The String of Self-Revolution Must Be Pulled Tighter

Recently, when presiding over the 21st collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General

日前，习近平总书记在主持二十届中共中央政治局第二十一次集体学习时强调：“我们党肩负的中国式现代化建设任务十分繁重，面临的执政环境异常复杂，自我革命这根弦必须绷得更紧。”这一重要论断集中体现了以习近平同志为核心的党中央高度的历史责任感、强烈的忧患意识，既是对中国共产党历史经验的凝练升华，亦是对时代挑战的清醒回应，充分彰显了我们党一以贯之坚持自我革命的坚定决心。

Courageous self-revolution is the most distinctive character and greatest strength of our Party. Looking back on the Party’s course of struggle, at every major historical juncture, our Party has relied on self-revolution to correct its course and be reborn with renewed vitality. Courageous self-revolution is the deep-seated code by which our Party has traversed a century of storms, achieved one great victory after another, remained vigorous despite a thousand temperings, and won the firm support of the people.

勇于自我革命是我们党最鲜明的品格和最大优势。回溯党的奋斗历程，每一个重大历史关头，我们党都是依靠自我革命校正航向、焕发新生。勇于自我革命是我们党穿越百年风雨取得一个又一个伟大成就，千锤百炼仍朝气蓬勃并赢得人民坚定支持的深层密码。

Standing at a new historical starting point, the Party shoulders the mission and task of comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. Chinese-path modernization is an unprecedented pioneering undertaking. We must both promote high-quality economic and social development and achieve common prosperity for all the people; we must both build a high level of material civilization and create new splendors in socialist culture; we must both promote harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature and contribute Chinese wisdom to world peace and development. These grand goals are interwoven, forming an extraordinarily complex examination paper of the times. The Party’s mental state, its leadership capacity and governance level, and the health of its body directly determine the success or failure of Chinese-path modernization.

站在新的历史起点，党肩负着以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的使命任务。中国式现代化是前无古人的开创性事业，我们既要推动经济社会高质量发展，又要实现全体人民共同富裕；既要建设高度物质文明，又要铸就社会主义文化新辉煌；既要促进人与自然和谐共生，又要为世界和平发展贡献中国智慧。这些宏大目标相互交织，构成了一幅异常繁复的时代考卷。党的精神状态如何，领导能力和执政水平怎样，肌体健康与否，直接关系着中国式现代化的成败。

Looking at the world, changes unseen in a century are accelerating, the international situation is undergoing drastic changes, the trend of anti-globalization is rising, international competition, contradictions, and even conflicts are increasing, and “black swan” and “gray rhino” events occur from time to time. Domestically, the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development has not yet been fundamentally resolved; the ship of reform has entered deep waters; interest demands are increasingly differentiated; ideas and concepts are diverse, pluralistic, and changeable. The breadth of the fields covered by the Party leading the people in carrying out the great social revolution, the depth of the adjustments to the pattern of interests involved, the acuteness of the contradictions and issues encountered, the difficulty of breaking through institutional and mechanistic obstacles, and the complexity of the situation for carrying out the great struggle are all unprecedented. In such a complex and changing governing environment, seeking new development places higher demands on our Party’s leadership capacity and governance level.

放眼全球，世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，国际局势急剧变化，逆全球化思潮上升，国际竞争和矛盾乃至冲突越来越多，“黑天鹅”“灰犀牛”事件时有发生；在国内，发展不平衡不充分的矛盾尚未根本解决，改革航船驶入深水区，利益诉求日益分化，思想观念多元多样多变，党领导人民进行伟大社会革命涵盖领域的广泛性、触及利益格局调整的深刻性、涉及矛盾问题的尖锐性、突破体制机制障碍的艰巨性、进行伟大斗争形势的复杂性，都是前所未有的。在这样复杂多变的执政环境中如何谋求新发展，对我们党的领导水平和执政能力都提出更高的要求。

The greater the cause, the more necessary it is to maintain sobriety. Facing the great test of the times, whether the Communist Party of China can hand in a qualified answer sheet depends most fundamentally on whether the Party, with the sobriety that “to forge iron, one must be strong oneself,” can courageously achieve self-purification, self-perfection, self-renovation, and self-improvement through self-revolution, always maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and forge strong governance capacity and leadership level. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, with the determination to “use strong medicine to cure the disease and severe punishment to restore order,” and with the courage to “scrape the poison off the bone and cut the rotten flesh from the wrist,” has vigorously promoted comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, played a “combination punch” of self-revolution, and taken multiple measures simultaneously to “strike tigers,” “swat flies,” and “hunt foxes,” solving many prominent problems within the Party. However, we must also soberly recognize that solving the unique problems of a large Party is bound to be a long and arduous process. This means that comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is always on the way, and the Party’s self-revolution is always on the way. There must be no mood of relaxing, resting, or being weary of the struggle. The string of the Party’s self-revolution must always be pulled tight. Only by persistently maintaining the strict tone, strict measures, and strict atmosphere over the long term can we ensure that the Party always wins the people’s support, consolidates its long-term governing position, and better shoulders the historic responsibility of comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.

