An Analysis of the People-Centered Implications of the Chinese Communist Party’s Self-Revolution

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made several major decisions on further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization, emphasizing: “The leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization. We must deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, enhance the Four Consciousnesses, strengthen the Four Confidences, and achieve the Two Upholds, maintain a high degree of consciousness in using the Party’s self-revolution to lead social revolution, persist in governing the Party with a spirit of reform and strict standards, improve the system of norms for the Party’s self-revolution, and continuously advance the Party’s self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement, ensuring that the Party always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” [1]1 The Two Establishments refers Self-revolution is the greatest advantage of the Chinese Communist Party in maintaining its youthful vitality over the past century, and it is an important magic weapon for the Party to always win the support and endorsement of the people. The Chinese Communist Party’s self-revolution has multiple qualities, and the people-centered quality is the foundational one among them, because “our Party comes from the people, takes root among the people, and serves the people; once it becomes detached from the masses, it will lose its vitality.” [2]2 “Scrape the poison off the bone” (刮骨疗毒) is a Chinese idiom originating from the story of the Three Kingdoms period general Guan Yu, who endured surgery to scrape poison from his arm without flinching; it metaphorically describes resolute self-reform and the courage to correct one’s own mistakes. This profoundly indicates the Party’s fundamental stance and reveals the people-centered implications of self-revolution.

党的二十届三中全会就进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化问题作出若干重大决定，强调：“党的领导是进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的根本保证。必须深刻领悟‘两个确立’的决定性意义，增强‘四个意识’、坚定‘四个自信’、做到‘两个维护’，保持以党的自我革命引领社会革命的高度自觉，坚持用改革精神和严的标准管党治党，完善党的自我革命制度规范体系，不断推进党的自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高，确保党始终成为中国特色社会主义事业的坚强领导核心。”自我革命是中国共产党百年来永葆青春活力的最大优势，是中国共产党始终都能赢得人民拥护和支持的重要法宝。中国共产党的自我革命具有多重品格，而人民性是其中起基础作用的品格，因为“我们党来自人民、植根人民、服务人民，一旦脱离群众，就会失去生命力”。这深刻表明了党的根本立场，揭示了自我革命的人民性意蕴。

Since Xi Jinping first proposed “self-revolution” at the Twelfth Meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform in May 2015, academia has set off a research upsurge, conducting extensive discussions on topics such as the generative logic, scientific connotation, essential characteristics, and basic experience of self-revolution. Some scholars believe that the generative logic of self-revolution is rooted in the theoretical consciousness guided by Marxism, the mission consciousness of seeking rejuvenation for the Chinese nation and happiness for the Chinese people, and the methodological consciousness of “turning the blade inward,” adhering to truth, and actively seeking change. Some scholars believe that the generative logic of self-revolution is embodied in three dimensions—history, theory, and practice—corresponding respectively to continuing the fine tradition of governing the Party, innovating Marxist revolutionary theory, and advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Some scholars believe that the most essential implication of self-revolution is “self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement”; these “four selves” take the Party itself as the entry point, aim at serious intra-Party political life as the goal, take upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground as the strategic orientation, and take comprehensively advancing the great new project of Party building with the spirit of reform and innovation as the strategic task, indicating that “self-revolution” has become a foundational concept and foundational theory of Party building in the New Era. [3]3 “Eliminate the stale and take in the fresh” (激浊扬清) is a Chinese four-character idiom meaning to wash away the foul and bring forth the clear, i.e., to eliminate evil and promote good. Other scholars believe that the scientific connotation of self-revolution includes transforming the subjective world of Communists, maintaining the righteousness, backbone, and courage of a pure body, using self-revolution to lead social revolution, enhancing the ability to resist corruption, prevent degeneration, and withstand risks, improving the system of norms for the Party’s self-revolution, and the fact that the Party’s self-revolution is always on the way. Some scholars believe that the Party’s self-revolution has distinct characteristics such as scientificity, innovativeness, and philosophicality—that is, scientifically grasping the era’s issues and the laws of Party building, promoting conceptual innovation, content innovation, and discourse innovation, and inheriting the basic principles and spiritual essence of dialectical materialism. Some scholars examine self-revolution from the dimension of the people-centered quality, believing that self-revolution is the Party’s adherence to a people-centered value orientation, a practical activity that forever maintains the people-centered background color of a Marxist party, aimed at solving problems of the people’s interests, improving the ability to serve the people, and realizing the people’s aspiration for a better life. Still other scholars believe that the people-centered quality of self-revolution is the unity of problem orientation and goal orientation, the unity of people’s supervision and people’s participation, and the unity of ideological guidance and institutional guidance. Some scholars believe that self-revolution in the New Era always adheres to putting the people first, responds to the people’s demands, maintains flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, and embodies the Party’s steadfastness in seeking happiness for the people, its consciousness in grasping historical laws, its initiative in eliminating the poison of corruption, and its continuity in carrying forward glorious traditions. In the view of some scholars, self-revolution reflects the great quality of a Marxist party respecting the people’s initiative, and has distinct characteristics such as “the world is for all,” “the people are the foundation of the state,” and “fairness and selflessness,” which connect with the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission. [4]4 “The doer is the completion of knowledge” (行者知之成) is a classical Chinese philosophical concept from the Neo-Confucian tradition, particularly associated with Wang Yangming, emphasizing the unity of knowledge and action, where true knowledge is realized through practice. Some scholars believe that the “Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century,” reviewed and approved at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, takes “adhering to self-revolution” as one of the ten historical experiences of the Party’s century-long struggle, profoundly revealing the secret of our Party’s becoming more vibrant after a century of vicissitudes, and having significant and far-reaching significance for the Party to forever maintain the people-centered consciousness of self-revolution on the new journey and resolutely wage a heroic struggle against all words and deeds that deviate from the people’s stance. [5]5 “落脚点” (luòjiǎo diǎn) literally means “foothold” or “point of landing”; in political discourse, it is often translated as “ultimate goal” or “end result,” but here it is rendered as “落脚点” in pinyin within the English sentence to preserve the original term’s specific rhetorical function, as the sentence discusses the concept itself. Some scholars believe that adhering to self-revolution helps to carry thorough feelings for the people throughout the entire process of modernizing national governance, avoid repeating the cycle of dynastic rise and fall in history, maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, effectively respond to various domestic and international risks and tests, and ensure that the Party always remains a strong leading core in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, and so on. On the basis of fully studying and drawing on existing research results, this article comprehensively applies theoretical knowledge and research methods from political science, the history and construction of the Party, and Marxist philosophy, takes Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution as guidance, takes the Party’s great practice of self-revolution over more than a century as a reference, and focuses on making a holistic analysis of the people-centered implications of the Party’s self-revolution from the perspectives of fundamental roots, self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement, striving to systematically answer the people’s question, the historical question, and the era’s question of self-revolution, in order to provide strong theoretical support for deeply studying and implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, further improving the Party’s leadership level in comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization, and inspiring the people to unite and strive for comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

自习近平2015年5月在中央全面深化改革领导小组第十二次会议上首次提出“自我革命”以来，学界掀起研究热潮，围绕自我革命的生成逻辑、科学内涵、本质特征、基本经验等论题展开了广泛研讨。有学者认为，自我革命的生成逻辑根源于马克思主义指引的理论自觉，为中华民族谋复兴、为中国人民谋幸福的使命自觉以及“刀刃向内”、坚持真理、主动求变的方法论自觉。有学者认为，自我革命的生成逻辑体现在历史、理论与实践三重维度，分别对应赓续管党治党的优良传统、创新马克思主义革命理论和推进全面从严治党。有学者认为，自我革命最本质的蕴义是“自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高”，这“四个自我”以党自身为切入点，以严肃党内政治生活为目标旨归，以守正创新为战略导向，以改革创新精神全面推进党的建设新的伟大工程为战略任务，表明“自我革命”已经成为新时代党的建设的基础概念和基础理论。也有学者认为，自我革命的科学内涵包括改造共产党人的主观世界、保持纯洁肌体的正气、骨气与勇气、以自我革命引领社会革命、增强拒腐防变和抵御风险能力、完善党的自我革命制度规范体系、党的自我革命永远在路上等方面。有学者认为，党的自我革命具有鲜明的科学性、创新性与哲学性等特征，即科学把握党的建设的时代课题与治党规律、推动概念创新、内容创新与话语创新、继承辩证唯物主义的基本原理和精神实质。有学者从人民性的维度考察自我革命，认为自我革命是党坚持以人民为中心的价值取向，永葆马克思主义政党人民性底色的实践活动，旨在解决人民利益难题，提高服务人民本领，实现人民对美好生活的向往。还有学者认为，自我革命的人民性是问题导向与目标导向的统一、人民监督与人民参与的统一、思想引领与制度引领的统一。有学者认为，新时代自我革命始终坚持人民至上，回应人民诉求，保持同人民群众的血肉联系，体现了党为人民谋幸福的坚定性、把握历史规律的自觉性、清除腐败毒素的主动性、发扬光荣传统的接续性。在有的学者看来，自我革命映射了马克思主义政党尊重人民群众首创精神的伟大品格，具有与党的初心使命相承接的“天下为公”“民为邦本”“公正无私”的鲜明特质。有学者认为，党的十九届六中全会审议通过的《中共中央关于党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议》，把“坚持自我革命”作为党百年奋斗的十大历史经验之一，深刻揭示了我们党历经百年沧桑更加充满活力的奥秘，对于新征程上党永葆自我革命的人民性自觉，坚决同一切背离人民立场的言行问题作英勇斗争，具有重大而深远的意义。有学者认为，坚持自我革命，有助于将彻底的为民情怀贯穿于国家治理现代化的全过程，避免重蹈历史上王朝兴衰更替的覆辙，保持党的先进性与纯洁性，有效应对国内外各种风险和考验，确保党在推进中国式现代化的进程中始终成为坚强领导核心，等等。本文在充分学习借鉴已有研究成果基础上，综合运用政治学、党史党建学和马克思主义哲学等理论知识和研究方法，以习近平关于党的自我革命的重要思想为指导，以党百余年来的自我革命伟大实践为观照，着力从本源根基，自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高等视域对党的自我革命的人民性意蕴作整体性阐析，力图系统回答自我革命的人民之问、历史之问、时代之问，以期为深入学习贯彻党的二十届三中全会精神，进一步提高党对全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的领导水平，激发人民群众为全面建设社会主义现代化强国而团结奋斗提供有力学理支撑。

