Building an independent knowledge system for Chinese humanities and economics
2026-02-04
General Secretary Xi Jinping, based on the practical examples of China's humanistic economic development, proposed that "in places where culture is highly developed, the economy still leads the way. We can study the humanistic economics in this area. As China embarks on a new journey towards building a socialist modernized country, the practice of economic development is increasingly demonstrating its uniqueness and complexity, which cannot be fully explained and guided by existing Western economic theories. In this context, as an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the relationship between economic systems and humanistic values, the construction of its independent knowledge system is particularly urgent and of profound significance. The profound necessity of building an independent knowledge system for Chinese humanities and economics is not a temporary academic slogan, but stems from profound historical needs and theoretical dilemmas, and has unquestionable historical and logical inevitability. One is to break through the paradigm limitation of Western mainstream economics, which is to see things but not people. Western mainstream economics is increasingly exposing its inherent flaws and historical limitations: abstracting people as homogeneous "rational economic agents", simplifying the market into a pure price mechanism, and making economic growth the highest or even the only goal. This "material oriented" paradigm often falls into the dilemma of "explanatory poverty" and "lack of values" when explaining and responding to complex problems in the real world. It is difficult to fully accommodate the profound shaping of economic behavior by non economic factors such as culture, ethics, social structure, and historical traditions, and cannot effectively answer fundamental questions about human development such as happiness, fairness, and meaning. The primary necessity of building an independent knowledge system for Chinese humanities and economics lies in breaking the monopoly of this single paradigm, placing "people" back at the center of economic analysis, focusing on their comprehensive development, spiritual well-being, cultural identity, and value realization, thus forming a more inclusive, explanatory, and humanistic economic paradigm. The second is to respond to the unique humanistic demands of Chinese path to modernization. Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development. This means that economic development cannot be achieved at the expense of social equity, spiritual home, and ecological environment, but rather at the organic unity of economic efficiency and social justice, material wealth and spiritual prosperity, and human development and nature conservation. This unique value ranking and development logic is a complete solution that Western modernization and its derivative economic theories have not provided. For example, how to achieve "common prosperity" in a super large country not only involves technical adjustments in income distribution, but also relates to the optimization of social structure, smooth social mobility, and the modern activation of cultural concepts such as "the world is for all". Economics serving Chinese path to modernization must be able to deeply understand and systematically interpret the "humanistic economics" code contained therein. Therefore, building an independent knowledge system is a practical need to ensure that the practice of Chinese path to modernization has scientific theoretical guidance and avoid theoretical "aphasia" and "lost" on the road. The third is the inevitable discipline that promotes innovation in economic knowledge and methodology. The development history of economics itself is a history of paradigm revolution and methodological evolution. Building an independent knowledge system of Chinese humanities and economics will inject new vitality into the development of global economics and provide wisdom from the East. It requires researchers to not only be satisfied with the introduction, verification, or partial revision of Western theories, but also to engage in original concept creation, theoretical modeling, and discourse expression. In terms of methodology, it advocates breaking down the barriers between economics and other social sciences and humanities, and promoting interdisciplinary and multi method integrated research. We should not only use rigorous quantitative analysis to grasp the objective laws of economic phenomena, but also introduce methods such as historical analysis, philosophical speculation, field investigations, and case studies to deeply explore the cultural motivations, ethical judgments, and institutional backgrounds behind economic behavior. This deep dialogue between "humanities" and "economics" can not only enrich the research toolbox of economics, but also potentially give rise to new research paradigms and analytical perspectives. The solid foundation and possibility for building an independent knowledge system of Chinese humanities and economics. Building an independent knowledge system is not a castle in the air, but is based on profound historical and cultural accumulation, rich contemporary practical achievements, and unprecedented opportunities of the times. One is the rich economic ideological foundation in excellent traditional Chinese culture. The economic ideas in excellent traditional Chinese culture have distinct humanistic characteristics. For example, Confucianism emphasizes the distinction between righteousness and benefit, advocating for "thinking of righteousness in the face of profit" and "being rich and noble despite injustice, like floating clouds to me", establishing the ethical boundaries of economic activities; Advocating for "enriching the people" and "not fearing scarcity but fearing inequality" embodies the simple idea of common prosperity. Taoism advocates the principle of "following the way of nature" and promotes a peaceful and natural economic governance approach, reflecting profound ecological wisdom. The concept of 'knowledge of etiquette through solid granaries, knowledge of honor and disgrace through adequate food and clothing' dialectically expounds the relationship between material foundation and spiritual civilization. Sima Qian not only recorded rich commercial activities in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Commodity Colonization", but also affirmed the human nature of pursuing wealth, and emphasized the social responsibilities of "taking it in a proper way", "teaching it when rich", and "practicing virtue when rich". These ideas consider economic issues within a broad social, ethical, and cosmological context, providing valuable intellectual resources for today's reflection on the relationship between economic development and comprehensive human development, social harmony, and nature conservation, and enabling its independent construction to have a profound historical and cultural foundation. The second is the rich experience of China's great economic development practice. Since the reform and opening