Chai Shangjin and An Yaqin: The Concept of Self-Revolution from the Perspective of the History of the International Communist Movement
Xi Jinping has pointed out: "To successfully conduct the great social revolution of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, our Party must have the courage to carry out self-revolution [1] and make the Party stronger and more powerful." Throughout the 170-plus years of the history of the international communist movement, Marxist parties have put scientific theory into practice, leading social revolution through self-revolution and carrying out the struggle against capitalism, thereby transforming socialism from theory into reality. For a Marxist party to achieve complete victory in the cause of socialism and realize long-term governance, it must remain true to its original aspiration and founding mission, comprehensively and strictly govern the Party, and carry self-revolution through to the end.
I. The Proletarian Party was Endowed with the Excellent Character of Self-Revolution by Marx and Engels at its Inception
Engels once pointed out: "To make a science of socialism, it had first to be placed upon a real basis." This "reality," viewed solely from the perspective of the social productive forces, refers to the state where large-scale mechanized industry gradually replaced manufacture [2] to become the dominant and mainstream mode of capitalist production, and where capitalist production increasingly took on the characteristics of truly socialized large-scale production. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels demonstrated the contradictory movement between the productive forces and the relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure in capitalist society. They established the theory of social revolution on the foundation of historical materialism, emphasizing that socialist revolution is the inevitable product of the development of the basic contradictions of capitalism to an irreconcilable point. It occurs when social development has reached a stage where existing productive forces can no longer coexist with the extant social system. From this, they concluded that the Industrial Revolution "is pregnant with a social revolution to be carried through by the proletariat," and that "the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable."
Revolution is a fundamental proposition and concept in the practice of the international communist movement. Classical Marxist writers believed that the subject of revolution is the proletariat or the working class; the task of revolution is to resolve the contradiction between capital and wage labor; the fundamental question of revolution is the question of state power; the function of revolution is to drive history forward; the goal of revolution is the liberation of the proletariat; and the mission of revolution is the ultimate establishment of an association of free individuals in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all," which is to say, the free development of man—human liberation. The 170-plus years of the international communist movement is a history in which Marxist parties have continuously led social revolution through self-revolution, moving socialism from scientific theory to a real-world system, from socialism in one country to socialism in multiple countries, and from construction toward reform.
"Revolution" in the vision of the international communist movement and Marxism refers to social revolution or political revolution. Marx noted: "Every revolution dissolves the old society; in so far as it is of this nature, it is social. Every revolution overthrows the old power; in so far as it is of this nature, it is political." He further observed: "At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or—this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms—with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution." Engels also pointed out: "A social revolution is the only true revolution; a political and philosophical revolution must lead to a social revolution." Marx additionally noted: "Any true revolution is a social revolution, because it brings a new class to power and allows this class to remodel society after its own image."
This implies that revolution refers not only to a change in government, but also to large-scale transformations or even fundamental reconstructions of the political, social, and economic order. In this sense, social revolution generally refers to the practical process of resolving contradictions between the productive forces and relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure, so that the essential powers of man can be progressively realized and fully developed. By founding historical materialism and the theory of surplus value, Marx and Engels formed the doctrine of proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, thereby moving socialism from utopia to science. Thereafter, the international communist movement acquired entirely new content and laws of development.
However, the social revolution in which the proletariat overthrows the bourgeoisie and socialism replaces capitalism does not succeed spontaneously. It requires an advanced, strong, and powerful proletarian party to lead the masses in carrying out a political revolution against the bourgeoisie. Marx and Engels argued that the contradiction between the socialization of production and the capitalist private ownership of the means of production manifests politically as the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and in the economic sphere as periodic economic crises. These two major contradictions cannot be resolved within the capitalist system; they can only be resolved when a proletarian party leads the proletariat through a political revolution to smash the old state machinery and establish a people's republic in which the working people are the masters of the country. For "the proletariat to be strong enough to win on the day of decision," it must "form a special party, separate from all others and opposed to them, a conscious class party." Therefore, while founding the theory of scientific socialism, Marx and Engels combined it with the practice of the workers' movement and set about creating a proletarian party.
