He Husheng and Cao Weiqing: Spiritual Shaping and Image Construction of the Communist Party of China during the Yan'an Period
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the spiritual inheritance and image construction of the Communist Party of China (CPC), noting that the series of great spirits formed and the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists constructed during the Party's century-long struggle have "provided rich nourishment for establishing, developing, and strengthening the Party." He further emphasized that the Party's image and prestige "are not only directly related to the fate of the Party, but also directly related to the fate of the country, the people, and the nation." This important judgment provides the fundamental observance for us to trace the Party's century-long history and explore the origins and interactive logic of the tempering of the CPC's spirit and the construction of its image.
During the Yan'an period [1], the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, demonstrated qualities of lofty ideals, firm beliefs, loyalty to the Party, seeking truth from facts, serving the people, defying hardships and dangers, and determined exploration in their revolutionary practice. They fostered and formed the Yan'an Spirit, using it as the spiritual core to construct the Party's image as a leadership force, a revolutionary force, and an advanced force, forging an immortal monument that shines brilliantly in the long river of Party history.
Academic circles have accumulated considerable results in the study of party spirit and party image. Regarding the shaping function of party spirit upon party image, existing research has mostly examined this from a macro perspective, with occasional analyses of the role the Great Founding Spirit of the Party [2] plays in shaping the image of the century-old Party. Existing studies that are highly relevant in terms of time and space to the research theme—such as the shaping of the Party's image during the Yan'an period—have devoted much ink to what kind of image the Party constructed and its characteristics, yet have rarely dug deep into the intrinsic link between the shaping of the Party's image and the Yan'an Spirit. In view of this, the party image constructed by the CPC during the Yan'an period with the Yan'an Spirit as its core, the fine traditions formed, and the valuable experience summarized still demonstrate powerful leading force, charisma, and influence today. Under the contemporary background of comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through a Chinese-path modernization, continuing, inheriting, and promoting this precious legacy while advancing with the times is of great theoretical value and practical significance for strengthening ideological guidance, holding high the spiritual banner, and fortifying the support for the Party's image.
I. Spiritual Shaping: The Yan'an Spirit Becomes the Spiritual Core and Distinctive Identity of the CPC's Image
The spirit of a political party is the core and soul of its image. A party's image possesses both objectivity and subjectivity; it requires active shaping and maintenance, while also evolving dynamically through history. In this process, the party spirit is the fundamental force providing the direction of construction and substantive content. The formation of the Yan'an Spirit is inseparable from the gradual maturation of the CPC in the political, ideological, organizational, and stylistic dimensions during the Yan'an period and the manifestation of its image. As the core of the construction of the party's image in this period, the Yan'an Spirit—with the "Yan'an Style" [3] as its original form—profoundly promoted the active transformation of the Party's image from being "shaped by others" to "self-shaped" through its gestation, generation, and development. In this process, it condensed into a unique identity displaying the Party's historical image, becoming the spiritual drive for the party image to move from construction toward consolidation.
(1) The gestation of the Yan'an Spirit highlights the core and outward orientation of the CPC's image construction during the Yan'an period
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that during the Yan'an period, the CPC achieved historic achievements with "tenacious fighting spirit and superb fighting skills." The generation and promotion of the Yan'an Spirit made an indelible contribution to the Party "opening up a new situation for the Chinese revolution" during this period. It became the spiritual pointer for the Party to construct its own image, guiding the Party to consolidate its foundation for development and welcome revolutionary victory through image building, thereby winning the decisive shift in the "direction of people’s hearts" [4] and gaining the active attention of the international community.
The brewing of the Yan'an Spirit constituted the core of the CPC's image construction during the Yan'an period. The wills of individuals intersect in the historical field to form a total resultant force called "historical outcomes." Therefore, the spirit of the Chinese Communists during the Yan'an period is first manifested in each member's faith in Communism, loyalty to the Party, understanding of the Chinese revolution, and emotions toward the Chinese nation and the Chinese people. It is a collection of revolutionary practices guided by these ideological concepts, and moreover, an organic integration of original spiritual forms derived from heroic models, such as the Bethune spirit, the Zhang Side spirit, and the Foolish Old Man spirit [5]. At the same time, the Yan'an Spirit was forged through the hard struggle of the masses under the Party's leadership to develop production in the border areas according to local conditions and to boost social morale. During this process, there emerged not only labor models such as Zhao Zhankui and Huang Lide, but also revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the Party and the nation, as well as indomitable combat heroes. They stood together in glory, were commended by the Party, and were respected by the world. The spiritual qualities and outlook demonstrated by the aforementioned models built the flesh and blood of the Yan'an Spirit, continuously exerting a leading and inspiring role, and condensing into the core of the Party's image construction. Particularly in articles such as In Memory of Norman Bethune, Serve the People, and The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains, Mao Zedong used typical images from the Yan'an period as carriers to provide a coherent explanation of the internal prescriptions of the spirit of Chinese Communists in that period—moving from the partial to the whole. This stimulated the powerful charisma of the Yan'an Spirit and gathered broad ideological recognition for the construction of the Party's image.
