Pan Na: Cultural Foundations for Advancing Chinese-style Modernization
When culture flourishes, the national fortune flourishes; when culture is strong, the nation is strong. A nation without spiritual strength finds it difficult to stand on its own and strengthen itself; an endeavor without cultural support finds it difficult to sustain itself over the long term. To build a modern socialist country in all respects, we must adhere to the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics, promote cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening, and enhance the spiritual strength for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. A major theoretical innovation of the 20th National Congress of the CPC was the in-depth exposition of the theory of Chinese-path modernization. Within this, new strategic deployments were made for building a strong socialist cultural power, highlighting the value significance and spiritual foundations of culture within the process of Chinese-path modernization. The missions and tasks of the New Era and the new journey require us to treat cultural development as a core component and an important foundational point for the comprehensive buildup of a great modern socialist country. We must consciously shoulder our new cultural mission to provide spiritual dynamic support, ideological directional guidance, value system support, and cultural resource cultivation for the advancement of Chinese-path modernization.
Promoting cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening to stimulate the spiritual momentum of Chinese-path modernization
Culture is the soul of a country and a nation, harboring immense spiritual power. Every leap forward in human society and every sublimation of human civilization has been accompanied by historical progress in culture. The modernization of a country requires powerful material forces as well as powerful spiritual forces. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Although dialectical materialism emphasizes that the unity of the world lies in its materiality, it does not deny the counter-reaction of consciousness on matter; rather, it holds that this counter-reaction is sometimes quite immense." On the basis of the previous emphasis on "enhancing cultural confidence," the report to the 20th National Congress further proposed the new requirement of "promoting cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening." This is a vivid manifestation of our Party's consistent application of the principle of the counter-reaction of consciousness.
Without the accumulation of deep cultural foundations and the navigational guidance of advanced culture, and without the great enrichment of the spiritual world and the continuous sublimation of spiritual strength, it is difficult for a country to stand tall among the forest of the world’s nations. Since the beginning of the modern era, the process by which the Chinese nation rose from suffering and moved from decline and peril toward its rise and rejuvenation has also been a process of Chinese culture regaining its vitality and manifesting its vigor. Since the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China has, with a high degree of cultural consciousness, taken the construction of a national, scientific, and popular new culture as its noble mission. Mao Zedong pointed out: "We want to turn a China which is politically oppressed and economically exploited into a China which is politically free and economically prosperous, and also to turn a China which is mired in ignorance and backwardness under the sway of the old culture into a China which is enlightened and progressive under the sway of a new culture." [1] Deng Xiaoping pointed out that while building a high level of material civilization, we must also build a high level of socialist spiritual civilization. As socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core raised cultural development to a new historical height, aligning cultural confidence with confidence in our path, theory, and system to form the "Four Confidences" of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He emphasized that cultural confidence is a more fundamental, extensive, and profound confidence, and a more basic, deeper, and more lasting strength.
Firming up cultural confidence leads to the realization of cultural self-strengthening. Cultural self-strengthening is both a confidence in and consciousness of our cultural foundations and historical basis, as well as an expectation and hope for the capacity for cultural self-development and self-perfection. We must advance cultural modernization on the basis of firming up cultural confidence, stimulate the cultural innovation and creative vitality of the entire nation, and enhance the spiritual strength for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Cultural confidence and cultural self-strengthening are an organic, unified whole: cultural confidence is a confidence that embodies self-strengthening, and cultural self-strengthening is a self-strengthening that manifests confidence. Cultural confidence and cultural self-strengthening are unified in the struggle to create new socialist cultural glories and realize the goal of becoming a great modern socialist power. The progression from cultural confidence to cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening is an important development in our Party's socialist cultural theory; it represents a deepening and expansion of our understanding of the vital value of culture in the process of Chinese-path modernization, reflecting the high degree of cultural consciousness and responsibility of Chinese Communists. In building a strong socialist cultural power, cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening are both the ideological basis and prerequisite, as well as the distinct hallmark and fundamental purpose. To promote cultural self-confidence and self-strengthening, we must accelerate the construction of a strong socialist cultural power that is commensurate with our country's deep traditional cultural foundations and rich cultural resources, that interfaces with the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four Comprehensives of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, and that matches the goal of building a modern socialist power that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.
Establishing and adhering to the fundamental system of the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere to anchor the ideological course of Chinese-path modernization
Ideology is the work of establishing a heart for the country and a soul for the nation. In the process of advancing modernization, any country needs an ideology that occupies a mobilizing position and possesses a leading function. Such an ideology, like a banner or a soul, plays the role of an ideological navigator. Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which we ground our Party and our country, and through which we revitalize the Party and strengthen the country. It is the banner and soul of socialist ideology and determines the direction of Chinese-path modernization. Therefore, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized: "On the fundamental issue of adhering to the guiding position of Marxism, we must remain unswerving and must not waver in the slightest at any time or under any circumstances."
