Chai Shangjin and An Yaqin: Perspectives on Self-Revolution from the History of the International Communist Movement
Xi Jinping pointed out: “To properly carry out 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] to make the Party stronger and more forceful.” Looking across the 170-plus years of the history of the international communist movement, Marxist parties have put scientific theory into practice, led social revolutions through self-revolution, and conducted the struggle against capitalism, transforming socialism from theory into reality. For Marxist parties to achieve complete victory in the cause of socialism and realize long-term governance, they must maintain their 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.” The so-called “reality,” viewed solely from the perspective of the social productive forces, refers to the state where large-scale machine industry gradually replaced manufacture [2] to become the dominant and mainstream mode of capitalist production, and 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 relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure in capitalist society. They established the theory of social revolution upon the foundation of historical materialism, emphasizing that socialist revolution is the inevitable product of the development of the fundamental contradictions of capitalism to an irreconcilable point. It is a stage of social development where the existing productive forces can no longer coexist with the existing social system. From this, they concluded that the Industrial Revolution “was generating a social revolution conducted 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 that of state power, the function of revolution is to act as the locomotive of history, the goal of revolution is the liberation of the proletariat, and the mission of revolution is the eventual establishment of an association of free individuals in which “the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all”—that is, the free development of man, or human liberation. The 170-plus years of the history of the international communist movement is a history of Marxist parties using self-revolution to continuously lead social revolution, moving socialism from scientific theory toward a real system, from socialism in one country toward socialism in multiple countries, and from construction toward reform.
In the vision of the international communist movement and Marxism, “revolution” refers to social revolution or political revolution. Marx noted: “Every revolution dissolves the old society; in so far as it does this, it is social. Every revolution overthrows the old power; in so far as it does this, it is political.” “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 real revolution, and political and philosophical revolutions must lead to social revolution.” Marx further noted: “Any true revolution is a social revolution, because it brings a new class to power and allows this class to remodel society according to its own image.” This means that revolution refers not only to the change of regimes; large-scale transformations or even the fundamental reconstruction of political, social, and economic orders also fall within the scope of revolution. In this sense, social revolution generally refers to the practical process of resolving the contradictions between the productive forces and relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure, thereby allowing the essential powers of man to be gradually realized and fully developed. By founding historical materialism and the theory of surplus value, Marx and Engels formed the doctrines of proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, thereby moving socialism from utopia to science. Thereafter, the international communist movement possessed 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 automatically. It requires an advanced, strong, and forceful proletarian party to lead the masses in carrying out a political revolution against the bourgeoisie. Marx and Engels believed 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 framework of capitalism; they can only be resolved by a proletarian party leading the proletariat through a political revolution to smash the old state machine 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, distinct from all other parties and opposed to them, a conscious class party.” Therefore, while founding the theory of scientific socialism, Marx and Engels simultaneously integrated scientific socialist theory with the practice of the workers' movement and set about creating a proletarian party.
Marx and Engels struggled their entire lives to create a proletarian party. They immersed themselves in the practice of the workers' movement, proposing and solving a series of theoretical problems in 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 struggling against individual capitalists and of primitive forms of struggle such as breaking machines or destroying factories. They began to move toward association, merging local struggles into national ones and developing class struggle into a political struggle for workers’ power. The contemporary Lyon workers’ uprisings in France, the Chartist movement in Britain, and the Silesian weavers’ uprising in Germany all took the form of a people’s democratic revolution against bourgeois regimes. The working class gradually moved from being a “class in itself” toward a “class for itself,” beginning to take the stage of history as an independent political force. As the depth and breadth of the European workers' struggle against capitalists continued to develop, the class contradictions and struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie became increasingly fierce. At this time, the working class was no longer satisfied with merely establishing trade union organizations to protect its own interests, but demanded the establishment of political organizations with distinct class struggle characteristics.
