Wen Feihong: A Profound Understanding of the Theoretical Character of Xi Jinping's Cultural Thought
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the theoretical summation of the practical experience of cultural construction led by the Party in the New Era, and represents an enrichment and development of Marxist cultural theory. The formation and development of this important body of thought reflect General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound insight into our country’s cultural construction and his deep reflection on conducting publicity, ideological, and cultural work in the New Era. It demonstrates the brilliant theoretical character unique to the scientific theories of Marxism. To develop the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and to build a leading cultural power, the most fundamental requirement is to adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as a guide for action. Specifically, we must deeply understand and grasp the theoretical character of this important thought, persist in and apply the stances, viewpoints, and methods that permeate it, and fully manifest the practical power of scientific theory.
The Unity of Upholding the Fundamentals and Breaking New Ground
Upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground is a distinct feature of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, as well as a prominent hallmark of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. For publicity, ideological, and cultural work, only by upholding the fundamentals can we avoid losing our identity and direction; only by breaking new ground can we grasp and lead the times. Regarding major questions of which flag to raise, which path to take, and what to use as our guidance, origin, and root in cultural construction, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture maintains a firm and clear stance. It resolutely upholds the "fundamentals" [1] of Marxism and the "fundamentals" of fine traditional Chinese culture, while sticking to the "fundamentals" of the precious experience accumulated by the Party through its long-term leadership of cultural construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must "hold high the banner of Marxism and socialism with Chinese characteristics," "regard the systematic mastery of basic Marxist theory as our professional mainstay," "firmly adhere to the principle of Party spirit and the Marxist view of news," and "persist in the fundamental system of the guiding role of Marxism in the ideological sphere." General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "fine traditional Chinese culture is our deepest cultural soft power and the fertile cultural soil in which socialism with Chinese characteristics is rooted." He stressed the need to "strengthen cultural confidence" and "uplift the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, meticulously protecting, promoting, and developing the treasures of Chinese civilization that have survived the vicissitudes of time." Furthermore, he emphasized: "In long-term practice, our Party’s publicity and ideological work has accumulated extremely rich experience. This experience was not easily won and is profoundly precious; it is an important guide for future work and must be conscientiously summarized and maintained over the long term."
Facing new changes in the global, national, and Party contexts—as well as new situations and tasks in cultural construction—General Secretary Xi Jinping has followed the general trend of historical development and grasped the pulse of contemporary progress to propose a series of new thoughts, viewpoints, and conclusions that advance with the times. General Secretary Xi Jinping innovatively proposed and expounded upon the "Two Combinations" [2], expanding the developmental path of the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He placed the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture in a prominent position, emphasizing the need to "strengthen the excavation and elucidation of fine traditional Chinese culture, so that the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese nation are adapted to contemporary Chinese culture and coordinated with modern society," and to "activate the vitality of fine traditional Chinese culture with the spirit of the times." On the new journey of the New Era, the environment and conditions for publicity, ideological, and cultural work have undergone major and profound changes, particularly with the rapid development of the internet bringing many new opportunities and challenges. General Secretary Xi Jinping has scientifically answered a series of major theoretical and practical questions regarding the development of cyber affairs, covering aspects such as strengthening Party leadership, building a leading cyber power, winning the struggle for online ideology, maintaining national cybersecurity, and building a community with a shared future in cyberspace. This has raised the Party’s systematic understanding of cyber work to a brand-new height. Starting from a holistic and strategic perspective, General Secretary Xi Jinping has also systematically planned and deployed innovations in concepts, methods, and grassroots efforts for publicity, ideological, and cultural work, providing scientific guidance for the new journey of the New Era.
Upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground complement each other, reflecting the dialectical unity between change and continuity, inheritance and development, and principle and creativity. In developing socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and building a leading cultural power, we must both preserve the "soul" and "roots" by adhering to the correct political direction, while maintaining a strong spirit of innovation. We must dare to speak new words and use new methods, striving to open up new work horizons through new leaps in conceptual understanding and new breakthroughs in measures and methods.
