Self-Reform: The Second Answer to Escaping the Historical Cycle of Rise and Fall

Content Summary

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the second plenary session of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee:

"Our Party has such a long history, such a vast scale, and has been in power for so long. How can we escape the historical cycle ^[1] of rise and fall, order and chaos? Comrade Mao Zedong gave the first answer in the loess caves of Yan'an ^[2]: 'Only by letting the people supervise the government will the government dare not slacken.' After a century of struggle, and especially through the new practices since the 18th National Congress of the Party, our Party has provided the second answer: self-revolution."

Escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall, order and chaos is a major political issue that the Communist Party of China must always resolve effectively. As the first work to explore the Party's self-revolution by integrating systematicity, academic rigor, and practical application, this book focuses on providing in-depth reflections from the perspective of the relationship between "self-revolution" and the "historical cycle." It conducts research and analysis around the scientific connotations, theoretical basis, successful practices, historical experiences, and main challenges of self-revolution, as well as its ethical consciousness, systemic construction, and strategic adherence. The intention is to systematically elucidate Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, strengthen the theoretical analysis of the historical exploration and contemporary practice of the Party’s self-revolution, and provide a profound answer to the way a century-old major Party can maintain its perennial vitality.

About the Authors

Zhen Zhanmin, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), member of the Advisory Committee of the Central Marxist Theoretical Research and Construction Project, and Vice President of the National Institution of Party Building Research.

Ye Xiaowen, Vice Chairman of the Committee on Culture, History and Study of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and former Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Central Institute of Socialism.

Chu Songyan, Director and Professor of the Department of Social and Ecological Civilization Education and Research at the Central Party School.

Dong Zhenhua, Deputy Director of the Department of Philosophy Education and Research at the Central Party School.

Shen Chuanliang, Deputy Director of the Research Office of the Central Party School.

Zhong Kaibin, Professor at the Emergency Management Training Center of the Central Party School.

Huang Xianghuai, Researcher at the科研部 (Scientific Research Department) of the Central Party School.

Tang Aijun, Professor at the School of Marxism of the Central Party School.