Academy of Marxism Conducts "Youth Following the Party, Embarking on a New Journey" Youth Party History Study and Research Symposium
On May 19, 2021, the Institute of Marxism Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) carried out a youth Party history study activity themed "Youth Hearts Toward the Party, Forging Ahead on the New Journey" and a research seminar activity themed "Observing Rural Revitalization, Witnessing a Century of Glory." This marked the 25th "Social Perspectives" youth academic event organized by the Institute’s Youth Working Group. More than 40 young scholars gathered at Beijing Tian'an Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. in Xiaotangshan to integrate theory with practice, entering a modernized agricultural development base to observe rural revitalization and discuss the Communist Party of China's (CPC) century-long developmental journey.
During the "Youth Hearts Toward the Party, Forging Ahead on the New Journey" Party history study activity, Lin Jianhua, Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies, delivered a speech and shared his expectations for the youth. He stated that young scholars are the hope and future of the Institute. Young scholars must be people with a sense of direction, always moving upward and accumulating positive energy; young scholars must be people with "Chinese hearts," writing their articles on the motherland [1], excelling in establishing arguments, being meticulous in deduction, and skillful in expression; young scholars must be people with the "Four Strengths" [2], always moving forward, fearing not slowness but standing still, and even more so, fearing interruption; young scholars must be people of wisdom, adept at gaining perspective on the world and China, seeing through phenomena to the essence; and young scholars must be people of value, standing out among their peers in the pursuit of excellence and emerging from the ranks of their colleagues in the pursuit of greatness.
Liu Haifei, an Associate Research Fellow from the Department for the Study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, shared his insights from studying the Excerpted Compilations of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao on the History of the Communist Party of China. He argued that "learning history to clarify principles" [3] requires not only understanding the logic of why the CPC "can," why Marxism "works," and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is "good" [4], but also understanding why the CPC was able to emerge from failures, mistakes, and setbacks, and how it correctly treated and handled issues in the Party’s history. To understand these principles, one must follow a certain methodology—namely, treating the errors in Party history and correctly handling historical issues with a dialectical and scientific attitude.
Han Qi, an Assistant Research Fellow from the Department of the Sinicization of Marxism, delivered a speech titled "Guiding Marxist Atheism Education in Universities through Party History Study" based on her own research. She stated that atheism education in universities is a concrete manifestation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s ideological concept that "the key to doing religious work well lies in 'guidance'" [5]. With Marxist atheism and Marxist religious studies as its core content, it extensively includes the excellent heritage of atheistic thought from the history of Chinese and foreign civilizations. Led by the socialist core values, it guides the youth to establish the lofty ideal of communism and dedicate their youth to realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Through atheism education, students are guided to establish correct cognitive and conceptual frameworks regarding religion, correctly distinguish various religious phenomena and issues, and subsequently make rational choices and effective precautions. Furthermore, atheism education should resonate with a richer educational structure, integrating its connotations into various educational activities. Party history study serves as an excellent resonant structure and integrative activity that can encompass atheistic content, truly grounding the objectives of Marxist atheism education in universities within the realities of life.
Wang You, an Assistant Research Fellow from the Department for the Study of the International Communist Movement, gave a speech titled "Insights on Party History Study from the Perspective of 'Optical Illusions' in Popular Cognition," discussing his reflections on reading Party history from a literary perspective. He argued that a phenomenon often occurs in popular historical cognition where people develop an illusion of "ordinariness" toward figures and events close to them in time due to over-familiarity—such as the understanding of the CPC’s century-long history—whereas they more easily grasp the great significance of events from the distant past, such as Qin Shi Huang’s unification of the six states. In reality, looking back at the hundred-year history of the CPC is like seeing the deeds of ancient heroes reappear: Jingwei Filling the Sea, Houyi Shooting the Suns, Nüwa Mending the Heavens, and Great Yu Controlling the Waters [6]. Corresponding stages of our Party's historical development can be found for each of these classical allusions. Jingwei Filling the Sea refers to the period from the Party’s founding to the Agrarian Revolutionary War; during this time, the Party's strength was extremely weak, and even completing the Party's minimum program was as inconceivable as the tiny Jingwei bird attempting to fill the vast sea. Houyi Shooting the Suns refers to the CPC playing the role of the "mainstay" [7] in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; like the ancient hero Houyi, the Party fired arrows at the "suns" (the symbol of the Japanese invaders) that were scorching the earth, eventually shooting down the poisonous suns and bringing peace to the people. Nüwa Mending the Heavens refers to the Liberation War period, when the CPC and the People's Liberation Army under its command defeated the Kuomintang reactionaries and won the victory of the New Democratic Revolution, ending at a stroke the century-long history of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society in modern China and thoroughly expelling imperialist forces from China; the merit of recreating China is comparable to Nüwa mending the heavens. Great Yu Controlling the Waters refers to the period after the founding of New China, when the CPC led the people in restoring the national economy and constructing water conservancy projects; the single achievement of eliminating the Yellow River floods that had persisted for thousands of years is comparable to the legendary Great Yu’s control of the waters. The brilliant and rich deeds of the founding generation of revolutionaries in New China are, from a longitudinal perspective, sufficient to be mentioned in the same breath as any era of "shining stars" in Chinese history; from a horizontal perspective, they are unparalleled among the leadership of major powers in the 20th century. When reading CPC history, we must take special care to eliminate illusions caused by temporal proximity; only by standing on the historical heights can one truly feel the glory of the CPC's cause and the magnitude of its achievements.
