Simultaneously Addressing Party Spirit, Party Conduct, and Party Discipline Is an Effective Pathway to Self-Reform

The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC explicitly emphasizes the need to “persist in strengthening conduct and enforcing discipline with a strict tone” and to “simultaneously address Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline.” This points the direction and sets the requirements for advancing the Party’s self-reform. Only through the construction of the Party’s ideology, conduct, and discipline can we strengthen the cultivation of Party spirit, the fostering of Party conduct, and the regulation of Party discipline. This involves both focusing on forging the soul and nurturing the heart, and persisting in rectifying conduct and enforcing discipline, thereby cultivating in the vast number of Party members and cadres a firm Party-spirit conviction, clean Party conduct, and a strong sense of Party discipline. It organically integrates, efficiently links, and scientifically connects the functions of Party spirit—strengthening the foundation, correcting the original aspiration, and enforcing strict integrity—the functions of Party conduct—promoting righteousness, eliminating evil influences, and consolidating vital energy—and the functions of Party discipline—guarding the bottom line, clarifying the red line, and tightening the baseline—so that the three work in synergy, in the same direction, and at the same frequency.

党的二十大报告中明确强调要“坚持以严的基调强化正风肃纪”，“坚持党性党风党纪一起抓”，这为推进党的自我革命指明了方向，提出了要求。只有通过党的思想、作风和纪律建设，才能强化党性修养、党风培育和党纪规范，既注重铸魂育心，又坚持正风肃纪，培塑起广大党员干部坚定的党性信念、廉洁的党风和强烈的党纪意识，将党性的“强根本”“正初心”“严操守”功能，党风的“扬正气”“清邪气”“固元气”作用，党纪的“守底线”“明红线”“严基线”效能有机贯通、高效联动、科学衔接，实现三者的协同发力、同向同行与同频共振。

Adhere to systematic thinking and proceed from the whole. Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline form an organic whole: Party spirit is the foundation, Party conduct is the manifestation, and Party discipline is the guarantee.

坚持系统思维，从整体着手。党性、党风、党纪是有机整体，党性是根本，党风是表现，党纪是保障。

On the one hand, focus on the simultaneous and concerted exertion of force in each link of Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline. For self-reform to achieve maximum effectiveness, it naturally requires the maximization of the function of each link. In this regard, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of simultaneous and concerted exertion of force, emphasizing the cultivation of Party spirit in Party members, enhancing the training, education, promotion, and transmission of Party spirit, and forging an indomitable, strong, and resolute Party spirit; emphasizing the construction of Party conduct, enhancing the cultivation, creation, consolidation, and maintenance of honest, sincere, and clean Party conduct, and forging a Party conduct full of appeal, centripetal force, cohesion, and leadership; emphasizing the construction of Party discipline, enhancing the punishment, regulation, and restraint of strict Party discipline, and forging mature and complete rigid legal discipline. Only by making the three work in the same direction and simultaneously exert force can the Party’s self-reform have a basis for action and proceed steadily and far. On the other hand, focus on the benign interaction and complementary effects among Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline. Correctly configuring the internal structure of the elements of Party building and achieving benign interaction and complementarity among the elements is also an inevitable requirement for strengthening the overall function of Party building. Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline are not only interrelated but also share the same root and origin, jointly committed to advancing the stance, process, and goal achievement of the Party’s self-reform. The three are not in an “either-or” or “favor one over another” relationship but have a synergistic effect of “strengthening one enhances the other” and “complementary efficiency enhancement.” Accordingly, when dealing with issues among Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline, it is necessary to proceed from enhancing the overall effectiveness of the three, adhere to the principles of “establishing oneself through Party spirit,” “transforming others through Party conduct,” and “disciplining oneself through Party discipline,” uphold the concepts of “filling shortcomings,” “strengthening weak points,” “consolidating foundations,” “leveraging advantages,” and “benefiting the long term,” and fully realize mutual support, complementarity, and mutual advancement through mutual integration and benign interaction.

