Liu Jia and Chen Yongjie: The Original Contributions of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought to the Historical Materialist Outlook
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee listed "focusing on building a leading socialist cultural nation" as one of the "Seven Focuses" for further comprehensively deepening reform, pointing the way forward for China’s cultural construction in the New Era. At the National Conference on Public Communication and Cultural Work, Xi Jinping pointed out: "Public communication and cultural work concerns the future and destiny of the Party, the long-term stability of the country, and the cohesion and centripetal force of the nation; it is an extremely important task." As the latest achievement in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism within the cultural sphere, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has creatively proposed important assertions such as the "Second Combination," [1] "consolidating cultural subjectivity," and "creating a new form of human civilization." It profoundly answers key questions such as "for whom shall we build," "how shall we build," and "in what direction shall we develop" in the process of building a leading socialist cultural nation, making original theoretical contributions to Marxist thought. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture not only advances the Marxist theoretical system at the levels of cultural stance, cultural subjectivity, and cultural mission, but also further proposes to "accelerate the construction of a Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative system" within the process of Chinese-path modernization, promoting the realization of China's spiritual independence and cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening. An accurate understanding and grasp of the original contributions of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture will help truly exert its irreplaceable role as ideological guidance in building a leading socialist cultural nation and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
I. Vividly Marking the People-Centered Character of Socialist Culture
The question of stance concerns the essence and core of culture. Starting from "real individuals," Marx demonstrated that culture is the historical crystallization of human practice at a certain stage; from its inception, culture has possessed the characteristic of "humanization" (renhua). As a new leap in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism in the cultural field, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture places Marx’s understanding of culture as the "objectification of human practice" within the context of building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. It vividly marks the people-centered character of socialist culture, emphasizing that culture must reflect the people's aspirations and meet the people's needs. By being "people-centered," it answers the question of "for whom" a leading socialist cultural nation is built.
(1) "Developing Advanced Socialist Culture" Highlights the Distinct People-Centered Stance
Culture is the concrete manifestation of the human historical mode of existence. In human material productive practice, Marx revealed the "human-attribute" (shurenxing) of culture—that is, culture is the product of the practical activities of "real individuals." While upholding this theoretical characteristic, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture does not stop at the broad proposition that culture is a "historical crystallization of human practice." Instead, within the context of Chinese-path modernization, it endows culture with a people-centered character and advocates for developing an advanced socialist culture that meets the spiritual and cultural needs of the people, thereby highlighting the fundamental people-centered stance.
Marx’s assertions on the relationship between culture and the human being laid the theoretical foundation for the proposition of "developing advanced socialist culture" in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Marx emphasized that along with the improvement of productive forces and the emergence of the social division of labor, "men, who produce their social relations in accordance with their material productivity, also produce ideas, categories," among which various ideas and categories refer to culture. Following Marx's view, humans naturally manifest as natural beings, subject to natural laws yet capable of recognizing and utilizing those laws to serve themselves. Simultaneously, humans manifest as social beings who, after satisfying material and spiritual needs, seek respect in social interaction. Therefore, in terms of its manifestation, culture is shown as the totality of spiritual activities and their products—including various material products, spiritual products, and social systems—produced by humanity at specific stages. It should be said that Marx’s "humanization" view of culture transcended the notion of speculative philosophy that reduced culture to "God" or "Absolute Spirit," endowing culture with the power of reality. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture further places this reality within the construction of a leading socialist cultural nation, emphasizing that we must "stand firm on the people's stance, grasp the people's aspirations, respect the people's creativity, and pool the people's wisdom, forming a theory that is loved, recognized, and owned by the people." From this, it is evident that the subject of "culture" in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is not just "real individuals" in the abstract, but specifically refers to the broad masses of the people. Consequently, meeting the people’s ever-growing spiritual and cultural needs constitutes the premise and driving force for "developing advanced socialist culture."
