Han Qingxiang: Deeply Grasping the Core Essence and Internal Logic of Xi Jinping’s Thinking on Culture
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the theoretical summation of the practical experience of cultural construction led by the Party in the New Era. It is a major achievement in persisting in the “Two Combinations” [1] and advancing the innovation of Marxist cultural theory. It marks a new height in our Party’s understanding of the laws governing socialist cultural construction and demonstrates that our Party’s historical and cultural confidence has reached new heights. It provides a powerful ideological weapon and a scientific guide for action to excel in the work of public communication, ideology, and culture on the new journey in the New Era, and to shoulder the cultural mission of the New Era. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is rich in connotation, broad, and profound. To deeply study and comprehend Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, one must thoroughly grasp its core tenets and internal logic.
The contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture has been further manifested in the New Era
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We have always emphasized combining the basic tenet of Marxism with China’s specific realities; now, we have explicitly proposed the ‘Second Combination.’” Here, “now” primarily refers to the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The construction of Chinese-path modernization in the New Era has further manifested the contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture, which in turn inherently requires the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture. One could say that without the validation of the contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture, it would be difficult to deeply grasp the internal logic and major significance of the “Second Combination.”
In the New Era, comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation inherently requires inheriting and promoting fine traditional Chinese culture. Culture is the soul of a country and a nation. The fortune of culture is intertwined with the fortune of the country; the pulse of culture is linked to the pulse of the nation. Culture concerns the foundation and destiny of the state; when culture flourishes, the country prospers, and when culture is strong, the nation is strong. The prosperity of a country or a nation is always supported by the flourishing of its culture. Culture can inject a more proactive spiritual force and build a more solid cultural foundation for the comprehensive advancement of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
In the New Era, enriching the people’s spiritual world and enhancing the people’s spiritual strength inherently requires inheriting and promoting fine traditional Chinese culture. Chinese-path modernization is a modernization in which material and spiritual civilizations are coordinated. In the New Era, our Party is fully aware of the danger of “spiritual slackness” [2] and has placed it at the top of the “Four Dangers,” [3] fully illustrating its harmful nature. The concepts contained within fine traditional Chinese culture—such as benevolence, righteousness, ritual, wisdom, and trust (ren yi li zhi xin); being temperate, kind, courteous, restrained, and magnanimous (wen liang gong jian rang); and self-cultivation, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world (xiu shen qi jia zhi guo ping tian xia) [4]—hold great significance for constructing the spiritual world of the Chinese people in the New Era. They manifest increasingly important contemporary value in enriching the people’s spiritual world and enhancing their spiritual strength.
In the New Era, promoting peaceful development and win-win cooperation fully highlights the global significance of fine traditional Chinese culture. The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Fine traditional Chinese culture contains spiritual wealth such as "harmony among all nations" (xie he wan bang), "benefiting the whole world" (jian ji tian xia), "great harmony under heaven" (shi jie da tong), and "being kind and accessible to neighbors" (qin ren shan lin). These provide rich ideological resources and cultural support for promoting peaceful development and win-win cooperation.
The “Second Combination” provides a broader cultural space for future-oriented theoretical and institutional innovation
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The ‘Second Combination’ is another emancipation of the mind [5], allowing us to fully utilize the precious resources of fine traditional Chinese culture within a broader cultural space to explore future-oriented theoretical and institutional innovation.” The combination of the "soul-vein" (hunmai) of Marxism with the "root-vein" (genmai) of fine traditional Chinese culture has opened up a broader cultural space for theoretical and institutional innovation.
The “Second Combination” allows us to master the ideological and cultural initiative. This “another emancipation of the mind” primarily refers to the liberation of thought regarding how to treat fine traditional Chinese culture, Chinese civilization, and Western modernization. It focuses on dispelling the myth that “modernization equals Westernization” and dismantling cultural nihilism toward fine traditional Chinese culture and Chinese civilization. This enables us to profoundly recognize the contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture, and through creative transformation and innovative development, to inherit, develop, and fully utilize the precious resources contained therein. This is an emancipation of the mind in the sense of a view of culture and civilization. Its significance lies in helping people break free from blind worship and path-dependency regarding Western modernization, and in strengthening cultural confidence so that people may master the ideological and cultural initiative.