I. Fundamental Roots: A Profound Embodiment of the Essential Attributes of a Marxist Party

一、本源根基：马克思主义政党本质属性的深刻体现

Generally speaking, essential attributes refer to the characteristics and signs determined by the inherent attributes and internal contradictions of a thing, reflecting the essential connections of the various system elements of the thing and presenting them as different from other things; they are the qualitative stipulations of a thing revealed through its surface phenomena. Self-revolution profoundly embodies the people-centered essential attributes of a Marxist party. This is because, on the one hand, the people-centered quality is a distinctive mark distinguishing a Marxist party from other parties; on the other hand, it lies in the fact that daring to engage in self-revolution stems from the Chinese Communist Party having no special interests of its own, and aims to better realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people. The two permeate and interpenetrate each other, profoundly revealing the fundamental roots of the people-centered quality of self-revolution.

通常而言，本质属性指的是由事物固有属性与内在矛盾所决定、反映事物各系统要素本质联系而呈现出的区别于其他事物的特质征象，是透过事物表象显示出的事物质的规定性。自我革命深刻体现马克思主义政党人民性本质属性，这一方面是因为人民性是马克思主义政党区别其他政党的显著标志，另一方面则在于勇于自我革命源于中国共产党没有任何自己的特殊利益，旨在更好地实现维护发展最广大人民根本利益，两者彼此渗透、相互贯通，深刻揭示了自我革命人民性的本源根基。

(1) A Distinctive Mark Distinguishing a Marxist Party from Other Parties

（一）马克思主义政党区别其他政党的显著标志

Generally speaking, the distinctive hallmark of a political party refers to the most obvious and prominent characteristic that distinguishes one party from others. People-centeredness is the distinctive character of Marxism and the salient hallmark that distinguishes a Marxist political party from other parties. Surveying the discussions of classical Marxist theorists in the history of the development of proletarian political parties, Marx, in fragments of the German manuscripts of the two articles “The Elections – Tories and Whigs” and “The Chartists,” exposed the shortcomings and defects of the bourgeois electoral system. In refuting why the universal suffrage of a capitalist society dominated by the logic of capital could not avoid the abuses of previous electoral systems, he touched upon “people-centeredness” (人民性), pointing out: “because it can, without incurring great expense and risk, clothe the class parliament of Britain in a people-centered cloak.” He further clarified that people-centeredness is always linked to specific historical environments and class foundations: “the advantage the ruling class derives from this custom is that the masses of the people always participate, to varying degrees and with enthusiasm, in taking the factional interests of the ruling class as their own national interests.” This demonstrates that the so-called “people-centeredness” of the bourgeoisie is essentially a means and tool for bourgeois political parties to maintain their own leadership. For this reason, Marx, using historical materialism as his theoretical weapon, exposed the hypocritical nature of bourgeois “people-centeredness” and answered that the “people-centeredness” of the proletarian party is a manifestation of its revolutionary consciousness, a noble character uniquely displayed by the proletariat to lead and advance social revolution. Lenin believed that when Marx used the concept of “the people,” he never employed it to obliterate the opposition and differences between classes, “but used it to summarize those definite elements capable of carrying the revolution through to the end.” Lenin’s analysis of the concept of the people was intended to show that there is no abstract people-centeredness divorced from class character, nor can the role of the people be arbitrarily belittled or dissolved; the people are the powerful driving force for the proletarian party’s self-revolution and social revolution. “The socialist revolution, which is far deeper, more people-centered, and more powerful than the previous bourgeois revolutions, is maturing, maturing irresistibly.” The discussions of Marx and Lenin on the people-centeredness of the proletarian party profoundly influenced the Chinese Communist Party’s understanding of self-revolution and social revolution in the course of world history. The Chinese Communist Party has carried people-centeredness through the entire process of revolution, construction, and reform, steadfastly adhering to the Marxist party’s value pursuit of putting the people above all else, embodying a high degree of unity between party consciousness and national consciousness, and becoming a powerful support for the Chinese Communist Party to maintain its value appeal and mission-driven leadership.

一般来说，政党的显著标志指的是一个政党区别于其他政党最明显、最突出的鲜明特质。人民性是马克思主义的鲜明品格，是马克思主义政党区别于其他政党的显著标志。纵观无产阶级政党发展历史中马克思主义经典理论家的论述，马克思在《选举——托利党和辉格党》与《宪章派》两篇文章的德文手稿片段中通过揭示资产阶级选举制度的短板与弊端，批驳以资本逻辑为主导的资本主义社会的普选制之所以无法规避以往选举体制的陋习时论及“人民性”指出：“就是因为它不必承担很大的费用和风险，就能给不列颠的阶级议会披上一件人民性的外衣。”并阐明人民性总与特定历史环境和阶级基础相联系，“统治阶级从这种习俗中得到的好处就是，人民群众总是在不同程度上热情地把统治阶级的派别利益作为自己的民族利益来参与”。这说明资产阶级所谓“人民性”实质上是资产阶级政党维护自身领导力的手段与工具。为此，马克思以唯物史观为理论武器，揭露资产阶级“人民性”虚伪本质，回答了无产阶级政党“人民性”是其革命觉悟的体现，是无产阶级特有的为引领和推进社会革命而展现出的高尚品格。列宁认为，马克思在使用“人民”概念时，从来都没有用它来抹煞不同阶级间的对立与差异，“而是用它来概括那些能够把革命进行到底的一定的成分”。列宁对人民概念的分析意在说明，没有脱离阶级性的抽象人民性，亦不能随意贬低和消解人民的作用，人民是无产阶级政党进行自我革命和社会革命的强大动力。“社会主义革命，即远比以前的资产阶级革命更深刻、更具有人民性、更强大的革命，正在成熟起来，不可阻挡地成熟起来。”马克思和列宁关于无产阶级政党人民性的论述，深刻影响了中国共产党在世界历史进程中对自我革命和社会革命的认识，中国共产党将人民性贯穿于革命、建设、改革的全过程，始终坚定马克思主义政党人民至上的价值追求，体现出政党自觉和民族自觉的高度统一，成为中国共产党保持价值感召力和使命引领力的强大支撑。

(2) The Chinese Communist Party Has No Special Interests of Its Own

（二）中国共产党没有任何自己的特殊利益

Whether a political party can carry out self-revolution is closely related to the party’s nature and stance. As a Marxist political party, the Chinese Communist Party not only steadfastly upholds the people’s standpoint but also has no special interests of its own. The special nature of the Chinese Communist Party endows self-revolution with a strong foundation, enabling it to dare to self-correct, self-criticize, and self-innovate for the sake of the people’s interests. The Chinese Communist Party is composed of members who believe in Marxism, i.e., Party members. Party members have their own legitimate personal interests and pursue them through legitimate means and methods, safeguarding their own rights and interests. However, this does not mean that the Chinese Communist Party and its members have special interests of their own. If Party members seek their own private interests, it is not only incompatible with the Party’s nature and purpose but also runs counter to the members’ mission, and may even lead them into the abyss of violating laws and discipline. In the course of the Chinese Communist Party’s century-long development, the vast majority of Communist Party members have always maintained the Party’s vanguard nature without falling into the vortex of special interests. This is the driving force behind the Chinese Communist Party’s rock-solid advancement of self-revolution. “Our Party has no special interests of its own; this is the source of our Party’s courage and the foundation of its confidence in daring to carry out self-revolution.” Precisely because the Chinese Communist Party has no special interests of its own, whenever words or deeds inconsistent with the people’s interests appear within the Party, our Party can, with the determination to scrape the poison off the bone [2]2 “Scrape the poison off the bone” (刮骨疗毒) is a Chinese idiom originating from the story of the Three Kingdoms period general Guan Yu, who endured surgery to scrape poison from his arm without flinching; it metaphorically describes resolute self-reform and the courage to correct one’s own mistakes. and an attitude of eliminating the stale and taking in the fresh [3]3 “Eliminate the stale and take in the fresh” (激浊扬清) is a Chinese four-character idiom meaning to wash away the foul and bring forth the clear, i.e., to eliminate evil and promote good., reflect on itself, consciously free itself from the encirclement and erosion of all interest groups, power blocs, and privileged strata, achieve what the ancient Chinese sages called “the doer is the completion of knowledge” [4]4 “The doer is the completion of knowledge” (行者知之成) is a classical Chinese philosophical concept from the Neo-Confucian tradition, particularly associated with Wang Yangming, emphasizing the unity of knowledge and action, where true knowledge is realized through practice., realize “overcoming shortcomings where there are shortcomings, solving problems where there are problems, and acknowledging and correcting errors where there are errors,” and dare to carry out self-revolution.

