On the Cultural Subjectivity of the Chinese Communist Party

Cultural subjectivity is a signature concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the fundamental foundation on which we create new culture in the New Era, and the source of our confidence in driving cultural creation amid historical development. Subjectivity is a philosophical category that marks the essential power of the human being; cultural subjectivity is the embodiment of that essential power in the object-oriented activity of culture. The “human being” as an individual possesses cultural subjectivity, and “people” as a group also possess cultural subjectivity. The cultural subjectivity of a group is not a simple addition, fusion or combination of the cultural subjectivity of each individual; it is manifested in the cultural practice of a given class or organizational body, and reflects the cultural values, cultural demands and cultural interests of a specific group. The Chinese nation is the subject that creates and develops Chinese culture; the more than 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization has fully demonstrated that the Chinese nation, as a cultural subject, possesses a highly distinct cultural subjectivity. It was not until modern times, when the Chinese Communist Party, as a proletarian party representing the fundamental interests of the Chinese people, stepped onto the political stage, that the development of Chinese culture encountered new opportunities. The Chinese Communist Party is the inheritor and promoter of Chinese culture; as an advanced party that leads the direction of Chinese culture, the Chinese Communist Party is the party subject that leads the broad masses of the people in advancing the development of Chinese culture. Thus, in the context of the subjectivity of Chinese cultural development, cultural subjectivity specifically points to three levels of cultural subjects: the Chinese nation as subject, the Chinese people as subject, and the Chinese Communist Party as party subject. These three levels of cultural subjects also exhibit a logical relationship of inclusion and progression: the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese people, and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese Communist Party are unified in the shared vision of a flourishing and thriving Chinese culture. The cultural subjectivity of the Chinese Communist Party refers to the cultural subject attributes that the Chinese Communist Party possesses as the party subject driving the development of Chinese culture; it is the cultural subject consciousness and capacity inherent to the Chinese Communist Party itself. The cultural subjectivity of the Chinese Communist Party was generated, consolidated and developed in the more than one hundred years of cultural practice led by the Party among the people; the Party’s cultural subjectivity is closely and firmly bound up with the future and destiny of Chinese culture.

文化主体性是习近平文化思想的标识性概念，是我们在新时代创造新文化的根本依托，也是我们在历史发展中推动文化创造的底气所在。主体性是标志人的本质力量的哲学范畴，文化主体性则是人的本质力量在文化对象性活动中的体现。作为个体的“人”具有文化主体性，作为群体的“人们”也具有文化主体性。群体的文化主体性不是每个个体的文化主体性简单相加、相融与相合，它在一定阶级或团体组织的文化实践中得以彰显，并反映特定群体的文化价值观、文化诉求与文化利益。中华民族是中华文化的创造主体与发展主体，5000多年的中华文明史已经充分证明了，中华民族作为文化主体有着高度鲜明的文化主体性。直至现代，中国共产党作为代表中国人民根本利益的无产阶级政党登上政治舞台，中华文化的发展也迎来新机。中国共产党是中华文化的传承者和弘扬者，作为引领中华文化前进方向的先进政党，中国共产党是领导广大人民群众推动中华文化发展的政党主体。由此可见，在中华文化发展的主体性语境下，文化主体性具体指向三个层次的文化主体，即中华民族主体、中国人民主体与中国共产党政党主体，三个层次的文化主体在逻辑上也呈现出包含与递进的关系样态，中华民族的文化主体性、中国人民的文化主体性、中国共产党的文化主体性统一于繁荣兴盛中华文化的美好愿景之中。中国共产党的文化主体性，意指中国共产党作为推动中华文化发展的政党主体所具有的文化主体属性，是中国共产党自身内在具有的文化主体意识与能力。中国共产党的文化主体性是在党领导人民开展的百余年文化实践中生成、巩固与发展的，党的文化主体性与中华文化的前途命运紧密相系、牢牢相连。

I. The Cultural Self-Consciousness of the Chinese Communist Party

一、中国共产党的文化自觉性

Cultural self-consciousness is the awareness and awakening of a nation or a party in the realm of culture. The strength of a party depends to a large extent on the degree of its cultural self-consciousness. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The Chinese Communist Party is a party with a high degree of cultural self-consciousness; the Party’s century-long struggle condenses the history of China’s cultural advance.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Commemorating the Centenary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party,” July 1, 2021. The Chinese Communist Party has always used ideological and cultural awareness and awakening to guide the direction of advance and to gather the strength of struggle. The Party’s cultural self-consciousness comes from the Party’s strong aspiration for and unremitting pursuit of cultural prosperity and progress; it is the ideological foundation and prerequisite for the Party’s cultural creation. Specifically, the cultural self-consciousness of the Chinese Communist Party is mainly manifested in three aspects: the Party’s self-consciousness in undertaking cultural missions, recognizing the status of culture, and grasping the laws of culture.

文化自觉，是一个民族、一个政党在文化上的觉悟和觉醒。一个政党的力量，很大程度上取决于文化自觉的程度。习近平总书记指出：“中国共产党是具有高度文化自觉的党，党的百年奋斗凝结着我国文化奋进的历史。” 中国共产党始终以思想文化上的觉悟觉醒来引领前进方向、凝聚奋斗力量，党的文化自觉性就来自党对文化繁荣进步的强烈向往与不懈追求，是党进行文化创造的思想基础与先决条件。具体说来，中国共产党的文化自觉性主要表现在三个方面，即党担当文化使命、认识文化地位、把握文化规律的自觉性。

(1) The Self-Consciousness of the Chinese Communist Party in Undertaking Cultural Missions

（一）中国共产党担当文化使命的自觉性

A mission is a responsibility, and responsibility originates from self-consciousness. Whether a party has a strong sense of cultural mission reflects its value pursuit and spiritual outlook. From its founding, the Chinese Communist Party has held high the cultural banner of Marxism, established the cultural image of the Chinese Communist Party, and earnestly shouldered the cultural mission and responsibility of promoting the flourishing and thriving of Chinese culture.

使命是一种责任，责任源于自觉。有没有强烈的文化使命担当，反映着一个政党的价值追求与精神面貌。中国共产党自成立起就高举马克思主义的文化旗帜，树立中国共产党的文化形象，切实承担起推动中华文化繁荣兴盛的文化使命与责任。

First, the Chinese Communist Party self-consciously undertakes the mission of using advanced culture to lead social progress.

第一，中国共产党自觉担当用先进文化引领社会进步的使命。

Modernization is the all-round progress of society; in the final analysis, modernization depends on people to advance it. People’s spiritual pursuits, spiritual state and spiritual strength play an important role in advancing modernization. Advanced culture can provide people with powerful spiritual strength and provide a steady stream of spiritual momentum for social development and progress. Since its founding, the Chinese Communist Party has always adhered to the guidance of Marxism, used advanced culture to lead social progress, and profoundly demonstrated the Party’s advanced nature. In the historical process of leading the people in revolution, construction and reform, no matter how complex and diverse the cultural environment and conditions it faced, the Party has firmly grasped the direction of advanced culture, consciously stood at the forefront of cultural development, acted as the vanguard of cultural development, actively promoted the development of advanced culture, and used cultural progress to promote the overall progress of society.

现代化是社会的全面进步，现代化归根到底要靠人去推进，人的精神追求、精神状态和精神力量对于推进现代化具有重要作用。先进文化能够为人提供强大的精神力量，为社会的发展进步提供源源不断的精神动能。中国共产党自成立以来就始终坚持以马克思主义为指导，以先进文化引领社会进步，深刻彰显了党的先进性。中国共产党在领导人民进行革命、建设和改革的历史进程中，不管面临多么纷繁复杂的文化环境及条件，都牢牢把握先进文化的前进方向，自觉勇立文化发展之潮头，担当文化发展之先锋，积极推动先进文化发展，以文化进步推动社会的整体性进步。

Second, the Chinese Communist Party self-consciously undertakes the mission of inheriting and promoting fine traditional Chinese culture.

第二，中国共产党自觉担当传承弘扬中华优秀传统文化的使命。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Fine traditional Chinese culture is the crystallization and essence of the wisdom of Chinese civilization, the root and soul of the Chinese nation, and the foundation on which we stand firm amid the turbulent currents of world culture.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage,” September 28, 2020. Fine traditional Chinese culture gave birth to the Chinese Communist Party, and our Party has always been the inheritor and promoter of fine traditional Chinese culture. Facing the current changes unseen in a century in the world, the Chinese Communist Party, with a cultural spirit of high responsibility toward the nation, history and future generations, regards inheriting, developing and promoting fine traditional Chinese culture as its bounden duty, and self-consciously shoulders the cultural mission of continuing the Chinese cultural lineage and allowing fine traditional Chinese culture to radiate vigorous vitality.

习近平总书记指出：“中华优秀传统文化是中华文明的智慧结晶和精华所在，是中华民族的根和魂，是我们在世界文化激荡中站稳脚跟的根基。” 中华优秀传统文化孕育了中国共产党，我们党也一直是中华优秀传统文化的传承者和弘扬者。面对当前世界百年未有之大变局，中国共产党以对民族、对历史、对后人高度负责的文化精神，把传承好、发展好、弘扬好中华优秀传统文化作为自己义不容辞的责任，自觉担负起赓续中华文脉、让中华优秀传统文化焕发蓬勃生机的文化使命。

Third, the Chinese Communist Party self-consciously undertakes the mission of safeguarding national cultural security and enhancing cultural soft power.

第三，中国共产党自觉担当维护国家文化安全、提升文化软实力的使命。

As the ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party not only focuses on economic and social construction and the development of material civilization, but also attaches equal importance to cultural and social construction and the development of cultural-ethical progress, self-consciously and proactively assuming the duty and mission of safeguarding China’s cultural strategic interests. The Chinese Communist Party has always adhered to the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological domain, resolutely safeguarded national ideological security and cultural security, accelerated the enhancement of national cultural soft power, expanded cultural boundaries and cultural territory, and promoted cultural independence, cultural confidence and cultural self-strengthening.