From the mid-1840s, Marx and Engels began the ideological and organizational preparations for party building. A decisive step was taken in February 1846, when they established the Communist Correspondence Committee in Brussels to propagate communism and strengthen links with various socialist groups in countries such as Britain, France, and Germany. Considering the actual conditions of the workers' movement, Marx and Engels decided to begin party-building work by transforming existing workers' political organizations. Among the numerous workers' political organizations in European countries such as Britain, France, and Germany at that time, the more famous ones included the League of the Outlaws [3] (established in 1834), the League of the Just (established in 1836), the Society of the Seasons [4] (established in 1837 in France), and the National Charter Association (also known as the “Chartist Party,” established in 1840 in Britain). Although these workers' 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, believing its uniqueness lay in the fact that it should be armed with advanced theory and unite the working class so that the proletariat recognizes its own historical mission.
In early 1847, the League of the Just accepted Marx and Engels’ suggestions on party building and invited them to participate in the reorganization of the League. In July of the same year, the reorganization congress of the League of the Just was held secretly in London. Based on Marx and Engels’ prior proposal, the congress decided to rename the League of the Just the Communist League. The congress also discussed and adopted the draft statutes of the Communist League, which were primarily drafted with Engels’ participation; these statutes included regulations regarding the organization’s membership, guiding ideology, and modes of activity. In addition to Germans, the Communist League recruited French, British, Polish, and Swiss members, and established branches in Paris, Switzerland, and parts of Germany, thereby making the Communist League a Marxist party organization with an international character. Marx took up the pen to complete the drafting of the League’s program. The program was titled the Manifesto of the Communist Party and was published in London in February 1848.
The Manifesto of the Communist Party clarified from all aspects what the Communist Party is, what it advocates, and what it opposes. It discussed the nature, characteristics, program, goals, and tactics 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 for the proletariat to achieve complete liberation, it must establish its own party. It elucidated the scientific Marxist worldview and the advanced qualities, political stance, lofty ideals, programmatic tactics, and internationalist spirit of the proletarian party. It not only contained profound discussions 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 on the party. They contain an important idea: “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 goal of the 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. The aforementioned “two radical ruptures” and the immediate and ultimate goals imply that in carrying out the social revolution to overthrow bourgeois rule and establish communism, Communists must rupture with old thoughts and old concepts, and through self-revolution, forge themselves into new communist people.
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; they “have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole.” Because the Communist Party represents the fundamental interests of the proletariat, is people-centered, and has no special interests of its own, the revolution led by Communists is thorough. They not only dare to make a complete rupture with all old social systems and ideological concepts to continuously carry out social revolution, but also have the courage for self-revolution. Under the supervision of the people, they overcome their own deficiencies, leading the social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution to achieve victory in socialist revolution, construction, and reform, ultimately realizing the liberation of all humanity and the communist ideal. Once the Manifesto was published, it practically advanced the development of world socialism 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” (ziwo geming) does not appear. However, they believed that the social revolution of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie is often promoted in synthesis with the self-revolution of its leader—the Marxist party. Although self-revolution is the self-forging of the revolutionary subject, it remains rich with the meaning of “revolution.” 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 renew and transform the subject self—that is, they change the objective world while simultaneously transforming the subjective world. In the early stages of the international communist movement, Marx and Engels’ primary goal was to solve the theoretical and practical problems facing the establishment of a proletarian party; thus, they did not directly propose the concept of “self-revolution” or a systematic ideology of self-revolution. However, their theory of revolution and doctrine of the party provided the scientific method and fundamental 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 immense effort to creating a new type of proletarian party and a Marxist governing party. He systematically elucidated a series of theoretical issues—the nature, program, tactics, organizational principles, and leadership of a new type of proletarian party, as well as people’s democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat. In particular, he comprehensively expounded upon the profound significance of self-revolution for a new type of proletarian party and a Marxist governing party. After the Russian Bolshevik Party seized power, Lenin continued to advance the revolutionary concepts and governing visions of Marx and Engels regarding the Communist Party within the specific conditions of Russia. He continued to explore basic questions of building a governing party and creatively developed the Marxist idea of party self-revolution.
