Zhao Fuke and Shang Yingmeng: A Three-Dimensional Reflection on the "Four Powers" of Socialist Culture with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era
On June 2, 2023, at the Seminar on Cultural Inheritance and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed the concept of "culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed "seven focuses" for further comprehensively deepening reform, one of which is "focusing on building a leading socialist cultural power." On October 28, 2024, during the 17th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping further pointed out the need to anchor the strategic goal of becoming a cultural power by 2035 and "continuously develop culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era that possesses strong ideological leadership, spiritual cohesion, value appeal, and international influence." To build a leading socialist cultural power, we must continuously develop culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era; moreover, continuously enhancing the "Four Capacities" [1] of culture is the inherent requirement and core essence of cultural development in the New Era. This article intends to conduct a preliminary exploration of the "Four Capacities" from three dimensions: what they are, why they are important, and how to proceed.
I. The Scientific Connotation of the "Four Capacities" of Culture with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era
The "Four Capacities" constitute both a force and a capability, possessing rich connotations. Among them, ideological leadership determines the developmental direction of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era; spiritual cohesion highlights its inner soul; value appeal demonstrates its unique charm; and international influence reflects its external image.
(1) Ideological leadership determines the forward direction of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era
"Leadership" (引领, yǐnlǐng) refers to guiding and leading, implying the driving of objects to follow a certain direction of movement and development. Ideological leadership refers to the process of instilling advanced ideological concepts into the minds of the masses, guiding and leading the broad masses of the people to work and take action according to the future blueprint indicated and planned by advanced ideas. Ideological leadership is the strength and capacity of the Party to continuously advance theoretical innovation, using the achievements of the Party's theoretical innovation to arm the mind, unify thought, guide practice, and resist the influence of various erroneous ideological trends.
The ideological leadership of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era is mainly reflected at three levels. First is the ideological construction capacity to uphold and develop Marxism. Engels once pointed out: "A great advantage of our Party is that it has a new scientific world outlook as its theoretical foundation." Marxism explains the laws of human social development and indicates the direction of its progress. In terms of scientific rigor and truth, in the history of human thought, "no single ideological theory has reached the height of Marxism." Once the Communist Party of China was founded, it clearly inscribed Marxism on its banner. In the specific practice of revolution, construction, and reform, it has persisted in combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s fine traditional culture [2], continuously promoting the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, and using the Party's innovative theories to lead the great cause of national rejuvenation. Second is the ideological communication capacity to persuade and guide the masses. Marx believed that only by grasping the root of things and constructing thorough theories can one persuade people and burst forth with the powerful force of "gripping the masses." Culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era grasps the root of cultural development, adheres to a people-centered approach, and takes the spiritual and cultural needs of the masses as the starting point and end point of cultural construction. It establishes mainstream culture, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream values throughout society, demonstrating powerful ideological leadership. Third is the ideological combativeness to pull and regulate other social ideological trends. Ideological and cultural fronts have a major impact on the Party's long-term governance, the long-term stability of the country, and social development and progress; they have become a field of public opinion for which various ideological trends compete. If Marxism does not occupy this ground, there is a danger of it being occupied by other trends. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core focuses on using the Marxist stance, viewpoint, and method to deeply analyze the political harm and essence of various erroneous trends, prompting the masses to consciously grasp the charm of Marxist truth through scientific comparison and rational analysis, thereby strengthening their conscious identification with Marxism and the ideological leadership of Marxism over the people. Ideological leadership determines the developmental direction of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. It concerns "with what kind of spirit" the culture will continuously enhance its spiritual cohesion, "with what kind of values" it will enhance its value appeal, and "with what kind of culture" it will enhance its international influence.
(2) Spiritual cohesion highlights the inner soul of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era
Cohesion (凝聚, níngjù) is a physical term meaning to gather or accumulate, referring to a gas becoming dense or turning into a liquid. Spiritual cohesion refers to the process where a group within a certain scope gathers together based on a high degree of identification with a certain thing, forming a relatively stable spiritual outlook. Spiritual cohesion is the strength and capacity to coordinate the interest relations of different social strata through spiritual culture highly recognized by a group, meeting the spiritual needs of the masses and forming a collective force for entrepreneurship and achievement.
