Shuang Chuanxue: Deeply Understanding and Grasping "Strengthening the Party's Ideological Leadership"
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee mapped out a blueprint for development over the next five years, providing a renewed mobilization and deployment for the construction of Chinese-path modernization. Looking toward the "15th Five-Year Plan" period [1], Chinese-path modernization will take more steadfast strides and unfold a more magnificent vista. The key to advancing Chinese-path modernization lies in the Party. The Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development proposed: "Adhere to the principle of guiding social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, perseveringly advance the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, enhance the Party's capacity for political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social mobilization, and improve the Party's ability and level in leading economic and social development, so as to aggregate majestic strength for advancing Chinese-path modernization." Ideological building is the fundamental construction of the Party. Enhancing the Party's ideological leadership is the ultimate guarantee for achieving unity of thought and consistency of action across the whole Party. Deeply grasping the rich connotations and practical requirements of the Party's ideological leadership is of great significance for strengthening the Party’s ideological building and gathering the majestic strength to advance Chinese-path modernization.
A great cause cannot be separated from the guidance of great ideas. Theoretical consciousness and cultural self-confidence are the forces for a nation's progress; advanced values and the emancipation of the mind are the sources of vitality for a society. A comprehensive understanding of the necessity of enhancing the Party's ideological leadership requires consideration from the perspectives of theoretical, historical, and practical logic.
Enhancing the Party's ideological leadership is an essential requirement of historical materialism. Engels pointed out: "The development of politics, law, philosophy, religion, literature, art, etc., is based on economic development. But all these react upon one another and also upon the economic base." Thought is a social ideology belonging to the spiritual level, reflecting a specific social-economic base. As an important component of the superstructure, once an ideology is formed, it possesses relative independence and exerts a massive counter-reaction upon the economic base. Marx noted: "If considered from the perspective of ideas, then the disintegration of a certain form of consciousness is sufficient to cause a whole epoch to perish." Looking at world history, the emancipation of the mind is the harbinger of social change. Every major leap in human society and every significant development in human civilization is inseparable from the knowledge shifts and ideological foundations provided by philosophy and the social sciences. The European Renaissance upheld the spirit of humanism, clearing the obstacles for the emerging bourgeoisie to take the historical stage. In the world socialist movement, scientific theory similarly plays a pioneering role. Marxism provided the proletariat with a "great tool of cognition." Under the guidance of scientific theory, proletarian movements surged across the world, breaking through the web of bourgeois rule. The October Revolution led by Lenin broke through the weakest link in the imperialist chain, established the world's first socialist state, and opened a new era in human history. Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics is full of vitality, making 21st-century Marxism more prominent. Thought is power. Continuously enhancing the Party’s ideological leadership in the New Era and giving full play to the role of ideas and culture reflects the standpoint of historical materialism and demonstrates that our Party's understanding of the laws of Communist Party governance, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of human social development has reached a new height.
Enhancing the Party's ideological leadership is a fine tradition of Marxist political parties. A crucial reason why Marxist parties are the most advanced in human history lies in their ideological progressiveness. The salvoes of the October Revolution brought Marxism-Leninism to China. From then on, the Chinese people possessed a sharp ideological weapon for understanding and transforming the world, and their spiritual state shifted from passive to active. Under the guidance of advanced theory, the Communist Party of China has closely united and relied on the people, overcoming countless difficulties and obstacles on the road ahead, winning one great victory after another in revolution, construction, and reform, and creating brilliant achievements in economic and social development. We have written the most magnificent epic in the several-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation, which has welcomed a great leap from standing up and becoming prosperous to becoming strong. History is also the best sober-minded tonic. The drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were a serious setback in the world socialist movement; a very important cause was that the ruling parties in those socialist countries did not struggle against erroneous ideas, leading the Party's guiding ideology to deviate from the correct direction and lack leadership. Regarding this, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "One important reason was that the struggle in the ideological sphere was extremely fierce; there was a total negation of Soviet history, the history of the CPSU, a negation of Lenin and Stalin, and the pursuit of historical nihilism [2]. Thoughts were thrown into chaos, Party organizations at all levels became almost useless, and even the military was no longer under the Party's leadership." History teaches us that weakening the Party's ideological leadership results in ideological confusion and endangers national security and stability.
Enhancing the Party's ideological leadership is a practical necessity for advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. In any endeavor, thought comes first. Using Chinese-path modernization to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation is the central task of the Party and the state on the new journey in the New Era. Chinese-path modernization is a great undertaking without precedent; the road ahead will surely entail difficulties and obstacles, and we may even encounter major tests of high winds, rough waves, or even perilous storms. From an international perspective, the world's once-in-a-century changes are accelerating, while the shadows of Cold War mentality, hegemonism, and protectionism persist. New threats and challenges are increasing, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, and global governance has reached a new crossroads. Domestically, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development remains prominent; the weight of the tasks regarding reform, development, and stability, the number of contradictions, risks, and challenges, and the magnitude of the tests in governing the country are all unprecedented. Faced with new situations and problems, we must grasp the foundation that is ideological building. Enhancing the Party's ideological leadership is the reliable guarantee for overcoming all risks and challenges. On the new journey, we must unswervingly arm our minds, guide practice, and promote work with the Party's innovative theories, clearing the ideological mists on the road ahead to achieve a high degree of unity in thought, politics, and action among the whole Party and the people of the whole country, thereby converging the majestic power to advance Chinese-path modernization.
