How to Understand Party Spirit

Party spirit is the cornerstone of a Party member’s and a cadre’s standing, career, speech, and moral conduct. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “What determines a person is their conduct; what determines a Party member is their Party spirit.” This important exposition profoundly clarifies the importance of Party spirit. So, what exactly is Party spirit? How should Party spirit be understood? Why is Party spirit so important?

党性是党员、干部立身、立业、立言、立德的基石。习近平总书记强调：“决定一个人如何的是品行，决定一名党员如何的是党性。”这一重要论述深刻阐明党性的重要性。那么，究竟什么是党性？如何认识党性？党性为何如此重要？

Party spirit is the manifestation of the Party’s inherent essential attributes in every Party member; it is the concrete expression of the Party’s ideals and beliefs, stance and purpose, discipline and work style, and other requirements in the thoughts, words, and actions of every Party member. Engels once used the concept of “Party spirit” to emphasize that theoretical doctrines should clearly define class standpoints. Lenin pointed out: “Materialism itself contains what is called Party spirit, requiring that in any evaluation of events one must directly and openly take the standpoint of a specific social group.” On this understanding, older-generation revolutionaries such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun all provided rich expositions. For example, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in his report to the Seventh National Congress: “Party spirit is a common nature, a universal nature, a nature possessed by every person in the entire Party.” “Unified action, unified opinion, collectivism—that is Party spirit.” Comrade Deng Xiaoping also pointed out: “All Communist Party members must strengthen their Party spirit and abide by the Party’s constitution and discipline. No matter what kind of expert, scholar, writer, or artist one is, as long as one is a Party member, one is not allowed to consider oneself special, to think oneself politically superior to the Party, or to act as one pleases.” Taking commonality, discipline, and organization as requirements of Party spirit ultimately emphasizes the class-attribute requirements of Party spirit.

党性是党的固有本质属性在每一个党员身上的体现，是党的理想信念、立场宗旨、纪律作风等要求在每一个党员思想、言论和行为上的具体体现。恩格斯曾用“党性”这一概念，强调理论学说应当明确阶级立场。列宁指出：“唯物主义本身包含有所谓党性，要求在对事变作任何评价时都必须直率而公开地站到一定社会集团的立场上。”对于这方面的认识，毛泽东、周恩来、刘少奇、朱德、邓小平、陈云等老一辈革命家都有丰富的论述。比如，毛泽东同志在七大报告中指出：“党性是共同的性质、普遍的性质，全党每一个人都有的性质。”“一致的行动，一致的意见，集体主义，就是党性。”邓小平同志也指出：“所有共产党员都要增强党性，遵守党的章程和纪律。不管是什么专家、学者、作家、艺术家，只要是党员，都不允许自视特殊，认为自己在政治上比党高明，可以自行其是。”以共同性、纪律性、组织性等作为党性要求，说到底是强调党性的阶级属性要求。

Whether a Communist Party member upholds Party spirit can be assessed from different perspectives: the fundamental issue of Party spirit is the question of worldview; upholding Party spirit requires firm ideals and beliefs, firmly establishing Marxist faith, the lofty ideal of communism, and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics; loyalty to the Party is the most basic requirement of Party spirit; upholding Party spirit must involve being loyal to the Party and resolutely safeguarding the Party’s unity and centralized unity; Party spirit is, in the final analysis, a question of standpoint; one must always take the people’s standpoint as the fundamental political standpoint, deeply cultivate feelings for the people, always be with the people, and strive for the people’s interests; Party spirit is the greatest virtue; one must establish oneself and act on the basis of Party spirit, making speaking honest words, doing honest things, and being an honest person an important part of Party spirit cultivation and exercise, daring to uphold truth, being good at independent thinking, and adhering to seeking truth from facts; upholding Party spirit requires cultivating oneself, disciplining oneself, guarding one’s inner self, and consciously becoming a model in abiding by the Party constitution, Party regulations, and Party discipline, forever maintaining a clean and honest political character; and so on. In short, upholding Party spirit means resolutely implementing what the Party requires and consciously staying away from what the Party does not permit. If it is said that Communist Party members are made of special material, then this “special material” is Party spirit.