The concentrated presentation of the Yan'an Spirit during the Yan'an period demarcated the value orientation for the construction and dissemination of the CPC's image. A party's image is the practical form of the party spirit; it takes spiritual power as its core and is specifically manifested in the realistic effect of unifying thoughts internally and unifying actions externally. Although the concept of "Yan'an Spirit" had not been explicitly proposed during the Yan'an period, the practical foundation of the Yan'an Spirit was deeply rooted in the history of the Party during that period. Originating from practice and transcending practice, it had already appeared in the discourses of Party leaders and in newspaper articles. In December 1942, Mao Zedong pointed out that "the spirit of the comrades in Yan'an County is entirely the Bolshevik spirit," and expressed high hopes that this kind of spirit and experience "can be promoted quickly" in practice. This indicates that the Yan'an Spirit was already playing a key role in practice, ensuring that the direction of the Party's image building did not deviate, and providing the basic observance for specific publicity content and practical actions. At the same time, newspapers and periodicals—represented by the Jiefang Ribao (Liberation Daily)—also extracted, elaborated upon, and widely publicized the typical spirits that emerged. For instance, they refined the spiritual qualities of the factory production model Zhao Zhankui as having a "fine style of hard work and endurance, and a habit of diligent labor," "responsibility and patience toward work," and "the ability to unite people and get along with others." The original form of the Yan'an Spirit became increasingly distinct in its concrete projections, playing an active role in guiding the behavior and motivating the actions of Communists and the broad masses of the people.
The brewing and concentrated presentation of the Yan'an Spirit promoted the dialectical unity of the spiritual and substantive, as well as the endogenous and exogenous nature of the Party's image construction during the Yan'an period. During the Yan'an period, the CPC relied on "millet plus rifles" to lead the revolution to victory. The realistic conditions—in which the two major tasks of war and production were densely overlapped—put forward new requirements for the construction of the Party's image. For example, some Party members had the enthusiasm to serve the people, but lacked ideological maturity, theoretical armament, and especially the ability and level of studying Marxist theory; they lacked an understanding of "why" and "how" to undertake the construction of the Party's image. Therefore, while expanding the substantive content of the Party's image through external forms of publicity, it was more necessary to strengthen internal spiritual armament and summarize the extraordinary spirit of the Communists during that period. This served to boost the ranks of Party members, stimulate endogenous motivation, and ultimately establish a positive cycle of winning the people's trust through a good image. Meanwhile, establishing a positive image among the masses and "minimizing unnecessary sacrifices" was, in the final analysis, a test of the Party's political literacy and capability. Taking the Yan'an Spirit as a guide to enhance the Party's political capability and improve political performance thus became an inherent part of the construction of the party image during this period.
(2) The refinement of the Yan'an Spirit three-dimensionally presents the spiritual trajectory of the CPC's image construction during the Yan'an period
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that reviewing history is "for the purpose of summarizing historical experience, grasping historical laws, and enhancing the courage and strength to forge ahead." This requires refining the spiritual outlook demonstrated by the Chinese Communists during the Yan'an period into the "Yan'an Spirit" and explaining it, so as to be able to holistically grasp the generative logic, core content, and contemporary value of the Party's image during the Yan'an period through a combination of vertical and horizontal perspectives. This allows for advancing the construction of the Party's image by building on past achievements and enhancing political consciousness and capability.
The proposal of the Yan'an Spirit highlighted the characteristics of the times and the unique imprint of the CPC's image construction during the Yan'an period. Since the Yan'an period was a time when the situation of the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle was exceptionally complex and national contradictions were unprecedentedly sharp, the Yan'an Spirit—forged during a key historical stage of the revolution led by the Party—is also highly specific, declaring the thorough revolutionary character and rational understanding of the Chinese Communists. It can be said that the Yan'an Spirit is a highly condensed summary of the Chinese revolutionary spirit, shaping the resilient image of Chinese Communists who could still adhere to their political character and demonstrate strong revolutionary will in extreme difficulties. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong affirmed the major contribution made by the people of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region to the victory of the Chinese revolution. He encouraged "revolutionary workers" across the country to "forever maintain the style of hard struggle possessed by the staff in Yan'an and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region during the past ten-plus years." Subsequently, the explicit proposal of the Yan'an Spirit and its connotations not only established a benchmark for scientifically grasping the spiritual qualities of the Chinese Communists during the Yan'an period, but also strengthened spiritual guidance for enriching and consolidating the good image shaped by the Party at a theoretical height.
The rich connotation and development process of the Yan'an Spirit connected the historical chain of the CPC's image construction, where the before and after are interlinked. General Secretary Xi Jinping refined the basic connotation of the Yan'an Spirit as: "a firm and correct political direction, the ideological line of liberating the mind and seeking truth from facts, the fundamental purpose of serving the people whole-heartedly, and the entrepreneurial spirit of self-reliance and hard struggle." During the historical turning point of the Chinese revolution moving from a low ebb to a high tide, the tempering of the CPC's spirit and the construction of its image reached a new peak in the Yan'an period. During this period, Mao Zedong's assertion that "the first thing is to learn a political direction" and the political line mapped out by the Seventh National Congress of the CPC [6] to "establish a New Democratic China" both contain the essence of the Yan'an Spirit's "firm and correct political direction." The spiritual character and value standpoint of the Chinese Communists as "willing ox-servants of the people" [7] were externalized and reinforced into the Party's image of being earnest for the people and being good at achieving results during the formation of the vivid situation in the Yan'an period where "one saw public servants but no officials." From the day of its founding, the CPC hacked through brambles and thorns in its determined exploration, to leading the people of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in "handling both hands" [8] of the war of resistance and production, to creating new historical achievements after the Seventh National Congress. The aforementioned images are linked consecutively and shine in coordination with the "entrepreneurial spirit of self-reliance and hard struggle." Thus, the historical tracing of the connotation of the Yan'an Spirit shows that the Party's image was systematically shaped by solving practical revolutionary problems and demonstrating excellent political character; its image as an advanced political party is consistent throughout.
