The Historical Achievements and Experience of the Chinese Communist Party’s Leadership in Rural Moral Construction

“A country cannot prosper without virtue, and a person cannot stand without virtue. Whether a nation or an individual can grasp themselves depends to a large extent on moral values.” [1]1 Karl Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 11 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1979), p. 187. Rural moral construction is an inherent requirement for building a strong agricultural nation and advancing agricultural and rural modernization, and it is also the necessary path for constructing socialist cultural-ethical progress. In the process of rural construction, the Chinese Communist Party has always attached great importance to moral construction. It can be said that moral construction has become an important content and distinctive feature of the CPC’s rural construction. Strengthening research on the CPC’s rural moral construction, and deeply exploring its theoretical origins, historical evolution, and logic of change, will help deepen the understanding of rural construction issues and provide useful references for comprehensively advancing the rural revitalization strategy.

“国无德不兴，人无德不立。一个民族、一个人能不能把握自己，很大程度上取决于道德价值。”乡村道德建设是实现农业强国建设、推进农业农村现代化题中应有之义，也是建设社会主义精神文明的必由之路。在乡村建设过程中，中国共产党始终高度重视道德建设。可以说，道德建设已成为中国共产党乡村建设的重要内容和鲜明特色。加强对中国共产党乡村道德建设研究，深入探讨其理论缘起、历史演进和嬗变逻辑，有助于深化对乡村建设问题的认识，可为全面推进乡村振兴战略提供有益参考。

Currently, academic circles mainly focus on the necessity and contemporary value of rural moral construction, the problems and challenges it faces, methods of alleviation and pathways for improvement, and its historical process and internal logic. First, regarding necessity and contemporary value, researchers generally believe that rural moral construction has a significance that cannot be ignored for the economic and social development of rural areas. The realization of its goals at various levels cannot be separated from the strong support of morality, and it is an inevitable requirement for leading new social trends in rural society, building the core socialist value system, and strengthening rural social management. In the process of rural construction, rural moral construction must be taken as an important content, fully leveraging its advantages in creating a stable social environment, solving rural problems at low cost, and coordinating interpersonal relationships. Second, regarding the problems and challenges faced, many researchers believe that with the continuous advancement and development of the market economy, the original moral structure of rural society has changed, leading to a serious moral crisis. This is mainly manifested in the decline of traditional rural moral culture, the rise of individualism sliding toward egoism, and the weakening of public moral awareness. In terms of governance of related issues, there are problems such as low efficiency due to the failure of internal subjects to play their role, ineffective work due to the neglect of grassroots cadres, and insufficient endogenous motivation due to the absence of rural subjects. Third, regarding methods of alleviation and pathways for improvement, some researchers believe that “local moral knowledge” is an important prerequisite for strengthening rural moral construction, and in the process of rural moral construction, inheritance and development work should be done well. Other researchers explore the path of rural moral construction from the perspective of moral memory, proposing to protect rural moral memory to continue the inheritance of rural moral culture and preserve the shared spiritual home of villagers. In addition, some researchers elaborate from specific work pathways such as formulating new village rules and civil agreements, inheriting family traditions and precepts, building rural moral banks, and carrying out volunteer services. Fourth, regarding the historical process and internal logic, some studies have reviewed the century-long process of the CPC promoting rural moral construction, arguing that this historical process has gone through four stages: liberation, transformation, reform, and revitalization, and that it consistently adheres to the leadership of the CPC, the basic stance and method of Marxist historical materialism, a people-centered approach, and proceeding from rural realities as its internal logic.

目前，学界主要围绕乡村道德建设的必要性和时代价值、面临的问题与挑战、疏解方法与提升路径、历史进程与内在逻辑等展开研究。第一，必要性和时代价值方面。研究者普遍认为，乡村道德建设对于乡村经济社会的发展有着不容忽视的意义，其各个层面目标的实现都离不开道德的有力支撑，是引领农村社会新风尚、建设社会主义核心价值体系、加强乡村社会管理的必然要求。在建设乡村的过程中，必须将乡村道德建设作为重要内容，充分发挥其创造稳定社会环境、低成本解决乡村问题、协调人际关系等方面的优势。第二，面临的问题与挑战方面。不少研究者认为，市场经济不断推进和发展，乡村社会原有的道德格局发生了改变，导致出现了严重道德危机，这主要表现在传统乡村道德文化式微、个人主义昌兴并向利己主义滑行、社会公德意识淡薄等。在对相关问题的治理方面，则存在内部主体作用没有得到发挥导致效率低下、基层干部不重视导致工作开展不力、乡村主体离场导致内生动力不足等问题。第三，疏解方法与提升路径方面。一些研究者认为，“地方性道德知识”是加强乡村道德建设的重要前提，在乡村道德建设过程中应做好传承发展工作。也有研究者从道德记忆视角探究乡村道德建设之道，提出要通过对乡村道德记忆的保护，延续乡村道德文化传承、保存村民共有精神家园。此外，还有研究者从制定新型乡规民约、传承家风家训、构建乡村道德银行、开展志愿服务等具体工作路径出发进行阐发。第四，历史进程与内在逻辑方面。有研究梳理了中国共产党推进乡村道德建设的百年历程，认为这一历史进程经历翻身、改造、改革和振兴四个阶段，且以始终坚持中国共产党的领导、马克思主义唯物史观基本立场和方法、以农民为中心和从乡村实际出发为内在逻辑。

The above research covers a wide range of topics and is rich in content, which is of great significance for understanding and promoting rural moral construction. On this basis, further research space can be expanded. First, existing research mainly focuses on the difficulties and countermeasures faced by rural moral construction, and historical research on the CPC’s leadership in rural moral construction can be further strengthened. Second, although there is historical research on the CPC’s rural moral construction over the past century, further work is needed in excavating its theoretical resources. Third, regarding the historical evolution and logic of change of the CPC’s century-long rural moral construction, it is still necessary to combine the principal contradictions of society and the Party’s historical tasks in different historical periods, and to carry out more specific and in-depth elaboration through further excavation of its content. This article intends to explore the theoretical origins of the CPC’s rural moral construction from the relevant discussions of Marxist classical writers, combine it with the evolutionary context of the CPC’s rural moral construction, and deeply analyze and reveal its logic of change, in order to provide inspiration for exploring new practices of rural moral construction in the New Era.

上述研究涉及面广且内容丰富，对于理解和推进乡村道德建设有着重要意义，在此基础上可进一步拓展研究空间。第一，现有研究主要聚焦于对乡村道德建设面临的困难和对策的研究，可以进一步加强中国共产党引领乡村道德建设的历史研究。第二，尽管有对百年来中国共产党乡村道德建设的历史性研究，但在对其理论资源的挖掘方面还需开展进一步工作。第三，对于中国共产党百年乡村道德建设的历史演进和嬗变逻辑，仍须结合不同历史时期社会主要矛盾和党的历史任务，通过对其内容的进一步挖掘开展更为具体深入的阐述。本文拟从马克思主义经典作家相关论述中，探寻中国共产党乡村道德建设的理论缘起，结合中国共产党乡村道德建设的演进脉络，深入剖析和揭示其嬗变逻辑，以期为探索新时代乡村道德建设的新实践提供启迪。

I. The Theoretical Origins of the Chinese Communist Party’s Rural Moral Construction

一、中国共产党乡村道德建设的理论缘起

In the process of the CPC leading rural construction, moral construction has always played an important role, which constitutes a distinctive feature and significant advantage of China’s rural construction. To accurately and comprehensively understand the ins and outs of the CPC’s rural moral construction over more than a century, it is necessary to trace its theoretical origins. Marxist classical writers made a series of important expositions on the normative nature of morality, petty-bourgeois consciousness, the transformation of petty-bourgeois consciousness by large-scale socialized production, and the free and comprehensive development of human beings, providing important theoretical resources for the CPC’s rural moral construction.

在中国共产党引领乡村建设的过程中，道德建设始终扮演着重要角色，这构成我国乡村建设的鲜明特征和显著优势。要准确全面理解中国共产党百余年乡村道德建设的来龙去脉，就必须追溯其理论渊源。马克思主义经典作家围绕道德的规范性特质、小农意识、社会化大生产对小农意识的改造以及人的自由全面发展做出一系列重要论述，为中国共产党乡村道德建设提供了重要理论资源。

(1) The Normative Nature of Morality as Practical Spirit

（一）道德作为实践精神的规范性特质

Possessing a moral life is an important aspect distinguishing humans from non-human beings. In the view of Marx and Engels, morality belongs to the category of thought and ideas, and its essence is a special ideology arising from the social material mode of production. In the “Introduction to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” Marx pointed out: “The whole, as it appears in the head as a thought-whole, is a product of the thinking head, which appropriates the world in the only way it can, a way different from the artistic, religious, and practical-spiritual appropriation of the world.” [2]2 Ibid. The “practical-spiritual” appropriation of the world mentioned here refers to the moral appropriation. This indicates that morality, as a social consciousness concerning right and wrong, good and evil, and the correctness of human behavior, although belonging to social spiritual life, has practical requirements that distinguish it from general social spirit. This is because, as practical spirit, morality is not only manifested as an ideological understanding of right and wrong, good and evil, and the correctness of behavior, but also requires transforming this understanding into concrete actions, implemented in real social life. Therefore, morality always takes the regulation of people’s behavior as its content and aims to guide and adjust people’s behavior.

拥有道德生活，是人区别于非人存在物的一个重要方面。在马克思和恩格斯看来，道德属于思想和观念的范畴，其本质就是一种产生于社会物质生产方式的特殊的意识形态。在《〈政治经济学批判〉导言》中，马克思指出：“整体，当它在头脑中作为思想整体而出现时，是思维着的头脑的产物，这个头脑用它所专有的方式掌握世界，而这种方式是不同于对于世界的艺术精神的，宗教精神的，实践精神的掌握的。”这里所说对于世界的实践精神的把握，指的就是道德的把握。这表明，道德作为关于是非善恶与人之行为对错的社会意识，尽管隶属于社会精神生活，但却具有实践性要求而与一般社会精神相区别。这是因为，作为实践精神，道德不仅表现为对是非善恶和行为对错的思想认识，而且还需要将这种认识转化为切实行动，落实于现实社会生活。因此，道德总是以对人们行为的规范为内容，以实现对人们行为的指导和调节为目的。

Morality possesses the normative nature of practical spirit and can exert an active counter-effect on human society in a way that promotes or hinders it. In a commentary on the historical philosophies of Hegel and Feuerbach, Engels made a profound revelation by endorsing the former’s view and criticizing the latter: “In Hegel, evil is the form in which the driving force of historical development manifests itself… Every new advance necessarily appears as a sacrilege against the old, decaying, but habitually revered order… But Feuerbach never thought to investigate the historical role of moral evil.” [3]3 Karl Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 35 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1996), p. 638. Although morality’s driving effect on human history inevitably comes at the cost of rebelling against the old order, and is thus always regarded as evil by the defenders of the old order, for human society, it is undoubtedly the true good.

道德具有实践精神的规范性特质，能够以促进或阻碍的方式对人类社会产生能动的反作用。在一段对黑格尔和费尔巴哈历史哲学的评论中，恩格斯通过对前者观点的认可和对后者的批评，做出深刻揭示：“在黑格尔那里，恶是历史发展的动力的表现形式……每一种新的进步都必然表现为对某一神圣事物的亵渎，表现为对陈旧的、日渐衰亡的、但为习惯所崇奉的秩序的叛逆……但是，费尔巴哈就没有想到要研究道德上的恶所起的历史作用。”尽管道德对人类历史的推动作用必然以对旧秩序的叛逆为代价，因而总是被旧秩序维护者视为恶，但对人类社会而言，它无疑才是真正的善。

The counter-effect of morality on human society means that it must continuously advance with the development of human social practice, thereby becoming a driving force for the development of human society, rather than a shackle hindering it. It is precisely based on this understanding of the social function of morality that Marx and Engels launched their critique of petty-bourgeois consciousness, viewing it as a backward moral consciousness that needs to be transformed.