一个政党能否自我革命同政党的性质、立场密切相关。中国共产党作为马克思主义政党不仅始终坚守人民立场，而且没有任何自己的特殊利益。中国共产党的特殊性质，赋予自我革命以强大底气，使之敢于为了人民群众的利益自我纠错、自我批判、自我革新。中国共产党由信仰马克思主义的成员即党员组成，党员有自己正当的个人利益，且以正当途径和方式加以追求，维护自身权益，但这并不意味着中国共产党及其成员有自己的特殊利益。若党员谋求自己的私利，既同党的性质与宗旨格格不入，又与党员的使命背道而驰，甚至还会走向违法乱纪的深渊。在中国共产党百年来的发展历程中，广大共产党员始终保持党的先锋队本色而没有陷入特殊利益的旋涡，这是中国共产党坚如磐石推进自我革命的动力所在。“我们党没有任何自己特殊的利益，这是我们党敢于自我革命的勇气之源、底气所在。”正因为中国共产党没有自己的任何特殊利益，当党内一旦出现与人民利益不相符合的言行时，我们党就能以刮骨疗毒的决心和激浊扬清的态度反思自身，自觉摆脱一切利益集团、权势团体、特权阶层的围猎与侵蚀，做到如中国古代圣贤所说的“行者知之成”，实现“有缺点克服缺点，有问题解决问题，有错误承认并纠正错误”，勇于自我革命。

(3) Better Realizing, Safeguarding, and Developing the Fundamental Interests of the Overwhelming Majority of the People

（三）更好地实现维护发展最广大人民根本利益

Self-revolution, as a distinctive hallmark distinguishing the Chinese Communist Party from other political parties, stems not only from the Party having no special interests of its own but also from the fact that self-revolution aims to better realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. Marx and Engels pointed out in the *Communist Manifesto*: “All previous historical movements were movements of minorities, or in the interests of minorities. The proletarian movement is the independent movement of the immense majority, in the interests of the immense majority.” Working for the interests of the immense majority is manifested in the fact that the Party, in leading and advancing social revolution, never has any personal private interests but represents the maximum public interest, taking the realization, safeguarding, and development of the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as its value orientation and action guide. It needs to be clarified that having no personal private interests at all and always being able to represent the maximum public interest are not the same thing; there is a clear distinction between the two. To put it further, having no personal private interests at all does not necessarily mean that one can effectively represent the maximum public interest. This is determined by the orientation of a political party’s interest expression. A political party existing as a certain organizational form always has an orientation in interest expression, which is not only an important basis for the party to consolidate its governing resources but also a key indicator for judging “whom the party serves” and the scope of its service. Bourgeois political parties, under the banners of “democracy,” “freedom,” and “fraternity,” safeguard the interests of a minority, which determines that such parties cannot become defenders of the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. The Chinese Communist Party, as a proletarian political party, established the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly from its very inception, resolutely safeguarding and defending the interests of the overwhelming majority. From the proposal during the New Democratic Revolution period to “make the masses understand that we represent their interests,” to the advocacy during the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization that “all our work and words and deeds must take whether they conform to the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the highest criterion,” and then to the emphasis in the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics on “must represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people,” all profoundly interpret that self-revolution is a great practical activity to safeguard, develop, and realize the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. “Taking safeguarding, realizing, and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the starting point and落脚点 [5]5 “落脚点” (luòjiǎo diǎn) literally means “foothold” or “point of landing”; in political discourse, it is often translated as “ultimate goal” or “end result,” but here it is rendered as “落脚点” in pinyin within the English sentence to preserve the original term’s specific rhetorical function, as the sentence discusses the concept itself. of all work, so that the fruits of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly,” this is the true portrayal of the people-centeredness of the Chinese Communist Party’s self-revolution.

自我革命作为中国共产党区别于其他政党的显著标志，不仅源于党没有任何自己的特殊利益，同时也源于自我革命旨在更好地实现维护发展最广大人民的根本利益。马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中指出：“过去的一切运动都是少数人的，或者为少数人谋利益的运动。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。”为绝大多数人谋利益表现为党引领和推进社会革命从来没有任何个人的私利，而是代表最大限度的公利，以实现维护发展最广大人民根本利益为价值依归和行动指向。需要说明的是，始终没有个人的私利和始终都能代表最大限度公利并非一回事，两者有着明显的区别。进一步言，始终没有个人的私利，并不意味着就能切实做到代表最大限度的公利，这是由政党利益表达的指向性所决定的。作为一定组织形态存在的政党都有利益表达的指向性，这既是政党凝合执政资源的重要基础，也是判断政党“为谁服务”及其服务范围的重要标识。资产阶级政党打着“民主”“自由”“博爱”的旗号维护少数人利益，这就决定了这样的政党不可能成为最广大人民群众利益的捍卫者。作为无产阶级政党的中国共产党，自成立伊始就确立全心全意为人民服务的宗旨，坚决维护和捍卫绝大多数人利益。从新民主主义革命时期提出“要使广大群众认识我们是代表他们的利益的”，到改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期倡导“我们的一切工作和言行都要以是否符合最广大人民的根本利益为最高衡量标准”，再到中国特色社会主义新时代强调“必须代表最广大人民根本利益”，都深刻诠释了自我革命是维护、发展和实现最广大人民根本利益的伟大实践活动，“把维护好、实现好、发展好最广大人民根本利益作为一切工作的出发点和落脚点，让现代化建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民”，这是中国共产党自我革命人民性的真实写照。

2. Self-Purification: Marking the Mission and Responsibility of the People-Centeredness of the Party’s Self-Revolution in Serving the People and Fulfilling Duties

二、自我净化：标明党自我革命人民性的为民尽责的使命担当

Generally speaking, mission and responsibility refer to the historical mission and major responsibilities shouldered by a political party. The Chinese Communist Party shoulders the mission and responsibility of serving the people and fulfilling its duties, which requires that its self-revolution must listen to the people’s voices. This is because the people’s voices are the most genuine, urgent, and sincere sounds from the depths of the people’s hearts, and at the same time, they reflect to a certain extent the problems of words and deeds within the Party that deviate from the people’s standpoint. Self-purification emphasizes listening to the voices of the masses, consciously taking a stand against all words and deeds that deviate from the people’s standpoint, daring to filter out impurities, remove toxins, and excise malignant tumors, marking the mission and responsibility of the people-centeredness of the Party’s self-revolution in serving the people and fulfilling duties.

一般而言，使命担当是指政党肩负的历史使命和重大责任。中国共产党肩负着为民尽责的使命担当，要求其自我革命必须倾听人民呼声，这是因为，人民呼声是人民内心深处最真实、最迫切、最诚挚的声音，同时也在一定程度上反映了党内存在的背离人民立场的言行问题。自我净化强调倾听人民群众呼声，自觉向一切背离人民立场的言行亮剑，勇于过滤杂质、清除毒素、割除毒瘤，标明了党自我革命人民性的为民尽责的使命担当。

(1) Listening to the People’s Voices

（一）倾听人民呼声

The voice of the people represents the aspirations of the masses and reflects their expectations. As a practical activity in which the Chinese Communist Party relies on its own strength to purify its body, self-purification must listen to the voice of the people. This is necessary, on the one hand, to forever maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and on the other hand, to better fulfill the mission and responsibility of fulfilling one’s duties for the people. Sincerely listening to the voice of the people and truthfully reflecting the wishes of the masses are important measures for the Party to adhere to its original aspiration and founding mission [n6] and to close Party-mass relations, and are even more important pathways for continuously enhancing the capacity for self-purification. Only by truly listening to the voice of the people and caring about the hardships of the masses can one hear truthful words, observe the real situation, seek good advice, and find good strategies, thereby ensuring that the Party’s various decisions better represent the interests of the masses and clarifying the strategies and methods of self-purification. Looking back at the glorious course of the Party’s self-revolution over the past century, it can be clearly seen that it is precisely because our Party has always paid attention to listening to the voice of the people in the process of self-purification, taking the voice of the broad masses as a necessary condition for purifying the Party’s ranks, that it has become a Marxist political party in the hearts of the people that dares to purify itself and fulfill its duties for the people. As the perceivers of the voice of the times, the voice of the masses contains both immediate needs and long-term aspirations. With economic and social development, the voice of the masses for a higher quality of life will become stronger. This is particularly prominent in the New Era [n7] against the backdrop of the transformation of China’s principal social contradiction. [n8] “Our people love life and look forward to better education, more stable jobs, more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, higher-level medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment. They look forward to their children growing up better, working better, and living better.” [n9] This requires that the Party’s self-purification grasp the pulse of the times, listen to the people’s heartfelt wishes, and integrate conforming to the people’s expectations into all work of governing the Party and managing the Party, continuously solving the most direct and realistic issues of concern to the people, and gathering the broadest wisdom and greatest strength of the masses for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

