Xing Ke: Implementing the Spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulations from the Political Height of High-Level Governance [1]
By Xing Ke
Editor’s Note: In order to earnestly carry out study and education on the deep implementation of the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, and to push the youth of this Academy to deeply study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on strengthening the Party's work style construction, while consciously creating a clean and upright political ecosystem and academic ecosystem, the Communist Youth League Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), in collaboration with the Chinese Social Sciences Net, has opened a special column titled "Social Science Youth Speak: Study and Education on the Deep Implementation of the Spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations." We have invited outstanding young cadres and scholars from our Academy to write interpretive articles based on their experiences and practical insights into implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations and their implementation rules. These articles demonstrate the high degree of political, ideological, and behavioral consciousness of our Academy’s youth, contributing youthful strength to opening a new frontier in the Academy’s political construction through new achievements in work style construction.
About the Author: Xing Ke is a postdoctoral fellow in History and an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, CASS, as well as an Associate Research Fellow at the Research Center for the Knowledge System of Modern Chinese History at the Chinese Academy of History. His research focuses on the globalization and localization of Marxism, including the transnational dissemination of left-wing culture in Northeast Asia during the 1920s and 30s, and the dissemination and development of Marxist world history in modern China. He has published numerous theoretical articles in Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, and China Social Sciences Today, and over ten papers in core journals. He has translated works such as The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History and the BBC History of the World. His research has been reprinted in Xinhua Digest, China Social Science Digest, and Renmin University of China Reproduced Materials. He has led several major projects under the CASS Project for Marxist Theoretical Construction and Research, sub-projects of National Social Science Fund Major Projects, and Postdoctoral Research Fund projects.
Since the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always attached high importance to work style construction. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution [1], the Party formed its "Three Great Fine Styles of Work." After the founding of New China, the Party Central Committee took a clear-cut stand against formalism and bureaucratism. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed work style construction in a prominent position. In December 2012, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee which reviewed and adopted the "Eight-Point Regulations of the Political Bureau of the 18th Central Committee on Improving Work Style and Maintaining Close Ties with the Masses." By establishing rules in eight areas, including improving investigation and research, the Party embarked on a new journey of work style construction to "wash away the murky water and let the clear flow" [2]. We must earnestly study the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations and implement them to the letter from the height of political stature.
Work Style Is a Major Political Issue for the Governing Party’s Self-Construction
The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Our country is at a critical period for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The CPC is leading the people in a great struggle with many new historical characteristics. The speed of change in the environment, the weight of tasks regarding reform, development, and stability, and the number of contradictions, risks, and challenges are all unprecedented tests for our Party's governance. As a century-old Party, to write a transformative history for the Chinese nation, we must always maintain the support and backing of the people. However, for a period of time, formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance (the Four Winds) persisted in some localities and departments despite repeated prohibitions; "privilege-seeking" mindsets and phenomena were relatively serious. This not only delayed various tasks and alienated the masses but also seriously damaged the Party's advanced nature and purity.
Since the 18th National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping, with the sublime sentiment and firm conviction of "I shall be selfless and live up to the people" [3], has had the courage to confront the various problems and malpractices within the Party. Breaking through by formulating and executing the Eight-Point Regulations, he has personally planned, deployed, and promoted the initiative. He has delivered a series of important expositions and set clear requirements, solving the problem of what to grasp and how to grasp it regarding work style construction under new circumstances. After the 19th National Congress, the Party Central Committee revised the implementation rules for the Eight-Point Regulations in response to new situations, continuing to sweep away stubborn maladies with a spirit of thorough self-revolution and nurturing a clean and upright atmosphere.
Work style construction is a process of simultaneously establishing the new and breaking the old, "bolstering the orthodox and exorcising the evil" [4]. On one hand, our Party sets examples and establishes new trends, providing a clear orientation for improving work style. On the other hand, we have persisted in rectifying conduct and enforcing discipline, using the "nail-driving spirit" [5] to rectify the Four Winds, oppose privilege-seeking, and resolutely combat the unhealthy tendencies and corruption occurring right at the doorsteps of the masses. We have halted crooked winds that went unchecked for a long time and cured stubborn ailments that persisted for years. The Eight-Point Regulations used a "small point of entry" to leverage the "great transformation" of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. The century-old Party has been reborn through revolutionary forging, radiating new vigor and vitality, and driving a continuous improvement in social and folk customs, gathering powerful positive energy for the cause of the Party and the state.
A Fine Academic Style Is an Important Guarantee for the Prosperity of Philosophy and Social Sciences
The cause of philosophy and social sciences is an important undertaking for the Party and the people; the philosophy and social science front is an important front for the Party and the people. In the sphere of philosophy and social sciences, "work style" manifests specifically as "academic style." If the academic style is upright, the cause will flourish; if it is improper, the cause will suffer. Leading academic style construction with the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations is crucial for the development of philosophy and social sciences.
