The Value Structure and Reconstruction of China’s Rural Civilization in the New Era—An Exploration of Rural Revitalization through the Rejuvenation of Rural Civilization

Wang Zhongwu＊

Abstract: Rural civilization is a pattern of human civilization that is profoundly linked with values. Rural revitalization means the rejuvenation of rural civilization under new historical circumstances. To that end, it is necessary to adopt a holistically interpreting mode that transcends individual cases, and to look through the wide-angle lens of civilization and grasp rural civilization’s development trend of “prosperity-decline-rejuvenation,” as well as its constructive route of “traditional construction-modern deconstructionneo-modern reconstruction.” This paper analyzes the “three-in-one” value structure concerning rural civilization’s being a cultural carrier, its subjective demands, and objective production, to understand and follow the diachronic evolution of the position and function of rural civilization values “from being a subject, through being an object, to being a subject.” Based on this, this paper studies the construction of a subjective rural civilization with Chinese characteristics in the new era and explores a possible approach to rural revitalization through the rejuvenation of rural civilization. Accordingly,the basic idea and strategy is to boost the rejuvenation of rural civilization through innovative time-space integration; to establish rural civilization’s subjective status and to always prioritize agricultural and rural development;to rediscover and redefine the principles, values and functions of the rural civilization construction in the new era; and to further advance campaigns of rural civilization constructions to integrate the development of urban civilization with that of rural civilization.

Keywords: rural revitalization; rejuvenation of rural civilization; value structure;reconstruction in the new era

Rural revitalization is a strategy of great significance for China’s national rejuvenation and modernization. It is also an important task of the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, and a major subject for sociology to study. Since modern times,numerous devoted scholars have discussed it and posed all kinds of thoughts and solutions on rural revitalization. Assisted by today’s experience and theories, any reflection upon or review of the past thoughts of rural development should come to a general conclusion about their positive and negative sides. Hence today, when the problem of rural revitalization is again raised, it should usher in new insights and visions that transcend all without the limitations of the past experiences and the restraint of time and space, for unprecedented, long-standing practices and a large amount of data and exemplary cases are available. The issue of rural development has always been an important part of Chinese sociology’s research work, which boasts a favorable focus on on-site inspection and case-by-case study.The current number of Chinese villages is enormous,and each village might be largely different from others in situation, level of development, experience and practices. The villages no longer share striking similarities as they did before the reform and opening-up. In this light, a scientifically feasible solution for rural revitalization especially requires proper balance and control of tensions between experience and theories. The specific individual cases must be integrated, generalized and abstracted,to achieve a universally agreed judgment, to master the universal law, to avoid falling into the trap of “the blind men and the elephant” where individuality is wrongly taken as commonness, and particularity as universality. Hence it is necessary to adopt a holistically interpreting mode that transcends specific cases, to look through the wide-angle lens of civilization and value, and to view the past, present and future of development of rural civilization as a whole, while deciphering its trends and characteristics of historical construction, analyzing the diachronic logic of the evolution of the structure,position and functions of the value belonging to rural civilization, so as to build a new-style entity of rural civilization with Chinese characteristics in a new era, and realize rural revitalization through the rejuvenation of rural civilization.

1. The constitution, development trend and construction traits of rural civilization

Civilization usually refers to human’s stepping into an advanced and civilized state. Within the extent of human culture, it is the opposite of“barbarism,” and belongs to the very positive section of human culture that is of undoubted value. Rural civilization, or how advanced and civilized villages are, refers to and embodies the improvements made by the system of villages in material gain, cultural development, institutional governance and morality.It has its own constitution, development trends and construction traits.

1.1 The constitution of rural civilization

A village, as a form of human settlement, is an integral system made up of villagers, families,cultural institutions and physical facilities. Its basic constitution can be analyzed from multiple perspectives, including civilization layers, subjects,activities and domains.