人民呼声代表了人民群众的愿望，反映了人民群众的期盼。自我净化作为中国共产党依靠自身力量净化肌体的实践活动，必须倾听人民呼声，这一方面是永葆党的先进性和纯洁性使然，另一方面是为了更好落实为民尽责的使命担当。真诚倾听人民呼声、真实反映群众愿望，是党坚守初心使命和密切党群关系的重要举措，更是不断提升自我净化能力的重要途径。只有真正倾听人民呼声，关心群众疾苦，才能听实言、察实情、问良计、寻良策，确保党的各项决策更好地代表群众利益，明确自我净化的策略和方法。回顾党百年来自我革命的光辉历程可以清晰发现，正是因为我们党在自我净化的过程中始终注重倾听人民呼声，把广大人民群众的声音作为纯洁党的队伍的必要条件，从而成为人民心中敢于自我净化、为民尽责的马克思主义政党。作为时代声音的感知者，人民群众的呼声饱含着即时需求和长远愿望。随着经济社会发展，人民群众追求更高质量美好生活的呼声就会更加强烈，这在新时代我国社会主要矛盾发生转变的背景下表现尤为突出。“我们的人民热爱生活，期盼有更好的教育、更稳定的工作、更满意的收入、更可靠的社会保障、更高水平的医疗卫生服务、更舒适的居住条件、更优美的环境，期盼孩子们能成长得更好、工作得更好、生活得更好。”这就要求党的自我净化要把准时代脉搏，聆听人民心声，将顺应人民期待贯穿于管党治党各项工作中，不断解决好人民群众最关心最直接最现实的利益问题，凝聚起人民群众实现中华民族伟大复兴最广泛智慧和最宏大力量。

(II) Solving Problems of Words and Deeds That Deviate from the People’s Stand

（二）解决背离人民立场的言行问题

The people’s stand is the fundamental stand of the Chinese Communist Party and also the starting point of self-purification. Self-purification is neither an abstract conceptual proposition nor a suspended political declaration, but is aimed at responding to and solving problems of words and deeds within the Party that deviate from the people’s stand. Problems are the voice of the times; “without a problem awareness, Party building has no direction for development.” [n10] Since the beginning of the New Era, the problems of words and deeds within the Party that deviate from the people’s stand have been concentratedly manifested in the following: First, the dilution of the original aspiration and founding mission. Some Party members are not sufficiently in-depth in connecting with the masses, have an insufficiently detailed and comprehensive grasp of the “urgent, difficult, anxious, and expectant” issues strongly reflected by the masses, lack the consciousness to understand people’s conditions and observe public opinion, weaken the concept of building the Party for the public and governing for the people, to the point of forgetting their identity as servants of the people and discarding the mission of benefiting the people. This runs counter to Xi

人民立场是中国共产党的根本立场，亦是自我净化的出发点。自我净化既不是抽象的概念命题，也不是悬空的政治宣言，而是为了应对和解决党内存在的背离人民立场的言行问题。问题是时代的声音，“党的建设没有问题意识就没有发展的方向”。新时代以来，党内存在的背离人民立场的言行问题，集中表现为：一是初心使命的淡化。部分党员联系群众不够深入，对人民群众反映强烈的“急难愁盼”问题掌握不够细致、全面，缺少了解民情、体察民意的自觉，弱化立党为公、执政为民的理念，以致忘却人民勤务员身份，丢掉造福人民的使命担当，这与习近平指出的“不忘初心，牢记使命，就不要忘记我们是共产党人，我们是革命者，不要丧失了革命精神”的要求背道而驰。面对这些问题，要把守护初心作为党自我净化的必然要求，建立“不忘初心、牢记使命”制度，发挥领导干部榜样示范作用，切实解决好淡化初心使命的言行问题。二是理想信念的迷失。一段时间，党内出现意志衰退、精神迷失、思想萎靡的消极现象，个别党员持有共产主义“空想论”“渺茫论”，缺乏对中国特色社会主义的信心。面对西方意识形态观念入侵妥协退让，“有的心为物役，信奉金钱至上、名利至上、享乐至上，心里没有任何敬畏，行为没有任何底线”，给党的事业发展带来干扰和冲击。我们党坚持以创新理论扫除思想尘埃，教育引导党员干部反躬自省、净化心灵，实施和开展一系列主题教育活动，常态化制度化开展理想信念教育，严把党员“入门关”，保持“有灰尘就要洗洗澡，出毛病就要治治病”的政治自觉，解决理想信念迷失问题，实现思想净化、组织净化、作风净化的同频共振，夯固为民尽责的信仰之基。三是腐败现象的滋生。党的十八大以来，某些领域滋生的贪污受贿、权钱交换、道德败坏、作风腐化、以权谋私等都是腐败现象的突出表现，实质上都是背离了人民立场。为了解决这些问题，我们党坚持“反腐败是最彻底的自我革命”，吹响一体推进不敢腐、不能腐、不想腐的“冲锋号”，严惩人民群众身边的腐败问题，加强和推动新时代廉洁文化建设，建立健全党内法规体系和反腐败法律体系，强化对权力运行的制约与监督，提升重点领域腐败治理综合效能，筑牢反对腐败的坚固防线，解决腐败现象滋生蔓延问题。

(3) Filtering out impurities, removing toxins, and excising malignant tumors

（三）过滤杂质、清除毒素、割除毒瘤

Self-purification “means filtering out impurities, removing toxins, and excising malignant tumors.” Self-purification requires building and forming a three-dimensional system of self-purification, eliminating all viruses, unhealthy practices, and corrupt elements that erode the Party’s physical health, purifying the political ecosystem within the Party, strengthening ideals and convictions, enhancing Party spirit, improving political immunity, achieving ideological purity, organizational integrity, and upright conduct, and forever maintaining the mission of fulfilling one’s duty to the people. Without a sense of responsibility, a person cannot stand firm; without it, a Party cannot thrive. The process by which Communists fulfill their duties and take on responsibilities is both a process of serving the people with a lofty ideological realm and revolutionary spirit, and a process of continuously engaging in self-purification with the courage and insight to face problems squarely. Over the past century and more, the Communist Party of China has deeply embedded the mission of fulfilling its duty to the people in its very soul and blood, tempering and forming a political consciousness of creating a better life for the people. “To ensure that the Communist Party governs for the long term and always seeks benefits for the people, we must strengthen our capacity for self-supervision and self-purification, and intensify oversight at the level of institutions and mechanisms.” That is to say, self-purification means strengthening Communists’ attitude of responsibility toward the people and their sense of accountability, correcting all erroneous views that deviate from the Party’s mission and purpose, and tempering a spiritual demeanor and moral realm that is wholly devoted to the people. This is the goal and purpose of self-purification, and it is also the people-centered sentiment of Communists who are devoted to their duties. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a New Era, in the face of phenomena strongly reflected by the people, such as an unsolidified concept of fulfilling one’s duty to the people, a shallow sentiment, and a lack of earnest implementation, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has led the entire Party to strictly adhere to the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, resolutely filtering out the “impurities” that go against the people’s will, removing the “toxins” in Party members’ and cadres’ awareness of fulfilling their duty to the people, excising all “malignant tumors” of corruption, violation of law and discipline, and harm to the people’s interests, wielding the sharp sword of inspection and supervision, and consolidating the Party’s people-centered foundation. In summary, self-purification is a comprehensive and whole-process purification that runs through all aspects of Party governance. It must not only address individual Party members’ problems of selfishness, greed for pleasure, and the like, but also cultivate uprightness and righteousness within the entire Party to resist corruption and prevent degeneration, and also adopt multiple measures such as ideological education, organizational handling, and institutional constraints, so that the Party’s self-revolution is deeper and more thorough, forging a steel-like mission to fulfill one’s duty to the people and political responsibility.