First, a proletarian party must attach high importance to ideological and theoretical building. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, capitalism entered 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 [5] were surging; the working-class party lacked internal ideological unity and was rife with factions; and the workers' movement lacked both the scientific guidance of Marxism and the unified leadership of an advanced party. Against this backdrop, Lenin waged a resolute struggle against various bourgeois and petty-bourgeois trends of thought, emphasizing that the proletarian party must persist in taking Marxism as its guide. He stressed that Marxism was the latest achievement of the social sciences: "Only the theory of revolutionary Marxism can be the banner of the class movement of the workers." The strength of the Party lies in its mastery of theoretical weapons: "The role of vanguard fighter can be fulfilled only by a party that is guided by the most advanced theory."
Second, a 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; however, it still required a most advanced organization to exercise unified political leadership—and this organization is the proletarian party. The Party is an advanced contingent composed of those with the highest degree of consciousness and initiative within the working class. It is both a political party representing the interests of the proletariat and the leading force heading the working class and the laboring people in revolution and construction. The Party's leading role in government agencies at all levels, people’s organizations, enterprises, and public institutions is realized primarily through the activities of Party organizations and the vanguard exemplary role of Communist Party members. To exercise its role as leader, the Party must always maintain its own 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 develop advanced elements into the Party, and guard against those with impure motives from infiltrating the Party. Concurrently, he emphasized strengthening the ideological education of members and purifying the Party ranks to consistently maintain its advanced nature and purity. Lenin stressed that the Party must always maintain close ties with the masses [6], for the vanguard can only fulfill its tasks when it does not become detached from the masses it leads and truly guides the entire mass of people forward.
Third, a proletarian party must persist in democratic centralism and value intra-Party democracy as well as intra-Party criticism and supervision. Lenin pointed out that to change the oppressed living conditions of the broad masses, the old exploitative system and political power must be overthrown, and "in its struggle for power the proletariat has no other weapon but organization." As an organized advanced detachment, the proletarian party implements the organizational principle of democratic centralism. On one hand, Lenin opposed the purely union-style organizational traditions of former Social Democratic, Socialist, and Labor parties. He proposed creating stable and continuous Party organizations with revolutionaries as the core, emphasizing the construction of Party organizations according to the requirements of centralism and based on the Party Constitution. Simultaneously, he required that Party members must participate in a Party organization and obey Party resolutions; all responsible personnel and institutions within the Party were to be elected; the principle of the minority obeying the majority, the part obeying the whole, and lower Party organs obeying higher Party organs was to be maintained; and the Party should practice freedom of discussion alongside unity of action. Lenin believed that centralism enables the Party to possess unified thought and a unified will, allowing it to lead the proletariat in a conscious struggle. "Without the submission of the minority to the majority, there can be no party at all that is in any way worthy of the name of a workers' party." "To refuse to submit to the leadership of the central bodies is tantamount to refusing to remain in the Party, it is tantamount to destroying the Party."
On the other hand, Lenin attached great importance to developing intra-Party democracy and proposed the idea of reorganizing the Party using democratic principles. Resolutions he presided over at Party Congresses required all Party organs to implement a system of universal elections, work reports, and supervision. He pointed out that the most important issues within the Party should undergo extensive discussion before a resolution is passed, with the entire Party collectively formulating resolutions. He emphasized that the rights of Party members to participate in deciding Party affairs must be respected to achieve intra-Party democracy. During the revolutionary period, Lenin emphasized centralism more; after seizing power, he emphasized democracy more. In the history of the international communist movement, Lenin was the first to use the concept of "democratic centralism" and clearly stated that the proletarian party must persist in democratic centralism and implement a system of collective leadership. Lenin also advocated for the practice of criticism and self-criticism within the Party, believing: "Within the limits of the principles of the Party program, criticism should be completely free," and "this holds good not only for Party meetings, but also for public meetings." That is to say, criticism should be established on the basis of the Party program’s principles, and its degree of freedom must not violate the fundamental interests of the Party and the broad masses. At the 11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Lenin pointed out: "The vanguard must not be afraid to educate itself and remodel itself, must not be afraid to admit openly that it is not sufficiently prepared and lacks the necessary skill." He also believed that "self-criticism is absolutely necessary for any party that is alive and vital." After the victory of the October Revolution in Russia, the Bolshevik Party became the governing party. For a governing party, one of the most serious and terrifying dangers is becoming detached from the masses. Lenin proposed: "Some parties have the possibility of becoming conceited, which is often the prelude to defeat and decline." Therefore, a proletarian party cannot harbor sentiments of arrogance and complacency, nor can it be subjective, arbitrary, or make blind decisions, as this easily leads to errors in the Party’s principles and policies. Furthermore, Lenin was highly vigilant against bureaucratism within the Party. He repeatedly warned members of the governing party not to degenerate into bureaucrats standing high above the people: "The Communists have become bureaucrats. If anything is going to destroy us, it is that." To overcome intra-Party bureaucratism, Lenin valued intra-Party supervision work, emphasizing that Party members must be placed under strict supervision of discipline and law. He proposed establishing Party inspection organs, granting them a certain prestige and authority, and maintaining their independence to the greatest extent possible.