Marx and Engels fought their entire lives to create a proletarian party. Immersed in the practice of the workers' movement, they proposed and solved a series of theoretical problems concerning the building of a proletarian party. In the 1830s and 40s, the struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie gradually shifted to new forms such as strikes, demonstrations, and armed uprisings. "Every class struggle is a political struggle." In their long struggle against capitalists, workers recognized the limitations of primitive forms of struggle targeted at individual capitalists—such as breaking machines or destroying factories—and began to unite, merging local struggles into national ones and developing the class struggle into a political struggle for workers' power. The Lyon workers' uprisings in France, the Chartist movement in Britain, and the Silesian weavers' uprising in Germany all took the form of people's democratic revolutions against bourgeois regimes. The working class gradually transformed from a "class in itself" to a "class for itself," stepping onto the stage of history as an independent political force.
As the depth and breadth of the European workers' struggle against capitalists grew, the class contradictions and struggle became increasingly intense. By this time, the working class was no longer satisfied with merely establishing trade unions to protect their specific interests, but demanded the creation of political organizations with an explicit character of class struggle. From the mid-1840s, Marx and Engels began the ideological and organizational preparations for party building. A decisive step occurred in February 1846, when they established the Communist Correspondence Committee in Brussels to propagate communism and strengthen ties with various socialist groups in countries like Britain, France, and Germany. Considering the actual conditions of the workers' movement, Marx and Engels decided to begin party building by transforming existing political organizations of workers. Among the many prominent workers' political organizations in Europe at the time were the League of Outlaws (founded in 1834), the League of the Just (founded in 1836), the Society of the Seasons (founded in France in 1837), and the National Charter Association (also known as the "Chartist Party," founded in Britain in 1840). Although these organizations had clear political tendencies against the bourgeoisie, they were not yet strictly proletarian parties armed with scientific theory. Engels explained the nature and characteristics of a new type of proletarian party, arguing that its uniqueness lay in being armed with advanced theory and uniting the working class so that the proletariat would recognize its own historical mission.
In early 1847, the League of the Just accepted the party-building proposals of Marx and Engels and invited them to participate in its reorganization. In July of the same year, the reorganization congress of the League of the Just was held secretly in London. Based on a proposal by Marx and Engels before the meeting, the congress decided to rename the League of the Just as the Communist League. The congress also discussed and adopted the draft Statutes of the Communist League, drafted primarily with Engels’ participation, which included regulations on organizational membership, guiding ideology, and modes of activity. Besides Germans, the Communist League recruited members from France, Britain, Poland, and Switzerland, and established branches in Paris, Switzerland, and several locations in Germany, thereby making the Communist League an internationalist Marxist party organization. Marx took up the task of drafting the League's program. Titled the Manifesto of the Communist Party, it was published in London in February 1848.
The Manifesto elucidated from all aspects what the Communist Party is, what it advocates, and what it opposes. It discussed the nature, characteristics, program, goals, and strategies of the Communist Party, laying the theoretical foundation for the doctrine of the proletarian party. The Manifesto was not only the program of the Communist League but also the first "detailed theoretical and practical party program" of a Marxist party. It profoundly clarified that the proletariat must establish its own party to achieve complete liberation. It elucidated the scientific Marxist worldview and the advanced qualities, political stance, lofty ideals, programmatic strategies, and internationalist spirit of the proletarian party. It not only provided profound discourse on the nature, tasks, and goals of the Communist Party but also fully embodied the revolutionary spirit of the proletarian party.
The Manifesto of the Communist Party and the Statutes of the Communist League are the founding works of the Marxist doctrine of the party. They contain an important thought: "The Communist revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional property relations; no wonder that its development involved the most radical rupture with traditional ideas." The immediate aim of Communists is the "formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat"; the ultimate goal is the abolition of private property and the establishment of a communist society. These "two radical ruptures" [3] and the immediate and ultimate goals imply that in the process of carrying out the social revolution to overthrow bourgeois rule and establish communism, Communists must break with old thoughts and concepts, and through self-revolution, forge themselves into new communist individuals.