The spiritual cohesion of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era is mainly reflected at three levels. First is the social centripetal force that uses common ideals to condense hearts and pool strength. Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since modern times; "This dream condenses the long-cherished wishes of several generations of Chinese people, embodies the overall interests of the Chinese nation and the Chinese people, and is the common expectation of every son and daughter of the Chinese nation." The essence of man is not an abstraction inherent in each single individual, but "the ensemble of the social relations." Under the strong leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people correctly handle the relationship between individual ideals and social ideals, and between common ideals and lofty ideals, transcending differences in region, occupation, and time, and uniting as one to advance toward the great dream of national rejuvenation. Second is the spiritual vitality that uses the Chinese spirit to condense hearts and pool strength. In the historical process of realizing national rejuvenation, the Chinese people have condensed a rich Chinese spirit. "Patriotism has always been the spiritual force that unites the Chinese nation strongly"; it is the spiritual code by which the Chinese nation and people created miracles on earth amidst perils and remained standing through numerous tribulations. The spirit of reform and innovation injects the flavor of the times into the Chinese spirit and is a great spiritual force inspiring people of all ethnic groups across the country to forge ahead and keep pace with the times. The Chinese spirit is a genealogy of spirit that advances with the times, presenting different manifestations in various historical periods and continuously gathering the majestic strength of the Chinese people. Third is the social integration capacity that uses the consciousness of the community of the Chinese nation [3] to condense hearts and pool strength. China is a multi-ethnic country; integrating ethnic forces and fully mobilizing the enthusiasm of all ethnic groups for construction are necessary conditions for achieving the goal of a powerful nation. The consciousness of the community of the Chinese nation guides people of all ethnic groups to firmly establish the community concept of "sharing weal and woe, honor and disgrace, life and death, and destiny," correctly handling the relationship between the individual and the specific ethnic group, and between the specific ethnic group and the Chinese nation as a whole, thereby integrating the ethnic forces for socialist modernization. Spiritual cohesion is the soul of the "Four Capacities" of culture, profoundly affecting the strength of ideological leadership, the intensity of value appeal, and the degree of international influence of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era.
(3) Value appeal demonstrates the unique charm of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era
"Appeal" (感召, gǎnzhào) means to move and summon, referring to a psychological exchange between people. Values refer to a person’s overall view and evaluation of objective things, which can be distinguished as advanced or backward, correct or incorrect, positive or negative. Value appeal is the process by which a value subject uses advanced values to persuade, guide, and move a value object, causing them to discard backward values and accept advanced ones. Value appeal is the strength and capacity of advanced values to move and attract people through their own charm to abandon old, backward values and gradually accept new, advanced ones; "whether we can construct core values with strong appeal relates to social harmony and stability, and to the long-term stability of the country."
The value appeal of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era is manifested at three levels. First is the attractiveness of the core socialist values. The long-standing fine traditional Chinese culture precipitates the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation; it is the unique spiritual identifier of the Chinese nation and nurtures traditional Chinese values. Core socialist values are in the same lineage as traditional values, representing the inheritance, development, summary, and sublimation of China’s fine traditional culture. Core values essentially embody moral issues; they are both a form of private morality (私德, sīdé) at the individual level and a form of "great morality" (大德, dàdé) [4] at the national and social levels. Core socialist values opportunely answer the questions of the times, such as "what kind of country to build," "what kind of society to build," and "what kind of citizens to nurture," conforming to the masses' moral pursuit of upward goodness and forming a powerful value attraction for the people. Second is the persuasiveness of the core socialist values. Whether to adhere to a people-centered approach or a capital-centered approach is the fundamental divide between core socialist values and Western values. Core socialist values stand on the political position of the broadest masses of the people and reflect their common aspirations; they are not decorative pieces for display but are intended to solve the problems the people need solved. Third is the infectiousness of the core socialist values. Through publicity and education that makes core socialist values "routine, concrete, vivid, and integrated into life," they permeate the daily lives of the masses like the air they breathe, and their infectiousness continuously grows. Value appeal highlights the core value pursuit of the "Four Capacities" of culture and demonstrates the unique charm of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. The continuous enhancement of value appeal plays a positive role in driving ideological leadership, spiritual cohesion, and international influence.