Finally, a proletarian party must have disciplined organization and unified discipline. Organization is discipline; for the Party to shoulder the historical mission of realizing the fundamental interests of the people, it must be guaranteed by strict discipline. In this sense, strict discipline is a fundamental requirement for the proletarian party to realize the interests of the people. Lenin once clearly stated that the reason the RCP(B) was able to defeat its sinister enemies and establish and consolidate Soviet power was "the absolute centralization and the strictest discipline of the proletariat." Modern party political practice also proves that a party’s organizational capacity is a major hallmark for measuring its strength or weakness, rise or fall. Rigorous organization and iron discipline are the powerful guarantees of a political party and important reasons for its survival or demise. Many political parties in the world, including some working-class parties, possessed long histories and were once important domestic political forces or governing parties, yet were eventually abandoned by history. The fundamental reason lies in their failure to build the party well, allowing the party to become detached from the people and lose its function and utility. In the early days of the RCP(B), Party activities were often decentralized; Party cells often acted on their own, followed their own courses, and frequently fell into endless squabbles. Lenin pointed out that this "circle habit" would only lead to the Party becoming an "amorphous collection" of local organizations, deepening splits and severely undermining Party unity. He believed that while strict Party discipline certainly requires enhancing the disciplinary cultivation of Communist members, for discipline to be strictly enforced, it is also necessary to establish corresponding disciplinary enforcement organs and strictly handle members who violate discipline. Lenin emphasized that strict Party discipline must be the fundamental way to constrain internal factional activities and prevent Party splits, ensuring the Party's ideological, political, and organizational unity.
In his struggles against "Left" and Right-leaning erroneous thoughts, and through the practice of the Russian Revolution and the governing practice of the proletarian party, Lenin inherited and developed the revolutionary ideas of Marx and Engels. He proposed that the proletarian governing party must persist in the Party’s class character and its Party spirit [7] principles; persist in the concepts of being people-centered, maintaining close ties with the masses, and governing for the people; and persist in principles such as democratic centralism and democratic supervision in accordance with discipline and regulations. He highlighted the characteristic of Party self-revolution, providing a theoretical basis for the Marxist party to govern scientifically and democratically.
