The Practical Value of Strengthening the Construction of a Clean Culture in the New Era

In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly pointed out, “strengthen the construction of a clean culture in the New Era, educate and guide the vast number of Party members and cadres to enhance their consciousness of not daring to be corrupt,” [1]1 A Chinese idiom meaning to rectify the source and strengthen the foundation, often used in the context of ideological and political work. answering the major proposition concerning the future and destiny of the Party and the state: “how to successfully break out of the historical cycle of rise and fall, and ensure that the Party never changes its nature, its color, or its flavor.” [2]2 A paraphrase of the Marxist principle that all power in a socialist state originates from and serves the people. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection further proposed, “formulate a three-year action plan for the construction of a clean culture in the New Era (2025–2027), and tell the story of China’s anti-corruption efforts well.” [3]3 A classical Chinese saying from Mencius, extolling the ideal of moral integrity and steadfastness. Strengthening the construction of a clean culture in the New Era is a systematic project; comprehensively grasping its significant meaning and practical value is a necessary prerequisite for accurately understanding its positioning as an “overall battle.”

在党的二十大报告中，习近平总书记明确指出，“加强新时代廉洁文化建设，教育引导广大党员、干部增强不想腐的自觉”，回答了“如何成功跳出治乱兴衰历史周期率、确保党永远不变质不变色不变味”这一攸关党和国家前途命运的重大命题。二十届中央纪委四次全会进一步提出，“制定新时代廉洁文化建设三年行动计划（2025—2027年），讲好中国反腐败故事”。加强新时代廉洁文化建设是系统性工程，全面把握其重要意义与实践价值，是准确领会其“总体战”定位的必要前提。

Promoting the development of excellent traditional Chinese clean culture into a new realm

推动中华优秀传统廉洁文化发展进入新境界

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Studying China’s history of anti-corruption and promoting integrity, understanding ancient Chinese clean government culture, and examining the successes and failures of anti-corruption and integrity promotion in China’s history can provide profound inspiration and help us use historical wisdom to advance the construction of anti-corruption and integrity promotion.” [4]4 A reference to the positive outcomes of the Party's work style construction campaigns, particularly since the introduction of the Eight-Point Regulations. In the long history of Chinese civilization, clean culture has always been an important foundation for maintaining social harmony and order and shaping the nation’s pure character. Confucianism advocated “self-restraint and devotion to public duty,” regarding integrity as an essential cultivation of the ideal personality, giving rise to models of incorruptibility such as Bao Zheng and Hai Rui, [5]5 The Eight-Point Regulations (八项规定) are a set of internal Party rules introduced by the CPC Central Committee in December 2012 to curb bureaucracy, extravagance, and corruption among Party officials. and forming a social and cultural consensus of “impartiality gives rise to clarity, integrity gives rise to authority”; Taoism, with its view of human nature as “few desires and little selfishness” and its cosmology of “the Way of Heaven has no favorites,” depicted an ideal world of pure hearts and selfless heaven; Legalism regarded “integrity” as one of the “four pillars” [6]6 “A sea at peace and rivers clear, a bright and upright world” (海晏河清、朗朗乾坤) is a classical Chinese four-character idiom pair evoking an era of peace, prosperity, and clean governance, often used in official discourse to describe the ideal political order under the Party’s leadership. determining the survival of the state, advocating the use of “public law” to curb “private conduct.” Thus it can be seen that in “cultivating oneself with integrity, governing the country with integrity,” clean culture has long been integrated into the bloodline of Chinese civilization, becoming a spiritual gene passed down through generations of the Chinese nation, permeating all levels of social life.