The shift from the "human-attribute" of culture to "developing advanced socialist culture" demonstrates the clear value orientation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Marx revealed the reality and power of culture from the productive practice of "real individuals," providing a historical materialist stance for cultural development in a general sense. On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong solemnly declared to the world: "The era in which the Chinese were regarded as uncivilized is now over; we shall emerge in the world as a nation with a high level of culture." At a new historical starting point, Xi Jinping emphasized "focusing on building a leading socialist cultural nation and upholding the fundamental system of Marxist guidance in the ideological field." While continuously enriching the material foundation of modernization and consolidating the material conditions for the people's happy life, we must "vigorously develop advanced socialist culture" and promote the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations. It can be said that the emphasis on developing advanced socialist culture means that in guiding the construction of a leading socialist cultural nation, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture always upholds the people-centered concept of cultural development, continuously fortifying the spiritual foundation for the people’s pursuit of a better life, and advancing the "humanized" attribute of culture at its fundamental stance.
(2) "Putting the People First" Stimulates the Cultural Innovation and Creativity of the Whole Nation
Humans are the subjects and value-measures of social history, as well as the decisive force promoting cultural progress. Marx viewed culture as the "objectification of human essential powers" and revealed the common goal of culture and society through an analysis of the "species-essence" of man—the free and comprehensive development of the individual. Because of the different historical period, Marx did not live in an era where the people were masters of their own house; therefore, the subject of the free and comprehensive development he envisioned was all of humanity. However, there are differences in the pursuit of "freedom" among different subjects; particularly in a class society characterized by class antagonism, the freedoms pursued by the proletariat and the bourgeoisie are fundamentally in conflict. In the New Era and on the new journey, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture advocates that we must "put the people first," taking the comprehensive development of the broadest masses as the goal to promote China’s cultural construction. By "stimulating the cultural innovation and creativity of the whole nation" through historical initiative, it innovates upon the Marxist questions of "for whom" and "on whom" cultural development depends.
Regarding the essence of culture, there have been various views in the history of human thought: the German philosopher Hegel saw culture as the movement of self-consciousness with the Absolute Spirit as its ultimate destination; Feuerbach viewed culture intuitively as the product of the activities of isolated individuals. Marx creatively introduced the human being as a subjective factor, believing that "man is not merely a natural being; he is a human natural being; that is to say, a being for himself, and therefore a species-being." In Marx's view, free conscious activity is the species-characteristic of man, which confirms and expresses itself in objective activities; thus, the development of culture must take the realization of free and conscious human activity as its goal. Engels also clearly pointed out: "Every step forward in culture was a step towards freedom." However, due to the different fundamental interests and value stances of different classes, different social subjects have essential differences in their understanding of culture—just as bourgeois culture serves the needs of the infinite multiplication and expansion of capital; such a culture is not what Marx diligently sought. Therefore, although Marx provided the theoretical basis for Xi Jinping Thought on Culture in the "freedom" dimension of culture, it remained necessary to further clarify what kind of freedom cultural development in New Era China should achieve and upon whose strength it should rely to realize this freedom.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture insists on "putting the people first," taking the comprehensive development of the broad masses as the goal of cultural construction. Marx revealed the freedom-oriented nature of cultural development, while Xi Jinping further integrated this with China's specific realities, linking the development of advanced socialist culture with the pursuits of the broadest masses of the people. On the one hand, moving from a footing in "all humanity" to a focus on "putting the people first," the goal of cultural development is "for the people," taking the realization of the people’s spiritual pursuit of comprehensive development as its mission. This ideologically ensures that China's cultural construction does not change its character or lose its direction in the process of exploring "one's own path." On the other hand, Xi Jinping pointed out: "Fully stimulate the cultural innovation and creativity of the whole nation, and continuously consolidate the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups." From meeting the people's needs to stimulating the cultural innovation and creativity of the whole nation, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture demonstrates a development concept where the vitality of culture comes from the people, and culture "for the people" needs the people to build it. Therefore, the people are both the enjoyers of cultural achievements and the inexhaustible source and power of cultural innovation.
