Feng Jikang and Liu Xiaotong: Leading Social Revolution with the Party's Self-Revolution: Internal Logic, Operating Mechanisms, and Practical Approaches
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Xi Jinping—grounded in the dimensions of Party building and national development—has delivered a series of important discourses on the "two great revolutions," creatively proposing the scientific thesis of "leading the great social revolution through the great self-revolution." In the report to the 20th CPC National Congress, Xi Jinping once again reaffirmed "leading social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution," highlighting the leading and driving role of the Party's self-construction in social change. The Party's self-revolution concerns the construction of the subjective force for advancing social revolution, providing effective guidance and scientific direction for reshaping and optimizing social forms in the New Era. Standing at a new historical starting point, it is of great theoretical significance and practical value to profoundly grasp the narrative of the laws governing "leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution" and to deeply explore the internal logic, operating mechanisms, and practical paths of this major academic proposition. This ensures the Party better exerts the efficacy of self-revolution in guiding social revolution, uniting and leading the Chinese people in the strenuous effort to build a strong country and achieve the great cause of national rejuvenation.
I. The Internal Logic of Leading Social Revolution Through the Party’s Self-Revolution
Leading social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era possesses its own internal logic. Intuitively, clarifying this logic necessitates a logical exploration of the internal relationship between self-revolution and social revolution that conforms to both history and objective laws. Although "self-revolution" in the dimension of the governing party's construction and "social revolution" in the dimension of economic and social development have different emphases and referents, the two are interdependent and dialectically unified. Self-revolution is the prerequisite and guarantee for social revolution, while social revolution is the goal and final destination of self-revolution; the two are internally unified in the Party's century-long great practice.
(1) Self-revolution is an important prerequisite and the fundamental guarantee for social revolution
Social revolution does not occur automatically, nor does it advance in an unordered fashion. Its smooth progress depends on the advanced proletarian party continuously using self-revolution to eliminate negative factors within itself that hinder the advancement of social revolution. In the process of achieving transcendence and reform of the "ego" [1], the Party forges "new qualities," "new powers and new conceptions" [2], thereby providing an important prerequisite and fundamental guarantee for leading social revolution.
First, self-revolution is the strong political guarantee for the in-depth advancement of social revolution. From the perspective of revolutionary leadership, the proletarian party shoulders the historical responsibility of leading the social revolution by virtue of its progressive nature [3], and this nature depends on the continuous tempering of self-revolution. Through self-revolution, the proletarian party constantly examines, purifies, and improves itself, washing away backward ideas and removing its own "lesions." Through self-improvement and self-transcendence, it provides a strong leadership force for guiding social revolution. Self-revolution embodies the self-sublation [4] of the revolutionary subject in an active sense. As an advanced proletarian party, the Communist Party of China (CPC) can only truly enhance its ability to lead social revolution and burst forth with the powerful force necessary to shoulder this historical mission by unswervingly advancing self-revolution during the great journey of promoting the cause of the Party and the state. In short, self-revolution is the primary political prerequisite for leading social revolution; to advance social revolution, one must advance the Party's self-revolution.
Second, self-revolution provides a powerful spiritual driving force for social revolution. Marx and Engels believed that while people "change this their reality at the same time as their thinking and the products of their thinking." In the practical activity of "revolutionizing itself," the CPC likewise gives birth to new qualities, new powers, and new conceptions. These spiritual qualities and advanced characteristics with revolutionary attributes are gradually refined and internalized into the Party's spirit of self-revolution during the process of advancing self-revolution, thereby manifesting a progressive significance for leading the great social revolution at the spiritual level. "Revolutionary spirit is very precious; without revolutionary spirit, there is no revolutionary action." Through self-revolution, the CPC carries forward its revolutionary spirit, gathers revolutionary will, and drives the entire society to form a thorough revolutionary atmosphere, laying a solid foundation of confidence and a spiritual bedrock for leading social revolution.
Finally, the intensity of self-revolution determines the degree to which social revolution is realized. The proletarian party "constantly criticizes itself" and subjects "its own conclusions to remorseless criticism." This character of self-revolution, forged by the spirit of thorough criticism, profoundly affects and restricts the developmental process of social revolution. In essence, the degree and effectiveness of the Party's self-revolution determine the height and depth of the social revolution it leads. For over a century, the CPC has continuously enhanced the executive intensity, scope, and substantive depth of its self-revolution, never avoiding the difficult for the easy or "scratching the surface" [5]. It has resolutely removed all tumors and toxins that corrode the Party's healthy organism, forging a strong and powerful leadership force to guide social revolution. The century-long history and practice of the CPC prove that the more thoroughly and timely the Party's self-revolution is carried out, the stronger the Party becomes through revolutionary tempering, and the more smoothly the various causes of the Party and the state advance.
(2) Social revolution is the target orientation and value destination of self-revolution
The directional requirements of self-revolution are not determined arbitrarily, nor are they immutable; rather, they are constantly adjusted according to the different historical tasks of the social revolution. Social revolution determines the nature and goals of self-revolution, serving as its fundamental purpose and value destination, as well as an important standard for testing the effectiveness of self-revolution.