The Manifesto emphasizes that the Communist Party is the party of the proletariat, the vanguard organization of the proletariat, and always represents the interests of the movement as a whole, having "no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole." Because the Communist Party represents the fundamental interests of the proletariat, centers on the people, and has no special interests of its own, the revolution led by Communists is thorough. They not only dare to make a radical rupture with all old social systems and ideological concepts and continuously carry out social revolution, but also have the courage for self-revolution—overcoming their own shortcomings under the supervision of the people. Through the Party’s self-revolution leading the social revolution, they achieve victory in socialist revolution, construction, and reform, ultimately realizing the liberation of all humanity and the communist ideal.
Once published, the Manifesto promoted the development of world socialism in practice and profoundly changed the course of human history. In the works of Marx and Engels, the concepts of "political revolution," "social revolution," and "philosophical revolution" are frequently used, while the specific term "self-revolution" (自我革命) never appears. However, they believed that the social revolution of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie is often promoted in tandem with the self-revolution of its leader—the Marxist party. Although self-revolution is the self-forging of the revolutionary subject, it remains rich in "revolutionary" meaning. Marx and Engels pointed out in The German Ideology: "For the practical materialist, i.e., the communist, the whole problem is to revolutionize the existing world, to practically come to grips with and change the things found in existence." Here, they used the concept of "revolution" primarily in the sense of transforming and changing the existing world. Communists are practical materialists; while transforming and changing the existing world that exists as an object, they also use revolutionary methods to renovate and transform the subject itself. That is to say, they change the objective world while also transforming the subjective world. In the early stages of the international communist movement, the main goal of Marx and Engels was to solve the theoretical and practical problems of establishing a proletarian party. Consequently, they did not directly propose the concept of "self-revolution" or a systematic theory of it, but their theories on revolution and the doctrine of the party provided scientific methods and basic principles for the self-revolution of the proletarian party.
II. Lenin’s Thoughts on the Party’s Self-Revolution Laid the Theoretical Foundation for the Building of Marxist Governing Parties
Lenin devoted a great deal of effort to creating a new type of proletarian party and Marxist ruling party. He systematically elucidated a series of theoretical issues, including the nature, program, strategy, organizational principles, and leadership of the new type of proletarian party, as well as people’s democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat. In particular, he comprehensively discussed the significance of self-revolution for such parties. After the Russian Bolsheviks came to power, Lenin continued to push forward Marx and Engels’ revolutionary concepts and governing visions under Russian conditions, constantly exploring the fundamental issues of ruling party building and creatively developing the Marxist party's ideology of self-revolution.
First, the proletarian party must attach high importance to ideological and theoretical building. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, capitalism developed into the era of imperialism, and the task of the proletariat seizing power was placed on the agenda. However, at that time, the revolutionary situation in Russia was complex; social trends such as trade unionism, anarchism, and Narodnism [4] were rampant. Ideological unity within the working-class party was lacking, factions were numerous, and the workers' movement lacked the scientific guidance of Marxism and the unified leadership of an advanced party. In this context, Lenin engaged in a resolute struggle against various bourgeois and petty-bourgeois trends of thought, emphasizing that the proletarian party must adhere to Marxism as its guide. He emphasized that Marxism is the latest achievement of social science, stating that "only the theory of revolutionary Marxism can be the banner of the working-class movement." The strength of the party lies in mastering theoretical weapons: "only a party guided by an advanced theory can realize the role of advanced fighters."
Second, the proletarian party must always maintain its advanced nature and purity. Lenin believed that after the proletariat stepped onto the stage of history, it established trade unions, cooperatives, cultural and educational organizations, and youth and women's groups, but it still required a most advanced organization to exercise unified political leadership—this organization is the proletarian party. The party is an advanced vanguard composed of the most conscious and active members of the working class; it is both a party representing the interests of the proletariat and a leading force directing the working class and laboring people in revolution and construction. The party's leading role in government agencies at all levels, people's organizations, and enterprises or public institutions is primarily realized through the activities of party organizations and the vanguard exemplary role of Communist Party members. To fulfill its role as a leader, the party must always maintain its advanced nature and purity. To this end, Lenin valued the quality of party members, emphasizing the need to establish strict conditions and procedures for party entry, actively recruiting advanced elements while remaining vigilant against those with impure motives. Simultaneously, he emphasized strengthening ideological education to purify the party ranks. Lenin stressed that the party must always maintain close ties with the masses; the vanguard can only fulfill its task when it does not become detached from the masses it leads and truly guides the entire population forward.