自我净化，“就是要过滤杂质、清除毒素、割除毒瘤”。自我净化要求构建和形成立体化的自我净化体系，清除一切侵蚀党的肌体健康的病毒、不良作风与腐败分子，净化党内政治生态，坚定理想信念，强化党性修养，提高政治免疫力，实现思想纯净、组织纯洁、作风纯正，永葆为民尽责的使命担当。人无担当不立，党无担当不兴。共产党人履职担当的过程，既是以崇高思想境界和革命精神为人民服务的过程，也是以正视问题的气魄胆识不断进行自我净化的过程。百余年来，中国共产党将为民尽责的使命担当深植灵魂血脉，磨炼形成为人民群众创造美好生活的政治自觉，“我们要保证共产党长期执政、始终为人民谋利益，就必须加强自我监督、自我净化能力，在体制机制层面加大监督力度”。也就是说，自我净化就是要强化共产党人对人民负责的态度和责任，纠正一切背离党的使命宗旨的错误观点，锤炼一心为民的精神风范和道德境界，这是自我净化的目标旨归，更是共产党人尽忠职守的人民情怀。中国特色社会主义进入新时代，面对人民群众反映强烈的诸如为民尽责理念不牢固、情怀不深厚、落实不用心等现象，以习近平同志为核心的党中央领导全党恪守全心全意为人民服务的宗旨，坚决过滤违背人民意愿的“杂质”，清除党员干部在为民尽责意识上的“毒素”，割除一切贪污腐败、违法乱纪、损害人民利益的“毒瘤”，发挥巡视监督利剑作用，筑牢党的人民性根基。归结起来，自我净化是全方位、全过程的净化，贯穿党的治理各个环节，既要解决党员个体的自私自利、贪图享乐等问题，也要在全党培育拒腐防变的正风正气，还要采取思想教育、组织处理、制度约束等多重措施，使党的自我革命更加深入彻底，淬炼出钢铁般的为民尽责使命和政治担当。

III. Self-Improvement: Interpreting the People-Centered Governance Concept of the Party’s Self-Revolution

三、自我完善：诠释党自我革命人民性的为民执政的执政理念

The concept of governance refers to a political party’s governing philosophy and clear banner, established on the basis of understanding the mode of governance, the system of governance, and the laws of governance. It embodies the party’s value pursuit and governing goals regarding “for whom to govern, on whom to rely for governance, and how to govern.” The Communist Party of China upholds the governance concept of “building the Party for the public good and exercising power for the people.” In advancing self-revolution, it always adheres to a people-centered approach, thinking what the people think, urgently meeting the people’s needs, following the people’s expectations, and achieving self-improvement. That is, it advocates relying closely on the people, respecting the people’s principal position, absorbing the people’s opinions, and in this process repairing the Party’s body, improving its mechanisms, and enriching its functions, profoundly interpreting the people-centered governance concept of the Party’s self-revolution.

执政理念是指建立在对执政方式、执政体制和执政规律认识基础上的政党的施政理念与鲜明旗帜，体现着政党“为谁执政、靠谁执政、怎样执政”的价值追求和执政目标。中国共产党秉持“立党为公、执政为民”的执政理念，在推进自我革命中始终坚持以人民为中心，想群众之所想，急群众之所需，顺群众之所盼，实现自我完善，即主张紧紧依靠人民，尊重人民主体地位，吸取人民意见，并在这一过程中修复肌体、健全机制、丰富功能，深刻诠释了党自我革命人民性的为民执政的执政理念。

(1) Relying closely on the people

（一）紧紧依靠人民

Relying closely on the people and mobilizing their initiative are important conditions for the Party’s self-improvement. Self-improvement, as a practical activity in which the Party “plugs institutional loopholes, improves oversight mechanisms, and enhances its long-term governance capacity,” must “rely on the people’s support and help to solve its own problems.” This is determined by the people’s subject position as the creators of history. Lenin held that for a proletarian party to achieve self-improvement, it must maintain close ties with the masses; “otherwise the communist party cannot lead the proletariat, and the proletariat cannot lead the masses, and the whole machine will fall apart.” This theoretically confirms that the masses are the force on which the proletarian party relies for self-improvement. Over the past century and more, the Chinese Communist Party has overcome countless difficulties and dangers, triumphed over numerous risks and tests, and grown from weakness to strength precisely by relying on the support and endorsement of the masses. During the New Democratic Revolution, Mao Zedong pointed out: “A national war that does not rely on the broad masses of the people will undoubtedly fail to achieve victory.” The Chinese Communist Party linked its own destiny with that of the masses, relied on the people to establish its lines, policies, strategies, and methods, resolved the principal contradiction, won the great victory of the New Democratic Revolution, and opened a new epoch in China’s development. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Party relied on the people to consolidate and improve the Party’s leadership system and mechanisms, realize the transition from New Democracy to socialism, and create a new situation of advancing socialist construction by relying on the people. Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee [n], the Party has focused on improving and enhancing its own leadership capacity, relied closely on the people to address the major issues of guarding against corruption and resisting risks, optimized its governing methods and system, and stimulated the people’s initiative, creativity, and activity, injecting powerful momentum into the Party’s self-revolution. Facts have proven that in solving all major tasks through self-revolution, our Party “has accomplished none of them without relying on the arduous efforts of the broad masses.” Entering the New Era, “on the road ahead, whether the winds are high and the waves rough or the seas are raging, the people will forever be our firmest support and greatest source of strength.” Only by relying closely on the masses and continuously drawing wisdom and experience from them for self-improvement can the Chinese Communist Party successfully find the methods for self-revolution, push self-revolution to new realms and new heights, and lead the people in striding forward toward the grand goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

紧紧依靠人民，发挥和调动人民群众积极性，是党进行自我完善的重要条件。自我完善作为党“堵塞制度漏洞，健全监督机制，提升党的长期执政能力”的实践活动，要“靠人民群众支持和帮助解决自身问题”，这是由人民群众作为历史创造者的主体地位所决定的。列宁认为，无产阶级政党要实现自我完善，就必须保持同人民群众的密切联系，“否则共产党就不能率领无产阶级，而无产阶级就不能率领群众，整个机器就要散架”，从理论上确证了人民群众是无产阶级政党自我完善的依靠力量。百余年来，中国共产党克服无数艰难险阻，战胜众多风险考验，从弱小走向强大，依靠的正是人民群众的支持和拥护。新民主主义革命时期，毛泽东指出：“民族战争而不依靠人民大众，毫无疑义将不能取得胜利。”中国共产党将自己的命运同人民群众的命运联系在一起，依靠人民确立路线方针、策略方法，解决主要矛盾，取得新民主主义革命的伟大胜利，开启了中国发展的新纪元。中华人民共和国成立后，党依靠人民巩固和完善党的领导的体制机制，实现从新民主主义到社会主义的转变，开创了依靠人民推进社会主义建设新局面。党的十一届三中全会以来，党注重完善和提高自身领导水平，紧紧依靠人民解决拒腐防变和抵御风险的重大课题，优化执政方式和执政体制，激发人民群众的积极性、主动性、创造性，为党的自我革命注入强大动力。事实证明，我们党通过自我革命解决各项重大任务，“没有一项不是依靠广大人民的艰苦努力来完成的”。进入新时代，“前进道路上，无论是风高浪急还是惊涛骇浪，人民永远是我们最坚实的依托、最强大的底气”，中国共产党只有紧紧依靠人民群众，不断从人民群众中获取自我完善的智慧与经验，才能成功找到进行自我革命的方法，推动自我革命不断迈向新境界、新高度，带领人民朝着实现中华民族伟大复兴的宏伟目标阔步前进。

(2) Absorbing the People’s Opinions

（二）吸取人民意见

The people’s opinions represent the needs of the masses and reflect their voices. The Party’s self-improvement, which requires self-criticism, self-transcendence, self-dissection, and self-inspection to achieve vigilance, self-awareness, and adherence to justice, cannot do without absorbing the people’s opinions. Conscientiously absorbing the people’s opinions is a virtue of respect for the people, a sentiment of love for the people, and an act of serving the people on the part of communists; it is a prerequisite for the Party’s self-improvement to reach the grassroots, listen to public sentiment, and gather popular wisdom. This is because the people’s opinions can reflect whether the Party’s self-revolution, under specific historical conditions and the context of the times, conforms to the people’s interests and expectations and to the general laws of historical development. If the people’s opinions cannot be expressed, the masses’ suggestions on Party building cannot be conveyed within the Party, and the real problems the people detest and oppose cannot be eliminated or corrected; then self-revolution will lose the people’s support and endorsement. As Deng Xiaoping said: “A revolutionary party fears most hearing no voice from the people; the most terrifying thing is dead silence.”