The Unity of Party Spirit and People-Centeredness
Publicity, ideological, and cultural work is an integral part of the Party’s cause. Adhering to the "Party spirit" [3] is an essential requirement for doing publicity work well. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, "The principle of Party spirit must not only be discussed but discussed with full confidence and vigor; there must be no dodging or hesitation." He further stated, "All work of the Party's news and media outlets must reflect the Party's will, reflect the Party’s propositions, maintain the authority of the Party Central Committee, maintain the unity of the Party, and achieve the goals of loving the Party, protecting the Party, and serving the Party." The Party’s management of publicity, ideology, and the media is a crucial aspect of upholding Party leadership. We must "strengthen the Party's comprehensive leadership over publicity and ideological work" and "firmly grasp the power of leadership, management, and discourse in ideological work, ensuring they never fall into other hands." These important discourses profoundly clarify the extreme importance of strengthening the Party’s comprehensive leadership over cultural work and define the fundamental political guarantee for its success.
Whether in theoretical innovation, artistic creation, the cultivation of spiritual civilization, news guidance, cyber affairs, or research in philosophy and the social sciences, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes the need to "uphold the principal status of the people," "establish a people-centered work orientation," and "always ensure that cultural construction focuses on the people and culminates in the people." News and public opinion work should "report more on the great struggles and vibrant lives of the masses, and more on the advanced models and touching deeds emerging among the people, to enrich the people’s spiritual world, enhance their spiritual strength, and meet their spiritual needs." Artistic work must "take the people as the main subject of artistic expression and as the connoisseurs and judges of aesthetics, regarding service to the people as the natural duty of artists." We must "create and produce excellent works that the people love to see and hear, allowing the people’s spiritual and cultural lives to reach new heights." Public cultural services must promote "standardization and equalization," improve "coverage and applicability," "innovate the implementation of cultural projects for the benefit of the people," and "enhance the people's sense of cultural gain and happiness." Cyber affairs must "accelerate the popularization of information services, reduce application costs, and provide the people with information services they can use, afford, and use well." China's scholars in philosophy and the social sciences "must adhere to the view that the people are the creators of history, establish the ideal of doing scholarship for the people, respect the principal status of the people, focus on the people’s practical creations, and consciously link their personal academic pursuits closely with the development of the country and the nation, striving to produce research results that can stand the test of practice, the people, and history."
In our country, Party spirit and people-centeredness have always been consistent and unified. There is no Party spirit divorced from people-centeredness, nor is there people-centeredness divorced from Party spirit. To develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and build a leading cultural power, we must unwaveringly adhere to the principle of Party spirit and the stance of the people. We must combine responsibility to the Party with responsibility to the people, service to the masses with education and guidance of the masses, and meeting the needs of the masses with improving their qualities, so as to better transform the Party’s theories, line, and policies into the conscious actions of the masses.
The Unity of Systematicity and Openness
As we enter the New Era, the strategic global situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the global changes unseen in a century are intertwined and surging. Faced with the arduous tasks of reform, development, and stability—and considering the people's growing spiritual and cultural needs, the complex situation in the ideological sphere, and the rapid wave of informationization—how should publicity, ideological, and cultural work revolve around the center and serve the overall situation? How can it leverage its advantages and demonstrate its efficacy to provide a strong ideological guarantee, powerful spiritual strength, and favorable cultural conditions for building a strong country and national rejuvenation? This is the "question of the times" that we must answer systematically. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, through a series of new viewpoints, profoundly answers the major questions of ideological and cultural construction and cultural prosperity in the New Era, writing a new chapter is Marxist cultural theory. Its content covers the fundamental issues of guiding ideology, fundamental principles, basic experience, missions and tasks, practical requirements, and supporting conditions for cultural construction in the New Era. It spans ideological and theoretical construction, news and public opinion, art and publishing, cybersecurity and informationization, cultural inheritance and development, moral construction, the cultivation of spiritual civilization, and ideological and political work in universities. It contains both general principles and specific requirements for various fields; it provides both a roadmap and a task list. It integrates internal and external publicity, coordinates online and offline activities, balances theory and public opinion, and harmonizes development and management. It constitutes a systematically complete, interconnected, and organically unified scientific system of thought.