中国共产党作为执政党，不仅注重经济社会建设和物质文明发展，也同样重视文化社会建设与精神文明发展，自觉主动承担起维护我国文化战略利益的职责使命。中国共产党始终坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位，坚决维护国家意识形态安全与文化安全，加快提升国家文化软实力，拓展了文化边界与文化版图，推动了文化自立、文化自信与文化自强。

Fourth, the Chinese Communist Party self-consciously undertakes the mission of meeting the people’s spiritual and cultural needs.

第四，中国共产党自觉担当满足人民精神文化需求的使命。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized, “The biggest difference between human society and the animal kingdom is that people have spiritual needs; the people’s need for spiritual and cultural life exists at all times.” [3]3 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art Work,” October 15, 2014. As a party that serves the people wholeheartedly and represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people, the Chinese Communist Party inevitably regards meeting the people’s spiritual and cultural needs and safeguarding the people’s basic cultural rights and interests as its own responsibility and mission. In the process of advancing cultural construction, our Party has always focused on people, coming from the masses and going to the masses, vigorously developing cultural undertakings and cultural industries, meeting the people’s growing spiritual and cultural needs, responding to the people’s ardent expectations for a better spiritual life, promoting the realization of common prosperity in spiritual life for all the people, and striving to enable the people to live more happily through the nourishment of culture.

习近平总书记强调，“人类社会与动物界的最大区别就是人是有精神需求的，人民对精神文化生活的需求时时刻刻都存在” 。中国共产党作为全心全意为人民服务、代表最广大人民群众根本利益的政党，也必然把满足人民精神文化需求、保障人民基本文化权益作为自身的责任使命。我们党在推进文化建设的过程中始终着眼于人，从群众中来、到群众中去，大力发展文化事业和文化产业，满足人民日益增长的精神文化需要，回应人民对美好精神生活的热切期待，推动实现全体人民精神生活共同富裕，致力于让人民群众在文化浸润中生活得更加幸福。

(2) The Self-Consciousness of the Chinese Communist Party in Recognizing the Status of Culture

（二）中国共产党认识文化地位的自觉性

Culture is everywhere and at all times; culture profoundly influences people and society. The more than one hundred years of history of the Chinese Communist Party is not only a history of cultural struggle, but also a process in which the Party’s positioning of the status and role of culture has been continuously deepened and gradually clarified. In the development based on the era and practice, the Chinese Communist Party has increasingly recognized the uniqueness and importance of culture, which also fully demonstrates the Party’s self-consciousness in cultural understanding.

文化无时不在、无处不在，文化深刻影响着人与社会。中国共产党百余年的历史既是一部文化奋斗史，也是党对于文化地位和作用的定位不断深化、逐步清晰的过程。在立足时代和实践的发展中，中国共产党越来越认识到文化的独特性与重要性，这也充分彰显了党在文化认识上的自觉性。

First, culture is not only an important support for social development, but also an important goal of social progress.

第一，文化既是社会发展的重要支撑，更是社会进步的重要目标。

Building a civilized and progressive socialist society “is a development process in which material civilization and cultural-ethical progress advance side by side,” and “a deficiency in either of the two forms of civilization cannot constitute socialism with Chinese characteristics.” In the past, the Communist Party of China’s understanding of the status of culture was often confined to treating culture as a form of support, with greater emphasis placed on the instrumental attributes of culture. For example, during the War of Liberation, our Party proposed that to secure victory in the decisive battle, “we greatly need a broad and powerful revolutionary cultural undertaking to strive for the common goal of defeating the enemy and overcoming difficulties,”[n] which demonstrated the Party’s profound recognition of culture’s supporting role. After the founding of New China, with the advancement of economic construction, our Party gradually came to recognize the important position of culture in competition over comprehensive national strength, placing culture in a more prominent position. In the New Era, our Party has put forward major judgments such as that culture is an important component, culture is an important fulcrum, culture is an important factor, and culture is an important source of strength,[n] marking a new leap in the Party’s understanding of culture.

建设文明进步的社会主义社会，“是物质文明和精神文明比翼双飞的发展过程” ，“两个文明建设缺少任何一个方面的发展，都不成其为有中国特色的社会主义” 。过去，中国共产党对文化地位的认识，往往局限于把文化作为一种支撑，更多强调文化的工具属性。如在解放战争时期，我们党提出为了取得决战的胜利，“我们十分需要广大有力的革命文化事业，为战胜敌人克服困难之共同目标而奋斗” ，表明了党对于文化支撑性作用的深刻认识。新中国成立后，随着经济建设的推进，我们党逐渐认识到文化在综合国力竞争中的重要地位，把文化摆在更加突出位置。新时代，我们党提出了文化是重要内容、文化是重要支点、文化是重要因素、文化是重要力量源泉 等重大判断，这标志着党在文化认识上的新飞跃。

Second, culture not only plays a role in education and cultivation but also promotes common prosperity in the people’s spiritual life.

第二，文化既有教育教化的作用，也能促进人民精神生活共同富裕。

The early leaders of the Communist Party of China, such as Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and Qu Qiubai, were also initiators of the New Culture Movement. From its very inception, our Party placed greater emphasis on the educational and cultivating function of culture, carrying out activities such as the mass education movement and the literary and artistic popularization movement in the early revolutionary period, but its understanding of the relationship between culture and the people’s livelihood was not deep. Engels pointed out that “each step forward in culture is a step toward freedom.”[n] After entering the New Era, the Communist Party of China has increasingly recognized the important role of culture in people’s spiritual world, spiritual life, and spiritual needs. By strengthening socialist cultural development, the Party has further brought into play culture’s efficacy in humanistic care, stress relief, spiritual nourishment, and psychological healing, better meeting the diverse cultural needs of the people, and solidly advancing common prosperity in the people’s spiritual life. This reflects that the Communist Party of China not only recognizes culture as a spiritual force for maintaining social unity and harmony but has also gradually formed, through long-term practice, a conscious awareness that culture is one of the important components of the people’s livelihood.

中国共产党的早期领导人李大钊、陈独秀、瞿秋白等，同时又是新文化运动的发起者。我们党自成立伊始就较多地强调文化的教育教化功能，在革命早期开展了平民教育活动、文艺大众化运动等，但对于文化与民生的关系认识不深。恩格斯指出，“文化上的每一个进步，都是迈向自由的一步” 。进入新时代后，中国共产党愈发认识到文化之于人们精神世界、精神生活以及精神需求的重要作用。党通过加强社会主义文化建设，进一步发挥文化在人文关怀、舒缓压力、温润心灵、精神疗愈等方面的功效，更好地满足人们多样化的文化需求，扎实推进人民精神生活共同富裕。这体现出中国共产党不仅认识到文化是维系社会团结和睦的精神力量，更在长期实践中逐渐形成了文化是民生的重要内容之一的自觉认知。

Third, culture can both be transformed into direct productive forces and enhance the quality of productive forces.

第三，文化既能转化为直接生产力，又能提升生产力的质量。

From the perspective of historical materialism, the emergence of culture is closely linked to the development of productive forces; the contradictory movement of productive forces and relations of production drives the generation and development of culture, while culture, possessing relative independence, in turn reacts upon social productive forces. The development of the modern world economy shows that the higher the level of development, the more prominent the pillar role of the cultural industry becomes, and the greater its contribution to economic growth. From China’s situation, cultural consumption demand has become increasingly vigorous in recent years; in 2024, the cultural industry achieved operating revenue of 19.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 37.7% compared with 2020.[n] It can be seen that cultural productive forces have become an important force driving economic and social development. With the rapid development of technological progress and the knowledge economy, only when culture and economy achieve a higher level of integration can China’s economy move toward a higher level of high-quality development and possess vigorous vitality and dynamism. The Communist Party of China’s understanding of the status and role of culture in the economy has shifted from a past focus on its direct economic growth benefits to a current greater emphasis on culture empowering high-quality economic development, reflecting our Party’s profound consciousness in recognizing the issue of the economization of culture.

在历史唯物主义看来，文化的产生与生产力的发展紧密相连，生产力和生产关系的矛盾运动推动了文化的生成与发展，而具有相对独立性的文化，也会反过来作用于社会生产力。现代世界经济发展表明，发达程度越高，文化产业支柱性作用就越明显，对经济增长的贡献就越大。从中国的情况看，近年来文化消费需求日益旺盛，2024年文化产业实现营业收入19.14万亿元，比2020年增长37.7% 。可见，文化生产力成为推动经济社会发展的重要力量。随着科技进步和知识经济的迅猛发展，只有当文化与经济实现更高层次的融合，中国经济才能迈向更高层次高质量发展，才能具有蓬勃生机与旺盛活力。中国共产党对于文化在经济方面地位作用的认识，从过去关注其直接产生的经济增长效益到现在更加重视文化赋能经济高质量发展，体现了我们党认识文化经济化问题的深刻自觉性。

(III) The Communist Party of China’s Consciousness in Grasping the Laws of Culture

（三）中国共产党把握文化规律的自觉性

First, from the temporal dimension, cultural development is a long-term process with stage-specific characteristics. Marxism holds that the economic base determines the superstructure, and that culture is a reflection of a given society’s economy and politics. Marx pointed out: “The totality of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness.”[n] The development of any culture always unfolds within a specific temporal and spatial context; it is a product of historical development and a product of the development of social productive forces. Cultural development can never transcend a given historical stage of development, nor can it ever transcend the state of development of productive forces in a given historical stage. The Communist Party of China was born in the old China of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society; during the revolutionary war period, the Party created and developed a new-democratic culture. After the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China led the people in creating and forming a socialist cultural form suited to the socialist economic base. As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era, although the principal contradiction in society “has been transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development,”[n] China is still and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism. Therefore, the Communist Party of China must accurately identify the historical orientation of cultural development, profoundly grasp the laws of cultural development, and formulate a cultural development strategy that conforms to the characteristics of the current stage, neither lagging behind the times nor exceeding reality. Only in this way can the continuation, promotion, and development of Chinese culture be achieved through sustained and persistent effort.