Third, the proletarian party must adhere to democratic centralism [5] and emphasize intra-Party democracy, criticism, and supervision. Lenin pointed out that to change the oppressed living conditions of the masses, the old exploitative system and regime must be overthrown, and "the proletariat has no other weapon in the struggle for power except organization." As an organized advanced detachment, the proletarian party implements the organizational principle of democratic centralism. On one hand, Lenin opposed the purely trade-unionist organizational traditions of former Social Democratic, Socialist, and Labor parties. He proposed creating a stable and continuous party organization with revolutionaries at its core, emphasizing that the party should be built according to the requirements of centralism and based on the Party Constitution. Meanwhile, he required that members must participate in a party organization and obey party resolutions. All responsible personnel and institutions within the party are to be elected, adhering to the principles of the minority obeying the majority, the part obeying the whole, and lower-level party organs obeying higher-level organs, while practicing freedom of discussion and unity of action. Lenin believed centralism provides the party with unified thought and will, enabling it to lead the proletariat in a conscious struggle. "Without the subordination of the minority to the majority, there can be no party that deserves the name of a workers' party." "To refuse to obey the leadership of the central organs is equivalent to refusing to remain in the party and destroying the party."
On the other hand, Lenin attached great importance to developing intra-Party democracy and proposed reorganizing the party based on democratic principles. Resolutions he presided over at party congresses required all party organs to implement universal elections, systems for reporting work, and supervision. He pointed out that the most important party issues should undergo extensive discussion before resolutions are passed, with collective formulation of party-wide decisions. He emphasized that the right of members to participate in deciding internal affairs must be respected to achieve intra-Party democracy. During the revolutionary period, Lenin emphasized centralism more heavily; after gaining power, he emphasized democracy more. In the history of the international communist movement, Lenin was the first to use the concept of "democratic centralism," clearly stating that the proletarian party must adhere to it and implement a system of collective leadership. Lenin also advocated for criticism and self-criticism within the party, believing that "within the scope of the principles of the party program, criticism should be completely free," "not only at party meetings but also at large mass meetings." That is to say, criticism should be based on the principles of the party program, and its degree of freedom must not violate the fundamental interests of the party and the masses. At the 11th Congress of the RCP(b) [6], Lenin pointed out: "The vanguard must not be afraid to engage in self-education and self-transformation, nor afraid to openly admit its lack of cultivation or ability." He also believed: "Self-criticism is absolutely necessary for any party that is vigorous and full of vitality." After the victory of the Russian October Revolution, the Bolshevik Party became the ruling party. For a ruling party, one of the most serious and terrifying dangers is becoming detached from the masses. Lenin proposed: "When parties become arrogant, it is often the prelude to failure and decline." Therefore, the proletarian party cannot afford complacency, nor can it be subjective, arbitrary, or blind in decision-making, as this leads to errors in party policies. Furthermore, Lenin was highly vigilant against bureaucracy within the party. He repeatedly warned ruling party members not to degenerate into bureaucrats standing high above the people: "Communists have become bureaucrats. If anything will destroy us, it is this." To overcome internal bureaucracy, Lenin valued intra-Party supervision, emphasizing that members must be placed under the strict supervision of discipline and law. He proposed establishing party supervisory organs, granting them authority and functions while maintaining the maximum degree of independence.
Finally, the proletarian party must have a tight organization and unified discipline. Organization entails discipline; for the party to shoulder its historical mission of realizing the fundamental interests of the people, it must be guaranteed by strict discipline. In this sense, iron discipline is the fundamental requirement for the proletarian party to realize the people's interests. Lenin clearly pointed out that the reason the RCP(b) was able to defeat sinister enemies and establish and consolidate Soviet power lay in "the unconditional centralism and extremely strict discipline of the proletariat." Modern party practice also proves that a party's organizational capacity is an important hallmark of its strength or decline. Tight organization and strict discipline are the guarantees of a strong party and are crucial to its survival. Many parties in the world, including some working-class parties with long histories that were once important political forces or ruling parties, were eventually abandoned by history. The fundamental reason is that they failed to build the party well, allowing it to become detached from the people and losing its function and role. In the early days of the RCP(b), party activities were often fragmented; various party cells often acted as they pleased, going their own way and becoming mired in endless squabbling. Lenin pointed out that "circle-spirit" [7] would only lead to the party becoming an "amorphous heap" of local organizations, deepening divisions and severely undermining unity. He believed that while strict discipline requires improving the disciplinary cultivation of communists, true execution requires establishing corresponding disciplinary organs and strictly handling members who violate discipline. Lenin emphasized that strict discipline is the fundamental way to restrain factional activities and prevent splits, ensuring the party's ideological, political, and organizational unity.