越是伟大的事业，越需要保持清醒。面对时代大考，中国共产党能否交出合格的答卷，最根本还在于党能否以“打铁必须自身硬”的清醒，勇于通过自我革命实现党的自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高，始终保持党的先进性、纯洁性，练就强大的执政能力和领导水平。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央以“猛药去疴、重典治乱”的决心，以“刮骨疗毒、壮士断腕”的勇气，大力推进全面从严治党，打了一套自我革命的“组合拳”，“打虎”、“拍蝇”、“猎狐”多管齐下，解决了党内许多突出问题，但我们也要清醒看到，解决大党独有难题必然是一个长期而艰巨的过程。这意味着，全面从严治党永远在路上，党的自我革命永远在路上，决不能有松劲歇脚、疲劳厌战的情绪，必须始终绷紧党的自我革命这根弦。只有锲而不舍把严的基调、严的措施、严的氛围长期坚持下去，才能确保党始终赢得人民拥护、巩固长期执政地位，更好肩负起以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的历史重任。

Pulling the string of self-revolution tighter cannot stop at slogans but must be implemented in practice. Consolidate the ideological foundation and strengthen the string of consciousness. Ideological construction is the fundamental construction of the Party and the master switch of self-revolution. Shaking of ideals and convictions is the most dangerous shaking, and the slippage of ideals and convictions is the most dangerous slippage. Only by continuously strengthening theoretical armament and persistently using the Party’s innovative theory to solidify the soul can we build a solid ideological dam against corruption and degeneration. Perfect the institutional system and tighten the rope of restraint. The issue of institutions is fundamental, holistic, stable, and long-term. We must strive to perfect the mechanism for restricting and supervising the exercise of power, strengthen the rigid constraints of institutions, and ensure that iron rules take effect and prohibitions exert their authority. Adhere to putting strictness first and hold high the sword of deterrence. We must always maintain a high-pressure stance against corruption, keep a close watch on key areas and crucial links, adhere to no forbidden zones, full coverage, and zero tolerance, and persist in heavy containment, strong pressure, and long-term deterrence. Stimulate endogenous motivation and forever preserve the source of vitality. The main force of self-revolution is the vast number of Party members and cadres. Their enthusiasm and initiative must be fully mobilized through self-revolution. In addition, the fault-tolerance and error-correction mechanism should be perfected to encourage cadres to dare to take responsibility and act actively, to forge ahead with determination and overcome difficulties for advancing Chinese-path modernization.

把自我革命这根弦绷得更紧，不能停留于口号，而要落到实处。筑牢思想根基，强化自觉之弦。思想建设是党的基础性建设，是自我革命的总开关。理想信念动摇是最危险的动摇，理想信念滑坡是最危险的滑坡。只有持续强化理论武装，坚持用党的创新理论凝心铸魂，才能筑牢拒腐防变的思想堤坝。完善制度体系，扎紧约束之绳。制度问题带有根本性、全局性、稳定性和长期性。须着力完善权力运行制约和监督机制，强化制度刚性约束，让铁规发力、禁令生威。坚持严字当头，高悬震慑之剑。必须始终保持惩治腐败高压态势，紧盯重点领域、关键环节，坚持无禁区、全覆盖、零容忍，坚持重遏制、强高压、长震慑。激发内生动力，永葆活力之源。自我革命的主体力量是广大党员干部，必须通过自我革命充分调动其积极性主动性。此外，还应完善容错纠错机制，激励干部敢于担当、积极作为，为推进中国式现代化锐意进取、攻坚克难。

“When the boat reaches mid-stream, the waves are more turbulent; when a person reaches halfway up the mountain, the slope is steeper.” Currently, the study and education on thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations of the Central Committee is being carried out across the entire Party. The Communist Party of China, which has traversed more than a century of storms, is unceasingly advancing self-revolution. All Party comrades must pull the string of self-revolution tighter, persistently maintain the strict tone, strict measures, and strict atmosphere over the long term, and ensure that the Party always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

“船到中流浪更急，人到半山路更陡”。当前，深入贯彻中央八项规定精神学习教育正在全党开展，走过百余年风雨历程的中国共产党一刻不停地推进自我革命。全党同志务须把自我革命这根弦绷得更紧，把严的基调、严的措施、严的氛围长期坚持下去，确保党始终成为中国特色社会主义事业的坚强领导核心。

(Author: Wang Jinfen, Professor at the School of Marxism, Guangxi Normal University)

（作者：王进芬，系广西师范大学马克思主义学院教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心