第一，从时间维度看，文化发展是一个长期的过程，具有阶段性特征。马克思主义认为，经济基础决定上层建筑，文化是一定社会的经济、政治的反映。马克思指出：“这些生产关系的总和构成社会的经济结构，即有法律的和政治的上层建筑竖立其上并有一定的社会意识形式与之相适应的现实基础。” 任何文化的发展总是在一定时空背景下展开的，它是历史发展的产物，是社会生产力发展的产物。文化的发展绝不可能超越一定的历史发展阶段，也绝不可能超越一定历史阶段的生产力发展状况。中国共产党诞生于半殖民地半封建社会的旧中国，在革命战争时期党创造发展出新民主主义文化。新中国成立后，中国共产党领导人民创造形成了与社会主义经济基础相适应的社会主义文化形态。中国特色社会主义进入新时代，虽然社会主要矛盾“已经转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾” ，但中国仍处于并将长期处于社会主义初级阶段。因而，中国共产党必须找准文化建设发展的历史方位，深刻把握文化发展规律，制定出符合现阶段特征、既不落后于时代又不超越实际的文化发展战略。只有如此，才能在久久为功中实现中华文化的赓续、弘扬与发展。

Second, from the spatial dimension, the culture of any given period is inevitably pluralistic yet unified, diverse yet coexistent; culture in space presents a mode of existence where the dominant and the plural coexist, the traditional and the modern interweave, and the advanced and the backward struggle. For example, during the revolutionary war period, although the Communist Party of China created an advanced culture that was national, scientific, and popular, the entire society at the same time still contained a large amount of backward feudal culture and was permeated with decadent capitalist culture, posing a great challenge to our Party’s efforts to promote advanced cultural development, enrich the people’s spiritual world, and foster a healthy social atmosphere. After the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China cleansed away various negative and backward cultures incompatible with socialist culture, and the cultural atmosphere of the entire society underwent earth-shaking changes compared with old China. During the period of reform and opening up, the massive influx of foreign culture caused a certain impact on China’s socialist mainstream culture. Faced with this new cultural pattern, the Communist Party of China has consistently adhered to strengthening the dominant and expanding the mainstream, advancing the development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and striving to establish dominance amidst pluralism and seek consensus amidst diversity. This is a profound manifestation of the Communist Party of China’s cultural subjectivity at the level of understanding the laws of culture.

第二，从空间维度看，任一时期的文化必然是多元一体、多样共生的，文化在空间上呈现着主导与多元相共生、传统与现代相交织、先进与落后相斗争的生存样态。例如在革命战争时期，中国共产党虽然创造出民族的、科学的、大众的先进文化，但同时整个社会还存在着大量落后的封建文化，充斥着资本主义腐朽文化，给我们党推动先进文化建设、丰富人民精神世界、营造良好社会风气带来了巨大挑战。新中国成立后，中国共产党涤荡了与社会主义文化格格不入的各种消极文化和落后文化，整个社会的文化氛围较旧中国有了翻天覆地的变化。改革开放时期，外来文化的大量涌入，对我国的社会主义主流文化造成了一定的冲击。面对这种文化新格局，中国共产党始终坚持强化主导、壮大主流，推进中国特色社会主义文化建设，努力在多元中立主导、在多样中谋共识，这是中国共产党的文化主体性在文化规律认识层面的深刻彰显。

II. The Cultural Autonomy of the Communist Party of China

二、中国共产党的文化自主性

For the Communist Party of China, cultural autonomy refers to the Party’s ability, in the process of leading the people in advancing modernization, to consistently maintain cultural self-identity, actively shed the cultural dependency typical of late-developing modernizing countries, and achieve cultural independence and autonomous development. The cultural autonomy of the Communist Party of China is the key to our Party’s transition from cultural consciousness to cultural creation. This independent cultural judgment and autonomous cultural choice constitute an important component of the Communist Party of China’s cultural subjectivity. Specifically, the cultural autonomy of the Communist Party of China is manifested in the autonomous choice of cultural path, the autonomous planning of cultural strategy, and the autonomous maintenance of cultural security.

对中国共产党而言，文化自主性是指党在领导人民推进现代化进程中始终保持文化上的自我同一性，主动摆脱现代化后发国家在文化上的依附性，实现文化上的独立与自主发展。中国共产党的文化自主性是我们党实现由文化自觉到文化创造的关键，这种独立的文化判断和自主的文化选择，构成了中国共产党文化主体性的重要内容。具体来看，中国共产党的文化自主性表现为文化道路的自主抉择、文化战略的自主谋划和文化安全的自主维护。

(I) The Autonomy of the Communist Party of China in Choosing a Cultural Path

（一）中国共产党抉择文化道路的自主性

Direction determines the future, and the path determines destiny. Different cultural paths lead to different cultural fates. The cultural autonomy of the Communist Party of China is first reflected in the Party’s autonomous choice of a cultural path. The Communist Party of China has engaged in deep reflection on the direction of Chinese culture, and over more than a century of struggle, it has chosen the correct path of cultural development in light of the country’s actual conditions, leading China toward the bright prospect of national rejuvenation. This demonstrates our Party’s powerful cultural autonomous consciousness and capability.

方向决定前途，道路决定命运。不同的文化道路会导致不同的文化命运，中国共产党的文化自主性首先就体现在党对文化道路的自主抉择。中国共产党对中国文化动向问题进行了深入思考，在百余年奋斗中结合国情实际选择了正确的文化发展道路，带领中国走向民族复兴的光明前途，体现了我们党强大的文化自主意识与能力。

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of advanced Chinese intellectuals, at a time when the nation was in peril, explored various social currents of thought in search of a way to save the country and the people. Around the time of the May Fourth Movement, schools of thought with different ideological inclinations engaged in a cultural “debate between the ancient and the modern, China and the West.” Mao Zedong believed that everyone at the time was “making a stir about a new culture,” but did not understand what the new culture really was; “there was as yet no new culture in the whole of China. There was as yet no new culture in the whole world. A small flower of new culture had blossomed on the shores of the Arctic Ocean in Russia.” [10]10 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (January 1940). The “small flower” refers to the socialist culture emerging from the Russian October Revolution. In Mao’s view, the new culture China should build was a new social culture that emerged after the October Revolution in Russia under the guidance of Marxism. China’s early Marxists, after carefully analyzing various ideologies and cultural currents of the time, ultimately adopted Marxism as the guiding ideology for promoting social change, building a modern state, and reconstructing Chinese culture. With the great awakening of the Chinese nation and the Chinese people, the spread of proletarian ideology and culture, and the close integration of Marxism with the Chinese workers’ movement, the Chinese Communist Party was born. The New Democratic Revolution, guided by Marxism and led by the Chinese Communist Party, opened a correct path for the development of China’s modern new culture. In contrast, the Kuomintang regime of the same period, dependent on imperialism and feudal conservative forces, pursued cultural policies that represented the interests of the big landlords and the big bourgeoisie, deviated from the modern Chinese historical task of opposing imperialism and feudalism, and could not represent the fundamental cultural demands of the vast majority of the people. Its path of cultural development was deeply constrained by the semi-colonial and semi-feudal nature of society, and the lack of a fully independent national state power also made it difficult to escape dependence on Western colonial culture in the cultural sphere. Therefore, the Kuomintang could not truly achieve an independent choice in its path of cultural development. In stark contrast, the New Democratic culture created under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party truly represented the cultural consciousness and cultural confidence of the Chinese people.

20世纪初，一批先进的中国知识分子在民族陷入危难之际，在众多社会思潮中探索找寻救国救民之道。五四运动前后，不同思想倾向的主义流派展开了文化上的“古今中西之争”。毛泽东认为，当时大家都在“闹新文化”，但并不明白新文化到底是什么，“全中国一样尚没有新文化。全世界一样尚没有新文化。一枝新文化小花，发现在北冰洋岸的俄罗斯” 。在毛泽东看来，中国应建设的新文化是在马克思主义指导下的俄国十月革命之后出现的新的社会文化。中国的早期马克思主义者在对当时的各种主义思想、文化思潮进行认真辨析之后，最终把马克思主义作为推动社会变革、建设现代国家和重构中华文化的指导思想。随着中华民族和中国人民的伟大觉醒、无产阶级思想文化的传播、马克思主义同中国工人运动的紧密结合，中国共产党诞生了。以马克思主义为指针、以中国共产党为领导的新民主主义革命，为中国现代新文化的发展开辟了一条正确道路。而同时期国民党政权依附于帝国主义和封建守旧势力，所推行的文化政策代表了大地主大资产阶级的利益，背离了近代中国反帝反封建的历史任务，无法代表最广大人民的根本文化诉求，其文化发展道路深受半殖民地半封建社会性质的制约，缺乏完全民族独立的国家政权也使其在文化领域难以摆脱对西方殖民文化的依附性。因此，国民党在文化发展道路上无法真正实现自主选择。与之形成鲜明对比的是，中国共产党领导创建的新民主主义文化真正代表了中国人民的文化自觉与文化自信。

The key reason the Chinese Communist Party was able to independently choose its path of cultural development lies in the Party’s insistence on using the scientific theory of Marxism as the ideological weapon for cultural critique, consistently taking the people as the starting point and ultimate goal of cultural development, and safeguarding and realizing the people’s basic cultural rights and interests. This ensured that the Party could rally the will and strength of the people to independently choose the path of cultural development, free from the influence and interference of other forces, and guarantee the correctness and justice of the cultural development path. The correctness and justice of the cultural development path, in turn, encourage us to continue advancing along this path. History has fully proven that the Chinese Communist Party, leading the people, expanded and forged a path of socialist cultural development on the basis of the New Democratic cultural development path, carried out pioneering explorations in cultural construction, creatively proposed the theory of cultural construction with Chinese characteristics, and promoted the implementation of the strategy for building a socialist cultural power. This profoundly reflects our Party’s independent choice of its own cultural path. Thus, the Chinese Communist Party, in leading the masses to achieve thorough political and economic transformation, also brought about cultural transformation, independently choosing and independently opening up a path of cultural development that suits China’s actual national conditions.