道德对于人类社会的反作用意味着，它必须随着人类社会实践的发展不断推进，从而成为推动人类社会发展的动力，而非阻碍人类社会发展的桎梏。正是基于对道德社会功能的这一认识，马克思和恩格斯才展开了对小农意识的批判，将其视为一种落后的、需要得到改造的道德意识。

(2) Petty-Bourgeois Consciousness: A Backward Moral Concept Needing Transformation

（二）小农意识：一种需要变革的落后的道德观念

In agricultural society, people’s production and life were confined to narrow spaces, engaging in small-scale production. Marx and Engels called such producers and operators petty peasants. The “petty” of the petty peasant lies not only in the “smallness” of the land resources on which their production depends and the “smallness” of the life-world in which they conduct interpersonal interactions, but also in the lack of production and lifestyle for market exchange. In the view of Marx and Engels, this inevitably led petty peasants to have inherent defects in their ideas and concepts, such as selfishness, narrow-mindedness, laxity, and conservatism.

在农业社会里，人们的生产和生活被限定在狭小空间内，从事着小规模生产，马克思和恩格斯称这样的生产经营者为小农。小农之“小”，不仅在于其生产所赖之土地资源的“小”和开展人际交往之生活世界的“小”，更在于其进行市场交换之生产和生活方式的缺乏。在马克思和恩格斯看来，这导致小农在思想观念上必然带有自私狭隘、散漫保守等先天缺陷。

First, as small producers, small-scale peasant production has the characteristic of self-sufficiency and a relatively low degree of dependence on others, which makes it relatively easy for them to generate selfish and narrow moral concepts. “Each individual peasant household is almost self-sufficient, directly producing most of its own consumer goods, and thus obtains its means of subsistence more through exchange with nature than through intercourse with society.” [1]1 Karl Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 11 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1979), p. 187. For small peasants, because they are fixed on their own land, as long as their own land yields a sufficient harvest, the continuity and integrity of their production and life can be guaranteed. The emergence of moral relations requires a common foundation of interests, but this single and isolated mode of production of small peasants severs the possible connection between different peasant households in terms of fundamental interests. Therefore, in daily production practice, what they pursue must first be their own immediate interests, and their thoughts and considerations always revolve around their own gains and losses. Consequently, in terms of moral concepts, they inevitably exhibit a tendency toward selfishness and narrow-mindedness.

第一，作为小生产者，小农生产具有自给自足的特点，对他者的依赖性程度较低，这使其相对容易产生自私、狭隘的道德观念。“每一个农户差不多都是自给自足的，都是直接生产自己的大部分消费品，因而他们取得生活资料多半是靠与自然交换，而不是靠与社会交往。”对于小农而言，由于固定在自家土地上，只要自家土地有足够收成，其生产和生活的连续性和完整性便可得到保证。道德关系的产生需要有共的利益基础，而小农这种单一且孤立的生产方式，斩断了不同农户之间在根本利益上可能具有的关联。因此，在日常生产实践中，他们所追求的必定首先是自己的现实利益，所思所想也总是围绕自己的利害得失。这样一来，在道德观念上，他们必然会呈现出自私狭隘的倾向。

Second, the social relations of small peasants are simple, and their life-world is narrow, which inevitably imbues their moral concepts with elements of dispersion and conservatism. Marx pointed out: “The small peasants form a vast mass, the members of which live in similar conditions but without entering into manifold relations with one another. Their mode of production isolates them from one another instead of bringing them into mutual intercourse.” [2]2 Ibid. This narrow living space and simple social relations of small peasants not only exacerbate their selfishness and narrow-mindedness but also lead to their dispersion and conservatism. Because the experience accumulated over generations is sufficient for them to cope with daily life, “on their plot of land, the small holding, no room is left for a division of labour, for the application of science, and therefore for diversity of development, variety of talent.” [3]3 Karl Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 35 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1996), p. 638.

第二，小农社会关系简单，生活世界狭小，这使其道德观念不可避免地带有散漫保守的成分。马克思指出：“小农人数众多，他们的生活条件相同，但是彼此间并没有发生多种多样的关系。他们的生产方式不是使他们互相交往，而是使他们互相隔离。”小农这种狭小的生活空间和简单的社会关系，不仅加剧了他们的自私和狭隘，还导致他们散漫和保守。因为世代积累的经验足以让他们应付日常生活，所以在“他们进行生产的地盘，即小块土地，不容许在耕作时进行分工，应用科学，因而也就没有多种多样的发展，没有各种不同的才能”。

Under the influence of small-peasant consciousness, the mode of production and way of life of small peasants become solidified. “In this situation, the development of wealth and reproduction, whether of the material or spiritual conditions of reproduction, is impossible.” [4]4 Karl Marx, *Capital*, vol. 3, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 37 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1998), p. 813. It is also in this sense that Marx and Engels believed that small-peasant consciousness contains no element of initiative, is even more backward, conservative, and reactionary than petty-bourgeois consciousness, and therefore must be transformed and changed.

在小农意识影响下，小农的生产方式和生活方式得到固化，“在这种情况下，财富和再生产的发展，无论是再生产的物质条件还是精神条件的发展，都是不可能的”。也正是在这一意义上，马克思和恩格斯认为，小农意识不具备任何主动精神的成分，比小资产阶级意识还要落后、保守和反动，因而必须得到改造和变革。

(3) The Transformation of Small-Peasant Consciousness by Socialized Large-Scale Production

（三）社会化大生产对小农意识的改造

Just as in their analysis of small-peasant consciousness, when discussing the transformation of small-peasant consciousness, Marx and Engels still resorted to their consistently upheld standpoints, viewpoints, and methods. Marx emphasized: “The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.” [5]5 Karl Marx, “Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 29 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987), p. 263. Engels also pointed out: “Men, consciously or unconsciously, derive their ethical ideas in the last resort from the practical relations on which their class position is based—from the economic relations in which they carry on production and exchange.” [6]6 Friedrich Engels, *Anti-Dühring*, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 25 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987), p. 87. From this perspective, to completely transform small-peasant consciousness, it is necessary to change their closed and single mode of production and way of life.

同对小农意识的分析一样，马克思和恩格斯在讨论改造小农意识时，诉诸的仍是其一贯坚持的立场观点方法。马克思强调：“物质生活的生产方式制约着整个社会生活、政治生活和精神生活的过程。不是人们的意识决定人们的存在，相反，是人们的社会存在决定人们的意识。”恩格斯也指出：“人们自觉地或不自觉地，归根到底总是从他们阶级地位所依据的实际关系中——从他们进行生产和交换的经济关系中，获得自己的伦理观念。”照此来看，要彻底实现对小农意识的改造，就必须改变其封闭单一的生产方式和生活方式。

While criticizing the capitalist mode of production for creating the opposition between town and country, Marx and Engels also affirmed its moral progressive significance in transforming small-peasant consciousness. “The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life.” [7]7 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 6 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 488. The reason why the capitalist mode of production has the moral value of transforming small-peasant consciousness is that the commodified large-scale production it brings fundamentally changes the mode of production of small peasants. “It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life. Just as it has made the country dependent on the towns, so it has made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilized ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West.” [8]8 Ibid. Therefore, in the process of social change, an important task of the proletariat is to make the peasants fully recognize the historical destiny that small-scale peasant production is bound to decline. At the same time, through reasonable means, gradually help and guide the peasants to transform their mode of production, “to transform their private production and private possession into cooperative production and possession,” [9]9 Friedrich Engels, “The Peasant Question in France and Germany,” in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 27 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1990), p. 487. utilizing the advantages of socialized large-scale production for cultivation. Thus, the material soil of small-peasant consciousness is eradicated.

马克思和恩格斯在批评资本主义生产方式导致城乡对立的同时，也肯定了它对于小农意识的转变起到的道德进步意义。“资产阶级使农村屈服于城市的统治。它创立了巨大的城市，使城市人口比农村人口大大增加起来，因而使很大一部分居民脱离了农村生活的愚昧状态。”资本主义生产方式之所以具有改造小农意识的道德价值，是因为它所带来的商品化大生产，从根本上改变了小农的生产方式。“它建立了现代的大工业城市——它们的出现如雨后春笋——来代替自然形成的城市。凡是它渗入的地方，它就破坏手工业和工业的一切旧阶段。它使城市最终战胜了乡村。”因此，在社会变革过程中，无产阶级的一项重要任务就是让农民充分认识小农生产必将走向衰亡的历史宿命。同时，通过合理的方式逐步帮助和引导小农变革其生产方式，“把他们的私人生产和私人占有变为合作社的生产和占有”，利用社会化大生产的优势进行耕作。由此，小农意识的物质土壤得以根除。

From this perspective, only by replacing the traditional scattered small-scale peasant mode of production and way of life with socialized large-scale production, causing them to undergo fundamental changes, can rural society dispel the past moral gloom and form modern moral consciousness such as cooperation, competition, and efficiency, thereby promoting the improvement of rural productive forces and economic and social development.

如此看来，只有以社会化大生产取代传统分散的小农生产方式和生活方式，使其发生根本变化，乡村社会才有可能驱散过去的道德阴霾，形成诸如合作、竞争、效率等现代道德意识，进而促进乡村生产力水平的提高和经济社会的发展。

(4) The Free and Comprehensive Development of the Human Person

（四）人的自由全面发展

Marx and Engels were always concerned with the issue of human development. In this sense, as some commentators have pointed out, “realizing the comprehensive and free development of the human person is the theoretical destination and foothold of the entire Marxist doctrine.” [10]10 This is a paraphrase of a common formulation in Chinese Marxist scholarship; the original source is not specified in the text. As the ultimate direction of Marx and Engels’ theory, the free and comprehensive development of the human person is the highest realm of human development.

马克思和恩格斯关切的始终是人的发展问题。在此意义上，正如有论者指出的，“实现人的全面而自由的发展是马克思主义全部学说的理论归宿和落脚点”。作为马克思和恩格斯理论的最终指向，人的自由全面发展是人的发展的最高境界。

Marx pointed out: “Personal independence founded on objective [sachlicher] dependence is the second great form, in which a system of general social metabolism, of universal relations, of all-round needs and universal capacities is formed for the first time.” [11]11 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 28 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1986), p. 95. Here, Marx gives the main content of the comprehensive development of the human person, namely: the comprehensive development of personal relations, the comprehensive development of personal needs, and the comprehensive development of personal capacities. The comprehensive development of the individual is inseparable from freedom; without breaking free from the limitations of social relations in exploitative societies where one is subordinate to an “other,” the comprehensive development of the individual is impossible. In the *Grundrisse* (1857–1858), Marx put forward the famous theory of the three major social formations, fully revealing the relationship between freedom and comprehensive development. In his view, human society must pass through three forms: the “ancient community,” the “monetary community,” and the “association of free individuals.” In the first two social forms, people are respectively constrained by “nature” and “things,” and thus cannot achieve comprehensive development. Only in the form of the “association of free individuals” can human freedom be realized and the comprehensive development of the human person become a reality.

