Xiao Hongbo and Chen Deming: Cultivating a Correct Outlook on Performance with Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture
The Chinese nation has always attached great importance to the cultivation and practice of the "virtue of governance," the "way of administration," and the "essentials of governing." It has accumulated a wealth of administrative thought and formed a profound conceptualization of political achievement. To nourish a correct outlook on political achievements through fine traditional Chinese culture, we must take Marxism as our guide, persist in the "Two Combinations," [1] and excavate and elaborate upon the contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture. This provides the spiritual impetus and cultural nourishment for Party members and leading cadres to establish and practice a correct outlook on political achievements in the New Era.
The value pursuit of prioritizing people’s livelihoods and creating benefits for the people
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that we Communists undertake endeavors and create political achievements for the purpose of benefiting the people, not for personal promotion or individual gain. Creating benefits for the people is rooted in our Party's original aspiration and founding mission. Since the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has taken seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation as its original aspiration and founding mission, carrying this through the Party's century-long history of struggle. The key to benefiting the people lies in solving the "urgent, difficult, and anxious" [2] problems of the masses, anchoring oneself to tangible and perceptible coordinates of livelihood, descending into the grassroots front lines, listening to the demands of the masses, identifying the root causes of problems, and implementing precise policies. We must earnestly keep the needs of the masses in our hearts and carry the well-being of the people's livelihoods on our shoulders.
"The key to measuring whether a cadre's performance is good lies in the public's reputation." Whether the political achievements of Party members and cadres are genuine and whether their work style is substantive is something the people will judge for themselves—as the saying goes, the people hold their own weighing scales.
China has historically advocated that "the people are the only foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is peaceful" [3] and that "governance is secured through winning the people." The ideas of valuing, settling, and enriching the people are deeply rooted in the statecraft philosophy of Chinese civilization. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, ancient sages recognized that "August Heaven has no affections; it helps only the virtuous," and advocated that "Heaven sees as my people see; Heaven hears as my people hear," laying the cornerstone of Chinese populism (minben) [4] thought. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, populist thought was further enriched. Confucius demanded "governing by virtue" and "economy in expenditure and love for the people; employing the people according to the seasons," making the people the core content of his "benevolent government." Mencius proposed that "the people are the most important, the altars of the gods of earth and grain come next, and the ruler is the least important," placing the people in the most significant position. Xunzi believed that "Heaven did not produce the people for the sake of the ruler; Heaven established the ruler for the sake of the people" and "the ruler is the boat; the common people are the water. The water can carry the boat, and the water can overturn the boat." This metaphor of water and boat profoundly revealed the relationship between the people and political power. Based precisely on this consensus that the people are the foundation of governance, the ancients regarded settling and enriching the people as the objective of administration. The Guanzi argued that "in the way of governing a state, one must first enrich the people," pointing out that enriching the people is the basis and prerequisite for governance. Jia Yi proposed that "one who serves as a minister considers enriching and bringing joy to the people as an achievement, and considers impoverishing and causing suffering to the people as a crime," taking the wealth and peace of the masses as the standard for measuring political merit. These thoughts profoundly reveal this truth: the foundation of governance lies with the people; the essence of ruling lies in following, enriching, and settling the people; and the standard for political achievement lies in whether it benefits the people and receives their recognition.
To nourish a correct outlook on political achievements with fine traditional Chinese culture, we must always stand firmly on the people's side and uphold a constant concern for the people's livelihood. "There are constants to governing a state, and benefiting the people is the foundation." Only by truly placing the people in the highest position in our hearts can we identify the right direction and grasp the key points amidst complex work. We must prioritize people's livelihoods. Livelihoods are linked to the hearts of the people, and the hearts of the people aggregate the strength of the people. We must "love what the people love and hate what the people hate," taking key livelihood areas such as employment, income growth, schooling, medical care, housing, government services, childcare, elderly care, and the safety of life and property as the focal points and breakthroughs of our work. We must transform the "problem list" of the masses into the "responsibility list" of cadres, continuously enhancing the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security. We must take public opinion as the yardstick and use the satisfaction of the masses as the evaluation standard for political achievements. Party members and leading cadres must listen to the voices of the people, respect their will, and follow their hearts, taking the evaluation of the broad masses as the basis for measuring their performance, striving to create good political achievements that can withstand the scrutiny of the people.
A work method of following the times and trends and seeking truth from facts
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to establish and practice a correct outlook on political achievements, persist in proceeding from reality, act according to objective laws, and conscientiously create achievements for the people and through practical work.
