid the objectification and alienation of human nature, so that people's spirit and heart can obtain a high degree of freedom and liberation.

　　Since the beginning of the 20th century, modernization has been advancing, and there have been endless voices of reflection and criticism on modernization and the so-called "progress". From a practical point of view, the road to modernization in the future is still full of thorns and bumps, which requires us to analyze rationally, grasp it prudently, and make the right choice. In this regard, the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to take the road of Chinese-style modernization, which obviously contains a kind of reflection, critical spirit and humanistic feelings, which is not only a calm and sober awareness of China's modernization development, but also a kind of prospect for the future path of human modernization.

　　Highlight the cultural connotation of modernization

　　We must be soberly aware that in the world today and in the future, there is no fixed model for modernization that can be universally applied, and we must follow our own path according to our national conditions and people's feelings. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "there is more than one path to modernization", and there is no one-size-fits-all specific development model in the world, nor is there a one-size-fits-all development path. The diversity of historical conditions determines the diversity of development paths chosen by various countries. From the perspective of historical conditions and cultural diversity, we must understand the world and world history from the perspective of cosmopolitanism and the general trend of the development of human civilization, respect the diversity of historical development paths, and respect the differences in the paths of modernization. As far as Chinese-style modernization is concerned, it should reflect its own characteristics and humanistic characteristics, and surpass the disadvantages of Western modernization. Of course, this does not mean that Western modernization is useless and completely unworthy of our study, nor does it mean that Chinese modernization can be done completely on its own behind closed doors. On the contrary, Chinese modernization cannot be separated from the world. In promoting Chinese-style modernization, it is necessary to reflect on the lessons and lessons of Western modernization, actively learn from the successful experiences of other countries in modernization, and highlight our own characteristics and advantages.

　　Summing up the past, after more than 100 years of arduous explorations, especially since the beginning of reform and opening up, the mainland has gained many successful experiences in the practice of modernization. It can be proudly said that the Chinese have embarked on a path different from Western modernization in a very short period of time, which not only reflects the general law of human modernization and development, but also highlights China's local characteristics and advantages. In the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all people, the modernization of harmony between material civilization and spiritual civilization, the modernization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and the modernization of taking the path of peaceful development. Obviously, there is an essential difference between Chinese modernization and the capital-centered modernization, polarized modernization, materialistic expansion modernization, and foreign expansion and plundering modernization of Western countries. In particular, in the concept of modern governance, we should highlight people-oriented and people-centered, promote comprehensive and comprehensive social development, so that the fruits of development can benefit the broad masses of the people, and care for the health and harmony of people's spirit and soul. In the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the goal and direction of promoting Chinese-style modernization, which involves the construction and development of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological fields. The five goals of achieving high-quality development, developing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the people's spiritual world, realizing common prosperity for all people, and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature embody the requirements of the economic, political, cultural, social and ecological fields, constitute a systematic and comprehensive target system, and demonstrate the goal and vision of building a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful modern socialist country, which contains profound humanistic connotations and spiritual and cultural pursuits. For example, the humanistic connotation of promoting the modernization of common prosperity for all the people, the modernization of the coordination of material civilization and spiritual civilization, and the modernization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature is the pursuit of modernization with profound cultural connotations and the modernization of a high degree of civilization centered on people, not only the modernization of material, science and technology, and hard power, but also the modernization of people's body and mind to reach a state of high harmony.

　　Promote modern practice with culture

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the people's nature is the essential attribute of Marxism" and "the essence of modernization is the modernization of people". Chinese modernization presents a new vision that is different from the Western modernization model, and is a new form of human civilization. The concentrated expression of this "newness" is that Chinese-style modernization is not satisfied with the modernization of "things" and the modernization of "a small number of people", but pursues the modernization of "material" prosperity and "prosperity" of people's spirituality, culture, and ideology on the basis of satisfying the material needs of the masses of the people, and is a people-centered modernization that benefits the broad masses of the people. Taking the people as the center and improving the spiritual and cultural level of people is an important symbol of the humanistic connotation of Chinese modernization. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to "do everything for the people" and "enrich the people's spiritual world", which is to prevent and avoid the shortcomings of modern development that only focus on "materialization" and "a small number of people", and adhere to the people-oriented and people-centered development philosophy. Therefore, Chinese-style modernization answers major questions such as why people are modernized, what is the core content of modernization, how to achieve modernization, and what kind of modernization path to take. These problems have not been well paid attention to and solved by Western modernization, and they are also an important reason why the process of modernization has always been accompanied by sharp contradictions and the inability to solve the problem of alienation of human nature.

　　Culture has its own richness and diversity, and the infiltration of cultural values and the persistence of cultural connotations will contribute to the successful practice of Chinese-style modernization. Every country can use the power of culture to achieve leapfrog development and find a path to modernization that suits its own national conditions. Cultural modernization and human modernization embody the improvement of the civilization of the entire nation. This is precisely the cultural characteristics and humanistic implications of Chinese modernization, and it is also the unique charm of Chinese modernization. From the perspective of culture and humanity, Chinese modernization is a transcendence of Western modernization, showing another picture of modernization, and providing a Chinese solution for mankind's exploration of a better social system.

　　(The author is a senior professor of liberal arts at Zhejiang Gongshang University and chief expert of Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Industry Innovation and Development)

Author: Jiang Chengyong

Source: China Social Sciences Daily, Issue 2923, July 1, 2024