Painting a Picture of the Era with Vivid Concepts: The "Background Color" Emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping
The original meaning of "底色" (ground color) refers to the first layer of pigment applied in painting, which determines the overall tone of the artwork; it serves as a metaphor for the most critical and immutable essential attributes of any given thing. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has employed this vivid expression of "ground color" on numerous occasions. Deeply studying and comprehending the essential significance contained therein helps us to constantly keep in mind the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, and to devote ourselves to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era with a more resolute and conscious posture.
On May 2, 2018, during an inspection of Peking University, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which our Party and country are founded, and it is also the brightest ground color of Chinese universities. This year marks the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth, and in the hearts of the people of the world, Marx remains the greatest thinker to this day. Higher education institutions are an important force among the "five major armies" [1] of philosophy and social sciences in our country. In the journey of comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the demand of the Party and the state for higher education is more urgent than ever before. To build world-class universities with Chinese characteristics and to cultivate pillars of rejuvenation and pioneers of a strong nation for the sake of socialism, we should firmly grasp the correct political direction of school management, ensure the dominant position of Marxism in the ideological sphere of universities, and strive to build universities into strong fortresses for studying and propagating Marxism. While polishing the bright Marxist ground color of Chinese universities, we must remain rooted in China’s unique history, unique culture, and unique national conditions. We must persist in integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture [2], continuously advance innovation in knowledge, theory, and methodology, and accelerate the construction of a Chinese independent knowledge system. We must transform confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics [3] into the confidence to run world-class universities with Chinese characteristics, truly achieving the goal of educating people for the Party and cultivating talent for the state.
On May 18, 2018, at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the comprehensive promotion of green development. Green is the symbol of life and the ground color of nature; furthermore, it is the foundation of a better life and the expectation of the masses. Promoting green development and fostering the harmonious coexistence of man and nature is one of the important characteristics of Chinese-path modernization, an inherent component of advancing the construction of a Beautiful China, and an internal requirement for meeting the people's needs for a better life. Facts have proven that promoting green, low-carbon development and pursuing the path of high-quality development are unified and consistent in essence and objective; the two complement and reinforce one another. We can neither sacrifice the ecological environment for the pursuit of economic development, nor abandon economic development on the grounds of protecting the environment. To balance ecological protection and economic development, the key lies in planning development from the height of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. We must continuously deepen our understanding of the laws of ecological civilization construction, seize resource utilization as the source and industrial structural adjustment as the key, support high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment, and achieve maximum economic benefits with minimum environmental costs. We must shoulder the responsibility that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [4] and realize the green development miracle of productive development, prosperous living, and sound ecology.
On May 28, 2021, at the 20th General Assembly of the Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the 15th General Assembly of the Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and the 10th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the New Era requires the inheritance and promotion of the spirit of patriotism that takes the fate of the country and the nation as its own responsibility, and the continued promotion of the spirit of scientists with patriotism as its ground color. As a critical component of the scientist’s spirit, patriotism is the source of moral cultivation and the foundation of professional achievement for researchers; it is the core of the Chinese national spirit. A person cannot stand without spirit. The achievement of scientific research results is inseparable from the accumulation of knowledge and the arduous exploration of the unknown world, and even more so from the spiritual driving force that inspires exploration. Promoting the scientist’s spirit with patriotism as its ground color is both an objective requirement for the development of scientific and technological innovation and a concrete manifestation of shouldering the heavy responsibilities of the era. Accelerating the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength, comprehensively implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, and building a world power in science and technology require the vast number of researchers to fortify the patriotic ground color of cherishing the motherland and serving the people. They must forge excellent qualities of surging toward the peaks and remaining indifferent to fame and fortune while overcoming difficulties. They must take meeting the needs of the country and the people as the starting point of scientific work, integrate research results with social development, "write their papers on the land of the motherland" [5], use the self-reliance and strength of Chinese scientists to brace the backbone of the nation, and use the fruits of technological innovation to uphold the hopes of the nation.
On June 25, 2021, during the 31st collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "Red" is the brightest ground color of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. Red resources are scattered across the vast 9.6 million square kilometers of our country like stars in the sky, and the Red lineage has been passed down from generation to generation through the great course of the Party's century-long struggle leading the Chinese people. The Red lineage is the concentrated expression of the political character of the CPC and the source of spiritual strength for Chinese Communists in the New Era. The purpose of continuing the Red lineage lies in carrying forward the Party's fine traditions and using them as the spiritual driving force for taking history as a mirror to create the future. On the new journey of the New Era, the vast number of Party members and cadres must nourish their Party spirit with the Great Founding Spirit of the CPC [6], inheriting the courage of Chinese Communists to charge into battle, their ambition to change heaven and earth, and their confidence to win the future. They must take the firming of ideals and convictions as a lifelong task, take the deep cultivation of feelings for the people as a value orientation, and take the promotion of glorious traditions as a driving force for development. They must integrate Red genes into their blood and cast them into their souls, becoming practitioners and guardians of Red stories, ensuring that the long Red river traverses time and space, remaining forever new.
On May 10, 2022, at the ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that struggle is the brightest ground color of youth, and action is the most effective tempering for young people. Only with responsibility and accountability can youth shine. Young people are those who are constantly renewing; they possess the greatest enthusiasm and impetus for innovation. The development of the cause of the Party and the people is inseparable from the struggle and dedication of generation after generation of aspiring youth. Only when youth is highly aligned with the cause of the Party and the people can the spectrum of youth become broader and its energy be fully released. When the youth thrive, the country thrives; when the youth are strong, the country is strong. Young people are the future of the motherland and the hope of the nation; they are also the future and hope of the Party, and an indispensable vanguard force in national rejuvenation. Chinese youth of the New Era are born into the best period of the Chinese nation's development; they possess rare life opportunities to achieve great deeds and shoulder the great mission of the era to realize the dream of rejuvenation. Across a century of succession, the responsibility for rejuvenation is bestowed upon contemporary youth, and the glorious mission belongs to contemporary youth. It is the right time for Chinese youth to step forward and shoulder their responsibilities; only through struggle can they live up to the prosperity of the era and the expectations of the country. The vast number of young people should channel their personal struggles into the torrent of the New Era, grow robustly in service to the people, temper their will and character through arduous struggle, deeply plant feelings for the home and country, and ensure that the Party's cause is passed from one generation to the next and that national rejuvenation develops sustainably.