中国共产党之所以能够自主抉择文化发展道路，关键就在于党坚持把科学的马克思主义理论作为文化批判的思想武器，始终把人民作为文化发展的出发点和落脚点，维护和实现人民基本文化权益，这就保证了党能够凝聚起人民的意志与力量来自主选择文化发展道路，不受其他势力的影响和干扰，确保文化发展道路的正确性与正义性。而文化发展道路的正确性和正义性，又会促进我们继续坚持沿着这条道路前进。历史充分证明，中国共产党领导人民在新民主主义文化发展道路的基础上拓展走出了一条社会主义文化发展道路，对文化建设进行了开创性探索，创造性提出了中国特色社会主义文化建设理论，推进实施社会主义文化强国战略，深刻体现了我们党对自身文化道路的自主抉择。由此可见，中国共产党在带领人民群众实现彻底的政治变革和经济变革中也实现了文化的变革，自主抉择、自主开辟出了一条符合中国国情实际的文化发展道路。

(II) The Autonomy of the Chinese Communist Party in Planning Cultural Strategy

（二）中国共产党谋划文化战略的自主性

A cultural strategy is a plan and policy that guides the overall situation of cultural construction. Only when a country or a nation achieves independence and autonomy can it autonomously plan its cultural strategy and promote the development of its own culture. The Chinese Communist Party uses cultural strategy to lead cultural construction and implements cultural strategy in cultural construction. The cultural autonomy of the Chinese Communist Party is reflected in its autonomous planning of cultural strategy.

文化战略是指导文化建设全局的计划和策略。一个国家、一个民族只有实现了独立自主，才能自主谋划文化战略，推动本国本民族文化的发展。中国共产党以文化战略引领文化建设，在文化建设中践行文化战略，中国共产党的文化自主性体现在对文化战略的自主谋划。

First, the Chinese Communist Party autonomously planned the strategy for socialist cultural construction.

第一，中国共产党自主谋划社会主义文化建设战略。

In the early days of the founding of New China, Mao Zedong clearly put forward the strategic vision of “preparing, over several five-year plans, to build our country, which is now economically and culturally backward, into a great industrialized country with a high degree of modern culture.” [11]11 Mao Zedong, “Opening Speech at the First Session of the First National People’s Congress” (September 15, 1954). The Chinese Communist Party elevated socialist cultural construction to the height of consolidating the socialist political power, holding that “either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind,” [12]12 Mao Zedong, “Speech at the Moscow Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties” (November 18, 1957). An idiom expressing the inevitability of one force overcoming another. and that if the proletariat did not occupy the ideological and cultural阵地, the bourgeoisie inevitably would. It proposed that ideological and political work is the lifeline of all work, and that ideological and moral construction must be strengthened. It put forward the cultural policy of culture serving the people and serving socialism, and “letting a hundred flowers bloom, letting a hundred schools of thought contend.” It also proposed vigorously developing cultural and educational undertakings and adhering to the socialist educational policy. These cultural strategies promoted the development of the socialist revolution and construction.

新中国成立初期，毛泽东就明确提出“准备在几个五年计划之内，将我们现在这样一个经济上文化上落后的国家，建设成为一个工业化的具有高度现代文化程度的伟大的国家” 的战略构想。中国共产党把社会主义文化建设提升到巩固社会主义政权的高度，认为“不是东风压倒西风，就是西风压倒东风” ，思想文化阵地无产阶级不去占领，资产阶级必然要占领；提出思想政治工作是一切工作的生命线，要加强思想道德建设；提出文化要为人民服务、为社会主义服务和“百花齐放、百家争鸣”的文化方针；提出大力发展文化教育事业和坚持社会主义教育方针。这些文化战略促进了社会主义革命和建设事业的发展。

Second, the Chinese Communist Party autonomously planned the strategy for socialist cultural-ethical progress.

第二，中国共产党自主谋划社会主义精神文明建设战略。

In 1979, Deng Xiaoping clearly stated: “While building a high level of material civilization, we must raise the scientific and cultural level of the whole nation, develop a rich and varied cultural life, and build a high level of socialist cultural-ethical progress.” [13]13 Deng Xiaoping, “Speech Greeting the Fourth Congress of Chinese Writers and Artists” (October 30, 1979). The Chinese Communist Party, from the perspective of the dialectical relationship between material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, demonstrated the strategic importance of cultural construction, elevating the construction of cultural-ethical progress, whose main content is ideological and cultural construction, to a strategic height equal to that of material civilization construction. The 12th National Congress of the CPC identified “striving to build a high level of socialist cultural-ethical progress” [14]14 From the report of the 12th National Congress of the CPC (September 1982). as a major strategic policy for China’s socialist modernization.

1979年，邓小平明确提出：“我们要在建设高度物质文明的同时，提高全民族的科学文化水平，发展高尚的丰富多彩的文化生活，建设高度的社会主义精神文明。” 中国共产党从物质文明和精神文明辩证关系的角度论证了文化建设的战略重要性，把以思想文化建设为主要内容的精神文明建设提到了与物质文明建设同等重要的战略高度，党的十二大把“努力建设高度的社会主义精神文明” 确定为我国社会主义现代化建设的一大战略方针。

Third, the Chinese Communist Party autonomously planned the strategy for building cultural soft power.

第三，中国共产党自主谋划文化软实力建设战略。

In the process of advancing the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Chinese Communists with Comrade Jiang Zemin as their main representative discussed the important role of culture in comprehensive national power competition from the perspective of comprehensive national strength building. In 1997, the 15th National Congress of the CPC specifically discussed “the cultural construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics” and pointed out that “the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics is an important force in uniting and inspiring the people of all ethnic groups across the country and an important indicator of comprehensive national strength.” [15]15 From the report of the 15th National Congress of the CPC (September 1997). In 2007, “enhancing national cultural soft power” [16]16 From the report of the 17th National Congress of the CPC (October 2007). was written into the report of the 17th National Congress of the CPC, marking the official establishment of the cultural soft power strategy as a new focus of the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural construction.

以江泽民同志为主要代表的中国共产党人在推进中国特色社会主义建设的进程中，从综合国力建设的高度论述了文化在综合国力竞争中的重要作用。1997年，党的十五大专题论述了“有中国特色社会主义的文化建设”，并指出，“有中国特色社会主义的文化，是凝聚和激励全国各族人民的重要力量，是综合国力的重要标志” 。2007年，“提高国家文化软实力” 被写入党的十七大报告，标志着文化软实力战略正式成为中国共产党文化建设新的着力点。

Fourth, the Chinese Communist Party autonomously planned the strategy for building a socialist cultural power.

第四，中国共产党自主谋划社会主义文化强国建设战略。

The report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC clearly stated “solidly advancing the construction of a socialist cultural power,” [17]17 From the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC (November 2012). marking the official establishment of “cultural power” as a national strategy for China. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed that the goal of cultural construction in the New Era is to adhere to the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics and build a socialist cultural power. In 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed the strategic goal of building China into a cultural power by 2035, outlining a “timeline” for building a cultural power, and clearly expressing the abundant confidence and firm determination of the Chinese Communist Party in leading the people to advance cultural construction in the New Era. In 2023, the Forum on Cultural Inheritance and Development emphasized that “building a cultural power” should be regarded as one of the new cultural missions of the New Era. The reason the Chinese Communist Party has been able to achieve remarkable cultural achievements lies in our Party’s ability to autonomously plan cultural strategies, systematically advance cultural construction through cultural strategies, reflecting our Party’s high degree of cultural autonomy.

党的十八大报告明确提出“扎实推进社会主义文化强国建设” ，标志着我国正式确立起“文化强国”的国家战略。党的十九大报告提出了新时代文化建设的目标就是坚持中国特色社会主义文化发展道路，建设社会主义文化强国。2020年党的十九届五中全会提出到2035年建成文化强国的战略目标，规划了文化强国建设的“时间表”，清晰表达了新时代中国共产党领导人民推进文化建设的充沛底气与坚定信心。2023年文化传承发展座谈会重点强调，要把“建设文化强国”作为新时代新的文化使命之一。中国共产党之所以能够取得斐然的文化成就，就在于我们党能够自主谋划文化战略，以文化战略系统推进文化建设，体现了我们党高度的文化自主性。

(III) The Autonomy of the Chinese Communist Party in Safeguarding Cultural Security

（三）中国共产党维护文化安全的自主性

Cultural security refers to the objective state in which the cultural survival and development of a country or a nation are free from threats and danger. The Chinese Communist Party attaches great importance to cultural security. From the day of its founding, it has always placed the maintenance of cultural security in an important position. In the historical process of leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform, the Party has always adhered to the Party’s cultural leadership, continuously deepened autonomous and innovative exploration of cultural security work, insisted on the Party’s overall leadership over propaganda, ideology, and cultural work, and firmly grasped the leadership, management, and discourse power over ideological work. [18]18 “Discourse power” (话语权) here refers to the ability to set the terms, frame issues, and influence the narrative in ideological and cultural debates. The cultural autonomy of the Chinese Communist Party is reflected in our Party’s autonomous maintenance of Party cultural security, social cultural security, and national cultural security, and through the maintenance of cultural security, it further consolidates its own cultural subjectivity.

文化安全是指一个国家、一个民族的文化生存和发展不受威胁、免于危险的客观状态。中国共产党十分重视文化安全问题，从诞生之日起就始终把维护文化安全放于重要位置，党在领导人民进行革命、建设和改革的历史进程中始终坚持党的文化领导权，不断深化对文化安全工作的自主创新探索，坚持党对宣传思想文化工作的全面领导，牢牢把握意识形态工作的领导权、管理权和话语权 。中国共产党的文化自主性就体现为我们党自主维护政党文化安全、社会文化安全与国家文化安全，并通过文化安全的维护进一步巩固自身的文化主体性。

First, the Chinese Communist Party autonomously safeguards Party cultural security.

第一，中国共产党自主维护政党文化安全。

So-called political party cultural security refers to a state in which a political party’s guiding ideology, value system, organizational traditions, and behavioral patterns are not threatened or eroded from within or without. The Party has always attached great importance to political party cultural security. During the era of revolutionary war, it focused more on ideological and cultural struggle within the Party, consciously criticizing all non-proletarian ideology and culture within the Party. In the Yan’an period, the Chinese Communist Party built the Party primarily through ideology, independently and proactively using proletarian thought to arm the entire Party, overcoming and correcting subjectivism in ideology and culture, and through the Party’s rectification movement [19]19 The Yan’an rectification movement (1942–1944) was a Party-wide campaign to study Marxist-Leninist texts, criticize subjectivism, sectarianism, and stereotypical Party writing, and unify ideological discipline under Mao Zedong’s leadership. and historical resolutions [20]20 The historical resolutions refer to the “Resolution on Certain Historical Questions” adopted at the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee in 1945, which codified the Party’s official history and established Mao’s leadership line. to build consensus, unify thought, and unite the entire Party, actively maintaining cultural security within the Party and ensuring the purity of the Chinese Communist Party’s internal ideological culture. During the period of peaceful construction, the Chinese Communist Party regarded political party cultural security as the foundation of political security and regime security, by proactively strengthening the Party’s ideological building, firming up education in ideals and convictions, tightening political life within the Party, and continuously advancing the fight against corruption, actively fostering within the Party an ideological and cultural atmosphere of integrity and uprightness, so as to ensure that our Party’s spiritual world is healthy, stable, and cohesive.