As the world enters a new period of turbulence and transformation, possessing the guidance of the scientific theory of Marxism is the fundamental basis for our Party to firm up its faith and conviction and maintain a grasp on historical initiative. We must use this powerful ideological weapon well to provide directional guidance for Chinese-path modernization. Entering the New Era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has profoundly grasped the extreme importance of ideological work, establishing the system of adhering to the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere as a fundamental system within the framework of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Our Party has simultaneously established the new while breaking the old [2], "clearing the turbid and promoting the clear" [3], clarifying principled positions on a series of fundamental issues, dispelling theoretical confusion, and clarifying work orientations. It has exert efforts from multiple directions and adopted various methods to integrate this fundamental system into all aspects of cultural development, manifesting it in the adherence to the correct political direction, public opinion orientation, and value orientation. This has effectively reversed the passive situation that once appeared on the ideological and cultural front, driving a comprehensive and fundamental shift in the landscape of the ideological sphere. The report to the 20th National Congress profoundly summarized the successful experience gained in ideological work, made a sober assessment of the risks and challenges existing in the ideological sphere, firmly upheld the fundamental system of the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere, and gave prominence to building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leadership. It emphasized firmly grasping the Party’s leadership over ideological work, comprehensively implementing the responsibility system for ideological work, and consolidating and strengthening mainstream public opinion for the endeavor of the New Era.
The key to building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leadership lies in perfecting the work system for arming the whole Party, educating the people, and guiding practice with the Party’s innovative theories. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism; it is the essence of Chinese culture and the Chinese spirit in our times, achieving a new leap in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, and providing the fundamental follows (guidelines) and action guide for Chinese-path modernization. We must grasp the worldview and methodology of this Thought, adhere to and apply the standpoints, views, and methods that run through it, and consciously use it to command cultural development in the New Era, continuously consolidating the ideological foundation for the united struggle of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups.
Guided by the Socialist Core Values to deeply plant the value foundations of Chinese-path modernization
Core values are the deepest nucleus of a culture, determining its nature and direction. To comprehensively advance Chinese-path modernization, the people of all ethnic groups across the country need to think with one mind, direct their energy toward the same goal, and work together with one heart and soul through thick and thin. The socialist core values are the essence of advanced socialist culture and are a powerful force for coalescing the hearts and minds of the people. Using socialist core values to build consensus provides the value support to ensure the smooth and orderly progress of Chinese-path modernization.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Central Committee has insisted on guiding cultural development with socialist core values, incorporating the socialist core value system into the basic strategy for adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. It has focused on integrating socialist core values into all aspects of social development to "nurture the roots and mold the soul" [4] and to build cohesion. The report to the 20th National Congress further proposed the new requirement of "broadly practicing the socialist core values," making a series of strategic arrangements centered on the fundamental task of "molding the soul and educating the person," with all deployments becoming more comprehensive and in-depth. From their formal introduction and cultivation to their broad practice, the socialist core values have answered, in both theory and practice, the major questions of what kind of country we want to build, what kind of society we want to construct, and what kind of citizens we want to nurture. They actively guide people to pursue noble moral ideals and continuously consolidate the ideological foundation of Chinese-path modernization.
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a massive population. The arduousness and complexity of more than 1.4 billion people moving as a whole into a modern society are unprecedented. We must leverage the role of socialist core values as the "greatest common denominator" for building social consensus, effectively integrating social consciousness and maintaining social harmony, stability, and the long-term peace and security of the country. In practicing socialist core values, the key point of focus lies in the extensiveness of their implementation. We must integrate socialist core values into the construction of the rule of law, social development, and daily life, forming beliefs and concepts that people consciously follow. We should advance the construction of socialist core values through legal means, fully integrating them into the system of socialist laws with Chinese characteristics, and establishing social norms and codes of conduct that meet their basic requirements. We must weave socialist core values through all fields of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, manifesting them in the entire process of education, the creation of spiritual civilization, and the creation, production, and dissemination of spiritual and cultural products. This ensures they merge into every aspect of economic and social development, better constructing the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength. We must work hard on refinement, small-scale implementation, and actual results [5], focusing on conducting moral practice activities so that socialist core values become the basic guidelines that people follow daily without even consciously noticing.