Liu Daoyi, an Assistant Research Fellow from the Department of the Principles of Marxism, utilized the content and imagery of revolutionary poetry to present the glorious achievements of the Party’s century-long journey from the perspective of a comparison between the thoughts of Engels and Ai Qing [8]. Using red revolutionary imagery as a generative foundation, he conducted a comparative reading of the revolutionary lyric poetry of Engels and Ai Qing. He presented these two important revolutionary poets across time and space, highlighting their similar or even identical expressions in terms of imagery description, thematic positioning, plot conception, and standpoint/method in the creation of new poetry. He also noted the shared original aspiration and emotions of revolutionary figures from different cultural backgrounds and historical periods as reflected in their poetry. He performed a thematic and imagery-based close reading comparing Engels's 1840 poems "Night March" and "Dusk" with Ai Qing’s poems from the revolutionary period of the 1930s ("The Torch," "Toward the Sun") and his post-reform and opening up work ("Ode to Light"). Based on a review of the fruitful results our Party has achieved in leading literary innovation over the past hundred years, this allows people to more deeply appreciate the essence and true meaning of original Marxist literary works, thereby better promoting the Sinicization and localization of Marxist literary thought. Simultaneously, comparing the "Ai Qing after joining the revolution" with the "twenty-year-old youth Engels" in the creation of new poetry can help literary workers recognize the laws inherent in an arduous and tortuous development. Through a profound grasp of the personal and intellectual power of classical Marxist writers, they can continuously advance creativity and production, ensuring that literary and cultural undertakings play their proper role in the continuous advancement of 21st-century Marxism.
The study activity was presided over by Research Fellow Yang Jing (Deputy Director of the Department of the Principles of Marxism), Associate Research Fellow Tian Kun (Deputy Director of the Party Building and Party History Research Office of the Department for the Study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era), Associate Research Fellow Xia Yipu, and Associate Research Fellow Li Kaixuan (Department for the Study of the International Communist Movement). Research Fellow Dai Lixing, Deputy Director of the Department for the Study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, provided commentary on the youth Party history study activity. He believed that this Party history study and education carried out by the youth group was of great significance for the youth of the Institute of Marxism Studies to keep their original aspiration and founding mission in mind, strengthen their faith and conviction, and carry out their work solidly. He noted several characteristics of the young comrades’ speeches: First, they clarified the current importance of studying Party history. The purpose of centralized study is to unify thinking, build consensus, and temper Party spirit, so as to better carry out work and solve practical problems. Second, they correctly understood the themes, main lines, mainstream, and essence of the Party’s historical development. The hundred years of our Party have been a century of unswervingly practicing our original aspiration and founding mission, a century of laying foundations through arduous struggle, and a century of creating glory and opening up the future. All the efforts, struggles, and sacrifices made by our Party over the past century have been for the happiness of the people, the rejuvenation of the nation, and the "Great Unity of the World" (shìjiè dàtóng). Third, they recognized that practicing the original aspiration and founding mission and advancing the historical cause of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation cannot succeed without the leadership of the Party. History shows that the Chinese nation’s transition from chaos to governance, the Chinese people’s "standing up," and the transformation of China’s appearance from ruin to prosperity were all achieved under the leadership of the CPC. The CPC is rightfully called a great, glorious, and correct Party. Fourth, they recognized that studying Party history requires inheriting the spirit of the CPC. One must use the powerful spiritual strength found in Party history as a guide for action, vigorously promote the revolutionary tradition, pass on the "red gene," and continue the spiritual lineage of Communists. Fifth, they recognized that studying Party history requires establishing a correct view of history. Regarding historical nihilism, our minds must be particularly clear, our eyes particularly bright, and our stance particularly firm, without any ambiguity or wavering.
The young scholars also spoke enthusiastically about their experiences and shared their reflections on studying Party history, unanimously agreeing that the presentations were excellent, noting that they "broadened horizons and showed that Party history study can actually be this interesting!" In the subsequent research seminar themed "Observing Rural Revitalization, Witnessing a Century of Glory," personnel from Tian'an Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. introduced their modernized and intelligent planting and development models. They led a tour of the agricultural product processing workshops, planting areas, and modernized science popularization gardens. They provided organic "strawberry-tomatoes" for everyone to taste, allowing them to personally experience the fruits of a green ecosystem, as well as the development of modern agriculture and the pace of rural revitalization. Research Fellow Yang Jing, head of the Youth Working Group, stated when discussing the purpose of organizing this activity that the modernization of agriculture is actually a reflection of China's modernization, and the development of agriculture is a microcosm of the CPC’s century of glorious development. This was an activity of "learning history through action" and "unifying knowledge and action," truly combining the study of Party history with practice—learning Party history from the practice of agricultural modernization and perceiving rural revitalization through the study of Party history.
Following the youth Party history study and research seminar, to showcase youthful vigor and stimulate vitality, outdoor team-building activities such as "two-person, three-legged race" and "reverse-command execution" were held. These activities helped to continuously enhance emotional bonds and cohesion, allowing newly recruited youth to quickly integrate into the big family of the Institute of Marxism Studies and feel the Institute's care for young people.