习近平总书记指出：“研究我国反腐倡廉历史，了解我国古代廉政文化，考察我国历史上反腐倡廉的成败得失，可以给人以深刻启迪，有利于我们运用历史智慧推进反腐倡廉建设。”在中华文明的悠久历史中，廉洁文化始终是维系社会和谐秩序、塑造民族清白品格的重要基础。儒家倡导“克己奉公”，将廉洁作为理想人格的必备修养，诞生了包拯、海瑞等清廉典范，形成了“公生明，廉生威”的社会文化共识；道家以“少私寡欲”的人性观、“天道无亲”的宇宙观，描绘出人心清白、天地无私的理想世界图示；法家将“廉”视为决定国家存亡的“四维”之一，主张以“公法”遏制“私行”。由此可见，在“廉以修身，廉以治国”中，廉洁文化早已融入中华文明血脉之中，成为中华民族世代传承的精神基因，融贯社会生活的各个层面。

The construction of a clean culture in the New Era is a creative transformation and innovative development based on this cultural tradition. In form, incorporating “maintain integrity in family life” into the *Code of Integrity and Self-Discipline of the Communist Party of China* promotes the integration of excellent traditional Chinese culture with modern institutional civilization; in content, incorporating “oppose privileged thinking and privileged phenomena” into the system of intra-Party regulations is a thorough sublation of the traditional “punishments do not reach the high officials,” [7] using institutional rigidity to ensure that the excellent governance tradition of “integrity is the foundation of governance” takes root in the New Era. The joint effort of “cultural infiltration” and “institutional constraints” both continues the excellent cultural tradition of “transforming people through virtue” and constructs a modern governance model of “regulating conduct through rules.”

新时代廉洁文化建设，就是在此文化传统基础上的创造性转化与创新性发展。在形式上，将“廉洁齐家”写入《中国共产党廉洁自律准则》，推动着中华优秀传统文化与现代制度文明的结合；在内容上，将“反对特权思想和特权现象”纳入党内法规体系，是对传统“刑不上大夫”的彻底扬弃，以制度刚性保障着“廉者，政之本也”的优秀治理传统在新时代落地生根。“文化浸润”与“制度约束”的共同发力，既延续了“以德化人”的优秀文化传统，又构建着“以规束行”的现代治理模式。

The innovative transformation of clean culture practices is equally vivid. Various localities have established clean culture research centers, refining the core elements of excellent traditional Chinese clean culture. In combination with the lives of the people, they form educational resources with both historical depth and contemporary warmth. Accompanying projects such as “clean culture enters enterprises” and “clean culture enters campuses,” these resources enter production and daily life, concretizing the construction of a clean culture in the New Era into visible and tangible codes of conduct. In particular, the construction of clean family traditions allows the traditional virtue of “passing down purity through the family” to flourish in the construction of families in the New Era. In the successful practice of transforming cultural genes into governance effectiveness, the construction of a clean culture in the New Era not only promotes the sublimation of clean culture from political advocacy to comprehensive consciousness but also enhances the confidence of the broad masses of the people in excellent traditional Chinese culture.

廉洁文化实践的创新转化同样生动。各地建立廉洁文化研究中心，提炼中华优秀传统廉洁文化的核心元素，在与人民群众生活的结合中，形成兼具历史厚度与时代温度的教育资源，伴随“廉洁文化进企业”“廉洁文化进校园”等工程走入生产生活，将新时代廉洁文化建设具化为可见可感的行为准则，特别是廉洁家风建设，让“清白传家”的传统美德在新时代家庭建设中焕发生机。在将文化基因转化为治理效能的成功实践中，新时代廉洁文化建设，不仅推动着廉洁文化从政治倡导向全面自觉的升华，也增进了广大人民群众对中华优秀传统文化的信心。

Consolidating the foundation for building a healthy and upright political ecosystem

夯实构建风清气正的良好政治生态

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “To do all work well, there must be a good political ecosystem.” [8] Governing the country and ensuring stability depends on a healthy and upright atmosphere; political harmony and popular support first require a clear political ecosystem. A good political ecosystem is a spiritual magnetic field that凝聚s Party spirit and popular sentiment. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, practice has already proven that the construction of a clean culture and the purification of the political ecosystem are mutually reinforcing relationships. Only with comprehensive and strict governance of the Party can a foundation of fairness and justice be laid for social development, turning a healthy and upright political ecosystem into fertile soil that nourishes popular sentiment, “maintaining the Party’s flesh-and-blood ties with the masses of the people.” [9]

