Human development in China: cultural and value aspect

Dugarova Svetlana Bazarzhapovna PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor; Department of Oriental Languages; St. Petersburg State University of Economics 197022, Russia, Saint Petersburg, nab. Griboyedov, 30-32, room 24 sveta.sod@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Kuchinskaya Tatiana Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0002-6335-3159 Doctor of Philosophy Professor; Department of International Law and International Relations; Zabaykalsky State University 672039, Russia, Zabaikalsky Krai, Chita, Alexandro-Zavodskaya str., 30 kuchinskaya_t@mail.ru

Anthropologism as a universal characteristic of modern philosophical knowledge puts man at the center of multilateral socio-cultural transformations as their goal, driving force and primary condition. The modern anthropological crisis causes the need to search for new value bases for human potential development and actualizes the study of cultural regional and country specifics of its implementation practices. The successes of the People's Republic of China largely determine a new vision of the place and role of man in socio-cultural transformations. Human potential forms a dynamic, rapidly changing image of the socio-cultural environment in China, determining the speed and direction of internal and external modernization processes.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the cultural and value foundations of the development of the human potential of the People's Republic of China.

The development of human potential in China is becoming a priority. It is associated with the main goal – to achieve the level of "average prosperity", and logically fits into the cultural and value paradigm of the "Chinese dream". Acting as a key component of the "scientific concept of development" in the form of the "man at the core" value attitude, human potential is becoming one of the leading factors in the socio-cultural modernization of the People's Republic of China.

The importance of human potential in the modern development of the People's Republic of China, the need for philosophical reflection on the socio-cultural mechanisms of its formation and objectification determine the relevance of this study. The cultural and value content of the concept and the innovative regional practices formed within its framework are of considerable interest to Russian sinology, philosophical anthropology, theory and practice of human potential development.

Recently, Chinese studies have paid special attention to the problem of human potential in the context of the search for resources for modernization, innovative development, and cultural construction of the People's Republic of China. To date, a network of "think tanks" (information and analytical institutions) dealing with the problem of human potential, which began to appear after the formation of the PRC, is expanding in China. The most influential of them are the Center for the Study of China and Globalization (the Center for the Study of China and Globalization) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) with a network of branches in the largest cities of the country.^[1]

"Human potential" in Chinese is denoted by the term "zhencai", literally: "a talented person", which has many interpretations in the works of Chinese scientists. The widest of them is found in the works of Li Yanping, which defines human potential as people with mandatory special knowledge, high technical skills, capable of creative work, thereby making a significant contribution to the development of science and technology, the transformation of nature and society in the process of evolution of human civilization ^[2]. Some Chinese scientists emphasize the creative activity of human potential for the development of society and humanity (Wang Tongxun) ^[3], or focuses on qualitative characteristics, emphasizing continuous systematic human development activities that contribute to social progress (Wang Huiyao) ^[4].

In the People's Republic of China, research on the qualitative characteristics of human potential in terms of its cultural and value content is of great theoretical and practical importance.

Since 2003, China has been implementing a strategy for building a "power of human potential", which combines traditional Confucian attitudes and a system of innovative mechanisms for building and developing the human potential of the People's Republic of China.

The strategy is embedded in the general logic of the concept of building a "harmonious society", conditioned by the Chinese culture of harmony, in connection with which individual scientists (Miao Lu, Li Zhiquai, Xiao Yingsheng, Weng Hai) introduce the concept of "harmonious human potential" (和人人人), which "has special knowledge and skills in all spheres of life, penetrated by the spirit of unity and harmony, he is the bearer of the moral and ethical norms of his culture with the development of global thinking." Fostering a harmonious human potential requires the unity of political, economic, cultural and scientific components.

The strategy of building the "power of human potential" of the People's Republic of China is formed based on the cultural and value imperatives of traditional Chinese culture, operating with stable anthropologemes: "man at the core", "people are the basis", "harmonious person". The actualization of traditional values in modern realities reflects the principle of dynamic traditionalism.

The principle of "man at the core" in its modern interpretation is understood as "the principle of focusing on the comprehensive development of man, which proceeds from the fundamental interests of the people, promotes development aimed at meeting the material and spiritual needs of the Chinese people, their political and cultural interests." "Man at the core" implies a development in which a person is declared the highest value, and relationships between people are built on the basis of respect, understanding and care.

This principle is directly related to the principle of Meng Tzu "the people are the foundation". In his philosophy, the concept of "man" is central and most valuable in the anthropocosmic system "heaven-man-earth". Han Yu argued that "man" on the one hand anthropologizes all things, and on the other hand perceives their properties himself. Human nature in the Chinese Confucian Buddhist tradition is equated with the nature of all things. The concept of "ren ben" is consistent with the ancient Confucian attitudes of "loving the people", "being close to the people" and "doing everything for the people".

Stratagemism as a characteristic of the traditional Chinese way of thinking is a factor in the cultural determination of modern Chinese development strategies, including the strategy of the "power of human potential" of the PRC.

