Shen Zhuanghai: Profoundly Understanding the Fundamental Significance of Constructing an Independent Knowledge System in Cultural Prosperity and Development
"Accelerate the construction of an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences to better answer the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times, and strive to create a new situation for the high-quality development of philosophy and social sciences." This was emphasized in recent important instructions by General Secretary Xi Jinping on promoting the high-quality development of philosophy and social sciences. Constructing an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences is the foundation of cultural prosperity and holds great significance for seizing the strategic initiative in international cultural competition. The "15th Five-Year" Plan [1] lists "accelerating the construction of an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences" as a major measure to "stimulate the cultural innovation and creative vitality of the entire nation and to prosper and develop socialist culture." We must profoundly grasp the foundational significance of constructing an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences within the prosperity and development of culture, better shoulder our new cultural mission in the New Era, and more effectively build Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength.
The Foundational Composition of a Cultural System
Culture is the soul of a country and a nation. In the practice of cultural activities, humanity’s research and exploration of knowledge has a long history. While the use of the term "knowledge" (知识 zhīshi) by ancient Chinese people differed from its modern meaning, the connotations of words such as "knowing/knowledge" (zhī), "wisdom" (zhì), and "learning/scholarship" (xuewèn) are quite similar to the modern understanding of knowledge. For example, "attaining knowledge lies in the investigation of things" [2]; "that by which a person knows is called the capacity for knowledge, and when knowledge tallies [with reality] it is called wisdom" [3]; and "that which the wise seek is learning" [4]. Marxist epistemology elucidates the internal connection between knowledge and practice, positing that knowledge is the sum of understanding and experience acquired by people through social practice. An organic whole composed of various types of knowledge according to internal logic, disciplinary structures, and practical functions constitutes a knowledge system.
A knowledge system concerns the formation, development, and continuity of a cultural system. In daily life, "knowledge" and "culture" are sometimes used interchangeably; it is often thought that if a person has knowledge, they have culture. Although this lacks a profound grasp of the nuances, it vividly demonstrates the foundational position of the knowledge system within the cultural system. The knowledge system within a given cultural system is both the core essence of that culture’s developmental achievements and the key skeleton supporting its further evolution. Rooted in the historical traditions and realistic practices of a country and nation, a knowledge system fully absorbs the nutrients of cultural development. Through original, vivid, rich, and systematic theoretical knowledge, it centrally manifests the thinking capacity, spiritual character, and civilizational quality of a cultural community. By summarizing the core traits and spiritual nucleus of a cultural system at a high theoretical level, it serves as an important hallmark of a cultural system's maturity. Knowledge systems undertake vital functions such as interpreting history, summarizing laws, and shaping values, providing core support and a powerful impetus for the cultural system to advance with the times and uphold the fundamentals and break new ground.
A Foundational Condition for Cultural Prosperity and Development
Cultural prosperity is a distinct manifestation of a cultural system’s vitality and an inevitable requirement for a cultural system to fulfill its role as a "soul." Cultural prosperity is reflected not only in the tremendous increase in the quantity and quality of cultural products and services but, more importantly, in ensuring that ideas are sustainable, values are stable, discourse is coherent, and the spirit has firm roots. Achieving cultural prosperity requires the joint support of various conditions, including the economic base, institutional guarantees, and technological transformation. Among these many conditions, constructing an autonomous knowledge system for philosophy and social sciences is a foundational condition because it can establish cultural subjectivity, provide a theoretical core, fortify cultural roots, and consolidate the foundation of the subject.
Spiritual initiative and independence are the deepest and most lasting sources of power for cultural prosperity. Guided by Marxism—particularly the latest achievements in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism—and based on Chinese historical traditions and realistic practices, the autonomous knowledge system of Chinese philosophy and social sciences is a high-level knowledge-based condensation of the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Constructing this autonomous knowledge system, while persisting in taking the Chinese standpoint, Chinese problems, and Chinese practice as the foundation and establishing cultural subjectivity, can enhance cultural self-awareness, increase cultural confidence, strengthen cultural identity, and solidify ideological consensus. This provides solid spiritual support and inexhaustible spiritual power for cultural prosperity. Engels said: "A nation that wants to stand at the pinnacle of science cannot for a moment do without theoretical thinking." Only deep ideological and theoretical prosperity can support the formation of more cultural works of depth and height.