人民意见代表了人民群众的需求，反映了人民群众的呼声。党的自我完善要通过自我批判、自我超越、自我解剖、自我纠察来警觉自醒、坚守正义，离不开吸收人民群众的意见。认真吸收人民的意见，是共产党人的敬民之德、爱民之情、为民之举，是党的自我完善深入基层、倾听民声、汇聚民智的先决因素。这是因为，人民群众意见能反映党的自我革命在特定历史条件与时代背景下是否符合人民群众的利益与期待，是否符合历史发展的一般规律。若人民群众意见得不到表达，人民群众对党的建设的建议就不能反映到党内，人民群众痛恨和反对的现实问题就无法得到革除与纠正，自我革命就会失去人民的拥护和支持。正如邓小平所说：“一个革命政党，就怕听不到人民的声音，最可怕的是鸦雀无声。”习近平指出：“如果管党不力、治党不严，人民群众反映强烈的党内突出问题得不到解决，那我们党迟早会失去执政资格，不可避免被历史淘汰。”需要强调的是，人民群众意见作为人民大众社会心理的集中反映，具有自发性、狭隘性、分散性，这就要求党将各条战线上的群众意见进行系统地分析辨别、提炼整合，从而成为党自我完善的依据。因此，我们党要以求真务实的精神和有的放矢的态度对待人民群众意见，问计于民、问需于民、问效于民，将群众反映的意见去伪存真、去粗取精，精准把脉民情，靶向治疗问题，不断夯实党自我完善的群众基础。

(3) Repairing the body, perfecting the mechanisms, enriching the functions

（三）修复肌体、健全机制、丰富功能

Self-improvement “means repairing the body, perfecting the mechanisms, and enriching the functions.” Self-improvement requires the Party to carry out self-correction and self-optimization, to construct a systematic and complete system of norms for the self-revolution with closely linked links, and to perfect a power operation mechanism featuring scientific decision-making, resolute implementation, and strong supervision. This is determined by the Party’s long-term governance tasks. The Party’s practice over the past century has proven that the Party’s governance tasks change and develop with the evolution of the times. When the Party’s institutions and mechanisms cannot adapt to the Party’s governance tasks, they must be promptly adjusted and improved. Self-improvement “is like a person: when the body is weak, it must be nourished; when immunity declines, it must be strengthened.” The Party must also at all times shore up its weak points, strengthen its areas of weakness, and consolidate its foundations. Weak points and areas of weakness reflect the Party’s own deficiencies and call into question the Party’s governance philosophy. “My governance philosophy, to put it succinctly, is: serve the people and take on the responsibilities that ought to be taken on.” [6]6 Xi Jinping, “My Governance Philosophy, to Put It Succinctly, Is: Serve the People and Take on the Responsibilities That Ought to Be Taken On,” People’s Daily, February 8, 2014. The Chinese Communist Party takes serving the people as its governance philosophy; “self-improvement” means ensuring the resolute implementation of this philosophy. In a certain sense, self-improvement concerns the efficacy and quality of the self-revolution and affects the people’s perception and evaluation of the Party’s governance philosophy. The Chinese Communist Party’s governance philosophy must be upheld and developed through “self-improvement.” If the people cannot see the Party’s fine character of self-improvement, it will be difficult for them to believe that the Marxist party is a vanguard that governs for the people. On the new journey of advancing Chinese-path modernization, the Party must repair its own body, perfect the mechanisms for serving the masses, the mechanisms for policy formulation and implementation, and the mechanisms for Party cadres and members to maintain contact with the masses, tighten the “institutional cage” in all respects, [7]7 “Institutional cage” (制度笼子) is a metaphor used by Xi courageously improve lagging ideas and concepts, and enrich functions such as political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal, so that the people can deeply feel the intensity, strength, and warmth of the self-revolution, truly achieving that where the people call out, reform responds, and governance is for the people.

自我完善，“就是要修复肌体、健全机制、丰富功能”。自我完善要求党要进行自我改进、自我优化，构建系统完善、环节紧密的自我革命制度规范体系，健全决策科学、执行坚决、监督有力的权力运行机制，这是由党的长期执政任务所决定的。党百年来的实践证明，党的执政任务是随着时代发展而变化发展的。当党的体制机制不能适应党的执政任务时，就必须及时加以调整和完善。自我完善“就像人一样，身子弱了就要补，免疫力下降就要加强”，党也要随时补短板、强弱项、固根本。短板和弱项反映出党自身存在的不足，拷问着党的执政理念。“我的执政理念，概括起来说就是：为人民服务，担当起该担当的责任。”中国共产党以服务人民为执政理念，“自我完善”就是要保证这一理念的坚决贯彻。从一定意义上讲，自我完善关乎自我革命的效能与质量，影响着人民群众对党的执政理念的认知与评价。中国共产党的执政理念要通过“自我完善”予以坚守和发展，若人民群众看不到党的自我完善的优良品格，就难以坚信马克思主义政党是为民执政的先锋队。在推进中国式现代化新征程上，党务必修复自身肌体，健全服务群众工作机制、政策制定与落实机制、党员干部联系群众机制，全方位扎紧“制度笼子”，勇于改进滞后的思想观念，丰富政治领导、思想引领、群众组织、社会号召等功能，使人民群众深切感受自我革命的强度、力度与温度，真正做到人民有所呼，改革有所应，为民执政。

IV. Self-Innovation: Manifesting the Value Orientation of the Party’s Self-Revolution’s People-Centered Nature in Bringing Benefit to the People

四、自我革新：彰显党自我革命人民性的为民造福的价值导向

Generally speaking, value orientation refers to the value direction that a political party advocates and upholds in order to achieve long-term governance, reflecting the wishes and demands of a certain social group. The Chinese Communist Party is a Marxist party that brings benefit to the people. “The concept of ‘bringing benefit to the people’ has always been the governance philosophy that the Chinese Communist Party unswervingly implements.” Self-innovation, as one of the “four self” goals of the Party’s self-revolution, [8]8 The “Cave Dialogue” (窑洞对) refers to a famous exchange in 1945 in Yan’an between Mao Zedong and Huang Yanpei, a democratic figure, concerning how a political power could avoid the historical cycle of rising and then falling into decay. emphasizes that the Party must make decisions that conform to the people’s wishes, use heart, feeling, and effort to enhance the people’s sense of gain and happiness, accept the people’s supervision, keep pace with the times, surpass itself, and eradicate malpractices, profoundly manifesting the value orientation of the Party’s self-revolution’s people-centered nature in bringing benefit to the people.

通常而言，价值导向是指政党为实现长期执政而提倡和坚持的反映一定社会群体愿望要求的价值指向。中国共产党是为民造福的马克思主义政党，“‘为民造福’理念始终是中国共产党坚定不移贯彻的执政理念”。自我革新作为党的自我革命“四自”目标之一，强调党要作出符合人民群众意愿的决策，用心用情用力增强人民群众获得感和幸福感，接受人民群众监督，与时俱进、自我超越、破除弊端，深刻彰显了党自我革命人民性为民造福的价值导向。

(1) Making decisions that conform to the people’s wishes

（一）作出符合人民意愿的决策

Decision-making usually refers to the selection of actions that conform to objective reality through a series of links and procedures such as raising questions, collecting information, setting goals, drafting plans, and analysis and evaluation. “Our major issues are all decided by the Party. The guidelines and policies for international and domestic affairs are all formulated by the Party and implemented concretely by government agencies.” Emphasizing and adhering to scientific decision-making is the principle that the Chinese Communist Party follows in advancing its self-innovation. The Party’s self-innovation, that is, its own transformation and renewal of itself, is not a purely moral and normative constraint; it originally stems from the inevitable requirement of the Party’s scientific decision-making. Scientific decision-making is not simply making a snap judgment or arbitrary decision, still less is it autocratic, arbitrary, or capricious. On the contrary, it must adhere to correct theoretical guidance, follow certain decision-making procedures, and fully rely on the wisdom of the decision-making主体 to formulate decision-making plans. The people have the deepest feelings about whether the Party’s decisions are correct or not and have the most say. Therefore, every decision of our Party must conform to the people’s will. Mao Zedong once said: “All erroneous tasks, policies, and work styles are incompatible with the demands of the masses at that time and place and are divorced from the masses.” Whether the Party’s decisions conform to the people’s will not only affects the people’s identification with and understanding of the Party’s decisions but also affects the mode and degree of the Party’s self-innovation. Decisions that deviate from the people’s will violate the spirit and requirements of the Party’s mass line, harm the interests of the people, and are even less beneficial to the Party’s self-revolution. “It is like a doctor who only prescribes medicine and does not care how many patients die from it.” This requires that the Party’s decisions must fully respect, solicit, and reflect the people’s opinions, systematically analyze the various links of decision-making formulation, decision-making implementation, and decision-making evaluation, so as to prevent conflicts and mutual constraints in decision-making. At the same time, it is necessary to conduct in-depth investigation and research, promote democracy, pool wisdom, focus on seeking truth, detail, and accuracy, optimize decision-making procedures against the people’s interest demands, innovate decision-making methods, improve decision-making mechanisms, ensure the feasibility of decision-making plans, and truly achieve benefits for the people.