On the one hand, the historical tasks of social revolution clarify the directional requirements for self-revolution. The social revolution led by the proletarian party is a revolution that "practically opposes and changes existing things," aiming to eliminate all class exploitation and oppression and ultimately realize the liberation of all humanity. The arduousness and complexity of the revolution dictate that this goal must be achieved in stages. If a proletarian party wishes to shoulder the historical task of completing social revolution, it must constantly engage in self-adjustment according to the different historical tasks of different stages, actively eliminating ideas that are incompatible with revolutionary goals. As an advanced Marxist party, the CPC, in the great practice of leading social revolution, gives full play to the target-guiding role of social revolution toward self-revolution. It actively responds to the new tasks posed by social revolution to the Party's self-revolution, consciously "resolving its own problems without a moment's relaxation" according to the requirements of the times, thereby ensuring the smooth progress of social revolution in the process of self-purification, self-improvement, self-reform, and self-excellence. In short, social revolution points out the target and direction for self-revolution; to achieve effective leadership over social revolution, self-revolution must constantly adjust itself around the goals and tasks of social revolution.
On the other hand, social revolution is the final destination and testing standard of self-revolution. Engels pointed out that "only social revolution is the true revolution, and political and philosophical revolution must ultimately converge toward social revolution." Self-revolution, like other forms of revolution such as political and philosophical revolution, must also converge toward social revolution. The fundamental purpose of the proletarian party's remorseless self-criticism and self-negation is to forge a strong and powerful party capable of shouldering the historical mission of leading a great social revolution. In the great process of leading the development of social revolution, the CPC explicitly proposed in its First Program that "the fundamental political purpose of the Party is to implement social revolution." It is evident that for over a century, the fundamental goal of the Party's use of self-revolution to maintain its advanced nature and purity has been to shape a political leadership that empowers social revolution, thereby driving it toward brilliance. At the same time, the magnificent epic written by social revolution verifies the great achievements of the Party's self-revolution and provides a yardstick for measuring its effectiveness.
(3) Self-revolution and social revolution are internally unified in the century-long great practice of the CPC
Self-revolution and social revolution are closely linked and logically aligned, forming a dialectical unity in the century-long great practice of the CPC. "The Communist Party of China is capable of leading the people in a great social revolution, and it is also capable of conducting a great self-revolution." In a certain sense, the century-long history of the Party is a history of leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution. For over a hundred years, the CPC has constantly adjusted and reformed itself according to the goal requirements of social revolution, shaping a strong revolutionary subject to lead the social revolution and prompting the fundamental transformation of the Chinese nation from weakness to strength.
During the New Democratic Revolution period, the Party faced the primary task of "striving for national independence and people's liberation." The CPC, then in its infancy, knew that to complete the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal social revolution, it had to unswervingly carry out self-adjustment and self-transformation, shaping through self-revolution "a nationwide, mass-based Bolshevik Communist Party of China that is fully consolidated ideologically, politically, and organizationally." To this end, the CPC strengthened ideological building and struggled against erroneous lines within the Party at key junctures such as the August 7th Meeting, the Gutian Meeting, the Zunyi Conference, and the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh CPC Central Committee. Through the practical tempering of self-revolution, the Party led the people in bloody battles and unyielding struggles, overthrew the "three great mountains" [6], and established the New China, giving rise to the epoch-making great social revolution that transformed Old China into New China.
During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Party faced the primary task of "carrying out socialist revolution and promoting socialist construction." The CPC was well aware that only by purifying the internal political ecosystem and ensuring the purity of "fresh blood" within the Party and the ranks of cadres could it shoulder "the new, greater, and more arduous revolutionary tasks." To this end, the CPC used the two sharp weapons of the Rectification Movement and the "Three-Anti" Campaign [7] to focus on rectifying the cadre ranks and powerfully deterring degenerate and corrupt elements within the Party. In the revolutionary practice of self-purification and self-elevation, the Party led the people to be self-reliant and work hard for the prosperity of the country, stabilizing the new regime and transforming the social system, resulting in the earth-shaking great social revolution that shifted society from New Democracy to socialism.
During the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, the Party faced the primary task of "liberating and developing social productive forces, lifting the people out of poverty, and enabling them to become prosperous as soon as possible." Standing at a critical historical crossroads for the Party and the state, the CPC knew that only by breaking through the shackles of ideological ossification with great political courage and continuous self-reform could it smoothly advance the great social revolution of reform and opening up. To this end, the CPC cleared the lingering poison of the "Cultural Revolution," broke the ideological barriers of the "Two Whatevers" [8], clarified the dispute over whether policies were "socialist or capitalist in nature," and strengthened institutional Party building. Time and again, it cleared the ideological mists and completed the task of "setting things right" [9]. Through the practical tempering of self-revolution, the Party led the people to emancipate their minds and forge ahead, establishing a market economy system and achieving overall moderate prosperity (xiaokang), accomplishing the world-changing great social revolution from backwardness and poverty to prosperity and leadership.
As socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, the Party faced the primary task of "achieving the first centenary goal and embarking on a new journey toward the second centenary goal." Facing the "two overarching situations" [10], the CPC kept in mind that "it takes a good blacksmith to forge good steel," knowing that only by forging a strong physique with the courage and determination of a "brave man severing his own wrist" [11] could it effectively lead the great social revolution of the New Era. To this end, the CPC utilized a series of special actions—including comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, maintaining high pressure against corruption, strictly enforcing discipline and rules, rectifying the "chronic maladies" of conduct, and conducting intensive intra-Party education—to treat stubborn ailments and remove the "black sheep." In the revolutionary practice of tempering and reshaping itself, the Party led the people to be self-confident and self-reliant, to uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, to complete the feat of poverty alleviation, and to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. On the new journey, the Party will surely continue to lead all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation to advance the great social revolution through the great self-revolution.
In summary, as important categories of "leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution," self-revolution and social revolution manifest a relationship of dialectical unity and multi-dimensional interaction in their internal logic. First, only a resolute and thorough self-revolution can effectively lead a great social revolution; self-revolution is the important prerequisite and fundamental guarantee for social revolution. Second, social revolution is not entirely passive; it, in turn, forges and humbles the great Party through its realistic practical fields, providing the target orientation and value destination for the Party's self-revolution. Finally, self-revolution and social revolution advance together in a virtuous interaction. For over a century, the two have promoted each other and complemented one another. Through self-revolution, the great causes of saving the country, revitalizing the country, and enriching the country were achieved. On the new journey, the Party's self-revolution will continue to lead the Chinese people with its powerful guiding force to realize the long-anticipated great cause of building a strong nation.
II. The Operating Mechanism of Leading Social Revolution Through the Party’s Self-Revolution
Leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution is a systematic project characterized by distinct levels, complete elements, and integrated links. Its holistic, comprehensive, and collaborative nature dictates that the operational mechanism of this leadership cannot be a unidirectional command structure. Instead, it requires the coupling of various internal elements to continuously drive the effective "guidance" and "interaction" of self-revolution over social revolution. This is achieved through mechanisms of political piloting, ideological guidance, organizational leadership, conduct leadership, disciplinary restraint, and institutional guarantee, thereby releasing powerful momentum and immense efficacy.
(1) The Political Piloting Mechanism The Communist Party of China is the supreme political leadership force in contemporary China. Driven by politics, it plays a pivotal role in "uplifting the lead rope to open the meshes of the net" [12], providing a firm political guarantee for raising the banner, orienting the direction, and planning the layout of social revolution. In the New Era, the CPC has persisted in political piloting, with its core content being the clear-cut maintenance of political principles, the strengthening of the Party's political leadership, and the resolute achievement of the "Two Upholds." This has formed a complete political piloting mechanism. By strengthening its own political building, the Party points out the political direction, clarifies political goals, and determines the political line, thereby leading overall development and advancing social revolution.
First, by taking a clear-cut stand on politics, the Party leverages political building to pilot the social revolution. "Focusing on politics is the fundamental guarantee for our Party to supplement its 'calcium' and strengthen its bones [13], and to build up its physique. It is the fundamental path for our Party to cultivate the courage for self-revolution, enhance its capacity for self-purification, and improve its political immunity against poisons and bacteria." Taking a clear-cut stand on politics is the core essence of the Party's use of self-revolution to maintain its political advancement; it is a massive political advantage that guides the Party to consider the overall situation from a political perspective, lead development, and coalesce strength. In the New Era, the CPC uses political building to drive the continuous improvement of the Party's capacity for political judgment, political understanding, and political execution amidst revolutionary forging. By integrating and optimizing political resources and forces, it leads the modernization of national governance capacity through the modernization of the political party, providing political piloting for the steady and long-term progress of the social revolution. Second, by strengthening the Party's political leadership, it exerts the Party’s role as the leadership core in social revolution. "The Party’s leadership directly relates to the fundamental direction, future destiny, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese-path modernization." Since the start of the New Era, the CPC has advanced Party building with a spirit of thorough self-revolution. By strengthening the Party’s comprehensive leadership and persisting in the Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership, it has completely reversed the problems of weakening, hollowing out, diluting, and marginalizing the Party’s leadership. This has ensured the Party remains the strong leadership core for advancing Chinese-path modernization, providing powerful political leadership to ensure that the direction of the Party’s great social revolution remains unchanged, its stance remains firm, and its path does not deviate. Third, by resolutely achieving the "Two Upholds," the Party exerts its role in setting the course and steering the social revolution. The "Two Upholds" represent the collective will formed by the whole Party through revolutionary tempering; they are a vital political experience and major political choice in leading social revolution through self-revolution. Since entering the New Era, the entire Party, with a high degree of rational and emotional identification, has resolutely upheld the core of the Party and the authority of the Central Committee. Being loyal to the Party, firmly protecting the Party, and putting all efforts into prospering the Party significantly enhanced the ideological, political, and behavioral consciousness of the "Two Upholds," playing a core leading role in advancing the great cause of the Party and the state.
(2) The Ideological Guidance Mechanism Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has sharpened the keen ideological weapon for leading social revolution through its own ideological building, forming a complete and effective ideological guidance mechanism. In the New Era, the CPC has consistently adhered to Marxism as its guide to improve the "mastery of one's trade" [14] for Communists. It uses ideals and convictions as the foundation to guard against the erosion of various erroneous and decadent ideas. It uses Sinicized and modernized Marxism to build ideological consensus for leading social development. Through self-revolution, it completes the active transformation of the subjective world, thereby achieving proactive leadership over the social revolution.