The Yan'an Spirit is a spiritual integration of a specific historical period and an important part of the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists. Horizontally, the political direction and fundamental purpose of the Yan'an Spirit correspond to the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, while the ideological line and practical approach concern the Party's revolutionary struggle. Correspondingly, the Party's image during the Yan'an period was an integrated whole composed of various elements such as ideals and beliefs, quality and capability, and skills and style under a specific historical time and space. However, the generation of an image is the result of the combined action of subjective and objective, as well as dynamic and static factors. The horizontal expansion of constituent elements cannot deduce its full appearance; a dynamic perspective of historical development must be introduced. Therefore, vertically, placing the Party's image during the Yan'an period within the century-long history of the Party shows that while the construction and expression of the Party's image had different focuses in different periods, they have always come from the same origin. The Party's image is not a mechanical superposition of characteristics from different periods, but an organic integration that strings together the characteristics of the Party's image at various historical stages with the continuation and inheritance of the spiritual pedigree as the main axis.
(3) The inheritance of the Yan'an Spirit provides valuable resources for the construction of the CPC's image with its connotation, logic, and significance
In October 2022, during an inspection in Yan'an, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "all comrades in the Party must inherit and carry forward the glorious traditions and fine styles left by the older generation of revolutionaries and Communists." The Yan'an Spirit, with its profound connotation, clear logic, and great significance, has become a precious spiritual resource for maintaining and enhancing the Party's image and advancing the new great project of Party building in the New Era.
The Yan'an Spirit nurtures the content for constructing the CPC's image with its rich connotation. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that—
"We must unremittingly use the Yan'an Spirit [9] to educate the broad ranks of Party members and cadres, using it to nourish our original aspiration, temper our souls, and from it draw the strength of faith, identify gaps in our Party spirit, and calibrate our forward direction." As a crucial component of the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists, the core connotations of the Yan'an Spirit—including political orientation, ideological line, fundamental purpose, and pioneering spirit—constitute a precious resource for the construction of the Party's image and a spiritual medium through which this century-old Party projects its political philosophy. Just as "a bright mirror is used to reflect one's form, and ancient events are used to understand the present" [10], a multi-dimensional analysis of the Yan'an Spirit represents a theoretical reconstruction of the Party's historical image during the Yan'an period. It also provides a reference for effectively shaping, maintaining, and disseminating the image of the century-old Party today. Simultaneously, as a spiritual resource, the Yan'an Spirit possesses openness and commonality, breaking through the spatiotemporal limitations of material resource dissemination. By combining with different material carriers to enrich its contemporary connotations and expand its social influence, it continues to meet the needs of the Party’s image construction.
The Yan'an Spirit opens a path for shaping the image of the century-old Party through its constructive logic. This logic inherently contains the "three unities": the generation of the Yan'an Spirit is a unity of individual and collective narratives, a unity of idealist and realist narratives, and a unity of rational and emotional narratives. First, the image of advanced individuals and their spiritual qualities are inseparable from the collective image and spiritual outlook of the Party as an advanced Marxist party. This is not only the internal mechanism by which the Yan'an Spirit was generated as a collective spirit manifesting the image of Chinese Communists; it also serves as a core mechanism for building and maintaining the Party's image, based on the principle that "punishing one individual can alert the whole, while rewarding one individual can excite the whole." Second, the consistent emphasis on both ideals/convictions and practical responsibility highly aligns with the Party's image of unifying grand ideals with realistic goals. As Mao Zedong pointed out: "A firm and correct political orientation is inseparable from a style of hard struggle." To translate lofty revolutionary ideals and scientific principles and policies into the practice of the broad masses, "requires arduous and patient practical work, requires persuasive educational work," and requires very concrete and meticulous working methods. Third, adhering to Communist faith inherently includes the dual identification of rationality and emotion; the "fish-and-water" [11] relationship between the Party and the people is also the unity of the mass line and mass sentiment. Consequently, the constructive logic of the Yan'an Spirit reveals itself; the signaling role of this concept becomes clearer, its theoretical framework more distinct, and its historical layering richer, thereby pointing out a precise path for the construction of the Party's image.
In its inheritance and development, the Yan'an Spirit provides the momentum for building the image of the century-old Party through its value implications. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "The Yan'an Spirit has nurtured generations of Chinese Communists and is a precious spiritual wealth of our Party." The history of the Party is a history of the dual elevation of material and spiritual forces. The more abundant the material wealth the Party unites and leads the people to create, the more it requires powerful spiritual strength to "congeal the soul and forge the spirit" (凝心铸魂). The Yan'an Spirit is a motivational resource for the broad ranks of Party members to nourish their original aspiration, temper their souls, and spur their actions; it embodies the political character and tenacious will of Communists. The powerful exemplary role of the Yan'an Spirit inspires New Era Communists to inherit and carry forward fine revolutionary traditions and styles of work. it promotes a systemic project where the Party's political building serves as the command and all other aspects of Party building exert force in the same direction, thereby shaping and consolidating the Party's image. Created collectively by Chinese Communists, the Yan'an Spirit is an immortal spiritual monument and an indelible spiritual bedrock. In continuing and passing down the Yan'an Spirit, New Era Chinese Communists can gain a sense of identity and belonging, thereby activating the sense of responsibility and inexhaustible driving force of the subjects involved in constructing the image of the century-old Party.
