Luo Sihai: Cultural Prosperity is a Significant Hallmark of Chinese-path Modernization
The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization (hereinafter referred to as the Decision) identifies the following as major objectives for comprehensively deepening reform: “focusing on building a leading country in socialist culture [1], upholding the fundamental system of the guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology, improving the systems and mechanisms for developing cultural programs and cultural industries, and promoting cultural prosperity.” The prosperity and vitality of culture serve as a crucial hallmark of Chinese-path modernization. In the process of Chinese-path modernization, promoting cultural prosperity and vitality must be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, firmly grasping the “Chinese-path” [2] thread of modernization, strengthening cultural self-confidence, enhancing cultural innovation, and expanding cultural influence, thereby achieving the integrated development of modernization and socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Providing Scientific Guidance for Cultural Prosperity
The 20th CPC National Congress established the central task of advancing the great cause of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese-path modernization. The Decision further emphasizes that “the present and the coming period are critical for advancing the great cause of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese-path modernization.” The profound changes in the domestic and international landscape and the major historical questions of the era facing Chinese-path modernization in the New Era have set new goals and requirements for the innovative development of the guiding ideology and theory for building a leading country in socialist culture. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture emerged from the grand historical background of Chinese-path modernization entering the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As the cultural component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, it focuses on responding to and answering questions regarding socialist cultural construction within Chinese-path modernization. Consequently, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture unfolds around the central task of Chinese-path modernization. It is a vital component of Xi Jinping’s thought on socialist culture for a New Era, providing a powerful ideological weapon and action guide for resolving major theoretical and practical issues—such as how to build a leading cultural country and what kind of cultural country to build—and offering scientific guidance for promoting cultural prosperity and vitality.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Without the prosperity and development of socialist culture, there would be no socialist modernization.” Building on long-term exploration and practice, our Party has united and led the Chinese people in successfully advancing and expanding Chinese-path modernization. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement [3] in coordination. It emphasizes both the great abundance of material wealth and the great abundance of spiritual wealth, striving to promote the unification of the comprehensive enrichment of things and the well-rounded development of people. Making “focusing on building a leading country in socialist culture” a sector-specific objective and task for further comprehensively deepening reform highlights the important role of cultural construction in advancing Chinese-path modernization. The strength of a country or a nation is always supported by the prosperity and vitality of its culture. Culture is a vital force for a nation's survival and development; cultural prosperity and vitality provide the spiritual support for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and are an inherent requirement [4] for comprehensively building a leading country in socialist culture.
Building a leading country in socialist culture and promoting cultural prosperity and vitality at a new historical starting point is an arduous task. We must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to ensure that further comprehensive deepening of reform in the cultural sphere proceeds in an steady and orderly manner, promote cultural prosperity and vitality, and ensure that the construction of a leading country in socialist culture is implemented effectively.
Strengthening Cultural Self-Confidence
General Secretary Xi Jinping has noted: “Without a high degree of cultural self-confidence and the prosperity and vitality of culture, there will be no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Cultural self-confidence is the most basic, profound, and enduring force in the development of Chinese-path modernization. It is an inevitable requirement for continuously advancing the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism in the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it serves as the fundamental guarantee for promoting cultural prosperity and vitality.
First, to strengthen cultural self-confidence, we must bolster the construction of core socialist values and solidify the political attributes of cultural work. Values are the spiritual bond of a nation and play a critical role in shaping the people's cultural identity. First, we must cultivate and practice cultural self-awareness regarding core socialist values. We should deeply mine excellent traditional Chinese values, endow fine traditional Chinese culture with contemporary value, and innovatively develop revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture. Second, we must cultivate and practice theoretical self-awareness regarding core socialist values. We must uphold the fundamental system of the guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology and establish the leading position of the socialist core value system and core socialist values within the ideological sphere. Third, we must cultivate and practice institutional self-awareness regarding core socialist values. These values should be integrated into the Constitution, laws, regulations, and policy systems, as well as into institutionalized moral systems such as professional ethics, social morality, family virtues, village regulations, folk agreements [5], and student codes of conduct, thereby transforming core socialist values from intellectual and conceptual culture into institutional and behavioral culture.