III. Persisting in Self-Revolution is the Key to the Success or Failure of the Marxist Party’s Cause
In January 1924, Lenin passed away, and Stalin became the primary leader of Soviet Russia. In December 1925, the 14th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) proposed the policy of socialist industrialization and changed the party's name to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (hereafter referred to as the CPSU). Stalin inherited and applied Lenin's Party-building thought. Under the wartime environment of imperialist encirclement, he strengthened the CPSU’s comprehensive leadership over the Soviet Union's socialist modernization and codified into law the CPSU’s dominant status and leading role in all areas of social life. 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, and social organizations became "transmission belts" for the Party to contact the masses. The functions of state administrative organs and economic management departments were replaced by corresponding departments established by the Party Central Committee. The democratic centralism in the operation of Party and state power gradually morphed into extreme centralism. Through intra-Party struggles and the elimination of the opposition, Stalin’s theories, policies, and propositions occupied an absolutely dominant position, forming the "Stalin Model" and elevating it as the only correct model for the international communist movement and socialist construction across countries. From Khrushchev’s opposition to the cult of personality to Gorbachev’s push for pluralistic reforms in the guiding ideology and political spheres, the targets were all directed at the highly centralized system formed during the Stalin era. Facts show that Stalin’s practices regarding the construction of the CPSU as a governing party were significant for establishing the CPSU’s leading position and the personal authority of the leader, accelerating Soviet industrialization, and resisting German fascist aggression. However, his erroneous behaviors—such as suppressing differing opinions, disregarding intra-Party democracy, undermining democratic centralism, and engaging in the cult of personality—led to the CPSU becoming increasingly detached from the masses. Bureaucratism and privilege-seeking thoughts proliferated within the Party, and the high concentration of power made these maladies deeply entrenched and difficult to reverse.
During Gorbachev's tenure as General Secretary, the CPSU pursued a line of "humane, democratic socialism." It replaced the self-revolution of the governing party with political reforms centered on "democratization" and "glasnost" (openness), promoted ideological pluralism, and abandoned Marxism as the Party’s guiding ideology. It proposed implementing a multi-party system and abolished the CPSU’s role as the core of national leadership. In February 1990, the CPC Central Committee proposed that "all power belongs to the Soviets," abolishing the CPSU’s statutory leading status. Shortly thereafter, the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union amended the constitution, removing Article 6 concerning the leading status of the CPSU and stipulating that Soviet citizens had the right to organize political parties. On August 24, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and announced the self-dissolution of the CPSU. Thus, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—a party with 93 years of history, 74 years in power, and 19 million members—completely disintegrated.
Communist parties and their leaders in some Eastern European countries applied the Marxist theory of party self-revolution to different era conditions, social environments, and Party-building practices. Through this, these parties achieved the historical transformation from small to large, from weak to strong, and from revolutionary parties to governing parties on the arduous and tortuous path of socialist revolution and construction. However, because some parties emulated the CPSU’s governing model and relaxed the Party's self-revolution, they failed to withstand the erosion of Western liberal-democratic values and quickly lost their governing status. As a Marxist governing party that grew and developed from armed struggle...
—The Communist Party of Vietnam, the Workers' Party of Korea, the Communist Party of Cuba, and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party survived the shocks and trials [of the late 20th century]; having absorbed the lessons of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, they attach great importance to strengthening Party building. For many years, the Communist Party of Vietnam has highly valued Party building work, vigorously conducting the anti-corruption struggle and purifying the internal political ecosystem of the Party, thereby consolidating the Party’s leading position. The Workers' Party of Korea has adopted "the people-masses-first principle" as its political philosophy, strengthening the "monolithic leadership system of the Party." It places particular emphasis on leveraging the fortress-like role of primary-level branches while strictly enforcing Party discipline and severely cracking down on bureaucratism and corruption within the Party. The Lao People's Revolutionary Party continuously strengthens its own Party building and consistently improves the quality of its Party members and cadres, maintaining an honest and upright cadre force. Cuba, while innovating its model, has not abandoned the leadership of the Communist Party; it persists in strictly governing the Party, leading to a continuous improvement in the Communist Party of Cuba’s ability and level of governance.
The history of the international communist movement proves that for the proletarian cause to thrive and prosper, the most fundamental and critical factor is having a strong Marxist party. Self-revolution is the key to the Party leading the social revolution to victory. 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 if a proletarian governing party is to remain perennially strong, it must firmly ensure that the nature of the Marxist party does not change color, remain unswerving in its hold on the Party’s ideological front, and stay unshakable in the Party’s leading position. It must persist in integrating the social revolution led by the Party with the Party’s self-revolution, and combine the Party's comprehensive leadership with comprehensive building. It must persist in self-revolution without stopping, thus eternally preserving the true character of a Marxist party.