First, by "continuously raising the Marxist level of the whole Party," it provides scientific ideological guidance for promoting social revolution. The Marxist level is the fundamental yardstick for measuring how the CPC masters and applies Marxist stances, viewpoints, and methods to think about and solve China's problems; it is the fundamental basis for the Party to maintain its advancement and enhance its combat effectiveness. In the New Era, the CPC has strengthened its theoretical armament with Marxism through self-revolution, weeding out unqualified elements—those who "dip into it without depth," "have a smattering of knowledge," "study without thinking," or "fail to link study with practice"—thereby raising the Marxist level of the whole Party and providing scientific guidance for grasping historical initiative and advancing the great social revolution. Second, by strengthening education in ideals and convictions, it steers the course for leading the social revolution. As the core content of the Party's ideological and political building, education in ideals and convictions provides a solid pillar for fortifying the political soul and spiritual backbone of the Communists. Under new historical conditions, the CPC has reinforced this education by strengthening its own ideological building. Through conducting concentrated intra-Party education campaigns and promoting the institutionalization and normalization of study and education, the Party actively cleanses ideological dust and tempers Party spirit. This has forged the "steel and iron bones" of firm ideals and convictions among Communists, providing the ideological precursor and spiritual guidance for leading the social revolution. Third, by persisting in arming the whole Party with Sinicized and modernized Marxism, it provides a powerful theoretical weapon for advancing the social revolution. Being adept at using the latest theoretical achievements to arm the mind is a valuable experience the CPC has refined from its century-long history. In the tempering of self-revolution in the New Era, the CPC has consciously used Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as a theoretical weapon to unify souls and guide practice. It continuously transforms the Party’s theoretical advantages into powerful practical forces for advancing the great cause, providing theoretical guidance for the Party’s role in leading social revolution through self-revolution.
(3) The Organizational Leadership Mechanism When the organization is strong, the cause flourishes; the quality of the Party's organizational building determines the degree to which it can lead the social revolution. Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has placed great emphasis on enhancing the political and organizational functions of its organizations. By cultivating organizational advantages and gathering immense organizational strength across systems, cadre ranks, and talent work, it has formed a scientifically rigorous organizational leadership mechanism, injecting strong organizational momentum into leading social revolution through self-revolution.
First, through a rigorous organizational system, it gathers majestic power to lead the social revolution. The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC pointed out: "A rigorous organizational system is where the Party’s strength and advantages lie." Since the New Era began, the CPC has used self-revolution to continuously improve an organizational system that connects the top and bottom and executes effectively. This ensures a sound and hardy system from the central to the local and then to the primary levels, achieving organic connectivity from the "first kilometer" of the Central Committee's decision-making to the "last kilometer" of primary-level Party organizations' implementation. This has released the massive advantages of the Party's organizational system, providing indestructible organizational protection for advancing the social revolution. Second, through a high-quality cadre corps, it forges the backbone for leading the social revolution. "Once the political line is determined, cadres are the deciding factor." Party cadres are the fresh force and backbone for facing the "Four Tests" [15] and guarding against the "Four Dangers" [16] under new circumstances; they are the subjective force in advancing self-revolution. In the New Era, through self-revolution, Party cadres have consistently strengthened their political, ideological, conduct, and practical tempering. This has forged a dedicated organizational force that is politically sound and possesses the courage and ability to struggle, providing robust organizational support for the social revolution. Third, through high-quality talent possessing both integrity and ability, it provides intellectual support for leading the social revolution. "Cultivating and creating a large number of high-quality talents with both integrity and ability is a long-term plan for the country and the nation." Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has consistently placed talent work at a key position in the overall situation of national governance. It fully leverages organizational advantages to "focus on gathering various outstanding talents who love the country and are dedicated to service," forming a talent pool characterized by grand scale, reasonable structure, outstanding efficiency, and excellent quality, providing human and intellectual support for leading the social revolution.
(4) The Conduct Leadership Mechanism The Party's conduct (style of work) "relates to the people’s support or opposition, and to the life or death of the Party and the state." The Party's self-revolution in conduct solidifies the foundation for advancing the cause of the Party and the state. In the New Era, the CPC has used conduct building as an entry point for self-revolution. By formulating and implementing the Eight-Point Regulations, deepening the rectification of the persistent ailments of the "Four Winds," and maintaining close ties with the masses, it has formed a potent conduct leadership mechanism. This has created a clean, upright, and proactive political ecosystem for leading the social revolution.
