Yu Guoshi and Wu Yonghan: Cultural Development Must Follow the Party's Mass Line in the New Era
Standing at a new historical juncture, to strengthen cultural self-confidence, forge new brilliance for Chinese culture, and build a powerful socialist cultural nation, we must adhere to the historical materialist view of history centered on the masses. We must persist in a people-centered value orientation and maintain a practical orientation of "from the masses, to the masses" [1]. Ultimately, this means persisting in following the Party's mass line in the New Era.
Cultural Development Originates from the Practice of the People
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "The people are the source of creative life; only by taking root among the people can creativity obtain an inexhaustible and perennial spring." The people are the creators of history and the creators of the times. From antiquity to the present, the culture of every era has, without exception, originated from social practice. Only by placing the people in the highest position, bestowing the most enthusiastic praise upon the great process of the people creating history, and giving the most profound acclaim to all those who strive, can culture endure and flow far through the ages.
Accurately grasping the pulse of the times. Culture is a phenomenon unique to human society; as part of the superstructure, it is rooted in social practice and in turn acts back upon social practice. Social practice is the most authentic and unadorned epic created by the masses, containing the richest and most vivid raw materials for cultural development—a continuous mineral deposit. Cultural development in the New Era must draw wisdom and strength from the great practice of the "New Journey" [2]. It must actively portray the historical process of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization, demonstrate the unremitting efforts and achievements of the masses, and present the advanced models and moving stories of the New Era. This ensures the "hundred flowers garden" [3] of culture forever flourishes for the nation’s cause, sings for the era, and blooms for the people.
Respecting the pioneering spirit of the masses. The masses create history and, simultaneously, create culture; they are both the source of cultural development and the subjects of cultural creation. Without the nourishment and creation of the people, culture would become like "rootless duckweed" [4]. Judging the present by the past, fine traditional Chinese culture was precisely formed during the magnificent struggles of the Chinese nation and developed through the people's efforts to uphold the fundamentals and break new ground. We must respect the principal status and pioneering spirit of the masses, fully stimulating their initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity to release the powerful potential energy of cultural development. We must sincerely "take the people as our teacher" and be "students of the people," modestly learning from the masses and from life, integrating individual sentiments into the sentiments of the people to give culture greater appeal, vitality, and creativity.
Drawing rich nourishment from life. The vigor and vitality of culture are contained within the people. Only by perceiving the joys and sorrows of the people and being familiar with their demands and concerns can one gain insight into the essence of life, comprehend the heartbeat of the people, and write for, express emotions for, and pour out one's heart for the people. We must make "going deep into the grassroots" [5] our primary task. With sincerity, emotion, and specific questions in mind, we should frequently visit fields, urban neighborhoods, markets, squares, and factory workshops to conduct investigation and research, perform field visits, and observe the people's conditions to find the breakthrough points for cultural innovation. We must listen more to the voices of the masses, solicit their opinions, and reflect their will. We should focus on using expressions that are "loved by the people and easily accepted" [6], making works closer to reality, closer to life, and closer to the masses, thereby adapting to the diverse and individualized cultural needs of the people in the New Era.
Taking "Establishing the Soul through Culture" as the Goal Orientation
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "persist in the direction of serving the people and serving socialism" and to "let the people enjoy a more substantial, richer, and higher-quality spiritual and cultural life." The question of "for whom" is a fundamental one. Socialist culture, in its essence, is the culture of the people and the culture of the masses. Developing literature and art, news and publishing, film, television, and theater is all for the purpose of better improving the level of public cultural services and satisfying the people's cultural expectations for a better life.
Satisfying the cultural needs of the masses. With economic and social progress, the people's standard of living continues to rise. Cultural needs, as higher-level needs, have inevitably become an urgent issue to be resolved. The principal contradiction in society has transformed into the "contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing need for a better life." Whether culture can achieve balanced and adequate development is particularly important. We must take satisfying the more diverse and pluralistic cultural needs of the masses as our goal, continuously improving public cultural services and the capacity for grassroots cultural supply. This is especially true for rural areas and other regions where cultural development relatively lags, ensuring the masses enjoy a higher quality of cultural life. For instance, as the awareness of learning increases across society, the pace of museum construction and public cultural services must keep up, allowing the fruits of museum development to empower the people's beautiful lives at a higher level.