习近平总书记强调：“做好各方面工作，必须有一个良好政治生态。”治国安邦贵在风清气正，政通人和首重生态清明，良好的政治生态是凝聚党心、民心的精神磁场。党的十八大以来，实践已然证明：廉洁文化建设与政治生态净化是相辅相成的关系，只有全面从严治党，才能为社会发展铺就公平正义的基石，让风清气正的政治生态化作滋养民心的沃土，“保持党同人民群众的血肉联系”。

In the consciousness of “not daring to be corrupt,” the construction of a clean culture凝聚s the deepest moral shame and value rejection of corruption. “Regarding seeking personal gain by abusing power and engaging in corruption and embezzlement as a great shame” — this sense of shame is deeply rooted both in the Communist Party members’ “seeking happiness for the Chinese people” and inherited in the Chinese nation’s “shame and integrity are the great principles of a person”; value rejection, on the other hand, is a sober choice to place private desires after the interests of the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping regards “corruption” as the

在“不想腐”的自觉中，廉洁文化建设凝聚着对腐败最深刻的道德羞耻与价值拒斥。“把以权谋私、贪污腐败看成是极大的耻辱”，这种耻辱感既深植于共产党人的“为中国人民谋幸福”，也传承在中华民族的“廉耻立人之大节”；而价值拒斥，则是将私欲置于人民利益之后的清醒抉择。习近平总书记将“腐败”视为“最大毒瘤”，要求党员干部以“功成不必在我，功成必定有我”的博大胸怀，让“人民至上”的价值理念在灵魂深处扎根生长。

The will of the people is the yardstick for measuring the political ecosystem. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized many times: "Our Party has no special interests of its own; the Party always places the interests of the people first at all times." The construction of a culture of clean governance in the New Era answers the questions "for whom to govern, by whom to govern, and how to govern," requiring Party members and cadres to always remember that "the country is the people, and the people are the country," to integrate the concept of "honest and dedicated public service" into their blood and put it into action, and to hold fast to "the will of the people, the greatest political asset."

民心向背是丈量政治生态的标尺。习近平总书记多次强调：“我们党没有自己特殊的利益，党在任何时候都把群众利益放在第一位。”新时代廉洁文化建设回答着“为谁执政、靠谁执政、怎样执政”，要求党员干部始终牢记“江山就是人民，人民就是江山”，将“廉洁奉公”的理念融入血脉、践于行动，守住“民心这个最大的政治”。

The construction of a culture of clean governance in the New Era is precisely about forming a clear and upright atmosphere in which "integrity is beautiful and corruption is shame

新时代廉洁文化建设就是要形成“以廉为美、以贪为耻”的清朗风气。习近平总书记强调，“领导干部的家风，不仅关系自己的家庭，而且关系党风政风”，显示着“关键少数”的“头雁效应”。这其中蕴含着从个人修养到家庭建设、再到社会治理与国家管理的紧密关联，在“其身正，不令而行”中，完成个人品德、家庭美德与社会公德的交织相融，使家庭不再是滋生腐败的利欲温床，而是涵养清风正气的精神家园。

Inspiring the People's Pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

激发人民群众对真善美的追求

A culture of clean governance is a cultural form rich in value orientation, ideological guidance, and moral norms. It is not only an important component of Chinese ethical civilization but also an inherent requirement and practical demand of the core socialist values. It has positive contemporary value for enriching the people's spiritual world and raising their ideological and moral standards and level of civilization.

