Zheng Fei: Deepening the Systematic and Theoretical Research and Interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the theoretical summation of the practical experience of the Party's leadership over cultural construction in the New Era. It is a major achievement in persisting with the "Two Combinations" [1] and advancing the innovation of Marxist cultural theory, constituting the cultural chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "On the new journey in the New Era, we must uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, focus on studying, publicizing, and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, strive to deepen systematized and academic research and interpretation, strive to enhance the pertinence and effectiveness of study and publicity, and promote the Party’s innovative theories to be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people." On the new journey, deepening the systematized and academic research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to clarify the principles, scholarship, and philosophy contained therein is an important task for the propaganda, ideological, and cultural fronts.
1. Deeply Researching and Interpreting Concepts, Categories, and Theoretical Perspectives
Any system of thought is inseparable from concepts, propositions, demonstrations, and judgments. Engels pointed out: "Every new aspect of a science involves a revolution in the technical terms of that science." Lenin believed that categories are "knots in the net" [2] that help us recognize and master the universal connections of things. Concepts, categories, and the assertions and viewpoints formed by their association are the hallmarks of constructing a specific theoretical system and the foundation for manifesting its systematized and academic connotations. Concepts and categories are the basic elements supporting the edifice of a thought system; they reflect the originality of a theory and demonstrate its powerful intellectual penetration and academic leadership, laying the foundation for further advancing theoretical innovation based on practice. To further deepen the research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, it is necessary to go deep into the levels of important concepts, categories, and theoretical viewpoints, and systematically refine and summarize hallmark concepts and original theories.
Strengthening the research and interpretation of original concepts, categories, and theoretical viewpoints within Xi Jinping Thought on Culture helps construct a system of thought that connects the past and present and bridges China and the world. The major innovative viewpoints contained in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture reflect innovations in concepts, leadership in values, and breakthroughs in thinking. For example, regarding the promotion of the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations, it emphasizes that "without the great enrichment of the people's spiritual world and the continuous strengthening of the nation's spiritual power, it is impossible for a country or a nation to stand tall among the nations of the world." Regarding persistence in the "Two Combinations," it emphasizes that "the 'Second Combination' [3] allows Marxism to become Chinese and fine traditional Chinese culture to become modern, allowing the new culture formed through 'combination' to become the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization." Regarding the firming of cultural confidence, it emphasizes that "with cultural subjectivity, there is a firm self in the cultural sense, and cultural confidence has a fundamental reliance." [4] Regarding the promotion of exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, it emphasizes that "civilizations become colorful through exchange and rich through mutual learning," and so on. This series of new thoughts, new viewpoints, and new assertions inherits and develops Marxist cultural theory, deepening the regular understanding of socialist cultural construction, the development of Chinese civilization, and the progress of human civilization with a broad historical depth and civilizational perspective.
2. Grasping the Basic Connotations of Systematized and Academic Research and Interpretation
For every step forward in theoretical innovation, theoretical arming must follow, and research and interpretation must deepen. Marx pointed out: "The weapon of criticism cannot, of course, replace criticism of the weapon, material force must be overthrown by material force; but theory also becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses." Only by continuously advancing the systematization and academic rigor of theory can it be better mastered by the people and truly become an ideological weapon for the broad masses of people to understand and transform the world.
Systematized research and interpretation emphasize the use of connected, comprehensive, and developmental perspectives to study and interpret Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Lenin once likened Marxist philosophy to a theoretical system "cast from a single piece of steel." Only by achieving the organization, logic, and systematization of theory can thought be grand, content be profound, and structure be harmonious, thereby forming a tight-knit and logically rigorous whole. In this sense, only by treating Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as "a single piece of steel" can we profoundly grasp the interconnections between the Thought and its constituent elements, the relationships between the elements themselves, the relationship between Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and thoughts in other sub-fields, and the internal relationship between its main content and the worldview and methodology it contains. Grasping the totality of the internal logic of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture cannot rely on a piecemeal approach, nor can it be studied through fragmented divisions along the lines of disciplines, majors, and fields; rather, it must follow the law of consistency between history and logic, rising from the abstract to the concrete.
Academic research and interpretation emphasize using a scientific attitude, scientific methods, and academic expression to reveal the principled theoretical achievements within the new concepts and assertions put forward by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Marx pointed out: "The degree to which theory is realized in a nation is always determined by the degree to which theory satisfies that nation's needs." Xi Jinping Thought on Culture adheres to the Marxist standpoint, viewpoint, and method, persists in being problem-oriented, and researches new situations, new problems, and new contradictions. Through a series of new concepts, categories, and propositions, it ensures that innovation always advances in the right direction through upholding fundamentals, and achieves better upholding of fundamentals through continuous innovation, opening up a new realm for the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. Advancing the academic research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture means deeply analyzing and summarizing its deep internal logic, essential laws, and scientific methods, grasping the "living soul," achieving an understanding of "what it is," "why it is so," and "why it must be so," clearly explaining the original contributions of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, explaining scientific theory scientifically, and explaining thorough theory thoroughly.