所谓政党文化安全，是指一个政党的指导思想、价值体系、组织传统和行为模式不受内外威胁和侵蚀的一种状态。党一直十分重视政党文化安全，在革命战争年代更多地聚焦于党内的思想文化斗争，自觉对党内的一切非无产阶级思想文化进行批判。延安时期，中国共产党着重从思想上建党，独立自主运用无产阶级思想武装全党，克服与纠正思想文化上的主观主义，通过党的整风运动、历史决议来凝聚共识、统一思想、团结全党，主动维护党内的文化安全，保证中国共产党党内思想文化的纯洁性。和平建设时期，中国共产党把政党文化安全视为政治安全和政权安全的根基，通过主动加强党的思想建设，坚定理想信念教育，严肃党内政治生活，持续推进反腐败斗争，积极在党内营造出一种风清气正的思想文化氛围，以确保我们党的精神世界是健康、稳固、有凝聚力的。

Second, the Chinese Communist Party independently maintains social cultural security.

第二，中国共产党自主维护社会文化安全。

Culture is diverse and pluralistic; the coexistence of mainstream culture and non-mainstream culture in society is an objective reality. Maintaining social cultural security requires the Chinese Communist Party to respond to the real challenge of the mutual agitation between mainstream culture and non-mainstream culture. Culture is enriched through exchange and mutual learning; maintaining social cultural security does not mean accepting only mainstream culture and rejecting all other cultures. Mao Zedong once proposed: “The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is a policy for promoting artistic development and scientific progress, and a policy for promoting the flourishing of our country’s socialist culture.” [21]21 Mao Zedong, “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” (1957). In the process of maintaining social cultural security, the Chinese Communist Party has fully exercised its cultural subjectivity, not treating foreign cultures as “fierce floods and savage beasts,” but carefully discriminating among foreign cultures, independently making cultural choices, “absorbing the progressive culture of foreign countries as raw material for our own cultural food,” [22]22 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (1940). and in the midst of “letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend,” it has maintained and consolidated the dominant position of mainstream culture, thereby promoting the flourishing and development of our country’s socialist culture.

文化是多元多样的，主流文化与非主流文化在社会中并存是客观实际。维护社会文化安全，要求中国共产党必须应对好主流文化与非主流文化之间相激荡的现实挑战。文化因交流互鉴而多彩，维护社会文化安全并不意味着只要主流文化，不要任何其他文化。毛泽东曾提出：“百花齐放、百家争鸣的方针，是促进艺术发展和科学进步的方针，是促进我国的社会主义文化繁荣的方针。” 中国共产党在维护社会文化安全的过程中充分发挥了文化主体性，不把外来文化视为“洪水猛兽”，而是对外来文化进行仔细甄别，自主地进行文化选择，“吸收外国的进步文化，作为自己文化食粮的原料” ，在“百花齐放、百家争鸣”中维护和巩固了主流文化的主导性地位，进而促进了我国社会主义文化的繁荣发展。

Third, the Chinese Communist Party independently maintains national cultural security.

第三，中国共产党自主维护国家文化安全。

After the victory of the revolutionary war, the Chinese Communist Party moved from partial governance to national governance, the scope of the Party’s leadership expanded to the whole country, and cultural security work accordingly rose to the level of ideological struggle between nations. With the expansion of our country’s opening up, Western cultural and ideological infiltration has become more covert; the ideological culture of the Western bourgeoisie has flooded in and penetrated, attempting to Westernize and divide us from the cultural sphere, impacting and challenging our country’s cultural security. The Chinese Communist Party has always adhered to and consolidated the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological domain, developed culture with Chinese characteristics for a new era, prevented and defused various ideological risks, resolutely thwarted the peaceful evolution and “color revolutions” [23]23 “Peaceful evolution” is the Chinese term for the strategy, attributed to Western powers, of subverting socialist states through ideological and cultural infiltration rather than military force. “Color revolutions” refer to post-Soviet popular uprisings in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (e.g., the Rose Revolution in Georgia, 2003; the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, 2004–2005) that the CPC views as Western-orchestrated regime-change operations. of hostile Western forces, and firmly maintained national cultural security with ideological security at its core. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, our Party has placed greater emphasis on national cultural security; this issue has become a major subject that must be resolved in building a socialist cultural power. In sum, the Chinese Communist Party, with a high degree of cultural autonomy, firmly maintains national cultural security, continuously consolidates and develops the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics through national cultural security work, continuously consolidates and improves the Party’s mass base and governing base, and promotes the great development and flourishing of socialist culture.

革命战争胜利后，中国共产党从局部执政走向全国执政，党的领导范围扩大到全国，文化安全工作也随之上升到国与国之间的意识形态斗争层面。随着我国对外开放的扩大，西方的文化与意识形态入侵也变得更具隐蔽性，西方资产阶级的思想文化涌入渗透，企图从文化领域西化、分化我们，对我国文化安全造成冲击和挑战。中国共产党始终坚持和巩固马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位，发展中国特色社会主义文化，防范化解各种意识形态风险，坚决挫败西方敌对势力的和平演变与“颜色革命”，坚定维护以意识形态安全为核心的国家文化安全。党的十八大以来，我们党更加重视国家文化安全，这一问题成为建设社会主义文化强国必须解决的重大课题。总之，中国共产党以高度的文化自主性坚定维护国家文化安全，以国家文化安全工作不断巩固和发展中国特色社会主义制度，不断巩固和完善中国共产党的群众基础和执政基础，促进了社会主义文化大发展大繁荣。

III. The Chinese Communist Party’s Cultural Creativity

三、中国共产党的文化创造性

Without creation there is no culture; innovation and creation are the lifeblood of culture. Cultural creativity is a profound reflection of the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural consciousness and cultural autonomy, and is the core content of the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural subjectivity. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must “jointly strive to create a new culture that belongs to our era.” [24]24 Xi Jinping, speech at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, June 2, 2023. The Chinese Communist Party’s cultural creativity is mainly manifested in innovation and creation in cultural values, innovation and creation in cultural content, and innovation and creation in cultural methods.

没有创造就没有文化，创新创造是文化的生命所在。文化创造性是中国共产党文化自觉和文化自主的深刻反映，是中国共产党文化主体性的核心内容。习近平总书记指出，必须“共同努力创造属于我们这个时代的新文化” 。中国共产党的文化创造性主要体现为文化价值上的创新创造、文化内容上的创新创造以及文化方法上的创新创造。

(I) The Chinese Communist Party’s Creativity in Cultural Values

（一）中国共产党在文化价值上的创造性

The Chinese Communist Party’s creation in the cultural field is first of all reflected in the creation of cultural values, that is, scientifically answering the questions of for whom culture is developed and what the fundamental orientation of cultural values is. The Chinese Communist Party is an advanced political party representing the working class and the broad masses of working people. The culture developed by the Chinese Communist Party is a culture that serves the people. Being people-centered is our Party’s distinct orientation in cultural values, and is the manifestation of the Party’s cultural subjectivity at the level of creating cultural values.

中国共产党在文化领域的创造，首先体现为对文化价值的创造，即科学回答了发展文化为了谁，文化价值的根本导向是什么的问题。中国共产党是代表工人阶级和广大劳动人民的先进政党，中国共产党发展的文化是为人民服务的文化，以人民为中心是我们党鲜明的文化价值导向，是党的文化主体性在文化价值创造层面的彰显。

Before the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, although the Chinese nation had created a vast and splendid Chinese culture over more than 5,000 years of history, ordinary people had virtually no status in cultural life, whether as subjects of creation or as subjects of enjoyment. In the long river of Chinese history, culture once served the emperor, served the scholar-officials, served the rich, but never truly served the people. It was the Chinese Communist Party that, for the first time in history, established the value orientation of culture serving the people. Mao Zedong pointed out: “Our literary and art workers must accomplish this task, must shift their standpoint, and in the course of going deep among the masses of workers, peasants, and soldiers, in the course of practical struggle, and in the course of studying Marxism and studying society, gradually shift it to the side of the workers, peasants, and soldiers, to the side of the proletariat. Only in this way can we have a literature and art that are truly for the workers, peasants, and soldiers, a truly proletarian literature and art.” [25]25 Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art” (1942). The Chinese Communist Party not only advocates that culture serve the people, but also emphasizes that the masses of the people must be regarded as the source of strength for cultural development. Only in this way can the culture that is formed and developed be truly a people’s culture.

