Cao Yanhong: The "Second Integration" Expands the Mass Base and Cultural Roots of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Entering the New Era, our Party's understanding of the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics has risen to a new realm. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourse on the "Two Combinations" [1] has further advanced the process of making Marxism Chinese in character, attuned to the times, and accessible to the masses. The proposition of the "Second Combination" has elevated the Party's historical and cultural confidence in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics to a new height, as well as the Party’s cultural self-awareness in inheriting fine traditional Chinese culture. The "Second Combination" has taken another important step in expanding the mass base and cultural foundations of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The "Second Combination" Possesses Distinct Characteristics of Mass Accessibility
Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which our Party and country are founded; it is the soul and banner of our Party. Advancing the Sinicization of Marxism, its adaptation to the times, and its accessibility to the masses are major strategic tasks and important historical missions shoulder by our Party. While the connotations and positionings of these three—Sinicization, adaptation to the times, and mass accessibility—each have their own emphasis, they are interrelated and organically unified. Advancing the mass accessibility of Marxism is of great significance for expanding the depth and breadth of its Sinicization and adaptation to the times.
In terms of upholding and developing Marxism, the "Two Combinations" serves as an important proposition closely linked to making Marxism Chinese, contemporary, and popular. Whether it is the combination with China's specific realities or with fine traditional Chinese culture, both fully embody the requirements and connotations of the Sinicization of Marxism, yet they emphasize different aspects from the perspectives of adaptation to the times and mass accessibility. The "First Combination" focuses on demonstrating the characteristics of contemporary Chinese Marxism in its adaptation to the times; it emphasizes seeking truth from facts and accurately answering the "Questions of China, the World, the People, and the Times" based on current Chinese realities and contemporary requirements to solve the tasks posed by the era.
The "Second Combination" focuses on demonstrating the characteristics of the mass accessibility of contemporary Chinese Marxism. It emphasizes integrating and harmonizing the basic tenets of Marxism with the profound and long-standing fine traditional Chinese culture, linking the ideological essence of Marxism with the common values formed by our people over thousands of years, so that they penetrate the work and lives of the broad masses and are "used daily without being noticed" [2]. If the "First Combination" roots imported Marxism in the specific realities of the country and nation, then the "Second Combination" further roots the Marxism that has already been integrated into those realities into the fertile soil of the country and nation’s history and culture. This makes it easier for the broad masses of the people to accept and more capable of penetrating their hearts.
The proposition of the "Second Combination" was not imagined out of thin air; rather, it was contained within the "First Combination" from its very inception. In the process of combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities, they must inevitably encounter the existing cultural values of the masses. Only when a positive "chemical reaction" occurs can an organic integration be achieved, effectively guiding Chinese practice and solving the problems faced by China's economy and society. In October 1938, Comrade Mao Zedong emphasized at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee: "Making Marxism concrete in China, ensuring that in every manifestation it bears the necessary Chinese characteristics—that is to say, applying it according to China’s peculiarities—has become a problem the whole Party must urgently understand and solve." "Chinese characteristics" and "China’s peculiarities" simultaneously encompass the specific realities of the Chinese revolution and Chinese history and culture.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to cultural development. During the 13th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on February 24, 2014, he proposed "strengthening confidence in our culture and values." He later repeatedly emphasized that "cultural confidence is a more fundamental, more widespread, and deeper confidence." In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, he further pointed out: "To uphold and develop Marxism, we must combine it with fine traditional Chinese culture. Only by rooting ourselves in the fertile soil of our country’s and nation’s history and culture can the tree of Marxist truth remain evergreen." This series of important discourses by General Secretary Xi Jinping provides the theoretical orientation for further advancing the mass accessibility of Marxism.
Our Party has fully realized through long-term historical practice that being rooted in local specific practice and fine traditional Chinese culture is the source of power for driving theoretical innovation in socialism with Chinese characteristics. In advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics and realizing Chinese-path modernization from a new historical starting point, we especially cannot ignore the important role and unique value of fine traditional Chinese culture. Regarding how to publicize and explain Chinese characteristics, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must "clearly explain that because the historical traditions, cultural accumulation, and basic national conditions of each country and nation are different, their development paths will inevitably have their own characteristics; clearly explain that Chinese culture accumulates the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation and provides rich nourishment for the nation’s continuous growth; clearly explain that fine traditional Chinese culture is a prominent advantage of the Chinese nation and our deepest cultural soft power; and clearly explain that socialism with Chinese characteristics is rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture, reflects the will of the Chinese people, and adapts to the developmental requirements of China and the times, possessing deep historical origins and a broad realistic foundation." Achieving these "Four Clear Explanations" [3] makes it easier for the broad masses of Party members and the public to deeply understand the connotation, value, and significance of the "Second Combination."