By struggling against "Left" and Right-wing erroneous tendencies, and through the practice of the Russian Revolution and governing, Lenin inherited and developed the revolutionary ideas of Marx and Engels. He proposed that a proletarian ruling party must adhere to its class nature and the principles of Party spirit [8], persist in the concept of being people-centered, maintain close ties with the masses, and govern for the people. He advocated for democratic centralism and democratic supervision in accordance with discipline and regulations. These efforts highlighted the characteristic of self-revolution and provided a theoretical basis for the scientific and democratic governance of Marxist parties.
III. Persisting in Self-Revolution is the Key to the Success or Failure of the Marxist Party Cause
In January 1924, Lenin passed away, and Stalin became the primary leader of Soviet Russia. The 14th Party Congress in December 1925 proposed the policy of socialist industrialization and changed the party's name to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (hereafter "CPSU"). Stalin inherited and applied Lenin's party-building thoughts. Amidst the warlike environment of imperialist encirclement, he strengthened the CPSU's comprehensive leadership over Soviet socialist modernization, enshrining the party's dominant position and leading role in all areas of social life through law. Regarding the relationship between party and state organs, social organizations, and economic departments, all major powers were concentrated in the party. The Soviets were limited to turning party resolutions into decrees, social organizations became "transmission belts" for the party to contact the masses, and the functions of state administration and economic management were replaced by corresponding departments established by the Party Central Committee. Democratic centralism in the operation of party and state power gradually buckled into extreme centralism. By purging the opposition through intra-party struggle, Stalin's theories, policies, and ideas occupied an absolutely dominant position, forming the "Stalin Model," which was elevated as the only correct model for the international communist movement and socialist construction. From Khrushchev's opposition to the cult of personality to Gorbachev's implementation of pluralistic reforms in ideology and politics, the goals were all directed at the highly centralized system formed during the Stalin era. Facts show that Stalin's practices regarding the building of the CPSU were significant for establishing the party's leadership and the leader’s personal authority, accelerating industrialization, and resisting German fascist aggression. However, erroneous behaviors such as suppressing differing opinions, ignoring intra-party democracy, undermining democratic centralism, and engaging in personal cults led the CPSU to become increasingly detached from the masses. Bureaucracy and privileged thinking proliferated, and the high concentration of power made these maladies difficult to reverse.
During Gorbachev's tenure as General Secretary, the CPSU pursued a line of "humane, democratic socialism." Political reforms of "democratization" and "glasnost" [9] replaced the ruling party's self-revolution. They promoted ideological pluralism and abandoned Marxism as the party's guiding ideology, proposing a multi-party system and abolishing the CPSU's role as the core of national leadership. In February 1990, the CPSU Central Committee proposed "all power to the Soviets," rescinding the CPSU's legal leadership status. Shortly thereafter, the Congress of People's Deputies amended the constitution, removing Article 6 regarding the CPSU's leadership role and stipulating that Soviet citizens had the right to organize political parties. On August 24, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary and announced the dissolution of the CPSU. Thus, a party that had existed for 93 years, ruled for 74 years, and possessed 19 million members—the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—completely disintegrated.