The “Second Combination” helps us explore future-oriented innovation. In the process of promoting the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, upholding the soul-vein of Marxism and the root-vein of fine traditional Chinese culture is the fundamental prerequisite for our exploration of future-oriented theoretical and institutional innovation. By adhering to Marxism as our guide and applying the scientific Marxist worldview and methodology, we can deeply excavate the ideas, humanistic spirit, and moral norms contained in fine traditional Chinese culture. By bringing forth the new through the old in light of contemporary requirements to enrich the cultural life of Marxism, we can make Marxism "Chinese" and fine traditional Chinese culture "modern." Future-oriented innovation proceeds in the direction led by a new cultural lifeform and the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization; it proceeds toward creating a new form of human civilization and seeking progress for humanity; and it proceeds toward consolidating the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation.
The “Combination” has created an organically unified new cultural lifeform
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The ‘Combination’ is not a ‘platter’ of assorted items, nor is it a simple ‘physical reaction,’ but rather a profound ‘chemical reaction’ that has created an organically unified new cultural lifeform.” Within Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the “new cultural lifeform” is a systematic and fundamental landmark concept.
The “newness” of the new cultural lifeform is reflected in the governance of the Marxist soul-vein and the genetic heritage of the root-vein of fine traditional Chinese culture; it is a new result generated by the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture.
The “cultural” aspect of the new cultural lifeform advocates for exchange and mutual learning between different cultures. It posits a relationship of mutual supplementation and symbiosis between different cultural forms, making Chinese-path modernization a brand-new form of human civilization.
The “life” of the new cultural lifeform is “life” in the philosophical sense, meaning this new cultural form is growing robustly, is vibrant, and is full of vitality. This new cultural lifeform achieves self-renewal by “spitting out the old and taking in the new” (tu gu na xin), continuously driving cultural innovation and development.
The “form” (ti) of the new cultural lifeform is both a systemic “whole” and a “subject” possessing subjectivity. As a systemic “whole,” it is based on Chinese-path modernization, taking Marxism as its soul-vein and fine traditional Chinese culture as its root-vein. As a “subject” possessing subjectivity, it is distinct from the “form” (ti) in the historical debates over “Western learning for application, Chinese learning as the foundation” (xi ti zhong yong) or “Chinese learning as the foundation, Western learning for application” (zhong ti xi yong) [6]. It emphasizes taking the new cultural lifeform itself as the subject.
Grasping the theoretical character of “Understanding the Foundation to Master the Application” and “Unity of Foundation and Application”
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture encompasses both innovations and breakthroughs in cultural theoretical viewpoints and arrangements/requirements for the layout of cultural work. It “understands the foundation to master the application” (ming ti da yong) and maintains the “unity of foundation and application” (ti yong guan tong). This both highlights the theoretical character of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and clarifies the significance of deeply implementing it. The so-called “foundation” (ti) primarily refers to the logic and principles of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture; the “application” (yong) primarily refers to the use of these principles to guide specific cultural work, manifesting as both theoretical and practical application.
The theoretical application of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is reflected in deconstructing “Eurocentrism,” dispelling cultural nihilism, resolving the “debate between the ancient and modern, and between China and the West,” opening up space for ideological and cultural innovation, and consolidating cultural subjectivity. “Eurocentrism” follows a logical framework where “the East is subordinate to the West,” viewing the Western world as the “subject” and the non-Western world as the “object,” emphasizing the “subject’s rule over the object.” Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, however, persists in combining the basic tenets of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture. By taking the new cultural lifeform as the “subject” and “cornerstone,” it achieves spiritual independence and autonomy, consolidates the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, and moves beyond and deconstructs “Eurocentrism.” In the “debate between the ancient and modern, and between China and the West,” the “ancient and modern” is a question of historical time, while “China and the West” is a question of historical space; both involve how to scientifically treat fine traditional Chinese culture and Western culture. Using Marxist stances, viewpoints, and methods, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture performs creative transformation and innovative development on fine traditional Chinese culture—making the past serve the present, dispelling cultural nihilism, and striving to resolve the “ancient and modern” problem. Rooted in Chinese-path modernization, it focuses on consolidating the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation to resolve the “China and the West” problem.