衡量一个共产党员是否讲党性，可以从不同的角度进行考量：党性的根本问题是世界观问题，讲党性必须坚定理想信念，树牢马克思主义信仰、共产主义远大理想、中国特色社会主义共同理想；对党忠诚是党性最基本的要求，讲党性必须做到忠诚于党，坚决维护党的团结和集中统一；党性说到底是立场问题，要始终把人民立场作为根本政治立场，厚植人民情怀，始终同人民在一起，为人民利益而奋斗；党性就是最大的德，要坚持以党性立身做事，把说老实话、办老实事、做老实人作为党性修养和锻炼的重要内容，敢于坚持真理，善于独立思考，坚持求真务实；讲党性要求修身律己、守住内心，自觉做遵守党章党规党纪的模范，永葆清正廉洁的政治本色；等等。总之，讲党性，就是党要求做的坚决贯彻执行，党不允许做的自觉远离。如果说共产党员是用特殊材料制成的，那么这个“特殊材料”就是党性。

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “When cadres have problems now, they mainly arise from ‘virtue’ and from weak Party spirit.” Party spirit not only concerns the politics, thought, conduct, and realm of individual Party members but also directly relates to the Party’s survival and development, affecting the Party’s overall leadership and long-term governing position. From the perspective of the situation and tasks facing the Party, at present, the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, which are accelerating, international power dynamics are undergoing profound changes, and our country is in a critical period of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. More than ever before, we need, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, to achieve the unity and solidarity of the entire Party and ensure that the whole Party marches forward in unison; more than ever before, we need Party members and cadres to have strong Party spirit, to play a vanguard and exemplary role, and to unleash powerful creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness. From the perspective of the Party’s construction situation, our Party has been in a governing position for a long time, and Party members and cadres are prone to a mentality of spiritual slackness; various problems such as impurity in thought, impurity in politics, impurity in organization, and impurity in work style are prone to arise within the Party. If these problems cannot be effectively resolved, they will seriously damage the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and may even lead to the Party degenerating, changing color, and losing its flavor. For our Party to always win the people’s support and consolidate its long-term governing position, it must always maintain the sobriety and firmness to solve the unique problems of a large Party, always adhere to the principle that the Party must supervise itself and govern itself strictly and comprehensively, and continuously advance the great new project of Party building in the New Era. From the perspective of the current state of the Party member and cadre contingent, Party members and cadres are the advanced elements of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation; the overall condition of this contingent is good, but it must also be recognized that, compared with the requirements of the Party’s mission and tasks on the new journey of the New Era, and compared with the standards that Party members and cadres should meet, some Party members and cadres still have various problems in their Party spirit. Some have impure motives for joining the Party, have incorrect worldviews, outlooks on life, and values, have not truly established the ideals and beliefs of Communists, do not believe in Marxism but in ghosts and gods, do not believe in the organization but in “masters” and swindlers; some have unstable ideals and beliefs, blurred concepts of right and wrong, and have lost their political stance and principles; some have distorted views on power, on political performance, and on career, pursue personal interests above all else, are keen on self-design, posturing, and creating a stir, and engage in “face projects,” “image projects,” and “political performance projects” that waste people’s resources and money; some place themselves above the organization, pick and choose, prefer the light to the heavy, and hesitate in the face of work arranged by the organization, lacking the spirit of enterprise in undertaking work and starting businesses; some are not upright in self-cultivation, not strict in self-discipline, self-indulgent, degenerate, and eventually slide into the abyss of violating laws and regulations, and corruption and embezzlement. The reasons for these problems are multifaceted; there are both factors of inadequate organizational education, management, and supervision, and external factors such as the political ecosystem and social environment, but internal factors such as insufficient Party spirit tempering, lack of Party spirit cultivation, and weak Party spirit principles are the main roots of the problems.