In modern China, the main categories of strategic thought that have been developing for thousands of years fully reflect the peculiarities of the Chinese mentality and the specifics of Confucian philosophy and influence the formation of basic behavioral attitudes and scenarios ^[5].

The human potential of the People's Republic of China is being formed in the context of a deep anthropological crisis of modernity as an element of globalizing spiritual and civilizational transformations accompanied by distortion of moral and spiritual values, changes in cultural, personal and national identity. This actualizes the development of a stable axiological model of building the human potential of the People's Republic of China with the involvement of the value resources of traditional culture, socialist ideas and universal universal values.

The strategy of the PRC's human potential power presupposes the presence of a complex of institutional, conceptual, and practical components, implying the creation of a "system of large-scale actions for human potential development" (规模宏大), the application of a "scientific approach" (结构合理) and the "development of its qualitative characteristics" (高的的人人).

In the context of this strategy, a certain axiological model of the development of the "new man" is being formed, the distinctive feature of which is not only the use of the value orientations of traditional Chinese culture to adapt to modernity and solve pressing social problems, but also the formation of an innovative type of thinking for future development.

Within the framework of the Marxist theory of the "new man", developed since the 1950s, Chinese scientists have developed the concept of a "harmonious man" (合谐人). Thus, Li Zhiquai believes that a "harmonious person" is a subject of a harmonious society based on the values of socialist culture ^[6]. Zheng Wenhai is characterized as a "harmonious person" at the level of his essential characteristics, cultural, educational and value aspects ^[7].

In modern Chinese philosophical thought, the concept of a "harmonious person", integrating with the concept of "all-round person", is transformed into an expanded concept of a "comprehensive harmonious person", emphasizing the simultaneous development of his physical, mental and spiritual characteristics, while observing the principle of harmony in satisfying a variety (material, spiritual, individual, collective, natural, social, etc.) human needs. The concept of a "comprehensive harmonious person" is also integrated with the ideas of a self-fulfilling, free, multilaterally developed personality with creative abilities.

The basic principles and criteria of human potential development in the People's Republic of China have been embodied in the state strategy for building a "power of human potential". The key anthropologems of traditional Chinese culture and value innovations of modern culture of the People's Republic of China act as the value and ideological basis of this course. Within the framework of building a socialist spiritual civilization, a new type of "cultural regulation" is being formed in China, which uses values as imperatives of development.

The practical implementation of the concept of human development is considered at the level of intraregional national and external transnational practices.

The heterogeneous heterogeneous nature of the socio-cultural space of the People's Republic of China necessitates the knowledge of specific regional practices for building human potential. The Chinese state is forming an effective system for developing and attracting human potential within the country and in interaction with the outside world. Regionality acts as a cultural and spatial characteristic of activity, which in turn has a specific expression - in practices. The philosophical and anthropological analysis of practices involves an appeal to a regionological approach that helps to identify the specifics at the regional level – "internal" and "external".

At the national level, the process of building human potential, which is an element of "soft power", occurs at all levels of the multilevel hierarchy of regional development management, starting from the level of large regions, ending with local-regional communities at the level of cities, towns, villages and individual enterprises ^[8].

The human potential is unevenly distributed throughout the country. Most of the human potential is concentrated in the coastal provinces and cities of China, which is largely due to historical processes, as well as the formation of investment zones. A significant amount of human potential is concentrated in the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, as well as Fujian, Guangdong and the cities of central subordination – Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. In less economically developed western regions of China, such as Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, the concentration of human potential is less.

Transnational socio-cultural practices of human potential development, integrating with the system of "soft power" practices of China as a communicative tool of cultural strategy, include: comprehensive programs to attract foreign specialists, prevent leakage and return of human potential, work with the foreign diaspora, international cultural and educational projects aimed at improving the quality and international competitiveness of human potential China.

A significant area of work in the implementation of the strategy for building the human potential of the People's Republic of China is to attract highly qualified specialists to the country through the implementation of state programs and cultural and educational practices ^[9].

There are two ways to attract specialists to China. The first way is through programs, grants, and the construction of technology parks for Chinese specialists, scientists, and graduates of foreign universities. The most popular projects are: "Talent Training for the XXI Century" (1993), the Spring Light program (1996), the Yangtze Program (1998), grants from the National Fund of Natural Sciences of China (2005), the Thousands of People Plan (2008), Zhongguancun Technopark ^[10].

The second is the holding of various forums, conferences and job fairs in China and in different countries, which are organized by both state and commercial companies in China (conferences on science and technology, job fairs in Guangdong Province, job fair in Washington, etc.) ^[11].

At the moment, one of the important practices of building human potential is the policy towards foreign Chinese. The commonality of language, culture, and traditions, and economic cooperation make the Chinese diaspora inclined to cooperate with its ethnic homeland. The policy of the Chinese leadership is aimed at using this unique reserve in the development of the strategy of the "power of human potential". Important importance in the work on attracting highly qualified foreign Chinese is attached to the development of so-called professional "transnational" networks of foreign Chinese, whose members have branches in China and abroad, and have the opportunity to freely move between them ^[12].

