Wen Feihong: Deeply Understanding the Theoretical Character of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the theoretical summation of the practical experience of the Party leadership’s cultural construction in the New Era; it is an enrichment and development of Marxist cultural theory. The formation and development of this important thought reflects General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound insight into our country’s cultural construction and his deep reflection on doing a good job in propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work in the New Era. It manifests the unique and brilliant theoretical character of scientific Marxist theory. In developing the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and building a leading cultural power, the most fundamental requirement is to persist in using 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 positions, viewpoints, and methods that run through it, and fully demonstrate the transformative power of scientific theory in practice.
Upholding 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 propaganda, target-ideology, 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. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture maintains a firm and clear-cut stance on major issues regarding which flag to raise, which path to follow, and what should serve as the guidance, source, and root [1] of our country’s cultural construction. It firmly upholds the "orthodoxy" (正, zheng) of Marxism, the "orthodoxy" of fine traditional Chinese culture, and the "orthodoxy" of the precious experience accumulated by our 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 primary skill," "firmly adhere to the principle of Party spirit [2], firmly adhere to the Marxist view of journalism," and "uphold the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position 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." We must "strengthen cultural confidence," "exalt the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, and properly protect, promote, and develop the treasures of Chinese civilization left behind through the vicissitudes of history." General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "In long-term practice, our Party’s propaganda and ideological work has accumulated extremely rich experience. This experience did not come easily and is profoundly precious. It is an important follow-up for doing future work well and must be conscientiously summarized and maintained over the long term."
Facing new changes in the global, national, and Party conditions [3], as well as new situations and tasks in cultural construction, General Secretary Xi Jinping has followed the historical trend, grasped the pulse of the times, and advanced with the times to propose a series of new ideas, viewpoints, and judgments. General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively proposed and elaborated on the "Two Combinations" [4], which expanded the developmental path for the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He placed the promotion of the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture in a prominent position, emphasizing: "We must 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 "we must 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 facing propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work have undergone major and profound changes, especially the rapid development of the internet, which has brought many new opportunities and challenges. General Secretary Xi Jinping has scientifically answered a series of major theoretical and practical questions regarding the development of cybersecurity and systematized information (wangxin), covering various 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 regular understanding of cybersecurity and information work to a completely new height. Furthermore, from a global and strategic height, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made systematic plans and deployments for innovation in concepts, methods, and grassroots work within propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural sectors, providing scientific guidance for the work on the new journey of the New Era.
Upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground complement each other, reflecting the dialectical unity of change and constancy, inheritance and development, and principle and creativity. To develop the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and build a leading cultural power, we must both guard the "soul" and retain the "root," adhering to the correct political direction, while also maintaining a strong spirit of innovation, daring to speak new words and try new methods, and striving to open new horizons through new leaps in conceptual understanding and new breakthroughs in measures and methods.
Upholding the Unity of Party Spirit and People-Centeredness
Propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work are important components of the Party's cause, and emphasizing Party spirit is an inevitable requirement for doing propaganda work well. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The principle of Party spirit must not only be spoken of, but spoken of with perfect assurance; there must be no dodging or hesitating." "All work of the Party's news and public opinion media 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 loving the Party, protecting the Party, and acting for the Party." Party management of propaganda, ideology, and the media are important aspects of upholding Party leadership. We must "strengthen the Party's comprehensive leadership over propaganda and ideological work" and "must firmly grasp the leadership, management, and discourse power of ideological work in our own hands; it must never fall into the hands of others at any time." These important discourses profoundly clarify the extreme importance of strengthening the Party's comprehensive leadership over propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work, and define the fundamental political guarantee for doing this work well.
Whether in theoretical innovation and development, literary and artistic creation and production, the creation of spiritual civilization, or in directing news and public opinion, the development of cybersecurity and information, or research in philosophy and social sciences, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to "persist in the people’s principal position," "establish a people-centered work orientation," and "always insist that cultural construction focuses on and culminates in the people." News and public opinion work should "report more on the great struggles and fiery lives of the masses, report more on the advanced models and touching deeds emerging among the masses, enrich the people’s spiritual world, enhance the people’s spiritual strength, and meet the people’s spiritual needs." Literary and artistic work should "take the people as the main subject of expression, take the people as the connoisseurs and judges of aesthetics, and take serving the people as the calling of literary and artistic workers," "creating and producing excellent works that are loved by the people, so that the people’s spiritual and cultural life continuously climbs to new heights." Public cultural services should promote "standardization and equalization," improve "coverage and applicability," "innovatively implement cultural projects for the benefit of the people," and "enhance the people’s sense of cultural gain and happiness." Cybersecurity and information work should "accelerate the popularization of information services, reduce application costs, and provide information services that the common people can use, afford, and use well." The vast number of philosophy and social science workers in our country "must persist in the view that the people are the creators of history, establish the ideal of conducting scholarship for the people, respect the people’s principal position, focus on the people’s practical creations, and consciously link personal academic pursuits closely with the development of the country and the nation, striving to produce more research results that can withstand 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, and no people-centeredness divorced from Party spirit. To develop the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and build a leading cultural power, we must unswervingly adhere to the principle of Party spirit and the people's standpoint, combining being responsible to the Party with being responsible to the people, combining serving the masses with educating and guiding them, and combining satisfying the needs of the masses with improving their qualities, so as to better turn the Party’s theories, lines, principles, and policies into the conscious actions of the masses.