In terms of civilization layers, rural civilization,as a cultural system, has its material, institutional and cultural-ethical layers. The village, which is home to villagers, a system of living and production and a social institution, is in the first place a system of material development, including cumulative productivity and wealth, living conditions,infrastructures, resources and the environment.The material development refers to the material content and forms of rural civilization. It plays a fundamental and decisive role in the quality of villagers’ living and cultural development. Culturalethical development is the core and key of the rural civilization. It includes ethics, culture, education and customs, and secures steady development of villages by ensuring appropriate thoughts, ethics, spiritual power and intellectual support. The institutional layer of human culture comes between its material layer and spiritual layer, and institutional progress is another important form of rural civilization.It includes principles, norms of relationships,governance mechanisms, rural regulations and etiquette. Lying between the material development and cultural-ethical development, institutional progress acts as a key regulator, mediator and guard of the development of rural civilization.

In terms of subjects, rural civilization concerns individuals, families and communities. Individual civilization means the villagers’ morality and literacy; civilization in families mainly refers to the families’ disciplines, rules, living quality, and level of harmony, literacy, sociability and morality;while civilization in communities means how well the villages as a community go in infrastructures,public order, safety & health service, man-to-man relationships, external beauty and environmental governance. The three civilizations, interdependent and inter-supportive, together constitute the agent system of the rural civilization.

In terms of activities, rural civilization concerns life, production and ecology. Life development,which contains healthy diets, reasonable consumption and a disposition to keep fit and maintain inner peace, is the basic goal for rural civilization and the ultimate value it tries to achieve.Production development, which refers to the progress made in production factors, structural optimization,output efficiency, management level, product quality and economic benefits, and constitutes the key content and conditions of rural civilization.Ecological development is an important pillar and embodiment of rural civilization and it features beautiful environment, good sanitary conditions,resource conservation and recycling, green and pollution-free production, healthy lifestyle, sound and complete infrastructure, neat and beautiful dwellings, mutual benefit between ecology and socio-economic development, as well as harmony of man and nature.

In terms of civilization domains, rural civilization concerns economic, political and social development. Economic development, as the foundation and pillar of rural civilization, is found in all links of rural economy from production,distribution and exchange to consumption, and in the outcomes of economic development, such as benefits, justice and satisfaction. Political development, which covers the basic conditions of villages in efficient governance, democracy, rule of law, civic engagement and equal sharing, establishes a political foundation and institutional guarantee of rural civilization. Social development civilization,concerning social subjects, social relations, social concepts, social life and social conduct, makes a key component of rural civilization. From a macro perspective of social significance, the advancement of rural civilization means boosting wellcoordinated, integrated and innovative development among economic, political and social civilization.

1.2 The vicissitudes of rural civilization

Rural civilization, as the most ancient form of human civilization, has undergone multiple vicissitudes spanning numerous historical stages.The developed Western countries, during the period of industrialization, saw tragedies in which “Sheep devoured men,” and agriculture and villages sank into depression. However, during the late years of industrialization, the problems of the rural areas and the tension rising between the rural areas and urban areas began to be resolved, and the rural civilization had a chance to revive. China was the first country to step into agricultural civilization and its traditional rural civilization has been carried on for thousands of years boasting extraordinary depth and profundity.Chinese traditional rural civilization, economically based on agriculture, draws power from human labor,livestock and nature for life and production, is of low efficiency in production and of low level in living standards. In respect to its outlook on nature and the universe, traditional rural civilization in China believes in the unity of Heaven and man, obeys nature with reverence and awe, and builds geographical and kinship ties based on network covering families, clans and society. The Industrial Revolution brought instant growth to industry and cities, which enormously pressed rural civilization and left it languid and marginalized. The traditional natural agriculture was transformed into mechanized industrial agriculture, a multitude of farmers were changed into workers and citizens, and urban civilization rose to be the center and ruler. Currently, as the government launches the construction of a new countryside and the strategy of rejuvenating villages, and as policy initiatives such as “use part of the profits of the industry to subsidize agriculture,” “urban areas support rural development”and “integrated development of urban and rural areas” are put into efficient practice across China, the problems concerning the rural areas begin to ease, and rural civilization is well poised to revive. Historical and realistic evidence has revealed that, by and large,the vicissitude of human rural civilization has followed such a trajectory as “prosperity-decline-rejuvenation.”