First, by formulating and implementing the Eight-Point Regulations, it reshapes the image of a pro-people, pragmatic, and clean party to lead social revolution through improved conduct. Shortly after the 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee used the Eight-Point Regulations as an opening move, launching the first battle to rectify persistent ailments in conduct. The Eight-Point Regulations are feasible and powerful measures that hit the mark, fundamentally changing the Party’s conduct and significantly improving the attitude and efficiency of Party and government departments at all levels. This has revitalized the appearance of the Party and the country, reshaping a political ecosystem of clean cadres and clean government to lead the social revolution. Second, by deepening the rectification of the "Four Winds," it establishes a new atmosphere of integrity with resolute determination to lead the social revolution. The "Four Winds" are the great enemy that alienates the Party from the masses and seriously erodes the Party's governing foundation. Under new circumstances of conduct rectification, the Central Committee has tirelessly corrected the "Four Winds" and established a new atmosphere with the "spirit of driving a nail" [17]. With the determination and perseverance to "leave a mark in iron or a footprint in stone" [18], it resolutely guards against invisible variations, rebounds, and "fatigue," promoting the overall optimization of Party, government, and social conduct. This provides the source of momentum for the Party to lead social revolution with a healthy body through self-purification. Third, by maintaining close ties with the masses, it gathers the source of strength for leading social revolution through excellent conduct. "The core issue of strengthening and improving the Party's conduct building is keeping the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the people." Since the 18th National Congress, the Central Committee has consistently adhered to a people-centered approach, consciously practicing the Party’s mass line. By caring for the people’s hardships, listening to their voices, reflecting their wishes, and actively relieving their urgencies and solving their difficulties, the Party has solidified its governing foundation among the masses. This has forged a revolutionary party that keeps the masses in its heart and serves the people.
(5) The Disciplinary Restraint Mechanism "By strengthening discipline, the revolution will be invincible." Strengthening disciplinary building is the fundamental strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party; it provides a guarantee of "iron discipline" for the Party to enhance cohesion and combat effectiveness to lead the great social revolution. In the New Era, the CPC has strengthened its own disciplinary building by clarifying discipline and rules, strengthening regular disciplinary education, and strictly enforcing discipline, forming a powerful disciplinary restraint mechanism that effectively pushes the great social revolution to greater depths.
First, by "placing disciplinary building in a more prominent position," it uses the disciplinary "red line" to safeguard the social revolution. The 19th National Congress of the CPC for the first time explicitly included disciplinary building in the overall layout of Party building in the New Era, demonstrating the Party's firm determination to "clear the source and wash away the turbid." As a sharp "tool" for advancing self-revolution, strict discipline is consistently woven throughout the process of focusing on politics, rectifying ideology, grasping conduct, observing rules, fighting corruption, strengthening organizations, and building institutions. It provides disciplinary restraint to curb undesirable styles and the spread of corruption, thereby ensuring the whole Party remains consistent in thought and action to lead the great social revolution. Second, by strengthening regular disciplinary education, it forges a strong force through self-restraint to lead the social revolution. Strengthening education in Party discipline is an important carrier for transforming the external restraint of discipline into internal consciousness, and is an intrinsic requirement for the CPC's self-revolution in the New Era. The CPC has integrated disciplinary education into daily life and normalized it. By strengthening political, organizational, mass, work, and life discipline, it ensures that "iron discipline" is truly internalized as a standard of conduct and a source of reverence for all members, forging a leadership force that "knows awe, maintains caution, and holds the line." Third, by taking strict enforcement and mandatory accountability as the fundamental yardstick, it creates a clean political ecosystem through genuine and rigorous management. Under new circumstances, the CPC consistently uses discipline as a ruler, insisting on genuine and strict management. By seriously investigating and punishing violations that step on "red lines," cross "bottom lines," or enter "minefields," it ensures iron discipline exerts its power and prohibitions command respect. This has effectively curbed problems such as the "Seven Haves" [19] that violate political discipline and rules, leading to a renewal of intra-Party political life and creating a "clear and peaceful" political ecosystem [20] for promoting social revolution.
(6) The Institutional Guarantee Mechanism To govern the country and order the people, one must first rectify the institutions. Institutional Party governance is the unique code by which the Party achieves the "Governance of the CPC" through self-revolution; it is the solid guarantee for leading the great cause forward. Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has continuously improved itself by strengthening the construction of intra-Party regulations, improving power supervision and restraint mechanisms, and enhancing the execution of regulations. It has formed a complete and efficient institutional guarantee mechanism, finding the key to solving the problems for steadily leading the social revolution forward.
First, strengthening the construction of intra-Party laws and regulations, achieving the effective guidance of social revolution through self-revolution by means of institutional norms. The continuous reform and refinement of the system of intra-Party laws and regulations is both the primary vehicle and an urgent priority for the sustained advancement of self-revolution. Since the New Era, the CPC has planned and reasonably laid out these efforts from a holistic and strategic height. Through the formulation, revision, and clearing of intra-Party regulations, it has constructed a scientifically rigorous, complete, and efficient system of intra-Party laws and regulations, with the Party Constitution as the fundamental compliance and supported by various matching regulations. This has driven the entire Party to continuously conduct self-revolution under the authoritative guidance of intra-Party laws, providing "hard constraints" for the Party to lead the social revolution through self-revolution. Second, perfecting mechanisms for the supervision and restraint of power, tightening the "cage" of institutional constraints to lead the social revolution. "As long as public power exists, there must be restraint and supervision." In the New Era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has persisted in institutional Party governance, rationally determining power attribution, demarcating power boundaries, and clarifying power lists. By strengthening self-restraint through self-revolution, the Party has earnestly "locked power into the cage of institutions," compressing the space for arbitrary exercise of power and effectively curbing its malicious growth. This has created a clear and upright political ecosystem for entrepreneurship and action in leading the social revolution. Third, enhancing institutional execution, releasing the efficacy of self-revolution in guiding social revolution through institutional implementation. "The vitality of an institution lies in its execution." The implementation of institutions ensures that self-revolution always operates on a track of institutionalization and the rule of law. In the New Era, Party organizations and leading organs at all levels have consciously obeyed and strictly implemented the Party’s relevant systems, seriously cooperating with the supervision of institutional execution. This has shaped a favorable environment for execution and fully released the power of laws and regulations, providing a systemic and mechanistic guarantee for the implementation of the leadership over social revolution.