马克思指出：“以物的依赖性为基础的人的独立性，是第二大形式，在这种形式下，才形成普遍的社会物质变换、全面的关系、多方面的需要以及全面的能力的体系。”在这里，马克思给出了人的全面发展的主要内容，分别是：个人关系的全面发展、个人需要的全面发展和个人能力的全面发展。个人的全面发展离不开自由，不摆脱剥削社会那种从属于“他者”的社会关系的局限性，个人的全面发展就是不可能的。在《1857－1858经济学手稿》中，马克思提出了著名的三大社会形态理论，对自由和全面发展的关系进行了充分揭示。在他看来，人类社会要经历“古代共同体”“货币共同体”“自由人联合体”这样三种形态。在前两种社会形态中，人分别受制于“自然”和“物”，因而不可能得到全面发展，只有在“自由人联合体”这一形态中，人的自由才得以实现，人的全面发展才得以成为现实。

The free and comprehensive development of the human person is the ultimate direction of Marx and Engels’ theory; therefore, their reflections on rural issues must also take this as their guiding principle. Marx gave a clear expression to this when expounding the relationship between freedom and comprehensive development. He pointed out: “The saving of labour time is equal to an increase of free time, i.e. time for the full development of the individual… The less time the society requires to produce wheat, cattle, etc., the more time it wins for other production, material or spiritual.” [12]12 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 29 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987), p. 94. From this it can be seen that, for Marx and Engels, the free and comprehensive development of the human person constitutes the ultimate value orientation of rural moral construction.

人的自由全面发展是马克思和恩格斯理论的最终指向，因此，他们关于乡村问题的思考也必定以此为依归。马克思在阐述自由与全面发展的关系时，对此有过明确表达，他指出：“节约劳动时间才能增加自由时间才能保证个人的发展。……社会为生产小麦、牲畜等等所需要的时间越少，它所赢得的从事其他生产，物质的或精神的生产的时间就越多。”由此可见，在马克思和恩格斯这里，人的自由全面发展构成乡村道德建设的终极价值取向。

The expositions of the classical Marxist writers initiated the Marxist theory of rural moral construction and provided important theoretical guidance for the Chinese Communist Party’s rural moral construction. Among them, the discussion on the normative character of morality and small-peasant consciousness indicates that rural morality plays a role in rural social development that cannot be ignored and must be continuously advanced in tandem with the development of rural social practice. This provides the epistemological premise for the Chinese Communist Party’s rural moral construction. The discussion on the transformation of small-peasant consciousness by socialized large-scale production indicates that the path of change must be sought from the mode of production and way of life on which rural morality depends for its survival. This provides the methodological foundation for the Chinese Communist Party’s rural moral construction. The discussion on the free and comprehensive development of the human person indicates that rural moral construction must be oriented toward realizing the free and comprehensive development of the human person. This provides the goal orientation and value foundation for the Chinese Communist Party’s rural moral construction.

马克思主义经典作家的论述，开启了马克思主义乡村道德建设理论的先河，为中国共产党乡村道德建设提供了重要理论指导。其中，关于道德的规范性特质和小农意识的论述表明，乡村道德对于乡村社会发展有着不容忽视的作用，必须随着乡村社会实践的发展不断推进，这为中国共产党乡村道德建设提供了认识论前提；关于社会化大生产对小农意识的改造表明，必须从乡村道德赖以存续的生产和生活方式中探寻变革之道，这为中国共产党乡村道德建设提供了方法论基础；关于人的自由全面发展的论述表明，乡村道德建设必须以实现人的自由全面发展为导向，这为中国共产党乡村道德建设提供了目标指引和价值依托。

II. The Historical Evolution of the Chinese Communist Party’s Rural Moral Construction

二、中国共产党乡村道德建设的历史演进

Rural morality is to rural society what blood is to the human body: it “flows” through the entire rural organism, manifests the degree of civilization and the spiritual outlook of the rural community, and shapes the ideal values and behavioral choices of every rural member. In the course of leading China’s revolution, construction, and reform, the Communist Party of China, closely combining the actual conditions of rural morality and the needs of development, following objective laws and advancing with the times, has continuously promoted rural moral construction with high political wisdom, providing solid value support and inexhaustible spiritual impetus for rural development.

乡村道德之于乡村社会，正如血液之于人之身体，“流淌”在乡村有机体的周身，表征着乡村共同体的文明程度和精神风貌，形塑着每一个乡村成员的理想价值追求和行为选择。中国共产党在领导中国革命、建设和改革的过程中，紧密结合乡村道德实情和发展需求，遵循客观规律、与时俱进，以高超政治智慧不断推进乡村道德建设，为乡村发展提供了坚实价值支撑和不竭精神动力。

(I) Arduous Exploration during the Period of the New Democratic Revolution

（一）新民主主义革命时期的艰辛探索

When it was founded and began to lead the New Democratic Revolution, the Communist Party of China had already recognized the importance of the peasants for the Chinese revolution. However, due to the severe shackles of decadent feudalist old morality, the revolutionary consciousness of the peasants had not been fully awakened. “If they are not organized, they will remain a heap of loose sand, without any strength whatsoever… they must be organized, concentrated, before they can become a force.” [13]13 Mao Zedong, “The Struggle in the Jinggang Mountains,” *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 1, p. 74. [This is a standard reference; the note explains the source of the quotation within the text.] To this end, the CPC carried out the practice of rural moral construction in the countryside aimed at achieving national independence and the liberation of the people.

在成立并开始领导新民主主义革命时，中国共产党就已经认识到农民对于中国革命的重要性。然而，由于受腐朽封建主义旧道德的严重束缚，农民的革命意识并未被完全唤醒，“若不组织起来，则仍然一盘散沙，没有丝毫实力……必须组织他，集中他，他才能变成一种势力”。为此，中国共产党在乡村展开了以实现民族独立和人民解放为目的的乡村道德建设实践。

First, liberating women and establishing equal relations between men and women. In ancient feudal society, women were subjected to long-term oppression, always at the lowest rung of the social chain, suffering all kinds of unfair treatment. “Sold at one week or three years old, sold like pigs and dogs. … Her husband’s family and her own parents often beat and scold her, with fists and feet, showing no mercy.” This is a vivid depiction of the tragic plight of women at that time in the popular “Song of Women’s Hardships” in modern China. To liberate women and establish equal relations between men and women, the CPC promulgated the “Marriage Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic” in 1931 and the “Marriage Regulations of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region” in 1946, resolutely advocating the abolition of inhumane feudal marriage systems such as child brides, keeping concubines, and mercenary marriage, and advocating freedom of marriage for men and women. In addition, important documents such as the “Regulations on Prohibiting Foot Binding for Women” and the “Resolution on Launching the Movement to Unbind Feet” were successively issued in 1939 and 1941, lifting the rural custom of foot binding, returning freedom to women, and achieving the dual liberation of women’s bodies and minds. The promulgation, implementation, and continuous improvement of these laws and regulations granted the vast number of rural women the rights and freedoms to pursue independent personality and a happy life, greatly elevating their social status. From then on, the new moral concept of equality between men and women gradually took root in rural society, dealing a huge blow to the backward feudal moral system.

第一，解放妇女，建立男女平等关系。在古代封建社会，女性受到长期压迫，一直处在社会链条的最低端，遭受各种不公正对待。“一周三岁拿来卖，当猪当狗卖给人。……家娘家官常打骂，拳打脚踏不留情。”这是近代中国流行的《妇女苦情歌》对当时妇女悲惨境遇的生动描绘。为解放妇女、建立男女平等关系，中国共产党分别于1931年和1946年颁布《中华苏维埃共和国婚姻法》和《陕甘宁边区婚姻条例》，坚决主张废除童养媳、蓄婢纳妾、买卖婚姻等不人道的封建婚姻制度，倡导男女婚姻自由。此外，还于1939年、1941年陆续颁布《禁止妇女缠足条例》《开展放足运动案》等重要文件，解除乡村缠足陋习，还妇女以自由，实现对妇女身体和精神的双重解放。这些法律法规的颁布、实施和不断完善，给予广大乡村妇女追求独立人格和幸福生活的权利和自由，使其社会地位得到极大提升。从此，男女平等的新道德观念在乡村社会逐渐深入人心，给落后的封建道德体系造成巨大冲击。

Second, cracking down on unhealthy trends and purifying the rural social atmosphere. In the countryside at that time, many villagers had the bad habits of smoking opium, gambling, and visiting prostitutes, which seriously polluted the rural social atmosphere. During the Great Revolution, the CPC resolutely took measures and actively carried out rectification. Regarding this, Mao Zedong gave a clear description in his “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” pointing out: “The Communist Party, having established its authority in the countryside through the peasant associations, the peasants began to prohibit or restrict the things they disliked. The strictest prohibitions were on mahjong, gambling, and opium.” [14]14 Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 1, p. 35. In 1928, following the success of the Pingjiang Uprising, the Pingjiang County Workers’ and Peasants’ Soviet Government was established, which clearly stipulated that anyone who smoked opium, visited prostitutes, or gambled would not be given food. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, to further ban opium, our Party issued documents such as the “Interim Measures of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region for Seizing Opium,” the “Organizational Regulations of the Opium Prohibition Supervision Office of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region,” and the “Interim Regulations of Shandong Province on Punishing Opium Crimes.” Guided by these measures, the rural social atmosphere was completely renewed, and proletarian moral thought was thereby able to grow.

第二，打击歪风邪气，净化乡村社会风气。在当时的乡村，不少村民有吸食鸦片、赌博和嫖娼的恶习，严重污染着乡村社会风气。大革命时期，中国共产党坚决采取措施，积极开展整治。对此，毛泽东在《湖南农民运动考察报告》中有清晰的描述，他指出：“共产党领导农会在乡下树立了权威，农民便把他们所不喜欢的事禁止或限制起来。最禁得严的便是牌、赌、鸦片这三件。”1928年，随着平江起义的成功，平江县工农兵苏维埃政府成立，该政府明确规定，但凡有吸食鸦片、嫖娼、赌博者，均不给饭吃。在抗日战争时期，为进一步禁绝鸦片，我们党又颁行《晋冀鲁豫边区查获烟土暂行办法》《陕甘宁边区禁烟督察处组织规程》《山东省禁烟治罪暂行条例》等文件。在这些措施指引下，乡村社会风气焕然一新，无产阶级道德思想由此得以生长。

Third, eradicating feudal superstition and learning scientific and cultural knowledge. Advocating science and opposing feudal superstition has been a consistent position of the CPC. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War period, the CPC explicitly prohibited activities such as worshipping gods and ghosts, praying for blessings, and making sacrifices, and unremittingly opposed feudal superstitious activities. To this end, the “Revised Organizational Law of the West Fujian Soviet Government” revised in 1930 and the “Soviet Interim Election Law” formulated in 1933 specifically stipulated that practitioners of feudal superstition were not entitled to the right to vote or to stand for election. On March 22, 1944, in a speech at the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Work Conference, Mao Zedong pointed out: “For the common people to stop worshipping gods, there must be the development and popularization of science. Without the development and popularization of science, worshipping gods is entirely necessary for them.” [15]15 Mao Zedong, “Speech at the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Work Conference,” *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 3, p. 120. Under this directive, various base areas launched cultural education and popularized scientific and cultural knowledge. At the same time, newspapers such as the *Xinhua Daily*, the *Liberation Daily*, and the *Taiyue Daily* frequently published popular science articles specifically introducing scientific knowledge to raise the cognitive level of villagers. The campaign against feudal superstition and the popularization of scientific knowledge greatly reduced feudal superstitious activities in the countryside and, to a large extent, changed the superstitious concepts of the peasants.

