Luo Wendong: Xi Jinping's Adherence to and Development of Marxist Ideological Theory

Marxist classical writers, based on the fundamental principles of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, conducted a scientific analysis and summarization of the essential laws of ideological struggle in human society from various perspectives. They founded a scientific theory of ideology, providing a sharp intellectual weapon for the proletarian revolutionary movement and the practice of socialist construction. The Communist Party of China has consistently taken seeking happiness for the people, seeking rejuvenation for the nation, seeking great harmony for the world ^[1], and seeking liberation for humanity as its purpose and mission. By combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with excellent traditional Chinese culture, the Party has continuously deepened and expanded its understanding of the essential laws of ideological struggle, leading the people to great victories in revolution, construction, and reform. Particularly since the 18th National Congress, Xi Jinping has coordinated the overall strategy for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world’s changes unseen in a century ^[2]. He has put forward a series of important discourses on major issues such as the connotation and essence, position and role, methods and means, and process and trends of ideological struggle, opening up a new frontier in the development of Marxist ideological theory.

I. On the Connotation and Essence of Ideological Struggle

Essential laws refer to the inherent, inevitable, and stable connections between the internal elements of a thing, between different things, and within their process of development. Marx wrote in Capital: "Even when a society has got upon the right track for the discovery of the natural laws of its movement... it can neither overleap the natural phases of its evolution, nor shuffle them out of the world by decrees." Lenin pointed out in his Philosophical Notebooks that "Law is relation... relation of essences or between essences," and "Law is the identical in phenomena." Viewed from its connotation and essence, the core of ideological struggle in human society is the competition between different values; its essence is the reflection of and contest over class hegemony ^[3], and by extension, the seizure and consolidation of state power.

As early as the autumn of 1845 to May 1846, Marx and Engels co-authored The German Ideology, which thoroughly criticized German philosophy represented by Feuerbach, Bauer, and Stirner, as well as German socialism represented by various prophets. This work stripped away the mysterious and illusory veil that had shrouded ideology for thousands of years, expounded the materialist dialectical view of history and scientific ideological theory, and achieved a fundamental transformation in the history of philosophy. Marx and Engels clearly stated: "German philosophy descends from heaven to earth; here it is a matter of ascending from earth to heaven." "We set out from real, active men, and on the basis of their real life-process we demonstrate the development of the ideological reflexes and echoes of this life-process... Morality, religion, metaphysics, all the rest of ideology and their corresponding forms of consciousness, thus no longer retain the semblance of independence." Unlike various idealistic conceptions of history, the historical materialism they founded does not look for a category in every period, does not explain practice from ideas, and does not simply use spiritual criticism to abolish all forms and products of consciousness. Instead, it stands on the ground of social history, explaining ideological concepts from material practice. It maintains that these ideological concepts can only be finally abolished by the practical overthrow of the social relations from which all idealistic fallacies originate. Ideology—composed of economic theory, political thought, morality, art, religion, and philosophy—is determined by civil society (the economic base) and governed by the mode of material production; its nature depends on the nature of the relations of production that hold the dominant position in society. In a society where classes and class antagonisms exist, ideology inevitably possesses a clear class character. Its core content is a concentrated reflection of the fundamental interests and value pursuits of different classes. The contest between various classes in the ideological field is also inevitably manifested in the competition of different values. Capitalist countries such as Britain and the United States promote "freedom," "equality," and "fraternity" as "universal values," forcibly marketing them worldwide and wielding the "baton of values" to suppress or sanction those who do not comply. Conversely, socialist core values—as the concentrated reflection of the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the broad masses—condense the value pursuits of all the people and constitute the core content of socialist ideology.