一方面，注重党性党风党纪各环节同时同向发力。而要使自我革命发挥最大效能，自然离不开各环节功能的最大化。对此，只有坚持同时同向共同发力原则，注重党员的党性修养，增强党性的培养、教育、弘扬和传承，锻造坚忍不拔、坚强刚毅的党性；注重党风建设，增强淳正笃实、清正廉洁党风培育、营造、巩固和维护，铸就富有感召力、向心力、凝聚力和引领力的党风；注重党纪建设，增强严明党纪的惩治、调控和约束，锻造成熟完善的刚性法纪，并使三者同向同行、同时发力，党的自我革命才能行有所依，行稳致远。另一方面，要注重党性党风党纪之间的良性互动与互补作用。正确配置党的建设要素内部结构，实现要素间的良性互动和互补也是强化党的建设整体功能的必然要求。党性党风党纪不仅相互关联，而且同根同源，共同致力于推进党的自我革命立场、进程与目标的达成，三者并非“非此即彼”“厚此薄彼”的关系，而是具有“厚此强彼”“互补增效”的协同效应。据此，在处理党性党风党纪相互间问题时，须从增强三者整体效能出发，坚持“党性立身”“党风化人”“党纪律己”原则，秉持“补短板”“强弱项”“固根基”“扬优势”“利长远”理念，充分实现三者在相互贯通、良性互动中相互支撑、互补互进。

Adhere to the principle of individualized strengthening and exercise joint management. Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline are a systemic whole that influences and interacts with each other, but this does not mean they can be “lumped together” regardless of context. On the contrary, they have unique boundaries and functions, occupying different positions and playing different roles in solving specific problems of the Party’s self-reform.

坚持个性强化原则，齐抓共管。党性党风党纪是相互影响、相互作用的系统整体，但并不意味着三者可以不分场合地“一概而论”，相反却有着独特的边界和功能，在破解党的自我革命具体问题过程中占据不同的地位，扮演着不同的角色。

Whether Party spirit is firm and solid is not only an important criterion for measuring whether a Party member is qualified and whether the Party is advanced and pure but also a key link in whether a party has combat effectiveness, cohesion, centripetal force, and leadership. Generally speaking, the destruction of Party conduct and Party discipline often begins with the wavering of Party spirit. If the Party spirit of Party members and cadres goes wrong, their thoughts and actions will inevitably deviate from the correct direction and bottom-line requirements of the Party, Party conduct will inevitably be affected, and violating Party discipline will not be far off. Tempering the Party spirit of Party members and cadres and cultivating the “study of the mind” of Communists is of utmost importance. It is not only the key to “simultaneously addressing” and the “consistent theme” but also the “ideological defense line” and “belief dam” for tempering Party conduct and maintaining Party discipline, and moreover, it is the “fundamental cure” for advancing the Party’s self-reform and eliminating the Party’s deep-seated maladies.

党性是否牢固坚定，不仅是衡量党员是否合格、党是否先进纯洁的重要标准，也是一个党是否有战斗力、凝聚力、向心力和领导力的关键环节。一般意义上讲，党风和党纪的破坏往往是从党性的动摇开始的。如果党员干部党性出了问题，思想行动必然偏离党的正确方向和底线要求，党风也必将受其影响，违背党纪也并不遥远。锤炼好党员干部的党性，修好共产党人的“心学”至关重要，不仅是“一起抓”的关键所在和“一贯主题”，也是锤炼党风、维护党纪的“思想防线”和“信念堤坝”，更是推进党的自我革命、消除党的顽瘴痼疾的“治本之计”。

Party conduct is the external image of the Party’s nature and the manifestation of the overall style and fashion. It itself has the functions of value orientation, regulation, and evaluation, and is a powerful weapon for the Party to advance self-reform and an important guarantee for maintaining the effectiveness of self-reform. Poor Party conduct is often the basic cause of corruption and damage to the Party-mass relationship, directly affecting the process and effectiveness of the Party’s self-reform. It should be said that the construction of Party conduct must be guaranteed not only through the firm Party spirit and strict Party discipline of Party members and cadres but also consolidated through the personal practice and exemplary role of Party members and cadres. This is because the conduct of leading cadres directly affects the Party’s internal atmosphere and political ecosystem, relates to popular support, and determines the Party’s mass base.

党风是党性质的外在形象和整体面貌的风尚彰显，本身具有价值导向和调控评判功能，是党推进自我革命的有力武器和维护自我革命成效的重要保障。党风不正，往往是造成腐败、伤害党群关系的基本动因，直接影响党的自我革命的进程与成效。应当说，党风建设既要通过党员干部坚定的党性、严明的党纪加以保障，也要通过党员干部的躬身实践和榜样示范加以巩固。因为，领导干部的作风直接关系党内风气和政治生态，关系民心向背，决定着党的群众基础。

Party discipline is the Party’s rigid constraint and principled bottom line, as well as the Party’s “ruler” for “draining the turbid and promoting the clear” and “punishing evil and promoting good,” the “yardstick” for “sterilizing and detoxifying” and “removing rot and healing wounds,” and an important “grasp” and “path” for advancing the Party’s self-reform. Without the rigid constraint of strict Party discipline, there would be no Party organization, standardization, coordination and consistency, or centralized unity, and thus no “steel-like” Party organization. Whether Party discipline is mature and complete and whether its implementation is forceful and in place directly concerns not only the authority and seriousness of Party discipline and whether the Party’s purpose and goals can be realized but also fundamental issues such as whether the Party can win the trust, support, and endorsement of the masses, and whether it can maintain an advanced and pure Party image and a clean, pragmatic, and responsible political ecosystem. At the root, low Party-spirit awareness, weak rule consciousness, fragile disciplinary defenses, and unsteady disciplinary beliefs among Party members and cadres are often the inducements for internal Party violations and corruption, and are also “important links” that must be addressed in advancing the Party’s self-reform. Accordingly, advancing the Party’s self-reform requires adhering to the “two-handed grasp” of Party-discipline education and Party-discipline punishment, combining the strengthening role of Party-discipline education with the punitive and deterrent role of Party-discipline punishment. Specifically, in terms of Party-discipline education, it is necessary not only to strengthen the study and education of the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and Party discipline, enabling Party members and cadres to study discipline, know discipline, understand discipline, and abide by discipline, strengthen the awareness of legal and disciplinary bottom lines, and achieve the unity of “knowledge, belief, and action” and the integration of “learning, thinking, and application,” but also to “internalize disciplinary requirements in the heart and externalize them in action,” transforming them into the political, ideological, and action consciousness of Party members and cadres, so that Party members and cadres have fear in their hearts, restraint in their words, and limits in their actions, do not step on the “red line,” do not cross the “bottom line,” do not enter the “minefield,” and nip problems in the bud.

党纪是党的刚性约束和原则底线，也是党“激浊扬清”“惩恶扬善”的“戒尺”，“杀菌排毒”“去腐疗伤”的“标尺”，以及推进党自我革命的重要“抓手”和“路径”。没有严明党纪的刚性约束，就没有党的组织性、规范性、协调一致性和集中统一性，也就没有“钢铁般”的党组织。党纪是否成熟完善以及执行是否有力到位，不仅直接关乎党纪的权威性和严肃性、党的宗旨和目标能否实现，还关乎党能否赢得群众的信任、拥护和支持，能否守正先进纯洁政党形象和清廉务实担当的政治生态等根本性问题。从根源上讲，党员干部党性觉悟不高、规矩意识不强、纪律防线脆弱、守纪信念不坚定往往是党内违规乱纪和滋生腐败的诱因，也是推进党的自我革命必须着力的“重要环节”。据此，推进党的自我革命就需要坚持党纪教育和党纪惩戒“两手抓”，将发挥党纪教育的强化作用和党纪的惩戒警示作用相结合。具体而言，在党纪教育方面，不仅要通过加强对党章党规党纪的学习和教育，使党员干部学纪、知纪、明纪、守纪，强化法纪底线意识，做到“知信行”统一、“学思用”贯通，还要将纪律要求“内化于心、外化于行”，转化为党员干部的政治、思想和行动自觉，使党员干部心有所畏、言有所戒、行有所止，不踩“红线”，不越“底线”，不闯“雷区”，防微杜渐。

Adhere to strategic thinking and establish a long-term mechanism for “simultaneously addressing Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline.” Advancing the Party’s self-reform is a systematic and strategic Party-building project that cannot be accomplished overnight or once and for all, but must be advanced in long-term practice of great struggle.

坚持战略思维，创建“党性党风党纪一起抓”的长效机制。推进党的自我革命是富有系统性战略性的党建工程，不可能一蹴而就、一劳永逸，而是要在长期的伟大斗争实践中推进。

Party spirit is not only the fundamental defining characteristic that makes a Party member a Party member and distinguishes them from other masses but also the basic conduct that a qualified Party member should possess. Firm Party spirit is not only an important barrier for sweeping away ideological dust and clearing toxins from the body but also an important means of enhancing one’s own immunity and resistance, firmly holding the bottom line, and maintaining the Party’s own advanced nature and purity. However, a Party member’s Party spirit does not automatically strengthen with the increase in Party age or rise in position. The improvement of Party spirit cannot be separated from “self-cultivation, self-restraint, and self-transformation.” Strengthening Party-spirit education is undoubtedly a key link in achieving the goal of “self-tempering.” It should be said that the cultivation of Party spirit is by no means a matter of a single day but a lifelong subject for Communist Party members. Accordingly, only by making Party-spirit education normalized and routinized can the Party’s theories, requirements, purposes, and goals fully “grasp” the Party members and masses, temper and enhance the political loyalty awareness, theoretical cultivation level, and ideological awareness realm of Party members, and thus fortify the ideological and belief defense line of Party members.

