Wang Xuebin: Better Undertaking the Cultural Mission of the New Era
Culture concerns the foundation and destiny of the state; it is the soul of a country and a nation. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has stood at the strategic and historical height of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Facing a new situation characterized by constant changes in the international landscape, the national condition, and the state of the Party, the Committee has persisted in placing cultural construction in a prominent position within state governance. It has proposed a series of new ideas, viewpoints, and judgments, made a series of major deployments, and promoted historical achievements in cultural construction through the process of correcting foundations and purifying sources [1], and upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground. Solid steps have been taken in the construction of a socialist cultural powerhouse. We must persist in arming our minds, guiding practice, and promoting work with Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, profoundly grasping that this is an inevitable requirement for studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and comprehensively advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.
Profoundly Understanding the Great Significance of Studying and Implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Culture
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the theoretical summary of the practical experience of cultural construction led by the Party in the New Era. It is a major achievement of persisting in the "Two Combinations" [2] and advancing the innovation of Marxist cultural theory. It constitutes the "cultural chapter" of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, providing a powerful ideological weapon and a scientific guide to action for performing propaganda, ideological, and cultural work on the new journey of the New Era, promoting cultural prosperity, and building a cultural powerhouse.
First, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture possesses great political significance. The Communist Party of China is a Marxist party with a high degree of cultural consciousness and cultural self-confidence. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has proceeded from the strategic height of matters concerning the future and destiny of the Party, the long-term stability of the state, and the cohesive and centripetal force of the national spirit. It has profoundly recognized and grasped the important status and role of propaganda, ideological, and cultural work, highly valued the important role of cultural construction in the overall situation, raised the flag and defined the direction, planned the overall layout, corrected foundations and purified sources, and upheld the fundamentals and broke new ground. It has promoted a global and fundamental shift in the situation of the ideological field. The cultural self-confidence of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country has been significantly strengthened; their mental outlook is more energetic and high-spirited. The cohesive and centripetal force of the Chinese nation has been greatly enhanced, providing a strong ideological guarantee for opening up new prospects for the cause of the Party and the state in the New Era, and injecting a more proactive spiritual force for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The historical achievements in cultural construction are an important manifestation of the great changes in the New Era, and the strong historical consciousness and proactive spirit displayed by the Chinese people are prominent hallmarks of these great changes.
Grasping ideological leadership is the foundation of grasping all leadership. Only attraction and cohesion at the ideological and spiritual levels can be intrinsic, powerful, and lasting. Therefore, fortifying the Party's governing foundation and mass base ideologically, spiritually, and culturally is a major matter concerning the future and destiny of the Party and the state. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture concerns the overall situation of building a powerful country and national rejuvenation; this is precisely the manifestation of its great political significance.
Second, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture possesses great theoretical significance. In the practice of leading and promoting cultural construction in the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally planned and deployed, attended a series of important meetings, delivered a series of important speeches, and issued a series of important instructions. He has creatively proposed a series of new ideas, viewpoints, and judgments, forming extremely rich theoretical achievements. In October 2023, the Party Central Committee convened the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideological, and Cultural Work, formally proposing and systematically expounding Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. The formation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture marks that our Party's understanding of the laws of socialist cultural construction has reached a new height, indicating that our Party's historical confidence and cultural confidence have reached a new height. It is an important milestone in China's cultural construction.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a major achievement of persisting in the "Two Combinations" and promoting the innovation of Marxist cultural theory. This thought persists in proceeding from the objective reality and rich practice of China's cultural construction. It both inherits and innovates Marxist cultural theory and absorbs and develops important value concepts from fine traditional Chinese culture, such as "literature as a vehicle for the Dao" [3], "cultivating people through culture" [4], "sentiments of family and country" [5], moral education, humanistic literacy, and the coexistence of civilizations. With a grand historical depth and civilizational perspective, it has deepened the systematic understanding of the laws of socialist cultural construction, the development of Chinese civilization, and the progress of human civilization. At the same time, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture comprehensively expounds the status, role, goals, tasks, principles, strategic paths, and practical requirements of cultural construction in the New Era. It proposes major innovative viewpoints such as upholding the Party's cultural leadership, promoting the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilization, persisting in the "Two Combinations," shouldering the cultural mission of the New Era, and strengthening cultural self-confidence. It also plans a series of strategic deployments, such as perfecting the working system for arming the whole Party, educating the people, and guiding practice with the Party's innovative theories; fully implementing the responsibility system for ideological work; deepening the reform of the cultural system and mechanisms; comprehensively promoting the construction of a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation; and strengthening the construction of international communication capacity. It contains both innovative breakthroughs in cultural theory and layouts and deployments for cultural work; it is a scientific system where "the substance is clear and the application is reached" [6], and where substance and application are integrated.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the theoretical summary of the practical experience of cultural construction led by the Party in the New Era. It enriches and develops Marxist cultural theory, constitutes the cultural chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and provides a powerful ideological weapon and a scientific guide to action for doing well in propaganda, ideological, and cultural work on the new journey of the New Era, promoting cultural prosperity, and building a cultural powerhouse. It must be adhered to over the long term and continuously enriched and developed.
Third, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture possesses great practical significance. The era is the mother of thought, and practice is the source of theory. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture emerged against the epochal background of the interplay and mutual influence between the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world's profound changes unseen in a century. It was formed in the historical process of the profound interaction between theoretical and practical innovation in the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. It originates from practice and in turn guides and promotes practice to advance continuously.