(3) "Practicing the Socialist Core Values" Enhances the Cohesion of Socialist Ideology
Ideology determines the forward direction and development path of culture. What is ideology? Through a philosophical revolution, Marx closely linked philosophy with social reality, promoting the transformation of social reality through the critique of philosophical ideas, thereby unveiling the mysterious veil of bourgeois ideology. Limited by the revolutionary situation of the time—where capitalist civilization, like a "universal illumination" (allgemeine Beleuchtung), dominated over all other civilizations—Marx's theory of ideology focused on the critique of various erroneous bourgeois ideas. In contrast, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture focuses on how the proletariat, after establishing state power, achieves ideological self-awareness, value identity, and cultural self-confidence—that is, the question of how to cultivate and practice the socialist core values. Its concrete connotations make an original contribution to the Marxist theoretical system regarding the value orientation of "for whom" socialist culture is built.
Marx's essential definitions of ideology laid the methodological foundation for Xi Jinping's elucidation of ideological issues, not only in terms of value orientation but also in philosophy. In The German Ideology, Marx creatively introduced the category of practice into the realm of ideas, advocating that we "do not set out from what men say, imagine, conceived... in order to arrive at men in the flesh," but rather "set out from real, active men, and on the basis of their real life-process we demonstrate the development of the ideological reflexes and echoes of this life-process." Only by returning to the real social relations from which ideology arises can a true grasp of the essence of ideology be achieved. Mao Zedong once pointed out: "A given culture (as an ideological form) is a reflection of the politics and economics of a given society, and the former in turn has a tremendous influence and effect upon the latter." This further clarified the active role of ideology from the perspective of the dialectical relationship between social existence and social consciousness. On this basis, Xi Jinping opportunely proposed to "focus on building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leadership." This both upholds Marx's socio-historical definition of ideology and clarifies the way ideology unfolds within a socialist state power.
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The process moving from "destruction"—Marx's critique of bourgeois ideology—to "construction"—the building of socialist ideology in the New Era—constitutes the original contribution of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to Marxist ideological theory. Constrained by the socio-historical conditions faced by the proletariat at the time, Marx's ideological theory unfolded primarily through the critique of various erroneous social trends of thought. For example, in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx listed reactionary socialism, conservative or bourgeois socialism, and critical-utopian socialism and communism; by dismantling these forms of false consciousness, he elucidated the future vision in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." Although Marx had already elucidated the basic principle that social existence determines social consciousness, the term "ideology" was for a time labeled with a derogatory connotation, referring specifically to ideology distorted by the bourgeoisie. The construction of a proletarian ideology had not yet been placed on the agenda as a historical task. Clearly, Marx's critique of various erroneous trends provided the prerequisite theoretical preparation for ideological construction in our country. Building upon this, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture proposed a new thesis: the necessity of building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leadership that serves the people. At the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping emphasized "promoting the normalization and institutionalization of education on ideals and convictions" and advocated for "improving the systems and mechanisms for nurturing and practicing Socialist Core Values." This profoundly answers the question of how ideology "establishes the heart for the state and the soul for the nation" under the conditions where socialist state power has already been established. It not only elevates Marx's critique of ideology to the theoretical height of constructing a socialist mainstream ideology but also creatively realizes a leap in the spirit and value concepts of the Chinese nation.