(4) International influence reflects the external image of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era
Influence refers to the changes or effects produced by external factors on people or things, which can be positive or negative. International influence refers to the process by which a certain thing plays a role on the international stage, changing the will or behavior of those influenced. International influence is the "capacity and strength to change the will and behavior of the influenced through flexible means such as attraction, persuasion, and appeal in international cultural exchanges, thereby achieving a high degree of recognition."
The international influence of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era is mainly reflected at three levels. First is the shaping power of Chinese discourse. The right to speak (话语权, huàyǔquán) [5] in the international arena determines, to a certain extent, the scope of dissemination and degree of influence of a country's and nation's culture. Western countries, led by the United States, have long dominated the international right to speak by virtue of the economic and technological advantages they have held since the Industrial Revolution. This has led to an "aphasic" predicament for China on the international stage; the image China presents to the world "remains, to a large extent, 'shaped by others' (他塑, tāsù) rather than 'self-shaped' (自塑, zìsù)." Continuously improving the ability to use Chinese theory to explain Chinese practice and forming an independent Chinese discourse and narrative system are inherent requirements for enhancing the international influence of Chinese culture. Since the New Era, China has focused on accelerating the construction of a philosophy and social sciences system with Chinese characteristics, committing to creating a batch of new concepts, categories, and expressions that integrate Chinese and foreign elements, and continuously improving our capacity for discourse self-shaping. Second is the guidance power over international public opinion. The combination of positive dissemination and reverse redirection is an effective path to continuously improving the power to guide international public opinion. On the one hand, we must persist in "letting the correct voice take the lead" by accelerating the construction of a multi-channel, stereoscopic external communication pattern to promote the precise dissemination of China's external discourse. On the other hand, facing the malicious rumors, smears, and slanders of Western countries, mainstream media and other outlets use conclusive evidence and actual actions to strike back, scientifically guiding the development direction of international public opinion. Third is the affinity of China's image. The number of Chinese cultural symbols and the degree to which they are liked are continuously increasing; "high-speed rail," "Alipay," and "Taobao" have become cultural symbols with high visibility in recent years. Relevant surveys show that foreign respondents' liking for 21 Chinese cultural symbols increased from 21.3% in 2011 to 50.6% in 2016. International influence creates a favorable external environment for the prosperity and development of culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era, exerting an important influence on the continuous enhancement of ideological leadership, spiritual cohesion, and value appeal.
II. The Value Significance of Enhancing the "Four Capacities" of Culture with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era
Continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture with Chinese characteristics in the New Era possesses significant epochal value. From the perspective of consolidating political power, enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture is conducive to safeguarding our national cultural security and pointing the way forward for social development. From the perspective of building a strong country, it helps mobilize the broad masses of the people and pool the majestic strength required for national rejuvenation. From the perspective of shaping values, it facilitates the establishment of correct value standards and creates a favorable social atmosphere. From the perspective of global influence, it helps present a true image of China and elevates our country’s international standing.
(1) Safeguarding national cultural security and pointing the way forward for social development
"The disintegration of a political regime often begins in the realm of ideas"; ideological and cultural security affects the security of national political power to a great extent. Currently, China’s cultural field faces severe challenges that seriously threaten our cultural security. First, relying on their economic and technological advantages, Western countries "have not stopped for a single moment in their ideological infiltration of our country." Based on the value logic that "a strong country must seek hegemony" [6], they have concocted theories of the "China threat" and "China hegemony," vigorously promoting so-called "universal values" in an attempt to seize China’s public opinion strongholds. Second, since the reform and opening up, alongside adjustments in economic structures and interest relations, people's thoughts and concepts have shown a trend of diversification. Western values such as individualism and money worship [7] have severely impacted the cultivation and promotion of socialist core values. Third, the development of modern information technologies such as the Internet has boosted the spread of Western values. Western anti-China forces have long attempted to use the Internet to "topple China"; years ago, a Western politician claimed that "with the Internet, there is a way to deal with China." In this context, continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture to safeguard our national cultural security is a major question we must answer.
Enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture and always upholding the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere helps prevent and resolve the "cultural infiltration" of Western countries, ensuring that our nation always advances along the correct path of socialism. The continuous enhancement of spiritual cohesion [8] encourages the masses to actively promote Chinese culture from the standpoint of the country and the nation, clarifying various misconceptions held by Western countries regarding China, and safeguarding China’s cultural security and international image. "Core values are an important stabilizer for a country." The continuous enhancement of value-based appeal ensures that socialist core values take root in people's hearts, effectively resisting the intrusion of Western concepts like "universal values," and establishing correct value standards for the people at the national, social, and individual levels. The continuous enhancement of international influence makes the cultural confidence of the Chinese nation and the Chinese people more resolute, strengthening their faith in Marxism and their identification with the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
(2) Mobilizing the masses and pooling majestic strength for building a strong country
Marxism emphasizes that the unity of the world lies in its materiality, but it does not deny the active counter-reaction of consciousness on matter; indeed, it holds that this counter-reaction can sometimes be immense. Fundamentally, enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture aims to enrich the spiritual world of the masses and strengthen their spiritual power. "Theory also becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses." Continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture helps the masses grasp the core essentials of culture with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, which in turn crystallizes into the majestic strength for building a strong country.
The Communist Party is a party that seeks interests for the vast majority. After choosing to join the Party organization, members achieve the dual establishment of organizational identity and ideals and beliefs. Continuously enhancing ideological leadership and upholding the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere is a common requirement for both the Party organization and its members. It helps firm up the ideals and beliefs of Party members and cadres, bolsters their morale for entrepreneurship and innovation, and improves their ability to mobilize the masses. Cohesion at the spiritual and cultural level is the deepest and most lasting force for unity in a country. China is in a critical period of building a great modern socialist country; the risks and challenges encountered on the way forward are becoming increasingly complex and severe, requiring even stronger spiritual support. The continuous enhancement of spiritual cohesion helps inject a powerful spiritual driving force for the masses to unite as one to overcome various challenges and build a great modern socialist country, ensuring the smooth progress of national construction. Under the interlacing of the "two overall situations" [9], "the ideological field in our country faces unprecedentedly complex circumstances," and "exchanges, integration, and confrontations between different civilizations are becoming more frequent." People's values and value orientations are more active, making it more difficult to consolidate value consensus and achieve mass mobilization. Continuously enhancing value-based appeal and giving play to the leading role of mainstream values helps the masses jointly establish advanced value concepts and strive to realize the national goal of prosperity and strength. The continuous enhancement of international influence makes the people's cultural confidence more resolute and their spirit more independent. The subjectivity of Chinese culture is continuously affirmed, encouraging the country to march toward the goal of a strong nation with a more confident spirit.
(3) Establishing correct value standards and creating a favorable social atmosphere
Value standards reflect the value concepts people pursue and are an important measure of whether an individual's values are advanced. Correct value standards favor individual growth, social harmony and stability, national prosperity, and global progress; conversely, erroneous value standards produce negative impacts in many aspects. Continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture is of positive significance for establishing correct value standards.