IV. Self-Revolution Explores a New Path for the Long-Term Governance of Marxist Parties
Since 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 the maximum interest of the broadest masses of the people and the support of 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. Combining Chinese reality with the specific practice of building the CPC, the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries, including Mao Zedong, applied and developed the Marxist-Leninist theory of the Party. Through more than a century of struggle, they persisted in self-revolution and continuously advanced the Great Project of Party building.
The program of the First National Congress of the CPC solemnly proposed: "The fundamental political purpose of the Party is to implement social revolution," and "the goal of Communists is to create a new society according to the ideals of Communists." In the harsh struggle environment of the New Democratic Revolution period [8], Chinese Communists persisted in their communist ideals and beliefs, upheld the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, dared to struggle, were willing to sacrifice, and maintained a flesh-and-blood connection with the masses at all times. Meanwhile, alongside the completion of the social revolution tasks of orverthrowing the "three big mountains" of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism [9] and establishing the New China where the people are masters of their own affairs, the CPC always managed and governed the Party with strict discipline. It established and perfected democratic centralism, resolutely purged corrupt and degenerate elements from within the Party, and consistently maintained the Party's vitality. By using the Party’s self-revolution to continuously lead the great social revolution, the CPC ultimately achieved victory in the New Democratic Revolution, transforming from a revolutionary party into a party exercising comprehensive governance in 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 demands 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 improving the Party's own quality. First, he emphasized establishing a mass viewpoint, taking the wholehearted service to the interests of the people 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 maintain the closest contact 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 Central Committee of the Party, Mao Zedong proposed launching a rectification movement throughout the whole Party. Through rectification of style and discipline, the CPC effectively solved the problem of bureaucratism and detachment 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 persist in Party leadership, implement democratic centralism, and enforce strict Party discipline. Through democratic supervision, criticism, and self-criticism, the Party's own quality and governance level were improved. Mao Zedong noted: "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 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 formula of "unity—criticism—unity" politically; "overall planning and all-round consideration" economically; "let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" in science, culture, and art; and "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 the Party's scientific and democratic governance. Finally, importance was placed on socialist democracy and the construction of the legal system. Mao Zedong, drawing profound lessons from the Soviet Communist Party's high concentration of power and its engagement in the cult of personality, proposed further strengthening the building of people's democracy and the legal system, asserting that all state organs and staff must strictly abide by the law and safeguard its authority and dignity. After the basic completion of China's socialist transformation, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, reflected on the defects of the Soviet model. In response to the "Left" [10] ideological trends that once appeared within the Party, they proposed the Party building concepts that the Party must manage itself and strictly govern the Party. In 1962, Deng Xiaoping clearly stated at a national organizational work conference: "The Party must manage the Party: first, manage the members; second, manage the cadres."
Under the historical conditions of Reform and Opening-up, Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to the Party’s ideological and organizational building. Addressing the heavy losses brought to the CPC by the decade of turmoil during the "Cultural Revolution," he re-established the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, initiated the "rectification of deviations" (拨乱反正) [11] organizationally, rehabilitated those involved in unjust, false, and mistaken cases, and proposed purifying the Party's ranks. This achieved another great turning point in the Party's history and reflected the CPC’s consciousness in persisting in self-revolution. The report of the 13th National Congress of the Party proposed that "we must strictly govern the Party"; 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 manage itself and strictly govern the Party" into the Party Constitution. These innovative theories further enriched and developed the Marxist theory of the Party.