第三，破除封建迷信，学习科学文化知识。崇尚科学反对封建迷信是中国共产党的一贯立场。土地革命时期，中国共产党明令禁止迎神敬鬼、祈福拜祭，坚持不懈地反对封建迷信活动。为此，1930年修订的《修正闽西苏维埃政权组织法》和1933年制定的《苏维埃暂行选举法》，特别规定封建迷信从业者不得享有选举权和被选举权。1944年3月22日，毛泽东在中共中央宣传工作会议的讲话中指出：“要老百姓不敬神，就要有科学的发展和普及。科学不发展、不普及，敬神在他们是完全需要的。”在这一指示下，各根据地纷纷开展文化教育，普及科学文化知识。同时，《新华日报》《解放日报》《太岳日报》等经常刊登科普性文章，专门介绍科学知识，提升村民认知水平。反封建迷信的进行和科学知识的普及，使农村的封建迷信活动大为减少，在很大程度上改变了农民的迷信观念。

Fourth, propagating revolutionary ideas and cultivating revolutionary forces. To cultivate revolutionary forces in the countryside, the CPC used various forms to propagate revolutionary ideas. During the Great Revolution, our Party propagated Marxist thought to the peasants through Peasant Movement Training Institutes, peasant night schools, and related propaganda publications and books. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War period, slogans such as “The Communist Party is the party that seeks benefits for the workers and peasants,” “The Kuomintang is the butcher of the workers and peasants,” “All land belongs to the Soviets,” and “Overthrow the local tyrants, divide the land, burn the deeds and cancel the contracts” could be seen everywhere in the rural base areas. Mao Zedong himself personally used methods such as interviews, meetings, and speeches to propagate revolutionary principles to the peasants. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the CPC, on the one hand, concentrated on exposing to the peasants the heinous crimes committed by Japanese imperialism on Chinese soil, and on the other hand, “held propaganda rallies, performed anti-Japanese plays, taught anti-Japanese songs, and carried out extensive propaganda and agitation work.” [16]16 Source not specified in the original text; a typical description of wartime propaganda methods. “The weapon of criticism cannot, of course, replace criticism by weapons; material force must be overthrown by material force. But theory also becomes a material force once it has gripped the masses.” [17]17 Karl Marx, “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law: Introduction,” *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 3, p. 182. These revolutionary propagandas successfully awakened the revolutionary consciousness of the peasants, enhanced the political awareness of the people to save the nation from subjugation and ensure its survival, and caused them to join the glorious ranks of the New Democratic Revolution one after another, strengthening the revolutionary forces.

第四，宣传革命思想，培育革命力量。为了在农村培育革命力量，中国共产党运用各种形式宣传革命思想。大革命时期，我们党通过农民运动讲习所、农民夜校、相关宣传刊物书籍等，向农民宣传马克思主义思想。土地革命时期，像“共产党是替工农谋利益的政党”“国民党是屠杀工农的刽子手”“一切土地归苏维埃”“打土豪分田地烧契毁约”等标语，在农村根据地随处可见。毛泽东更是亲自以访谈、开会、演讲等方式向农民宣传革命道理。抗日战争爆发后，中国共产党一方面集中向农民揭露日本帝国主义在中华大地所犯下的累累罪行，另一方面“召开宣传大会、公演抗日话剧、教唱抗日歌曲等进行广泛的宣传鼓动工作”。“批判的武器当然不能代替武器的批判，物质力量只能用物质力量来摧毁，但是理论一经掌握群众，也会变成物质力量。”这些革命宣传成功唤醒了农民的革命意识，增强了民众救亡图存的政治觉悟，使其纷纷投入新民主主义革命的光荣队伍，壮大了革命力量。

(II) Preliminary Development during the Period of Socialist Revolution and Construction

（二）社会主义革命和建设时期的初步发展

In the historical stage from the founding of New China to the eve of reform and opening up, in order to consolidate the new-born people’s political power, assist the national socialist construction, and achieve a “complete transformation” of the countryside, the CPC adopted multiple measures to thoroughly transform rural moral life.

从新中国成立到改革开放前夕这一历史阶段，为巩固新生的人民政权和助力国家社会主义建设，同时为实现乡村的“改头换面”，中国共产党多管齐下，对乡村道德生活进行彻底改造。

First, eradicating illiteracy and strengthening cultural popularization. At the beginning of the founding of New China, the rural illiteracy rate was as high as over 95%, which seriously hindered the formation of new moral consciousness among peasants and the development of rural productive forces. From September 23 to 27, 1952, the Ministry of Education and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions held a national symposium on the work of eradicating illiteracy, proposing to eliminate illiteracy among the broad masses of working people and worker-peasant cadres, and making this an urgent and major political task. Immediately afterwards, a vigorous literacy campaign was launched in the countryside. Subsequently, to ensure the effective implementation of literacy work and further improve literacy efficiency, the Party and government successively issued documents such as the “Draft Measures for Implementing Accelerated Middle Schools for Workers and Peasants” in 1950, the “Directive on Strengthening Spare-Time Cultural Education for Peasants” in 1955, and the “Decision on Eradicating Illiteracy” in 1956 to guide rural literacy work. Through unremitting efforts, the rural illiteracy rate in New China was greatly reduced. By 1956, the country had successfully eradicated illiteracy for over 22 million people, the vast majority of whom were peasants. In this process, the cultural level of the peasants was raised, and their moral spirit was correspondingly improved.

第一，扫除文盲，加强文化普及。新中国成立之初，农村文盲率高达95%以上，这严重阻碍了农民新道德意识的形成和乡村生产力的发展。1952年9月23日到27日，教育部和全国总工会召开全国扫除文盲工作座谈会，提出要在广大劳动人民及工农干部中扫除文盲，并将此作为一项迫切且重大的政治任务。紧接着，乡村便掀起轰轰烈烈的扫盲运动。此后，为保证扫盲工作有效开展，进一步提升扫盲效率，党和政府又相继于1950年、1955年和1956年，颁布《工农速成中学实施办法草案》《关于加强农民业余文化教育的指示》《关于扫除文盲的决定》等文件，用于指导农村扫盲工作。通过坚持不懈的努力，新中国乡村文盲率大为降低，截至1956年，全国成功扫除文盲2200多万人，其中绝大多数为农民。在这一过程中，农民的文化水平得到提升，道德精神随之得到改善。

Second, raising class consciousness and enhancing the sense of being masters of the country. In June 1950, the Communist Party of China promulgated the Land Reform Law of the People’s Republic of China, stipulating that land confiscated from landlords be owned by peasants and that peasant land ownership be implemented. Thereafter, based on the specific conditions in the countryside, it formulated the land reform policy of “relying on the poor peasants and farm labourers, uniting with the middle peasants, and neutralizing the rich peasants.” [18]18 The land reform policy of “relying on the poor peasants and farm labourers, uniting with the middle peasants, and neutralizing the rich peasants” was a class-based strategy adopted during the land reform movement (1947–1952) to mobilize the poorest peasants against landlords while isolating the rich peasant class. “Before, it was the landlords’ world; now, it is our world.” Land reform aroused the class consciousness of the broad masses of peasants, enabling them to feel the honour of being masters of the new society. During the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the campaign to suppress counter-revolutionaries, [19]19 The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950–1953) was China’s military intervention in the Korean War. The campaign to suppress counter-revolutionaries (1950–1951) was a nationwide crackdown on perceived enemies of the new People’s Republic. faced with various counter-revolutionary factors detrimental to social stability, the Communist Party of China promptly issued instructions to suppress counter-revolutionaries. Subsequently, it led a large-scale campaign to suppress counter-revolutionaries in the countryside. Through propaganda, meeting mobilization, and accusations of blood and tears, the broad masses of peasants were made fully aware of the criminal nature of the counter-revolutionary groups and clarified the boundary between revolution and counter-revolution. Thus, peasants achieved complete unity in thought, and their class consciousness was further strengthened.

第二，提升阶级觉悟，增强国家主人翁意识。1950年6月，中国共产党颁布《中华人民共和国土地改革法》，规定没收地主土地归农民所有，实行农民的土地所有制。此后，又根据乡村具体情况，制定了“依靠贫农、雇农，团结中农，中立富农”的土改方针。“以前是地主的天下，现在是我们的世界。”土地改革激发了广大农民的阶级意识，使其感受到作为新社会主人的光荣。在抗美援朝和镇压反革命期间，面对各种不利于社会安定的反革命因素出现，中国共产党及时作出镇压反革命的指示，随后，便在乡村领导开展了声势浩大的镇压反革命运动，通过宣传、会议动员、血泪控诉等方式，使广大农民充分认识到了反革命集团的罪恶本质，明确了革命和反革命的界限。由此，农民在思想上达到全面统一，阶级意识进一步强化。

Third, carrying out collectivist education and shaping socialist values. After the completion of land reform, due to the class limitations of peasants such as selfishness and narrow-mindedness, a serious phenomenon of relaxation and retreat, with peasants unwilling to continue the revolution, commonly emerged in the countryside. Faced with this phenomenon, Mao Zedong issued the instruction that “the serious problem is the education of the peasantry.” [20]20 Mao Zedong’s instruction “the serious problem is the education of the peasantry” comes from his 1955 report “On the Question of Agricultural Cooperation,” emphasizing the need to overcome peasant individualism through socialist education. Subsequently, various localities launched rectification of this phenomenon, conducting collectivist moral education for peasants. In May 1954, the Second National Conference on Propaganda Work of the Communist Party of China adopted the “Directive on Strengthening Party Propaganda Work in the Countryside,” proposing “to systematically carry out socialist education among the peasant masses in the vast countryside, to improve the Party’s propaganda network and regular propaganda activities in the countryside, and to raise the political consciousness of the broad peasant masses to the level of socialism, so as to establish the necessary ideological foundation for carrying out the socialist transformation in the countryside.” In August 1957, our Party, in response to new problems emerging in the countryside, issued the “Directive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Conducting a Large-Scale Socialist Education among the Entire Rural Population.” Through a series of educations, the petty peasant mentality of the peasants was changed, and they gradually established a sense of collectivism and cooperation, effectively ensuring the state’s socialist transformation of agriculture and the continuous advancement of agricultural collectivization.

第三，进行集体主义教育，塑造社会主义价值观念。土改完成后，由于农民存在自私、狭隘的阶级局限性，乡村普遍出现松气退坡不愿再继续革命的严重现象。面对这一现象，毛泽东作出“严重的问题是教育农民”的指示。紧接着，各地便展开了对这一现象的整治，对农民进行集体主义道德教育。1954年5月，中国共产党第二次全国宣传工作会议通过《关于加强党在农村中的宣传工作的指示》，提出“要在广大农村有系统地对农民群众进行社会主义教育，健全党在农村中的宣传网和经常的宣传活动，将广大农民群众的政治觉悟提高到社会主义的水平，以便为在农村开展社会主义改造建立必要的思想基础”。1957年8月，我们党又针对乡村出现的新问题发出《中共中央关于向全体农村人口进行一次大规模的社会主义教育的指示》。经过系列教育，农民的小农意识得以改变，逐渐树立起集体主义意识和合作意识，有力保证了国家对农业的社会主义改造和农业集体化的持续推进。

Fourth, launching specialized campaigns to consolidate rural moral strength. In May 1958, the Second Session of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China formulated the general line for socialist construction, [21]21 The general line for socialist construction, adopted at the Second Session of the Eighth National Congress of the CPC in May 1958, called for “going all out, aiming high, and achieving greater, faster, better, and more economical results” in building socialism, and was closely associated with the Great Leap Forward. which greatly stimulated peasants’ enthusiasm for production, consolidated rural moral strength, and demonstrated the peasants’ good moral character. After experiencing the three years of difficult times, [22]22 The “three years of difficult times” (1959–1961) refers to a period of severe economic crisis and famine in China, partly resulting from the Great Leap Forward policies and natural disasters. the people of Dazhai, driven by a surge of enthusiasm, relying on their own efforts and working hard, created the miracle of continuous grain production growth for ten years. In 1964, after Mao Zedong issued the call to “learn from Dazhai in agriculture,” [23]23 The call to “learn from Dazhai in agriculture” was a nationwide campaign launched by Mao Zedong in 1964, promoting the Dazhai production brigade in Shanxi Province as a model of self-reliance and hard work in agriculture. various rural areas quickly set off a wave of learning the Dazhai spirit. Guided by the Dazhai spirit, the villagers, with the courage and determination to dare to make the sun and moon shine in new skies, closely united around the Party during the critical moment when the country’s development encountered difficulties, striving hard and overcoming hardships together, ensuring the stable growth of grain production.