党性不仅是党员之所以为党员的根本规定性和区别于其他群众的标志，也是一名合格党员所应当具备的基本品行。坚定的党性不仅是扫除思想浮尘、清除机体毒素的重要屏障，也是增强自身免疫力和抵抗力，守稳底线，保持党自身先进性纯洁性的重要手段。但党员的党性并不会随着党龄的增长而增强，也不会随着职务的升迁而提升。党性的提高离不开“自我修炼、自我约束、自我改造”。而加强党性教育无疑是实现“自我历练”目标的关键一环。应当说，党性修养绝非一朝一夕的事，而是共产党员一辈子的课题。据此，只有党性教育实现常态化、日常化，才能使党的理论、要求、宗旨和目标充分“掌握”党员群众，锤炼和提升党员政治忠诚意识、理论修养水平和思想觉悟境界，从而筑牢党员的思想和信念防线。

Party conduct, as an important foundation for cultivating the character of Party members and strengthening ideological edification, is also a crucial means of regulating the thoughts and behavior of Party members. The formation of good Party conduct requires a long period of sedimentation of Party spirit and the cultivation of Party discipline, and its functioning is also a gradual and progressive process. Emphasizing the educative function of Party conduct—that is, its roles in ideological shaping, action guidance, and moral evaluation—is precisely an important guarantee for Party members to know when to advance or retreat, to distinguish right from wrong, to differentiate good from evil, and to uphold the bottom line. When Party conduct is strong, the political ecosystem is upright and order is stable. In this regard, only by adhering to strategic thinking, facing the future, and fully leveraging the educative and reinforcing role of Party conduct in purifying the Party’s ideology and ranks, so that the function of Party conduct can exert sustained, steady, and permanent force, can the basic requirement of “simultaneously addressing Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline” and the important guarantee for the Party to advance self-revolution over the long term be constituted.

党风作为培塑党员品行、强化思想熏陶的重要依托，也是调控党员思想和行为的重要手段。良好的党风生成需要较长时间的党性沉淀和党纪的培育，而且发挥作用也是潜移默化、循序渐进的过程。注重党风的教化功能，即思想形塑、行动引领和道德评价等作用，正是党员知进退、明是非、分善恶、守底线的重要保障。党风强，则生态正、秩序稳。对此，只有坚持战略思维，面向未来，充分发挥党风在纯洁党的思想和队伍中的教化和强化作用，使党风功能持续发力、平稳发力、永久发力，才能构成了“党性党风党纪一起抓”的基本要求和党长效推进自我革命的重要保证。

Party discipline, as the source and guarantee of the Party’s binding force and combat effectiveness, is also the operational foundation for the Party to advance self-revolution. When Party discipline is clear, Party conduct is upright and Party spirit is strong. Discipline plays a foundational, normative, and guiding role in the Party’s development. Only by adhering to strategic thinking, always unswervingly governing the Party according to discipline, and following the requirements of having discipline to rely on, having discipline that must be relied on, enforcing discipline strictly, and investigating and punishing violations of discipline, can the “foundation-solidifying” role of discipline be fully brought into play, and, in accordance with the continuous advancement of Party building practice, the perfection and maturation of Party discipline be continuously promoted, carrying disciplinary construction through to the end, so that the function of Party discipline can be persistently manifested. This is also an inherent requirement for constructing a long-term mechanism of “simultaneously addressing Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline” and advancing the Party’s self-revolution.

党纪作为党约束力和战斗力的源泉和保障，也是党推进自我革命的行动依托。党纪明，则党风正、党性强。纪律对党的发展发挥着基础性、规范性和导向性作用。只有坚持战略思维，始终坚持依纪治党不动摇，遵循有纪可依、有纪必依、执纪必严、违纪必究要求，才能充分发挥纪律的“固基”作用并依据党建实践的接续推进，不断推进党纪的完善化和成熟化，将纪律建设进行到底，使党纪功能持久展现，也是构建“党性党风党纪一起抓”长效机制，推进党的自我革命的内在要求。

(The author is a researcher at the Tianjin University Base of the Tianjin Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics)

（作者系天津市中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心天津大学基地研究员）

Online Editor: Tongxin

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