Ma Xingyu: Inheriting Red Genes and Building a Common Spiritual Home for the Chinese Nation
Red resources serve as a witness to the glorious history of struggle of the Communist Party of China and constitute the most precious spiritual wealth. The construction of corporate culture in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is not only an internal requirement for their own development but also a key force for inheriting red genes, promoting fine traditional Chinese culture, coalescing the national spirit, and constructing a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. Taking the cultural construction practices of Baotou Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Baogang") as an example, this article explores how SOEs construct a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation by inheriting red genes.
From Historical Memory to Red Resources
Red resources solidify their value through the sedimentation of historical time; the red genes they contain must be presented through historical memory and narrative. Maurice Halbwachs pointed out that historical memory "can only be indirectly stimulated through reading or listening to others tell stories, or on occasions of commemorative activities and festivals when people gather together to recall the deeds and achievements of members of a group who have long been separated." Since the day of their birth, SOEs have been closely linked with the destiny of the Party and the state. Their development history is itself a history of forging ahead with the state and breathing with the nation under the leadership of the Party. Founded in 1954, Baogang was the first large-scale iron and steel enterprise built by New China in an ethnic minority region. At its inception, the People's Daily issued the call that "Baogang is for the whole country, and the whole country is for Baogang," setting off a surge of people of all ethnic groups from across the country supporting Baogang.
The case of Baogang demonstrates a multi-layered transformation process from corporate historical memory to red resources. First is individual experience—the scenes of arduous pioneering and ethnic unity witnessed by early builders—forming vivid oral histories and bodily memories. "Work together to build Baogang" [1] was initially an individual memory of the history of Baogang's construction; individuals experienced physical sensations during construction, thereby forming a strong sense of identity and pride in the enterprise. Second is literary and artistic representation: through reportage, songs, film, and television works, scattered individual stories are sublimated into infectious public narratives. Third is corporate internalization: through compiling factory histories, building exhibition halls, and holding commemorative activities, the enterprise solidifies public narratives into internal institutional rituals and educational training content. Finally, there is the state narrative. By being explicitly identified as a "historical favorite tale" [2] and a "red resource," "Work together to build Baogang" has gained new political significance and contemporary connotation, achieving a leap from corporate historical memory to national spiritual wealth.
Thus, "Work together to build Baogang" evolved from the bodily narratives of individual builders to being constructed as a collective memory for all Baogang employees after artistic representation, and was finally identified through the state discourse system as a historical favorite tale in the construction and development history of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and a red resource in Party history study and education.
From Red Resources to Corporate Cultural Identity
Red resources are the carriers through which red genes are inherited. Collective memory, with these resources at its core, carries historical experience, value concepts, and emotional identity. It is an important force for maintaining social solidarity and promoting historical progress, and even more so, it is the spiritual driving force for constructing a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. The history of "Work together to build Baogang" is a vivid illustration of the "red roots" and the "gene of serving the country" inherent in SOEs.
Only when individual memories are linked to the destiny of the community can collective cultural memory and identity be formed. The oral accounts and memories of old employees who participated in the construction of Baogang present a construction mechanism for the collective memory of "dedication and arduous struggle," forming a shared historical memory of people of all ethnic groups working together to build Baogang. The continuous process of transmitting and narrating this shared historical memory among social members is also a process that prompts people to understand, reflect on, and identify with it in a more multi-dimensional way. Centering on the core resource of "Work together to build Baogang," Baogang has constructed a multi-dimensional action matrix of "physical space + digital media + brand activities" and integrated it with the development of the times. Baogang integrates the red genes of "dedication and tackling tough problems" with New Era development concepts such as "innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing," reinterpreting the connotation of "working together." This has sublimated from the past "great battles of manpower and material resources" into today's modern collaborative modes of "industry-university-research synergy," "upstream and downstream linkage in the industrial chain," and "symbiosis and co-prosperity between enterprise and locality," ensuring that red resources are no longer static commemorations but endogenous drivers for corporate strategic transformation and the fulfillment of social responsibility. Red genes are also passed down from generation to generation through social interaction, thus becoming a spiritual culture shared by members and a source of nourishment for constructing a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. "Dedication and arduous struggle" have become an endogenous force in Baogang's employee culture. Through continuous repetition and narration in media, artistic works, and museum displays, and through the generational inheritance of every Baogang employee, the historical memory of people of all ethnic groups working together to build Baogang is endowed with meaning. Ultimately, it is widely accepted and recognized by Baogang employees, becoming a source of emotional belonging and identity, and a precious asset for corporate culture construction.
SOE Culture: Constructing a Shared Spiritual Home for the Chinese Nation
After "Work together to build Baogang" was refined by the state into a historical favorite tale and a red resource, it became deeply embedded as an imprint in corporate development. In the process of continuous re-creation, it coalesces consensus among employees, stimulates identity, and strengthens the consciousness of the Chinese nation as a community [3].
First, it provides a practical field for the "community." The development of Baogang over more than seventy years is precisely such a micro-level "community" practice where employees of multiple ethnic groups interact, exchange, and blend [4], and jointly create and share development achievements. this provides a solid social foundation for the "common and shared" attributes of corporate culture. Second, it promotes ethnic unity and cultural identity. The process of building Baogang is itself an epic of ethnic unity. The history of "the whole country supporting Baogang" transcended regional and ethnic boundaries, closely intertwining national identity, ethnic identity, and corporate identity. Today, Baogang's cultural construction continues to play a role in coalescing regional consensus and promoting social harmony. The spirits of struggle, dedication, and unity carried by its red resources have become shared spiritual symbols for the industrial front in Inner Mongolia and even the whole country, strengthening the emotional bond of "the Chinese nation as one family." Finally, it achieves the "landing" and "sublimation" of constructing a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation. Baogang's practice revolves around historical red resources, continuously strengthening and re-creating corporate culture, internalizing the spiritual core reflected in "Work together to build Baogang" at the start of its construction into the corporate culture. Amidst changes in national strategies, requirements of the times, and social progress, it continuously optimizes and improves the corporate culture system, gradually transforming historical memory into an ideological resource integrated into today's corporate culture construction, letting historical memory land in practice and letting red genes be passed down through generations.