Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 7, 2024

 

Original Concepts and Iconic Concepts—Conceptual Foundations for Constructing China’s Independent Knowledge System

(Abstract)

 

Sun Zhengyu

 

Original and iconic concepts are essential foundations for building a new knowledge system. Constructing an independent Chinese knowledge system essentially involves summarizing China’s experiences through Chinese principles, extracting and refining new theories with scholarly value, and systematically generalizing new practices, thereby elevating Chinese experiences to Chinese theories. A key indicator of this process is achieving a “terminological revolution,” imbuing concepts with new intellectual, ideological, temporal, and cultural connotations, leading to the formation of a series of original and iconic concepts. The “original concepts” highlight the achieved “terminological revolution,” while the “iconic concepts” not only possess “originality,” but also emphasize the “subjectivity” and “independence” of a particular knowledge system. Refining original and iconic concepts and achieving a “terminological revolution,” marks the most critical conceptual foundation for constructing China’s independent knowledge system.