1.3 The constructive characteristics of rural civilization

In the context of a macro system of nature,society and culture, rural civilization will have its development influenced by many constructive factors like resources, environment, size of population, industrial structure, history, culture,science, technologies, ideologies and international environment. That indicates the construction of rural civilization varies and adjusts according to the changing development of tangible culture and environmental conditions. Chinese rural civilization is a key content and part of traditional Chinese culture. Its course of evolution can be generally divided into its birth in the Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600BC-256 BC), the preliminary formation in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (771BC-221 BC), finally taking shape in the Qin and Han dynasties (221BC-220), its intensification in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties (960-1644) and its transformation at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)①Li, 2011. Rural civilization is a great endeavor made by the Chinese nation based on a certain population, a certain number of resources and a certain environment,against a certain historical and cultural backdrop,and under corresponding national control. The original traditional Chinese rural civilization believes in the unity of Heaven and man, views nature as where the law of the world lies, obeys and follows the laws of nature in its life and production,and values the moral order, filial duty, rule of virtue and the livelihoods of people.

However, the traditional rural civilization still belongs to the agrarian culture. Owing to the limitations of the agricultural economy, it is marked by prominent problems like low productivity, crude and coarse living conditions, stale and conservative thoughts, as well as a disinclination for reform and innovation. As the Industrial Revolution and capitalism were gaining momentum, conservative and backward China was looted by the invading developed Western countries and was cornered at the edge of existence. Promoting industrialization thus inevitably became the way out, and the ancient,traditional rural civilization was doomed to be rocked and deconstructed by industrialization and urbanization. As modernization arrived at its latter stage, with industrialization and urbanization nearing completion, the disadvantages of traditional modernization were fully revealed, and the value of villages and rural civilization is rediscovered and redefined. The Chinese government is introducing policies that benefit rural development; the urban and rural areas are more and more harmoniously integrated; rural civilization itself is experiencing innovative development and reconstruction by drawing on modern strength.

Seen from the construction theory, rural civilization goes through a continuous evolution that proceeds from its birth in the traditional agricultural society, to its decomposition and deconstruction in the early and middle stages of industrialization, and then to reconstruction after industrialization. To achieve rural revitalization, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the historical construction course of rural civilization “constructiondeconstruction-reconstruction” and its trends as well as requirements.

2. The “three-in-one” value structure of rural civilization

As a rural community, rural civilization is a system of tangible culture that profoundly reflects human demand for values, the values themselves and their role as a regulator. It also conveys the vicissitudes of the ideologies of a country and its history. The entire process of its birth and development and its existing pattern are closely and profoundly linked to its value, so to grasp the core of rural civilization, an important approach and step would be to explore its inherent value and the structure of the value.

The value typically embodies how the subject and object are connected in terms of utility, namely“the meaning of the object to the subject,” which refers to the inclination and degree of the object’s conformity with the measures of the subject in its existence, attributes and reasonable changes①Li, 2007.This relationship is basically marked by objective existence, subjectivity, objectiveness and relative interchangeability between the status of the subject and that of the object. Villages, as the outcome of human labor for construction and creation, are a stable existence of tangible culture that congeals and conveys human thoughts and wisdom. Meanwhile,it is also a subjective existence that has internal vitality and an objective existence that has external functions. The main value of rural civilization lies in its three-fold function as a carrier of culture, a subject of living and an object of utility. Thus, to understand its entire value it is necessary to look at its “three-in-one” structure and decipher its value as a carrier, a subject and an object.