廉洁文化是富含价值导向、思想引领、道德规范的文化形态，既是中华伦理文明的重要内容，也是社会主义核心价值观的内在规定和现实要求，对丰富人民精神世界，提升人们的思想道德水准和文明素养具有积极的时代价值。

In terms of ideological guidance, the culture of clean governance in the New Era, with its distinct socialist cultural foundation, delineates the spiritual coordinates of integrity and honesty, enriching the connotation and form of the core socialist values. It plays an important role in "tracing the origins to purify the source, consolidating the foundation and cultivating the root" [1]1 A Chinese idiom meaning to rectify the source and strengthen the foundation, often used in the context of ideological and political work.. On the one hand, the culture of clean governance in the New Era profoundly interprets the Marxist view of power, guiding public officials to deeply understand the political essence that "power is entrusted by the people and exercised for the people" [2]2 A paraphrase of the Marxist principle that all power in a socialist state originates from and serves the people., thereby fortifying the ideological line of defense against corruption and degeneration. On the other hand, as an important component of advanced culture, it undertakes the mission of "transforming people through culture and educating people through integrity," guiding the people to establish a correct worldview, outlook on life, and value system, and to strengthen their confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

在思想引领上，新时代廉洁文化以鲜明的社会主义文化底色，勾勒出清正廉洁的精神坐标，丰富着社会主义核心价值观的内涵与形式，具有“正本清源、固本培元”的重要作用。一方面，新时代廉洁文化深刻诠释着马克思主义权力观，引导公职人员深刻认识“权为民所赋，权为民所用”的政治本质，筑牢拒腐防变的思想防线；另一方面，作为先进文化的重要组成部分，承担着“以文化人、以廉育人”的使命，引导人民群众树立正确的世界观、人生观、价值观，坚定对中国特色社会主义的道路自信、理论自信、制度自信、文化自信。

In terms of spiritual cohesion, when society operates on the standard of integrity and fairness, the trust and confidence of the people will be fully activated, coalescing into a mighty spiritual force for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. In such a social environment, resource allocation manifests fairness and justice, and interpersonal relationships become harmonious and amicable. The resulting social atmosphere of integrity, honesty, stability, and harmony will also realize a virtuous cycle between "cultivating the noble spirit that cannot be corrupted by wealth, swayed by poverty, or subdued by power" [3]3 A classical Chinese saying from Mencius, extolling the ideal of moral integrity and steadfastness. and "winning the trust and support of the people through a new atmosphere in work style construction" [4]4 A reference to the positive outcomes of the Party's work style construction campaigns, particularly since the introduction of the Eight-Point Regulations..

在精神凝聚上，当社会以廉洁公正为运行准绳，人民群众的信任与信心都将全面激活，凝聚起全面建设社会主义现代化国家的磅礴精神力量。在这样的社会环境中，资源分配彰显公平正义，人与人之间的关系也将和谐融洽，由此形成的清正廉洁、安定和谐的社会氛围，也将实现“涵养富贵不能淫、贫贱不能移、威武不能屈的浩然正气”与“以作风建设新气象赢得了人民群众信任拥护”的良性循环。

In terms of value appeal, "actively promoting the concept of clean governance and exemplary models of integrity" inspires the people's pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. In today's world, where various ideologies and cultures interact and clash, people are easily influenced by various unhealthy ideas, such as money worship, hedonism, and extreme individualism. The values advocated by the culture of clean governance enable the people not to be misled by material temptations, to consciously resist the influence of various decadent ideas, to always maintain their yearning for and pursuit of a better life, and to continuously ascend toward a lofty spiritual realm.

在价值感召方面，“积极宣传廉洁理念、廉洁典型”激发着人民群众对真善美的追求。在当今世界，各种思想文化相互激荡，容易受到各种不良思想的影响，如拜金主义、享乐主义、极端个人主义等。廉洁文化所倡导的价值观，能够让人民群众不被物质诱惑所迷惑，自觉地抵制各种腐朽思想的影响，始终保持对美好生活的向往和追求，向着崇高的精神境界不断攀登。