Second, to strengthen cultural self-confidence, we must reinforce the development of Marxism as a discipline and accelerate the construction of a system of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. The Decision states: “We will innovate the Project to Study and Build Marxist Theory, implement the philosophy and social sciences innovation project, and build an autonomous knowledge system of Chinese philosophy and social sciences.” First, we must firmly grasp the Party's leadership over cultural work. The Party's comprehensive leadership must be reflected in all aspects and the whole process of propaganda, ideological, and cultural work—including theory, public opinion, culture and art, internal and external communication, and online and offline activities—to ensure the Party plays its core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. Second, we must implement Marxism, especially Sinicized and modernized Marxism, across all fields and throughout the entire process of developing philosophy and social sciences, focusing on promoting the construction of China's autonomous knowledge system and elevating Chinese experience into Chinese theory. Third, we must adhere to a direction of construction that is autonomous, contemporary, and systematic, building a discourse system with Chinese characteristics to lay a solid foundation for advancing Chinese-path modernization and achieving cultural prosperity.
Enhancing Cultural Innovation
Innovation is the essential characteristic and lifeblood of culture. The Decision points out: “We will move faster to adapt to the new situation of rapid development in information technology, cultivate a large-scale team of outstanding cultural talents, and stimulate the cultural innovation and creativity of the entire nation.” The current era is one of continuous practical innovation amidst great changes. Promoting cultural innovation within the process of Chinese-path modernization is an inevitable requirement for adhering to the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics and for promoting the integrated development of fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture.
First, enhancing cultural innovation requires focusing on innovative talent and the construction of talent teams. Cultivating talent is the starting point and foothold of cultural work. The Decision emphasizes: “We will implement more proactive, open, and effective talent policies, improve mechanisms for independent talent cultivation, and accelerate the construction of high-level national talent hubs and platforms for attracting and gathering talent.” In the New Era, Chinese-path modernization covers an unprecedentedly wide range of fields, and the demand for high-quality talent in all sectors has become increasingly urgent. On one hand, through more than 40 years of reform and opening up, China has cultivated a massive talent pool through scientific, systematic, and comprehensive talent strategies, achieving fruitful results in the strategies of invigorating the country through science and education and strengthening the nation through talent. On the other hand, facing a new situation where comprehensively deepening reform has entered a "formidable stage" and "deep water zone" [6], and facing new demands for industrial restructuring at home and abroad, China still needs to adjust its talent strategies in a timely manner, promote structural reforms of talent teams, and implement socialist cultural education with Chinese characteristics throughout the entire process of talent cultivation. To this end, we must deeply resolve the fundamental questions of "who to cultivate, for whom to cultivate, and how to cultivate," independently training a team of innovative talents with strong political quality, outstanding innovation capabilities, and significant competitive advantages.
Second, enhancing cultural innovation must continuously meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the people. In 1845, Marx first proposed the concept of "spiritual production" in The Holy Family. He noted: "In the field of direct material production... the same applies to spiritual production. If I want to act reasonably, must I not consider the time necessary for the production of a certain spiritual work when determining its scale, structure, and plan?" At that time, the spiritual production Marx understood was a productive activity resulting in spiritual works, classified as one of the basic forms of social production. The imbalance between the rapid development of the material world and the relative poverty of the people’s spiritual world is a significant feature of China’s current social development and an urgent problem to be solved in the process of Chinese-path modernization. Enriching the people’s spiritual and cultural life is an important goal of Chinese-path modernization; promoting cultural innovation is a necessary measure to strengthen spiritual and cultural construction and meet the people’s needs for a better life. To this end, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The people are the source of creation; only by taking root among the people can creation obtain an inexhaustible and unfailing source.” Cultural innovation should be guided by better meeting the personalized and diverse spiritual and cultural needs of the people. It should persist with a two-pronged approach of technological innovation and institutional innovation, constantly sparking new spiritual and cultural demands, safeguarding the cultural rights and interests of the people, leading the development of cultural programs and the transformation of cultural industries, and promoting cultural prosperity and vitality.