习近平总书记指出：“现在干部出问题，主要是出在‘德’上、出在党性薄弱上。”党性不仅关系党员个体的政治、思想、品行和境界，也直接关系到党的生存和发展、影响着党的全面领导和长期执政地位。从党面临的形势和任务看，当前，世界百年未有之大变局正在加速演进，国际力量对比发生深刻变化，我国正处于以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的关键时期。我们比以往任何时候都更加需要在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，实现全党团结统一，确保全党步调一致向前进；我们比以往任何时候都更加需要党员、干部党性坚强，发挥先锋模范作用，焕发出强大的创造力、凝聚力、战斗力。从党的建设情况看，我们党长期处于执政地位，党员、干部容易出现精神懈怠的心态，党内易滋生思想不纯、政治不纯、组织不纯、作风不纯等各类问题。这些问题如果不能得到有效解决，将严重损害党的先进性和纯洁性，甚至导致党变质、变色、变味。我们党要始终赢得人民拥护、巩固长期执政地位，必须时刻保持解决大党独有难题的清醒和坚定，始终坚持党要管党、全面从严治党，不断推进新时代党的建设新的伟大工程。从党员、干部队伍现状看，党员、干部是中国人民和中华民族的先进分子，这支队伍总体状况是好的，但也要看到，同新时代新征程党的使命任务要求相比，同党员、干部应有的标准相比，一些党员、干部在党性上还存在着这样那样的问题。有的进入党的队伍动机不纯，世界观、人生观、价值观不正，没有真正树立共产党人理想信念，不信马列信鬼神，不信组织信“大师”、信骗子；有的理想信念不坚定，是非观念模糊，丧失政治立场和原则；有的权力观、政绩观、事业观扭曲，追求个人利益至上，热衷于搞自我设计、作秀造势，搞劳民伤财的“面子工程”、“形象工程”、“政绩工程”；有的将个人凌驾于组织之上，在组织安排的工作面前挑三拣四、拈轻怕重、犹犹豫豫，干事创业精气神不足；有的修身不正、律己不严、自我放纵、变质堕落，最终滑向违法乱纪、贪污腐败的深渊。出现这些问题的原因是多方面的，既有组织教育管理监督不到位，也有政治生态、社会环境等外部因素影响，但党性锤炼不足、党性修养缺失、党性原则不强等内部因素是出现问题的主要根源。

For Party members and cadres to temper a strong Party spirit, they must always place the people highest in their hearts and strive unremittingly for the people’s interests. From July 23 to 29, 2025, Beijing encountered extreme heavy rainfall. Yin Chunyan, Secretary of the Party Branch and Director of the Village Committee of Sunhugou Village, Liuli Temple Town, Huairou District, calmly organized the villagers to take emergency shelter, transferring them to safe areas, but she and her husband were swept away by the floodwaters and tragically sacrificed. The picture shows Yin Chunyan leading villagers to shake honey in July 2024. Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Huairou District Committee of the CPC, Beijing.

党员、干部锤炼坚强党性，就要始终把人民放在心中最高位置，为人民利益不懈奋斗。2025年7月23日至29日，北京市遭遇极端强降雨，怀柔区琉璃庙镇孙胡沟村党支部书记、村委会主任尹春燕沉着组织群众紧急避险，将村民转移到安全区域，自己和丈夫却被洪水冲走，不幸牺牲。图为2024年7月，尹春燕带领村民摇蜂蜜。 北京市怀柔区委宣传部供图

Forming a firm Party spirit cannot be innate, nor can it be achieved once and for all; it requires a lifelong pursuit. In 2001, when he was Governor of Fujian Province, Comrade Xi Jinping wrote in a letter to his father, Comrade Xi Zhongxun: “I learned from my father his persistent pursuit of faith. Whether in the era of white terror, or during the period of the ultra-‘Left’ line; whether falsely accused or in adversity, there was always a bright lamp in your heart, forever upholding the correct direction of advance.” Tempering Party spirit requires continuous sharpening through strict political life within the Party and tests in harsh environments; this kind of sharpening and testing is not only long-term but often severe as well. In this process, several relationships must always be grasped well.