Capitalism places people under the rule of capital, making them slaves to capital and trading human health and freedom for the prosperity and development of capital. Socialism, however, regards the free and well-rounded development of the individual as its ultimate goal, treating capital and markets as important means to seek happiness for the people, thereby realizing the return of the human essence. The continuous enhancement of ideological leadership helps people firm up their socialist ideals and communist beliefs, establishing the value goal of striving for the free and well-rounded development of the individual, and achieving the mastery and transcendence over the logic of capital. Although mainstream values, public opinion, and culture occupy the leading position in social spiritual life, some negative influences still exist in society—"some of which transmit harmful emotions such as a lack of ambition, decadence, and pessimism"—which seriously affect people's spiritual lives. Continuously enhancing spiritual cohesion and bolstering the morale of the masses by promoting the Chinese spirit [10] helps regulate and improve negative emotions, shaping a spirited and enterprising character. China is in an era of great ideological vitality, the collision of concepts, and cultural integration. The complex situation in the ideological and cultural spheres has brought some problems to China’s social development: "one prominent problem is the lack of values among some people; they have no sense of good or evil, no bottom line in their behavior, and dare to do anything that violates Party discipline or national law—this is the root cause of various social problems today." Continuously enhancing value-based appeal helps expand the coverage and influence of mainstream values, encouraging people to align themselves with mainstream concepts that pursue truth, goodness, and beauty. The continuous enhancement of international influence helps Chinese culture move toward the world with more confidence, prompting all countries to more comprehensively understand Chinese culture and the values it contains.
(4) Presenting a true image of China and elevating China’s international status
International influence is affected by both hard and soft power. In terms of hard power, China has leapt to become the world’s second-largest economy. With the completion of tasks such as the battle against poverty [11] and the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society [12], the problem of "suffering from hunger" has been historically resolved. In terms of soft power, however, China’s international right to speak still faces severe challenges. On the international stage, we face the predicament of being "voiceless" and the test of being "under fire" [13]; our economic development advantages have not yet been fully transformed into discursive advantages. Due to the long-term suppression of China’s right to speak in the ideological and cultural arenas, overseas publics are often caught in the social public opinion manipulated by Western countries, frequently understanding Chinese society according to Western values and thought patterns, resulting in cognitive bias. Continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture and transforming our developmental advantages into discursive advantages will favor the outward dissemination of our value concepts, helping overseas publics understand China comprehensively from multiple dimensions and construct a true image of China through rational analysis.
On the one hand, the continuous strengthening of culture's ideological transmission, spiritual vitality, value attraction, and discursive self-shaping helps attract foreign publics to actively understand Chinese values through multiple channels. This breaks the "information cocoons" woven by Western countries relying on their economic and technological advantages, clarifies malicious rumors and smears against China, and promotes the wide dissemination of concepts such as the "shared values of humanity," the "Belt and Road Initiative," and a community with a shared future for humanity—all of which China proposed and promotes based on building global consensus—showing the world a true, multi-dimensional, and panoramic image of China. On the other hand, "cultural soft power centrally reflects a country's cohesion and vitality based on culture, as well as the resulting attraction and influence." The process of continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture is the process of improving China's cultural soft power. The improvement of our cultural soft power creates a favorable external environment for the further enhancement of our economic hard power, and the continuous enhancement of economic hard power in turn provides realistic material and conditions for the shaping of our discourse and cultural dissemination. Cultural soft power and economic hard power jointly promote the elevation of China's international status through a virtuous cycle of interaction.
III. Effective Paths for Enhancing the "Four Powers" of Culture with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era
On the new journey, developing culture with Chinese characteristics in the New Era requires upholding the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere. This is mainly reflected in three aspects: continuously enhancing its ideological leadership; always ensuring that cultural construction is focused on and grounded in the people to enhance spiritual cohesion; promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture to enhance value-based appeal; and accelerating the construction of a multi-channel, multi-dimensional external communication pattern to enhance international influence.
(1) Returning to the source: Upholding the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee specifically emphasized the need to focus on building a strong socialist culture and to uphold the fundamental system of Marxism's guiding position in the ideological sphere. This is an inevitable requirement for continuously enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture and building a strong socialist culture.