Enhancing the spiritual strength of the people. Culture bears the responsibility and mission of "raising the flag, gathering the hearts of the people, nurturing new talents, and displaying the national image" [7]. Educating people through culture, convincing people through reason, and connecting hearts through art involves using artistic methods, excellent works, and beneficial activities to vigorously promote socialist core values. It means widely disseminating the "main theme" [8] and positive energy, promoting the internalization of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and firmly grasping the initiative in ideological work. We must exert culture's role in leading trends, educating the people, serving society, and promoting development, enhancing culture’s power for value guidance, social cohesion, and spiritual momentum. Through theoretical publicity, film, television, and literary works, we must strengthen education in patriotism, collectivism, and socialism to consolidate a more basic, profound, and lasting cultural force.
Building a common home for the nation. Every nation possesses its own historical traditions, basic national conditions, and cultural accumulation; thus, culture inevitably possesses different characteristics, forms, and missions. Culture with Chinese characteristics is, first and foremost, a culture with Chinese features. Its historical mission is inevitably to carry forward the common spiritual genes of the Chinese people, cast a firm sense of community for the Chinese nation, and form a shared spiritual home. We must vigorously promote the national spirit centered on patriotism and the spirit of the era centered on reform and innovation. We must publicize the Chinese path, Chinese wisdom, and Chinese solutions, portraying a colorful, progressive, and united China. By telling the China story well and telling the story of the Communist Party of China well, we can enhance the people's sense of national pride and honor, uniting the people of all ethnic groups under the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Taking Mass Evaluation as the Highest Standard
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Take the satisfaction of the people as the highest standard for testing art, and create more excellent works that meet the people's cultural needs and enhance their spiritual strength." Culture with Chinese characteristics originates from the people and serves the people; it must actively respond to realistic questions such as what the masses actually expect, what culture can provide for them, and how their cultural interests can be guaranteed. We must always adhere to the people's standard as the primary standard, regarding the masses as witnesses, connoisseurs, and judges.
Improving the cultural literacy of the masses. The masses are the judges of culture, and their cultural literacy and aesthetic level are the prerequisites for achieving objectivity and accuracy in evaluation. In the New Era, with the improvement of cultural supply capacity, cultural products emerge in an endless stream, and the cultural life of the masses becomes increasingly colorful. Consequently, their awareness and ability for cultural evaluation have significantly increased. We must combine serving the masses with guiding them, and satisfying needs with improving literacy. This involves strengthening the cultural immersion and cultivation of the masses, deepening their scientific understanding of culture, and improving the overall cultural level of society. For example, current cyber-culture presents a phenomenon where mainstream culture, non-mainstream culture, and subcultures coexist. In this complex situation, it is particularly important to "extract the essence and discard the dregs, and distinguish the true from the false" [9], guiding the development of New Era mainstream culture that reflects socialist core values and improving cultural sensitivity and discernment.
Expanding the ways culture approaches the masses. Promoting culture to "fly into the homes of ordinary people" [10] is the fundamental path for serving the people and serving socialism. We should use forms such as condolence performances, "sending opera to the countryside," and cultural assistance to bring excellent cultural works to the grassroots and to the people's side. This ensures the masses find these works "loved and heard" [6], allowing culture to "moisten things silently" [11] and produce resonance, thus satisfying cultural needs at different levels to the maximum extent. We must utilize modern technical means such as mobile terminals to provide cultural services, narrowing the "digital divide" and actively promoting the equalization of public cultural services.
Strengthening the innovative development of culture. Culture with Chinese characteristics continues the spiritual pulse of the Chinese nation; it requires both transmission from generation to generation and the ability to advance with the times and "push out the old to bring forth the new" [12]. We must stimulate the cultural innovation and creative vitality of the entire nation and develop a socialist culture that is "national, scientific, and for the masses" [13]. We should learn from the ancients without being mired in the past, and break old forms without violating fundamental principles. We must establish a heart of reverence for our predecessors while strengthening a competitive spirit to surpass them, striving for perfection and innovation to create cultural products worthy of this great nation and great era. Relying on new technologies and means for cultural innovation, exploring new ways of cultural dissemination, and creating cultural products that meet the characteristics of new platforms to occupy the online cultural battlefield is an important task for the prosperity and development of socialist culture in the New Era.
(The authors are researchers at the Guangxi University Base of the Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project)
Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net / Guangming Daily