2.1 Rural civilization as an objective existence: containing and carrying human culture with high significance

First, seen from the synchronic structure, the core of a rural community lies in its value②Xing, 2018. The system of rural civilization and all its components without exception contain genes of the value, which is arguably a system that reflects, conveys and realizes human interests and beliefs. For example, the subjects of rural civilization must have their own values, feelings, wills,aspirations and beliefs; the rural physical facilities and patterns of rural living and production serve as a sentimental embodiment of thoughts and a method of realizing people’s interests, while the rural regulations,civic agreements and customs of the rural civilization profoundly display human ethics and emotional preferences. Second, from the perspective of the nation and the country, villages are the root and cradle of traditional national culture, and rural civilization is a crucial foundation and major embodiment of the civilization of a country. China has a long-standing traditional civilization that has been constructed based upon agriculture, villages and farmers. It can be said that “rural civilization has been an important vehicle to carry on Chinese culture for thousands of years. Therein the DNA of Chinese culture is well preserved”①Zhang, Mu & Zhang, 2015. The Chinese nation has several times witnessed turbulence and division returning to prosperity and unification throughout history. The Chinese civilization, spanning five thousand years,despite numerous shocks and challenges, holds its own. A fundamental reason for this historical miracle is that China is supported by a special agrarian culture and rural civilization. “Chinese villages mark China’s major national conditions. They are the prime power that motivates Chinese development, and the very code for China’s five thousand years of vicissitudes.China owns the most enduring ancient civilization,and the code for the longevity does not lie in the cities, but rather in the villages”②Zhang, 2016. Neither the past nor the present China can be understood if villages and rural civilization are excluded. Nor can its future be correctly estimated. Third, from a perspective of labor value, rural civilization is a gigantic product of tangible culture that men have created. Its birth and development required arduous, complex and creative human labor. Based on the fundamental conviction that labor produces value and constructs civilization,rural civilization can be deemed as a pattern that congeals and transforms human labor and wisdom.It is owing to nothing but the input and accumulation of human labor and wisdom that the value of Chinese rural civilization is formulated. The inner value of rural civilization stems from accumulation and evolution throughout history and, more importantly,is motivated by active support from the realistic social system and the internalization of it. The longerstanding a rural civilization is, the more achievements it makes; the more superior supportive services it receives from society; the more profound the value of the rural civilization will be; the better it will work as a carrier of value.

2.2 The abundantly resourceful rural civilization: a large system of productivity with objective functions capable of satisfying human needs and benefiting human civilization

As the first country that entered the stage of agricultural society, China developed an advanced agrarian culture. Its ancient science had once predominated in the world. Its traditional rural civilization was effective in addressing human demands for living and production, securing the thriving of the Chinese nation and the stability and unity of the country, ushering in the creation of glorious science and thoughts, and laying a solid foundation for the country’s development. Villages,countryside and rural civilization own an enduring value for “production, ecology, living, culture and moral education,” and can boost the current and future development of China through continuous reproduction③Zhu, 2016. Thus, to creatively transform and develop the fruits of rural civilization is a strategic choice, a key content and condition for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

2.3 Rural civilization: possessing fundamental value as a subject

As an object, rural civilization produces value, while as a subject, it has a demand for being valued. And the former is based on the latter. Rural civilization, if falling short of appropriate guarantees for maintenance, will be restrained and sink into depression. The design of targets and strategies of the rural revitalization in the new era must establish rural civilization’s position as a main body and strive to realize its value as a subject. The value of rural civilization as a subject refers to how well it is satisfied and supported. Compared with its value as a carrier of culture and as an object, its value as a subject is more like the source, the noumenon value, the most fundamental value, and inspires and provides conditions for the birth of the value of rural civilization as a carrier of culture and as an object. There would be no chance for the rural civilization to escape decline unless its existence and development is well addressed and supported. That has been sufficiently proved by the vicissitudes of rural civilization in history.

