Lin Guobiao: The "Historical Consciousness" of the Chinese Nation
All human actions, including cognitive activities, contain a certain element of historicality. Our investigation into any matter, beyond examining its current state, involves attending to its past. The current state is merely the "sea level" presented by the interconnections of things, while what supports that "sea level" is a history as deep as the ocean depths. The cognition and understanding of history constitute historical consciousness. Every nation possesses a historical consciousness, yet the forms and characteristics it manifests are not identical. Recognizing and understanding the historical consciousness of the Chinese nation plays an important role in the continuity and renewal of Chinese civilization.
Historical Consciousness and Its Functions
Broadly speaking, historical consciousness is humanity's cognition of its own developmental process; it manifests as human memory, reflection, and judgment of history, as well as the summary and application of historical experience. Historical consciousness includes not only the memory of historical events and figures, but more importantly, it includes judgment and reflection—that is, rational thinking—regarding history. Historical consciousness is a cognitive ability unique to humans, enabling humanity to stand upon the ladder of historical experience and continuously develop toward higher levels.
The German philosopher Nietzsche believed that historical consciousness includes "monumental" historical consciousness and "critical" historical consciousness [1]—that is, a historical consciousness inclined toward summarizing experience and one inclined toward reflection and critique. The German philosopher of history Jörn Rüsen defines historical consciousness as the sum of mental activities that transform past experiences into orientations for life practice through memory. The Japanese scholar Yoshio Kawakatsu [2] posits that historical consciousness is a self-awareness where humans place themselves within history, exploring the laws and meaning of the historical process itself, and thereby questioning the meaning of human existence. Other scholars argue that historical consciousness is a conscious activity in which people transform historical experience into a life orientation, containing a purposiveness that treats history as a paradigm to direct the developmental path of future generations.
Although different scholars emphasize different aspects of historical consciousness, it can be summarized as containing the following connotations: Historical consciousness is a self-awareness that people gradually form during historical practical activities, which eventually internalizes as an expression of the subject's spirit; historical consciousness is people’s understanding and perception of their inseparable connection with the past; and although historical consciousness leans toward the understanding of past history, it is closely linked to contemporary realistic issues. Studying and summarizing history serves the purpose of solving real-world problems.
Historical consciousness is undoubtedly consciousness regarding history, but more importantly, it possesses "contemporaneity." This so-called contemporaneity means focusing on and evaluating history from a contemporary standpoint and attending to history with contemporary problem-awareness. Zhang Taiyan [3] once said: "Without reading the Classics, one knows not the way to conduct oneself; without reading the History, one has no means by which to love one's country." The contemporaneity of historical consciousness dictates that its significance and function are directed toward contemporary practice. The function of historical consciousness lies in interpretation—or rather, in providing a foundation of meaning and discursive materials for interpretive activities. One either explains the past from a contemporary standpoint or explains the present based on historical experience. By organizing different dimensions of history chronologically, humanity can clearly recognize the meaning of human practical activities. The "meaning" embedded deep within history is interpreted as a cultural form. Through specific modes of interpretation, humans elucidate the value of history to themselves and effectively grasp and apply this value as an object; only then can humans live truly meaningful lives. The autonomous, conscious, and free activities of humans are inseparable from the interpretation of history. Since historical consciousness is the prerequisite for the formation of "meaning," it allows the present to be understood and the future to be logically predicted by interpreting past experience, thereby providing our realistic activities with a profound historical background and clear goal orientation.
When involving the historical development of a country or nation, historical consciousness is the subject's experience of temporal change, interpreted through specific methods and integrated into a cultural framework consistent with actual life. Within this cultural framework, people use it for self-positioning on the one hand and, on the other, accept the constraints of the historical and cultural context established by this framework, thereby cultivating their sense of history and collective memory. The Australian historian Greg Dening said: "Of all the systems by which a people expresses its identity, the most sensitive and clearest is their historical consciousness." Thus, through interpretation, historical consciousness allows us to understand the past, and subsequently to understand the present and predict the future.
Characteristics of the Historical Consciousness of the Chinese Nation
The issue of historical consciousness is one of the hot topics in academic circles. Since the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, academic discussions regarding the theory and methodology of "historical experience" have been quite vigorous; "summarizing historical experience" is one manifestation of historical consciousness. The uniqueness of the Chinese nation's historical consciousness, as well as its functions and roles, require our systematic summarization and promotion.