As the world's largest Marxist governing party, how can the CPC successfully escape the historical cycle of rise and fall and ensure that the Party will never change its nature, color, or flavor? This is a strategic question facing all comrades of the Party. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has continually engaged in practical exploration and theoretical reflection during the great practice of advancing the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Building upon the "first answer" given by Mao Zedong—"letting the people supervise the government"—they have provided a "second answer," which is to continuously advance the Party's self-revolution. The essence of self-revolution is to eliminate all factors that damage 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 workshop for provincial and ministerial-level leading cadres, Xi Jinping pointed out: "The courage to carry out self-revolution is the most distinctive character and the greatest advantage of our Party." He also emphasized: "A powerful 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, correcting errors, daring to face problems, overcoming shortcomings, and possessing the courage to 'scrape the bone to treat the poison' and 'cut away the rot to let new flesh grow.' Precisely because our Party has always persisted in doing so, it has been able to find a way out in times of crisis and rectify deviations after making mistakes, becoming a Marxist party that can never be knocked down or crushed." He added: "Our Party must have the courage to carry out self-revolution to build the Party into an even stronger and more powerful one." In speeches at a series of important meetings—including the 20th National Congress 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. He systematically answered major questions such as why the CPC must engage in self-revolution, why it is able to do so, and how to advance it, further deepening the systematic understanding of the laws governing the building of a long-term governing Marxist party. Xi Jinping's important thought on Party building is the latest achievement of combining the Marxist theory of the Party with contemporary Chinese reality, providing the fundamental following for persisting in 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, but only dozens have a history of over a hundred years, and even fewer are large parties like the CPC, which has over a century of history and has governed continuously across the nation for more than 70 years. Why has the CPC been able to remain standing despite hardships and repeated shocks, and govern for a long time in the world's most populous country? An important reason is that the CPC has the courage to carry out 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 managing and governing the Party strictly is the CPC's most distinctive character; the courage to carry out self-revolution is an important reason for the CPC’s continuous development and growth, and the key to the CPC eternally maintaining its vitality and moving 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 building of Marxist parties. The CPC's thought on self-revolution provides useful reference for Marxist parties worldwide. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the changes in Eastern Europe, many Communist parties in the world once suffered from ideological confusion and theoretical chaos; there was a lack of ideological unity within these parties, and they were influenced externally by populism. It was difficult for them to propose policies that fit their national realities and gained public support, resulting in insufficient appeal. After long-term reflection and exploration, they began to draw on the CPC’s theoretical innovations and experience in Party building, attaching importance to the Party’s theoretical and organizational construction. The governing parties of socialist countries such as Vietnam, Cuba, and Laos persist in taking anti-corruption as a top priority for maintaining the Party's status and vitality, practicing zero tolerance for corruption. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, to enhance its own cohesion and combat effectiveness, continuously strengthens the Party's organizational building. In recent party congresses, it proposed further strengthening its own building, especially the development 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 updating its mass line and Party-building line to close the gap between the Party and the masses. The South African Communist Party, in the process of joint governance with the ANC, always emphasizes using the Party's political line to restrain and influence the ANC government's behavior, requiring members serving in all levels of government and parliament to strictly abide by political discipline and openly express their opinions and views according to the SACP's stance in decision-making. Because these parties have drawn on 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.
As the world's largest Marxist governing party, the CPC deeply understands that its governing status is not immutable; it always faces the danger of detachment from the masses. If the Party's nature of serving the people changes, it will lose the hearts of the people and lose political power. While the CPC possesses the huge advantage of being able to accomplish great tasks and build great undertakings, it also faces unique challenges in governing the Party and the country. How to always remain true to the original aspiration and keep the mission firmly in mind; how to always unify thoughts, will, and actions; how to always possess strong governing capacity and leadership levels; how to always maintain the spirit of entrepreneurship; how to always be able to discover and solve its own problems in a timely manner; and how to always maintain a clean and upright political ecosystem—these are all unique challenges facing the CPC.
"Solving the unique challenges facing a large Party is bound to be a long and arduous process, which dictates that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is a journey that never ends, and the Party's self-revolution is a journey that never ends." In the New Era and on the new journey, we must profoundly grasp the fundamental nature of the Party and the evolution of its internal conditions [12]. Viewing these issues from the strategic height of the Party's long-term governance, the lasting peace and stability of the country, and the well-being and happiness of the people, we must treat comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as the Party's long-term strategy and eternal task. We must consistently adhere to a problem-oriented approach, maintain the standpoint of the people, uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, and apply systems thinking [13]. With the political consciousness that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and self-revolution are journeys that never end, we must uphold the truth and correct errors, identify problems and rectify deviations, and persist over the long term with tenacity to carry the Party's self-revolution through to the end.