It is thus evident that the operating mechanism of "leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution" is not a simple unidirectional leadership task, but a holistic, coordinated, and comprehensive systemic project. Driven by the Party’s self-revolution in politics, ideology, organization, conduct, discipline, and institutions, it has formed six operating mechanisms that are both independent and interdependent: political piloting, ideological guidance, organizational leadership, conduct-based leading, disciplinary restraint, and institutional guarantee. These provide a powerful impetus for effectively leading the social revolution. In the dynamic process of leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, the political piloting mechanism governs the development of social revolution with the correct political direction and strong leadership; the ideological guidance mechanism lays the intellectual foundation for leading social revolution through theoretical arming and belief education at the subjective level; the organizational leadership mechanism builds social consensus for leading social revolution through a rigorous organizational system and a high-caliber cadre force; the conduct-based leading mechanism creates a sound ecosystem for social revolution through the shaping of excellent conduct and the rectification of the chronic "Four Winds" maladies; the disciplinary restraint mechanism tempers the "iron discipline" guarantee for social revolution through strict discipline, rules, and supervision; and the institutional guarantee mechanism releases the power of institutions through effective norms and strong execution. The six mechanisms work in synergy and interact with each other, jointly promoting the effective guidance and benign interaction between self-revolution and social revolution.
III. The Practical Path for Leading Social Revolution through the Party's Self-Revolution
Achieving the continued development of leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution in the New Era requires using "the unity of Party building, Party leadership, and the Party's cause" as the basic analytical paradigm. By strengthening the Party's political, ideological, organizational, conduct-based, disciplinary, and institutional building, the Party's leadership is enhanced. Consequently, under the core logic of "Party leadership," a conscious linkage between self-revolution and social revolution is realized, thereby elevating the political piloting, ideological guidance, organizational leadership, conduct-based leading, disciplinary restraint, and institutional guarantee of self-revolution over social revolution.
(1) Taking the Party's political building as the overarching principle, strengthening the political piloting of self-revolution over social revolution
Political building is the "key link" and "soul" [21] that governs Party building work in the New Era, determining the direction and effectiveness of the Party's construction. To ensure that the political piloting mechanism always plays the critical role of "holding up the banner and setting the direction" and "grasping the key link to keep everything in place" [22] in the great journey of leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, we must strengthen the Party's political building and enhance the leadership momentum. First, we must remain firm in the correct political direction. "Political direction is the primary issue for the Party's survival and development; it concerns the Party's future and fate, and the success or failure of its cause." The correct political direction guides the fundamental development of self-revolution and serves as a political compass to ensure that the social revolution does not lose its way, deviate from the path, or shift its principles. In the New Era, we must accurately grasp the political direction, integrate the adherence to the correct political direction into the great practice of leading social revolution, frequently "align with the benchmark" [23], and promptly correct deviations to provide a correct political course. Second, we must uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. Maintaining the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is a directional and principled issue concerning the future and destiny of the Party, the nation, and the country. We must ensure that the whole Party obeys the Central Committee, firmly implements the Party's political line, and builds a strong sense of the "Four Consciousnesses" [24]. We must fully safeguard the authority of the Central Committee to ensure it plays its overarching role in "setting the direction, planning the overall situation, formulating policies, and ensuring implementation," providing the core pilotage for leading social revolution through self-revolution. Third, we must strengthen the Party's overall leadership. To fully leverage the Party's role as the core of leadership in the process of leading the great social revolution in the New Era, we must implement Party leadership in all fields, aspects, and links of Party and national governance. We must always ensure that "it takes a good blacksmith to forge good steel" [25], improving the Party's governing capacity and leadership level through self-revolution, and continuously enhancing the Party's power to lead, guide, organize, and inspire, so as to steer the course for social revolution.
