Striving to enter the "kingdom of freedom" in Chinese-style modernization

【Reading Classics and Learning Theories】

Author: Dong Biao (Researcher, Institute of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Peking University)

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "it is necessary to further strengthen theoretical research and practical exploration, so that our understanding, policies and measures are more in line with objective laws, so as to gradually enter the 'kingdom of freedom' of Chinese-style modernization." The "kingdom of freedom" is an important proposition put forward by Marx and Engels in the process of systematically exploring the theory of human emancipation, which refers to the fact that on the basis of mastering the laws of social development and promoting the high development of material production, human beings will transcend the domination of blind forces in the natural world and the social field and realize the free and comprehensive development of human beings, which has profound epistemology, historical outlook and anthropological implications. It is of great significance for us to deeply grasp the ideological connotation and practical requirements of the "Kingdom of Freedom" to clarify the ideal pursuit and historical mission of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to further promote Chinese-style modernization by comprehensively deepening reform.

"The kingdom of freedom" means that the laws are "skillfully applied"

Laws are the essential, inevitable, and objective connections contained in and between things, and cannot be created or eliminated without being subject to human will. When people do not understand the law, the law governs people by external inevitability, and people's activities are blind and passive. On the contrary, if people can fully understand the law and can make it serve people's purpose in a planned way, human activity is conscious and active. Engels pointed out that freedom is the understanding of necessity, and "the more free a person is in judging a certain issue, the greater the inevitability of the content of this judgment." Nature has its laws, and so does human society. The difference lies in the fact that the former is an objective existence completely independent of man's subjective consciousness, while the latter arises from man's activities, and the play of its role and the realization of its historical inevitability are inseparable from the play of man's subjective initiative. On the other hand, the exercise of people's subjective initiative must not violate the laws of society, otherwise they will be punished. Only by scientifically understanding the inevitability of historical development can mankind realize consciousness and grasp the initiative in the activities of transforming society. The establishment of the kingdom of freedom is to let the social laws that were originally generated by human activities be skillfully used by the people, and thus will be subject to the control of the people, so as to realize the unity of the regularity and purpose of social development. Historical materialism and the theory of surplus value have revealed the general laws of the development of human society and the special laws of capitalist operation, realized the leap of socialism from utopian to scientific, and pointed out the correct path for the transition from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom.

After the establishment of the socialist system, mankind's consciousness of understanding and transforming the world has been further enhanced. However, the replacement of capitalism by socialism is a long-term process, and people's understanding and application of the corresponding laws cannot be accomplished in one go. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "There must be a process for understanding the laws governing the construction of socialism. We must proceed from practice, from having no experience to having experience, from having less experience to having more experience, from building socialism, which is an unrecognized kingdom of necessity, to gradually overcoming blindness, understanding objective laws, and thus gaining freedom, so as to make a leap in understanding and reach the kingdom of freedom." Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our party has continued to explore on the existing basis, successfully promoted and expanded Chinese-style modernization, and initially built a theoretical system of Chinese-style modernization. This theoretical system not only follows the general law of world modernization, but also conforms to the specific reality of China's modernization drive, and is an important achievement of theoretical and practical innovation. At the same time, Chinese-style modernization is an unprecedented undertaking, and exploring and applying the corresponding laws requires even more arduous efforts. We must adhere to the guidance of historical materialism and the concept of big history, further deepen our understanding of the laws governing the development of human society, socialist construction, and the ruling of the Communist Party, more effectively grasp the laws governing the construction of the socialist market economy, the development of people's democracy, the construction of socialist culture, the development of people's livelihood and social construction, and the construction of socialist ecological civilization, scientifically formulate various principles, policies, and methods, and promote the relations of production and productive forces, the superstructure, and the economic foundation. National governance and social development should be better adapted, and the consciousness and initiative of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization should be enhanced.