II. Developing the Universality of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics through the Consolidation of Cultural Subjectivity
Cultural subjectivity [5] concerns the identity and cohesion of a nation. Along with the globalization of production, the division of labor, and social intercourse, as well as the opening of world history, Marx elucidated the universality of culture through the universal intercourse of civilizations. Standing on the position of the international communist movement, he called on the proletariat to unite and effect "the most radical rupture" with all traditional ideas. However, after the victory of the proletarian revolution, the problematic shifted from transforming capitalist cultural forms toward shaping socialist cultural subjectivity. Xi Jinping creatively proposed the "Second Integration," [6] answering the question of "how to build" a strong socialist cultural power. Regarding the absorption of fine traditional culture, the civilizational achievements of contemporary China are understood against the backdrop of over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, integrating them with the consistent value concepts and emotional pursuits of the Chinese people. Regarding the drawing upon of modern civilizational achievements, he timely proposed "consolidating the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation," demonstrating a "firm self in a cultural sense" amidst exchange and mutual learning with world cultures, thus opening a new chapter in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism.
(1) From Universal Intercourse of Civilizations to Consolidating the Cultural Subjectivity of the Chinese Nation
The relationship between nationality and universality constitutes the "China-West" debate in cultural development. With the development of productive forces as the objective premise, Marx elucidated the universality of cultural development within the context of world history and revealed "universal cultural intercourse" and its causes. In the New Era, how to hold one's cultural ground amidst the cultural expansion of Western countries has become a key issue in our country's ideological and cultural construction. In many speeches, Xi Jinping has emphasized "consolidating cultural subjectivity," leaping out of the ideological confinement of Western models by developing the "national self" of culture.
Marx revealed that the natural attributes of capital’s pursuit of profit and expansion brought about the universal intercourse of civilizations, providing the historical background of human civilizational development for today’s "consolidation of cultural subjectivity." Since the beginning of the modern era, the exchange and integration of the political, economic, and social lives of people across the world seemed to herald the coming of an era of integrated human cultural development. Various nations integrating into the tide of globalization through universal cultural intercourse is both the realistic path for humanity moving toward modern civilization and a significant component of the Marxist theory of world history. As Marx noted: "The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization." Formally, the process of world history appears to be merely the expansion of capital and large-scale industry in the economic sphere; however, this expansion has in fact formed a shock to the "cultural self" of nation-states on a global scale. Capital has made "barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilized ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West." The complex reality faced by contemporary China in developing advanced socialist culture is: on the one hand, socialist culture cannot be completely detached from Western modern civilization; on the other hand, it is impossible to fully enter Western modern civilization. If China's cultural development is to break free from the ideological entrapment of Western expansionist "cultural intercourse" and not lose its cultural self, it must initiate a type of civilization suited to its own specificities from a historical premise entirely different from that of the West. At this juncture, the importance of cultural subjectivity becomes prominent.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture takes the consolidation of the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation as its basic position, successfully resolving the "China-West" debate through the "Second Integration." Cultural subjectivity is the external manifestation of the particularity of a national culture. Xi Jinping emphasized: "For any culture to stand firm, go far, and possess leadership, cohesion, shaping power, and reach, it must have its own subjectivity." Facing the impact of Western culture, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture defends the subjectivity of Chinese civilization from the dual dimensions of historicity and theoretical rigor. Regarding its historicity, Chinese civilization is the only civilizational form in the world that has continued to this day without interruption, maintaining its roots and soul even under the cultural shocks of internal turmoil and foreign aggression in modern times. Regarding its theoretical rigor, cultural subjectivity is centrally expressed as the subjectivity of theoretical discourse. In the face of long-term penetration and oppression by Western cultural hegemony, Chinese academia and discourse for a period either resolutely rejected it or accepted Western culture in its entirety without analysis, resulting in a situation where the resistance to various erroneous trends of thought was weak. Based on this cultural status of the Chinese nation, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "consolidating cultural subjectivity" through the "Second Integration." This not only shattered the illusion of the West establishing a "testing ground" for capitalist discourse in China but also provided ideological guidance for constructing China's independent system of knowledge and achieving "spiritual independence and autonomy."