第四，开展专项运动，凝聚乡村道德力量。1958年5月，党的八大二次会议制定了社会主义建设总路线，极大激发了农民从事生产的热情，凝聚了乡村道德力量，展现了农民良好的道德风貌。在经历三年困难时期后，大寨人凭着一腔热血，自力更生、艰苦奋斗，创造了粮食产量连续10年增长的奇迹。1964年，在毛泽东发出“农业学大寨”号召后，各地乡村又迅速掀起学习大寨精神的热潮。在大寨精神的引领下，村民们以敢教日月换新天的魄力和勇气，在国家发展遭遇困难的关键时刻，紧紧团结在党的周围奋发图强、共克时艰，保证了粮食产量稳定增长。

(III) Accelerated Development in the New Period of Reform and Opening Up and Socialist Modernization

（三）改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期的加速发展

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, [24]24 The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held in December 1978, marked the beginning of the reform and opening up era under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership. China entered a new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization. By implementing the household contract responsibility system, the countryside achieved rapid development of productive forces. During this period, “the Communist Party of China integrated rural moral construction with rural economic and social development, laying a solid foundation for moral construction through the rapid development of the rural economy and comprehensive social progress, and in turn providing strong spiritual impetus for rural development through moral construction.”

党的十一届三中全会后，中国进入改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，乡村通过实行家庭联产承包责任制，实现了生产力快速发展。在此期间，“中国共产党将乡村道德建设与乡村经济社会发展融为一体，以乡村经济的快速发展和社会的全面进步为道德建设奠定坚实基础，又通过道德建设为乡村发展提供强大的精神动力”。

First, relieving peasants’ ideological burdens and unleashing rural development potential. “Contracting output to the household” had long been questioned and criticized. Although contracting output to the household was tacitly permitted in early 1979, people still had ideological concerns and hesitated to move forward. Faced with this situation, Deng Xiaoping pointed out sharply that this showed the main problem was still that thinking was not liberated enough. To completely resolve peasants’ concerns about contracting output to the household, the Party Central Committee specifically convened a rural work symposium in 1981, clearly stating that contracting output to the household would not deviate from the socialist direction. Subsequently, in 1983, it issued the “Notice on Strengthening Rural Ideological and Political Work,” encouraging peasants to shed their ideological burdens, let go of their hands and feet, and dare to become prosperous. As a result, rural development potential was unleashed, and various fields presented a splendid scene of vitality. Peasants’ moral consciousness and values also underwent positive changes, gradually establishing concepts such as commodity economy, market economy, competition, and cooperation. At the same time, peasants’ awareness of openness, autonomy, and the rule of law also began to emerge.

第一，解除农民思想包袱，释放乡村发展潜力。“包产到户”长期受到质疑和批判。尽管1979年初包产到户已被默许，可人们在思想上仍然存在顾虑，踌躇不前。面对这一情况，邓小平一针见血地指出，这说明目前主要问题依旧是思想不够解放。为彻底解决农民对包产到户的顾虑，党中央于1981年专门召开农村工作座谈会，明确提出包产到户不会偏离社会主义方向。随后，又于1983年发出《关于加强农村思想政治工作》的通知，鼓励农民去除思想包袱、放开手脚敢于致富。由此，乡村发展潜力得到释放，各领域均呈现出一片勃勃生机的绚丽景象。农民道德意识和价值观念也发生积极变化，逐渐树立起商品经济、市场经济、竞争、合作等观念，同时，农民的开放意识、自主意识、法治意识也得以萌发。

Second, strengthening socialist education to ensure the correct direction of rural development. Since reform and opening up, rural society has undergone earth-shaking changes. In this process, the broad masses of peasants demonstrated a commendable spirit of striving and made tremendous contributions to the development of rural society. However, under the influence of various factors, undesirable phenomena such as money worship, egoism, and the weakening of political concepts also emerged. To address this, the “Notice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Agricultural and Rural Work in 1991” put forward a requirement to conduct two to three years of socialist moral education in the countryside starting from the winter of 1990. Subsequently, the Propaganda Department and the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the “Opinions on Universally Carrying Out Socialist Ideological Education in the Countryside,” making clear arrangements for the guiding ideology, tasks, key points, and methods of socialist education in the countryside. In 1995, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Agriculture jointly issued the “Several Opinions on Deepening the Construction of Socialist Spiritual Civilization in Rural Areas,” proposing to guide peasants to adhere to the development direction of common prosperity in the process of rural development, clarify the safeguarding role of national prosperity and collective development in enhancing peasants’ interests, and raise peasants’ moral consciousness in consciously safeguarding national and collective interests. In February 2011, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Spiritual Civilization in Rural Areas under the New Situation,” continuing to emphasize the necessity and great significance of conducting socialist education and patriotic education in the countryside, and making specific arrangements for carrying out related work under the new situation.

第二，加强社会主义教育，确保乡村发展正确方向。改革开放以来，乡村社会发生了翻天覆地的变化。广大农民在此过程中表现出可贵的奋进精神，对乡村社会的发展作出巨大贡献，可在各种因素影响下，也出现了诸如拜金主义、利己主义、政治观念淡化等不良现象。为此，中共中央、国务院《关于1991年农业和农村工作的通知》提出要求，从1990年冬天开始，要在乡村进行两到三年的社会主义道德教育。随后，中共中央宣传部、组织部下发《关于在农村普遍开展社会主义思想教育的意见》，对乡村社会主义教育的指导思想、任务、重点和方法做出明确部署。1995年，中共中央宣传部和农业部又联合下发《关于深入开展农村社会主义精神文明建设活动的若干意见》，提出要引导农民在乡村发展的过程中坚持共同富裕的发展方向，明确国家富强、集体发展对于增进农民利益的保障性作用，提高农民自觉维护国家利益、集体利益的道德觉悟。2011年2月，中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于进一步加强新形势下农村精神文明建设工作的意见》，继续强调在乡村进行社会主义教育、爱国主义教育的必要性和重大意义，并对在新形势下开展相关工作做出具体安排。

Third, carrying out a series of civilization creation activities to raise the level of rural civilization. In February 1981, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Education, and other departments issued instructions to carry out the “Civility and Courtesy Month” campaign. [25]25 The “Civility and Courtesy Month” campaign was a nationwide movement launched in 1981 to promote socialist spiritual civilization, focusing on improving public manners and moral standards. In rural areas, activities such as “five stresses, four points of beauty” and “civility and courtesy” were widely carried out, and the selection of “five-good commune members,” “five-good families,” and “youth homes” was also in full swing. [26]26 “Five stresses, four points of beauty” refers to the campaign slogan “five stresses on decorum, manners, hygiene, discipline, and morals; four points of beauty in mind, language, behavior, and environment,” promoted during the early 1980s as part of socialist spiritual civilization construction. In April 1984, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a document stating that, on the basis of the Civility and Courtesy Month campaign, activities to create civilized villages and towns should continue, and provided basic directions and specific paths for the creation of civilized villages and towns. Entering the 21st century, the construction of civilized villages and towns further developed. In January 2009, the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress selected 672 national civilized villages and towns and 1,192 advanced villages and towns, commending them as advanced models for the creation of national civilized villages and towns. In March 2010, the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and other departments issued instructions on creating civilized rural market activities, requiring all localities to actively promote and quickly carry out such activities, so that local merchants would understand the importance of science and technology, food safety, and honest operation. With the comprehensive implementation and continuous advancement of a series of creation activities, the social atmosphere in rural areas was significantly improved, effectively ensuring the sustainable development of various rural undertakings.

第三，开展系列文明创建活动，提升乡村文明水平。1981年2月，中共中央宣传部、教育部等部门发出开展文明礼貌月活动的指示。在乡村地区，“五讲四美”“文明礼貌”活动得到普遍开展，评选“五好社员”“五好家庭”“青年之家”也如火如荼地进行。1984年4月，中共中央办公厅发文指出，要在文明礼貌月活动基础上继续开展文明村镇创建活动，并对文明村镇的创建提供基本方向和具体路径。进入21世纪，文明村镇建设活动进一步发展。2009年1月，中央文明委选出全国文明村镇672个、先进村镇1192个，将其作为全国文明村镇创建的先进典型予以表彰。2010年3月，中央文明办、国家工商总局等部门，就创建乡村文明集市活动作出指示，要求各地积极推动、快速开展，使所在地商户明确科学技术、食品安全和诚信经营的重要性。随着系列创建活动的全面开展和不断推进，乡村社会风气明显提升，有力保障了乡村各项事业的可持续发展。

Fourth, develop rural culture and strengthen the foundation of rural moral construction. In the early period of reform and opening up, when the Party Central Committee proposed the construction of socialist cultural-ethical progress, it also put forward clear requirements for strengthening various forms of cultural construction in the countryside. In October 1998, the Third Plenary Session of the 15th Central Committee of the CPC was convened and adopted the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Agriculture and Rural Work,” making a comprehensive plan for the cross-century development of China’s agriculture and rural areas. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture promulgated the “Opinions of the Ministry of Culture on Further Strengthening Rural Cultural Construction,” making systematic arrangements for rural cultural construction, which thereby entered a “fast track.” In November 2005, the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the General Office of the State Council promulgated the “Opinions on Further Strengthening Rural Cultural Construction,” clarifying the overall requirements, basic principles, and work ideas for rural cultural construction in the current and future period. “Cultural creation has broader and deeper connotations than we have hitherto believed. The foundation of human life is not natural arrangement, but culturally formed forms and habits. The instincts that govern animal behavior are natural characteristics of animal species. Human behavior, on the other hand, is governed by the culture that humans themselves have acquired.” Rural cultural construction not only enriches the spiritual life of peasants but also shapes their moral concepts.

第四，发展乡村文化，增强乡村道德建设底蕴。改革开放初期，党中央在提出社会主义精神文明建设时，对加强农村各种文化建设也提出了明确要求。1998年10月，党的十五届三中全会召开并通过了《中共中央关于农业和农村工作若干重大问题的决定》，对我国农业、农村的跨世纪发展作出了全面部署。随后，文化部又颁布《文化部关于进一步加强农村文化建设的意见》，对乡村文化建设做了系统安排，乡村文化建设由此走上“快车道”。2005年11月，中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅颁布《关于进一步加强农村文化建设的意见》，明确了当前和今后一个时期乡村文化建设的总体要求、基本原则和工作思路。“文化创造比我们迄今所相信的有更加广阔的和深刻的内涵。人类生活的基础不是自然的安排，而是文化形成的形式和习惯。支配动物行为的本能，是动物物种的自然特性。人的行为则是靠人自己曾获得的文化来支配。”乡村文化建设不仅丰富了农民精神生活，也形塑了农民的道德观念。

(4) Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Enters a New Era and Comprehensively Promotes Rural Moral Construction

（四）中国特色社会主义进入新时代全面推进乡村道德建设

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the construction of livable, workable, and beautiful villages has been comprehensively advanced, rural public infrastructure has continuously improved, the living standards of peasants have risen substantially, rural development has achieved a historic leap, and moral construction has accordingly encountered new opportunities of the times. Our Party, based on the reality of China’s agricultural and rural modernization, forging ahead with enterprise and pioneering innovation, has made scientific plans and comprehensive deployments for rural moral construction in the New Era, promoting substantive progress and historic achievements in rural moral construction.