The communist parties and leaders of certain Eastern European countries applied the theory of the Marxist party’s self-revolution to different historical conditions, social environments, and practices of Party building. Consequently, through a difficult and tortuous path of socialist revolution and construction, these parties achieved the historical transformation from small to large, from weak to strong, and from revolutionary parties to ruling parties. However, because some parties emulated the governing model of the CPSU and relaxed the Party's self-revolution, they failed to withstand the erosion of Western liberal democratic values and quickly lost their status as ruling parties. As Marxist ruling parties that grew and developed through armed struggle, the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Workers' Party of Korea, the Communist Party of Cuba, and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party withstood these shocks and trials. Having learned from the lessons of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe [10], they have attached great importance to strengthening Party building. For many years, the Communist Party of Vietnam has placed high importance on Party building work, vigorously conducting the anti-corruption struggle, purifying the internal political ecosystem of the Party, and consolidating the Party's leading position. The Workers' Party of Korea has adopted "people-masses-first-ism" as its political philosophy, strengthening the "monolithic leadership system of the Party," and placing particular emphasis on the role of primary-level branches as fortresses while enforcing strict Party discipline and severely cracking down on bureaucracy and corruption within the Party. The Lao People's Revolutionary Party has continuously strengthened its own Party building and consistently improved the quality of Party members and cadres, maintaining the professional integrity of its cadre ranks. In its model innovation, Cuba has not abandoned the leadership of the Communist Party; by persisting in strictly governing the Party, the governing capacity and level of the Communist Party of Cuba have continuously improved.
The history of the international communist movement proves that the fundamental and crucial factor for the prosperity of the proletarian cause lies in having a strong Marxist party; self-revolution is the key to the victory of the social revolution led by the Party. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe occurred under conditions where the leadership of the Communist Party was abandoned. These painful lessons tell us that for a proletarian ruling party to remain prosperous and enduring, it must firmly ensure that the nature of the Marxist party does not change color, maintain its ideological strongholds without relaxation, and uphold the Party’s leading position without wavering. It must persist in combining the social revolution led by the Party with the Party’s self-revolution, and combine the Party's comprehensive leadership with its comprehensive construction, persisting in self-revolution without stopping to forever preserve the true character of a Marxist party.
IV. Self-Revolution Explores a New Path for the Long-term Governance of Marxist Parties
From the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has been committed to achieving national prosperity, national rejuvenation, and the people's happiness. The Party's early programs stipulated: "All words and actions of Communists must have as their highest standard that they conform to the greatest interests of the broadest masses of the people and are supported by the broadest masses of the people." The people-centered stance—taking the interests of the people as the fundamental interest of the Party—has run through every stage of the Party's revolution, construction, reform, and the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, fully embodying the Party's advanced nature. Integrating Marxist-Leninist doctrines on the party with China's reality and the specific practices of CPC building, Mao Zedong and other revolutionaries of the older generation persisted in self-revolution throughout over a century of struggle, continuously advancing the great project of Party building.
The program of the First National Congress of the CPC solemnly proposed: "The fundamental political goal of the Party is to implement social revolution," and "the goal of Communists is to create a new society according to Communist ideals." In the harsh struggle environment of the New Democratic Revolution period [11], Chinese Communists persisted in their Communist ideals and beliefs, remained true to the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, dared to struggle, were courageous in sacrifice, and maintained flesh-and-blood ties with the masses at all times. Simultaneously, alongside the completion of the social revolutionary task of overthowing the "three big mountains" [12] of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism to establish a New China where the people are masters of their own affairs, the CPC always governed the Party with strict discipline. It established and improved democratic centralism, resolutely purged corrupt and renegade elements from within the Party, and always maintained the Party's vitality. By continuously leading the great social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, it ultimately achieved victory in the New Democratic Revolution, transforming the CPC from a revolutionary party into a party with comprehensive governance over the world's most populous country.