The thought of proceeding from reality and respecting objective laws has been embedded in the Chinese cognitive world since ancient times. "Man follows the Earth, the Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows Nature" contains both a profound insight into the laws governing all things and the life wisdom of adapting to the times and respecting nature. "As Heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should unremittingly practice self-improvement," [5] "The way of all benefit is to move with the times," and "When the path is exhausted, change; with change, there is passage; with passage, there is endurance"—these are both vivid portrayals of the Chinese people's resilient and courageous spirit of struggle and a full demonstration of the Chinese nation's innovative spirit of advancing with the times and daring to reform. Furthermore, concepts such as "unfolding the world's resources to accomplish its tasks" (kaiwu chengwù), "statecraft for practical use" (jingshi zhiyong), and "the investigation of things to extend knowledge" (gewu zhizhi), which pursue the idea that true knowledge comes from practice and seeking truth from facts, have become important genes of fine traditional Chinese culture. These ideas inspire us that the Chinese nation is adept at summarizing laws and conforming to them, combining the summary of historical experience with the scientific planning of the future to master the initiative of historical progress and undertake endeavors in a down-to-earth and steady manner.
To nourish a correct outlook on political achievements with fine traditional Chinese culture, we must always persist in seeking truth from facts, continuously improve our ability to grasp laws, and carry forward the Chinese nation's sense of concern, characterized by staying alert to danger in times of peace and "repairing the house before it rains." Facing complex and volatile domestic and international situations, we must have both the strategic vision of "not fearing the floating clouds that obstruct the view" and the composure of "remaining calm even as the chaotic clouds fly past." We must dare to take responsibility at critical moments and promote the development of our cause through scientific decision-making. We must persist in high-quality development to give development more substance and a brighter luster. We must strengthen and improve investigation and research, going deep into the grassroots to hear the truth and observe real conditions, tempering a work style of practical action and perseverance while facing and solving problems, so that the process of creating political achievements becomes a practice of benefiting the people. Decisions must be made according to local conditions. The strategic decisions made by the Party Central Committee must be implemented unconditionally without deviation, compromise, or distortion; at the same time, we must adapt to local realities to create genuine political achievements that can withstand the test of practice and history.
A work style of the unity of knowledge and action and substantive hard work
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Advocating substantive work and focusing on implementation is something I have repeatedly emphasized." With one part deployment and nine parts implementation, political achievements are all produced through work. Practicality is a distinctive feature that distinguishes Marxist theory from other theories and is the key to Marxism's eternal vitality. Empty talk harms the nation, while practical work prospers the country. Substantive hard work has run through the entire process and all aspects of our Party's planning, entrepreneurship, and development. Substantive work requires the patience and endurance to persist over the long term for the benefit of the future. It requires the breadth of mind to believe "success does not have to stay with me" [6] and the responsibility to ensure that "success must involve me," "drawing one blueprint to the end" and working one generation after another.
The Chinese nation has always advocated practical work and emphasized the unity of knowledge and action. Xunzi said, "Though the path is near, if one does not walk, one will not arrive; though the matter is small, if one does not act, it will not be completed," treating action as the prerequisite for achieving goals. He left behind the famous exhortation: "If you do not climb a high mountain, you will not know the height of heaven; if you do not face a deep ravine, you will not know the thickness of the earth." Within this tradition of practical thinking, ancient Chinese saw knowledge and practice as a process of mutual promotion and circular deepening, believing that knowledge and action are "unified." Zhu Xi proposed, "The more clearly one knows, the more earnestly one acts; the more earnestly one acts, the more clearly one knows." Wang Yangming believed, "To know but not to act is not to know; to act without knowing can lead to knowing." Lu You wrote the poem, "What is learned from paper is shallow in the end; if one wishes to know the matter fully, one must practice it personally." Lin Xiyuan pointed out, "Since ancient times, when the sages spoke of learning, they all prioritized personal practice, with insight and discourse coming second." Although expressions of practical work have varied across different periods and figures, they all tell us this simple truth: practice produces true knowledge, and true work produces true achievements.
To nourish a correct outlook on political achievements with fine traditional Chinese culture, we must persist in the unity of knowledge and action. We must uphold the belief that "those who act often succeed, and those who walk often arrive," cultivating a composure regarding political achievements that is "meticulous from start to finish," preventing things from starting with a bang but ending with a whimper. We must have the self-awareness of "the gentleman wishes to be slow in speech but quick in action," doing more practical and good deeds and less superficial work, transforming the fine style of "speaking honest words, doing honest things, and being an honest person" into solid actions of loyalty to the Party and the people. We must have the tenacity of "a person must be tempered in affairs to stand firm," guiding Party members and cadres—especially young cadres—to take root in the grassroots front lines, tempering their will and increasing their talents through "braving the wind and rain and seeing the world." We must maintain the concept that "though political achievements differ, the Way is the same," improving the high-quality development appraisal system and the cadre political achievement evaluation system. We must persist in combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, process and result, and the present and the long-term. We should look not only at the speed of development but more so at the quality of development; not only at economic indicators but more so at the improvement of people's livelihoods; not only at visible results but more so at potential contributions. We must create a clean and upright environment for undertaking endeavors, using a scientific and precise performance orientation to encourage Party members and leading cadres to forge ahead and take responsibility, ensuring that those who truly work are rewarded, while those who resort to fraud have nowhere to hide, truly putting an end to "vanity projects" and "prestige projects" that waste labor and money.