(2) From Culture as "Spiritual Productive Forces" to Strengthening Cultural Confidence
When Marx distinguished between spiritual productive forces and material productive forces through the division of labor, the role of culture as a form of spiritual productive force became apparent. At that time, Marx focused on the production of all human civilizational achievements and had not yet deeply considered the question of "whom" the spiritual productive forces "serve." Xi Jinping Thought on Culture examines "spiritual productive forces" through the lens of Chinese-path modernization, consolidating the national attributes and value foundations of spiritual production by developing advanced socialist culture. On the basis of cultural self-awareness and cultural confidence, it has achieved a deeper theoretical breakthrough in the dimension of cultural subjectivity.
Marx's thesis on "spiritual productive forces" provided the theoretical premise for Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. In The German Ideology, Marx discovered that besides material productive practical relations, humans also possess intercourse at the level of ideas, thinking, and spirit, and this "production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness, is at first directly interwoven with the material activity and the material intercourse of men, the language of real life." In Capital and its manuscripts, Marx further analyzed spiritual productive forces, taking the contradiction between human intellect and physical strength as an important driver for the development of productive forces. As "large-scale industry" separated science as an independent productive capacity from labor, spiritual productive forces gained their own independent development. Thus, spiritual productive force was revealed as a self-contained element of production. However, under the command of this spiritual productive force, culture could only exist as a part of production and served only production in a general sense, lacking the dimensions of national cohesion and orientation. Conversely, Chinese-path modernization is not only a process of greatly increasing material productive forces; as it unfolds, it must necessarily also be a process of consolidating the spiritual strength of the Chinese nation and promoting the common values of all humanity. Viewed this way, how to construct corresponding spiritual productive forces within material productive forces, and how to enhance the confidence and sense of belonging of the Chinese nation while developing spiritual productive forces, constitutes the core essence of the question of cultural subjectivity answered by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.
On the basis of Marxist theory of spiritual culture, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture further deepens the development of spiritual productive forces into the strengthening of cultural confidence, emphasizing that more profound spiritual production must be carried out based on the particularity of the Chinese nation. Against the era background of the "two overall situations," [7] the intersection and collision between different civilizations have intensified, urgently requiring our country to establish a value coordinate with strong cohesion. When addressing cultural development in contemporary China, some have suggested that Western modern civilization is the paradigm for human civilization and that we must follow the developmental path of Western civilization. However, every nation's culture is born from the social soil of its specific material productive activities. The foundation of cultural confidence is never the mechanical copying of other countries' cultures but the "endowing of fine traditional Chinese culture with the connotations of the era and new forms of expression." Abstractly applying the developmental path of Western capitalist culture to our country is in fact "predicated on the erasure and emasculation of the social substantive content and essential differences," and is a typical manifestation of a lack of cultural confidence and autonomy. In response, Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: "We must persist in developing Marxism rooted in the fertile soil of our own country and our nation’s history and culture without stopping, and stay firm in our historical confidence and cultural confidence," regarding cultural confidence as "a more fundamental, broader, and deeper confidence." Viewed this way, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture fundamentally rejects the use of "external reflection" [8] as a way of thinking toward so-called "modern civilization," laying the theoretical foundation for the Chinese nation to persist in cultural confidence and self-strengthening amidst the turbulent situation of globalization and to maintain cultural subjectivity within the coexistence of world cultures.
(3) From "The Most Radical Rupture with Traditional Ideas" to Promoting the "Two Creatives" of Fine Traditional Chinese Culture
The relationship between tradition and modernity is a key issue concerning the survival and development of a national culture. Marx clearly stated in the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "The Communist revolution... involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas." Here, Marx profoundly pointed out the essential difference between proletarian ideology and bourgeois ideology. If it can be said that before the proletariat establishes state power, it must dismantle the cultural concepts that maintain the bourgeois dictatorship, then after establishing power, the proletariat must absorb all positive results beneficial to its own development. Facing new changes in the world situation, the national condition, and the Party's condition, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, with a distinct sense of cultural subjectivity, proposed the "Second Integration," pointing out the necessity of integrating the "root" of fine traditional Chinese culture with the "soul" of Marxism. At the same time, through the creative transformation and innovative development [9] of fine traditional Chinese culture, it has transcended the view of "tradition vs. modernity" opposition and demonstrated the contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture.