While presiding over the 12th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping pointed out: "Values play a pivotal role in the culture of a given society; the influence of culture is, first and foremost, the influence of values. The struggle between various cultures in the world is, in essence, a struggle of values, a struggle for people’s hearts, and a struggle of ideologies. As the saying goes, 'Strength and weakness for a time lie in force; victory and defeat for all time lie in the Truth' ^[4]. We must first fight the tough battle for values." While presiding over the 13th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping emphasized: Every society has diverse values and value orientations; to consolidate the will and strength of the entire society, there must be a set of core values that are compatible with its economic base and political system and capable of forging social consensus. "From the strategic height of consolidating the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups, and consolidating the Party’s governing position, we must continuously strengthen the construction of the socialist core value system. We must treat the cultivation and promotion of socialist core values as a fundamental project for 'soul-coalescing and breath-gathering' ^[5] and for strengthening the foundation, and as a fundamental task to be grasped firmly and well." In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping further pointed out: "Socialist core values are a powerful force for coalescing hearts and pooling the strength of the people. We will promote the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists, with the Great Founding Spirit of the Party as its source. We will make good use of revolutionary resources ^[6], carry out in-depth publicity and education on socialist core values, deepen education in patriotism, collectivism, and socialism, and strive to cultivate newcomers of the era who are capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation." "We will persist in combining the rule of law with the rule of virtue, and integrate socialist core values into the building of the rule of law, into social development, and into daily life." These important discourses by Xi Jinping profoundly reveal the important role of socialist core value construction and its competition with Western values within the ideological field and the overall work of the Party and the state.

As a constituent element of state power, ideology possesses the essential attribute of obeying and serving state power, either directly or indirectly. The essence of ideological struggle between different classes is the contest for intellectual leadership and political dominance. Marxist classical writers offered incisive expositions on this. Marx and Engels held: "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas." "The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships." For example, in a country where the royal power, the aristocracy, and the bourgeoisie are struggling for mastery, and where, therefore, mastery is shared, the doctrine of the separation of powers proves to be the dominant idea and is expressed as an "eternal law." Lenin also pointed out: The rule of the proletariat is not consolidated all at once, but only after a long struggle against all backward doctrines such as petty-bourgeois socialism and anarchism; "any belittling of the socialist ideology, any withdrawal from it in the slightest degree, means at the same time the strengthening of bourgeois ideology." Mao Zedong stated even more explicitly: "To overthrow a political power, it is always necessary first of all to create public opinion, to do work in the ideological sphere. This is true for the revolutionary class as well as for the counter-revolutionary class."

As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era, Xi Jinping has further proposed that ideology concerns the flag, the path, and national political security. Various hostile forces attempt to manufacture "Color Revolutions" in our country to subvert the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system. "This is a realistic danger facing our regime security. One breakthrough point they have chosen is the ideological field, attempting to throw people's thinking into confusion, and then 'fish in troubled waters' to win through chaos. Under the new situation, the struggle in the ideological field is complex and sharp. Both history and reality warn us that once the ideological and public opinion positions are breached, other lines of defense will be difficult to hold. In the struggle in the ideological field, we have no room for any compromise or concession; we must achieve total victory." In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping, standing at the height of coordinating development and security and implementing the Holistic Approach to National Security, emphasized the need to "resolutely safeguard the security of the state’s political power, system, and ideology, and strengthen the building of security capabilities in key areas." We must comprehensively strengthen national security education, enhance the national security awareness and literacy of the whole people, and build a solid people’s line of defense for national security; strictly guard against systemic security risks, and severely clamp down on the infiltration, sabotage, subversion, and secessionist activities of hostile forces, so as to ensure the new development pattern with a new security pattern. These important discourses by Xi Jinping profoundly reveal the new situation and tasks facing ideological work and its importance and urgency for maintaining state power and safeguarding regime security.

II. On the Position and Role of Ideological Struggle

Ideology is not a force that exists in and for itself, detached from the social economic base and political life. Rather, it is the conceptual reflection of the economic base and political superstructure of a given society; it also reacts upon politics and the economy and changes alongside their development.

Historical materialism explains all political events—all political thought, philosophy, religion, and other ideologies—through the material living conditions of different periods and regions. Marx pointed out in the Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy: "In the social production of their life, men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will, relations of production which correspond to a definite stage of development of their material productive forces. The sum total of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which rises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness. The mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and intellectual life process in general. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness." This classic exposition by Marx reveals the position and role of ideology as the "intellectual superstructure" within the social structure, as well as the process and causes of its development and change.