Expanding Cultural Influence
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “A nation without spiritual strength can hardly stand on its own, and a cause without cultural support can hardly endure.” Material and cultural-ethical advancement are two sides of the same coin in modernization. Cultural prosperity and vitality provide the spiritual support for advancing Chinese-path modernization, reflecting the important role of culture in building consensus and shaping values. In today’s world, we face "changes unseen in a century" [7]. To stand firm in the turbulent tides of global culture and solve the series of new situations and problems arising in the process of modernization, we must expand cultural influence, tell China's stories well, and make China's voice heard.
We need to enhance the country's cultural soft power. Strong cultural soft power is an objective reflection of comprehensive national strength and the basic prerequisite for seizing the initiative in international cultural competition and promoting cultural prosperity. First, we must use Chinese logic [8] to summarize Chinese experience. Chinese logic is the result of the combined deduction and interaction of Marxist logic, the logic of Chinese cultural development, and the logic of Chinese practical development. To use Chinese logic well, we must base ourselves on the great historical and contemporary practices of the Chinese nation, organically unifying the promotion of fine traditional Chinese culture with the development of contemporary culture. To summarize Chinese experience well, we must summarize the millennium-long historical experience of the Chinese nation's continuous vitality, the experience of the Chinese people's struggle for national independence and liberation in modern times, and the era-specific experience of the CPC leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform, using these experiences to guide the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Second, we must use Chinese discourse to tell China's stories well. General Secretary Xi Jinping has noted: "We should accelerate the construction of a Chinese discourse and narrative system, tell China's stories well, make China's voice heard, and present an image of China that is credible, lovable, and respectable." Chinese civilization has a long and brilliant history, making significant contributions to the progress of human civilization and deeply influencing other countries historically. Today, in the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Chinese culture is exerting a positive influence on countries worldwide—especially many developing nations—through the "Belt and Road Initiative" and the "Maritime Silk Road," promoting a new process of human civilization. Therefore, we must stand on Chinese soil, tell China's stories well, shape more cultural images of China recognized by the world, strive to display a vivid and three-dimensional China, and write a new chapter in promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
We need to strengthen the construction of international discourse power. International discourse power reflects our country's capacity and effectiveness in international cultural communication, thereby generating cultural attraction. First, we must innovate narrative styles and portray the "China image" multi-dimensionally. In building an international communication system, vivid and three-dimensional voice transmission is more approachable and infectious. Safety, friendliness, and beauty—realities that seem commonplace to Chinese people in their daily lives—have become the "traffic codes" [9] in the "China Travel" tag on TikTok. Through these authentic records and narratives on TikTok, young people abroad are learning about China from different perspectives, and many foreigners are speaking up for China. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate multi-level and multi-dimensional discourse power into the strategic layout of international communication, creating more high-quality communication pieces that focus on "small apertures" [10], speak to the hearts of the people, and align with the reception habits of foreign audiences, thereby portraying a more complete and vivid "China image." Second, we must use digital and intelligent [11] empowerment for communication and precisely disseminate "Chinese propositions" from multiple perspectives. Today's society has entered the digital-intelligent era, and the subjects of international communication have gradually shifted from singular to plural, expanding from official communication to universal participation. In external communication work, we should base our efforts on the actualities of different media attributes and audience differences in different regions. Rooted in the grand perspectives of jointly building the "Belt and Road," promoting a community with a shared future for humanity, and Chinese-path modernization, we should use digital-intelligent technology and innovative communication means. By using differentiated communication to seize the initiative, we can ensure the precise and effective dissemination of "Chinese propositions."
(The author is the Secretary of the CPC Committee of Nanchang University and a researcher at the Nanchang University Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics)
Source: Guangming Daily February 25, 2025 Web Editor: Huihui