II. Image Construction: The Systematic Summary and Broad Dissemination of the CPC's Image with the Yan'an Spirit as its Core
the image of the Party concerns its development, the winning of people’s hearts, and the success or failure of its cause. Every Party member is a "bright red flag"; their political consciousness, ideological level, spiritual quality, and capacity/style of work are all elements of image construction, while the spirit of the Party is the internal support for its image. During the Yan'an period, Chinese Communists took the Yan'an Spirit as their guide and support, forging it into the construction of the Party's image. By utilizing diverse construction methods, shaping techniques, and dissemination channels, the Party constructed and broadcast its distinct image as a leader, a revolutionary, and an advanced force.
(1) A Leadership Image as the "Mainstay" of the Chinese Revolution and the "Ballast Stone" of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
During the Yan'an period, the CPC took the Yan'an Spirit as its internal driving force, effectively condensing the faith, will, and strength of the whole Party. In the great struggle of leading the national resistance, the Party focused on unifying ideological understanding and strengthening its own building. The centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee was strengthened as never before, "exerting a good influence on all comrades of the Party and the people of the whole country," eventually establishing its leadership image as the mainstay of the Chinese revolution and the ballast stone [12] of the War of Resistance.
The generation of the Party's leadership image was a high degree of unity between historical necessity and subjective choice. The revolution and the replacement of social formations it triggered required the unification of "conformity to laws" (objectivity) and "conformity to purpose" (subjectivity). In modern China, whoever could complete the historical task of striving for national independence and people's liberation could become the leader of the historical trend and win the sincere support of the broad masses; this was the concrete reality and objective law of the development of the Chinese revolution. Before the birth of the CPC, "various plans to save the nation were introduced in turn, but all ended in failure." China urgently needed a new organization to condense revolutionary forces. After the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance, "old political institutions and old methods were unsuitable for the new tasks of the resistance." At this time, the CPC had already formed a theoretical understanding of the nature of the national resistance, clearly pointing out that the "partial resistance line" (片面抗战路线) [13] "contained great danger," and insisted on the "total resistance line," manifesting a leadership image capable of shouldering the trust of history, the nation, and the people. Under the guidance of the Great Founding Spirit of the Party and the inspiration of the Yan'an Spirit, the CPC continuously developed, summarized experience, and moved toward maturity in the revolutionary practice of base area construction and the anti-Japanese struggle, demonstrating excellent political judgment and ideological leadership, thus forging a glorious image for the political party.
The Party's leadership image was constructed through armament with scientific theory and tempering in revolutionary practice. Adhering to the Marxist standpoint, viewpoint, and method, the CPC made scientific predictions about the situation of the Chinese revolution and the process of the War of Resistance, elevating these to the theoretical height of the Party's line, principles, and policies. The "total resistance line" proposed in the Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation and the "protracted war" policy explained in On Protracted War profoundly revealed the laws of war and the prospects for victory, demonstrating superb strategic foresight. Furthermore, in On the New Stage, Mao connected the victory of China's resistance against imperialist aggressors with "simultaneously helping the people of foreign countries," highlighting the internationalist outlook of the CPC. Based on the judgment that "without the political leadership of the proletariat and its party, the Anti-Japanese National United Front cannot be established," Mao Zedong proposed four principles for the political leadership of the proletarian party over various revolutionary classes. These were: using political slogans and corresponding mobilization slogans as the concrete goals for the consistent action of the people nationwide; Communists striving to be models in realizing these concrete goals; developing and consolidating the alliance while maintaining political goals; and the development of the Communist ranks, ideological unity, and strict discipline. These provided the fundamental follow-through for seizing historical initiative. Under the guidance of these theories, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and various anti-Japanese guerrilla forces led by the CPC opened up enemy-rear battlefields, continuously expanded base areas, and organized the transition to the main battlefield during the stalemate stage. They proved with "iron facts" that the CPC was the ballast stone of the War of Resistance, laying a practical foundation for the construction of the Party's leadership image.
The Party's leadership image took deep root in the hearts of the people because of the nourishment of the Yan'an Spirit. The Yan'an Spirit inspired Chinese Communists to consciously shoulder the historical responsibility of being the leaders of the Chinese revolution and the liberators and protectors of the people, actively promoting the construction, consolidation, and dissemination of the Party’s leadership image. Among these, a "firm and correct political orientation" was the primary spiritual regulation. It not only required members to be absolutely loyal to the Party but was also intended to warn members to maintain political sobriety and firmness, to pay attention to grasping revolutionary leadership and maintaining independence, and to ensure that the forward direction of the Chinese revolution was always "to establish a New Democratic China." Similarly, the connotations of the Yan'an Spirit—such as seeking truth from facts, serving the people wholeheartedly, and hard struggle—provided guidance for constructing, maintaining, and disseminating the Party’s leadership image from the dimensions of ideological method, value pursuit, and practical path. As Mao Zedong pointed out, the acquisition of leadership is the result of the masses making an autonomous judgment based on the Party's willingness and effectiveness in serving the people: "One must enable the masses to understand which party is better through actual interests and the political experience of the masses." Mao Zedong took the lead in practicing the call of the Great Production Movement [14], personally reclaiming a piece of land in the ravine opposite his cave dwelling in Yangjialing, and laboring in the fields during his spare time. The leader’s example moved and inspired the soldiers and civilians of the Border Region, and the Party's leadership image in the hearts of the masses became increasingly charismatic.
(2) A Revolutionary Image Characterized by the Dialectical Unity of Great Self-Revolution and Great Social Revolution
Leading social revolution through self-revolution is an internal requirement and a distinct character of the CPC as an advanced Marxist party. "Only by letting the people supervise the government will the government not dare to slacken." [15] During the Yan'an period, while leading the trend of social revolution, the Party initiated the "Great Project" of Party building, constructing a revolutionary image of a party skilled at leading social revolution and daring to carry out comprehensive and in-depth self-revolution.
