Thinking about the Future, Reinventing Civilization

An Introduction to the Website “China: History and Future”

(This is the translation of the Introduction published in May)

Today is May Fourth! We are launching our website to preserve and continue the one hundred years of an ongoing process!

In 1919 World War I had just ended, an event cutting human history, for both China and the world, into two phases -- before and after. Thereafter began a turbulent century that has continued to this very day, when disaster has been accompanied with hope and barbarism has coexisted with humanism.

Having stepped onto the international stage following the Great War, because of diverse internal and external reasons China did not complete its construction process to become a modern state. The coming of May Fourth was the result of the earlier cultural movement for which Chinese intellectuals spared no efforts. At the same time, it also brought the decline of the movement aimed at thought and culture.

Intensified by war and turmoil, political slogans gradually replaced academic analysis and ideology rejected serious studies and ideas. After the arrival of a dictatorial period in terms of both thought and politics, the spirit of the New Culture Movement disappeared and silence replaced intellectual discussions.

One hundred years have now passed and the COVID pandemic is sweeping the world. It is bringing consequences as serious as a new world war, and both China and the world are at a major turning point.

The big wave of globalization of the last decades is declining as various debates are arising again, conflicts among the social classes are deepening, and geopolitical disputes are soaring. But new lifestyles and new cultural ideas are also appearing.
At present, no one is able to foresee exactly what will happen in the future -- Will the light of happiness and liberty shine? What should the Chinese do in the face of this uncertain future?

For two centuries, the transition to Chinese modernity made substantial progress. It is now a long time since we left that old coast, but we are still searching for a new lighthouse in the dark and windy ocean.

The continuous emergence of cultural nostalgia has never been able to point the way for the future of the nation. Mao’s utopian model ended in failure, Deng’s reforms, which partially rejected Mao’s model, even though they brought some developments to China, have now encountered colossal obstacles because of intrinsic problems.

Just as during the « New Culture-May Fourth » period, we now have to reflect on the modern transition of Chinese civilization. But unlike then, we also need to ponder over the transition of the existing reforms and reinvent the system. This complex and difficult dual transition requires innovative thinking to create a new future.

May Fourth has faded away, but the « New Culture » has not fully taken root in China. We probably should not be as romantic as the intellectuals of that era, but we should not abandon their courage to criticize and their consciousness of social responsibility. We should learn from their mistakes, the simplistic and strained interpretations in their theoretical introductions, but we have to continue to raise their banner of « Democracy and Science. » To this banner, we should clearly add the word « liberty » to demonstrate our reflections on the difficult journey of the last century and our more profound understanding of modernity. With these fundamental ideas, we can engage discussions about China’s future institutions based on the experience of the last century and about the path we should take to reveal our maturity, thereby contributing to a successful transition.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the world was largely imagined, blurred, and distant in the eyes of the Chinese. Now the world is one in which the Chinese are active. China, as a globalized country, is taking part and interacting closely with the world.

But a systematic, profound, and exact understanding of the outside world remains an arduous task for the Chinese. Some old problems still have not yet been resolved and new challenges are constantly appearing –- including environmental, climate, digital, biological, technological, and global governance challenges. These challenges are all closely related to China’s own transition, testing our sense of responsibility, courage, imagination, and capacity to learn.

As a result, information flows, freedom of discussion, and control of power have all now become important. Profound research and thinking can produce the cornerstones for the reconstruction of Chinese civilization; positive thinking and academic dialogue, and absorbing the wisdom of others, are indeed important conditions for enhancing people’s mutual understanding and for making a smooth transition in China.

From 1919 to 2020 immense changes have taken place in China, and the vicissitudes of life have changed dramatically. From now on, the crises and ups and downs of the nation cannot be falsely imputed to others. Instead, they depend on the choice of the Chinese people themselves. This will be the most important criterion to measure whether the thinking of Chinese intellectuals has been raised to another level to go beyond a unique national conception and frameworkand to take a universal human position on China and the world.

During this period when the future is unclear, crises are occurring endlessly, and an imperious and nontolerant atmosphere is again being extended, we continue to call for liberty, reason, and tolerance. For the dignity, rights, and happiness of every Chinese and for the peace, prosperity, and human civilization of the world, we should think about the future, reinvent our civilization, and contribute to mankind.

Editorial Committee

Chief Editor

Lun ZHANG

Members of the Editorial Committee:

(For various reasons, only foreign editorial members are temporarily listed)

Guanzhong Wen: PhD, University of Chicago, Professor of Trinity College, USA

Ke Wang: PhD, University of Tokyo, Professor, Kobe University, Japan

Chenggang Xu: PhD, Harvard University, Honorary Professor of the University of Hong Kong, Researcher of the European Economic Policy Center

Guoguang Wu: Ph.D., Princeton University, Professor, Victoria University, Canada

Minxin Pei: PhD, Harvard University, Professor of Clermont College, USA

Wei Zhang: Ph.D., University of Oxford, former director of China Economic Research Center, University of Cambridge, Senior Lecturer

Lun Zhang: Ph.D. Ecole des Social Sciences in Paris, CY Cergy-Paris University, France, Professor of the French "Institute of Global Studies" FMSH