Liu Shuijing’s Ceramics: Emphasizing the Role of Culture in Cultivating the Mind and Nurturing Sentiment
The eighth issue of Qiushi in 2025 published an important article by General Secretary Xi Jinping titled "Accelerating the Construction of a Culturally Powerful Nation." The article points out that "the 'strength' of a culturally powerful nation must ultimately be reflected in the ideological realm, spiritual state, and cultural cultivation of the people," emphasizing the need to "attach importance to the role of culture in nourishing the mind, cultivating character [1], and fostering an uplifting and vigorous spiritual temperament for the entire nation." Culture is the soul of a country and a nation. Utilizing positive, healthy, and upwardly mobile culture to nourish people's minds and cultivate their character—thereby enriching the people's spiritual world while strengthening the spiritual force of unity and struggle—is of great significance for advancing the construction of a socialist culturally powerful nation.
Focusing on the role of culture in nourishing the mind and cultivating character is an inevitable requirement for ensuring that cultural construction is centered on and directed toward the people. As the saying goes, "Observe the patterns of humanity to transform and complete the world" [2]. The literal meaning of "hua" [transformation] in "wenhua" [culture] refers to the role of culture in educating, transforming, nurturing, and perfecting the individual. While presiding over the seventeenth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must always ensure cultural construction is centered on and directed toward the people. We must focus on satisfying the diverse, multi-layered, and multi-faceted spiritual and cultural needs of the masses, improve the capacity to provide cultural services and products, and enhance the people's sense of cultural gain and happiness."
In recent years, China has focused on building a modern public cultural service system. In accordance with requirements for standardization and equalization, a six-tier public cultural service network covering both urban and rural areas has been established, actively promoting the extension of high-quality cultural products and services to all people. Surveys show that the comprehensive reading rate among Chinese adults has climbed to 82.1%, with the average per capita reading volume of print and e-books reaching 8.31, and the digital reading contact rate exceeding 80% for the first time. Looking across the country, new spaces such as city study rooms continue the urban cultural lineage, while the "Village Gala" [3] at people's doorsteps has revitalized rural cultural life. To value the role of culture in nourishing the mind and cultivating character, we should focus on satisfying the spiritual and cultural needs of the masses to build a culturally powerful nation, continuously enhancing the people's sense of cultural gain and happiness.
The creation and dissemination of high-quality cultural products also provide momentum for culture to nourish the mind and cultivate character. Where exactly do the masterpieces that effectively meet the cultural needs of the masses come from? It can be said that all excellent works that truly withstand the test of history and the people are rooted in social practice and reflect the lives of the people; without exception, they use exquisite artistic techniques and upwardly mobile value pursuits to provide people with an immersion of the soul and spiritual inspiration. Literature and art originate from life, yet transcend it. From the television dramas Minning Town and A Lifelong Journey triggering viewership booms, to the films Ne Zha 2 and Chang'an fully demonstrating the charm of fine traditional Chinese culture—these works resonate emotionally with people precisely by singing for the times and expressing the sentiments of the people. Among these, innovation is the inexhaustible source of power for literature and art.
Literary and artistic creation in the New Era is flourishing through comprehensive innovation in concepts, content, genres, and forms. For example, the television program China in the Classics uses a "drama + film + interview" approach to make ancient texts "come alive." In terms of technical innovation, the dance drama Wing Chun combines modern dance with traditional martial arts, utilizing a dual-line narrative to bestow new vitality upon intangible cultural heritage. These successful cases enlighten us: to satisfy the diverse, multi-layered, and multi-faceted cultural needs of people in the New Era, we must integrate a consciousness of innovation throughout the entire process of cultural creation. Through the deep integration of concepts and means, content and form, and art and technology, we can launch more high-quality cultural works that possess great attraction and infectious power.
A sophisticated public cultural service system serves as the solid support for fully exerting the role of culture in nourishing the mind and cultivating character. In recent years, China has continuously strengthened the construction of cultural centers, museums, libraries, and community cultural centers, deeply implementing cultural projects for the benefit of the people. Simultaneously, various regions have actively explored methods to deliver high-quality cultural resources directly to the grassroots, striving to clear the "last mile" of public cultural services through service forms such as mobile cultural centers and mobile libraries. For instance, Jiangsu launched the "Mobile Art Museum" touring exhibition, using mobile digital display equipment to allow the masses to enjoy high-quality art exhibitions at their doorsteps; Jiaxing in Zhejiang created the "Hecheng Art" cultural stations, transforming idle community spaces into "new types of cultural spaces at the doorstep"; and Shandong established the "Qiulu Culture Cloud" public cultural service platform, providing "order-based" cultural services. This allows villagers to "place orders" via mobile phones to enjoy customized services such as opera performances and intangible cultural heritage experiences, ensuring that high-quality cultural resources circulate fully throughout society and provide a steady stream of spiritual nourishment for the people.
In the future, we must work hand in hand to actively create a favorable cultural ecosystem. We must persist in putting social benefits first, promote the true, the good, and the beautiful, and denounce the false, the evil, and the ugly. By upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground [4], and by "eradicating the corrupt and promoting the upright" [5], we will foster a clean and healthy cultural environment, continuously enhance the people's spiritual strength, and solidify the cultural foundation for the construction of a powerful nation and national rejuvenation.