Historical consciousness possesses national characteristics. Chinese historical consciousness features Chinese national characteristics; it emphasizes historical continuity and the inheritance of historical culture, focusing on summarizing experience and drawing inspiration and wisdom from history to solve real-world problems. Revering history, summarizing history, applying history, and relying on history to move toward the future—these are manifestations of the Chinese nation's unique historical consciousness.
The historical consciousness of the Chinese nation possesses a unique form and connotation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Valuing history, researching history, and drawing lessons from history is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation's over 5,000 years of civilization." Overall, this historical consciousness possesses distinct characteristics such as depth, interconnectivity, and reality-orientation. "Depth" (纵深性) refers to the preference for exploring history’s deep reaches, the veneration of ancient history and tradition, and a particularly profound perception of history’s profundity and gravity. "Interconnectivity" (贯通性) refers to connecting the past, present, and future, emphasizing the continuity and totality of history as well as the inheritance of culture. "Reality-orientation" (现实性) means not viewing history as a simple memoir; it possesses objective authenticity and is an important resource and tool for solving contemporary problems.
China's vast system of historical classics, complete system of official historiographers, and diverse folk historiography demonstrate the status of "history" in the minds of the Chinese people and the uniqueness of the Chinese nation's historical consciousness. This uniqueness is manifested in three aspects:
First, adhering to a view of history that combines "historical rationality" with "historical experience." Chinese historical consciousness follows a logic that combines rationalism and empiricism. On the one hand, we do not favor tailoring historical materials based on preset concepts; instead, we strive to record events as they were, thinking alongside complex historical materials and concrete historical practices to find answers for real-world problems. On the other hand, China has a tradition of "modeling oneself after the former kings" (fa xianwang [4]). "Mencius spoke of the goodness of human nature, always citing Yao and Shun"; "any speech that does not accord with the former kings or comply with ritual and righteousness is called treacherous speech." The "former kings" represent the historical order and the highest historical ideal. "Modeling oneself after the former kings" means returning to a certain historical rationality and historical spirit.
Second, adhering to the view of history that involves seeking truth from facts. "To follow the path of Yao and Shun and model oneself after King Wen and King Wu [5]," and "to transmit but not create, to believe in and love antiquity [6]"—the word "transmit" (shu) here refers to presenting history in its original flavor while remaining faithful to its original appearance. The ancients studied historical phenomena just as they studied natural phenomena, emphasizing the research of seeking truth from facts and refraining from arbitrarily tailoring historical materials based on concepts or rational principles. Wang Fuzhi [7] advocated "delving into principles based on affairs, rather than establishing principles to limit affairs." The requirement of Chinese historical consciousness to present history in its objective original form is to ensure the authenticity of the experience of past events within the dimension of time—that is, to ensure that a new logic and context for action can be naturally derived from the experience of accomplished facts.
Third, adhering to an organic view of history. An organic view of history emphasizes, first, the interconnection of historical events and elements, and second, historical continuity and inheritance. From the perspective of the narrative style of Chinese historical classics, the historical narratives of the ancients often followed this path: the description of various events was integrated and consistent, striving to allow the reader to catch a glimpse of the entire historical picture under a certain situation; attention was paid to the mutual relevance and involvement between events; and emphasis was placed on revealing historical complexity. "Like entering the Jianzhang Palace, with its thousands of gates and ten thousand doors, all interconnected within [8]." This involves consciously linking different historical events to construct an organic historical scene. At the same time, it also links historical events that appeared successively—especially past events—with things currently in progress, establishing an awareness of historical continuity.