The construction of the CPC's image as a party tirelessly striving for the great social revolution contains a logic of moving from "going with the trend" to "guiding the trend according to circumstances," and finally to "gathering strength from the trend." Before the outbreak of the national resistance, Mao Zedong had already realized that "to guide a great revolution, there must be a great party." At this time, the construction of the Party’s self-revolution consciousness and image was a "going with the trend" in response to the general revolutionary situation. Entering the stage of strategic stalemate, the construction of the Party’s image moved to the new level of "guiding the trend according to circumstances." To reverse the contradictory situation in the Border Region—being "politically advanced but economically very backward"—the Party organized the Great Production Movement, which laid the material foundation for "supporting the long-term cause of national and people's liberation." However, as the living conditions of the people in the Border Region "reached a state of considerable improvement," certain problems within the Party were also exposed. At that time, in some areas and among individual party members and cadres, there were erroneous tendencies such as work becoming divorced from the masses, a lack of solid work style, and indulgence in mountain-stronghold mentality and dogmatism, which seriously affected the Party's revolutionary image. Consequently, the Party's self-revolution and image construction shifted toward "gathering strength from the trend." The Yan'an Rectification Movement sounded the alarm against hollow talk and alienation from the masses, "overcoming dogmatism and weakening empiricism," and the broad ranks of Party members underwent a movement of Marxist ideological education. The Great Production Movement and the Rectification Movement complemented each other, connecting the key links of the Party's self-revolution during this period. Through this tempering, the Party not only consolidated its base areas but also forged its own strong leadership and organizational capacity; the construction of the Party's revolutionary image was further perfected and strengthened.
While constructing the image of a striver for the Chinese revolution, the CPC's image of continuously advancing self-revolution became increasingly distinct. During the Yan'an period, the Party gained a clear understanding of the importance of self-revolution—especially self-criticism—and its correlation with the revolutionary cause, believing that criticism and self-criticism "is one of the driving forces for moving the revolutionary cause forward." The premise of a successful self-revolution is that there must be clear ideological touchstones and value scales. With the convening of the Seventh National Congress of the CPC, the Yan'an Spirit reached maturity. Its connotations—such as the ideological line of liberating the mind and seeking truth from facts, and the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly—provided the yardstick for this profound self-revolution. Mao Zedong pointed out that "whether there is serious self-criticism" is one of the distinct signs distinguishing the CPC from other political parties, demonstrating the Party's firm determination and powerful ability to carry out self-revolution persistently and deeply.
The CPC dialectically unified the great self-revolution with the great social revolution, thereby continuously strengthening its revolutionary image. The Yan'an Spirit...
"Revolution" serves as the backbone, acting as the projection of the Party's history of struggle during the Yan'an period onto the ideological level. On the one hand, the Yan'an Spirit originated from and summarized the Party's revolutionary image and practice. This process ranged from Communists—represented by advanced role models—"cultivating oneself to reach others" [16] through their own qualities during the process of self-revolution, to "benefiting all under heaven" [17] by upholding ideals, living up to the people's expectations, and remaining committed to national rejuvenation while leading the process of social revolution through self-revolution. The generation of the Yan'an Spirit thus contains the Party's internal presentation and self-realization of its revolutionary image. On the other hand, once formed, the Yan'an Spirit in turn played a powerful role in shaping and reinforcing the Party's revolutionary image. Although the Party's image of leading social revolution through self-revolution during this period was an objective reality, the Yan'an Spirit—as a product that refined, sublimated, and summarized the Party's revolutionary image—functioned like "lifting the main guideline so that all the details fall into place" [18], exerting a positive shaping function on the Party's revolutionary image.
(3) An Advanced Image of Maintaining Firm Ideals and Beliefs and Always Bearing in Mind the Original Aspiration and Founding Mission
Communist faith is the lifeblood and soul of a Communist, and seeking happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation is the original aspiration and founding mission of the Communist Party of China. During the Yan'an period, Chinese Communists advanced wave upon wave, holding high the torch of ideals and beliefs, and using their own flesh and blood as masts to support the sail of the Party's advanced image.
The advanced image of the CPC during the Yan'an period—possessing grand communist ideals and the conviction of inevitable victory in the communist cause—was a vivid externalization of the Yan'an Spirit, guided by a firm and correct political orientation. Within this image, the Yan'an Spirit served as the "bone and blood" while revolutionary practice served as the "body"; the two together constituted the core of its advanced nature. At the construction level, Mao Zedong's typical characterization of communist fighters such as Norman Bethune and Zhang Shide, the Party's mourning of revolutionary martyrs, and the commendation of combat heroes were not limited to the "subjective view" of observers, nor did they remain at the "narrow view" of individual spiritual characteristics. Rather, they represented a "penetrating insight" into the shaping of the Yan'an Spirit by the Party as a unified whole. "Every Chinese Communist must learn from this spirit" to construct and maintain the noble, pure, and moral image of a Communist Party member. At the communication level, these spiritual traits—crystallized from advanced deeds—became widely known through discourse preaching, textual collections, and newspaper dissemination. They were transformed into a yardstick for the Party membership to measure their own words and deeds and a driving force for forge-ahead struggle, thereby fostering a sense of historical consciousness and historical initiative in maintaining the Party's advanced image.
