Chinese civilization is the only civilization in the world that has continued in the form of a state to this day. It is also a civilization that has inwardly coalesced into a super-large-scale community. With its self-contained views on the universe, nature, life, the state, society, and the world, Chinese civilization is a complex, evolving community. Throughout its development, it has embraced diverse influences and radiated its brilliance to all corners of the world, significantly impacting other civilizations.

Chinese civilization inherently contains elements of modernity and drivers for modern transformation. When confronted with the challenge of Western-style modernization, China neither simply adopted foreign models of modernization nor became subordinated to the Western-dominated world system. Instead, it responded autonomously under Western impact, advancing a civilizational modernization and pioneering a new path of Chinese modernization.

Archaeologists view cultural relics discovered from Liangzhu ruins at the Liangzhu Museum in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo from CNS)

Civilizational Modernization

In the transition of human societies from traditional to modern forms, three types of modernization have emerged.

The first is dominant modernization, whereby Western civilization, through conquest and colonization, propelled itself to become the globally dominant civilization. The second is dependent modernization, adopted by most countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, which lacked endogenous capacity for modernization and could only transform by wholly accepting Western models. The third is civilizational modernization, pursued by a few countries with ancient and long civilizational traditions that demonstrated strong civilizational resilience when encountering the impact of Western-style modernization.

Different from dependent modernization, civilizational modernization has four characteristics:

First, it has endogenous modernity. These countries possess historical conditions for modern transformation, and under Western impact, these conditions become a perennial source of vitality rooted in their civilization for their modernization. Second, it has the civilizational subjectivity. When facing the impact of Western modernization, these countries can selectively absorb foreign cultures and internalize them into organic components of their own civilization, thereby driving their modern transformation. Third, it is an autonomous path to modernization. They can achieve innovation in modernization models, breaking through the “periphery–core” dependency structure in the process of modernization. Fourth, it creates new forms of modern civilization with universal significance, providing new experiences of modernization and contributing momentum to the progress of human modern civilization.

The Endogenous Modernity of Chinese Civilization

China’s modernization process has often been interpreted from the perspective of exogenous modernity. For instance, one paradigm posits that modernity is a product of the Great Divergence in human history, which shaped Europe’s uniqueness as the birthplace of modernity. Under the “core–periphery” structure, modernity diffused to non-Western countries, including China, bringing modernization to these nations. Another paradigm interprets China’s modernization as a response to Western impact, manifested through a series of political, economic, social, and cultural processes that dismantled traditional social structures, transforming China from a traditional society into a modern one.

Extensive historical research suggests that modernity did not originate solely from the West, challenging to a significant extent the traditional Western-centric viewpoint.

A hallmark of modern politics is democracy. In Chinese history, elements of democracy can be found in the selection of talent from common people to participate in national governance and in decision-making processes that emphasized deliberation. True democracy requires not only people’s participation in politics but also proactive government service to the people. China’s long-standing tradition of people-oriented governance can be understood as a form of “output-side democracy”, where the government serves the people, counterbalancing the Western “input-side democracy”, which focuses on people’s political participation since ancient Greece. Today, China’s whole-process people’s democracy precisely represents an organic combination of input-side and output-side democracy.

Another feature of modern politics is the rule of law. China has a long tradition of governance through law. Although its “ethical law” orientation differs from “rights-based law”, it developed a statutory system maintaining social order, which scholars refer to as the “Chinese legal tradition”. The Qin Dynasty’s “clarifying laws and statutes” laid the foundation, and codifications such as the Tang Code formed during the Sui and Tang dynasties exhibited remarkable advancements in systematic organization and logical rigor. In the 7th century, Japan sent envoys to China to study, and by absorbing the Tang legal code alongside indigenous traditions, it entered its own era of statutory law.

The technological revolution is a driver of modernization. Unlike the Western tradition of “knowledge-seeking” science, China developed a long-standing tradition of “application-seeking” technology and remained a world leader in science and technology for an extensive period. Besides the well-known “Four Great Inventions“, there were numerous contributions. In astronomy, China invented calendars that combined the solar and lunar calendars. In mathematics, there were the decimal place-value system, counting rods, the Pythagorean theorem, and the abacus. In medicine, there were the meridian system, herbology, prescription studies, and acupuncture. In agriculture, there were rice and tea cultivation. In manufacturing, there were technologies of porcelain, early firearms, and iron and steel smelting. These significant inventions and creations have profoundly influenced human civilization.