Upholding the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere is mainly reflected in three aspects: First, we must dare to resolutely struggle against various non-Marxist trends of thought, such as historical nihilism [14] and neoliberalism. We must focus on using the Marxist standpoint, viewpoint, and method to educate and guide the masses to scientifically distinguish various non-Marxist and anti-Marxist trends of thought, firming up the people's ideals and beliefs through the analysis and criticism of these trends. In the New Era of booming modern information technologies like the Internet, we must "improve the comprehensive internet governance system and deepen the reform of the internet management system," scientifically grasping the propaganda and management functions of the network to turn crises into opportunities. Second, we must strengthen the Party's theoretical innovation, "innovate the project for Marxist theoretical research and construction, and implement the project for innovation in philosophy and social sciences," continuously enhancing the epochal charm and practical leading power of Marxism, and guiding the masses to consciously study, uphold, and apply Marxism. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the cultural iteration of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and represents the latest achievement in the Party's cultural theoretical innovation. In the New Era, upholding the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere means persisting in using Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to guide all construction work in the cultural field, treating it as the action guide for cultural construction. Third, we must adhere to the Party's cultural leadership. "We must firmly grasp the power of leadership, management, and the right to speak in ideological work; it must never fall into other hands at any time." We must improve the responsibility system for ideological work, adhere to the system where the "top leader" [15] takes responsibility, refine the theoretical study center group system for Party committees (Party leadership groups), and improve the ideological and political work system to ensure that Party committees at all levels transmit the Party's theoretical innovation achievements to the minds of the masses in a timely, accurate, complete, and effective manner.
(2) The teleological value: Always ensuring cultural construction is focused on and grounded in the people
Realizing the free and well-rounded development of the individual is the fundamental goal and teleological value of enhancing the "Four Powers" of culture. Therefore, we must always ensure that cultural construction is focused on and grounded in the people, treating this as the starting and ending point of cultural construction.
First, to focus on continuously satisfying the spiritual and cultural needs of the masses. Since the beginning of the New Era, the material lives of the masses have seen immense improvement, leading to higher-level spiritual and cultural needs characterized by diversity, multi-layeredness, and multifacetedness. To consistently ensure that cultural construction is centered on the people and grounded in the people, we must remain guided by the continuous satisfaction of the masses' spiritual and cultural needs, "optimizing the supply mechanism for cultural services and products," [16] and continuously providing high-quality, diverse spiritual and cultural products for the masses.
Second, to consistently uphold the principal position of the masses in cultural construction. The masses are the creators of social history; their social practice in perceiving and transforming the world constitutes the realistic foundation for the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. Literary and art workers, along with other talents engaged in spiritual and cultural creation, should adhere to a people-centered creative orientation, strike roots among the people, and draw wisdom and strength for spiritual and cultural creation from the daily life practices of the masses. As the masses create spiritual and cultural products themselves, we must improve the mechanisms for social forces to participate in public cultural services, stimulate the innovative and creative vitality of the entire nation, and allow the cultural innovative talents of the masses to fully gush forth.
Third, to ensure that the achievements of cultural construction are shared by all the people. Distinguishable from all previous movements, "the proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." [17] Cultural construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era takes the promotion of common prosperity in the spiritual life of all people as its teleological value, insisting that the fruits of cultural construction be shared by all. We must deeply implement the national cultural digitization strategy, emphasize the resource-integration role of network media, explore effective mechanisms for the integration of culture and technology, and accelerate the development of new types of cultural business formats. Fourth, to ensure that the effectiveness of cultural construction is judged by the people. As the direct practitioners of cultural construction standing at the forefront of our nation's cultural development, the masses possess rich experience and wisdom. We must fully respect and reasonably adopt the opinions and suggestions put forward by the masses regarding our nation's cultural construction, striving to achieve a virtuous interaction between theoretical innovation and practical innovation in culture.
(III) Upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground: Promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture
Fine traditional Chinese culture and the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era stand in a relationship of "source and flow" (yuan yu liu) [18]. Without fine traditional Chinese culture, the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era would become "water without a source, or a tree without roots." To enhance the "four powers" of culture, we must pass down and develop fine traditional Chinese culture effectively.
First, we must persist in the "Two Combinations" [19] to create a new cultural lifeform. We must uphold the "soul-vein" (hunmai) of Marxism and the "root-vein" (genmai) of fine traditional Chinese culture, using Marxism to inject modern genes into fine traditional Chinese culture, and using fine traditional Chinese culture to endow Marxism with distinct Chinese characteristics. This allows Marxism to become Chinese, fine traditional Chinese culture to become modern, and the new culture formed through this "combination" to become the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization. The Socialist Core Values are a theoretical innovation resulting from the "Two Combinations," representing the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. We must refine the systems and mechanisms for cultivating and practicing the Socialist Core Values to continuously enhance the power of value-based appeal of the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.