Maintaining close ties with the masses concerns the Party's image and the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the people. Philosophy and social sciences similarly face the question of "for whom?"—this is a fundamental issue of principle. Our Party is a Party that serves the people wholeheartedly; our country is a country where the people are the masters of the house. The starting and ending point of all work by the Party and the state is to realize, maintain, and develop the fundamental interests of the broadest possible ranks of the people. For China’s philosophy and social sciences to be effective, they must adhere to a people-centered research orientation. Divorced from the people, philosophy and social sciences will lack attraction, appeal, influence, and vitality.
Currently, while the majority of philosophy and social science workers have established a correct research orientation, some atmospheres inconsistent with the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations still exist. Some people do not care about the people who create history, but rather about "foreign dogmas." They cite Western "scriptures" and "classics" as their standards, crudely "tailoring" [6] the living developments and innovations of practice to fit these models. Consequently, they lose the autonomy of their research and fall into Western discourse traps.
The integration of theory with practice is a fine academic style of Marxism. The degree to which a theory is realized in a country depends on the degree to which it meets objective needs; the effectiveness of a theory’s role depends on the depth to which it is manifested in practice. Marxism has a prominent practical nature; the viewpoints of practice and life are the basic viewpoints of Marxist epistemology. This practicality is the distinct feature that distinguishes Marxist theory from other theories. The great social transformation of contemporary China provides philosophy and social sciences with a wealth of new material and poses many new questions, serving as an inexhaustible source for proposing new viewpoints and constructing new theories. Yet, some scholars still prefer to "hide away in their small towers" [7] to engage in ivory-tower scholarship. They interpret "seeking truth from facts" merely as an evidentiary method or attitude of philological research, becoming obsessed with "exhausting the classics until their hair turns white" [8] in piles of old papers. It is as if "truth" can only be sought in ancient texts—the more "ancient" the better, the more "bookish" the better. This academic style of burying one's head in books while being divorced from reality deviates from our Party's original aspiration and founding mission to seek happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation. It will ultimately turn philosophy and social sciences into "water without a source" or "a tree without roots."
Implementing the Spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations Through Practical Action
The Eight-Point Regulations are ironclad rules and hard benchmarks that remain effective over the long term. Philosophy and social science workers in the New Era must deeply study and implement the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, consolidate the results of Thematic Education [9] and Party Discipline Study and Education, and effectively internalize the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations in the mind and externalize it in action, ensuring the Party’s fine traditions become a strong guarantee for high-quality development in philosophy and social sciences.
To implement the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, we must first increase our political stature. Work style construction concerns whether our Party can govern over the long term and fulfill its governing mission. We must stand at the height of the development of the cause of the Party and the people, deeply recognizing the importance of work style construction. We must combine the study and implementation of the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations with the study and implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on strengthening the Party's work style and with the study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We must consistently arm our minds and guide our practice with the Party's innovative theories, consciously resisting various erroneous ideological trends in academic research. We must neither "carve a mark on the boat to find a sword" [10] by being stuck in the past, nor "swallow foreign things without digesting them" [11] by blindly copying others. We must ensure through solid work style construction that philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics always travel on the correct path.
Secondly, we must improve investigation and research. Investigation and research are the foundation of planning and the way to success; "no investigation, no right to speak." Philosophy and social science workers should vigorously promote the practice of investigation and research, focusing on major theoretical and practical issues of the New Era. We must seek truth from facts, "dissecting the sparrow" [12] when addressing specific problems, insisting on telling the truth and reporting the real situation. We must propose pragmatic, effective, targeted, and operable policy suggestions to serve the decision-making of the Party and the government. We must firmly establish the concept of doing scholarship for the people, taking it as our mission to respond to major public concerns and solve the "hot" and "difficult" issues people care about. We must go deep into the grassroots, the masses, and reality—doing scholarship that resonates with the hearts of the people and "writing papers on the land of the motherland" [13], producing research results that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history.
Furthermore, we must carry forward a fine academic and writing style. The philosophy and social science circles should advocate for a "short, substantive, and fresh" [14] writing style, being concise and using plain language, while strictly avoiding the piling up of obscure academic jargon or the minting of new concepts to create an illusion of "profundity." We should promote a scholarly attitude of seeking truth and rigorous realism, consciously abiding by academic norms, and truly unifying one's character, actions, and scholarship. We must carry forward the spirit of "sitting on a cold bench for ten years and refusing to write a single empty line" [15]. We must endure loneliness, withstand temptation, and hold the bottom line. We should aspire to do "great scholarship" and "true scholarship," promoting a fine academic style that values quality, rigorous study, integrity, and responsibility, thereby creating a clean, upright, and positive academic ecosystem characterized by mutual learning.
Work style construction is always an ongoing task; there is no "finished" state. The formulation and implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations is our Party’s act of "moving the pole to establish trust" [16] in the New Era. It must be grasped unremittingly and persisted over the long term. On the new journey, we must unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, persevere in implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, and use a fine work style to build consensus and initiate undertakings, pushing the Party's philosophy and social science cause continuously forward.