Historical Consciousness and the Improvement of Thinking Abilities
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We look back at history not to seek solace from success, nor to rest on our laurels or find excuses to avoid the difficulties and problems we face today, but to summarize historical experience, grasp historical laws, and strengthen the courage and power to forge ahead." History can be used as a reference, and drawing lessons from history is for the sake of solving real-world problems. The role of the Chinese nation's historical consciousness in reality is primarily manifested in its transformation into important thinking methods. By applying these methods, people improve their ability to solve problems.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve strategic thinking ability. Strategic thinking ability refers to the ability to stand high and look far, to take in the overall situation, and to be adept at grasping the overall trend and direction of the development of things. Like innovative thinking, strategic thinking is oriented toward the future and unknown fields. The Chinese nation's historical consciousness adheres to an organic view of history, excelling at deriving a new logic of action from established historical facts and formulating long-term plans for future actions. Clearly, this contains components of strategic thinking. Strategic thinking focuses on solving questions of the direction and positioning of the development of things; together with innovative thinking, it enriches and deepens people’s understanding of the historicality of development and more profoundly reflects the role of historical consciousness in reality.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve historical thinking ability. So-called historical thinking ability is the ability to summarize experience from the laws of historical development, grasp the direction of progress, and guide realistic work. This ability is precisely the basic requirement of the Chinese nation's historical consciousness. Reflected in practical work, we need to respect history, respect tradition, and learn to reflect reality through history. "Studying history allows one to see success and failure, mirror gains and losses, and know the rise and fall of dynasties [9]." To use history as a mirror to solve real-world problems, one must place realistic things into historical continuity for judgment, use systemic and holistic historical thinking, and grasp the laws of development and solve realistic problems within the unity of law-governed necessity and purposiveness.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve dialectical thinking ability. So-called dialectical thinking ability is the ability to examine things from the movement and change of internal contradictions and from the interconnections of various aspects, so as to comprehensively and essentially recognize and grasp things as a whole. The characteristic of dialectical thinking lies in its development of the historical dimension within Marxist dialectics, emphasizing the developmental, processual, and historical nature of things. Because dialectical thinking strengthens the historical dimension of dialectics—the procedural dimension—it breaks through the barriers between history and reality and promotes their integration. Therefore, dialectical thinking is used not only to analyze and observe history but also to analyze and handle real-world problems.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve system thinking ability. System thinking ability refers to the ability to observe, analyze, and solve problems comprehensively, systematically, and through universal connections. The Chinese nation's historical consciousness adheres to an organic view of history and emphasizes the interconnection of historical elements; it is a systemic view of history. That is to say, the concept of systems runs through the Chinese nation's historical consciousness. Therefore, cultivating historical consciousness allows us to accurately grasp our historical position in practice, balance various factors, and strengthen forward-looking thinking, overall planning, and holistic advancement.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve innovative thinking ability. So-called innovative thinking ability is the ability to solve problems with novel and unique methods or to enable things to break away from old patterns and frameworks to form new ones. As a theoretical and practical method, innovative thinking enriches history itself by demonstrating human proactive creativity. Treating history with innovative thinking requires efforts to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, allowing tradition and reality to resonate; handling real-world problems with innovative thinking requires strong problem-awareness, focusing on solving a series of deep-seated contradictions and problems facing our country's development.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve rule-of-law thinking ability. Rule-of-law thinking ability refers to the ability to carry out work, solve problems, and promote development using rule-of-law thinking and methods. Rule-of-law thinking is also a form of institutional thinking, requiring things to be done according to systems and rules. In the Chinese nation's historical consciousness, there is a spirit of pursuing the "Way of Governance" (zhidao). The "Way of Governance" consists of mature governance methods and experience; it includes not only the principles, policies, and measures for governing the country but also embeds value concepts and cultural pursuits. In the current era, the best method of governance is, of course, the rule of law. Therefore, cultivating historical consciousness can enable us to commit to the construction of a rule-of-law country, government, and society, consciously exercising power under the constraints of systems and laws, and performing duties according to statutory authority, rules, and procedures.
Cultivating historical consciousness can improve bottom-line thinking ability. Bottom-line thinking ability refers to the ability to assess the situation while seeking truth from facts, assuming the worst-case scenario while striving for the best result. In the Chinese nation's historical consciousness, there is a tradition of regarding "Yin as a mirror" (Yin jian [10]). "Yin as a mirror" focuses on approaching history from the negative side, using the negative materials of history as a mirror to illuminate the rights and wrongs, and good and evil, of reality. Therefore, "Yin as a mirror" is often associated with the consciousness of potential suffering (youhuan yishi). It is precisely this consciousness of suffering and alertness to the negative aspects of history that birthed the profound sense of political renewal (weixin) and the "family-country sentiment" of Chinese civilization. Bottom-line thinking precisely contains a profound consciousness of potential suffering; it requires a global perspective to foresee risks, hold the bottom line, and pursue benefits while avoiding harm. Therefore, cultivating historical consciousness can enable us to strive to objectively recognize the boundaries of things in practical work, analyze specific problems specifically, make up for shortcomings, leverage advantages, and look toward the worst while striving for the best results, thereby firmly grasping the initiative in our work.