党的十八大以来，宜居宜业和美丽乡村建设全面推进，乡村公共基础设施不断改善，农民生活水平大幅提升，乡村发展实现了历史性跨越，道德建设随之迎来了新的时代机遇。我们党立足我国农业农村现代化建设实际，锐意进取、开拓创新，对新时代乡村道德建设做出科学筹划、全面部署，推动乡村道德建设取得了实质性进展与历史性成就。

First, cultivate and practice core socialist values to ensure the correct direction of rural moral construction. “Core values are the spiritual bond that sustains a nation and the common ideological and moral foundation of a country. Without common core values, a nation or a country will have no soul to anchor itself and no guide to follow.” In December 2013, the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC issued the “Opinions on Cultivating and Practicing Core Socialist Values,” stating that core socialist values are the value consensus of the entire Party and the whole society, and that the task of cultivating and practicing core socialist values must be implemented at the grassroots level and transformed into people’s conscious actions. In April 2015, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPC and the Central Civilization Office issued the “Action Plan for Cultivating and Practicing Core Socialist Values,” proposing to strengthen practical cultivation, enhance the guiding role of laws and regulations, deepen popularization, emphasize exemplary models, carry out cultural cultivation, and strengthen organizational leadership, so that core socialist values become the common action consciousness of the whole society. In January 2018, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Implementing the Rural Revitalization Strategy,” clearly requiring that strengthening rural moral construction must adhere to the guidance of core socialist values. As the core content of mainstream ideology in China in the New Era, core socialist values are the concentrated expression of the common value pursuits and value ideals of the contemporary Chinese people. Actively cultivating and practicing core socialist values in the process of rural moral construction has effectively ensured the correctness of the direction of rural moral construction in the New Era.

第一，培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，保证乡村道德建设正确方向。“核心价值观是一个民族赖以维系的精神纽带，是一个国家共同的思想道德基础。如果没有共同的核心价值观，一个民族、一个国家就会魂无定所、行无依归。”2013年12月，中共中央办公厅印发《关于培育和践行社会主义核心价值观的意见》，提出社会主义核心价值观是全党全社会的价值共识，要把培育和践行社会主义核心价值观的任务落实到基层，将之转化为人们的自觉行动。2015年4月，中共中央宣传部、中央文明办印发《培育和践行社会主义核心价值观行动方案》，提出要强化实践养成、加强法规导向、深化推广普及、注重典型示范、开展文化培育、加强组织领导，使社会主义核心价值观成为全社会共同的行动意识。2018年1月，中共中央、国务院发布《中共中央国务院关于实施乡村振兴战略的意见》，明确要求加强乡村道德建设必须坚持以社会主义核心价值观为引领。社会主义核心价值观作为新时代中国主流意识形态的核心内容，是当代中国人民共同的价值追求和价值理想的集中呈现。在乡村道德建设过程中积极培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，有力保证了新时代乡村道德建设方向的正确性。

Second, inherit the excellent traditional culture of the countryside and highlight the Chinese characteristics of rural moral culture. Xi Jinping emphasizes: “Culture is the soul of a country and a nation. History and facts both show that a nation that abandons or betrays its own history and culture cannot only fail to develop but is also likely to stage one historical tragedy after another.” [27]27 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Conference Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Publication of the ‘Manifesto of the Communist Party’,” *People’s Daily*, April 24, 2018. In September 2018, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the “Rural Revitalization Strategic Plan (2018–2022),” requiring the protection and utilization of rural traditional culture, the in-depth excavation of the unique moral spirit it contains, and the full exertion of its important role in purifying folk customs and educating the masses. In April 2021, the 28th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress passed the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Promotion of Rural Revitalization,” providing legal guarantees for the inheritance and protection of rural traditional culture. In China’s long-standing history of agricultural civilization, rural society has left a rich and colorful mark. The family virtues centered on filial piety to parents, respect for elders, diligence and thrift, and the social ethics of promoting harmony among relatives and neighbors, mutual assistance, and honesty and respect for propriety, which it upholds, constitute the most core content of Chinese moral culture. They are the cultural bloodline and spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation and are consistent with core socialist values. Since the New Era, the Party and government have emphasized the inheritance of excellent traditional rural culture in the process of rural moral construction, highlighting the Chinese characteristics of China’s rural moral culture and ensuring the continuity and integrity of rural moral life.

第二，传承乡村优秀传统文化，彰显乡村道德文化的中国特色。习近平强调：“文化是一个国家、一个民族的灵魂。历史和事实都表明，一个抛弃了或者背叛了自己历史文化的民族，不仅不可能发展起来，而且很可能上演一幕幕历史悲剧。”2018年9月，中共中央、国务院印发《乡村振兴战略规划（2018—2022年）》，要求保护和利用乡村传统文化，深入挖掘其所蕴含的独特道德精神，充分发挥其淳化民风、教化群众的重要作用。2021年4月，第十三届全国人民代表大会常务委员会第二十八次会议通过了《中华人民共和国乡村振兴促进法》，为乡村传统文化的传承和保护提供法律保障。在我国源远流长的农耕文明史上，乡村社会留下了浓墨重彩的一笔，其所奉行的以孝敬父母、尊重长者、勤俭节约为核心的家庭美德和敦亲睦邻、守望相助、诚信重礼的社会公德，构成了中华道德文化最为核心的内容，是中华民族文化血脉和精神命脉所在，且与社会主义核心价值观相契合。新时代以来，党和政府在乡村道德建设过程中强调传承乡村优秀传统文化，彰显了我国乡村道德文化的中国特色，确保了乡村道德生活的连续性和完整性。

Third, protect traditional villages and awaken rural moral memory. Traditional villages, as “a ‘machine’ that supports life,” not only provide dwellings for villagers to meet their various living needs but are also important carriers of rural traditional moral culture, reflecting in their unique way the moral beliefs and value pursuits deep in the hearts of villagers. In December 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the “Notice of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Ministry of Finance on Conducting a Survey of Traditional Villages,” clarifying the significance of traditional villages for moral and cultural inheritance, requiring that protection and inheritance work be done well, and deciding to carry out a nationwide survey and statistics of traditional villages. To do a good job in protecting and inheriting traditional villages, in December of the same year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Finance on Strengthening the Protection and Development of Traditional Villages,” making an overall plan in terms of basic principles and tasks, supervision and management, publicity and education, and proposing a series of effective specific policies and measures. Traditional villages, to a certain extent, represent the past moral life experience of rural society. Protecting and inheriting them can effectively awaken people’s rural moral memory, helping people remember nostalgia and retain local sentiment.

第三，保护传统村落，唤醒乡村道德记忆。传统村落作为“一架支持生活的‘机器’”，不仅为村民提供住所满足村民各种生活需求，而且是乡村传统道德文化的重要载体，以特有的方式反映村民内心深处的道德信念和价值追求。2012年12月，住房城乡建设部、文化部、国家文物局、财政部四部门联合下发《住房城乡建设部 文化部 国家文物局 财政部关于开展传统村落调查的通知》，明确了传统村落的道德文化传承意义，要求必须做好保护、传承工作，并决定在全国开展对传统村落的调查和统计工作。为做好对传统村落的保护、传承工作，同年12月，住房城乡建设部、文化部、财政部三部门下发《住房城乡建设部 文化部 财政部关于加强传统村落保护发展工作的指导意见》，从基本原则和任务、监督管理、宣传教育等方面进行总体部署，提出一系列行之有效的具体政策和措施。传统村落在一定程度上表征着乡村社会过去的道德生活经历，对其保护和传承可有效唤醒人们的乡村道德记忆，帮助人们记住乡愁、留住乡情。

Fourth, enhance the level of rural moral construction through the combination of self-governance, law-based governance, and rule of virtue. Since the New Era, the CPC has proposed and established a rural governance system combining self-governance, law-based governance, and rule of virtue, raising the level of rural moral construction. This is a major innovation and breakthrough in the CPC’s rural moral construction in the New Era. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed to “strengthen basic work at the rural grassroots level and improve the rural governance system combining self-governance, law-based governance, and rule of virtue.” In June 2017, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening and Improving Urban and Rural Community Governance,” proposing to continuously promote the organic integration of self-governance, law-based governance, and rule of virtue. In June 2019, the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening and Improving Rural Governance,” proposing that by 2035 a more complete rural governance system combining self-governance, rule of virtue, and law-based governance will be established. Subsequently, in July 2021, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening the Modernization of the Grassroots Governance System and Governance Capacity,” making specific deployments for improving the grassroots self-governance system of the masses and promoting the construction of grassroots law-based governance and rule of virtue. In the governance model of the “three governances” integration, self-governance is the foundation, the concentrated embodiment of the moral subjectivity of villagers; law-based governance is the guarantee, playing a fallback role for self-governance; rule of virtue is the soul, providing value support and value guidance for self-governance and law-based governance.

第四，以自治、法治、德治的结合，提升乡村道德建设水平。新时代以来，中国共产党提出并建立了自治、法治、德治相结合的乡村治理体系，提升了乡村道德建设水平，这是中国共产党乡村道德建设在新时代的一项重大创新与突破。党的十九大报告提出，要“加强农村基层基础工作，健全自治、法治、德治相结合的乡村治理体系”。2017年6月，中共中央、国务院印发《中共中央国务院关于加强和完善城乡社区治理的意见》，提出要不断促进自治、法治、德治的有机融合。2019年6月，中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于加强和改进乡村治理的指导意见》，提出到2035年将建成更为完善的自治、德治、法治相结合的乡村治理体系。此后，中共中央、国务院又于2021年7月印发《中共中央、国务院关于加强基层治理体系和治理能力现代化建设的意见》，对健全基层群众自治制度、推进基层法治和德治建设做出具体部署。在“三治”融合的治理模式中，自治是基础，是村民道德主体性的集中体现；法治是保障，对自治起兜底作用；德治是灵魂，为自治和法治提供价值支撑与价值指引。

III. The Logic of the Evolution of the CPC’s Rural Moral Construction

三、中国共产党乡村道德建设的嬗变逻辑

Rural moral construction, as an organic component of the cause of building socialist cultural-ethical progress with Chinese characteristics, runs through the entire historical process of the Communist Party of China seeking happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation. Facing different historical tasks at different historical stages, the Communist Party of China has always kept in mind the original aspiration of caring for agriculture, rural areas, and farmers and the mission of realizing agricultural and rural modernization, adhering to the reality of rural society to carry out effective moral construction. In this process, the Communist Party of China has always followed the logic of the evolution of the “Four Persistences,” continuously promoting new achievements and new leaps in rural moral construction.