决策通常指通过提出问题、收集信息、确定目标、拟定方案、分析评估等一系列环节与程序进行的符合客观实际的行动选择。“我们重大的问题都是通过党来决定的。国际国内事务的方针、政策都是由党制定的，是由政府机构负责具体执行的。”强调和坚持科学决策，是中国共产党推进自我革新的原则遵循。党的自我革新即自己对自己的变革与创新，这并非纯粹的道德规范约束，原本来自党科学决策的必然要求。科学决策并非简单拍板、随意决定，更不是独断专行、任意武断，相反，必须坚持以正确理论为指导，按照一定决策程序，充分依靠决策主体智慧来制定决策方案。党的决策正确与否，人民群众感受最深、最有发言权，所以我们党的任何一项决策都要符合人民意愿。毛泽东曾说：“凡属错误的任务、政策和工作作风，都是和当时当地的群众要求不相适合，都是脱离群众的。”党的决策是否符合人民意愿，不仅影响人民群众对党的决策的认同与理解，而且影响党的自我革新的方式和程度。背离人民意愿的决策，有违党的群众路线的精神与要求，又会损害人民群众的利益，更无益于党的自我革命，“等于一个医生只顾开药方，病人吃死了多少他是不管的”。这就要求党的决策必须充分尊重、征求和反映人民意见，系统分析决策制定、决策实施、决策评估等各个环节，以防止决策的相互冲突、相互掣肘。同时要深入开展调查研究，发扬民主、集思广益，着力在求实、求细、求准上下功夫，对标人民群众的利益诉求优化决策程序，创新决策方法，完善决策机制，保证决策方案的切实可行，真正做到为民造福。

(2) Accepting the Supervision of the People

（二）接受人民群众的监督

Advancing the Party’s self-innovation requires accepting people’s supervision. People’s supervision is a key element of national governance, emphasizing social participation and public rights. If inner-Party supervision is regarded as the “internal immunity” of the Party’s self-innovation, then people’s supervision is the “external remedy” for the Party’s self-innovation and an inevitable requirement for regulating the exercise of power. In the early days of the establishment of Soviet power, Lenin pointed out the problem of excessive concentration of power within the Party, stating, “If our Party does not take measures to prevent it, then a split will come suddenly,” indicating that power must be subject to supervision. Accepting the supervision of the people is a consistent proposition of the Party’s self-innovation. As early as the period of the Chinese Soviet Republic, shock brigades, light cavalry units, and worker-peasant correspondents were established precisely to facilitate the people’s criticism and supervision of the Soviet government’s work. In the famous “Cave Dialogue,” [8]8 The “Cave Dialogue” (窑洞对) refers to a famous exchange in 1945 in Yan’an between Mao Zedong and Huang Yanpei, a democratic figure, concerning how a political power could avoid the historical cycle of rising and then falling into decay. when faced with the question raised by democratic figure Huang Yanpei on how to break out of the historical cycle of rise and fall, Mao Zedong answered with “democracy”: “Only by letting the people supervise the government can the government not dare to slack off.” “Through unremitting efforts, the Party has found the second answer to breaking out of the historical cycle of order and chaos, rise and fall—self-revolution.” [9]9 This is a reference to the “second answer” to the historical cycle problem, as articulated by Xi Jinping, complementing Mao’s “first answer” of This is not only a profound grasp of the laws of governing and managing the Party for a Marxist political party in the New Era but also an inheritance and development of the “first answer.” It profoundly marks the firm belief of our Party in carrying out self-revolution and highlights the high degree of alignment between Party spirit and people-centeredness. The “two answers” are two sides of the same coin. Self-revolution emphasizes internal consciousness, while people’s supervision emphasizes external constraints. Self-innovation within self-revolution is based on inner-Party supervision, but at the same time, the role of people’s supervision must be valued. The latter is the key to making up for the blind spots of inner-Party supervision and is also the foundation for enhancing the effectiveness of self-innovation supervision. As Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must rely on strengthening the Party’s self-supervision and people’s supervision to advance the Party’s self-revolution… transforming the advantages of the supervision system into better governance effectiveness.” Only in this way can we better develop whole-process people’s democracy, insist on simultaneously expanding channels for democratic supervision and improving mechanisms for democratic supervision, ensure the effect and influence of the Party’s self-innovation, and continuously consolidate the Party’s long-term governing position.

推进党的自我革新要求接受人民监督，人民监督是国家治理的关键要素，强调社会参与和公众权利。如果将党内监督看作党自我革新的“内在免疫”的话，那么人民监督就是党自我革新的“外在良方”，是规范权力行使的必然要义。列宁在苏维埃政权建立初期，针对党内存在的权力过度集中的问题指出，“如果我们党不采取措施防止，那么分裂是会突然来临的”，说明权力必须要受监督。接受人民群众监督是党自我革新的一贯主张。早在中华苏维埃共和国时期就设立了突击队、轻骑队、工农通讯员，目的就是方便人民群众对苏维埃的工作进行批评和监督。在著名的“窑洞对”中，面对民主人士黄炎培提出的如何跳出历史周期率的问题，毛泽东以“民主”为答案，“只有让人民来监督政府，政府才不敢松懈”。“经过不懈努力，党找到了自我革命这一跳出治乱兴衰历史周期率的第二个答案”，既是对新时代马克思主义政党管党治党规律的深刻把握，也是对“第一个答案”的继承与发展，深刻标明我们党进行自我革命的坚定信念，凸显了党性和人民性的高度契合。“两个答案”是一体两面的关系，自我革命重在强调内在自觉，人民监督重在强调外在约束；自我革命中的自我革新以党内监督为基础，同时要重视人民监督的作用，后者是弥补党内监督盲区的要诀，更是提升自我革新监督效能的依托，正如习近平所强调：“必须依靠强化党的自我监督和人民监督推进党的自我革命，……把监督制度优势更好转化为治理效能。”唯有如此，方能更好地发展全过程人民民主，坚持拓宽民主监督渠道和健全民主监督机制同向发力，确保党的自我革新的效果与影响力，不断巩固党的长期执政地位。

(3) Keeping Pace with the Times, Self-Transcendence, and Eradicating Malpractices

（三）与时俱进、自我超越、破除弊端

Self-innovation “means keeping pace with the times, self-transcendence, being good at mobilizing the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the entire Party, and resolutely eradicating all outdated ideas, concepts, and institutional and mechanistic malpractices.” Self-innovation requires the Party to always maintain a historical consciousness of staying at the forefront of the times, actively eradicate all negative and backward ideas and concepts, and maximize the realization of the people’s interests. The people, as the creators of history, take the realization of their interests as the condition and driving force for their free and comprehensive development, continuously and actively transcending objective conditions through material production, opening up space and vision for the realization of their long-term interests. This requires the Party to continuously keep pace with the times, satisfy and realize the people’s interests, and eradicate the malpractices of thought and work style that run counter to the people’s interests. This is a process of understanding the people’s needs and the masses’ aspirations, a process of going deep among the masses, serving the people, and benefiting the people. Otherwise, it is impossible to “plan and advance reform from the overall, fundamental, and long-term interests of the people,” let alone “ensure that reform is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people.” As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era, the Chinese Communist Party has responded to the aspirations and hopes of the people, taking the people’s desire for a better life as the greatest political achievement of self-revolution. It has focused on issues of common concern to the people, such as employment, education, housing, public security, medical care, and social security, to correct deviations, take concrete measures, and promote reform. It has innovated methods and strategies for connecting with and serving the masses, resolutely resisted erroneous tendencies such as bureaucracy and formalism, maintained a spirit of self-transcendence that seizes the momentum and takes the initiative, and strengthened the sense of responsibility and accountability for benefiting the people. This has greatly enhanced the people’s sense of identification with the Party’s self-revolution.

自我革新，“就是要与时俱进、自我超越，善于调动全党积极性、主动性、创造性，坚决破除一切不合时宜的思想观念和体制机制弊端”。自我革新要求党必须时刻保持走在时代发展前列的历史自觉，主动破除一切消极落后的思想观念，最大限度地实现人民群众利益。人民群众作为历史的创造者，以利益的实现作为自由全面发展的条件与动力，不断通过物质生产能动地超越客观条件，为自身敞开实现长远利益的空间与愿景。这就要求党不断与时俱进，满足和实现人民群众利益，破除与人民群众利益相悖的思想作风弊端。这是一个了解人民需求与群众愿望的过程，是一个深入群众、服务人民、造福人民的过程，否则不可能做到“从人民的整体利益、根本利益、长远利益出发谋划和推进改革”，更不可能“做到改革为了人民、改革依靠人民、改革成果由人民共享”。中国特色社会主义进入新时代，中国共产党顺应人民群众所思所盼，将人民群众对美好生活的向往作为自我革命的最大政绩，聚焦人民群众普遍关心的就业、教育、住房、治安、医疗、社会保障等问题纠偏差、出实招、促改革，创新联系群众、服务群众的方法策略，坚决抵制官僚主义、形式主义等错误倾向，保持顺势而上、主动作为的自我超越精神，强化为民造福的责任担当意识，极大地增强了人民群众对党的自我革新的认同感。

V. Self-Improvement: Confirming the Ability and Capability of Serving the People in the People-Centered Nature of the Party’s Self-Revolution

五、自我提高：确证党自我革命人民性的为民服务的本领能力

Ability and capability are the comprehensive manifestation of a political party’s own qualities and subjective strength in the process of governance, and they are also important conditions for a political party to continuously develop, grow stronger, and stay at the forefront of the times. The Chinese Communist Party is the world’s largest Marxist governing party with a history of over one hundred years. To a certain extent, this is due to the fact that the Chinese Communist Party has always focused on forging, improving, and developing its abilities and capabilities, thereby winning the heartfelt support of the people. Self-improvement emphasizes that the Party must accept the people’s judgment, safeguard the people’s interests, enhance its abilities, elevate its realm, and maintain its vitality, thus fully confirming the ability and capability of serving the people in the people-centered nature of the Party’s self-revolution.