形成坚定的党性，不可能与生俱来，不可能一劳永逸，需要终其一生去追求。2001年，时任福建省省长的习近平同志在写给父亲习仲勋同志的一封信中说：“学父亲对信仰的执著追求。无论是白色恐怖的年代，还是极“左”路线时期；无论是受人诬陷，还是身处逆境，您的心中始终有一盏明亮的灯，永远坚持正确的前进方向。”锤炼党性，需要在严格的党内政治生活锻炼和艰苦环境考验中不断砥砺，这种锻炼和考验不仅是长期的，很多时候也是严酷的，在这一过程中，必须始终把握好几个关系。

Correctly grasp the relationship between Party spirit and people-centeredness. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: “Party spirit is, in the final analysis, a question of standpoint. Whether communists are thinking about problems, conducting research, making decisions, or handling affairs, they must stand on the standpoint of the Party and the people, and must not put personal interests first. This is the principle of Party spirit for communists.” Party spirit and people-centeredness are consistent and unified. Our Party takes wholeheartedly serving the people as its fundamental purpose and has no special interests of its own; embodying the Party’s will is embodying the people’s will, propagating the Party’s propositions is propagating the people’s propositions, and upholding Party spirit is upholding people-centeredness. Party spirit is embedded in people-centeredness; there is no Party spirit divorced from people-centeredness, nor any people-centeredness divorced from Party spirit. Upholding the principle of Party spirit requires adhering to the historical materialist view that the masses are the creators of history, closely focusing on popular sentiment as the greatest political consideration, and taking the people’s aspiration for a better life as the goal of struggle; respecting the people’s pioneering spirit, adhering to the mass line as the Party’s lifeline and fundamental working line, and always maintaining the Party’s flesh-and-blood ties with the masses; and insisting on taking whether the people support, approve, are satisfied, or consent as the fundamental criterion for measuring the success or failure of all work, continuously enhancing the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security.

把握好党性与人民性的关系。习近平总书记强调：“党性说到底就是立场问题。共产党人无论是想问题、搞研究，还是作决策、办事情，都必须站在党和人民立场上，而不能把个人利益放在第一位。这就是共产党人的党性原则。”党性和人民性是一致的、统一的。我们党以全心全意为人民服务为根本宗旨，没有自己的特殊利益，体现党的意志就是体现人民的意志，宣传党的主张就是宣传人民的主张，坚持党性就是坚持人民性。党性寓于人民性之中，没有脱离人民性的党性，也没有脱离党性的人民性。坚持党性原则，就要坚持人民群众是历史的创造者的历史唯物主义观点，紧扣民心这个最大的政治，把人民对美好生活的向往作为奋斗目标；尊重人民群众首创精神，坚持群众路线这一党的生命线和根本工作路线，始终保持党同人民群众的血肉联系；坚持把人民拥护不拥护、赞成不赞成、高兴不高兴、答应不答应作为衡量一切工作得失的根本标准，不断增强人民群众的获得感、幸福感、安全感。

Correctly handle the relationship between the public and the private. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The fundamental yardstick for measuring the strength of Party spirit is the two words ‘public’ and ‘private.’” Party members and cadres hold certain public power and public resources and are always faced with the test of the public versus the private. When a matter arises, whether one acts out of public-mindedness and adheres to principles, or seeks private gain and bends to personal favor, directly tests the quality of Party spirit. In real life, some Party members and cadres practice nepotism, favor the profitable, and take bribes and bend the law; the motive in every case is the word “private,” a distortion of the normal relationship between public and private. Lofty Party spirit does not exclude individuals’ legitimate and reasonable demands. As members of society, Party members cannot shed their natural and social attributes as human beings; therefore, their legitimate and lawful interests must be fully respected, recognized, and guaranteed. However, this is not the same concept as selfishness, private gain, or personal desire. Correctly handling the relationship between public and private requires correctly handling the relationship between principles and personal feelings. Comrade Mao Zedong once established three principles for family affection: loving relatives without bending principles for them, remembering old ties without seeking benefits for them, and helping relatives without backing them up. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “When personal feelings conflict with the principles of Party spirit, and private relationships conflict with the people’s interests, one must unhesitatingly stand firm on the standpoint of Party spirit and unswervingly safeguard the people’s interests, even if one is accused of being ‘heartless’ or ‘incompetent,’ one must not flinch or be swayed.” If one falls short in personal relationships, there will be other opportunities to make up for it later; but once the principle of Party spirit is breached, the cost is hard to recover. Only by upholding Party spirit and principles, being wholeheartedly public-minded, acting with public spirit in all matters, and neither being vague nor yielding on matters of principle, can one be open and aboveboard, act with integrity, exercise power fairly, be upright and honorable, and truly be responsible to the Party and the people.