The banner guides the direction; ideas unite strength. Ideological guidance is a process that moves from ideological identification to conscious practice and then to practical transformation. Only when the Party’s ideas are understood and mastered by the broad masses can they become a force for promoting social change and development, forming a powerful ideological leadership. The scientific nature, people-centered nature, practical nature, and openness of the theory are the sources of the Party's ideological leadership and the "golden key" to correctly grasping its rich connotations.
Manifesting the power of truth in scientific theory. Ideological leadership comes from a scientific explanation of the objective world. Only a theory that deeply perceives the laws of social and historical development can guide people to recognize the general trend of history and embark on its inevitable path. Marxism is like a magnificent sunrise, illuminating the path for humanity to explore historical laws and seek its own liberation. Lenin pointed out: "The Marxist doctrine is omnipotent because it is true." Marx founded historical materialism and the theory of surplus value, elucidating the contradictory movements and laws of productive forces and relations of production, economic base and superstructure, revealing the historical trends of capitalist development, and pointing out the way for humanity to leap from the "realm of necessity" to the "realm of freedom." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism. It has formed a systematic and scientific theoretical system. The "Ten Clarifications" [3], "Fourteen Commitments" [4], "Achievements in Thirteen Areas" [5], and "Six Must-Upholds" [6] are internally connected and organically unified, enriching and developing Marxist philosophy, Marxist political economy, and scientific socialism, while demonstrating powerful strength in guiding China and influencing the world. The history of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism fully proves that the scientific nature of a theory and its ideological leadership are internally unified and complementary. Scientific rigor is the solid foundation of ideological leadership, and ideological leadership is the manifestation of the value of that scientific rigor; only the light of truth can illuminate the road ahead.
Deeply rooting the emotional power of the people-first principle. Ideological leadership comes from the high degree of identification from the masses. As subjective consciousness, ideas cannot directly change the objective world; they must be transformed into reality through human practical activity. Marx noted: "Ideas can never lead beyond an old world order, but only beyond the ideas of the old world order. Ideas cannot carry out anything at all. In order to carry out ideas, men are needed who can exert practical force." The great power of thought is rooted in the deep sentiment of serving the people. The fundamental reason a theory is accepted by people and subsequently transformed into a powerful material force is that it truly reflects the voice of the people and resonates with the pulse of the times. From "arousing millions of workers and peasants to act with one heart" [7] to "uniting as one to look forward," all manifest the charismatic appeal of the Party's ideas. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era upholds the people-first principle; it is a scientific theory that speaks for the people and is established for the people. It fully demonstrates the sentiment of "taking the people's heart as one’s own" and the realm of "relying on the people to create great historical undertakings." Hundreds of millions of people feel the warmth of this thought regarding people’s livelihoods, which has greatly enhanced the charismatic appeal of the Party's ideas.
Embodying the creative power of advancing with the times. Ideological leadership stems from the theoretical quality of advancing with the times. Engels pointed out: "Our theory is a theory of evolution, not a dogma to be learned by heart and to be repeated mechanically." The development of practice knows no bounds. Only by constantly exploring new topics raised by the development of the times and responding to new challenges facing human society can a theory maintain its "mounstrously beautiful youth." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era insists on combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with China's fine traditional culture (the "Two Combinations"). By connecting history with reality and unifying culture with values, it demonstrates a powerful penetration of truth and a charismatic appeal of values, injecting strong spiritual power and surging ideological momentum into the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Displaying the practical power of responding to concerns. Ideological leadership comes from the successful transformation of the objective world. Marx noted: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." Whether an idea possesses leadership is not a theoretical question, but a practical one. Practice is the process by which subjective thought is manifested in objective activity. A theory can convince people as long as it is thorough, and to be thorough, it must grasp the root of the matter—this root is persuasive objective fact. Facts speak louder than words; "resolution" is always more persuasive than "explanation." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era adheres to the organic unity of Marxism’s scientific and practical nature. It has guided China—the largest developing country and the largest socialist country—to achieve the "Xiaokang" (moderately prosperous) [8] dream of the Chinese nation, promoted a historical leap in our country's economic strength, and made the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation unstoppable. In the process of guiding us to understand and transform the world, this thought has demonstrated immense power in explaining reality and leading practice, becoming the ideological banner and spiritual soul of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups.
Ideological leadership is both theoretical and practical. On the new journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, we must proceed from the strategic consideration of advancing the "New Great Project of Party Building," placing the construction of the Party's ideological leadership in an important position, continuously consolidating hearts and minds, forging a strong backbone, and answering the questions of our times regarding flourishing and strengthening the Party.