The advanced image of the CPC during the Yan'an period in fulfilling its goals of people's happiness and national rejuvenation was an explicit manifestation of the Yan'an Spirit's "fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people." During the Yan'an period, the Party drew wisdom and strength from the masses by fostering "fish-and-water" and "flesh-and-blood" ties with them, transforming its advanced nature into a perceptible and trustworthy practical image. During this period, Mao Zedong proposed that one should learn "the stance and methods of observing and solving problems" from classic Marxist writers. He argued that one should integrate the history of one’s own nation, grasp the current revolutionary situation, and absorb the wisdom of the masses to become an advanced Communist with "considerable research ability." This was intended to "build a nation-wide, broad-based Bolshevik Chinese Communist Party that is fully consolidated ideologically, politically, and organizationally." This pointed out the path of realization from enhancing individual quality to consolidating the organizational whole, sketching a clear goal for the Party to adhere to its service purpose and shape its advanced image.
The advanced image of the CPC in the Yan'an period—perpetually maintaining ideals and beliefs and remembering its original aspiration and founding mission—represented a high degree of unity between lofty ideals and realistic goals. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the Party adheres to "the Marxist faith, the grand ideal of communism, and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics." Although the Second National Congress of the CPC had achieved a staged understanding of the objectives and tasks of the Chinese revolution and proposed a "Minimum Program," it had not yet formed a scientific understanding of how to maintain the unity of ideals and reality to maximize the display and development of the Party's advanced nature. The Enlarged Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee proposed the proposition of "the Sinicization of Marxism" for the first time. Mao Zedong explained it as: "The Sinicization of Marxism—that is to say, making it take on Chinese characteristics in every manifestation and applying it according to China's characteristics." The introduction of this proposition marked that the CPC had explored a path combining lofty ideals and firm faith with realistic goals and revolutionary programs. It signaled that Marxism had been fully mastered by the most revolutionary and advanced proletariat, fully exerting "a high degree of proletarian flexibility under the guidance of high proletarian principles," and demonstrating the image of an advanced political party with leadership, appeal, and cohesive force.
III. Reflecting on the Past to Inform the Future: Experiences and Enlightenments from the Spiritual Forging and Image Construction of the CPC in the Yan'an Period
The Yan'an Spirit and the Party image it shaped are precious assets in the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists. In the New Era, the inheritance of the Party's spirit and the construction of its image must carry forward the fine traditions of the Yan'an period, adhere to the political guidance of the leadership core, leverage the inspirational role of heroes and role models, emphasize the dialectical unity of internal cultivation and external presentation, and promote a multi-dimensional, integrated system of construction. This will inject momentum into the Party as it leads new undertakings and embarks on a new journey.
(1) Taking the Party's Leaders, Heroes, and Advanced Models as Guidance to Forge the Spirit and Construct the Image
"A great era calls for a great spirit; a noble cause requires the guidance of role models." The CPC is the leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the New Era, the Party's spiritual forging and image construction are driven by a chain of guidance: from the core leader to heroes and advanced models, and then to ordinary Party members. On the new journey of the New Era, Communists should always be advanced elements who play a pioneering and leading role, connecting the logic of building the image of a century-old Party that leaps from "individual advancement" to "collective advancement."
The shaping of the Party leader's image is the great banner of the CPC's spiritual forging and image construction. "For a country or a political party, the leadership core is of vital importance." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Mao Zedong "was a great man of a generation who led the Chinese people in fundamentally changing their own destiny and the appearance of the country." The Zunyi Conference "de facto established Comrade Mao Zedong's leadership position in the Party Central Committee and the Red Army." Mao Zedong's brilliant image as a leader of the people gradually took root in the hearts of the people, providing a solid core guidance for building the Party's image of firm faith, love for the people, and united struggle. The construction logic of leading the political party's image through the leader's noble image and personal example has been inherited and developed today. Entering the New Era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the construction of the Party's image. Based on the great practice of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and its main themes, it has made top-level designs and overall layouts for the Party to strengthen its own construction and establish a good image. In specific practice, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has always insisted that "it takes a good blacksmith to forge good steel" [19], taking the lead, rectifying oneself to transform others, and setting an example to inspire the broad masses of Party members and cadres to establish a good image, thereby shaping and maintaining the overall image of a century-old Party in its prime. Therefore, the whole Party must deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, enhance the Four Consciousnesses, firm up the Four Confidences, and achieve the Two Upholds, so as to continuously open up new realms of the Party's spiritual forging and image construction.
The commendation and publicity of heroes and role models, and the selection and display of advanced typical figures, set examples for the spiritual forging and image construction of the CPC. During the Yan'an period, the CPC already had a tradition of commending heroes and advanced models to establish value coordinates and behavioral norms. At the level of practical movements, the Party launched widely influential learning movements such as the Zhao Zhankui [20] and Huang Lide movements. Regarding institutional construction, success was found in the commendation of advanced individuals and collectives by the Senior Cadres' Conference of the Northwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and the convening of two sessions of the Representative Conference of Labor Heroes and Model Production Workers. Mao Zedong's typical characterization of Bethune, Zhang Shide, and the Foolish Old Man [21] was an attempt to "personify" the Party's image, establishing pioneers of the era with strong appeal and influence. The aforementioned centralized display of the Party's image as having faith, responsibility, and sentiment converged into a powerful spiritual force inspiring the whole Party and the people to seize revolutionary victory. On the road of further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization, the image of the century-old Party remains constant and fresh. In the New Era, Chinese Communists, together with the people of the whole country, have jointly forged spiritual milestones with New Era characteristics, such as the poverty alleviation spirit, the anti-epidemic spirit, the "Three-Oxen" spirit [22], the scientist spirit, the entrepreneur spirit, the lunar exploration spirit, the New Era Beidou spirit, and the Silk Road spirit. This requires the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country to take heroes and role models as examples, continue to remain true to their original aspirations, work together in unity, and forge ahead to "gather the powerful force to jointly achieve the great cause of building a strong country."