正确处理公与私的关系。习近平总书记指出：“衡量党性强弱的根本尺子是公、私二字。”党员、干部掌握着一定的公权力和公共资源，总是面临着公与私的考验。一事当前，是出于公心、坚持原则，还是谋私利、徇私情，可以直接检验党性的成色。现实生活中，有些党员、干部任人唯亲、任人唯利、贪赃枉法，动因都是一个“私”字，都是扭曲了正常的公、私关系。崇高的党性，并不排斥个人正当合理的诉求。党员作为社会成员，不可能摆脱其作为人所具有的自然和社会属性，为此，要充分尊重、承认和保障其合理合法利益，但这同私心、私利、私欲不是同一个概念。正确处理公与私关系，需要正确处理原则和人情的关系。毛泽东同志曾为亲情规矩立下三条原则，即恋亲不为亲徇私，念旧不为旧谋利，济亲不为亲撑腰。习近平总书记指出：“当个人感情同党性原则、私人关系同人民利益相抵触时，必须毫不犹豫站稳党性立场，坚定不移维护人民利益，即使被人指为‘无情’、‘无能’也在所不惜、不为所动。”亏欠了人情，以后还有其他机会弥补，而党性原则一旦失守，则代价难以挽回。只有讲党性、讲原则，一心为公，事事出于公心，在原则问题上不含糊、不退让，才能心底无私天地宽，坦荡做人、公正用权，才能光明磊落、堂堂正正，才能真正对党和人民负责。

Correctly handle the relationship between Party spirit and individuality. Our Party’s insistence on Party spirit does not mean negating the individuality of Party members, still less suppressing their initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity. During the Yan’an period, some people mistakenly believed that the Communist Party wanted only Party spirit and not individuality. In response to this issue, Comrade Mao Zedong profoundly pointed out that there are two kinds of individuality: creative individuality and destructive individuality. Creative individuality is completely consistent and fully unified with Party spirit; destructive, individualistic individuality puts personal interests first. Comrade Mao Zedong also emphasized: “We must concentrate many conscious individualities, adopt unified action and unified opinion on certain issues and certain matters, and have a unified will—this is what our Party spirit requires.” Correctly handling the relationship between Party spirit and individuality requires insisting that individuality submit to Party spirit, using Party spirit to regulate and correct individuality, and demanding that every Party member, on the premise of abiding by the Party Constitution, intra-Party regulations, and Party discipline, implementing Party decisions, obeying Party resolutions, and maintaining Party unity, and on the premise of upholding the supremacy of the people’s interests, fully exercise creative individuality, complete their own work with high quality, and make due contributions to fulfilling the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission.

正确处理党性与个性的关系。我们党坚持讲党性，并不是要否定党员的个性，更不是要抑制党员的积极性、主动性和创造性。延安时期，有人错误地认为共产党只要党性不要个性。针对这一问题，毛泽东同志曾深刻指出，有两种个性，即创造性的个性和破坏性的个性。创造性的个性，同党性是完全一致的，完全统一的；带破坏性的、个人主义的个性，是把个人利益放在第一位。毛泽东同志还强调：“我们要使许多自觉的个性集中起来，对一定的问题、一定的事情采取一致的行动、一致的意见，有统一的意志，这是我们的党性所要求的。”正确处理党性与个性的关系，必须坚持个性服从党性，用党性规范和校正个性，要求每个党员在遵守党章党规党纪、执行党的决定、服从党的决议、维护党的团结的前提下，在坚持人民利益至上的前提下，充分发挥创造性的个性，高质量完成本职工作，为践行党的初心使命作出应有贡献。

(Author: Director of Education, Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance))

（作者：中共中央党校（国家行政学院）教育长）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心