The Chinese Dream and the New Human Civilization
Chen Xueming, Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Fudan University, President of China Institute of Overseas Contemporary Marxist Studies
Abstract
The Chinese people are now striving for the realization of the Chinese Dream, which can be characterized by the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. But first, the questions regarding what this rejuvenation is must be answered Obviously, it does not only mean doubling GDP, though doubling GDP is the foundation of the dream;there is more to that. During the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC, the “Chinese Dream of achieving rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation” was declared as synonymous with “building a prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and modern socialist country”. This means that only when China enters a state of prosperity, democracy, civilization and harmony can we say the Chinese nation has been “rejuvenated”. If we take a look at how China has become the world’s second largest economy, how China has reduced the cost of the industrialization process as compared with Western industrialized countries, how China has shared its prosperity with all of its citizenry, how China has focused on democracy, social stability and all-round development of society while promoting economic progress, how China has put political development, cultural development, social development and ecological development on its political agenda in addition to economic development, how China has focused on cultural development and prosperity while achieving the goal of building a moderately prosperous society, and how China has shaped the socialist values while meeting the material needs of its people, then one may understand what has and will happen in China and also come to know the essence of the Chinese Dream--achieving the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation. Once China has entered such state and has been “rejuvenated”, a new human civilization will have come into shape upon the ancient landscape of China. Realities have shown the human race that civilization is now at a historical turning point. The inequality between people is increasing, the ecological system for sustaining mankind is being overstretched and the human race is increasingly taxing the natural world. All of these factors tell us that mankind needs a new civilization. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will have meaning in the history of the world only if China makes contributions on the challenges faced by mankind today and if China has found a path for creating a new human civilization. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will mark the birth of a new civilization; therefore, the realization of the Chinese Dream will have profound meaning for the world at large.
