Ning Jie: A Deep Understanding of Xi Jinping’s Thinking on Ecological Civilization from Three Dimensions
The New Era gives birth to new ideas, and new ideas guide new practices. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is a major achievement resulting from the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with the practice of China's ecological civilization construction and with fine traditional Chinese ecological culture. It both inherits and innovates upon the Marxist view of nature and ecology, while absorbing and developing fine traditional Chinese ecological culture. It possesses distinct characteristics of the times, practical attributes, and a profound sentiment for the people.
Developing a Deep Understanding of the Chronological Characteristics of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is rooted in the New Era. It carries forward the ecological wisdom of fine traditional Chinese culture, confronts realistic problems, discerns changes in contradictions, and adapts to the shifting tides of the times. It continuously synthesizes the practical experience of ecological civilization construction into the intellectual essence of the era, providing scientific answers to the "China Questions," "World Questions," "People’s Questions," and "Questions of the Times" regarding ecological civilization construction.
Confronting realistic problems and observing the pulse of the era. Problems are the voice of the times; every era has its own specific challenges. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, and in response to persistent issues in China’s ecological sphere—such as the lack of coordination between development and protection, the entanglement of historical and contemporary problems, and the coexistence of traditional and new pollutants—the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has adhered to historical materialism and dialectical materialism. They have faced these problems head-on to find the "etiology," diagnosing "symptoms" and "root causes" such as "trauma" brought by environmental pollution, "neurological symptoms" caused by damaged ecosystems, and "physical exhaustion" [1] resulting from the over-exploitation of resources. This laid a solid foundation for us to treat "ecological diseases" using the concepts and methods of ecological civilization construction in the New Era.
Discerning changes in contradictions and grasping the trend of the times. The principal contradiction is the one that occupies the dominant position and plays a decisive role in the development of a thing. In the New Era, the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. In the field of the ecological environment, the primary aspect of the contradiction is the need to continuously satisfy the people’s longing for blue skies, clear water, and clean soil, and to achieve a civilized development characterized by advanced production, affluent living, and a sound ecosystem. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization breaks through the modernization dilemma between economic development and environmental protection. It explores green and low-carbon modes of development while pursuing green and low-carbon lifestyles. It actively guides the masses to participate in the construction of a Beautiful China, continuously enhancing the awareness of conservation, environmental protection, and ecology throughout society, becoming an important strategic breakthrough in addressing the principal contradiction of society in the New Era.
Adapting to shifting tides and leading the development of the era. When ecology flourishes, civilization flourishes; when ecology declines, civilization declines [2]. Human society has passed through four stages: primitive civilization, agricultural civilization, industrial civilization, and ecological civilization. Ecological civilization is the product of industrial civilization reaching a certain stage. It is a new social formation in which humanity respects, conforms to, and protects nature, achieving its own development through the rational utilization of nature to realize the vision of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. It is characterized by its green, coordinated, and equitable nature. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization inherits ecological wisdom from fine traditional Chinese culture, highlighting characteristics such as macro-planning, holistic development, and comprehensive balance. It is a form of civilization shaped during China's promotion of modernization, providing a fundamental follow-through and a guide to action for ecological civilization construction in the New Era.
Developing a Deep Understanding of the Practical Attributes of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Discovering truth through practice, and then verifying and developing truth through practice—this is the logic that any scientific theory must follow. As the guiding ideology observed and upheld by the whole Party, the whole country, and the whole society, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is a truth that originates from practice, guides practice, and has been tested by practice. It has achieved a major transition from practical exploration to guidance by scientific theory.
The understanding of ecological civilization originates from the practice of ecological civilization construction. Dialectical materialism holds that practice is the activity by which people transform the objective world, while cognition is the reflection of the objective world in people's minds. Practice creates the need for cognition, provides the possibility for cognition, and enables cognition to arise and develop. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to ecological and environmental protection, personally planning, deploying, and promoting it. He has led the whole Party and society to focus on China's environmental pollution problems, anchoring the goal of building a Beautiful China, and strengthening ecological protection in an all-round, all-territory, and all-process manner. These great practices have not only driven significant achievements in building a Beautiful China but have also propelled the continuous development and enrichment of the connotations of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
Developing from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge of ecological civilization. Marxist philosophy holds that perceptual knowledge is the direct, concrete reflection of the external forms of things through the senses in practice; rational knowledge is the indirect, generalized reflection of the internal connections of things through thinking, representing the advanced stage of cognition. The first leap in cognition is the leap from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge. "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [3] is the core concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. It profoundly reveals the inherent logic of the transformation between economic development and ecological protection, realizing major transitions from "quick-fix" development to "sustainable" development, from being "object-oriented" to "people-oriented," and from a "theory of contradiction" to a "theory of unity." This is a significant sublimation of the outlooks on cognition and development, and a major innovation in developmental thinking, value concepts, and governing philosophy.
Moving from a regularized understanding of ecological civilization back to guiding practice. The second leap in the process of cognition is the leap from rational knowledge to practice. The vitality of Marxist theory lies not only in understanding the world, but more importantly, in transforming it. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization profoundly answers major theoretical and practical questions, such as why we build an ecological civilization, what kind of ecological civilization we should build, and how to build it. It is a powerful ideological weapon that comes from practice and is used to guide practice. In the New Era, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China’s ecological civilization construction has exerted force across the board—in ideological organization, legal systems, institutional mechanisms, scientific and technological innovation, and team building. Historical, turning-point, and overall changes have occurred in ecological and environmental protection. Currently, the system of ecological civilization institutions in China has undergone a systemic reshaping. The modernization of the ecological environmental governance system and governance capacity has been continuously improved, creating ecological and green development miracles that have attracted worldwide attention. The people's satisfaction with the ecological environment has continuously increased, fully demonstrating the power of truth and the power of practice inherent in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
Developing a Deep Understanding of the Sentiment for the People in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
The "people-centered nature" (Renminxing) is the essential attribute of Marxism, its most distinctive character, and the principle and basis for all practical activities of a proletarian party. Adhering to the "people-centered" approach and "putting the people first" are the distinctive features and fundamental value orientations of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
Satisfying the people's needs for ecological well-being. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization treats the ecological environment as a major social issue related to the people's livelihood and well-being. It takes responding to the thoughts, expectations, and urgent needs of the people—providing more high-quality ecological products to continuously satisfy the people’s ever-growing need for a beautiful ecological environment—as the fundamental purpose of vigorously promoting ecological civilization construction. Under the guidance of this thought, various regions across China have persisted in benefiting the people through ecology, taking the resolution of prominent ecological and environmental problems as a priority area for improving people's livelihoods. They have concentrated efforts to tackle prominent ecological problems around the people, allowing the masses to have a greater sense of gain, happiness, and security through the improvement of the ecological environment.
Achieving the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Building an ecological civilization is not only about satisfying the current needs of the masses for a good environment, but also about leaving sufficient space for future green and sustainable development. China's environmental capacity is limited, its ecosystems are fragile, and the structural, root-cause, and trend pressures on ecological protection have not yet been fundamentally alleviated. Ecological civilization construction is still in a critical period where pressures overlap and progress requires heavy lifting. This requires new concepts to guide ecological construction and promote the realization of a modernization characterized by harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, standing at the height of maintaining national ecological security, the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and responsibility for human civilization, places the construction of a Beautiful China in a prominent position in building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation. It follows a path of civilized development featuring advanced production, affluent living, and a sound ecosystem, striving to leave a beautiful home with blue skies, green land, and clear water for future generations, thereby creating the conditions for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.
Building a community of all life on Earth. The Earth is the shared home of humanity. Faced with global ecological problems such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and environmental pollution, humanity should face them together and pull together in the same boat. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization takes "jointly building a community of all life on Earth" as an important component of building a "community with a shared future for humanity." It adheres to multilateralism and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, striving to promote the construction of a global environmental governance system that is fair, rational, and characterized by win-win cooperation, to jointly meet the challenges of global ecological issues and build a clean and beautiful world. This vast and profound "concern for all under heaven" (Tianxia qinghuai) greatly expands the breadth and depth of the people-centered nature of the ideology. Therefore, the people-centered nature manifested in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is both a people-centeredness of the "unity of heaven and man" [4] and a people-centeredness of the "Great Unity of all under heaven" [5].