Historical materialism also reveals the relative independence of ideology and its tremendous reaction upon the economic base. In Engels' view, once an ideology arises, it develops in connection with the existing conceptual material and processes it; "otherwise it would not be an ideology, that is, occupation with thoughts as with independent entities, developing independently and subject only to their own laws." In his letter to Joseph Bloch, he wrote, "The economic situation is the basis, but the various elements of the superstructure—political forms of the class struggle and its results, such as constitutions established by the victorious class after a successful battle, etc., juridical forms, and then even the reflexes of all these actual struggles in the brains of the participants, political, juristic, philosophical theories, religious views and their further development into systems of dogmas—also exercise their influence upon the course of the historical struggles and in many cases preponderate in determining their form. There is an interaction of all these elements in which, amid all the endless host of accidents (that is, of things and events whose inner interconnection is so remote or so impossible of proof that we can regard it as non-existent, as negligible), the economic movement finally asserts itself as necessary." Historical materialism also shows people that the development of ideology is by no means proportional to the economic development of a given society. Economically backward countries can create advanced cultures; this was true of 18th-century France relative to England, and later of Germany relative to both England and France. In particular, although 19th-century Germany was economically behind England and France, it was able to "play first fiddle" in philosophy, achieving the higher accomplishments of modern Western philosophy and constituting the direct source of Marxist philosophy. Generally speaking, once correct ideas representing the advanced class are grasped by the masses, they turn into a powerful force for knowing and transforming the world. Conversely, erroneous concepts representing declining classes will shackle people's minds and become negative factors hindering the spread of truth and social progress.

From the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China has held high the banner of Marxism, adhering to communist ideals and socialist convictions. Guided by Marxist ideological theory, it has continuously strengthened the Party's ideological and theoretical building as well as its ideological and political work. It has coordinately advanced the Party's self-revolution and the great social revolution, transforming the subjective world while transforming the objective world. Across all aspects—including the productive forces and relations of production, the economic base and the superstructure—it has promoted earth-shattering historical transformations in China. Mao Zedong attached great importance to the status and role of the superstructure, including ideology, in the cause of revolution and construction. He advocated absorbing the scientific and democratic essence of ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign cultures, while discarding their ignorant and feudal dregs, striving to build an independent, free, unified, and powerful New China. He stated explicitly: the productive forces, practice, and the economic base generally play the principal and decisive role; whoever does not recognize this is not a materialist. However, it must also be recognized that the relations of production, theory, and the superstructure, in turn, manifest themselves in the principal and decisive role under certain conditions. "When the superstructure (politics, culture, etc.) obstructs the development of the economic base, political and cultural reforms become the principal and decisive factors... This does not contradict materialism; rather, it avoids mechanical materialism and upholds dialectical materialism." ^[7] Deng Xiaoping proposed that while building a socialist material civilization, we must also build a socialist spiritual civilization ^[8], including education, science, and culture; communist ideals, convictions, morality, and discipline; and comradely relations between people. During his southern tour in 1992, he pointed out that for Guangdong to catch up with the "Four Little Dragons" of Asia within 20 years, it must not only develop the economy but also improve social order and the social atmosphere: "Only when both civilizations [material and spiritual] surpass them can it be called socialism with Chinese characteristics."

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC has accurately grasped the new situation characterized by the mutual surging of ideas and cultures worldwide and the profound changes in social concepts within China. It has emphasized that ideology must establish a persistence for the nation's heart and a soul for the people, and that we must firmly maintain the leadership over ideological work and build a strong socialist cultural power. As early as August 19, 2013, in his speech at the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work, Xi Jinping profoundly noted: economic construction is the Party’s central work, but ideological work is work of extreme importance for the Party. "We must deeply understand the decisive role of the economic base on the superstructure, and deeply understand the counter-action of the superstructure on the economic base. We must have both hard power and soft power. We must effectively carry out the central work to provide a solid material foundation for ideological work, and effectively carry out ideological work to provide a strong guarantee for the central work; we can neither neglect ideological work because of the central work, nor allow ideological work to drift away from the central work." At the first plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, he cautioned the whole Party that in the face of the complex situation of reform, development, and stability, as well as the diversification of social consciousness and profound changes in the media landscape: "While concentrating energy on economic construction, we must not for a moment relax or weaken ideological work. Leadership, management, and the right to speak in ideological work must be firmly held in our hands and must never be lost at any time; otherwise, we will commit an irredeemable historical error." In the report to the 20th CPC National Congress, he further emphasized: "Ideological work is the work of establishing a heart for the state and a soul for the nation. We must firmly hold the leadership over ideological work, fully implement the responsibility system for ideological work, and consolidate and expand the mainstream public opinion that strives in the New Era." It is precisely under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era that we have established and adhered to the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological field. We have focused on solving the problem of weakened Party leadership in the ideological sphere, both upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground—simultaneously building up and tearing down, clearing away the turbid and promoting the clear ^[9]. Core socialist values have been widely disseminated, and fine traditional Chinese culture has undergone creative transformation and innovative development. Consequently, a sweeping and fundamental change has occurred in the ideological field of our country, and the cultural confidence of the entire nation has been significantly strengthened. This has laid the common ideological foundation and provided a powerful spiritual force for opening a new chapter in the cause of the Party and the state in the New Era.

