Author: Wang Binglin (Special researcher of Beijing Supreme Leader New Era Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center, Dean of the Research Institute of CPC History and Party Building of Beijing Normal University)
General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out at the forum on cultural inheritance and development that it is the only way to open up and develop Socialism with Chinese characteristics on the basis of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, and to combine the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of China and the excellent traditional Chinese culture. This is our understanding of the regularity in exploring Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it is the greatest magic weapon for our success. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed: "‘ The second combination ’ It is another ideological emancipation that allows us to make full use of the valuable resources of Chinese excellent traditional culture in a broader cultural space and explore future-oriented theoretical and institutional innovations. " Emancipation of the mind is the transformation of ideas and the deepening of understanding, that is, discovering new situations and solving new problems. Explaining the great significance of the "second combination" from the height of ideological emancipation shows that our party has made a new leap in understanding the guiding mechanism of Marxism, a new horizon in understanding the modernization of Chinese excellent traditional culture, and a new height in understanding the compatibility between Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture.
1. A new leap has been made in understanding the guiding mechanism of Marxism.
Marxist science reveals the development law of human society, points out the road of human liberation and promotes the process of human civilization, but "Marx’s whole world outlook is not a doctrine, but a method. What it provides is not a ready-made dogma, but the starting point for further research and the methods used for such research. " The vitality and vigor of Marxism lies in the combination with the concrete reality of various countries and nations.
In the history of our party, there have been dogmatic mistakes, which have brought serious losses to the revolutionary cause. Yan ‘an Rectification Movement broke the dogmatism of copying Marxist words and sanctifying the instructions of the Communist International, made our party establish the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, persisted in combining the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of China, formed the first theoretical achievement of China Marxism, and made it the guiding ideology of the party, which had a far-reaching impact on the revolution and construction of China. It is precisely by insisting on combining the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of China that our Party keeps pushing forward the practical innovation and all-round innovation with theoretical innovation as the guide. Obviously, realizing the "first combination" is an important achievement of ideological emancipation.
In the process of promoting Marxism in China, our party has gradually realized the importance of carrying forward Chinese excellent traditional culture. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Today’s China is a development of historical China. We are Marxist historians, and we should not cut off history. From Confucius to Sun Yat-sen, we should sum up and inherit this precious legacy. " The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the inheritor and promoter of Chinese excellent traditional culture, but it still needs a process to promote the organic combination of Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture from the level of theoretical research and practical exploration. Although China also contains the contents of Chinese traditional culture, the importance of Chinese excellent traditional culture as a cultural fertile ground for Marxism to take root in China needs to be deepened.
When Socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era, our Party’s historical self-confidence and cultural self-confidence reached a new height, and our understanding of the guiding mechanism of Marxism made a new breakthrough. It is not enough for Marxism to take root firmly in China, only by combining with China’s concrete reality. It must also have a profound cultural foundation and mass foundation, and must turn Marxism into China’s own ideological culture. Only by combining the basic principles of Marxism with the national spirit, national character, cultural psychology, way of thinking and lifestyle accumulated in the long history of the Chinese nation for more than 5,000 years can we create an expression that is acceptable to the people of China. This requires the integration of the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of Chinese excellent traditional culture and the common values that the people do not realize every day. This requires that the basic principles of Marxism should be combined not only with the concrete reality of China, but also with the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
Combining Marxism with Chinese excellent traditional culture means that Marxism should not only draw the power of theoretical innovation from China’s reality of "present continuous tense", but also deeply root in the soil of Chinese excellent traditional culture of "past perfect tense" and learn, understand and enter the spiritual world and psychological space of the Chinese nation and the people of China from the historical depth. Putting forward the second combination on the basis of adhering to the first combination is a new leap in understanding the guiding mechanism of Marxism and another ideological emancipation in opening up a new realm of China-oriented Marxism.
2. The understanding of the modernization of Chinese excellent traditional culture has a new vision.
Since modern times, due to extremely complicated reasons, Chinese traditional culture has experienced ups and downs and vicissitudes. During the May 4th Movement, in order to resist the countercurrent of respecting Confucius and build a modern civilization, the academic and ideological circles made a profound review and fierce criticism of Chinese traditional culture. During the "Cultural Revolution", some ancient books and cultural relics were destroyed, and traditional culture was hit hard again. Since the reform and opening up, the economic status and influence of western developed countries have caused some people to oppose tradition and modernity, and even the trend of "total westernization" has emerged. History has fully proved that it is not advisable or even completely wrong to take a simplistic and one-sided understanding and treatment of traditional culture.