Adhering to the unity between the shaping of the leadership core, heroes, and models and the overall construction of the Party's image enriches and expands the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists. Mao Zedong already proposed during the Yan'an period that the Party's leadership and image construction do not rely on shouting slogans, nor on "arrogantly demanding that others obey us," but ultimately lie in "the Party's correct policies and its own exemplary work." When advocating for the promotion of the Yan'an Spirit—which encompasses self-reliance and arduous struggle—Deng Xiaoping also emphasized: "In doing pioneering work through arduous effort, our Party members, cadres, and especially senior cadres must take the lead." These important expositions profoundly reveal the key role of role models in leading spiritual inheritance and maintaining the overall image. This construction logic runs through the Party's history. During the revolutionary period, the thoughts and wisdom of the leadership core and the glorious deeds of advanced models together constituted a distinctive display of the Communist revolutionary image. Entering the New Era, it is precisely through establishing and consolidating a strong leadership core, and the emergence of a large number of Party representatives who have selflessly devoted themselves to continuing the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, that the Party can present a domestic image committed to national rejuvenation and a confident and open international image. Unremittingly promoting the consistency between the individual image of Party members and the collective image of the political party, and the alignment between the Party's image and its spirit, is an important experience running through the Party's century-long historical journey. Adhering to and applying this historical experience under New Era conditions is an inherent requirement for continuously enriching and developing the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists.
(2) Taking Leadership Ability as the Foundation and People’s Evaluation as the Standard to Consolidate and Improve the Image of the Century-Old Party
Revolutionary practice during the Yan'an period profoundly revealed that the construction of a political party's image is a systematic process of "cultivating both internally and externally." It must take the improvement of its own capabilities as the core and winning the people's evaluation as the yardstick. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "align with the Party Central Committee in all aspects of thought, politics, and action, ensuring that the internal and external are one, and that knowledge and action are unified." Cultivating both internally and externally, maintaining an upright appearance, building a solid foundation for governance through strict Party management, improving governing performance, and enhancing governing effectiveness to win the deep trust and heartfelt support of the masses is the only way to consolidate and improve the image of the century-old Party.
The consolidation and improvement of the image of the century-old Party takes the improvement of the Party's leadership level and long-term governing capacity as the fundamental prerequisite. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "If the Communist Party of China is to always remain the pioneer of the times and the backbone of the nation, the ranks of Party members must be toughened," and "we must advance with the times to improve our level of scientific, democratic, and law-based governance." During the Yan'an period, Mao Zedong had already reflected on the Party's governing capacity and its construction, pointing out that the CPC was "a party that has awakened and has demonstrated great ability on the Chinese political stage." Combining these with changes in the revolutionary situation, he repeatedly articulated new requirements for improving the work capabilities of leading cadres. In the practice of building the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the Border Region Government particularly emphasized that Party members and cadres sent to work in new areas must be "politically firm, capable, have the faith of the masses, and be able to unite with and respect cadres from other parties or non-partisan cadres." This shows that during the Yan'an period, the Party had deeply realized that the actual ability of Party members and cadres is the foundation of their spirit and image, and had already put the idea of ability-based construction into practice. After the Reform and Opening-up, when talking about strengthening the construction of Party conduct and improving leadership capabilities, Deng Xiaoping mentioned the Yan'an Spirit many times as a "successful example" and fine tradition. He pointed out that a democratic style "is generally a question of Party conduct; it is the Yan'an style and Yan'an Spirit cultivated by Chairman Mao." He clarified the role of the Yan'an Spirit in nurturing the Party's conduct and advancing its governing capacity in the new period. The historical achievements of the Party over the past century fully prove that the CPC is a party with strong governing capacity. As further comprehensively deepening reform reaches the critical stage of "climbing a slope and passing a hurdle" and tackling tough problems, and as the international environment becomes increasingly complex, the Party can only enhance its courage, confidence, and ability to deal with risks and challenges by maintaining a sense of urgency regarding "insufficient capacity" and a high degree of consciousness toward "improving skills."
The consolidation and perfection of the image of a century-old Party takes the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people as its supreme yardstick. Historical materialism posits that the masses are the creators of social history and its active subjects. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "The support of the people and the balance of forces are the keys to determining the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the people; they constitute the greatest politics." If the Party is the "sculptor" of its own image, then the masses are the "evaluators" and "supervisors" who can provide intuitive assessments and immediate feedback on the Party’s governing efficacy. During the Yan'an period, the Party acted for the people, believed in the people, and relied on the people; it reflected the voice of the masses and met their needs, undertaking "complex and serious work in many fields to overcome the difficulties of the internal and external environments and fulfill the historical tasks of the people in the Border Region." [23] It thus established a historical image of "serving the people," forming a sharp contrast with the unpopular dictatorial rule of the Kuomintang. This positive image exerted a massive mobilization effect; as contemporary reports stated, the Chinese Communist Party had "already mobilized millions of people behind enemy lines," eventually forming a virtuous cycle where image and strength reinforced one another, defeating the "Xi'an style" with the "Yan'an style." [24] This historical experience demonstrates that "taking the people as the center" is the fundamental prerequisite for the Party to consolidate its governing position, and moreover, it is the eternal path to continuously perfecting its image and obtaining inexhaustible strength. In any period, adhering to the principal position of the people is the value orientation of the Party's image construction.