In conclusion, the “three-in-one” value structure of rural civilization includes its value as a cultural carrier, as a subject that demands being valued and as an object that produces value. A deep and sound understanding of this “three-in-one” structure of the value of rural civilization is of great importance for the feasible construction of a new-type rural civilization and the realization of the rural revitalization.

3. The diachronic evolution of the position and function of rural civilization’s value.

Rural civilization embodies enormous amounts of human labor, culture and wisdom. The position and the function of its value varies markedly with the times. Rural civilization is the earlier, original and predominant pattern of human civilization.And its predominance declined only because of the rising of the Industrial Revolution which crushed and deconstructed it. After that it came to be the means of urban development, men stepped into an age predominated by industrial civilization and the urban society, and a dual social structure was then formulated. Later, as the industrialization and urbanization were realized, rural civilization was again mentioned and valued, and regained its predominance. The integration and coordination between urban development and rural development became an inevitable choice. While the age went through the traditional stage, modern stage and newmodern stage, the position and function of the value of rural civilization presented such a diachronic logic of evolution as “subject-object-subject.”

In the traditional Chinese society, rural civilization is the predominant subject and the center.It is of great significance and wide-ranging value for the economy, politics, society, culture and ecology.In ancient China, rural civilization, as an advanced productive force and relation of production,guaranteed the livelihoods of the people and the long-standing prosperity of the Chinese nation,sustained the country’s economic competence and regulatory capabilities, and created an agricultural civilization dotted with glorious achievements in science and humanities that led the entire world. In terms of social governance, traditional Chinese rural civilization uses unique institutions, mechanisms and methods to regulate and restrain human thoughts and behaviors, to formulate a perfect system of national values and conventions that are to be spontaneously followed, thereby playing a predominant and effective role in stabilizing the society, safeguarding people’s livelihoods, uniting people and regulating human behaviors.

In the early and middle stage of modernization,the value of rural civilization was reduced to merely an object and means of industrialization and urbanization.As industrialization and urbanization advanced, the traditional rural civilization was rocked, challenged and impaired, the rural economy was weakened,rural society was hollowed out, rural culture lagged,rural ecology deteriorated, farmers were forced to earn a living outside the villages, and the traditional predominance of rural civilization in position and value was largely deconstructed and weakened. A review of the history of China’s modernization reveals that the industry and urban areas instantly flourished by gathering massive neighboring resources, and all kinds of rural resources like land, farmers and money flowed to urban areas on a large scale and were finally integrated into the urban resources.After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, governmental focus hung on to the heavy industry and urban development for a long time. And in all aspects of development, such as employment,culture and education, fiscal and taxation policies,public services and social security, urban residents and non-farm payrolls were always the preferred group. While one waxed, the other waned. Thus,inevitably the urban areas gradually rose to the center,the overpowering, predominant position, while the rural areas were increasingly marginalized, weakened and dependent. Hence the contradiction between the two further intensified, and the traditional pattern where rural civilization predominated was thoroughly overthrown. According to the traditional paradigm and logic of modernization, cities symbolize an advanced culture, while villages bespoke a backwardness that must be deconstructed. The value of villages and rural civilization are defined as merely satisfying and serving industrialization and urbanization, and their function defined as merely providing favorable resources for industrial and urban development,such as money, land, labor force and environment.According to the estimation of experts, within the 46 years from 1952 to 1997, a total of RMB 3.25 trillion worth of money and supplies went to urban areas from rural areas①Zeng, 2005. It is fair to say that China’s industrialization and urbanization were advanced by depriving rural areas of their value and harming rural civilization’s predominance and energy. Thus,Fei Xiaotong held that Chinese villages and cities were “mutually restrictive.”②Fei Xiaotong, 2007The villages are being deprived by cities and making offerings to cities.