With the founding of the People's Republic of China, the CPC faced the new historical task and mission of comprehensive governance, which placed new requirements on the Party's own quality. While affirming that the CPC is the leading force advancing the socialist cause, Mao Zedong also proposed requirements for strengthening Party building and enhancing the Party's own quality. First, he emphasized establishing a mass perspective, taking the wholehearted service of the people's interests as the starting point and goal of the Party's work. He pointed out: "Another hallmark distinguishing us Communists from any other political party is that we possess the closest ties with the broadest masses of the people." "In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership is necessarily 'from the masses, to the masses.'" In November 1956, at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong proposed carrying out a rectification movement [13] throughout the Party. Through rectifying conduct and enforcing discipline, the CPC effectively solved the problem of bureaucratism and alienation from the masses that appeared in the early period of governance, further strengthening the relationship between the Party and the masses. Second, it was necessary to uphold the Party's leadership, implement democratic centralism, strictly enforce Party discipline, and improve the Party's own quality and governing level through democratic supervision and criticism and self-criticism. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Dust will accumulate if a house is not cleaned regularly; our faces will get dirty if they are not washed regularly. Our comrades' minds and our Party's work may also collect dust, and they also need sweeping and washing." Facing the increasingly prominent contradictions among the people, Mao Zedong, in On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, proposed the political formula of "unity—criticism—unity"; the economic principle of "overall planning and all-round consideration, with proper arrangements"; the scientific and cultural policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" [14]; and the principle of "long-term coexistence and mutual supervision" in handling the relationship between the Communist Party and democratic parties. These principles and policies further elucidated the concepts of how to properly handle contradictions among the people and achieve scientific and democratic governance by the Party. Finally, he emphasized the construction of socialist democracy and the legal system. Drawing profound lessons from the CPSU's high concentration of power and its engagement in the cult of personality, Mao Zedong proposed further strengthening people's democracy and the construction of the legal system, asserting that all state organs and personnel must strictly abide by the law and maintain the authority and dignity of the law.
After the basic completion of China's socialist transformation, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, reflected on the flaws of the Soviet model. In response to the "Left" [15] ideological trends that once appeared within the Party, they proposed the Party building concept that the "Party must exercise self-governance" and "strictly govern the Party." In 1962, at a national work conference on organizational affairs, Deng Xiaoping clearly stated: "The Party must exercise self-governance; first over Party members, and second over cadres." Under the historical conditions of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to the ideological and organizational construction of the Party. Addressing the significant losses brought to the CPC by the ten years of turmoil during the "Cultural Revolution," he re-established the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, carried out "bringing order out of chaos" [16] organizationally, redressed unjust, false, and wrong cases, and proposed purifying the Party ranks. This achieved another major turning point in the Party's history and reflected the CPC's conscious persistence in self-revolution. The report of the 13th National Congress of the CPC proposed that "the Party must be governed strictly," the 14th National Congress wrote "persisting in strictly governing the Party" into the General Program of the Party Constitution, and the 16th National Congress wrote "the Party must exercise self-governance and strictly govern the Party" into the Party Constitution. These innovative theories further enriched and developed the Marxist doctrine on the party.
As the world's largest Marxist ruling party, how can the CPC successfully escape the historical cycle of rise and fall [17] and ensure the Party never changes its nature, its color, or its character? This is a strategic question facing all comrades in the Party. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, in the great practice of advancing the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, has continuously engaged in practical exploration and theoretical reflection. Building upon the "first answer" given by Mao Zedong—"letting the people supervise the government"—they have provided the "second answer," which is to continuously advance the Party's self-revolution. The essence of self-revolution is to eliminate all factors that harm the Party's advanced nature and purity, enabling the Party to continuously achieve self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement. In February 2017, at the opening of a seminar for primary provincial and ministerial-level leading cadres, Xi Jinping pointed out: "The courage to conduct self-revolution is the most distinctive character and the greatest advantage of our Party." He also emphasized: "A strong political party is forged through self-revolution. Reviewing the Party's history, our Party has always had the courage to promote self-revolution while promoting social revolution, always persisting in the truth and correcting errors, daring to face problems and overcome shortcomings, and possessing the courage to 'scrape the bone to remove poison' [18] and 'cut away the rot to allow new flesh to grow.' Precisely because our Party has always persisted in doing so, it has been able to find a way out of desperate situations in times of crisis and bring order out of chaos after mistakes, becoming an indestructible Marxist party that cannot be crushed." "Our Party must have the courage to conduct self-revolution to build the Party into one that is even stronger and more powerful." In a series of important speeches at the 20th National Congress of the CPC and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xi Jinping summarized the successful practice of the Party's self-revolution in the New Era. He profoundly explained the necessity and importance of self-revolution for governing the Party and escaping the historical cycle in the New Era, systematically answering major questions such as why the CPC must conduct self-revolution, why it can conduct self-revolution, and how to advance self-revolution. This further deepened the regular understanding of building a long-term governing Marxist party. Xi Jinping's important thought on Party building is the latest achievement of integrating Marxist party doctrine with contemporary Chinese reality, providing a fundamental following for upholding the Party's comprehensive leadership, strengthening Party building, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era.