Second, we must consolidate the subjectivity of Chinese culture and construct a system of Chinese civilization identifiers. For any culture to stand firm and travel far, it must possess its own subjectivity. Cultural heritage is the precious wealth left to humanity by history and the unique identifier of the Chinese nation. We must establish coordination bodies for the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, institute a cultural heritage protection supervision system, and promote systematic protection and unified regulation of cultural heritage. We should deeply implement the innovation project for philosophy and social sciences, accelerate the construction of a Chinese autonomous knowledge system for philosophy and social sciences, and use Chinese theory to explain Chinese stories effectively, providing more Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions for the development of human society.
Third, we must realize the modern transformation of fine traditional Chinese culture by scientifically grasping the "two overall situations" [20]. We must discard the conceptual framework that treats fine traditional Chinese culture as synonymous with "tradition" in opposition to "modernity." In reality, the fact that fine traditional Chinese culture has endured to this day and gradually merged with the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era demonstrates its enduring value that remains fresh over time and transcends space. We must deeply excavate resources from fine traditional culture that meet the realistic needs of the "two overall situations," construct a system for inheriting traditional Chinese virtues, improve the systems and mechanisms for building social morality, professional ethics, family virtues, and personal integrity, and refine long-term mechanisms for credit-rating construction, fully manifesting the contemporary charm of fine traditional Chinese culture.
(IV) Working with one heart and combined strength: Accelerating the construction of a multi-channel, multi-dimensional pattern for external communication
To continuously enhance the international influence of the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, we must accelerate the construction of a multi-channel, multi-dimensional pattern for external communication and build a more effective international communication system, facilitating the world's ability to understand China, the Chinese people, the Communist Party of China, and Chinese civilization.
First, we must promote the restructuring of the international communication pattern, forming an external cultural communication framework led by the government with the participation of various forces. The government is the leading force in cultural communication; it must formulate policies and strategies for external cultural communication from the strategic height of building a great power and expand international people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation. Various enterprises must correctly judge the demands of the international cultural market and use cultural products as carriers to promote Chinese culture effectively. Academic circles and think tanks should provide solid theoretical support for the external communication of Chinese culture through the output of various cultural and academic achievements. Individual citizens should heighten their sense of responsibility for cultural communication, follow the trend of information technology development, and learn to use new media to spread Chinese culture, meeting the personalized and diverse cultural needs of people abroad. Overseas Chinese should fully leverage their dual identity advantage—being familiar with Chinese culture while understanding the culture of their host countries—to display and restore a true image of China. In short, we must persist in government leadership while giving full play to the role of multiple forces in external cultural communication and exchange, forming a pattern where all subjects work in synergy.
Second, we must leverage the complementary advantages of official and unofficial media, constructing a work mechanism adapted to omnimedia production and communication. Official media possess characteristics of authority and rigor; they should fully utilize traditional media like newspapers, magazines, television, and radio for external cultural communication, deepening the reform and innovation of international communication mechanisms for mainstream media, and spreading Chinese culture through rich content and diverse forms. Unofficial media possess characteristics of flexibility and vividness; we should support and encourage individuals to spread China’s mainstream values, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream culture through self-media, enhancing the attractiveness and diversity of Chinese culture’s external communication.
Third, we must tell Chinese stories well. "From the perspective of communication laws, stories are the most attractive; telling a story well achieves twice the result with half the effort." [21] We must scientifically select Chinese stories that blend emotion with reason, strengthen academic research on Chinese stories, and express the power of thought and spirit contained within them in vivid ways, guiding audiences to form a correct view of the CPC, China, and the international order.
(Author affiliations: Zhao Fuke, School of Marxism, Central University of Finance and Economics; Shang Yingmeng, School of Marxism, Central University of Finance and Economics) Source: Scientific Socialism, 2025, No. 3 Web Editor: Jing Mu