Modernization needs to carry on the tradition. Marx pointed out: "People create their own history, but they don’t create it at will, not under the conditions they choose, but under the conditions that they meet directly, are established and inherited from the past." It is in the traditional cultural context of "inheriting from the past" that we started Chinese modernization, which requires us to treat traditional culture correctly and handle the relationship between traditional culture and modernization. In essence, traditional culture is a reflection of the agricultural economic form of ancient society. The Supreme Leader General Secretary pointed out: "In the process of its formation and development, traditional culture will inevitably be restricted and influenced by people’s understanding level, the conditions of the times and the limitations of the social system at that time, so there will inevitably be things that are outdated or have become dross." This means that we can’t directly use traditional culture for today, but we need to modernize it.
To realize the modern transformation of a culture, it is inseparable from the guidance of scientific theories and methods. Marxism provides scientific theories and methods for the modern transformation of Chinese excellent traditional culture. Marxist dialectics requires us to look at traditional culture in two ways, recognizing that there are both contents that span time and space and have stable value, as well as obsolete and dross, and we need to take its essence and discard its dross, instead of adopting an absolutist attitude of accepting or abandoning it completely; Guide us to look at traditional culture from the perspective of change and development, base ourselves on the historical position of the new era, focus on the current social practice, inject fresh blood into Chinese excellent traditional culture, and promote its creative transformation and innovative development, instead of treating it as a dead and static heritage. Chinese culture, as a unique symbol of the Chinese nation, is deeply rooted in the hearts of China people, and exerts a subtle influence on the way of thinking and behavior of China people. It is an important support for building a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation. Adhering to the combination of Marxism and China’s concrete reality, the author puts forward the combination with Chinese excellent traditional culture, which fully affirms the important position and time value of Chinese excellent traditional culture in the process of modernization. Under the guidance of Marxism, Chinese excellent traditional culture has once again gained vitality, transformed into the infinite strength of cultural people in the new era, and established a Chinese cultural tradition that has been inherited from ancient times to the present. The "second combination" provides a new Marxist vision for us to think about the modernization of Chinese excellent traditional culture.It opens up a space for innovation in building a modern form of Chinese culture and is a new ideological emancipation.
3. The understanding of the compatibility between Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture has reached a new height.
We have always emphasized the guiding role of Marxism and the need to inherit and carry forward China’s excellent traditional culture. However, in the past, there was not enough attention to the compatibility and compatibility between the two, and there was even a tendency to replace or suppress another thought with one thought. In fact, after the introduction of Marxism into China, the idea of scientific socialism was warmly welcomed by the people of China, and finally took root in China, blossoming and bearing fruit. It is by no means accidental, but it is compatible with the excellent historical culture that has been passed down in China for thousands of years and the values that the broad masses of people do not realize every day. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader clearly pointed out: "‘ Combination ’ The premise is to fit each other. Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture have different sources, but they are highly compatible with each other. Only when they fit each other can they be organically combined. "
Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture are highly compatible with each other. In Chinese excellent traditional culture, the social ideal that the world is public, the people-oriented concept that the people are the foundation of the country, the people-oriented concept that the country is the foundation, the governance thought that honesty is the foundation, politics is the virtue, the unified tradition of pluralism, the feelings of family and country that the world rises and falls, the philosophical thought of seeking truth from facts, the unity of knowing and doing, the spiritual pursuit of self-improvement, the unity of man and nature, and the ecological idea of nurturing everything, and the kindness and kindness to neighbors. Carrying forward China’s excellent traditional culture enables Marxism to gain a broader and deeper civilization in China. Through "combination", Marxism has activated the vitality of Chinese excellent traditional culture, which has provided cultural fertile ground for Marxism to take root, sprout and bear fruit in China, created an organic and unified new cultural life, made Marxism China’s, made Chinese excellent traditional culture modern, and made the new culture formed through "combination" a Chinese modern cultural form. A new breakthrough has been made in the understanding that Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture are highly compatible with each other, indicating that our party’s historical self-confidence and cultural self-confidence have reached a new height.It shows that our party’s consciousness of promoting cultural innovation in inheriting Chinese excellent traditional culture has reached a new height.
It is an objective historical law that ideological emancipation promotes the development and progress of human society. For more than 100 years, every ideological emancipation led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in China has greatly promoted the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. For example, after the May 4th Movement, Marxism was widely spread in China, which greatly promoted the ideological emancipation of the people in China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) came into being, and the China revolution took on a new look. Yan ‘an rectification movement laid an important ideological and political foundation for winning the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and the democratic revolution. The discussion on the standard of truth laid a theoretical foundation for re-establishing the ideological line of Marxism, and made ideological preparations for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to realize a historical turning point and for China to enter a new period of reform and opening up. In 1992, Comrade Deng Xiaoping delivered a talk on the South, which deepened the understanding of what socialism is and how to build it. When Socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era, the "second combination" was another ideological emancipation, a profound summary of our Party’s historical experience in the modernization of Marxism in China, and a profound grasp of the law of the development of Chinese civilization, which showed that our Party’s understanding of China’s road, theory and system had reached a new height, which would surely play a great role in strengthening cultural self-confidence and building a strong socialist culture.