The consolidation and perfection of the image of a century-old Party requires a healthy interaction between the Party as the subject of construction and the masses as the subject of evaluation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has noted that the mass line is "an important heirloom for our Party to maintain its youthful vitality and combat effectiveness." This important judgment profoundly reveals that the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses must never be broken. In the construction of the Party's image, these ties are concretely manifested as a two-way interaction. On one hand, through the construction of discourse and narrative systems, the Party must increase the publicity of its governing philosophy—that it always represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses—maintaining the confidence and self-awareness of a century-old Party in proactively constructing its image and establishing its merits and virtues. On the other hand, the construction of the Party's image should also leverage the subjective role and pioneering spirit of the masses as creators of social spiritual wealth. It was precisely because the Party persisted in a direction of cultural construction that was "for the masses, from the masses, and to the masses" during the Yan'an period that it succeeded in building the cultural high ground of Yan'an. After the Reform and Opening-up, Deng Xiaoping also pointed out that previously, and especially during the Yan'an period, "the people had ideals and something to look forward to, focusing on more distant goals," creating a spiritual civilization where, despite difficult conditions, "everyone lived very happily, and no difficulty could crush us." This is the "Yan'an Spirit." This powerful spiritual force, bursting forth from the revolutionary practice of the masses, is itself the most vivid and precious material for the composition of the Party's image. Entering the New Era, the Party must "win the people's trust" by enhancing its own leadership level and governing capacity, and it must "draw material from its people" to firmly build the image of a Marxist governing party among the masses.
(3) Taking the building of an excellent image and the continuation of an excellent spirit as the prerequisite, promote the promotion and communication of the image of a century-old Party.
The construction of a political party's image includes both internal propaganda and external communication. Addressing the "deficit" in the inflow and outflow of information in the field of international communication, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "we must make great efforts to strengthen international communication capacity building, accelerate the enhancement of the international influence of Chinese discourse, and let the whole world hear and clearly understand China's voice." While advancing the construction of the Party's image, we must also communicate the image of the century-old Party through multiple channels, in broad fields, and over a wide range, achieving a dual enhancement of the Party's image-building power and its international influence.
Using the interpretation and continuation of the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists as the axis is the pivot that links the two major links of "shaping" and "communicating" the Party's image. The image of the century-old Party is a three-dimensional structure in which the "spiritual pedigree" serves as the main thread, connecting multiple dimensions such as ideals, beliefs, purpose, and style. Due to its concise and concentrated characteristics, the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists has not only become the spiritual identifier of the Party's image construction but also helps audiences quickly locate and accurately understand its core essence during communication. The Yan'an Spirit demonstrates that the Party achieved a "spiritual breakout" in terms of ideology and politics within a difficult struggle environment; similarly, the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists is the concentrated expression of the "Party's firm beliefs, fundamental purpose, and fine style." It follows that we must strengthen research and explanation of the spirit of Chinese Communists and its pedigree, diving deep into content and innovating paradigms. Only then can we nourish the construction and communication of the century-old Party's image with the "living water" [25] of spirit, and enhance the target audience's grasp of the essentials of the Party's image. At the same time, this ensures that the direction does not deviate and the position does not shift, keeping it centered around the yardstick of mainstream ideology.
Advanced technology in the era of digital intelligence empowers the construction of the Party's image, utilizing multiple media to expand the vision and boundaries of the century-old Party's communication. Compared to the Yan'an period, which relied mainly on newspapers, radio stations, and literary programs, digital intelligence technology has now brought unprecedented communication speed and interconnectedness, presenting new opportunities and challenges for the Party's image construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "One must be adept at using internet technology and information means to carry out Party-building work, striving to achieve full online and offline coverage of Party organizations and Party work." This dictates the dual tasks of image communication in the digital intelligence era: first, proactively handling agenda-setting and content production, being adept at using digital technology and new media to create a Chinese discourse and narrative system that is both unique and easy to understand, telling contemporary stories of the Party seeking happiness for the people, rejuvenation for the nation, and the common good for the world, while demonstrating the image of a responsible major party with a global vision [26]; second, prudently handling the governance of the public opinion environment and risk prevention, maintaining high political sensitivity, and firmly holding the main battlefield of online ideology to clear away the murky and bring in the pure [27], promoting positive energy.
Persistence in both internal growth and external extension, taking "cultivating internal strength" as the foundation to promote the "going out" of the century-old Party's image through international communication. The strategic awareness of emphasizing both the internal and external was already nascent during the Yan'an period; in October 1940, the CCP decided to establish the International Propaganda Committee as an important propaganda organ to demonstrate to the world its anti-fascist determination and its image as a "people's army" that "held a gun in one hand and a hoe in the other." The practices of the Yan'an period accumulated valuable experience for the Party's external image communication work. As the largest Marxist governing party in the world, doing a good job in building and communicating its image is an inherent requirement, and its systematic construction and path-breaking will produce a demonstration effect. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to explain and publicize the Party and its image well, "helping foreign people realize that the Chinese Communist Party truly struggles for the happiness of the Chinese people." The historical experience of the Yan'an period and the practical requirements of the present jointly show that only by establishing a modern international communication system that is all-encompassing, multi-layered, and compatible with its status as a major country and major party—and by winning more discourse power in the international public opinion field—can a true, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive image of the Chinese Communist Party be presented to the world.