Facing the new situation of various ideological and cultural exchanges, blending, and confrontations worldwide, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has profoundly grasped the laws of human civilizational development and gained profound insight into the historical changes in the relationship between China and the world. It both adheres to the position of Chinese culture and cultural subjectivity amidst the turbulence of world cultures, and promotes the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative and the exchange and mutual learning among human civilizations. Facing new subjects such as how to achieve civilizational rejuvenation and cultural progress in the historical tide of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and how to promote civilizational renewal and create a new form of human civilization on the basis of five thousand years of Chinese civilization, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has comprehensively grasped the past, present, and future of the Chinese nation. By combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture, it has endowed the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with a more profound cultural connotation and a broader civilizational dimension.
Based on the reality of the shift in the principal contradiction of our society [7] and looking at the reality that the construction of a cultural powerhouse has entered a new stage, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has profoundly grasped the internal laws of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics. It persists in the people-centered orientation of work, focusing on "raising the flag, gathering the people, educating new individuals, flourishing culture, and presenting a positive image" [8] to build a socialist cultural powerhouse. It continuously meets the people's growing spiritual and cultural needs, providing a powerful spiritual impetus for Chinese-path modernization characterized by the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilization. Facing the new characteristics presented by current social ideology and culture, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has profoundly grasped the extreme importance of ideological work. It has established and adhered to the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological field, persisted in guiding cultural construction with socialist core values, and continuously consolidated the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country.
Effectively Transforming Learning Results into a Powerful Impetus for Promoting the High-Quality Development of Cultural Construction
The leap in theory must ultimately be reflected in answering practical questions and leading practical development; it is necessary to continuously improve the ability to use cultural thinking and cultural methods to solve practical problems. The theoretical innovation we are currently undertaking is innovation based on practice. We must persist in discovering and developing truth in practice, and use practice to realize and verify truth. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has mapped out a new blueprint for the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. it has established and formed an extensive and profound system of scientific cultural theory, constituting the planning map, roadmap, and construction blue-print for promoting the construction of a cultural powerhouse in the New Era. It is both a major work deployment and a major strategic thought.
First, persist in the Party's overall leadership over cultural construction, persist in being people-centered, and persist in following the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics. We must improve our ability to govern the cultural field under informationized conditions, and fortify the Party's governing foundation and mass base ideologically, spiritually, and culturally. We must adhere to the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological field, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, and develop a socialist culture that is national, scientific, and popular, and that faces modernization, the world, and the future. We must persist in taking socialist core values as a guide, continuously build the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength, and develop and strengthen mainstream values, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream culture.
Second, persist in profoundly grasping the essence of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. We must profoundly grasp the scientific truth value contained in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, thoroughly understand its basic spirit and core essence, and strive to achieve deep study, thorough understanding, and clear mastery. We must profoundly grasp the powerful spiritual force manifested in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, fortify the foundation of faith, supplement the "calcium" of the spirit [9], and steady the rudder of ideology, so as to better shoulder the cultural mission of the New Era and better build the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength. We must profoundly grasp the broad cultural sentiments overflowing in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, deepening our understanding of our country's historical and cultural traditions and our recognition of promoting civilizational renewal and creating a new form of human civilization from a broader field and wider dimension. We must profoundly grasp the distinct practical character displayed by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, closely integrate it with the strategic goals and key tasks of cultural construction in the New Era and with the prominent problems facing our country’s cultural development. We must consciously implement this thought in all aspects and the entire process of propaganda, ideological, and cultural work, effectively transforming learning results into a powerful impetus for promoting the high-quality development of cultural construction.
Third, persist in focusing on stimulating the cultural innovation and creativity of the whole nation. We must persist in putting social benefits first and unifying social benefits with economic benefits. We should take stimulating innovation and creativity as the central link in deepening the reform of the cultural system and mechanisms, and accelerate the improvement of cultural management systems and production and operation mechanisms. Focusing on improving cultural originality, we should improve the service, guidance, and organization mechanisms for literary and artistic creation and production, fostering the birth of a batch of era classics that go deep into people's hearts and building new heights of Chinese culture. We should actively create a good political ecosystem for culture, fully promote academic and artistic democracy, and support writers, artists, and experts and scholars in taking root in life and devoting themselves to creation, so that cultural innovation and creativity continue to burst forth. We should explore effective mechanisms for the integration of culture and technology, achieve the digital empowerment and informationized transformation of cultural construction, and transform cultural resource advantages into cultural development advantages. At the same time, we must also deepen the reform of the internet management system, integrate internet content construction and management functions, and promote the integrated management of news publicity and online public opinion.
Fourth, persist in cultural construction that focuses on and culminates in people, cultivating a high-quality contingent of cultural construction talents. We must improve the provision of cultural services and products and enhance the people's sense of cultural gain and happiness. Importance should be attached to the role of culture in nourishing the heart and mind and cultivating temperament, fostering the high-spirited spiritual character of the whole nation. At the same time, the foundation and core of cultural innovation and creativity lie in the talent pool. We must respect the laws of talent growth; improve mechanisms for talent selection, cultivation, use, and incentives that conform to the characteristics of the cultural field; and create a favorable policy environment that recognizes, values, and loves talent, so as to build a large-scale, rationally structured, and innovative high-level cultural talent contingent.
Fifth, persist in continuously improving the country's cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture. Cultural soft power and influence concern the enhancement of comprehensive national strength. We must promote the restructuring of the international communication landscape, innovatively carry out online external publicity, and build a multi-channel, three-dimensional external communication pattern. We should build a mechanism for practicing the Global Civilization Initiative and more proactively promote China's propositions, spread Chinese culture, and display China's image. We should extensively carry out various forms of international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation. We should more actively learn from and draw on all outstanding civilizational achievements of humanity, creating a collection of cultural achievements that fuse the ancient and the modern and connect China and the world. Together with the international community, we should strive to open up new prospects for humanistic exchange, cultural integration, and people-to-people bonds among all countries, letting the garden of world civilizations be full of diverse colors and vitality.