Promoting theoretical innovation. Progressiveness in theory is the most thorough form of progressiveness; initiative in thought is the greatest initiative. To comprehensively enhance the Party’s ideological leadership, we must unify the adherence to Marxism with the development of Marxism, continuously making new theoretical creations in conjunction with new practices, so that the Party's innovative theories manifest a more powerful and persuasive strength of truth. We must firmly grasp the direction of innovation, sticking to the "soul-vein" (húnmài) of Marxism and the "root-vein" (gēnmài) of China's fine traditional culture. We must persist in and apply the "Two Combinations" and the "Six Must-Upholds," using Marxism to activate the vital and excellent elements within China's fine traditional culture and endowing them with new connotations of the times, thereby continuously scaling new ideological heights. We must focus on answering the "questions of the era," grasping the developmental trajectory and correct direction of world history with a broader and more long-term perspective. We must understand the historical evolution and practical requirements of Chinese-path modernization, putting forward scientific concepts and effective countermeasures to solve realistic problems comprehensively and systematically. We must always focus on the expectations of the people, emphasizing the summarization of fresh experiences from the people's creative practices, elevating them to rational cognition, and refining them into new theoretical results, striving to make the Party’s innovative theories sink deep into the hearts of the hundreds of millions, becoming a theory that is grounded, gathers the wisdom of the people, follows the will of the people, and wins the hearts of the people.
Purifying the internal political ecosystem of the Party. The power of personality is a key factor that allows ideological leadership to reach people's hearts directly. A clean and upright political ecosystem can effectively educate and guide the whole Party to strengthen their ideals and convictions, consciously resist the erosion of various decadent ideas, and form a powerful force of personality. Focus on tracing back to the source through ideological building, and continue to grasp ideological building as the primary means of repairing and purifying the Party's internal political ecosystem...
By grasping the "ox's nose" [9], we must unswervingly deepen theoretical study and education to more profoundly comprehend the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments" and resolutely achieve the "Two Upholds." This ensures a high degree of identification in thought, resolute maintenance in politics, and firm following in action, providing powerful ideological support for conducting the Great Struggle, building the Great Project, advancing the Great Cause, and realizing the Great Dream [10]. We must trace the source back to political life to purify and optimize the internal political ecosystem of the Party, ensuring that Party members and cadres—especially leading cadres—constantly tighten the "master switch" [11] of their worldview, outlook on life, and values. This allows positive energy to abound within the Party and leaves no place for unhealthy tendencies to hide. We must exert continuous effort regarding fine work styles, persevering in the rectification of the "Four Winds" and relentlessly resolving issues that provoke strong reactions from cadres and the masses—such as those hindering high-quality development, increasing burdens on the grassroots, distorting views of power, or misaligning views of political performance. We must continuously purify the political ecosystem, frequently polishing the "mirror" of work style, and use an excellent work style to build consensus and initiate undertakings.
Innovation of communication methods is essential. An important task in enhancing the Party's ideological leadership lies in using vivid and lively forms to disseminate the Party's innovative theories, ensuring they are better identified with and accepted by the masses. We must focus on content dissemination, closely following the fundamental task of studying, publicizing, and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We must coordinate theoretical research with public opinion publicity, striving to launch a diverse range of theoretical products and forming a multi-category theoretical reading system that meets the needs of different forms of theoretical study and appeals to different groups. We must strengthen "all-media" awareness, constructing an efficient and convenient all-media communication matrix system. This involves producing micro-videos, micro-classes, and micro-films, as well as creating "fist" [12] theoretical products to achieve the multi-modal presentation, high-frequency dissemination, multi-channel release, and multi-platform operation of the Party's innovative theories. We must highlight precision dissemination, exploring the use of "algorithms" designed with big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing for the dissemination of the Party's theoretical achievements. We must persist in answering whatever the masses are concerned about, becoming adept at using the life experiences, vivid cases, and lively language that the masses love to hear and see to tell the story of the Communist Party of China's governance in simple terms. This will create theoretical communication that possesses academic depth, communicative sharpness, and humanistic warmth.
Promoting high-quality development is the ultimate test. The persuasiveness of an ideology lies in its ability to promote the development of the times and social progress. High-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects. Without a solid material and technological foundation, it is impossible to fully build a great modern socialist country. By taking economic construction as the center and unswervingly promoting high-quality economic development, we must achieve both an effective improvement in quality and a reasonable growth in quantity, fully demonstrating the greatness of our ideological power. Taking innovative development as the driving force, we must persist in leading the construction of a modernized industrial system through scientific and technological innovation. We must accelerate the development of new quality productive forces according to local conditions, cultivate and strengthen emerging industries, and plan for the construction of future industries ahead of schedule. This will promote China's winning of the strategic initiative in future development and international competition, fully stimulating the "source of living water" [13] of ideological leadership. Using the deepening of reform as the engine, we must rely on reform to continuously dismantle the ideological concepts and institutional drawbacks that hinder the advancement of Chinese-path modernization. We must focus on breaking through deep-seated institutional obstacles and structural contradictions, continuously liberating and developing the social productive forces to better respond to changes and open up new vistas. In the process of promoting the steady and long-term progress of Chinese-path modernization, we will perceive the greatness of our ideological power and stimulate the will to forge ahead.