As long as practical exploration does not end, the development of theory will not end. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a continuously unfolding and open system of thought. On the new journey of the New Era, we must consider how cultural work focuses on the "greatest politics" [4] of advancing Chinese-path modernization, and how it aligns with the "central task" of economic construction and the "primary task" of high-quality development. We must better unify thinking, gather strength, deepen theoretical arming, improve public opinion guidance, and innovate the construction of spiritual civilization. We must continuously promote cultural prosperity, enhance international communication effectiveness, and prevent and resolve ideological risks. This requires new practices and new answers, leading to new theoretical results. Naturally, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture will continue to be enriched and developed as the times progress and practice deepens.
Being both systematically complete and openly developing is a universal characteristic of scientific theory. To develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and build a leading cultural power, we must, on the one hand, strengthen systematic thinking and pay attention to grasping the scientific system and internal logic of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as a whole. On the other hand, we must adhere to the viewpoints of interconnection and development, striving to ground ourselves in the new practices of publicity, ideological, and cultural work. We must continuously summarize new experiences, make new generalizations, and form new understandings to better apply, test, and develop truth in practice.
The Unity of Epistemology and Methodology
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture reflects General Secretary Academy Xi Jinping's scientific judgment and strategic thinking regarding the status, role, situation, and tasks of publicity, ideological, and cultural work. These systematic understandings, derived from practice, profoundly answer a series of major theoretical questions concerning the overall situation of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics, marking a new height in our Party's original contributions to Marxist cultural theory. Regarding the status and role of culture, General Secretary Xi Jinping started from the essential characteristics of socialism and the fundamental requirements of Chinese-path modernization. Standing at the philosophical height of the relationship between the economic base and the superstructure, he made scientific judgments such as: "Material poverty is not socialism, and spiritual poverty is not socialism"; "Chinese-path modernization is a modernization in which material and spiritual civilizations are coordinated"; and "Without the inheritance and development of civilization, and without the promotion and prosperity of culture, there will be no realization of the Chinese Dream." In discussing the relationship between art and the people, he emphasized that "the people need art," "art needs the people," and "art must love the people," clearly explaining the essence of socialist art. Regarding the importance of the internet, he emphasized that "if we cannot pass the test of the internet, we cannot pass the test of long-term governance," and "to a certain extent, it can be said that he who wins the internet wins the world." This raised the recognition of the importance of online public opinion and the development of cyber affairs to an unprecedented height. These important discourses are thoroughly reasoned and profound, bearing significant guiding importance for scientifically understanding culture, grasping the situation, and enhancing the effectiveness and sense of mission in our work.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture not only profoundly clarifies "how to view" [epistemology] the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics but also explicitly proposes "how to do it" [methodology] regarding publicity, ideological, and cultural work in the New Era, providing a "golden key" to solving practical problems. On how to do news and public opinion work well, he emphasizes the "four firm adherences"; on how to construct philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, he emphasizes the "six characteristics" [5]; on how to do cyber work well, he emphasizes grasping the dialectical relationship between four pairs: security and development, freedom and order, openness and autonomy, and management and service. On how to promote the reform and innovation of ideological and political theory courses, he proposed the "eight unities"; on how to do ideological and political work in universities, he pointed out that it must "transform according to the matter, advance according to the time, and innovate according to the trend." On how to tell China’s stories well, he emphasized the need to "speak facts, speak through images, speak with emotion, and speak with reason," and so forth. These important discourses contain both principled requirements and scientific methods, reflecting a distinct practical orientation and problem-awareness.
Understanding guides practice, and the scientific methods formed in practice in turn enrich and enhance understanding. To develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and build a leading cultural power, we must deeply grasp the theoretical significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and strive for new progress in ideological understanding. Simultaneously, we must profoundly grasp its practical value and master the scientific methodology contained within it. By combining the subjective and the objective, and understanding with practice, we must strive to promote publicity, ideological, and cultural work to continuously create new milestones and write new chapters.