(2) Taking the Party's ideological building as the foundation, enhancing the ideological guidance of self-revolution over social revolution
Ideological building is the spiritual source through which the Party leads the social revolution by self-revolution; it is the Party's foundational construction. In the great journey of leading social revolution through self-revolution, to ensure the ideological guidance mechanism continuously releases the great power of contemporary thought, we must comprehensively strengthen the Party's ideological building and consolidate the ideological foundation. First, we must continuously arm the whole Party with the Party’s innovative theories. "Arming the whole Party with the Party's innovative theories is the fundamental task of the Party’s ideological building." Thus, strengthening ideological building requires deepening the Party's theoretical innovation, adhering to a problem-oriented approach, and continuously integrating Marxism with the vivid practice of the Party leading social revolution and with fine traditional Chinese culture. We must advance with the times, uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, and continuously use the Party's latest theoretical achievements as a guide for action. Second, we must conduct intensive intra-Party study and education. "Conducting intensive study and education across the Party is an important way for our Party to advance self-revolution," and it is also a powerful tool for leading social revolution through self-revolution. We should guide the whole Party to seize the opportunity of thematic education, consciously "clearing the source and strengthening the foundation" [26] ideologically, proactively undergoing "political check-ups," dusting off their thoughts, and correcting behavioral deviations. By making intra-Party study and education regular and long-term, we can solidify the ideological basis for the Party to lead the social revolution. Third, we must persist in combining "ideological Party building" with "institutional Party governance." Ideological building is the prerequisite for institutional governance, while institutional governance is the powerful guarantee for ideological building; the two are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. In the New Era, we must insist on the simultaneous application of the "soft constraint" of ideological building and the "hard constraint" of institutional governance, ensuring they are planned and advanced as a whole to provide ideological guidance for the whole Party to unify its thinking and move in step to advance the social revolution.
(3) Taking the Party's organizational building as the guarantee, deepening the organizational leadership of self-revolution over social revolution
Organizational building is an important foundation for Party building; it is the basis for planning and the way to achieve success. Standing at a new historical starting point, to enable the organizational leadership mechanism to further build social consensus and gather forces from all sides, we must strengthen organizational building, realize the Party's self-revolution in organization, and leverage the guiding role of self-revolution over social revolution. First, we must advance organizational building across all levels and solidify the primary responsibility of Party organizations at all levels to lead the social revolution. In the process of revolutionary tempering, we should drive Party building in central and state organs to set benchmarks and examples in terms of discipline, rules, and responsibility. We must push local Party committees to solidify their primary responsibility in "setting directions, making decisions, and ensuring implementation," and encourage primary-level Party organizations to fully play their political role as "nerve endings" and "capillaries." This will continuously enhance the organizational power, cohesion, and combat effectiveness of Party organizations at all levels in leading the social revolution. Second, we must advance organizational building to cover all fields and forge primary-level Party organizations into "fighting bastions" for leading the social revolution. Strengthening the Party's leadership in various fields of social revolution ultimately depends on implementation by Party organizations in all sectors and aspects. We must coordinate the construction of primary-level Party organizations in rural areas, sub-districts, communities, government organs, state-owned enterprises, and schools in a strict and practical manner. With high standards and strict requirements, we must rectify "weak, lax, and disorganized" primary-level organizations, continuously improving their organizational capacity and forging them into strong fighting bastions. Third, we must grasp the building of the organizational ranks and give full play to the vanguard and exemplary role of all Party members in pushing forward all aspects of the social revolution. Party members are the powerful promoters of leading social revolution through self-revolution. In the New Era, we must focus on improving the quality of education and management of Party members, continuously conduct routine self-revolution among the ranks, and promptly and seriously deal with unqualified members. This will forge a contingent of Party members with strong political standing, firm beliefs, high capabilities, and upright conduct to boost the social revolution.
(4) Taking the Party's conduct building as the grasp, strengthening the conduct-based leading of self-revolution over social revolution
Conduct building is an important "grasp" [27] for strengthening Party building, as it concerns the Party's governing foundation and the success or failure of its cause. On the new journey of the New Era, to ensure the conduct-based leading mechanism continues to release the effective power of leading social and folk customs through excellent Party and government conduct, we must strengthen conduct building. Through the self-revolution of conduct, we can create a clean and upright political ecosystem for entrepreneurship and action in leading the social revolution. First, we must strengthen Party spirit cultivation. "The issue of conduct is essentially an issue of Party spirit." In the New Era, tempering Party spirit must be the focus of conduct building, adhering to the principle of "returning to one's original nature and strengthening the foundation" [28]. We must nourish Party spirit with the Great Founding Spirit of the Party, guiding all members to keep the "Three Requirements" [29] in mind, and consciously achieve selflessness, a clear distinction between public and private interests, and the prioritization of the public good. In the process of enhancing Party spirit awareness, we should cultivate a "noble spirit" [30], casting the political character and Party spirit required to lead social revolution through self-revolution. Second, we must give full play to the "key minority" in providing a demonstration and leading role. The conduct of leading cadres directly affects the atmosphere and ecosystem within the Party and is an important guide for government and social conduct. We must strictly manage the conduct of leading cadres, prompting them to lead by example and set a standard in conduct building. With impeccable conduct, they should manage their teams and lead their ranks, achieving an interactive effect where the "key minority" drives the "absolute majority." This will forge an advanced force with ironclad conduct to lead the social revolution. Third, we must establish and improve long-term mechanisms for conduct building. Conduct issues are stubborn and prone to recurrence; conduct building cannot be achieved in a single stroke [31]. We must persist with unwavering determination and establish long-term mechanisms, focusing on the routine, the details, and the long term. Conduct building must be integrated into daily life, refined in small details, and maintained through long-term governance, pushing conduct building to break free from the cycle of "alternating between tension and laxity," establishing a new style for leading social revolution with persistence and perseverance.