up, the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability created by China have provided the most vivid and rich experience materials for building an independent knowledge system. This magnificent process, with its inherent driving mechanism, unique path selection, effective policy combination, and valuable experience accumulated in dealing with various risks and challenges, constitutes a huge "theoretical rich mine". Whether it is the organic combination of "efficient market" and "proactive government" in macroeconomic regulation, or the coordinated development of the national system for concentrating efforts on major issues and stimulating the vitality of micro entities in industrial development, there are a large number of "Chinese experiences" and "Chinese solutions" that have not been fully summarized and refined by existing theories. It is entirely possible to generate a set of humanistic economic concepts, theories, and discourse systems with Chinese characteristics, reflecting Chinese wisdom and laws by systematically and logically summarizing, generalizing, and sublimating these practical experiences. The third is the historical window of theoretical innovation provided by the new development stage. Currently, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is deepening, and the global economic development model and international economic order are facing profound adjustments. At the same time, the global challenges brought about by solely pursuing GDP growth, such as increasing inequality, ecological crisis, and spiritual emptiness, have prompted the international community to deeply reflect on the purpose and mode of development. This provides a historic opportunity to propose new development theories and economic theories. In this context, China's new development concept of "innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing", as well as major strategic ideas such as "promoting high-quality development" and "creating new forms of human civilization", are themselves full of the brilliance of humanistic economics. Seizing the opportunity of this era, responding to the questions of the times, and building an independent knowledge system of Chinese humanities and economics is not only possible, but also timely. After recognizing the necessity and possibility of building an independent knowledge system for Chinese humanities and economics, the key is to explore a practical and feasible path for construction. This requires clear guiding principles, activation of ideological resources, deep cultivation of practical soil, and innovative research methods. Firstly, adhere to the guidance of Marxist materialist conception of history. To build an independent knowledge system of Chinese humanities and economics, we must firmly adhere to the fundamental guiding position of Marxism. The Marxist materialist conception of history scientifically reveals the laws of contradictory movements between the economic base and superstructure, productive forces and production relations, providing us with the broadest and most profound analytical framework for understanding the complex interactive relationship between economic phenomena and factors such as humanities, society, and politics. It emphasizes that the essence of human beings is the sum of all social relations in their reality, which lays a solid philosophical foundation for us to go beyond the one-sided assumption of "rational economic man" and study human economic behavior and its humanistic attributes under specific social and historical conditions. At the same time, we must adhere to the combination of the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific realities and with China's excellent traditional culture. The fundamental path to building an autonomous knowledge system is the combination of the two. It requires us to use Marxist positions, views and methods to examine and refine China's practical experience, activate and recreate the essence of economic thought in China's excellent traditional culture, make it adapt to modern economic society and coordinate with scientific development, so as to form an innovative theory that faces the future and leads the era. Secondly, to achieve creative transformation and innovative development of economic ideas in excellent traditional Chinese culture. When dealing with traditional cultural resources, we cannot adopt a simple "appropriation" approach, but should provide modern and academic interpretations of traditional concepts and propositions. For example, the Confucian concept of "righteousness and benefit" can be transformed into an important category of modern corporate social responsibility theory and business ethics; Developing the concept of "common prosperity" from a social ideal into a systematic theoretical support for income distribution, social security, and rural revitalization strategies; Concretize the ecological wisdom of "harmony between heaven and man" into an ecological economic model that guides green, low-carbon, and circular development. Through rigorous academic work, we will sort out the development trajectory of economic thought in excellent traditional Chinese culture, extract its core categories and theoretical hard core, and present it in modern academic language and internationally recognized expression methods, so as to elevate it from a hidden and fragmented spark of thought to a systematic and logically consistent theoretical system, and truly integrate and nourish the knowledge construction of contemporary humanistic economics. Thirdly, deepen the systematic summary and theoretical improvement of contemporary Chinese economic development practices. The vitality of theory lies in observing reality. Building an independent knowledge system must be deeply rooted in the vivid practice of the Chinese land. Avoid vague deduction from concept to concept, but rather "come from practice and go to practice". Researchers need to uphold the academic spirit of 'writing papers on the land of our motherland', delve into the front lines of reform, opening up, and modernization construction, and conduct solid field investigations and case studies. Focus on in-depth interpretation and theoretical abstraction of key mechanisms and typical facts in China's development. By narrating the "Chinese story" in a logical and systematic manner, a series of distinctive concepts and principles are formed, and their internal logic and operating rules are elucidated, gradually building the basic framework of China's independent knowledge system of humanistic economics. Fourth, promote interdisciplinary integration and discourse system construction. The inherent nature of humanistic economics determines that its research must break down disciplinary barriers and promote the deep cross integration of economics, sociology, history, philosophy, ethics, cultural studies, and even environmental science. Encourage the formation of interdisciplinary research teams to jointly tackle major theoretical and practical problems. In terms of research methods, it is necessary to achieve
Edit:Luoyu Responsible editor:Jiajia
Source:studytimes.cn
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email:lwxsd@liaowanghn.com