The predominance of rural civilization will revive and be reconstructed in the late stages of modernization. The completion of industrialization and urbanization has made the cost and shortcomings of modernity and urbanization more prominent.The value of rural civilization begins to be rediscovered and redefined. By adopting the fruits of modernization and transcending modernity, it will witness innovative development, transformation and upgrading. Though repelling the traditional modernity, rural civilization is intrinsically in conformity with the new modernity. Some of its ideas and functions well suit and support what the new modernity advocates and practices, such as green production, healthy life, natural ecology and sustainable development. Rural civilization is of great value as a way to nourish life, a living style that value natural beauty, a production mode that values green development, an ecology that safeguards natural harmony, a teaching tool that cultivates morality and inner peace, as well as a means of enhancing rural humanity and social order. As a species of life, human beings are in fact the outcome of natural evolution and an organic component of nature. They, as an aggregation of living beings, are intrinsically linked with nature. Industrial culture and urban culture’s thriving has removed men farther and farther away from nature. The contradiction and friction between men’s natural life and cultural life has reduced their value and well-rounded development and deformed or alienated human nature. Rural areas are usually dependent on the planting and breeding industry,which boosts growth of life. During agricultural production, human life and the life of plants and animals interact with each other and grow in concert.Hence, here is the conclusion that “rural culture contains the cure for the disease caused by this age and society.”(Zhang, Mu & Zhang, 2015). It enables people to feel for real that life comes from nature and then returns to nature, thereby facilitating the restoration and return of human nature. In that sense, rural civilization, which nourishes human nature, promotes one’s real self, helps realize men’s well-rounded development, and boosts an ultimate humanitarian value.

The rural civilization in different ages is marked with different positions in value and different functions. The diachronic changes of its position and function indicate that it has open values and an ability to achieve sustainable reproduction. To most scientifically and efficiently implement the strategy of revitalizing the countryside, it is necessary to view and understand rural civilization, and to creatively reconstruct its structure as a subject and its functions according to the requirements of the time and strategic vision, only on condition that its constructive conditions and logic have been clearly understood.

4. The subjective reconstruction of China’s rural civilization in the new era: achieving rural revitalization through the rejuvenation of rural civilization.

Villages are not just about agricultural industry,farmers and rural communities. More importantly,they form an enduring pattern of human civilization.After a decline in the early stage of industrialization,they are greeted by an irresistible historical trend that inclines towards their rejuvenation. Whether it is for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,or the rural revitalization, the rejuvenation of rural civilization is inevitably and intrinsically required. In order to understand and implement the strategies of achieving rural revitalization from the perspective and paradigm of the rejuvenation of rural civilization, it is necessary to construct under new circumstances a new-type predominant rural civilization that will transcend its long-standing situation in which it merely obeyed and served the industrial and urban demands as an objective tool,and to explore a path towards rural revitalization and prosperity through the rejuvenation of rural civilization.

4.1 The principle of rural revitalization: a rejuvenation of rural civilization through timespace integration.

Rural civilization’s constructive logic,continuation models and existing patterns are all related by time and space. The reconstruction of the subjectivity of Chinese rural civilization must respect the major trend of the rural culture evolving from being traditional to being modern and then new-modern. It must take into account new historical circumstances and be guided by new development ideas and strive to bring prosperity and rejuvenation to rural civilization through integration of time and space.

The rejuvenation of rural civilization calls for the inheritance of traditional rural culture, full consideration of the realistic demands and a vision on the future, to make rural civilization complete its diachronic course that “extends from the past to the present and the future,” and build it into a new type of civilization that embraces all the strengths of traditionalism, modernity and new modernity. Rural civilization is well connected throughout history yet varies in different eras. Today, on the one hand, the rejuvenation of rural civilization must be based on an objective, sensible and adequate understanding of the value of the traditional and existing rural culture,overcome the weaknesses and limitations of itself,identify its strengths, and promote its good tradition of valuing natural ecology, rule of virtue, filial duty,recognition from the people and the livelihoods of the people. On the other hand, it is necessary to view rural revitalization and development as the basic measure, incorporate advanced fruits of modernity into agriculture, rural areas and farmers,ease the drawbacks of modernity, transcend its limitations, and innovatively construct a new-style Chinese rural civilization in a new era by integrating traditionalism, modernity and neo-modernity.