III. On the Methods and Means of Ideological Struggle

Ideological struggle differs from other forms of struggle; it cannot adopt crude or coercive methods but must use meticulous reasoning. It must also coordinate with struggles in the economic and military fields and adapt to changes in media such as books, periodicals, radio, television, and the internet and WeChat.

Generally speaking, a social revolution depends not only on the "money bag" and the "gun barrel," but also on the "pen." Some farsighted politicians have focused on leveraging the role of ideology in the process of conducting economic, military, and ideological struggles. Napoleon believed that one pen is better than two thousand muskets; in Eisenhower's view, one dollar of external propaganda expenditure was equal to five dollars of defense expenditure. Nixon asserted that three unfriendly newspapers were more fearsome than a thousand bayonets; he even publicly proclaimed that the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was military, economic, and political, "but its root lies in ideology—the Soviet Union wants to spread communism and destroy freedom, while the United States wants to stop communism and spread freedom. If we lose the battle of ideas, then all our weapons, treaties, trade, foreign aid, and cultural relations will be useless." In the process of leading the Chinese revolution and construction, Mao Zedong coordinated struggles on the economic, military, and ideological fronts with great ease. He advocated that "all issues of an ideological nature and all issues of dispute within the people can only be settled by democratic methods, by methods of discussion, criticism, persuasion, and education, and not by methods of coercion or repression." Deeply believing that different forms and styles in art should develop freely and different schools in science should contend freely, he held that using administrative power to forcibly promote one style or school while banning another would be harmful to the development of art and science. Therefore, he emphasized that questions of right and wrong in the arts and sciences should be settled through free discussion in those circles and through artistic and scientific practice, rather than through simplistic methods. "The policy of 'letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend' is a policy for promoting the development of the arts and the progress of science, and for promoting the flourishing of socialist culture in our country." ^[10] Entering the new period of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping, based on summarizing the painful lessons of the expansion of the Anti-Rightist Struggle and the "Cultural Revolution," proposed that "one should not think that as long as 'destruction comes first' [pò zì dāng tóu], 'construction' [lì] will follow automatically." He noted: "Historical experience has proven that using the method of large-scale mass movements, rather than the method of thorough reasoning and calm discussion, to solve ideological education problems among the masses has never been successful." He advocated combining positive guidance with reasonable criticism: while implementing the "Three-Nos policy" (no picking on people’s faults, no pinning labels on people, and no using the big stick) ^[11], the weapon of criticism should not be discarded. He insisted on the basic line of "one center, two basic points" ^[12] without wavering, opposing both "Left" and Right erroneous tendencies.

As socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, we have resolutely engaged in a great struggle with many new historical features, facing unprecedented challenges and difficulties. In his speech at the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work on August 19, 2013, Xi Jinping clearly pointed out the important principle of "persisting in unity, stability, and encouragement, with positive publicity as the mainstay," to consolidate and strengthen mainstream ideology and public opinion, promote the main theme, spread positive energy, and stimulate the powerful force of the whole society to unite and forge ahead. "We must dare to take charge and dare to ‘reveal the sword’ [liàng jiàn]; focusing on uniting and winning over the majority, we must carry out public opinion struggles on just grounds, to our advantage, and with restraint ^[13]. We must help cadres and the masses distinguish between right and wrong and clarify blurred understandings." As for general disputes and blurred understandings, they cannot be solved by administrative or legal means, but by the power of Marxist truth and meticulous ideological and political work, using truth to expose lies and letting science defeat fallacies. In the report to the 20th National Congress, he further proposed: "We must adhere to upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground." We must treat science with a scientific attitude and pursue truth in the spirit of truth. We must unswervingly adhere to the basic principles of Marxism, the comprehensive leadership of the Party, and socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must keep pace with the times, respond to the development of practice, treat all new things with enthusiasm, and continuously expand the breadth and depth of our understanding. We must dare to say what our predecessors have not said and do what our predecessors have not done, guiding new practices with new theories. We must "adhere to developing the spirit of struggle," enhancing the ambition, backbone, and confidence of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups. We must not believe in "evil spirits" [xíe], nor fear ghosts or pressure. We must press forward in the face of difficulties, coordinate development and security, and strive to overcome various difficulties and challenges on the road ahead, opening up new horizons for the development of our cause through tenacious struggle. This series of important discourses by Xi Jinping has pointed out the correct orientation, principles, methods, and tenets for ideological work in the New Era.

As a spiritual product, ideology is generated in people's minds and influences their words and deeds; meanwhile, it requires media such as letters, newspapers, radio, television, and the internet for storage and dissemination to transform into a material force for understanding and transforming the world. Marx said: gunpowder, the compass, and printing were the three great inventions that heralded the arrival of capitalist society. Gunpowder blew the knightly class to pieces, the compass opened the world market and established colonies, "and printing became the tool of Protestantism and, generally speaking, the means for the renaissance of science—the most powerful lever for creating the necessary prerequisites for spiritual development." Since the dawn of the modern era, with the advancement of industrialization, electrification, informatization, and urbanization, and the rise of mass culture and social media, the carriers and means of ideological struggle have continuously evolved. Especially since the 1990s, the rapid development of new media—such as the internet, microblogs, and WeChat—has profoundly changed the way public opinion is generated and disseminated. This has increasingly blurred the boundaries between international and domestic, online and offline, virtual and real, and inside and outside the system, forming an ever-more complex ideological and public opinion field characterized by spontaneity, suddenness, diversity, and difficulty of control. Many new situations and problems in the ideological field have arisen and increased because of the internet; the internet has become the main battlefield and channel for hostile forces at home and abroad to carry out infiltration and attacks against our country.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the construction and innovation of dissemination methods, promoting the integrated development of media to improve the capacity for dissemination, guidance, influence, and the credibility of theory and public opinion. Xi Jinping emphasized: the internet has become the main battlefield for the struggle of public opinion and the front line of ideological struggle. "In this battlefield of the internet, whether we can hold our ground and win the battle is directly related to our country's ideological security and the security of political power." "To control the dominance of online ideology is to safeguard national sovereignty and political power." We must grasp the laws of internet communication, improve our level of using and governing the internet, and ensure that the internet—this "greatest variable"—becomes the "greatest increment" ^[14] for promoting the development of our cause. With the continuous evolution of new internet media, the "all-dimensional media" [quán méi tǐ]—encompassing media that are all-process, all-spatial, all-personnel, and all-effective—has emerged. Information is everywhere, reaches everyone, and is used by all, leading to profound changes in the public opinion ecosystem, media landscape, and dissemination methods. Ideological work faces new opportunities and challenges. We must deeply grasp the trends and laws of media integration in the era of "all-media," and coordinately handle the relationships between traditional and new media, central and local media, mainstream media and commercial platforms, and mass and professional media, "forming an all-media dissemination system with intensive resources, reasonable structure, differentiated development, and high-efficiency coordination." The report to the 20th CPC National Congress clearly proposed: "Strengthen the construction of an all-media dissemination system and shape a new pattern of mainstream public opinion. Improve the comprehensive internet governance system and promote the formation of a good online ecosystem." Managing and utilizing the internet well and promoting media integration is a foundational project for building socialist ideology under the conditions of informatization and digitalization. This requires solving not only the questions of who manages and uses it, but also how it is managed and used. We must prioritize top-level design, adhere to a systems perspective, and master core technologies. We must quickly transform the advantages of the Party and state—such as ideological and cultural resources, big data for social governance, and policy formulation and implementation—into a comprehensive efficacy for consolidating and expanding mainstream public opinion. We should form "concentric circles" ^[15] online and offline, and take the initiative in the ideological battle.