Historically, Chinese manufacturing led in multiple fields for extended periods. For example, China developed cast iron smelting and casting technology by at least the 6th century BC and, through prolonged technological development, established large-scale iron and steel smelting and processing systems, whereas Europe began using cast iron only in the 14th century. Similarly, in key areas of the European Industrial Revolution, such as papermaking, printing, textiles, and military industry, China had early technological inventions.

The seafaring revolution was a critical factor in the West’s modern transformation, yet China was a pioneer in great voyages. In the early 15th century, Zheng He led seven maritime expeditions to the Western Oceans, nearly a century earlier than the West’s Age of Discovery. His fleet included “treasure ships”, the most technologically advanced of their time, with leading technologies in sails, rudders, watertight bulkheads, and anti-roll keels.

Another important characteristic of modernity is a prosperous commodity economy. During the Song Dynasty, China entered what Japanese historian Ichisada Miyazaki termed the “canal-centered era”, characterized by the commercialization of agricultural production, refined division of labor, and the transformation of cities from the ward system of the Tang Dynasty into commercial metropolises. The “jiaozi”, which originated in Sichuan during the Northern Song Dynasty, became the world’s earliest paper currency, predating Europe by over 600 years.

Girls dressed in Hanfu tour at the 11th China Grand Canal Temple Fair, in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Jun. 15, 2024. (Photo from CNS)

Perhaps, without external impact, these endogenous elements of modernity in China might also have transformed into a modernization process. However, history cannot be assumed. Endogenous modernity does not equate to modernization, nor do endogenous modern elements equate to modern forms. China’s historical process of modernization must be understood through the interplay of endogenous modernity, exogenous modernity, and the nation’s own innovations in modernization.

Creating New Forms of Human Modern Civilization

Liang Qichao once divided the Chinese process of learning from the West and then “realizing shortcomings” into three stages: the first at the level of material objects, the second at the level of institutions, and the third at the level of culture. Today, re-examining contemporary China’s development across these three levels, material, institutional, and cultural, reveals unprecedented achievements and the creation of new forms of human modern civilization.

In terms of new forms of material civilization, China has not only completely transformed its materially backward condition since modern times but has also elevated human modern material civilization to new heights in multiple aspects. First, China has achieved the largest, longest-lasting, and fastest economic growth miracle in human history, transforming from a materially scarce nation to one of material abundance within just a few decades. Second, China has pushed human manufacturing civilization to unprecedented new heights, creating the world’s largest, most complete industrial chain system, encompassing high, medium, and low ends, capable of continuous upgrading and rapid adjustment, with high cost-effectiveness and resilience. Third, China has built the world’s largest infrastructure network, characterized by high convenience, low cost, and the adoption of the latest technologies, advancing human construction civilization to new levels. Fourth, China is again at the forefront of the global wave of technological innovation, with continuous breakthroughs in various fields, empowering countless industries and benefiting millions of households through technological innovation.

A humanoid robot dancing to the music attracts visitors during the 4th China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Expo in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang Province, May 23, 2025. (Photo from CNS)

In terms of new forms of institutional civilization, the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has surpassed both capitalist systems and Soviet-style socialist systems. The whole-process people’s democracy is a new form of democracy with people’s democracy at its core, while the socialist market economy organically combines the advantages of socialism and the market economy, forming a “common benefit market economy” that is both dynamically competitive and allows the fruits of development to be shared by ordinary people.

In terms of new forms of spiritual civilization, Chinese civilization is one of the few original civilizations in the world, independently originated, independently developed, self-contained, and with a long history. The civilizational foundation and practical path of Chinese modernization differ from those of the West, manifesting a spiritual world distinct from the Western one. Alongside material civilization development, China is also creating new spiritual wealth that influences the world. The new forms of human civilization created by China’s civilizational modernization address the civilizational deficit faced by humanity and will guide the development of human civilization in the 21st century.

(CNS, Beijing, July 4, 2025, title: Chinese Modernization is Civilizational Modernization)

(Author: Yan Yilong, Professor at Tsinghua University School of Public Policy and Management)

About the Author:

Yan Yilong. (Photo provided by the author)

Yan Yilong, Professor at Tsinghua University School of Public Policy and Management, Director of the Center for Theoretical Innovation of Chinese Modernization in the Institute for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era of Tsinghua University, Deputy Dean at the Institute for Contemporary China Studies. His research focuses on Five-Year Plans, the Chinese path, and the construction of Chinese academic discourse. He has proposed new theoretical concepts such as goal-based governance, pooled wisdom decision-making, and the division of seven powers.