3. Enhancing the Depth and Breadth of Research and Interpretation
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture emerged against the epochal background of the interplay and mutual influence between the overall strategy of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world’s unseen changes in a century [5]. It was formed in the historical process of profound interaction between theoretical and practical innovation in the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. To continuously deepen the systematized and academic research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, we must broaden our horizons and innovate our methods. With broad horizons and scientific methods, we can stand high and see far, using "telescopes," "wide-angle lenses," and "microscopes" to enhance the depth and breadth of research and interpretation, achieving the state of "reaching the greatest heights and breadths while penetrating the most refined and subtle." [6]
At the Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must be good at integrating various resources from the past and present, and from China and abroad, particularly grasping three types of resources. First, Marxist resources, which are the main content of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics and the greatest growth factor for their development. Second, resources from fine traditional Chinese culture, which are extremely precious and rare resources for the development of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. Third, resources from foreign philosophy and social sciences, which can serve as beneficial nourishment for philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. Only by adhering to the "Two Combinations," taking root in Chinese soil, continuing the Chinese cultural lineage, and deeply planting academic foundations—achieving the goal of making the past serve the present and foreign things serve China, dialectically selecting and discarding, and bringing forth the new from the old—can we broaden our civilizational perspective, integrate various resources, enhance the depth and breadth of research and interpretation, and promote innovation in theory, practice, systems, culture, and other areas.
To continuously deepen the systematized and academic research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, we must persist in broadening our horizons through profound theoretical resources and extensive background knowledge, grasping the pulse of the times, responding to the calls of the times, and answering the questions of the times. This requires maintaining a broad theoretical horizon, deeply analyzing the formation, evolution, innovation, and immense contribution of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture from the historical process of the development of Marxist cultural theory and the progress of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. This requires maintaining a grand historical perspective, responding to new subjects raised by the development of Chinese civilization, achieving civilizational revival and cultural progress amidst the historical tide of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, promoting civilizational renewal on the basis of over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, creating a new form of human civilization, and deeply analyzing the historical regularity and foresight contained in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. This requires maintaining a keen epochal perspective, focusing on the new characteristics presented by social ideology and culture, concentrating on the development pattern and evolution trend of world culture and human civilization, researching the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, and deeply interpreting the significant value and profound implications of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture for creating a new form of human civilization. This requires maintaining an innovative frontier perspective, conforming to the trend of information technology development, focusing on rapid technological development and profound changes in the social structure, exploring the use of new technological means such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to enhance cultural governance capabilities under informationized conditions. This requires maintaining a broad global perspective, tracking the new trends in world cultural turbulence, answering the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times, and deeply analyzing the Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions contributed by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to the progress of human civilization.
4. Conducting Cross-disciplinary Research and Interpretation
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a scientific system that clarifies the "Substance" and attains its "Application" (明体达用, míng tǐ dá yòng), with Substance and Application being fully integrated. This thought is broad and profound in content, rigorous and complete in system, and consciously adheres to and creatively applies the Marxist worldview and methodology. It neither only deploys the task of "crossing the river" nor only solves the problem of "the bridge or the boat," but pays attention to insight into the general trend of cultural development through a broad and deep historical perspective, grasps cultural development functions from the macro-logic of the relationship between the material and the spiritual, and leads the direction of cultural development through comprehensive observation of epochal changes. It covers various aspects such as ideological theory, the spiritual world, cultural heritage, and civilizational innovation, involving various disciplinary fields such as Marxist theory, philosophy, history, archaeology, literature, art, journalism and communication, religious studies, sociology, law, public administration, and ethnology—it is a theoretical achievement that integrates many disciplines. The systematized and academic research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a systematic project; we should adhere to a systems perspective, emphasizing both the "two-point theory" [7] and the "key-point theory," [8] properly handling the relationships between autonomy and objectivity, Chineseness and worldliness, practice and theory, system and method, and inheritance and development, while promoting the integration of disciplines, scholarship, and discourse.
Promoting cross-disciplinary research is the general trend of academic development. Currently, philosophy and social sciences are showing a trend of high integration on the basis of deep differentiation. Philosophy and social sciences are interpenetrating with natural sciences and technical sciences, and peripheral, interdisciplinary, and emerging disciplines are constantly appearing. The resources of a single discipline are no longer sufficient to provide an "epochal diagnosis." This requires that academic research must more firmly adhere to holistic thinking and take multi-disciplinary cross-integration as an important research method. Research on cultural issues must never talk about culture for culture's sake, restricting culture to a specific disciplinary field. Neglecting or de-emphasizing the all-round and three-dimensional research of the theoretical system will not only lead to a trend of fragmentation but may even result in severing the internal unity of the theoretical system for the sake of demonstrating a single viewpoint. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture looks at both domestic and international contexts, focuses on cultural inheritance and development in the New Era, concentrates on fields such as thought and spirit, civilizational conduct, culture and art, protection of cultural relics, and ethnic and religious affairs, and analyzes the relationships between culture and politics, economy, and society, involving different aspects of the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and pointing out the direction for promoting cultural construction in the New Era. Only by continuously strengthening the overall coordination and integration of research forces and resources, and actively carrying out collaborative research across disciplines and fields, can we produce more high-quality results in the research and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.