Civilization is a prominent hallmark of a modern country, and morality is the concentrated expression of core values. Improving the level of civilization throughout society is a major task in promoting the construction of a strong socialist cultural power; it is also an important goal, requirement, and guarantee for comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization. We must persist in prioritizing construction and focusing on establishing the fundamentals; we must persist over the long term and remain steadfast, striving to promote the formation of a moral system that meets the requirements of Chinese-path modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly noted: "Core values are, in fact, a kind of virtue; they are both individual virtue and a kind of 'great virtue'—the virtue of the state and the virtue of society." We must implement projects for civic moral construction, carry forward traditional Chinese virtues, strengthen the development of family, family education, and family traditions, and improve ideological and moral construction for minors. We must promote "clarifying great virtue, abiding by public virtue, and being strict with private virtue" [6], raising the moral standards and civilized literacy of the people to consolidate the moral foundation of Chinese-path modernization.
Adhering to creative transformation and innovative development to continue the cultural genes of Chinese-path modernization
How to treat one's own traditional culture is a problem that any country must solve in the process of achieving modernization. Traditional culture and modernization possess both oppositional and unified qualities. We must conduct a scientific analysis of traditional culture, "taking the essence and discarding the dregs," rather than adopting an absolutist attitude of wholesale acceptance or wholesale rejection.
The Chinese civilization continues the spiritual lifeblood of our country and nation; it requires the passing of the torch [7] and protection by successive generations, but also necessitates advancing with the times and weeding through the old to bring forth the new [8]. In promoting the process of Chinese-path modernization, to carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture, we must properly handle the relationship between inheritance and development. We must promote a benign interactive relationship of coordination and adaptation between traditional culture and modernization, focusing on achieving creative transformation and innovative development. Creative transformation means transforming those connotations that still possess referential value and their outdated forms of expression in accordance with the characteristics and requirements of the era—endowing them with new epochal connotations and modern forms of expression to activate their vitality. Innovative development means supplementing, expanding, and improving the connotations of fine traditional Chinese culture in accordance with the new progress and developments of the era to enhance its influence and appeal. The essence of creative transformation and innovative development is the "sublation" (Aufheben) [9] of cultural traditions; self-seclusion and following the beaten track [10] offer no way out. Only by utilizing the power of Marxist truth can we organically combine the fine heritage of agrarian civilization with the elements of modern civilization, thereby activating the vitality of fine traditional Chinese culture. In a certain sense, creative transformation and innovative development aim to enhance the endogeneity of cultural construction. Endogeneity is not equivalent to self-generation; it does not mean blindly rejecting foreign cultures. Any culture with deep roots and lush leaves is not isolated from the world; rather, it possesses a powerful capacity to digest and absorb foreign cultures, making them serve its own purposes after scientific sublation. In short, promoting creative transformation and innovative development aims to allow fine traditional Chinese culture to radiate new and vigorous vitality within the modernization process, thereby strengthening the cultural advantages of Chinese-path modernization.
Creative transformation and innovative development constitute the effective path for transforming the advantages of fine traditional Chinese culture as an intellectual resource into developmental advantages for Chinese-path modernization. History and practice have proven that modernization divorced from one's own cultural tradition does not exist, and modernization entirely imported from the outside is difficult to sustain. Only by taking root in the fertile soil of the history and culture of one’s own country and nation can a country and nation open up the correct path to modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out on October 17, 2022, while participating in a discussion with the Guangxi delegation to the 20th National Congress of the CPC: "The internal genetic code of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics that we follow is found right here—it contains the gene of fine traditional Chinese culture." Fine traditional Chinese culture is the crystallization of wisdom and the essence of Chinese civilization; its intellectual foundations possess continuity, innovativeness, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness [11], endowed with unique values and advantages. However, the coordinated and adaptive relationship between fine traditional Chinese culture and modernization is not spontaneous; it requires scientific selection and conversion mechanisms. Regarding the selection mechanism, General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly proposed that we must treat it with discernment and inherit it with sublation. This both upholds our Party’s scientific attitude toward traditional culture and achieves innovative development under new practical conditions. Regarding the conversion mechanism, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must strengthen the excavation and elaboration of fine traditional Chinese culture, making the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese nation compatible with contemporary culture and coordinated with modern society." Over the past decade, China has deeply implemented major projects such as "Archaeological China," the Project to Trace the Origins of Chinese Civilization, and the Fine Traditional Chinese Culture Inheritance and Development Project; constructed the National Archives of Publications and Culture; conducted censuses of Chinese cultural resources; and improved the system for the recovery and return of lost cultural relics. These efforts involve excavating and organizing the "family assets" [12] of traditional culture to provide support for vigorously promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture.