Feng Yuzhang: Exploring the Historical Logic of the Modernization Process of Human Society
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the opening ceremony of the seminar for newly elected members and alternate members of the Central Committee and provincial and ministerial-level leading officials to study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the Guiding Principles of the 20th CPC National Congress: "The summarized proposal and in-depth elaboration of the theory of Chinese-path modernization is a major theoretical innovation of the 20th CPC National Congress and the latest major achievement of scientific socialism." He emphasized that "Chinese-path modernization shatters the myth that 'modernization equals Westernization,' presents another picture of modernization, expands the path options for developing countries to achieve modernization, and provides a Chinese solution for humanity's exploration of better social systems." He further noted that "the unique worldview, values, and outlooks on history, civilization, democracy, and ecology inherent in Chinese-path modernization, as well as its great practice, constitute a major innovation in global modernization theory and practice."
Modernization in human society is a historical process based on significant progress in science and technology and the rapid development of productive forces. it involves profound transformation and continuous improvement in production, lifestyle, social governance, and the overall social landscape. It is the path through which human society must pass to reach a higher level of development. We must deeply reflect upon and explore the historical logic of the modernization process of human society, firmly ground our commitment to Chinese-path modernization on a scientific grasp of historical trends, resolutely advance Chinese-path modernization, and drive the study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to new depths.
I
The modernization we speak of today emerged when human society saw capitalism replace feudal society, and it accelerated following the first Industrial Revolution in human history. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels stated: "The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together." Chronologically, this corresponds to the accelerated modernization process of Western European capitalist countries after the Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 1760s. This rapid development of productive forces was accompanied by profound transformations in social production, daily life, and the entire social fabric. The Manifesto vividly describes this historical process: "Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones." "The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation." Its low commodity prices are the "heavy artillery" with which it batters down all Great Walls [1]. "It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst." It is quite clear that Marx and Engels identify the character of this modernization as capitalist and simultaneously expose it as a process of colonization. "It has made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilised ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West." How much bloody slaughter, oppression, exploitation, and barbaric plunder filled this process of modernization!
When discussing the modern productive forces generated under colonial rule, Marx pointedly raised the question of "whether the productive forces belong to the people" and predicted that historical development would eventually pass through a great social revolution to command the modern productive forces created in the bourgeois era, realizing the bright prospect of another kind of modernization where the productive forces belong to the people. In his 1853 work The Future Results of British Rule in India, Marx wrote: "Modern industry, resulting from the railway system, will surely dissolve the hereditary divisions of labor, upon which rest the Indian castes," but "all the English bourgeoisie may be forced to do [in India] will neither emancipate nor materially mend the social condition of the mass of the people, depending not only on the development of the productive forces, but on their appropriation by the people." Whether the development of productive forces fundamentally improves the social condition of the masses "depends on whether the productive forces belong to the people"—this was an earth-shattering question. Regarding the "future results" of this issue, Marx further analyzed that bourgeois industry and commerce create the material conditions for a new world, but "only when a great social revolution shall have mastered the results of the bourgeois epoch, the market of the world and the modern powers of production, and subjected them to the common control of the most advanced peoples, will human progress cease to resemble that hideous, pagan idol, who would not drink the nectar but from the skulls of the slain." Here, metaphors such as "hideous, pagan idol" are intended to expose and denounce the "human progress" of modern industry and commerce established by colonial rulers, which came at the cost of the blood, humiliation, and suffering of countless individuals and entire nations. A primary reason for this was that under colonial rule, the productive forces of modern industry belonged to the colonizers, not the people. This metaphor also announced that a great social revolution would eventually command and develop modern productive forces, initiating a historical process in which the productive forces belong to the people, and human progress would no longer be achieved at such a cost. Although Marx's discourse was focused on the situation in colonial countries at the time, his thought on making productive forces belong to the people through social revolution and transformation is of great significance today for guiding the modernization process and highlighting its people-centered orientation.