在中国共产党成立以前，尽管中华民族在5000多年历史中创造了广博灿烂的中华文化，但在文化生活中，普通群众不论是作为创造主体或是享有主体，几无地位可言。在中国漫长的历史长河中，文化曾经为皇帝服务、为士大夫服务、为富人服务，就是没有真正为人民服务。正是中国共产党，开天辟地第一次确立起文化为人民服务的价值导向。毛泽东指出：“我们的文艺工作者一定要完成这个任务，一定要把立足点移过来，一定要在深入工农兵群众、深入实际斗争的过程中，在学习马克思主义和学习社会的过程中，逐渐地移过来，移到工农兵这方面来，移到无产阶级这方面来。只有这样，我们才能有真正为工农兵的文艺，真正无产阶级的文艺。” 中国共产党不仅主张文化为人民服务，还强调要把人民群众视为文化发展的力量源泉。唯有如此，形成发展的文化才是真正的人民文化。

Furthermore, the Chinese Communist Party also fully affirms the status and value of literary and art workers, truly regarding arts that were once not valued by some as the people’s art. Zhou Enlai believed: “In the old society, people loved the old content and old forms of art, but they also looked down on old artists, always insulting them. Now it is a new society and a new era; we should respect all old artists loved by the masses. Only by respecting them can we transform them.” [26]26 Zhou Enlai, speech at the First National Congress of Literary and Art Workers, July 6, 1949. Mao Zedong said to the literary and art workers who came to participate in the First National Congress of Literary and Art Workers, “You are the people’s writers, the people’s artists, or the organizers of the people’s literary and art workers.” [27]27 Mao Zedong, speech at the First National Congress of Literary and Art Workers, July 6, 1949. Thus it can be seen that the Party’s cultural creativity is first of all reflected in the creation of cultural values, and this cultural value outlook also runs through the entire process of the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural building. History and practice have proven that only by consistently adhering to the people’s attribute of culture can the Chinese Communist Party further liberate and develop its own cultural subjectivity, can it truly provide an inexhaustible spiritual force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and the Chinese nation will, in the magnificent practice of cultural innovation and creation by hundreds of millions of people, continuously strengthen its cultural confidence and further straighten its spiritual backbone.

此外，中国共产党还充分肯定文艺工作者的地位与价值，把过去一些不为人所重视的艺术真正视为人民的艺术。周恩来认为：“旧社会爱好旧内容旧形式的艺术，但是又瞧不起旧艺人，总是侮辱他们。现在是新社会新时代了，我们应当尊重一切受群众爱好的旧艺人。尊重他们方能改造他们。” 毛泽东在第一次全国文代会上对前来参会的文艺工作者们说，“你们是人民的文学家、人民的艺术家或者是人民的文学艺术工作者的组织者” 。由此可见，党的文化创造性首先就体现在对于文化价值的创造，这种文化价值观也贯穿中国共产党文化建设的始终。历史和实践证明，中国共产党只有始终坚持文化的人民属性，才能进一步解放和发展自身的文化主体性，才能真正为实现中华民族伟大复兴提供源源不断的精神力量，中华民族也将在亿万人民波澜壮阔的文化创新创造实践中不断增强文化自信，进一步挺直精神脊梁。

(II) The Chinese Communist Party’s Creativity in Cultural Content

（二）中国共产党在文化内容上的创造性

Mao Zedong believed that the purpose of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership of the Chinese revolution “lies in building a new society and a new state for the Chinese nation. In this new society and new state, there will be not only a new politics and a new economy, but also a new culture.” [28]28 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (1940). Establishing a new culture is the concentrated expression of the Party’s cultural creativity. In the historical process of revolution, construction, and reform, the Party has created revolutionary culture and socialist culture, and has carried out the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. The Party’s cultural creativity is manifested in the innovation and creation of cultural content.

毛泽东认为，中国共产党领导中国革命的目的，“在于建设一个中华民族的新社会和新国家。在这个新社会和新国家中，不但有新政治、新经济，而且有新文化” 。建立新文化是党的文化创造性的集中体现。党在革命、建设和改革的历史进程中创造出革命文化和社会主义文化，并对中华优秀传统文化进行创造性转化、创新性发展，党的文化创造性就表现为对文化内容的创新创造。

First, the Chinese Communist Party created revolutionary culture.

第一，中国共产党创造出革命文化。

During the revolutionary war years, faced with the national condition of semi-colonialism and semi-feudalism, the Communist Party of China, in order to lead the people in overthrowing the autocratic rule of reactionary forces, had to create a revolutionary atmosphere in cultural concepts, launching a "heroic offensive" against "imperialist culture and feudal culture." [29]29 Mao Zedong, "On New Democracy" (1940). The CPC led the people on the cultural front to advance in the direction of a new culture for the Chinese nation. This new culture was one that inherited the democratic and scientific cultural spirit of the New Culture Movement, one that could unite and inspire the broad masses of working people to struggle against various reactionary forces, one with a New Democratic nature, and one that reflected the entirely new spiritual outlook of the Chinese nation. The CPC promoted the spread of Marxism in China, integrated Marxism with the Chinese workers' movement, and in the practice of revolutionary struggle leading the people, created a cultural form with "revolution" as its spiritual core and value orientation, creating a "culture of the masses under the leadership of the proletariat, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal," [30]30 Ibid. vividly embodying the CPC's powerful cultural creativity.

革命战争年代，面对半殖民地半封建的国情，中国共产党要领导人民推翻反动势力的专制统治，就必须在文化观念上营造形成一种革命的氛围，“向着帝国主义文化和封建文化”展开“英勇的进攻” 。中国共产党领导人民在文化战线上朝着中华民族新文化的方向迈进，这种新文化是继承新文化运动民主和科学文化精神的文化，是能够团结鼓舞广大劳动人民同各种反动势力作斗争的文化，是具有新民主主义性质的文化，是反映中华民族崭新精神面貌的文化。中国共产党推动马克思主义在中国的传播，把马克思主义同中国工人运动相结合，在领导人民开展的革命斗争实践中创造了以“革命”为精神内核和价值取向的文化形态，创造出“无产阶级领导的人民大众的反帝反封建的文化” ，生动体现了中国共产党强大的文化创造性。

Second, the Communist Party of China created socialist culture.

第二，中国共产党创造出社会主义文化。

Through socialist transformation and construction, the CPC brought China into a socialist society, and in the cultural sphere, it also created a cultural superstructure corresponding to our country's socialist economic base, namely socialist culture. The CPC's cultural innovation consciousness and cultural creation ability have continuity. The socialist culture established by the Party leading the people was not created out of nothing; rather, it developed further on the basis of inheriting the cultural achievements of the New Democratic period. This culture absorbed the reasonable elements of New Democracy and, combined with the reality of China's socialist development, formed cultural content that met the needs of socialist society. After creating socialist culture, the CPC continued to absorb new content of the times, continuously iterating the cultural form of socialism, ultimately forming socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. This not only enriches our understanding and comprehension of socialist cultural construction but also fully embodies the Party's powerful cultural leadership and innovative and creative ability as the party subject of cultural construction.

中国共产党通过社会主义改造和建设使中国进入社会主义社会，在文化上也创造出同我国社会主义经济基础相适应的文化上层建筑，即社会主义文化。中国共产党的文化创新意识和文化创造能力具有传承性。党领导人民建立的社会主义文化并非凭空而造，而是在继承新民主主义时期文化发展成果的基础之上进一步发展而来。这种文化吸收了新民主主义的合理要素，并结合中国社会主义发展实际，形成符合社会主义社会需要的文化内容。中国共产党在创建社会主义文化后，继续吸收新的时代内容，不断迭代社会主义的文化形态，最终形成了新时代中国特色社会主义文化。这不仅丰富了我们对社会主义文化建设的认识和理解，还充分体现了党作为文化建设的政党主体所具有的强大文化引领力以及创新创造能力。

Third, the Communist Party of China promotes the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture.

第三，中国共产党推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展。

Besides creating new culture, the CPC is also adept at inheriting and innovating fine traditional Chinese culture. The CPC fully promotes its cultural subjectivity through cultural innovation and creation. In its more than one hundred years of cultural practice, it has adhered to the Two Integrations, [31]31 The Two Integrations refers to integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture. It was formally proposed by Xi Jinping at the celebration of the centenary of the CPC in 2021. guided by Marxist scientific theory, critically transforming the nation's traditional culture, and continuously promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, making it more compatible with the reality of Chinese-path modernization and meeting the cultural needs of modern Chinese people. Thus, the innovation and creation of fine traditional Chinese culture also fully demonstrates the Party's cultural creativity.

除了创造新文化，中国共产党还善于继承并创新中华优秀传统文化。中国共产党通过文化的创新创造充分弘扬自身的文化主体性，在党的百余年文化实践中坚持“两个结合”，以马克思主义科学理论为指导，对本民族传统文化进行批判性改造，不断推动中华优秀传统文化的创造性转化与创新性发展，使中华优秀传统文化更加契合中国式现代化的发展实际，符合现代中国人的文化需求。由此可见，对于中华优秀传统文化的创新创造，也充分彰显了党的文化创造性。

(3) The CPC's creativity in cultural methods

（三）中国共产党在文化方法上的创造性

Cultural development is objective, but people can use certain methods to guide and regulate the path of cultural development. "Cultural methods" here refer to the ways and means used to develop culture. The CPC has extremely strong cultural initiative. In the process of cultural construction, the Party has created and formed a systematic and complete set of cultural methods. These methods embody the cultural wisdom of Chinese Communists and are also a concentrated manifestation of the Party's cultural creativity in cultural methodology.

文化发展是客观的，但人可以通过一定的方法来引导和规范文化的发展进路。这里的文化方法意指发展文化所用到的方式和手段。中国共产党具有极强的文化能动性，党在文化建设过程中创造形成了系统完备的文化方法。这些方法凝结着中国共产党人的文化智慧，也是党的文化创造性在文化方法论上的集中展现。

First, the CPC created the cultural method of the Two Integrations.

第一，中国共产党创造出“两个结合”的文化方法。

For Marxism to take root in China and promote the development of Chinese social practice, it must be organically integrated with China's specific realities and China's indigenous culture. Our Party, leading the people in long-term cultural struggle practice, explored the cultural method of the Two Integrations, integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture, continuously adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. The CPC integrates Marxism with the characteristics of the Chinese nation, transforming it through certain national forms, endowing Marxism with nationality; it also connects the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture, using Marxism as a guide to autonomously develop a socialist culture that is national, scientific, and popular, oriented toward modernization, the world, and the future. Through the cultural method of the Two Integrations, it endows culture with modernity, demonstrating our Party's powerful cultural initiative and vigorous cultural vitality.

马克思主义要想在中国扎根并推动中国社会实践的发展，就必须同中国的具体实际、中国的本土文化进行一种有机的结合。我们党带领人民在长期的文化奋斗实践中探索出“两个结合”的文化方法，把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，不断推动马克思主义中国化时代化。中国共产党把马克思主义和中华民族的特点相结合，经过一定的民族形式改造，赋予马克思主义以民族性；又把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通起来，以马克思主义为指导自主发展面向现代化、面向世界、面向未来的，民族的科学的大众的社会主义文化，通过“两个结合”的文化方法赋予文化以现代性，彰显出我们党强大的文化能动性与旺盛的文化生命力。

Second, the CPC created the cultural method of "taking and discarding."