There are more than 5,000 political parties in the world, yet only dozens have a history of over a century, and large parties like the CPC, which has a history of over a hundred years and has governed continuously nationwide for more than 70 years, are even fewer. Why has the CPC been able to remain standing despite hardships and repeated shocks, and achieve long-term governance in the world's most populous country? An important reason is that the CPC has the courage for self-revolution, turning the blade inward to solve its own problems, ensuring that the Party's advanced nature does not change color and its combat effectiveness does not diminish. Xi Jinping pointed out that governing the Party strictly is the most distinctive character of the CPC; the courage for self-revolution is an important reason for the CPC's continuous development and growth, and is the key to the CPC's enduring vitality and its ability to move from victory to victory. Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is the great practice of the Party's self-revolution in the New Era, opening up a new realm for the construction of a Marxist party. The CPC's ideology of self-revolution providing a beneficial reference for Marxist parties worldwide. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, many communist parties in the world were for a time ideologically confused and theoretically muddled. With a lack of internal ideological unity and external influence from populism, it was difficult for them to propose policies and propositions that conformed to their domestic realities and gained the people's support; thus, the parties lacked attraction. After long-term reflection and exploration, they began to draw lessons from the CPC's theoretical innovation and Party building experience, attaching importance to the Party's theoretical and organizational construction. The ruling parties of socialist countries such as Vietnam, Cuba, and Laos persist in taking anti-corruption as a top task for maintaining the Party's ruling status and vitality, with zero tolerance for corruption. To enhance its own cohesion and combat effectiveness, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has continuously strengthened the Party's organizational construction. In recent party congresses, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation proposed further strengthening its own construction, particularly the construction of the Party's ranks and the cultivation of young members, reinforcing the Party's role as a class core. The Communist Party of Brazil emphasizes the need to update its mass line and Party-building line to maintain close ties between the Party and the masses. In its process of joint governance with the ANC, the South African Communist Party has always emphasized using the Party's political line to constrain and influence the governance behavior of the ANC government, requiring Party members serving in governments and parliaments at all levels to strictly abide by political discipline and to publicly express their opinions and viewpoints according to the position of the South African Communist Party in parliamentary and government decision-making. Because these parties have drawn upon the CPC's experience of self-revolution and gradually attached importance to Party building, their strength has developed steadily and their influence has gradually expanded.
The Communist Party of China (CPC), as the world’s largest Marxist governing party, is deeply aware that its governing status is not permanent [19]. Rather, it consistently faces the danger of becoming detached from the masses; if the Party's nature of serving the people were to change, it would lose the hearts of the people and, consequently, lose political power. While the CPC possesses the immense advantage of being able to accomplish great undertakings and establish monumental achievements, it also faces unique challenges in governing the Party and the country. How to consistently remain true to the original aspiration and founding mission; how to consistently unify thought, will, and action; how to consistently possess formidable governing capacity and leadership prowess; how to consistently maintain a spirited state for entrepreneurship and professional endeavor; how to consistently be able to discover and resolve its own internal problems in a timely manner; and how to consistently maintain a clean and upright political ecosystem—these are all unique challenges [20] facing the CPC. "Solving the unique challenges of a large party will inevitably be a long-term and arduous process; this dictates that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is always on the road, and the Party’s self-revolution is always on the road." On the journey of the New Era, we must profoundly grasp the fundamental nature of the Party and the evolving developments of the Party's internal situation. From the strategic height of ensuring the Party’s long-term governance, the country’s enduring peace and stability, and the people’s happiness and well-being, we must treat comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as a long-term strategy and an eternal task. We must consistently adhere to a problem-oriented approach, maintain the people's standpoint, uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, and persist in a systems perspective [21]. With the political consciousness that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and self-revolution are always on the road, we must persist in the truth and correct errors, discover problems and rectify deviations, and carry the Party's self-revolution through to the end with tenacity and perseverance.
(Author affiliations: Chai Shangjin, Research Center of the Contemporary World, International Department of the CPC Central Committee; An Yaqin, Department of CPC History Teaching and Research, Party School of the CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee)
Online Editor: Tongxin Source: Contemporary World and Socialism, Issue 2, 2024