本领能力是政党在执政过程中所展现的自身品质和主体实力的综合体现，也是政党不断发展壮大、走在时代前列的重要条件。中国共产党是具有百余年历史的世界最大马克思主义执政党，从一定程度上讲，这得益于中国共产党始终注重本领能力的锻造、提升与发展，从而赢得人民群众的衷心拥护。自我提高强调党要接受人民评判，维护人民群众利益，增强本领、提升境界、永葆活力，完整确证党自我革命人民性的为民服务的本领能力。

(1) Accepting the People’s Judgment

（一）接受人民评判

Evaluation is the assessment and inspection of the overall effects and objective results produced by practice. Any practice produces certain objective results, and the Party’s self-improvement is no exception. In the process of the Party’s self-improvement, the people’s sense of gain is an important yardstick; that is to say, self-improvement ultimately depends on whether it can benefit the people, whether it satisfies the people, whether it wins the people’s support, and whether it achieves the principle that “whatever is beneficial to the cause of the Party and the people must be resolutely done, done with full effort, and done without a moment’s pause; whatever is detrimental to the cause of the Party and the people must be resolutely changed, thoroughly changed, and changed without a moment’s delay.” [10]10 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, July 1, 2016. Accepting the people’s evaluation is a key link in judging the manner in which the Party’s self-improvement is carried out, and it is even more relevant to the people’s assessment of the Party’s governing capacity and competence. Since entering the New Era, the Chinese Communist Party has paid close attention to the people’s degree of satisfaction, consciously correcting deficiencies in mass viewpoints, mass positions, mass sentiments, and service to the masses. It takes whether the people consent, support, and approve as the measure of self-revolution, resolving its own prominent problems in the course of relieving the people’s worries, thinking what the people think, and responding to the people’s hopes. Upholding the concepts that “the people are the examiners,” “the people are the highest arbiters of the Party’s work,” and “putting the people in the highest position,” it enables the people to truly become the most enthusiastic supporters, the most active participants, and the most authoritative evaluators of the Party’s self-revolution. Practice shows that accepting the people’s evaluation conforms to the people’s voices and aspirations, demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party’s style and character of serving the people, and drives self-revolution to continuously deepen.

评判是对实践所造成的总体效应和客观效果的评估与检视。任何实践都会产生一定的客观效果，党的自我提高也不例外。在党的自我提高过程中，人民群众的获得感是重要标尺，即是说，自我提高最终要看能不能让人民受益、是不是让人民满意、会不会得到人民拥护，有没有做到“凡是有利于党和人民事业的，就坚决干、加油干、一刻不停歇地干；凡是不利于党和人民事业的，就坚决改、彻底改、一刻不耽误地改”。接受人民群众评判是判断党的自我提高以何种方式进行的关键环节，更关乎人民群众对党的执政能力和水平的评价。进入新时代以来，中国共产党密切关注人民群众的满意度，自觉纠正在群众观点、群众立场、群众感情、群众服务方面的不足，以人民群众是否答应、拥护、赞成作为自我革命的衡量标准，在解人民之所忧、想人民之所想、应人民之所盼中解决自身存在的突出问题，秉持“人民是阅卷者”“人民是党的工作的最高裁决者”“把人民放在最高位置”的理念，让人民群众真正成为党的自我革命最热忱的支持者、最积极的参与者、最权威的评判者。实践表明，接受人民群众的评判，顺应了人民群众的呼声愿望，显示了中国共产党为民服务的作风品格，推动自我革命不断走向深入。

(2) Safeguarding the People’s Interests

（二）维护人民利益

Interests are the resources needed by the people for production and daily life. “This is the historical activity that people have had to engage in daily and hourly from thousands of years ago down to the present day simply to sustain life; it is the basic condition of all history.” [11]11 Quotation from Friedrich Engels, “Speech at the Graveside of Karl Marx,” March 17, 1883, paraphrasing Marx’s formulation in *The German Ideology* (1845–46). The people’s interests are the object of the Party’s service. The Chinese Communist Party serves the people wholeheartedly, which means serving the people’s interests. As Mao Zedong pointed out, Communists “stand on the front line of the revolutionary war every day in order to protect the people’s interests and for the people’s freedom and liberation.” [12]12 Quotation from Mao Zedong, “On the United Front Work of the Chinese Communist Party in the Anti-Japanese War,” 1939. The people’s interests require both the people’s own struggle and, even more, the Party’s guidance and promotion. This is because the people’s production and daily life proceed under given historical conditions and are always constrained by the economic base, the production environment, capital resources, and so on, requiring guidance and assistance through the Party’s self-improvement. The Party’s self-improvement concerns the effectiveness and quality of the people’s material production and reproduction, and even more so the rational realization of the people’s interests. If the Party cannot achieve self-improvement, then the improvement of the people’s living standards will be affected, and the people’s liberation cannot advance and develop. The Chinese Communist Party has always focused on strengthening its capabilities in direction guidance, policy formulation, reform and development, and so on, leading the people in pursuing a better life and fully embodying the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly.

利益是人民群众生产生活所需的资源，“这是人们从几千年前直到今天单是为了维持生活就必须每日每时从事的历史活动，是一切历史的基本条件”。人民群众的利益是党的服务对象，中国共产党全心全意为人民服务，就是为人民群众的利益服务，正如毛泽东指出，共产党人“每一天都是为了保护人民的利益，为了人民的自由解放，站在革命战争的最前线”。人民群众的利益既需要自身去争取，更需要党的引领和推动，这是因为，人民群众的生产生活是在一定历史条件下进行的，总会受到经济基础、生产环境、资本资源等的限制，需要通过党的自我提高给予引导和帮助。党的自我提高关乎人民群众物质生产和再生产的效果和质量，更关乎人民群众利益的合理实现。如若党不能实现自我提高，那么人民生活水平的提高就会受到影响，人民解放就不能推进和发展。中国共产党始终注重强化方向引导、政策制定、改革发展等本领，带领人民群众追求美好生活，让全心全意为人民服务的根本宗旨得以充分体现。

(3) Enhancing Capabilities, Elevating the Realm, and Perpetuating Vitality

（三）增强本领、提升境界、永葆活力

Self-improvement “means acquiring new capabilities and reaching a new realm, never becoming rigid and never stagnating.” [13]13 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the first plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, October 25, 2017. Self-improvement requires the Party to cultivate character, elevate its realm, and temper its courage in practice, continuously enhancing its capacity and level for serving the people, so as to overcome the panic about incompetence. Mao Zedong pointed out: “There is a kind of panic within our ranks, not economic panic, nor political panic, but panic about incompetence.” [14]14 Quotation from Mao Zedong, speech at the opening ceremony of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, 1939. If there is panic about incompetence in serving the people, it will inevitably lead to unsteady positions, unresolved contradictions, and an inability to shoulder tasks. The more Communists focus on improving their capabilities, the more skilled they become in serving the people and the more steadfast their people’s position becomes. Self-improvement within the Party’s self-revolution emphasizes taking Marxism as the fundamental skill, following the Marxist stand, viewpoint, and method to serve the people, and, in the practice of further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization, honing the ability to resolve difficulties for the people, handle practical matters, and do good deeds, cultivating the solid capability to accurately identify changes, scientifically respond to changes, and actively seek change, effectively resolving contradictions in the people’s production and daily life, and perpetuating the vitality of using the Party’s self-revolution to lead the great social revolution. To enhance the solid capability of self-improvement, one must, first, humbly learn from the people, draw wisdom from the people’s practice, exercise the ability to solve problems, and raise the people’s degree of satisfaction; second, perpetuate the political self-discipline of self-denial and devotion to public duty, forge the ideological realm of cultivating integrity through frugality and loving and serving the people, achieving the goal of “always keeping the masses’ difficulties and appeals in mind, and striving to do a good job in all undertakings related to people’s livelihood”; [15]15 Quotation from Xi Jinping, speech at the conference celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, July 1, 2016. third, practice the mass line, solve the people’s practical difficulties, and improve the level of refined service.

自我提高，“就是要有新本领、有新境界，永不僵化、永不停滞”。自我提高要求党要在实践中育品格、提境界、练胆识，不断增强为人民服务的能力与水平，以克服本领恐慌。毛泽东指出：“我们队伍里边有一种恐慌，不是经济恐慌，也不是政治恐慌，而是本领恐慌。”为民服务若存在本领恐慌，势必导致立场不坚定、矛盾解不开、任务扛不起。共产党人越是注重本领提升，为民服务能力就越娴熟，人民立场就越坚定。党的自我革命中的自我提高，强调要把马克思主义作为看家本领，遵循马克思主义立场观点方法为人民服务，在进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的实践中磨炼为人民群众解难事、办实事、做好事的能力，练就准确识变、科学应变、主动求变的过硬本领，有效化解人民群众生产生活中的矛盾，永葆以党的自我革命引领伟大社会革命的活力。增强自我提高的过硬本领，一要虚心向人民群众学习，从人民群众的实践中汲取智慧，锻炼解决问题的能力，提升人民群众的满意度；二要永葆克己奉公的政治自觉，锻造以俭修身、爱民为民的思想境界，做到“时刻把群众的困难和诉求记在心里，努力办好各项民生事业”；三要践行群众路线，解决群众实际困难，提高精细化服务水平。

Online Editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