IV. On the Process and Trends of Ideological Struggle

Until the classes and the state wither away, the ideological struggles between different classes will persist over the long term and continue to evolve. Even in a classless society, the intellectual struggle between the new and the old, and between the correct and the incorrect, will never end. Therefore, advocating erroneous viewpoints such as the "end of ideology" or "de-ideologization" is theoretically untenable and extremely harmful in practice. Since the dawn of the modern era, human society has been permeated by complex and fierce struggles between the three ideologies of feudalism, capitalism, and socialism. However, the socialist ideology—which represents the transformation of the status quo and the future—will ultimately replace the ideologies of feudalism and capitalism. This is the historical law and inevitable trend of ideological struggle.

The establishment of the first international proletarian party, the Communist League, and the publication of the Manifesto of the Communist Party marked the birth of Marxism and the formation of communist ideology. In the 170-plus years since, along with the transformation of socialism from utopia to science, its leap from theory to system, and its expansion from a single country to multiple countries, the socialist ideology—built upon the foundation of Marxist theory—has become the guiding thought and program of action for proletarian parties and socialist states. The founders of Marxism believed that the proletarian party possessed a "great advantage," namely, having a new scientific worldview as its theoretical foundation. Communism is not a mysterious dogma but a practical movement; it does not proceed from abstract principles but from objective facts. Communists do not take some speculative philosophy as their premise, but rather the whole of history up to the present and the actual results it has produced in all civilized countries. Communism possesses scientific, class, temporal, and practical characteristics; it is the theoretical expression of the proletarian standpoint, viewpoint, and method in the class struggle, and is the "theoretical summation of the conditions for the liberation of the proletariat." In On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, Mao Zedong wrote that although socialist transformation had been basically completed, remnants of the overthrown landlord and comprador ^[16] classes still existed, as did the bourgeoisie. "The class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie in the ideological field will still be long-term, tortuous, and at times even very acute." Correct things always develop in the process of struggling against erroneous things; the true, the good, and the beautiful always exist in comparison with the false, the evil, and the ugly, and develop through struggle against them. "This struggle will never end. This is the law of the development of truth and, naturally, the law of the development of Marxism." At the time of the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Deng Xiaoping gained insight into the changes in the international situation and the global landscape, keenly noting: "I hoped the Cold War would end, but now I feel disappointed. It may be that one Cold War has ended, but two others have already begun. One is directed against the entire South and the Third World, and the other is directed against socialism." He likened the "peaceful evolution" ^[17] strategy pursued by imperialism against socialist countries to "fighting a Third World War without the smoke of gunpowder."

Since entering the New Era, Xi Jinping has upheld the basic tenets of Marxism and a macro-view of history (da lishi guan ^[18]). Based on a scientific summation of the 5,000-plus years of the Chinese nation's civilization and the 500-plus-year historical process of world socialism—especially the major achievements and historical experience of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) century of struggle—he has continuously deepened our understanding of the historical origins, realistic foundations, and development prospects of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He profoundly pointed out: Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate? Why did the Soviet Communist Party collapse? An important reason was that the struggle in the ideological field was extremely fierce; there was a total negation of Soviet history and the history of the Soviet Communist Party, a negation of Lenin and Stalin, and the engagement in historical nihilism ^[19]. Once thinking became muddled, Party organizations at all levels became almost useless. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the internal and external environments for ideological work have become more complex. External hostile forces have increased their penetration, and some domestic organizations and individuals have also shifted their methods and approaches to create ideological confusion and compete with the Party for the hearts and minds of the people. We must place ideological work in a position of importance and strengthen organizational leadership. "We must timely grasp the ideological situation and dynamics. On various issues concerning politics, principles, and orientation, we must dare to take charge and manage. Against all kinds of erroneous thinking, we must dare to unsheathe the sword ^[20], help people distinguish right from wrong, and firmly grasp the initiative in ideological work. In particular, we must prevent various hostile forces from seizing opportunities to interfere and sabotage, avoid letting specific issues evolve into political problems or local issues evolve into global events, and avoid the emergence of major ideological incidents and 'public opinion whirlpools'." These important expositions by Xi Jinping are a scientific summation of the experiences and lessons of the international communist movement and a strategic deployment for ideological struggle in the New Era.