The development of history follows a winding path. The great social revolution occurred in 1917 in Russia—then the "weakest link" in the chain of imperialism. The Russian October Socialist Revolution inaugurated a new era in human history and began the exploration of its own path to modernization. The fledgling Soviet state faced severe domestic and international crises. After the fundamental consolidation of political power and initial economic recovery, large-scale socialist construction began with the first Five-Year Plan in 1928. This was a pioneering exploration of making the productive forces belong to the people. In just over a decade, a large number of new industrial sectors were established, and the Soviet Union rapidly became a powerful industrial nation, playing a mainstay role in defeating German, Italian, and Japanese fascism in the Second World War. This significantly accelerated the development of world socialism and the independence and liberation movements of oppressed nations. From 1928 to 1940, the industrial output of the Soviet Union increased ninefold, with an average annual growth rate of 16.8%, which is extremely rare in the history of world industrial development. By 1937, its industrial output rose from being fifth in the world and fourth in Europe in 1913 to second in the world and first in Europe. Simultaneously, material living conditions improved significantly, science and technology achieved great progress, and levels of education and the people’s morale were greatly enhanced. While major capitalist countries in the 1930s suffered under severe economic crises, the Soviet Union alone maintained steady development. However, as the first socialist state, the Soviet Union’s modernization project was launched under specific economic, social, and historical conditions, and at a time when theoretical and practical understanding of socialist construction was quite immature. Although it established a brand-new socialist system—the first of its kind in human history—the economic, political, and social structures formed under those specific historical conditions possessed clear flaws and drawbacks. Over time, contradictions in economic, political, social, and ethnic spheres accumulated, hindering the perfection of the socialist system and the realization of its superior qualities.
II
The Communist Party of China's exploration of the path to modernization began on the day of the Party's founding. The century-long history of the CPC uniting and leading the people in the pursuit of national rejuvenation is also a history of continuous exploration of the path to modernization. Through the long-term, unremitting struggles of the Chinese people led by the CPC, and by opening up new horizons for the cause through tenacious struggle, the Party has remained grounded in its own national conditions while learning from and drawing on the experiences and lessons of other countries. Step by step, it has successfully opened a new path of Chinese-path modernization that differs from the Western model. First, through decades of bloody battles and arduous struggle, the victory of the New Democratic Revolution was achieved, overthrowing the "three big mountains" of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism [2], and establishing the People's Republic of China with the people as masters of the country. This created the fundamental social conditions for achieving modernization. Second, entering the period of socialist revolution and construction, the basic socialist system was established, realizing the most extensive and profound social transformation in the history of the Chinese nation. An independent and relatively complete industrial and national economic system was built. The socialist revolution and construction yielded original theoretical results and massive achievements, providing the fundamental political prerequisites, valuable experience, theoretical preparation, and material foundation for modernization. Third, entering the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, the Party made the historic decision to shift the focus of Party and state work to economic construction and to implement reform and opening up. Simultaneously, it proposed upholding the Four Cardinal Principles [3], formed the Party's Basic Line [4], and clearly put forward the concepts of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese-style modernization. It vigorously promoted innovation in theory, institutions, culture, and all other aspects based on practice, implemented the socialist market economy system, and achieved a historic breakthrough from a state of relatively backward productive forces to becoming the world's second-largest economy. It realized a historic leap in people’s lives from lacking food and clothing to achieving general prosperity (xiaokang) and then moving toward a moderately prosperous society in all respects. This provided the institutional guarantee of new vitality and the material conditions for rapid development for Chinese-path modernization.
In the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Party has continued to advance on previous foundations, constantly achieving innovations and breakthroughs in theory and practice, and successfully advancing and expanding Chinese-path modernization. Understanding has deepened continuously; the Party founded Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, achieving a new leap in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, providing the fundamental guidance for Chinese-path modernization. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has coordinated the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world’s unseen changes in a century, promoted the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, and coordinated the Four Comprehensives. Strategic planning has been continuously refined and practice continuously enriched, driving the cause of the Party and the state to achieve historical achievements and undergo historical changes—notably the elimination of absolute poverty and the full completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The Party has further deepened its understanding of the connotation and essence of Chinese-path modernization, summarizing its Chinese features, essential requirements, and major principles, thus initially constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization. All of this has provided a more complete institutional guarantee, a more solid material foundation, and a more proactive spiritual force for Chinese-path modernization.
Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the CPC. The Party's leadership directly bears upon the fundamental direction, nature, future, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese-path modernization. Chinese-path modernization shares common characteristics with the modernization of other countries but also possesses Chinese features based on its own national conditions. As elucidated in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress, these features are: modernization of a huge population, modernization of common prosperity for all, modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement, modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and modernization of peaceful development. This modernization discards the old Western paths of capital-centered modernization, polarized modernization, materialistic modernization, and modernization through expansion and plunder. A new vision of modernization, different from Western models—a modernization that continuously makes productive forces better serve the people, and a modernization that represents the developmental direction of human civilization's progress and creates a new form of human civilization—has vigorously manifested on Chinese soil. This is a major innovation in global modernization theory and the latest major achievement of scientific socialism.
III
From the above review of the historical logic of human society's modernization process, we can derive important insights and understandings.
We must shatter the "modernization [myth]" long fabricated by Western countries...
Dispelling the myth that "modernization = Westernization" constitutes a major historical trend in the development of human society. The advancement and expansion of Chinese-path modernization is the most vivid manifestation of this historical trend. This significant innovation in the theory and practice of world modernization has set a precedent for developing countries to move toward modernization independently and autonomously, providing them with a brand-new choice. Breaking free from the myth of "modernization = Westernization" will inevitably inspire the broad masses of developing countries to independently explore their own paths to modernization in practice. At the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in March 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping further expounded on views such as highlighting the people-centered nature of the direction of modernization, exploring the diversity of modernization paths, maintaining the continuity of the modernization process, enhancing the inclusive nature of modernization outcomes, and ensuring the firmness of leadership in modernization. He emphasized that modernization is not a "patented product" [5] of a few countries, stating, "For a country to move toward modernization, it must both follow the general laws of modernization and, more importantly, be grounded in its own national conditions and possess its own national characteristics." He emphasized that "developing countries have the right and the capability to independently explore paths to modernization with their own characteristics based on their own national conditions." Furthermore, to promote exchange and mutual learning between civilizations, advance the progress of human civilization, and push forward the modernization process of human society, he proposed the Global Civilization Initiative [6], which encompasses multiple dimensions. This represents another Chinese solution [7] proposed for the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, utilizing the stance, viewpoints, and methods of the Party’s innovative theories [8] to observe, grasp, and lead the times. It can be foreseen that a new picture of human social modernization, characterized by the autonomous choices of all peoples and their mutual exchange and learning, will surely emerge on Earth as a hundred flowers blooming [9]. This is an important aspect of the accelerating evolution of the balance of power in the international landscape amidst the changes unseen in a century [10], and it possesses profound significance for human society as it advances toward a higher level of developmental stage.
It is necessary to elevate the understanding of Chinese-path modernization to the height of strengthening ideals and convictions, treating it as an organic component of education in socialism and communism. This is an inevitable requirement for adhering to the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, major principles, and strategic goals of Chinese-path modernization. We must integrate the strengthening of faith in Chinese-path modernization with the firming of the "Four Confidences" [11], making the content of education in ideals and convictions richer, more concrete, and more closely integrated with actual struggles. In the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, our country will inevitably withstand various pressures and challenges that other countries have never encountered, and may even meet with the severe tests of stormy waves [12]. Western hostile forces and hegemonists, upholding a Cold War mentality, attempt to maintain their "privilege" of development by suppressing and containing our country’s modernization. Due to complex international and domestic factors, the inclination of a small minority of people within our country to remain infatuated with Western models will not disappear automatically, and the struggle in the ideological field remains complex and severe. Under these circumstances, we must even more firmly uphold our ideals and convictions, firming our faith in Chinese-path modernization. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we shall neither take the old path of being closed and stagnant, nor take the evil path of changing flags and banners [13]. We shall unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.
Online Editor: Paul Source: Hongqi Wengao (Red Flag Manuscript) [14] No. 8, 2023