The "kingdom of freedom" exists "beyond the realm of real material production"

The transformation of the kingdom of necessity into the kingdom of freedom is the result of the development of material production and the evolution of social forms. Marx and Engels pointed out that "in order to be able to 'create history,' people must be able to live," and material production activities are "the basic conditions of all history." Therefore, in order for human society to achieve progress, it is inseparable from the effective promotion and reasonable control of material production. In pre-capitalist societies, the material exchange between man and nature was limited to the use of things that could be directly consumed in nature, and human production activities were obviously compulsorily governed by natural environmental factors such as land. In capitalist society, human material production activities began to break through regional restrictions, but because the power of capital enveloped the entire social production, human activities were alienated into tools for capital multiplication, and human existence fell into deeper control of economic inevitability. The existence of capitalism is not eternal, "within a bourgeois society based on exchange value, there are relations of exchange and production, which at the same time are mines that blow up this society". With the development of the productive forces, the contradiction between socialized large-scale production and capitalist private ownership of the means of production is deepening day by day, and capitalism will inevitably be replaced by socialism. As Marx pointed out, the kingdom of freedom "exists beyond the realm of real material production by the nature of things".

The kingdom of freedom is built on the other side of material production, but it does not mean that it is completely separated from material production, on the contrary, it needs to be supported by more developed and scientific material production. Under the conditions of socialism, since social production is organized on the basis of public ownership, the fundamental purpose of production is not to multiply capital but to satisfy the needs of the people's livelihood, and human labor and social relations have been freed from the domination of external and alien forces. Therefore, how to continuously emancipate and develop the productive forces and push the social form to a higher stage has become the essential requirement of socialism. At present, the mainland has entered a new stage of development, but the nature of the initial stage of socialism has not changed, and the contradiction of unbalanced and inadequate development is still prominent. To this end, it is necessary to focus on consolidating the material foundation of Chinese-style modernization, explore production relations, especially forms of ownership, that are suited to the development of productive forces, unswervingly consolidate and develop the public economy, and unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public economy. Establish a high-level socialist market economic system, give full play to the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources, and give better play to the role of the government; give full play to the positive role of capital as a factor of production, and guide the healthy and orderly development of capital; With the help of the achievements of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution, we will develop new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions, and vigorously promote the transition of Chinese-style modernization from "one shore" to "the other shore" of material production.

The "kingdom of freedom" is to achieve "the free and comprehensive development of man"

The "kingdom of freedom" is an epistemological and historical concept, but it also has profound anthropological implications. The free and all-round development of human beings is the state of existence of human beings in a communist society, and it is also the meaning of the title of "free kingdom". According to the assumption of Marx and Engels, in the future communist society, due to the joint control of the means of production by the united individuals, the highly developed social productive forces, and the great abundance of material wealth, labor will no longer be a means of livelihood, but the first need of life; The division of labor is no longer an isolated and one-sided compulsory division of labor, but serves the all-round development of human capabilities; Wealth is no longer measured by the time of human labor, but by the time of human freedom. As a result, people's material needs, especially spiritual needs, will be better satisfied, people's quality and personality will be comprehensively improved, people's social relations will be more harmonious and civilized, people will become the conscious masters of nature, society, and themselves, and human history will get rid of the "prehistoric" state and open the "real" stage of human history. Realizing human freedom and emancipation is also the goal of socialist society, which is the primary stage of communism. As Engels put it, the socialist system "will provide all people with healthy and useful work, abundant material life and leisure time for all people, and real and full freedom for all people."

The key to Chinese modernization is to adhere to the socialist road and adhere to the people-centered concept of modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the essence of modernization is the modernization of people" and "the ultimate goal of modernization is to realize the free and all-round development of people". It integrates modernization with human modernization, economic and social development, and the all-round development of human freedom, so as to connect the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the lofty ideal of communism, and profoundly embodies the lofty pursuit and mission of Chinese-style modernization. On the new journey, we should vigorously develop productive forces and promote high-quality development to meet the people's growing needs for a better life; Pay more attention to the coordinated development of material civilization and spiritual civilization, and realize the common prosperity of the people's spiritual life while realizing the common prosperity of the material life of all the people; Priority should be given to the development of education, comprehensively improving the quality of people and cultivating new people of the times; We will continue to enhance the vitality of social development and promote fairness and justice, and create more favorable conditions for everyone's personality development, ability improvement, value realization and brilliant life, so as to take a solid step towards the "kingdom of freedom" in Chinese-style modernization.

Guangming Daily (2025-04-04 07 edition)

Source: Guangming Net-Guangming Daily