(5) Taking the Party's discipline building as the guarantee, strengthening the disciplinary restraint of self-revolution over social revolution
Discipline construction is a vital measure for advancing the Party's self-revolution and a powerful guarantee for resolving intra-Party issues and maintaining the Party's solidarity and unity. To ensure that the disciplinary restraint mechanism truly functions as a key "root-cause cure" in the process of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, we must vigorously strengthen the Party's discipline construction. We must continuously elevate the level and efficiency of the Party's discipline construction and reinforce the disciplinary constraints through which the Party's self-revolution leads the social revolution. First, we must remain strict with the Party's discipline and rules. Strict discipline and rules are the fundamental measures for eradicating the "difficult and complicated diseases" [32] within the Party and for normalizing intra-Party political life. In the New Era, we must persist in tightening discipline and rules—beginning with strict adherence to political discipline and political rules—to drive the comprehensive establishment and tightening of organizational, integrity, work, lifestyle, and mass line discipline. We must transform "iron discipline" into a conscious code of conduct for Party members and cadres, urging all members to be strict with themselves, strict in the exercise of power, strict in fulfilling their responsibilities, and strict in managing their subordinates. This revolutionary forging [33] will provide a reliable guarantee for leading the social revolution. Second, we must accurately apply the "Four Forms" of oversight and discipline enforcement [34]. The "Four Forms" of oversight and discipline enforcement are essential grips for strengthening the Party's discipline construction in the New Era and represent the concrete path for implementing the policy of "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones, and curing the illness to save the patient." In the New Era, we must use the "Four Forms" of oversight and discipline enforcement with precision, clarifying the boundaries, benchmarks, and scope of application for each form. Particular effort should be made in applying the "first form"—catching problems early and at the smallest scale to "nip them in the bud" [35]—thereby giving full play to the important functions of the disciplinary restraint mechanism in education, warning, punishment, and redemption, and shaping a strong leadership force to lead the social revolution. Third, we must deepen the reform of the discipline inspection and supervision system. We must profoundly grasp the strategic considerations and political significance of the Party Central Committee’s deepening of this reform. Adopting a problem-oriented approach, we must increase the initiative of reform and push forward the reform of the Party's discipline inspection system, the national supervision system, and the discipline inspection and supervision institutions in an integrated manner. We must strengthen coordination and cooperation to form a collective force, releasing positive efficacy for the self-revolution to lead the social revolution.
(6) Relying on the Party's institutional construction to improve the institutional guarantee for self-revolution to lead social revolution. Institutional construction is an inevitable requirement for the Party to advance self-revolution and promote the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party; it constitutes the fundamental, overall, and long-term construction of the Party. Grounding ourselves in the New Journey [36], if we are to ensure that the institutional guarantee mechanism continues to release and exercise its powerful institutional efficiency within the field of the new social revolution, we must rely on the Party's institutional construction to continuously improve the system of norms and standards for the Party's self-revolution. We must consolidate the important institutional carriers through which self-revolution leads social revolution. First, we must construct mechanisms for discovering problems and correcting deviations. We must enhance "problem consciousness," discovering problems and correcting errors in a timely manner. We must promptly rectify any issues concerning direction or orientation, thereby ensuring that the social revolution always operates on the correct track. Second, we must improve the oversight system under the Party's unified leadership, which is characterized by full coverage, authority, and efficiency. We must consistently promote the Party's centralized and unified leadership and comprehensive oversight, using intra-Party oversight as the guide to form a normalized and long-term oversight synergy, ensuring that the exercise of power is open and transparent. Third, we must promote the technologization, precision, and normalization of political oversight. We should establish ledgers for political oversight and clarify specific contents to ensure oversight reaches every post and person. We must ensure that the Party Central Committee’s major decisions, deployments, and work requirements are implemented accurately and without compromise, enabling political oversight to exert force with precision. We must integrate political oversight into daily life and routine work, making it a regular institutional arrangement. Fourth, we must utilize the role of political inspection [37] as a "sharp sword." We must adhere to the positioning of political inspections, fully implement the Central Committee’s inspection work policies, deepen the rectification of problems found during inspections, and improve the reporting system for rectification progress. This will allow the "sharp sword" of political inspection to exert its deterrent effect and ensure the long-term efficacy of intra-Party oversight. Fifth, we must implement the political responsibility for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. We must optimize the "responsibility lists," construct a rigorous mechanism for defining, fulfilling, assuming, and pursuing accountability for responsibilities, and improve the integrated mechanism for responsibility oversight, assessment, and accountability. This "closed-loop" responsibility system will ensure that the primary responsibility for leading the social revolution takes root.
In summary, "leading the social revolution through the Party's self-revolution" interprets the intrinsic logical relationship among Party building, Party leadership, and the Party's cause from a completely new perspective. Under the core logic of "Party leadership," it achieves the "coupling" and "interaction" between self-revolution and social revolution. In other words, the Party's cause requires a strong leadership core, and the shaping of that strong leadership core urgently requires the strengthening of Party building. Within the narrative of the laws governing the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country, we must adhere to the priority logic that "to govern the country, one must first govern the Party." We must forge a more resolute and powerful Marxist governing party through self-revolution, achieving a value convergence between the values of the political party and the values of modernization, thereby injecting powerful leadership momentum into leading the great social revolution of the New Era.