Constructing an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences can prepare the theoretical ground for cultural prosperity, providing ideological guidance, academic support, and methodological direction, thus offering deep intellectual resources for cultural activities. Cultural prosperity is not "water without a source or a tree without roots" [5]; it must take root in its own civilizational traditions. Constructing this autonomous knowledge system—integrating the essence of Marxist thought with the cream of fine traditional Chinese culture and conducting creative transformation and innovative development of the spiritual resources and rich wisdom of the Chinese nation—can fortify the roots and foundation for cultural prosperity. Cultural prosperity is inseparable from broadly stimulating the innovation and creative vitality of the entire nation, and from cultivating a large-scale, rationally structured, and pioneering team of high-level cultural talents. All of this relies on the transmission, study, and mastery of knowledge in philosophy and social sciences. Constructing an autonomous knowledge system can systematically cultivate the cognitive, practical, and innovative abilities of cultural subjects, improve national cultural literacy, and consolidate the subjective foundation of cultural prosperity.
For a country or nation to climb the heights of culture, it must possess a mature and systematic autonomous knowledge system. We must persist in taking the Party's innovative theories as guidance, focusing on the systematic and academic research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We must scientifically answer major theoretical and practical questions concerning Chinese-path modernization, strengthen exchanges and cooperation across various disciplines of philosophy and social sciences, and accelerate the construction of an autonomous knowledge system. The pioneering undertakings and world-renowned achievements of China in the New Era are the "living source waters" [6] for this construction. We must further answer the major theoretical and practical questions of Chinese-path modernization, deeply explain the internal logic of China's development toward newness and excellence, summarize and refine regular understandings, deeply study the major issues facing our country's development, and constantly cultivate new growth points for disciplines and academic fields, thereby promoting the development of various disciplines and the overall development of Chinese philosophy and social sciences.
The Foundational Support for Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning
The progress of human civilization is inseparable from cultural exchange and mutual learning. In the current era, the exchange, integration, and confrontation of various ideas and cultures worldwide are becoming increasingly frequent. Furthermore, they are gradually moving from superficial displays of cultural symbols, dissemination of cultural works, and borrowing of cultural forms toward deeper civilizational dialogues, value communications, and intellectual collisions. In this context, constructing an autonomous knowledge system for philosophy and social sciences becomes the foundational support for promoting various cultural systems to participate in cultural exchange and mutual learning in a more equal, autonomous, open, and sustainable manner.
Cultural exchange emphasizes seeking deep-level civilizational dialogue, value integration, and spiritual resonance. The mutual learning between different cultures is, in essence, an exchange based on their respective original and systematic knowledge systems, which inevitably involves the dissemination and fusion of knowledge. Whether a culture can stand firm, win respect, and exert lasting influence in such exchanges depends on whether it possesses an autonomous and mature knowledge system. Lacking such a system, a culture can only passively accept, simply repeat, or blindly follow others in cultural exchanges. It would be unable to establish the subjective status required for equal dialogue, unable to rationally identify and critically absorb foreign cultures using its own cognitive framework, and even less likely to provide beneficial inspiration to other civilizations. Such cultural exchange not only fails to benefit the outward dissemination of one's own culture but may even lead to losing one's way amidst cultural turbulence—being assimilated, dissolved, and losing cultural subjectivity. Therefore, we must open our academic horizons, uphold a concern for humanity, and construct an autonomous knowledge system for philosophy and social sciences that possesses both Chinese characteristics and international consensus. We must use the persuasiveness, explanatory power, and communicative power of this autonomous system to enhance the attraction, charisma, and influence of Chinese culture.
Since the beginning of the New Era, we have persisted in self-confidence, self-reliance, openness, and inclusiveness, conducting fruitful explorations and achieving rich results in cultural exchange and mutual learning. At the same time, we must clearly see that we still face dilemmas such as cultural dissemination remaining at the level of superficial symbols, and cultural characteristics being misinterpreted or dissolved. The deep-seated reason is that our subjectivity, originality, persuasiveness, explanatory power, and communicative power in terms of the knowledge system need further improvement. This requires us to accelerate the construction of an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences and create new concepts, categories, and expressions that are easily understood and accepted by the international community. Meanwhile, the successful practice of Chinese-path modernization and China's responsibility as a major power in the international community have caused more and more countries to turn their eyes toward China, eager to understand the Chinese path, draw upon Chinese wisdom, and find development solutions suited to their own national conditions. This similarly requires us to be adept at interpreting Chinese practice and constructing Chinese theory—to tell the "reason" (theory) well while telling the "story" well. Through "China in academia," "China in theory," and "China in philosophy and social sciences," we shall contribute Chinese wisdom to solving common human problems and promoting the progress of human civilization.