Manifesting the Distinctive Political Character of a Marxist Political Party

展现马克思主义政党的鲜明政治品格

The *Communist Manifesto* reveals: “The proletarian movement is the independent movement of the vast majority, for the interests of the vast majority.” This nature fundamentally draws the line that a Marxist political party is irreconcilable with corruption. The Paris Commune, with its pioneering act that “the salaries of public officials shall not exceed the average wage of workers,” raised the banner against privilege; Lenin, in the early days of Soviet Russia, wielded an iron hand to rectify bureaucracy, defending the purity of the revolution; the Communist Party of China, from the Ruijin period when it fired the “first shot against corruption,”[5]5 The Eight-Point Regulations (八项规定) are a set of internal Party rules introduced by the CPC Central Committee in December 2012 to curb bureaucracy, extravagance, and corruption among Party officials. to the New Era, when it used the combined tactics of “hunting tigers,” “swatting flies,” and “chasing foxes”[6]6 “A sea at peace and rivers clear, a bright and upright world” (海晏河清、朗朗乾坤) is a classical Chinese four-character idiom pair evoking an era of peace, prosperity, and clean governance, often used in official discourse to describe the ideal political order under the Party’s leadership. to cleanse the filth, “clean governance” has always been the distinctive political morality that distinguishes a Marxist political party from a bourgeois political party.

《共产党宣言》揭示：“无产阶级的运动是绝大多数人的，为绝大多数人谋利益的独立的运动。”这一性质从根本上划定了马克思主义政党与腐败水火不容的界限。巴黎公社以“公职人员薪金不得高于工人平均工资”的创举，树起了反特权的旗帜；列宁在苏俄初创时铁腕整治官僚主义，捍卫革命的纯洁性；中国共产党自瑞金时期打响“反腐第一枪”，到新时代以“打虎”“拍蝇”“猎狐”的组合拳涤荡污浊，“廉洁”始终是马克思主义政党区别于资产阶级政党的鲜明政治道德。

International comparative research shows that the reason the Communist Party of China has been able to maintain its advanced nature and purity during long-term governance is inseparable from internalizing a clean culture as a party character. While some developing countries have fallen into the “middle-income trap” due to party

国际比较研究显示，中国共产党在长期执政中之所以能保持先进性和纯洁性，离不开将廉洁文化内化为政党品格。当一些发展中国家因政党腐败陷入“中等收入陷阱”时，中国共产党在新时代持续推进廉洁文化建设，为中国式现代化的行稳致远提供了政治保障、文化保障与精神保障。这既是马克思主义政党政治品格的时代彰显，更是人类文明史上的政党建设奇迹，证明了中国共产党不仅是廉洁文化的倡导者，更是身体力行的实践者。

Standing at a new historical starting point, we need to deeply recognize that the construction of a culture of clean governance is not a matter of temporary effort. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulations are not only to be enforced for 5 or 10 years, but are to be upheld over the long term. We must demonstrate perseverance and tenacity, continue to work on constancy and duration, rigor and substance, depth and detail, manage until it becomes a habit, grasp until results are achieved, and transform practices into customs.” [5]5 The Eight-Point Regulations (八项规定) are a set of internal Party rules introduced by the CPC Central Committee in December 2012 to curb bureaucracy, extravagance, and corruption among Party officials. Strengthening the construction of a culture of clean governance in the New Era has no endpoint, only unceasing endeavor; there are no shortcuts, only down-to-earth cultivation. Only by making the culture of clean governance truly a spiritual pillar for the rejuvenation of the nation can we, in the depth of history, write the chapter of the times characterized by “a sea at peace and rivers clear, a bright and upright world.” [6]6 “A sea at peace and rivers clear, a bright and upright world” (海晏河清、朗朗乾坤) is a classical Chinese four-character idiom pair evoking an era of peace, prosperity, and clean governance, often used in official discourse to describe the ideal political order under the Party’s leadership.

站在新的历史起点上，我们需要深刻认识到，廉洁文化建设不是一时之功，习近平总书记强调：“中央八项规定不是只管5年、10年，而是要长期坚持。要拿出恒心和韧劲，继续在常和长、严和实、深和细上下功夫，管出习惯、抓出成效，化风成俗。”加强新时代廉洁文化建设，没有终点，只有永不停歇的奋进，没有捷径，只有脚踏实地的耕耘，要让廉洁文化真正成为民族复兴的精神砥柱，唯有如此，才能在历史的纵深中书写“海晏河清、朗朗乾坤”的时代篇章。

(The author is Vice President of Guangxi Normal University)

（作者系广西师范大学副校长）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心