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The transition from "rupture" to "inheritance" highlights how Xi Jinping Thought on Culture continues the ancestral lineage [10] and encompasses both the ancient and the modern. In Marx's view, the proletariat, in the course of revolution, must not only transform traditional ownership of the means of production—abolishing private property—but also eliminate the traditional ideas corresponding to private property, establishing new thoughts and concepts compatible with public ownership. Addressing those who defend bourgeois private property, Marx pointed out: "Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of the conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property... This selfish conception you share with every ruling class that has preceded you." However, complex cultural structures are hidden behind ideological forms; when a revolutionary transformation of ownership occurs, not all cultural structures are incompatible with the new social form. The presence of abundant content regarding "weeding through the old to bring forth the new" [11] and advancing with the times within fine traditional Chinese culture precisely demonstrates that the Chinese nation has always opposed following old conventions or clinging to outmoded ways [12]. Xi Jinping has emphasized more than once that the long-standing Chinese civilization contains rich intellectual resources: "To abandon tradition and lose our foundations is equivalent to severing our own spiritual lifeblood." From this, it is evident that the reason Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has become a theoretical achievement consistent with China's national conditions is precisely because it reveals the methodological significance of dialectical thinking—such as "revering the ancient without being reactionary"—within fine traditional Chinese culture. It is this spiritual consensus that constitutes the inherent cultural genes of the Chinese nation, providing a broad historical horizon and deep value identification for maintaining the cultural subjectivity of "taking one's own path" in Chinese culture.
The creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture demonstrate the vast and far-reaching historical perspective of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Xi Jinping noted: "Only by tracing the sources of history can we understand the real world; only by following cultural foundations can we identify today's China." As an important intellectual resource for Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the significance of fine traditional Chinese culture is by no means purely a matter of the past; rather, it remains a spiritual consensus that lives in the present. Following Marx, the critique of the old "is not limited to confirming its own peculiar omnipotence by its own biography, confirming that it can 'create the old as a brand-new original creation,'" but rather "presents the third party, the rest of the secular world, with an absolute 'task.'" Viewed thus, as the historical manifestation of Chinese civilization, fine traditional Chinese culture has maintained a continuous and unified lineage throughout the passing of the torch across the generations of the Chinese nation. It must realize its own creative transformation and innovative development under the premise of upholding cultural subjectivity. Briefly stated, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture's continuation of the Chinese cultural lineage inherently contains three levels: first, discernment—distinguishing between the essence and the dross of cultural traditions; second, activation—promoting the adjustment of fine traditional Chinese culture to adapt to the development of the era through integration with the reality of socialism with Chinese characteristics; and third, innovation—guided by the cultural mission manifested in Chinese-path modernization, to elucidate the cultural foundations of the Chinese path and demonstrate the unique cultural advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
III. Providing a Chinese Path that Transcends the Logic of Capital via the Creation of a New Form of Human Civilization
Culture concerns the national foundation and destiny: when culture flourishes, the nation prospers; when culture is strong, the nation is powerful. Marx revealed the logic of capital hidden behind "capitalist civilization," pointing out that only by transforming the logic of capital can the "paradox of civilization" be reversed. However, regarding how to transform the logic of capital and whether the specific measures for this transformation should be combined with a nation's own cultural traditions, Marx did not elaborate deeply. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture creatively proposes a new cultural mission: "The best inheritance of history is to create new history, and the greatest tribute to human civilization is to create a new form of human civilization." It emphasizes achieving the "unity of root and soul" in the return to tradition and promoting the shared values of all humanity while looking toward the future. Seen in this light, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture contains a profound cultural sentiment and a strong sense of responsibility toward civilization. In the two-way interaction between China and the West, and between the ancient and the modern, it profoundly answers the question of the direction for building a leading socialist cultural power.