Within society and the state, there exists both the dominant ideology and ideologies in the form of old remnants and new sprouts; the coexistence and contestation between them determine the pattern and direction of ideological struggle. In Anti-Dühring, Engels analyzed that alongside Christian-feudal morality, there existed bourgeois morality and proletarian morality, pointing out that in the most advanced countries of Europe, three types of moral theories acted simultaneously and side-by-side. "But the morality which contains the maximum elements promising durability is that which represents in the present the overthrow of the present, which represents the future, that is, the proletarian morality." Similarly, the socialist ideology, based on a profound grasp of historical laws and the interests of the people, will certainly demonstrate powerful appeal and vitality in the process of struggling against feudal and capitalist ideologies. During his Southern Tour ^[21], Deng Xiaoping delivered important remarks noting: "The number of people in the world who favor Marxism will increase, because Marxism is a science. It uses historical materialism to reveal the laws of the development of human society. Feudal society replaced slave society, capitalism replaced feudalism, and socialism will inevitably replace capitalism after a long period of development. This is the irreversible general trend of social and historical development, but the road is tortuous. During the several hundred years it took for capitalism to replace feudalism, how many times did dynastic restorations occur? Therefore, in a sense, certain temporary restorations are also a law-like phenomenon that is difficult to avoid completely. Serious twists and turns have appeared in some countries, and socialism seems to have been weakened, but the people have been tempered and will draw lessons from this, which will prompt socialism to develop in a healthier direction." Xi Jinping has also emphasized that no matter how the times change or how science progresses, Marxism still demonstrates the power of scientific thought and still occupies the high ground of truth and morality. To do a good job in ideological work under the new situation, "one must persist in Marxism, firmly establish the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, cultivate and practice socialist core values, continuously enhance dominance and the right to speak ^[22] in the ideological field, promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, inherit revolutionary culture, develop advanced socialist culture, and—without forgetting our origins, absorbing foreign influence, and facing the future—better construct the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength to provide spiritual guidance for the people." The report to the 20th CPC National Congress explicitly proposed: "Strengthen education on ideals and convictions; guide the entire Party to keep in mind the Party's purpose and solve the problem of the 'master switch' of worldview, outlook on life, and values; and consciously become firm believers and faithful practitioners of the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Persist in the integration of study, thought, and application, and the unity of knowledge, belief, and action, transforming Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into a powerful force for tempering ideals, tempering Party spirit, guiding practice, and promoting work." Only by promoting the normalization and institutionalization of education on ideals and convictions—by sustaining the publicity and education of the history of the Party, the history of New China, the history of reform and opening up, and the history of socialist development, and by guiding the people to know history to love the Party and the country—can we fulfill the major task of building socialist ideology: strengthening the 'Four Confidences' in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and establishing socialist core values. Only then can we achieve the fundamental goal of building socialist ideology: strengthening faith in Marxism, conviction in socialism and communism, and confidence in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The law of ideological struggle is a basic principle of the Marxist dialectical relationship and contradictory movement between social existence and social consciousness, and between the economic base and the superstructure; it is a concentrated expression of the ideological field with values at its core. Furthermore, the law of ideological struggle is subject to and follows the basic laws of human historical development, such as: social consciousness is determined by social existence but possesses relative independence and exerts a counter-reaction on social existence; and the superstructure must adapt to the economic base but exerts a massive counter-reaction upon it. Entering the New Era, we have persisted in Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development. We have fully implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, as well as the Party's basic line and basic strategy. We have withstood the tests of risks and challenges from political, economic, and ideological spheres, realized the goal of moderately prosperous society in all respects as scheduled, and propelled our country onto a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Xi Jinping's series of important expositions and strategic deployments regarding ideology represent an unswerving adherence to and creative development of Marxist ideological theory. Deeply studying and implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, continuously writing new chapters in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, and accelerating the construction of a socialist ideology that reflects the national spirit and characteristics of the times—and possesses powerful cohesion and leadership—is the primary task and historical subject for the theoretical and ideological fronts at present and in the period to come. This work is essential to consolidate the common ideological foundation upon which the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups strive in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.