The practical application of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is reflected in using its unique cultural form to lay a deep cultural foundation for comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation. It provides profound cultural nourishment for enriching the people’s spiritual world and enhancing their spiritual strength, and offers rich cultural support for promoting peaceful development and win-win cooperation.
Shouldering the cultural mission of the New Era
General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the cultural mission of the New Era: “to continue to promote cultural prosperity, build a leading cultural power, and develop a modern Chinese civilization at a new starting point.” He emphasized the need to “work together to create a new culture belonging to our era,” which fully demonstrates our Party’s sense of historical mission and marks the cultural coordinates and civilization course for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
To shoulder the cultural mission of the New Era, we must excel in the work of public communication, ideology, and culture on the new journey. This is the foundation and prerequisite; the goal is to promote cultural prosperity and build a leading cultural power.
Promoting cultural prosperity discusses culture at the level of “thriving.” It concerns the spiritual and cultural life of the masses and is the foundation for building a leading cultural power. Without cultural prosperity, a leading cultural power cannot be built; without the guiding role of the goal of building a leading cultural power, promoting cultural prosperity would lose its direction.
Building a leading cultural power discusses culture at the level of a “strong state.” Culture is an important component of a country’s soft power. A country’s cultural strength is related not only to its international status and influence but also to the long-term stability of the state and the people’s better life. To build a leading cultural power, we must vigorously develop advanced socialist culture, promote revolutionary culture, and inherit fine traditional Chinese culture.
Continuously consolidating cultural subjectivity
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Cultural confidence comes from our cultural subjectivity.” Cultural subjectivity reflects a country’s and a nation’s self-awareness of its own culture and its proactive spirit in cultural innovation and creation. The “Combination” has consolidated cultural subjectivity; the creation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the most powerful manifestation of this cultural subjectivity.
Consolidating cultural subjectivity requires upholding the Party’s leadership over culture. The Party’s leadership over culture is primarily reflected in its leadership, management, and discourse power over ideological work. This inherently requires that the Party’s leadership be implemented in all aspects and throughout the entire process of building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. To consolidate cultural subjectivity, we must persist in the Party’s leadership over culture. When the Party holds the leadership over culture, it possesses a powerful cultural force to lead the era, and cultural confidence gains its fundamental reliance. To persist in the Party’s leadership over culture, we must uphold the guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology and adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, providing a strong political guarantee for shouldering the cultural mission of the New Era.
Consolidating cultural subjectivity requires focusing on “breaking” (po). Since the West began modernization and led global modernization, it constructed a logical framework of “the East being subordinate to the West.” On the one hand, it drew all countries into this framework; on the other hand, it used the institutional models, value concepts, and ideologies of Western modernization to narrow, fix, and stereotype modernization. This led many countries to mechanically imitate and blindly worship Western modernization. This erroneous perception has also influenced some people in China, who consciously or unconsciously want to imitate the Western modernization model, lacking cultural confidence. Only by thoroughly breaking this erroneous perception and escaping the shackles of “Eurocentrism” can we continuously consolidate the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation. To this end, we must deeply study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Based on the theory and practice of Chinese-path modernization, we should use Chinese logic to summarize Chinese experience and elevate Chinese experience into Chinese theory. We must neither blindly follow various dogmas nor copy foreign theories, truly achieving spiritual independence and autonomy.
Consolidating cultural subjectivity requires focusing on “establishing” (li), which means basing ourselves on the advancement of Chinese-path modernization. On the basis of long-term exploration and practice since the founding of the People’s Republic, and especially since the beginning of reform and opening up, our Party has successfully advanced and expanded Chinese-path modernization through theoretical and practical breakthroughs since the 18th National Congress. Chinese-path modernization breaks through “Eurocentrism,” provides a practical basis for creating the new cultural lifeform, and serves as the standing point for constructing China’s independent knowledge system. The new cultural lifeform is a living entity with exuberant vitality and powerful creativity. Only by continuously enriching the new cultural lifeform on the basis of the practice of Chinese-path modernization and constructing China’s independent knowledge system can we continuously consolidate the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation.