Lin Shangli: Deepening Engagement with Vast Chinese Scenarios and Expanding Chinese Studies
China Studies is a comprehensive discipline researching China, covering numerous fields such as history, culture, society, and economy; it serves as an important window for knowing, recognizing, and understanding China. The theme of the Second World Conference on China Studies, "Historical China and Contemporary China from a Global Perspective," profoundly confirms the breadth of China Studies in connecting the past and the present, as well as its depth in exploring the civilizational connotations of the Chinese path and excavating the global value of that path.
As China Studies increasingly becomes an international xuexian [1] (prominent field of study), we feel ever more strongly in practice that: divorced from the "Chinese scene," any narrative about China risks becoming "viewing the scenery from the opposite bank." To expand China Studies research, the scholarly approach lies in grounding oneself in Chinese soil and going deep into the Chinese scene. Only by embedding research into the triple scenes of a five-thousand-year continuous civilization, a super-large-scale society, and socialism with Chinese characteristics can we produce Chinese knowledge that truly reads, explains, and benefits humanity. Here, I would like to center on the theme of "Deepening the Vast Chinese Scene and Expanding China Studies Research" to offer several reflections and suggestions on the development of China Studies in the New Era.
First, grasp the temporal scene of China Studies research through the inheritance and development of over five thousand years of civilization. This ancient land of China has nurtured a magnificent Chinese civilization which, having undergone the baptism of wind and rain for over five thousand years, remains radiant today. Grounded in the rich soil of Chinese civilization, China Studies research will obtain a continuous stream of research topics and ideological resources; this is the temporal coordinate, the value baseline, and the source of innovation for China Studies. Two years ago, President Xi Jinping, in his congratulatory letter to the first World Conference on China Studies, pointed out from a height of strategic perspective that "China Studies is the study of historical China as well as the study of contemporary China," and that "only by tracing the historical source can one understand the real world, and only by following the cultural roots can one identify today's China." China Studies must research contemporary Chinese politics, economy, and society, but also ancient Chinese language, philosophy, and culture—particularly the influence of Chinese philosophy and culture on contemporary Chinese development. Only by connecting the past and present, tracing the origins of historical China, identifying the development of today's China, and reflecting upon and seeking the future destiny of humanity, can we continuously provide Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to solve the problems of the times.
Second, grasp the spatial scene of China Studies research within the background of the governance and prosperity of a super-large-scale country. Today's "Chinese miracle" is a systemic and holistic great achievement. I believe it is prominently reflected in three aspects: first, high-speed economic development; second, the long-term harmony and stability of a super-large-scale society; and third, the excellent and effective nature of state governance. These three perspectives together constitute an observable, verifiable, and comparable "spatial scene" for China Studies. First, the economic dimension provides the largest scale of continuous data: a population of over 1.4 billion and a GDP exceeding 130 trillion yuan mean that the micro-level effects of any industrial policy can be rapidly amplified and presented quantitatively, contributing a rare "large-sample laboratory" for development economics and industrial economics. Second, the social dimension presents order within difference: from coastal megacities to border villages in the west, 660,000 urban and rural communities operate under the same legal framework; the flow of people, information, and logistics interact with high frequency within a unified market, yet maintain overall safety and order. Finally, the governance dimension’s five-level chain of major decision-making—"Central-Province-City-County-Township"—provides political science and policy science the opportunity to test governance effectiveness on a "major-country scale." The coexistence of and mutual support between economic magnitude, social scale, and governance granularity are precisely what China, as a super-large-scale country, offers to global China Studies as a unique spatial scene.
Third, grasp the ecological scene of China Studies research through socialism with Chinese characteristics. What contemporary China is currently writing is the most magnificent chapter of modernization in human history. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the kangzhuang dadao [2] (broad and level road) for China to catch up with the times in great strides and lead the development of the era. The ecological scene of China Studies does not lie in abstract principles, but within the "living experience" woven from the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. For example, the multi-layered institutional architecture—including Party leadership, the system of People's Congresses, multi-party cooperation and political consultation, regional ethnic autonomy, and primary-level community-level self-governance—contributes continuous samples of "large-country governance" to political science and public administration. Institutional operations are nested within history and culture; the interaction model between central coordination and local innovation contains the traditional governance logic of "the affairs are in the four quarters, but the essentials reside in the center" [3]. The wide application of consultative democracy continues the Confucian gene of "harmony without uniformity" [4]. Observing socialism with Chinese characteristics enriching and developing in Chinese soil, bursting with vigorous vitality, can both verify the applicable boundaries of existing theories and refine new analytical frameworks, providing a normative, transparent, and replicable research paradigm for global governance studies.
It is thus clear that the new form of human civilization is not an abstract concept, but the concentrated manifestation of Chinese civilization, Chinese society, and socialism with Chinese characteristics in the current era. When China uses original categories such as "whole-process people's democracy," "Chinese-path modernization," and "a community with a shared future for humanity" to engage in dialogue with the world, China Studies is no longer just "object research," but should become "theoretical co-construction"; it no longer merely answers "what is China," but should deeply explore "what kind of new civilizational form China can provide for humanity." The Chinese-path modernization and the new form of human civilization created by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people are both realistic samples that China Studies must face directly and important breakthroughs for China Studies to participate in global academic competition and contribute universal knowledge. It will open new paths, provide new choices, and contribute new wisdom to the development of human civilization, letting the world see that China is not only an ancient civilization in history, but also an active participant, promoter, and leader of civilizational development in the current era.
China Studies concerns not only academia but also the future of humanity. I look forward to our joint efforts, with a more open mindset, a more pragmatic style, and more innovative thinking, to go deep into the Chinese scene, promote the continuous forward development of China Studies, and strive for the construction of a better world.