第二，中国共产党创造出“取弃二分”的文化方法。

The so-called "taking and discarding" means that in the process of cultural development, attention must be paid to "taking the essence and discarding the dross." Cultural development cannot be separated from inheriting the culture that the nation itself already possesses, nor from drawing on the cultures created by other nations. In the process of building a new culture, the CPC consciously and autonomously sorted out traditional culture, "eliminating its feudal dross and absorbing its democratic essence," [32]32 Mao Zedong, "On New Democracy" (1940). and actively decomposed all foreign cultures "into two parts, the essence and the dross, then excreting the dross and absorbing the essence." [33]33 Mao Zedong, "On New Democracy" (1940). This cultural method enabled the new culture established by the CPC leading the people to gather the essence of human culture as much as possible, making the new culture of the Chinese nation more advanced and an important part of world culture, profoundly reflecting the Party's cultural creativity.

所谓“取弃二分”，是指在文化发展的过程中要注重“取其精华、去其糟粕”。文化的发展离不开继承本民族自身已有的文化，也离不开借鉴其他民族创造的文化。中国共产党在建设新文化的过程中自觉自主地对传统文化进行清理，“剔除其封建性的糟粕，吸收其民主性的精华” ，主动把一切外来文化都“分解为精华和糟粕两部分，然后排泄其糟粕，吸收其精华” ，这种文化方法使得中国共产党领导人民建立的新文化能够尽可能地集萃人类文化之精华，使中华民族的新文化更加先进，也成为世界文化的重要组成部分，深刻体现了党的文化创造性。

Third, the CPC created the cultural method of "ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign."

第三，中国共产党创造出“古今中外”的文化方法。

To develop culture, it is necessary to properly handle the cultural relationships between ancient and modern, China and foreign countries. The Chinese Communists, mainly represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, creatively proposed the cultural method of "making the past serve the present, and making foreign things serve China," [34]34 Mao Zedong, "Letter to the Central Conservatory of Music" (1964). advocating drawing nutrients from historical culture to nourish the development of modern society, and also fully absorbing the beneficial nutrients of outstanding foreign cultures for our own use, while maintaining the characteristics of our own culture. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Learning from the ancients is for the living people of today; learning from foreigners is for the Chinese of today." [35]35 Mao Zedong, "Talk on the Question of the Democratic Parties" (1956). Through the cultural method of "ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign," the CPC created a prosperous socialist culture. This cultural method is precisely the product of innovation and creativity in the process of the CPC advancing cultural practice with cultural subjectivity.

要想发展文化，就必须处理好古代与现代、中国与外国之间的文化关系。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人创造性提出“古为今用，洋为中用” 的文化方法，主张要从历史文化中汲取养分为现代社会发展提供滋养，也要充分吸收外来优秀文化的有益养分为我所用，同时保持自身文化的特色。毛泽东指出：“向古人学习是为了现在的活人，向外国人学习是为了今天的中国人。” 中国共产党通过“古今中外”的文化方法创造了繁荣昌盛的社会主义文化，这种文化方法正是中国共产党以文化主体性推进文化实践过程中创新性、创造性的产物。

4. The CPC's cultural transcendence

四、中国共产党的文化超越性

Cultural transcendence is an inherent attribute of culture and a profound manifestation of cultural subjectivity. Culture is constantly evolving and developing; it will inevitably transcend itself to achieve a morphological leap, and it may also, within a certain historical period, lead or even surpass the level of development of a given economy and politics. The CPC's cultural subjectivity contains a subject consciousness of cultural transcendence. Our Party faces reality, bases itself on reality, and adapts to reality, but also faces the future, embraces the future, and creates the future. It actively handles the relationship between cultural adaptation and cultural transcendence, and actively realizes transcendence in cultural goals, cultural development, and cultural institutions.

文化超越性是文化的内在属性，是文化主体性的深刻彰显。文化是不断演进发展的，它必然会超越自身实现自我的形态跃迁，也可能会在一定的历史时期内领先乃至超越一定经济和政治的发展水平。中国共产党的文化主体性中蕴含着文化超越的主体意识，我们党面对现实、立足现实、适应现实，更面向未来、拥抱未来、创造未来，积极处理好文化适应与文化超越之间的关系，积极实现文化目标、文化发展以及文化制度上的超越。

(1) The CPC's transcendence in cultural goals

（一）中国共产党在文化目标上的超越性

The Communist Party of China is a political party with clear goals and action plans. In the cultural field, our Party has clear goals and clear paths for cultural construction, and the cultural goals set in different periods also have continuity. The CPC's cultural subjectivity is embodied in the transcendence of the cultural goals set over previous cultural goals, and the transcendence over the actual state of cultural development. This is the CPC's transcendence in cultural goals.

中国共产党是一个有着清晰奋斗目标、行动路线的政党。在文化领域，我们党对文化建设有着目标明确、路径清晰的规划，不同时期制定的文化目标之间也有着延续性。中国共产党的文化主体性就体现为制定的文化目标对前一文化目标的超越，对现实文化发展状态的超越，这是中国共产党在文化目标上的超越性。

The first program adopted by the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 pointed out that “the Party’s fundamental political purpose is to carry out social revolution.” [36]36 The “first program” refers to the program adopted at the First National Congress of the CPC in 1921, which established the Party’s basic aims and organizational principles. This social revolution necessarily also encompassed cultural transformation—overthrowing the old culture and establishing a new culture—which was our Party’s initial cultural objective. As the revolution deepened, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, formed the theory of the new-democratic revolution, and the Seventh National Congress of the Party further elaborated the basic program of the new-democratic revolution. In the cultural sphere, the Party’s goal in struggle was to establish an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal culture led by the masses of the people, that is, a national, scientific, and mass culture. After the founding of New China, the Party’s cultural objective during the transition period was to realize the transformation from a new-democratic culture to a socialist culture. When the socialist transformation was basically completed, China established its basic socialist system, and cultural objectives and policies fully reflected the socialist character. From formulating the “Two Hundreds” policy of “letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend” in literature, art, and science and technology, to establishing the “Two For” orientation of cultural work “serving the people and serving socialism,” these all fully embodied the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural foresight and cultural transcendence. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, [37]37 The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, held in December 1978, marked the beginning of the reform and opening up era and a shift from class struggle to economic development as the Party’s central task. with the shift in the Party’s and the state’s center of work, cultural objectives also closely revolved around the theme of socialism with Chinese characteristics. From building a high level of socialist cultural-ethical progress, to building a culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and then to building a socialist cultural power, the cultural objectives set by the Party have shown a continuity that comes down in one continuous line, and also embody an iterative and transcendent cultural subjectivity. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Chinese Communist Party has led the people in continuing to strengthen cultural construction, issuing a series of cultural policies, such as the “Opinions on Implementing the Project for the Inheritance and Development of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture,” the “Outline of the National ‘13th Five-Year Plan’ for Cultural Development and Reform,” the “14th Five-Year Plan for Cultural Development,” the “Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of the National Cultural Digitization Strategy,” and the “Implementation Plan for the Cultural Protection, Inheritance and Utilization Project.” In cultural construction, a system of four major systems has gradually taken shape: the modern public cultural service system, the modern cultural market system, the system for inheriting excellent Chinese culture, and the system for foreign cultural exchange, along with corresponding institutions and mechanisms. A system of cultural objectives has also gradually been constructed, one that contains cultural transcendence and is dedicated to Chinese-path modernization.

1921年中国共产党通过的第一个纲领指出，“党的根本政治目的是实行社会革命” 。这种社会革命必然也包含着推翻旧文化、建立新文化的文化变革，这是我们党最初的文化目标。随着革命的深入发展，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人形成了新民主主义革命理论，党的七大进一步阐述了新民主主义革命的基本纲领。在文化方面，党的奋斗目标就是要建立无产阶级领导的人民大众的反帝反封建的文化，即民族的科学的大众的文化。新中国成立后，党在过渡时期的文化目标是实现新民主主义文化向社会主义文化的转化。社会主义改造基本完成时，我国建立起社会主义基本制度，文化目标与政策也充分体现社会主义性质。从制定文学艺术和科学技术“百花齐放、百家争鸣”的“双百”方针，到确立文化工作“为人民服务、为社会主义服务”的“二为”方向，都充分体现了中国共产党的文化前瞻性和文化超越意识。党的十一届三中全会以后，随着党和国家工作中心的转移，文化目标也紧紧围绕中国特色社会主义这一主题展开，从建设高度的社会主义精神文明到建设中国特色社会主义文化，再到建设社会主义文化强国，党制定的文化目标具有一脉相承的延续性，也体现出迭代超越的文化主体意识。党的十八大以来，中国共产党领导人民继续加强文化建设，出台了一系列文化政策，比如《关于实施中华优秀传统文化传承发展工程的意见》《国家“十三五”时期文化发展改革规划纲要》《“十四五”文化发展规划》《关于推进实施国家文化数字化战略的意见》《文化保护传承利用工程实施方案》等，文化建设方面逐渐形成现代公共文化服务体系、现代文化市场体系、中华优秀文化传承体系、对外文化交流体系等四大体系及相应的体制机制，也逐渐构建起内蕴文化超越性、致力于中国式现代化的文化目标体系。

(2) The Chinese Communist Party’s Transcendence in Cultural Development

（二）中国共产党在文化发展上的超越性

Cultural development is closely linked to economic and political development. When the state of cultural development is ahead of the economic base and can promote the development of society’s productive forces, the transcendence of culture becomes manifest. In every historical period, the Chinese Communist Party has fully exercised its historical initiative. Under conditions of a relatively backward socio-economic base, it has led the masses of the people with a spirit of historical initiative to achieve brilliant accomplishments in the cultural field, and has used advanced culture to lead and promote the smooth development of the Party’s cause, profoundly demonstrating our Party’s transcendence in cultural development.