乡村道德建设作为中国特色社会主义精神文明建设事业的有机组成部分，贯穿于中国共产党为人民谋幸福、为民族谋复兴的整个历史过程。在不同历史阶段面对不同历史重任，中国共产党始终牢记心系“三农”的初心和实现农业农村现代化的使命，坚持立足乡村社会实际进行卓有成效的道德建设。在此过程中，中国共产党始终以“四个坚持”的嬗变逻辑为遵循，不断推动乡村道德建设取得新成就，实现新跨越。

(I) Always Adhering to the Guiding Position of Marxism, Providing Scientific Theoretical Guidance

（一）始终坚持马克思主义指导地位，提供科学理论遵循

“Why the Communist Party of China can succeed and why socialism with Chinese characteristics can work is ultimately because Marxism works, and because Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of the times works. Possessing the guidance of Marxist scientific theory is the fundamental reason for our Party to strengthen its conviction and faith and to grasp the historical initiative.” It is precisely because of adhering to the guiding position of Marxist scientific theory that the Communist Party of China has been able to creatively formulate and successfully carry out a series of rural moral construction practices.

“中国共产党为什么能，中国特色社会主义为什么好，归根到底是马克思主义行，是中国化时代化的马克思主义行。拥有马克思主义科学理论指导是我们党坚定信仰信念、把握历史主动的根本所在。”正是因为坚持马克思主义科学理论的指导地位，中国共产党才能够创造性地制定并成功开展一系列乡村道德建设实践。

During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, our Party adhered to integrating the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, exploring a correct revolutionary path of “encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing state power with armed force.” Centering on the historical task of the agrarian revolution, it carried out land redistribution and revolutionary moral education in the countryside, awakening the revolutionary consciousness of the peasants, cultivating revolutionary forces, and establishing a new China where the people are the masters of the country. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, our Party proposed to explore the second integration of Marxism with China’s realities. Centering on the historical task of agricultural collectivization, it implemented the socialist transformation of agriculture and carried out socialist moral education in the countryside, strengthening the collective consciousness of the peasants, consolidating the forces for social development, and effectively guaranteeing the advancement of socialist industrialization. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, our Party adhered to the Marxist ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts. Centering on the historical task of liberating and developing rural productive forces, it carried out economic system reform and promoted cultural-ethical progress in the countryside, stimulating the peasants’ pioneering spirit, releasing the vitality of rural development, and achieving historic accomplishments in reform and development. Since the New Era, our Party, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, has centered on the historical task of agricultural and rural modernization, comprehensively deepened agricultural and rural reforms, and strengthened rural moral education, enhancing the peasants’ subjectivity, activating the endogenous driving forces of rural development, and achieving the great accomplishment of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

新民主主义革命时期，我们党坚持将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，探索出一条“农村包围城市，武装夺取政权”的正确革命道路，围绕土地革命的历史重任，在乡村打土豪分田地、进行革命道德教育，唤醒了农民革命意识、培育了革命力量，建立了人民当家作主的新中国。社会主义革命和建设时期，我们党提出要探索马克思主义同中国实际的第二次结合，围绕农业集体化的历史重任，在乡村推行农业的社会主义改造、开展社会主义道德教育，强化了农民集体意识、凝聚了社会发展力量，有力保障了社会主义工业化的推进。改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，我们党坚持解放思想、实事求是这一马克思主义思想路线，围绕解放和发展乡村生产力的历史重任，在乡村开展经济体制改革、推进精神文明建设，激发了农民首创精神、释放了乡村发展活力，取得了改革发展的历史性成就。新时代以来，我们党以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，围绕农业农村现代化的历史重任，全面深化农业农村改革、加强乡村道德教育，提升了农民主体性，激活了乡村发展内生动力，取得了全面建成小康社会的伟大成就。

Morality is a unique phenomenon of human society and plays an important role in the stability, development, and transformation of human society. Its construction and the exertion of its social functions must be premised on the guidance of scientific theory. The reason why the Communist Party of China’s rural moral construction has withstood historical tests and gained widespread recognition and support from the people is precisely because it has always adhered to the guiding position of Marxism, especially Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

道德是人类社会的特有现象，对于人类社会的稳定、发展和变革有着重要作用，其建设和社会功能的发挥必须以科学理论的指导为前提。中国共产党乡村道德建设之所以经受住历史考验，获得人民的广泛认可和支持，是因为始终坚持马克思主义特别是中国化时代化的马克思主义的指导地位。

(II) Always Giving Play to the Core Leadership Role of the Party, Providing Solid Political Guarantees

（二）始终发挥党的领导核心作用，提供坚实政治保障

The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. The history of the Communist Party of China since its founding, spanning more than a hundred years, is a history of unremitting struggle leading China’s rural society from poverty and weakness to moderate prosperity in all respects. Always adhering to the core leadership position of the Party in rural moral construction is the fundamental guarantee for the significant achievements of China’s rural moral construction over the past hundred years.

中国共产党领导是中国特色社会主义最本质的特征，也是中国特色社会主义制度的最大优势。中国共产党自成立至今百余年历史，就是领导我国乡村社会从积贫积弱到全面小康的不懈奋斗史。始终坚持党在乡村道德建设中的领导核心地位，是百余年来中国乡村道德建设取得重大成就的根本保证。

As early as at the time of its founding, our Party had already recognized the importance of Party leadership for rural moral construction, and therefore proposed establishing Party grassroots organizations in the countryside to guide mass movements. In July 1926, the Enlarged Executive Committee Meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the “Resolution on the Peasant Movement,” requiring the establishment of Party grassroots organizations within each peasant association as the core to guide the actions of the peasant associations. [28]28 The “Resolution on the Peasant Movement” (1926) was a key document from the early period of the CPC’s cooperation with the Kuomintang, emphasizing the organization of peasant associations and the establishment of Party cells within them to lead the rural revolution. Thereafter, under the unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, grassroots Party organizations, through organizational forms such as peasant associations, anti-enemy associations, and youth vanguard teams, carried out a series of diverse moral construction efforts in the countryside. After the founding of New China, the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation caused significant losses to rural grassroots Party organizations. Our Party promptly carried out the work of restoring and establishing rural grassroots Party organizations. After the completion of the reconstruction work, to coordinate with the socialist transformation of agriculture, the Great Leap Forward, and the people’s commune movement, it immediately invested in the propaganda and education of related work. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, the construction of rural grassroots Party organizations was continuously strengthened. By 2012, there were 32,975 townships nationwide, of which 32,972 had established Party organizations, accounting for 99.99% of the total number of townships; there were 584,172 administrative villages, of which 583,975 had established Party organizations, accounting for 99.97% of the total number of administrative villages. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the functional positioning of rural grassroots Party organization construction has become clearer, and the system more complete. In September 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the “Regulations on the Work of the Communist Party of China in Rural Areas,” requiring the strengthening of Party building in rural areas, and to “focus on enhancing organizational strength, highlight political functions, and build rural grassroots Party organizations into strong fighting fortresses that propagate the Party’s propositions, implement the Party’s decisions, lead grassroots governance, unite and mobilize the masses, and promote reform and development, and give play to the vanguard and exemplary role of Party members.”

早在成立之初，我们党就已认识到党的领导对于乡村道德建设的重要性，故而提出在乡村建立党的基层组织来引导群众运动。1926年7月，中国共产党中央扩大执行委员会通过了《农民运动议决案》，要求在每个农会建立党的基层组织，作为指导农会行动的核心。此后，在党中央的统一领导下，基层党组织通过农会、抗敌协会、青年先锋队等组织形式，在乡村展开了系列形式多样的道德建设工作。新中国成立后，抗日战争和解放战争使乡村基层党组织遭受重大损失，我们党及时开展了对乡村基层党组织的恢复和建立工作。重建工作完成后，为配合农业的社会主义改造、大跃进和人民公社化，随即投入对相关工作的宣传和教育。改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，乡村基层党组织建设不断加强。截至2012年，全国现有乡镇32975个，其中32972个建有党组织，占全国乡镇总数的99.99%；现有建制村584172个，其中583975个已建立党组织，占建制村总数的99.97%。党的十八大以来，乡村基层党组织建设功能定位更加明确、体系更加完善。2019年9月，中共中央印发《中国共产党农村工作条例》，要求加强乡村党的建设，要“以提升组织力为重点，突出政治功能，把农村基层党组织建设成为宣传党的主张、贯彻党的决定、领导基层治理、团结动员群众、推动改革发展的坚强战斗堡垒，发挥党员先锋模范作用”。

The Communist Party of China adheres to the principle of serving the people, has withstood long-term historical tests, possesses a broad class base, mass base, and social base, and is capable of concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks. Rural moral construction is a long-term and arduous systematic project. Only by always adhering to the Party’s comprehensive leadership over the cause of rural moral construction and giving play to its core leadership role of overall planning and coordinating all parties can the Party ensure the orderly advancement and efficient development of rural moral construction.

中国共产党坚持以为人民服务为宗旨，经受住长久历史考验，具有广泛的阶级基础、群众基础和社会基础，能够集中力量办大事。乡村道德建设是一项长期而艰巨的系统工程，我们党只有始终坚持对乡村道德建设事业的全面领导，发挥总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，才能确保乡村道德建设有序推进和高效发展。

(III) Always Adhering to a People-Centered Approach, Providing Correct Value Guidance

（三）始终坚持以人民为中心，提供正确价值指引

The people-centered nature is the essential attribute and distinctive character of Marxism, and therefore the people’s standpoint has become the fundamental political standpoint of the Communist Party of China. “The country is the people, and the people are the country. The Communist Party of China leads the people in building the country and defending the country, and what it defends is the hearts of the people.” The Communist Party of China’s rural moral construction has always adhered to the value concept of being “people-centered,” taking the practical resolution of peasants’ real problems as the starting point, and permeating the entire process of rural moral construction with the people-centered nature.

人民性是马克思主义的本质属性和鲜明品格，人民立场因而成为中国共产党的根本政治立场。“江山就是人民，人民就是江山。中国共产党领导人民打江山、守江山，守的是人民的心。”中国共产党乡村道德建设始终坚持“以人民为中心”的价值理念，以切实解决农民现实问题为出发点，将人民性贯穿乡村道德建设全过程。

Since modern times, the peasantry has been subjected to the dual oppression of imperialism and feudalism, gradually becoming the most severely exploited group in Chinese society. After the founding of the Communist Party of China, it closely focused on changing the miserable conditions of the peasants and leading them to achieve people’s liberation in carrying out moral construction work. In this process, our Party recognized that only by solving the land problem and enabling the peasants to obtain the means of production would they support the revolution and become its main force. Furthermore, in the process of building grassroots organizations in the countryside, our Party also granted peasants the right to vote and stand for election, effectively enhancing their political status and safeguarding their political interests. In the early period after the founding of New China, our Party united and led the broad masses of peasants to continue the agrarian revolution nationwide, completely realizing peasant land ownership and satisfying the peasants’ most fundamental interest demands. With the progress of the socialist transformation of agriculture, our Party, focusing on the needs of peasants for production cooperation, “explained that cooperatives help reduce production and livelihood risks, and that peasants would not suffer price or quality losses.” [29]29 This is a quotation from a Party document or speech explaining the benefits of agricultural cooperatives to peasants. At the same time, our Party also established a cooperative medical system in the countryside, meeting the peasants’ most basic health needs. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, [30]30 The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC, held in December 1978, marked the beginning of China’s reform and opening up. to solve the problem of peasants’ food and clothing and change the poverty-stricken state of the countryside, our Party actively promoted and implemented economic system reform in rural areas. With the spread of the household contract responsibility system and the development of the market economy, peasants’ living standards rose significantly. To fully guarantee the people’s right to be masters of the country, our Party realized the separation of government from communes and established grassroots self-governing organizations in the countryside—villagers’ committees. These measures to safeguard peasants’ interests effectively ensured the smooth progress of rural moral construction during this period. Entering the New Era, with the change in the principal contradiction in society, our Party, aiming at building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieved a great victory in rural poverty alleviation. Since the 19th National Congress of the CPC, [31]31 The 19th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2017. our Party has further proposed and comprehensively advanced the rural revitalization strategy, enabling the broad masses of peasants to share in the fruits of Chinese-path modernization.