The "Second Combination" allows fine traditional Chinese culture to be activated and transformed by Sinicized and contemporary Marxism, endowing it with new contemporary connotations and modern civilizational factors. Simultaneously, it allows Marxism, which originated in the West, to be nourished by the Chinese civilization with its 5,000 years of historical and cultural accumulation, thereby realizing an organic integration, two-way interaction, and mutual fulfillment of the two. Under the guidance of the "Second Combination," the process of making Marxism Chinese, contemporary, and popular will surely accelerate significantly; the confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics will surely possess deeper cultural, historical, and mass foundations.
The "Second Combination" Has Outstanding Significance for the Emancipation of the Mind
On June 2, 2023, at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Through long-term efforts, we are now better positioned than at any time in history to resolve the 'debate between the ancient and the modern, and between the East and the West' [4], and we feel a more urgent need than ever to create cultural achievements that fuse the ancient and modern and bridge the East and the West." Since the dawn of the modern era, the "debate between the ancient and the modern, and between the East and the West" became an ideological battleground for people of high ideals seeking to save the nation from subjugation and pursue prosperity. Spanning nearly two hundred years of history, it remains unresolved even today. During this period, there were those who advocated total Westernization or liberalism; those who held to cultural isolationism or archaism; and those who proposed "Chinese learning for fundamental principles, Western learning for practical application" [5], or Western principles for Chinese application, or mutual complementarity. However, all ended in failure. The Chinese Communists, leading the Chinese people in the practice of national salvation and great rejuvenation, have continuously pushed for the localization of truth, combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and achieving a series of great victories.
In the New Era and on the new journey, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the "Second Combination," asserting that "the 'Second Combination' is another emancipation of the mind, allowing us to fully utilize the precious resources of fine traditional Chinese culture within a broader cultural space to explore theoretical and institutional innovations oriented toward the future." The "Second Combination" makes Marxism Chinese and fine traditional Chinese culture modern, turning the new culture formed through this "combination" into the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization. From an epistemological perspective and at the level of cultural development, this is an emancipation of the mind regarding how to better uphold and develop Marxism, creating a broader cultural space for the prospects of the path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and laying a broader mass foundation.
In the history of our Party, it can be said that there have been three instances of the emancipation of the mind. The first, represented by the Yan’an Rectification Movement [6], emancipated the mind from dogmatism that rigidly understood Marxism, leading to victory in the Liberation War and the realization of national independence. The second, represented by the discussion on the criterion of truth [7] before Reform and Opening-up, emancipated the mind from a rigid understanding of socialism—particularly the Soviet model—thereby making the country prosperous. This current instance is the third emancipation of the mind, represented by the proposal of the "Second Combination," which emancipated our thinking from rigidly following Western modernization, providing the fundamental follow-through for comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization. This third emancipation of the mind has consolidated cultural subjectivity and provided an effective solution to the "debate between the ancient and the modern, and between the East and the West" that has troubled the cultural world and been familiar to the public since the Opium War.
Measuring a nation’s cultural subjectivity is inseparable from the philosophical questions: "Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?" Over the past two hundred years, the subjectivity of Chinese culture has gone through a painful struggle—from being looked down upon by others, to being denied by ourselves, to gradually recovering self-identity. Our country was once passively drawn into the Western-led system of modernization. Under the strong impact of Western civilization, many Chinese people equated modernization with Westernization or Americanization, handing over their cultural subjectivity and initiative to others. Yet, realizing modernization is inseparable from the strong support of a country and nation’s own historical and cultural traditions. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The fine traditional Chinese culture created and continued by the Chinese nation over thousands of years is the root and soul of the Chinese nation." Chinese-path modernization can neither do without the guidance of Marxism nor the nourishment of fine traditional Chinese culture. The proposition of the "Second Combination" is a critical historical node where Chinese cultural subjectivity is re-established and cultural initiative is regained and consolidated. it marks a new height in our Party’s cultural confidence and cultural self-awareness.
"Looking broadly and thinking far, one must unify the new and the old to see their continuity, and encompass both the Chinese and the foreign to calculate the whole; only then can the truth be obtained" (Yan Fu, Letter to the Owner of the Diplomatic Journal, 1902) [8]. The "Second Combination" is an effective scientific guide proposed as socialism with Chinese characteristics enters the New Era and faces new requirements and tasks. It is a realistic theory for correctly handling the needs of China’s economic and social development now and in the future. It demonstrates the high degree of clarity, consciousness, and determination of the Chinese Communists in the New Era to explore the unknown, break through the mists of history, and advance Chinese-path modernization. The "changes unseen in a century" [9] are both a challenge and an opportunity. We can fully utilize the precious resources of fine traditional Chinese culture to further explore innovations in paths, theories, and systems that suit our national conditions and face the future, allowing the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization to make new contributions to the world.