Upholding the Unity of Systemic Consistency and Openness
Entering the New Era, the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world's great changes unseen in a century [5] are intertwined and surging. Facing the arduous and heavy tasks of reform, development, and stability, facing the people's ever-growing spiritual and cultural needs, facing the complex situation in the ideological field and the rapid wave of information technology, how propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work can revolve around the center, serve the overall situation, leverage advantages, and demonstrate efficacy to provide a strong ideological guarantee, powerful spiritual strength, and favorable cultural conditions for the construction of a strong country and national rejuvenation is the "question of the times" that we must answer systematically. With a series of new ideas and viewpoints, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture profoundly answers major questions regarding ideological and cultural construction and cultural prosperity and development in the New Era, writing a new chapter in Marxist cultural theory. Its content covers basic issues such as the guiding ideology, fundamental principles, basic experience, mission tasks, practical requirements, and supporting conditions for cultural construction in the New Era. It encompasses ideological and theoretical construction, news and public opinion work, literary and artistic publishing, cybersecurity and information work, cultural inheritance and development, ideological and moral construction, the creation of spiritual civilization, and ideological and political work in universities. It contains both general guidelines and specific requirements for various fields; it provides both a roadmap and a task book. It connects internal and external propaganda, coordinates online and offline efforts, and balances theory with public opinion and development with management, constituting a systematic, complete, interconnected, and organically unified scientific system of thought.
As long as the exploration of practice does not end, the development of theory will not end. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a constantly unfolding and open system of thought. On the new journey of the New Era, how propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work should focus on the advancement of Chinese-path modernization—which is the greatest political priority—and how it should closely revolve around the center of economic construction and the primary task of high-quality development to better unify thinking and gather strength, continuously deepen theoretical arming [6], improve public opinion guidance, and improve and innovate in spiritual civilization construction; and how to continuously promote cultural prosperity, enhance international communication effectiveness, and prevent and resolve ideological risks—all these require new practices and new answers, which in turn will form new theoretical results. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture will naturally continue to be enriched and developed as the times progress and practice deepens.
Being both systematic and complete while remaining open and developmental is a universal characteristic of scientific theory. To develop the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and build a leading cultural power, on one hand, we must strengthen systemic 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 persist in the viewpoints of connectivity and development, strive to base ourselves on the new practices of propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work, continuously summarize new experiences, make new generalizations, and form new understandings, so as to better apply, test, and develop truth in practice.
Upholding the Unity of Epistemology and Methodology
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture reflects General Secretary Xi Jinping’s scientific judgment and strategic thinking regarding the status, role, situation, and tasks of propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work. These regular 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. Concerning the status and role of culture, General Secretary Xi Jinping, proceeding from the essential characteristics of socialism and the fundamental requirements of Chinese-path modernization, and standing at the philosophical height of the relationship between the economic base and the superstructure, made the scientific judgments that "material poverty is not socialism, nor is spiritual vacuity 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 literature and art and the people, he emphasized that "the people need literature and art," "literature and art need the people," and "literature and art must love the people," explaining the essence of socialist literature and art clearly and thoroughly. Regarding the importance of the internet, he emphasized that "if we cannot pass the hurdle of the internet, we cannot pass the hurdle of long-term governance," and "to a certain extent, it can be said that those who win the internet win the world." He raised the understanding of the importance of online public opinion and the development of cybersecurity and information to an unprecedented height. These important discourses are thoroughly reasoned and profoundly incisive, and they hold important guiding significance for scientifically understanding culture, grasping the situation, and enhancing the pertinence, effectiveness, sense of responsibility, and mission in doing our work.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture not only profoundly clarifies "how to view" the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics but also clearly proposes "how to act" in propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work in the New Era in response to realistic problems, providing a "golden key" for solving practical problems. Regarding how to do news and public opinion work, he emphasizes the "Four Firm Adherences"; regarding how to build philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, he emphasizes the reflection of "six characteristics"; regarding how to do cybersecurity and information work, he emphasizes grasping the dialectical relationship between four pairs: security and development, freedom and order, openness and autonomy, and management and service; regarding how to promote the reform and innovation of ideological and political theory courses, he proposes the "Eight Unities"; regarding how to do ideological and political work in universities, he points out that it must "change according to the matter, advance with the times, and be renewed according to the trend"; regarding how to tell China’s story well, he emphasizes "telling facts, using imagery, conveying emotion, and explaining logic," and so on. These important discourses provide both principled requirements and scientific methods, reflecting a distinct practical orientation and problem consciousness.
Understanding guides practice, and the scientific methods formed in practice in turn enrich and enhance understanding. To develop the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and build a leading cultural power, we must both deeply comprehend the theoretical significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and strive for new progress and improvement in ideological understanding, while also profoundly grasping its practical value. We must master and apply the scientific methodology contained within it, combine the subjective with the objective and understanding with practice, and strive to promote propaganda, target-ideology, and cultural work to continuously create new atmospheres and write new chapters.