One of the main directions in working with the Chinese diaspora is to attract investments and new technologies. Various channels of communication with potential investors have been established in the country, the import and export of technologies and finished products are practiced, and various forms of investment are encouraged ^[13].

China is actively promoting cooperation in the field of education. Thus, an agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas was signed with 64 countries, including Russia; exhibitions of Chinese and foreign universities are being organized; intergovernmental, interregional projects in the field of high technologies and scientific research (Science and technology Forums) are being implemented; many language programs and internships are being conducted.

The analysis of the qualitative characteristics of human potential has revealed the interrelation of all its structural components, among which important importance has recently been attached to its value component, which is defined as a set of anthropologemes expressing human qualities or capabilities. In China, the value component is becoming a key component in the human development program.

A comprehensive program for the development and building of human potential in China has become the modern strategy of the "power of the human potential of the People's Republic of China", which was one of the expressions of strategic thought that have been developing for thousands of years and reflecting the peculiarities of the Chinese mentality and the specifics of Confucian philosophy, which influenced the formation of basic behavioral attitudes and scenarios. The method of "harmony" has become a methodological innovation in the consideration of human potential in Chinese philosophical discourse. Harmony is an imperative value component of China's human development concept. Its product was such concepts as "harmonious man", "harmonious human potential". In general, the development of human potential in China takes place as part of the program of harmonization of Chinese society.

The formation and development of China's human potential was significantly influenced by civilizational factors, which are concentrated in its characteristic features: dynamic traditionalism, manifested in the use of synthesis of traditional value attitudes and innovative ideas; stratagemism, reflecting the specifics of Chinese thinking and behavioral attitudes and scenarios; and anthropologism, realized through the stable value attitudes of the Confucian tradition of considering the human dimension.

In China, strategies have been more deeply developed and understood. From the field of military and political activity, strategies have moved into the sphere of communication practices of other types, accumulated the basic values and ideals of Chinese culture and turned into generalizing formulas.

The strategy of the "power of the human potential of the People's Republic of China" is formed based on the value imperatives of traditional Chinese culture, operating with stable anthropologemes: "man at the core", "people are the basis", "harmonious person".

In the context of the theory of the "power of human potential" of China, a certain axiological model of the "new Chinese man" is being formed, the distinctive feature of which is not only the use of the value orientations of traditional Chinese culture to adapt to modernity and solve pressing social problems, but also the formation of an innovative type of thinking for future development.

The axiological model of the "new Chinese man", built within the framework of the theory of the "power of human potential", is a kind of synthesis of the updated value system of harmonious Chinese culture, including socialist ideals (freedom, equality, justice) and traditional Confucian values ("man at the core", harmony, duty, etc.), and Sinicized the system of universal values (democracy, legality, personal freedom, human rights). The formation of this model is based on the principles of dynamic traditionalism, combining innovation and Chinese specifics.

The heterogeneous heterogeneous nature of China's socio-cultural space necessitates the knowledge of specific regional practices for building human potential. The Chinese state is forming an effective system for developing and attracting human potential within the country and in interaction with the outside world. Regionality acts as a cultural and spatial characteristic of activity, which in turn has a specific expression - in practices. The philosophical and anthropological analysis of practices involves an appeal to a regionological approach that helps to identify the specifics of the phenomenon under consideration at the regional level – "internal" and "external".

Currently, the regional national and transnational socio-cultural practices of the People's Republic of China in attracting and building human potential have taken on a formalized character and have become an important part of the development of Chinese human potential.

In accordance with the established cultural pattern of unity of internal and external in China, regional national and transnational socio-cultural practices of implementing the concept of human potential of the People's Republic of China complement each other as a whole and include comprehensive programs of the Chinese state to implement a multi-level system of "talent education", attract foreign specialists ("mind hunting"), prevent leakage and return of human potential; work with the foreign diaspora; creation of transnational professional networks; international cultural and educational projects.

The mechanisms of building and developing human potential in China, as well as the possibility of learning from the Chinese experience, actualize the study of these issues in domestic science. Therefore, the study of the Chinese way can act as a conceptual basis for the development of promising cooperation between Russia and China in the field of human potential building. In particular, in the development of various joint programs, events, the creation of analytical centers, joint cultural and educational practices for the exchange of experience and coordination of actions to attract talent. In this regard, this problem needs further scientific reflection.

The development and building of human potential in the People's Republic of China is enshrined in the provisions of the strategy of the "power of human potential" of the People's Republic of China, the formation of which was significantly influenced by the civilizational factors of China's development, manifested in dynamic traditionalism, stratagemism and anthropologism. In the context of this strategy, a certain axiological model of the development of a "comprehensive harmonious person" is being built, in which a special role is assigned to the values of harmonious Chinese culture. Regional national and transnational socio-cultural practices of implementing the human potential strategy in the People's Republic of China are the most important component of a comprehensive program for the harmonization of national space and the exit of Chinese culture "outside". Practitioners play an instrumental role, acting as an important component of China's "soft power" inside and outside the state, thereby ensuring the complexity and scale of the implementation of the strategy of the power of human potential.