Rural civilization is a pattern of civilization that universally exists in human history and reality. Yet it is also formulated and developed within a certain space and marked by a distinct spatial structure and regional characteristics, whereby it has branched out into a wide variety of distinctive patterns of civilization that belong to different regions and ethnicities. The rejuvenation of rural civilization requires the work of leveraging excellent traditional Chinese culture, highlighting the characteristics of the Chinese nation, considering specific conditions of different regions, and exploiting advantages of those regions in resources and culture. What’s more, the rejuvenation of rural civilization must also draw on the experience of the developed countries in agricultural development, rural construction,as well as the improvement of the farmers’ living and ecological environment on an extensive scale.It must simultaneously assimilate and embrace the global wisdom, Chinese characteristics and regional experience, and accelerate the rejuvenation of rural civilization by boosting cultural integration and innovation on the universal level, the specified level and individual level of space.

4.2 The requisites for rural revitalization:establishing the subjective status of rural civilization and prioritizing agricultural and rural development

During the advancement of industrialization and urbanization, rural areas became the source of resources and a useful tool required by industrial and urban development. Rural areas were faced with threatening challenges, such as the decline of agriculture, the marginalization of villages and the weakening of farmers. However, that does not in any sense indicate that rural civilization is backward and should be eradicated. In fact, “seen from the big context of the evolution of human civilization and its long cycle, villages should not be equated to backwardness, nor should cities be equated to advancement”①Zhang, 2015. Basically, human beings are in permanent need of a rural civilization that is different from urban civilization. The reason is that rural civilization is the root and life blood of human civilization and is intrinsically and physically linked with the maintenance of human life itself. As a subject, it has an important and enduring value for production, life, ecology, health cultivation,and moral education. And its functions are never limited to producing agricultural and sideline products or satisfying the needs of industrial and urban development. As to industrial development and urban development, they depend on resources provided by rural areas while they suffer from several drawbacks in natural resources, ecological environment, social and cultural aspects, which must be mended by rural support. The establishment of the subjectivity of rural civilization must focus on rural development, introduce socio-economic policies that use part of the profits of the industry to subsidize agriculture and let the urban areas guide the rural areas, and formulate a pro-ruralareas national system to fully satisfy the needs of rural development. All those are crucial for the rural revitalization.

4.3 The requirements of rural revitalization:rediscovering and redefining the value and functions of rural civilization

The value of rural civilization lies in the unity of its subjectivity and objectivity, as well as the cooperation between its stability and variability.The primary task of rural revitalization would be to promote the subjective development of rural areas, and to design its value and functions based on the specific stage of development and historical conditions. Since the 21st century,Chinese modernization has been rapidly advanced.Its industrialization has gone past the stage of capital accumulation and is being fast elevated to informatization and intelligentization. The dualistic structure of the relationship between urban areas and rural areas, in which cities deprived villages of their value, is being transformed into the integrated structure where cities guide villages in development.In this context, the design of the value and function of rural areas must be based on the requirements of their own development, the principles of letting urban and rural areas complement each other and well coordinating different industries, as well as the blueprint and strategies of China’s modernization in the new era. And the goal is concluded as “To build rural areas with thriving businesses, pleasant living environments, social etiquette and civility,effective governance, and prosperity”①Xi, 2017. The most basic function must be designed as protecting the ecology and green industries, safeguarding the social stability, cultivating rural culture and preserving pastoral life. Not only must lucid waters and lush mountains be sustained, but also spiritual ties with the old pastoral home must be maintained. The core value of rural civilization must be preserved and highlighted. A good ecology must be created,production and living must be better remunerated,while poverty and the dualistic social structure must be eradicated and the common prosperity of urban and rural areas as well as equality and harmony between them must be achieved.