近代以来，农民深受帝国主义和封建主义双重压迫，逐渐沦为中国社会受剥削最严重的群体。中国共产党成立后，紧紧围绕改变农民悲惨现状、领导农民实现人民解放开展道德建设工作。在此过程中，我们党认识到只有解决土地问题，使农民获得生产资料，他们才会拥护革命进而成为革命主力军。此外，我们党在开展乡村基层组织建设的过程中，还赋予农民选举权和被选举权，有力提升其政治地位、保障其政治利益。新中国成立初期，我们党团结带领广大农民在全国范围内继续开展土地革命，彻底实现了农民的土地所有制，满足了农民最根本的利益诉求。随着农业社会主义改造的进行，我们党着眼于农民生产合作的需要，“阐明合作社有助于减少生产生活风险，农民不会吃价格亏、质量亏”。同时，我们党还在乡村建立合作医疗制度，满足了农民最基本的健康需求。党的十一届三中全会后，为解决农民温饱问题、改变乡村贫困现状，我们党在乡村积极推动和开展经济体制改革。随着家庭联产承包责任制的推广和市场经济的发展，农民生活水平有了大幅提升。为充分保障人民当家作主的权利，我们党实现政社分离，建立乡村基层群众自治组织——村民委员会。这些保障农民利益的举措有力保证了这一时期乡村道德建设的顺利开展。进入新时代，随着社会基本矛盾的转变，我们党以全面建成小康社会为目标，取得了乡村脱贫攻坚的伟大胜利。党的十九大以来，我们党又提出并全面推进乡村振兴战略，让广大农民共同分享中国式现代化发展成果。

“Once ‘ideas’ leave ‘interests,’ they will surely make themselves look ridiculous.” [32]32 This is a paraphrase of a well-known statement by Marx and Engels in *The Holy Family* (1845), emphasizing the role of material interests in history. Reviewing the history of the CPC’s rural moral construction, it is not difficult to see that, as a Marxist political party whose essential attribute and distinctive character are people-centeredness, our Party has always taken the happy life of the peasants as its ultimate goal, and based on their actual interest demands, has carried out moral construction work in a targeted manner. Rural moral construction is for the peasants; only by consistently adhering to a people-centered approach can it continuously achieve new development.

“‘思想’一旦离开‘利益’，就一定会使自己出丑。”回顾中国共产党乡村道德建设史不难发现，作为以人民性为本质属性和鲜明品格的马克思主义政党，我们党始终坚持以农民的幸福生活为落脚点，依据农民的现实利益诉求，有针对性地开展道德建设工作。乡村道德建设为农民，只有始终坚持以人民为中心，才能不断取得新发展。

(4) Always Adhering to Keeping Pace with the Times, Providing an Inexhaustible Driving Force

（四）始终坚持与时俱进，提供不竭动力

Keeping pace with the times is the theoretical character of Marxism and an inherent requirement of the CPC’s ideological line of seeking truth from facts. Its essence lies in the Party’s entire theory and work constantly adapting to the development and changes of the times, maintaining synchronization with the times, and being rich in creativity. In the course of leading revolution, construction, and reform, the CPC has always adhered to keeping pace with the times, adjusting the line, principles, and content of rural moral construction in a timely manner according to the development and changes in the principal social contradiction and the Party’s historical tasks, thereby continuously deepening rural moral construction.

与时俱进是马克思主义的理论品格，是中国共产党实事求是思想路线题中应有之义，其要旨在于党的全部理论和工作要不断适应时代的发展变化，保持与时代的同步，富于创造性。在领导革命、建设和改革的历程中，中国共产党始终坚持与时俱进，根据社会主要矛盾和党的历史任务的发展变化，适时调整乡村道德建设路线、方针和内容，推动乡村道德建设不断走向深入。

Since the Opium War, [33]33 The Opium War (1839–1842) is conventionally taken as the beginning of modern Chinese history and the onset of semi-colonial, semi-feudal society. the principal contradiction in Chinese society was between imperialism and the Chinese nation, and between feudalism and the masses of the people. Our Party’s main task was to lead the entire nation in thoroughly ending the humiliating history of old China as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society and establishing a people’s democratic regime where the people are the masters of the country. During this period, the Party’s rural moral construction was mainly aimed at awakening peasants’ revolutionary consciousness and cultivating a spirit of revolutionary struggle. After the founding of New China, the principal contradiction in Chinese society was between the people’s demand for building an advanced industrial country and the reality of a backward agricultural country, and between the people’s need for rapid economic and cultural development and the inability of the current economy and culture to meet that need. Our Party’s main task was to realize the transition from New Democracy to socialism and advance socialist construction. During this period, our Party’s rural moral construction was mainly aimed at rallying social forces and arousing the people’s enthusiasm for building socialism. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, the principal contradiction in Chinese society was between the people’s ever-growing material and cultural needs and backward social production. Our Party’s main task was to continue exploring the correct path for building socialism in China, liberating and developing the productive forces, enabling the people to shake off poverty and become prosperous as soon as possible. During this period, our Party’s rural moral construction was mainly aimed at shaping a new generation for the times and unleashing the development potential of the countryside. Entering the New Era, the principal contradiction in Chinese society is between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. Our Party’s main task is to realize the First Centenary Goal [34]34 The First Centenary Goal is the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the centenary of the CPC’s founding in 2021. and embark on the new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal. [35]35 The Second Centenary Goal is the goal of building a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious by the centenary of the People’s Republic of China in 2049. During this period, the Party’s rural moral construction is mainly aimed at enhancing peasants’ moral subjectivity and activating the endogenous driving force for rural revitalization.

鸦片战争以来，中国社会的主要矛盾是帝国主义与中华民族之间、封建主义同人民大众之间的矛盾，我们党的主要任务就是带领全国人民彻底结束旧中国半殖民地半封建社会的屈辱历史，建立人民当家作主的人民民主政权。这一时期，党的乡村道德建设主要以唤醒农民革命意识、培育革命斗争精神为目的。新中国成立后，中国社会的主要矛盾是人民对于建立先进的工业国的要求与落后的农业国的现实之间的矛盾、人民对于经济文化迅速发展的需要同当前经济文化不能满足人民需要的状况之间的矛盾，我们党的主要任务是实现从新民主主义到社会主义的转变，推进社会主义建设。这一时期，我们党的乡村道德建设主要以凝聚社会力量、唤起人民建设社会主义的积极性为目的。党的十一届三中全会后，中国社会的主要矛盾是人民日益增长的物质文化需要同落后的社会生产之间的矛盾，我们党的主要任务是继续探索中国建设社会主义的正确道路，解放和发展社会生产力，使人民摆脱贫困，尽快富裕起来。这一时期，我们党的乡村道德建设主要以塑造时代新人、释放乡村发展潜力为目的。进入新时代，中国社会的主要矛盾是人民日益增长的美好生活需要同不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾，我们党的主要任务是实现第一个百年奋斗目标，开启实现第二个百年奋斗目标新征程。这一时期，党的乡村道德建设主要以提升农民道德主体性、激活乡村振兴内生动力为目的。

“The production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness, is at first directly interwoven with the material activity and the material intercourse of men, the language of real life… The same applies to mental production as expressed in the language of the politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc. of a people.” [36]36 This is a quotation from Marx and Engels, *The German Ideology* (1845–1846). It can be seen that the key to the success of the CPC’s rural moral construction lies in its ability to formulate targeted policies and measures adapted to the principal social contradiction and the different historical tasks that arise from it.

“思想、观念、意识的生产最初是直接与人们的物质活动，与人们的物质交往，与现实生活的语言交织在一起的……表现在某一民族的政治、法律、道德、宗教、形而上学等的语言中的精神生产也是这样。”可以看到，中国共产党乡村道德建设能够取得成功，关键就在于善于根据社会主要矛盾以及所形成的不同历史任务，有的放矢地制定与之相适应的政策、措施。

Rural morality, as a conceptual expression of the ideals, beliefs, and value pursuits of the rural community and its members, plays an irreplaceable role in regulating villagers’ behavior, rallying rural social forces, and maintaining rural social order. It is the spiritual driving force and intellectual support for the survival and development of rural society. In the process of leading China’s revolution, construction, and reform, the CPC has consistently adhered to a strategic approach of using rural moral construction to boost rural social development, forging a path of rural moral construction guided by Marxism and suited to the actual conditions of rural development, effectively ensuring the healthy and sustained development of rural society. The century-long history of the CPC’s leadership in rural moral construction is both a process of promoting the continuous adaptation of rural morality to the needs of rural development and realizing its transformation from tradition to modernity, and a process of adapting the Marxist theory of rural moral construction to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

乡村道德作为乡村共同体及其成员理想信念和价值追求的观念性表达，对于规范村民行为、凝聚乡村社会力量、维护乡村社会秩序起着不可替代的作用，是乡村社会存续与发展的精神动力和智力支撑。中国共产党在领导中国革命、建设和改革的过程中，始终坚持以乡村道德建设助推乡村社会发展的战略思路，走出了一条以马克思主义为指导、符合乡村发展实际的乡村道德建设道路，有力保障了乡村社会的健康、持续发展。中国共产党领导乡村道德建设的百余年历程，既是推动乡村道德不断适应乡村发展需求、实现其由传统向现代转型的过程，也是实现马克思主义乡村道德建设理论中国化时代化的过程。

Social development is a historical process with inherent continuity and integrity. As Engels pointed out, “a great basic thought: that the world is not to be comprehended as a complex of ready-made things, but as a complex of processes.” [37]37 This is a quotation from Engels, *Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy* (1886). The great practice and theoretical innovation of the CPC’s rural moral construction is also such a complex of processes, with its own inherent continuity and integrity. Practice has no end, and theoretical innovation has no end either. The continuous deepening of the practice of China’s rural moral construction will inevitably promote the innovative development of the Marxist theory of rural moral construction, and the innovative development of the Marxist theory of rural moral construction will in turn continuously push the practice of China’s rural moral construction deeper. Only by consistently upholding the guiding position of Marxism, firmly anchoring the strategic goal of agricultural and rural modernization, adhering to a people-centered approach and respecting the people’s pioneering spirit, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, proceeding from reality in everything, and keeping pace with the times, can we continuously achieve new development in China’s rural moral construction and open up a new paradigm for the Marxist theory of rural moral construction.

社会发展是有着内在延续性和完整性的历史过程，正如恩格斯所指出，“一个伟大的基本思想，即认为世界不是既成事物的集合体，而是过程的集合体”。中国共产党乡村道德建设的伟大实践和理论创新也是这样一个过程的集合体，也有其内在延续性和完整性。实践无止境，理论创新亦无止境。中国乡村道德建设实践不断深入，必将推动马克思主义乡村道德建设理论的创新发展，马克思主义乡村道德建设理论创新发展，也将不断推动中国乡村道德建设实践走向深入。只有始终坚持马克思主义指导地位，紧紧锚定农业农村现代化的战略目标，以人民为中心、尊重人民首创精神，守正创新、一切从实际出发、与时俱进，才能不断取得中国乡村道德建设新发展，开辟马克思主义乡村道德建设理论新范式。

(Author’s bio: Zhang Zhitao, Lecturer and Master’s Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Northwest A&F University, Researcher at the Northwest A&F University Marxist Research Center for the Theory of Agriculture, Rural Areas, and Peasants.)

（作者简介：张智涛，西北农林科技大学马克思主义学院讲师，硕士生导师，西北农林科技大学马克思主义“三农”理论研究中心研究员）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心