文化发展与经济、政治的发展紧密关联，当文化的发展状态领先于经济基础并能够推动社会生产力发展时，就显现出文化的超越性。不管在任何历史时期，中国共产党都充分发挥历史主动性，在社会经济基础相对落后的情况下以历史主动精神领导人民群众在文化领域取得了辉煌成就，并以先进文化引领推动了党的事业顺利发展，深刻彰显了我们党在文化发展上的超越性。

Marx and Engels deeply perceived the laws of cultural development. They understood and grasped the transcendence of culture by examining the contradictory movement between productive forces and relations of production, and the relationship and interaction between the economic base and the superstructure. Marx and Engels believed that, with the development of productive forces, the original relations of production become obsolete, no longer adapting to the new level of productive forces, thereby giving rise to new relations of production and triggering social change. Therefore, when a new mode of production replaces the old one, the entire social structure changes accordingly, and the superstructure, including culture, is profoundly affected. However, the relationship between the development of productive forces and cultural development is not a simple, one-way causal relationship; there is a phenomenon of “non-synchronization.” Cultural development has relative independence. The flourishing of culture is not necessarily completely consistent with the development of the economy and society. In a highly developed society, culture may not necessarily show corresponding prosperity. Taking Greek art and epic poetry as an example, Marx emphasized that the flourishing of culture and art is not always directly proportional to the degree of development of society as a whole or its material base. He argued that Greek art and epic poetry “still give us artistic enjoyment and in certain respects count as a norm and an unattainable model,” and that “the charm their art has for us does not conflict with the undeveloped social stage from which it sprang.” [38]38 This is a paraphrase of Marx’s discussion of Greek art in the *Grundrisse* (1857–1858). Engels also believed that “economically backward countries can still play first violin in philosophy.” [39]39 This is a reference to Engels’s letter to Conrad Schmidt (27 October 1890), in which he discusses the relative independence of the superstructure.

马克思恩格斯深刻洞察文化发展规律，通过对生产力与生产关系之间矛盾运动、经济基础和上层建筑的关系及相互作用的考察，来认识和把握文化的超越性。马克思恩格斯认为，随着生产力的发展，原有的生产关系变得过时，不再适应新的生产力水平，从而产生新的生产关系，引发社会变革。因此，当新的生产方式取代原有的生产方式时，整个社会结构也会随之改变，包括文化在内的上层建筑都会受到深刻的影响。然而，生产力的发展和文化发展之间并非简单的单向因果关系，而是存在“不同步”现象。文化发展具有相对独立性，文化的兴盛并不一定同经济社会的发展完全一致，在高度发达的社会中，文化也未必表现出相应的繁荣。马克思以希腊艺术和史诗为例，强调文化艺术的繁荣并不总是与社会整体或其物质基础的发展程度成正比，认为希腊艺术和史诗“仍然能够给我们以艺术享受，而且就某方面说还是一种规范和高不可及的范本” ，“他们的艺术对我们所产生的魅力，同这种艺术在其中生长的那个不发达的社会阶段并不矛盾” 。恩格斯也认为，“经济上落后的国家在哲学上仍然能够演奏第一小提琴” 。

The Chinese Communists deeply understand this basic law of cultural development—that culture has relative independence—and fully exercise their subjective initiative in cultural construction. Despite facing the difficult situation of a hundred things waiting to be done, our Party led the people in restoring the national economy and carrying out socialist transformation and construction, while simultaneously placing great emphasis on innovation and creation in the cultural field: it established the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere; it formulated the “Two Hundreds” policy and the “Two For” orientation to guide the development of science, literature, and art, greatly stimulating the creative vitality of the cultural and artistic circles, and giving rise to a number of outstanding novels, poems, plays, films, songs, and paintings that reflected the magnificent course and brilliant achievements of socialist construction; it launched a large-scale literacy campaign, gradually improved the socialist education system, and cultivated a new type of socialist person; the public cultural service system was basically completed, the cultural life of the masses was further enriched, and socialist culture showed vigorous vitality. It can be seen that, in the process of promoting cultural construction, the Chinese Communist Party possesses a high degree of cultural transcendence. With immense enthusiasm for undertaking endeavors and a spirit of historical initiative, it enabled the state of China’s cultural development to surpass the corresponding state of its economic base, creating enormous spiritual and cultural wealth under conditions of relative material scarcity. This advanced socialist culture, in turn, reacted upon socialist political and economic construction, greatly promoting the development of China’s social productive forces. This is a profound manifestation of the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural transcendence.

中国共产党人深知文化具有相对独立性这一文化发展的基本规律，在文化建设中充分发挥主观能动性。尽管面临着百废待兴的困难局面，但我们党领导人民在恢复国民经济、开展社会主义改造和建设的同时，依然高度重视文化领域的创新创造：确立了马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位；制定了“双百”方针与“二为”方向指导科学文艺发展，极大地激发了文化艺术界的创造活力，涌现出一批反映波澜壮阔的社会主义建设历程和辉煌成就的优秀小说、诗歌、戏剧、电影、歌曲、绘画等；开展了大规模的扫盲运动，社会主义教育体系逐步完善，培养了社会主义新人；公共文化服务体系基本建成，群众文化生活进一步丰富，社会主义文化显现出蓬勃生机。由此可见，中国共产党在推进文化建设的过程中具有高度的文化超越性，以巨大的干事创业热情和历史主动精神使得我国的文化发展状态超越了与之相对应的经济基础状态，在物质条件相对匮乏的状况下创造出巨大的精神文化财富，而这种社会主义的先进文化又反作用于社会主义政治与经济建设，大大推动了我国社会生产力的发展，这是中国共产党文化超越性的深刻体现。

(3) The Chinese Communist Party’s Transcendence in Cultural Institutions

（三）中国共产党在文化制度上的超越性

The Chinese Communist Party’s cultural transcendence is embodied in the formulation of cultural institutions. The cultural institutions themselves manifest the Party’s cultural transcendence.

中国共产党的文化超越性体现在对文化制度的制定上，文化制度本身就彰显着党的文化超越性。

Cultural institutions rely on the power of law to be realized. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution), as the fundamental law of the state, stipulates from a jurisprudential perspective the fundamental political system, the basic political systems, and the basic economic system of the country, and thereby gives rise to the ideological and cultural institutions that correspond to them. The Constitution states unequivocally in its Preamble: “Under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups will continue to adhere to the people’s democratic dictatorship, follow the socialist path, uphold reform and opening up, and steadily improve the various institutions of socialism, guided by Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. They will develop the socialist market economy, develop socialist democracy, improve socialist rule of law, implement the new development philosophy, rely on their own efforts, and work hard to gradually achieve the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense, and science and technology, to promote the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization, and to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful, and to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” This proclaims the guiding ideology of our country and embodies the qualitative stipulation of the socialist system at the cultural level. The Constitution stipulates the content of the socialist cultural form at the institutional level, including guiding ideology and theory, the cultural leadership system, the rights of cultural subjects, the goals of cultural construction, and the mechanisms of cultural management. In terms of cultural legal institutions, for example, Article 19 of the Constitution stipulates, “The state develops socialist educational undertakings and raises the scientific and cultural level of the entire people,” thereby establishing our basic cultural goals through the power of law. Another example is Article 24 of the Constitution, which stipulates, “The state strengthens the building of socialist cultural-ethical progress through the popularization of education in ideals, morality, culture, discipline, and the legal system, and through the formulation and implementation of various rules and conventions among the masses in different urban and rural areas.” In addition, there are cultural laws, regulations, and rules formulated by the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee, and the State Council, as well as local cultural regulations formulated by local governments at various levels, such as the Public Cultural Service Guarantee Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China. In terms of the cultural leadership system, the Party’s comprehensive leadership over the cultural sphere is upheld, “the system and mechanism for the Party’s leadership over cultural development are adhered to and improved, and the principles of the Party exercising leadership over propaganda, over ideology, and over the media are implemented, so that Party leadership is carried out in every aspect of propaganda, ideology, and cultural work,”[40]40 This quotation is from a Party document or speech on cultural work; the exact source is not specified in the original text. thereby providing a fundamental guarantee for the flourishing and development of socialist culture. Together, these elements constitute the future orientation of our cultural construction and development, manifesting the profound cultural transcendence of the Chinese Communist Party.

文化制度需要依靠法的力量来实现，《中华人民共和国宪法》（以下简称《宪法》）作为国家根本大法，从法理层面规定了国家的根本政治制度、基本政治制度和基本经济制度，并由此形成了与之相适应的思想文化制度。《宪法》在序言中旗帜鲜明地指出：“中国各族人民将继续在中国共产党领导下，在马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论、‘三个代表’重要思想、科学发展观、习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想指引下，坚持人民民主专政，坚持社会主义道路，坚持改革开放，不断完善社会主义的各项制度，发展社会主义市场经济，发展社会主义民主，健全社会主义法治，贯彻新发展理念，自力更生，艰苦奋斗，逐步实现工业、农业、国防和科学技术的现代化，推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明协调发展，把我国建设成为富强民主文明和谐美丽的社会主义现代化强国，实现中华民族伟大复兴。” 这就昭示了我们国家的指导思想，体现了社会主义制度在文化层面的质的规定性。《宪法》规定了社会主义文化形态在制度层面的内容，包括指导思想理论、文化领导体制、文化主体权利、文化建设目标、文化管理机制等等。在文化法律制度上，比如《宪法》第十九条规定，“国家发展社会主义的教育事业，提高全国人民的科学文化水平” ，以法的力量设定了我们的基础文化目标。再如《宪法》第二十四条规定，“国家通过普及理想教育、道德教育、文化教育、纪律和法制教育，通过在城乡不同范围的群众中制定和执行各种守则、公约，加强社会主义精神文明的建设” 。此外，还有全国人大及其常委会、国务院制定的文化法律、法规和条例，各级地方政府制定的地方性文化法规等，比如《中华人民共和国公共文化服务保障法》《中华人民共和国非物质文化遗产法》《中华人民共和国文物保护法》等。在文化领导制度上，坚持党对文化领域的全面领导，“坚持和完善党领导文化发展的体制机制，贯彻落实党管宣传、党管意识形态、党管媒体原则，把党的领导落实到宣传思想文化工作方方面面” ，为实现社会主义文化的繁荣发展提供根本保证。这些内容共同构成了我们文化建设与发展的未来指向，彰显了中国共产党意蕴深刻的文化超越性。