Abstract: Toynbee has greatly expanded the depth and breadth of research into discourse on civilizational forms.His various propositions have,to some extent,solidified the material foundation of civilization research,opened up new explorations of the dynamics of civilization in the Western academic community,and these propositions which are further breakthroughs in “Eurocentrism” or “Westocentrism” have exposed the essence of western imperialist colonial expansion attempting to create a “Westernizing world”.Toynbee holds that world history encompasses both singular civilization as a whole and plural civilizations from different regions,and humanity requires a global political entity.He also used the conceptual categories of primary and secondary civilizations to describe the evolution and iteration of civilizations.However,Toynbee's criticism of Western civilization did not start with an analysis of the capitalist system.His thinking on the logic of civilization evolution that is constrained by religious and spiritual factors,and limited by the ideological constraints caused by the global expansion of Western capitalism is unable to imagine how human civilizations can break free from the shackles of capitalism.This is the core dilemma of the discourse on civilizational forms in the Western academic community.

Key words: Toynbee, discourse on civilizational forms, primary civilizations, secondary civilizations, challenge-and-response