4.4 The demand of rural revitalization:further advancing the rural civilization campaign.

In recent years such campaigns have been launched across China in Shandong province and have made satisfactory achievements. However,the current cultural-ethical development of rural areas is still far from perfect. Rural infrastructures and living environment are still at a low level.There is a huge gap between urban public service and rural public service. The traditional rural civilization is still plagued by several problems and crises. To effectively resolve these realistic problems, the government must take the helm and further advance campaigns that promote rural civilization. In order to reduce the risk of meandering for such campaigns, the most pressing task would be to ensure a sound top-level design and to scientifically build a standard system for the construction of rural civilization, to well regulate and design the guiding ideas, the strategic vision,the planning, the targets, the principles, standards,the methodology and the required quality of the construction of rural civilization. It is necessary to set up systematic, well-rounded regulations for all kinds of measures of rural civilization, such as the sanitation, infrastructures, the look of the villages,the production and living styles, rural regulations,public space, culture, education, ethics, residents’manners and community governance, to guarantee the scientific and standardized development of the construction of rural civilization. All these regulations must be based on understanding the law and trend of the development of rural civilization,respecting the farmers’ interest and conforming to the general vision of the development of rural civilization. Constructing civilized and beautiful countryside requires scientific and sophisticated operational ideas and advanced, universally feasible models for reference. Hence the establishment of a batch of exemplary bases for the construction of rural civilization is quite necessary for its effective advancement. The campaigns that were launched in recent years to promote rural civilization well mobilized local efforts, in which multiple construction methods were invented and numerous exemplary cases and experiences emerged. Some of them were highly scientific, advanced and worth promoting, while some are still yet to be improved.To build national and provincial exemplary bases for the construction of civilized and beautiful countryside will provide a role model repeatable for locals to promote the construction of rural civilization, thereby largely increasing the efficiency and benefits of the construction of rural civilization.The construction of rural civilization is a giant,systematic project. To launch it in a scientific and efficient manner requires the improvement of related laws, regulations and social governance structure. It also calls for a clear identification of the subject of the construction work and its responsibilities, and a holistic, unified, efficient and well-coordinated mechanism to be formulated, to make it sufficiently supported by law and advanced by science. What’s more, rural governance makes a key content and condition for rural civilization. The rural revitalization and rejuvenation of rural civilization ought to draw on the beneficiary content of the traditional rural culture, such as its moral education and tradition of electing the rural sage as the chief of the village, to formulate a new-type structure of modern rural governance that is based on the rule of law, complemented by the rule of virtue, and aims at the villagers’ self-governance.

4.5 The call of rural revitalization:integrating urban and rural civilization

“Villages and cities are like the yin and yang of Tai Chi Tu (diagram of the universe). They are the two sides of a coin, contradictory yet unified,dependent on yet also repelling each other”①Zhang, 2015. The two are distinct from and independent on each other, while they are also supporting and dependent on each other in a holistic system. One important prerequisite for rural revitalization and rejuvenation of rural civilization is to correctly understand and well manage the relationship between urban areas and rural areas, and to realize the integration of urban and rural civilization. This integration does not mean the two will be completely the same. Nor does it mean that rural civilization will be dissolved to give way to urban civilization. Instead, it is a homogeneous and complementary integration in which neither of the two can exist without or be replaced by the other. On the one hand, to make the integration homogeneous, its basic connotation and principle should be set as ensuring equal rights shared by urban citizens and rural residents, equal quality of public goods, equal access to public services and equal social security. On the other hand, to make the integration complementary,its fundamental task and object should be set as realizing well-coordinated production, equal living standards, complementary ecologies, well-balanced size of population, equal incomes, and common cultural prosperity between urban and rural areas. Its fundamental mission should be to creatively develop a new-style relationship between urban and rural areas with Chinese characteristics in this new era.Such a relationship is marked by equality, harmony,sharing, complementarity, coordination, integration,co-existence and common prosperity.