(1) Cultivating the Foundation through Culture: Realizing the Self-Assertion of Chinese Culture within the "Unity of Root and Soul"
The prerequisite for the combination of "root" and "soul" is their mutual compatibility. The inherent compatibility between the basic tenets of Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture provides the ideological guidance for Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to develop advanced socialist culture. For example, the Analects emphasizes that "the people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is solid, the state is at peace" [13]—here, "the public" (公, gōng) means "the people" (民, mín), and "the people" are "the public." This "people-as-foundation" thought coincides with Marx's advocacy in Capital for establishing a "social form in which the full and free development of every individual forms the ruling principle." It provides the intellectual basis for Xi Jinping's cultural development concept that "the creative practice of the people is the inexhaustible source of theoretical innovation." Furthermore, fine traditional Chinese culture speaks of the "unity of heaven and humanity" (天人合一, tiānrén héyī), which is reflected both in the requirement that human practical activities follow objective laws "without acting recklessly" and in interpersonal ethics. These ideas provide the intellectual origins for Marxism's judgment on communism—namely, that "as fully developed naturalism, it equals humanism, and as fully developed humanism, it equals naturalism"—to gain broader recognition in China. It can be said that the inherent compatibility between the "root lineage" and the "soul lineage" has closely integrated the essence of Marxist thought with the common concepts that the Chinese people "use daily without realizing," [14] consolidating the theoretical and practical foundations for Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.
As the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture connects the past and the present, bridges theory and practice (体用贯通, tǐyòng guàntōng), and achieves the self-assertion of Chinese culture within the "unity of root and soul." In modern times, with the intensification of the large-scale globalization process opened up by modernization, China was forced into its midst, undergoing a long period of learning from abroad and once existing in a "state of apprenticeship" in the ideological and cultural spheres. However, the true maturity of any culture always means that at a specific stage it must shed this dependent, imitative, and conventional "state of apprenticeship" to realize the "self-assertion" of its national culture. Following the in-depth development of the process of Chinese-path modernization, the Chinese nation has arrived at a critical period for cultural development. As Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must persist in Marxism as our fundamental foundation for founding and invigorating the Party and the country without wavering, and we must never stop developing Marxism by rooting it in the fertile soil of our own country’s and nation’s history and culture." It is easy to see that Xi Jinping Thought on Culture combines the universal experiences of modern civilization with China's specific realities, consciously activating the intellectual resources of fine traditional Chinese culture to support the "taking root" of Marxist theory in China. By "holding the two extremes and using the middle way," [15] it transcends the binary opposition mindset, forming a broad and inclusive cultural pattern and atmosphere.
(2) Expanding the Great Cause through Culture: Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization by Building a Leading Cultural Power
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture opens up a space of possibility for building a leading cultural power within the modernization paths of the East and the West. In the unfolding process of world history, modernization presents two different developmental directions: capitalist modernization under Western dominance and Chinese-path modernization. As a spatio-temporal sequence concept in the process of human history, modernization is often preemptively viewed as a product of Western capitalist society, which some Western capitalist countries use to aggressively promote and hype theories such as the "clash of civilizations" or "civilizational superiority." Facing this ideological encirclement, how to fortify the ideological front and set the course under the background of the New Era has become a key issue facing China’s ideological and cultural spheres. In elucidating the connotation of Chinese-path modernization, Xi Jinping noted: "Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China. It shares common features with the modernization of other countries, but more importantly, it has Chinese characteristics based on our own national conditions." As an organic component of Chinese-path modernization, the development of advanced socialist culture discards the inherent defects of capitalist culture, such as hegemonism, class polarization, and racial discrimination. While absorbing and drawing on the positive achievements of Western civilization, it has undergone a stage of selective cultural integration, thereby opening up a Chinese path for building a leading cultural power.
The interaction between building a leading cultural power and Xi Jinping Thought on Culture constitutes the spiritual driving force for Chinese-path modernization. As a socialized and nationalized evolution of value systems and behavioral norms, the culture of a period is necessarily linked to certain political and economic trends and assumes the heavy responsibility of confirming the belonging and consciousness of national members while enhancing the country's cultural soft power. Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must anchor the strategic goal of building a leading cultural power by 2035, persist in Marxism as the fundamental guiding ideology, and take root in the profound and extensive Chinese civilization... to fortify the cultural foundation for building a strong country and national rejuvenation." It should be said that Xi Jinping Thought on Culture bases itself on the present while looking to the long term, insisting on systematic thinking to consider the building of a leading cultural power within the overall strategic framework of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, clearly defining the fundamental direction and key areas of cultural construction. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the construction of a leading socialist cultural power with Chinese characteristics transcends both traditional Chinese culture and capitalist modern civilization through the critical inheritance of the past and selective borrowing from Others. Through the dialectical unity of self-assertion and external learning, and the unity of the singularity of the mainstream culture with the diversity of cultural means, it has forged historical cultural achievements with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese flair, providing precious resources and ideological impetus for comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization.
(3) Carrying the Dao through Culture: Creating a New Form of Human Civilization by Transforming the Logic of Capital
From the generative logic of modernization in China, the new form of human civilization is the theoretical expression of Chinese-path modernization, opening a new path to transcend capitalist civilization. In the unfolding of world history dominated by capitalist civilization, values and value judgments have only the polarities of "right" and "wrong," and the "law of the jungle" established by the logic of capital becomes the basis of value rationality. Thus, Western modern civilization became the only legitimate "universal consensus." However, Xi Jinping pointed out: "Different histories, national conditions, ethnic groups, and customs have nurtured different civilizations, making the world more colorful." The new form of human civilization created by Chinese-path modernization replaces Western "universal values" with the shared values of all humanity, encompassing and integrating the value demands and goals of every country, nation, and even individual, thereby allowing human civilization to be displayed in the most universal and broadest sense.
From the perspective of cultural development's driving factors, the new form of human civilization is the Chinese nation's unique exploration of modern civilizational construction, providing a new choice for the social development and civilizational progress of other countries. At the new historical coordinates, the world humanity faces is increasingly becoming a "cultural" world, and the "contradiction between humanity and nature" is gradually giving way to the "contradiction between humanity and civilization." If Western civilization takes the logic of capital as its internal driver, then the new form of civilization created by Chinese-path modernization takes the comprehensive development of the individual and the realization of free and conscious labor as its endogenous driving force, pointing toward the vision of creating a new form of human civilization. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress noted: "We stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human civilizational progress." Therefore, the new form of human civilization breaks through the ideological limitations of the Western "clash of civilizations" and "civilizational superiority" theories. It is not only consistent with the civilizational achievements of Chinese-path modernization but is also a scientific answer to common issues facing all humanity based on the standpoint of a community with a shared future for humanity, containing within it the concrete path to realizing the shared values of all humanity. In short, the new form of civilization crystallizes a global civilizational consensus and explores a brand-new path for realizing the shared values of all humanity.
Conclusion
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized that "Chinese-path modernization is a modernization in which material civilization and spiritual civilization are coordinated." Xi Jinping Thought on Culture meets the inherent needs of Chinese-path modernization, focusing the "humanizing" attribute of culture on the socialist characteristic of "belonging to the people." It has developed the globality of culture by consolidating the subjectivity of Chinese culture, created a new form of human civilization within Chinese-path modernization, and provided a brand-new development path for the Marxist transcendence of the "civilizational paradox" dominated by the logic of capital. Therefore, persisting in taking Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as guidance, and consolidating the ideological resolve to "take one's own path" from the historical depth of the ancient and modern and the broad perspective of China and the West, is both an inevitable requirement for the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism and a powerful ideological weapon and scientific guide for action in building a leading socialist cultural power. It not only establishes the spiritual support for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation but also provides Chinese wisdom for resolving the civilizational dilemmas in the process of human history.