The Practical Logic, Theoretical Logic and Value Implications of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought

Xi Jinping’s cultural thought is a systematic, complete, logically rigorous, continuously unfolding, and open-ended ideological system. It is the theoretical summation of a series of new ideas, new viewpoints, and new theses, rich in content and profound in exposition, formed by General Secretary Xi Jinping around the major issues of China’s cultural construction in the practice of governing the country. These new ideas, new viewpoints, and new theses clearly present the formation process of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought and reveal its profound practical logic, theoretical logic, and value implications. This article carefully studies Xi Jinping’s cultural thought from the dual logic of practice and theory, and from the triple value implications concerning the past, the present, and the future. This helps to clarify its ideological core and internal connections, understand its constructive logic and important significance, and provide scientific methodological guidance for doing a good job in propaganda, ideology, and cultural work on the new journey of the New Era and for shouldering the new cultural mission.

I. The Practical Logic of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought

Practice is the source of theory. Xi Jinping’s cultural thought germinated, gestated, and matured in the practice of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s direct participation in and leadership of cultural construction. It was applied, tested, and sublimated in the practice of the Party’s leadership over the cultural construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is a direct response and scientific answer to the practical problems of cultural construction in the New Era. As Marx said: “The real content of all epoch-making systems arises from the needs of the period that produced them.” Xi Jinping’s cultural thought is rooted in the great practice of cultural construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is both a summary of the practical experience of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s leadership in cultural construction and the theoretical crystallization of the collective cultural construction practice of the Chinese Communists in the New Era. Moreover, it is an ideological system created and continuously improved by the Communist Party of China in directly facing the difficulties and threats to the country’s cultural confidence and cultural security, and in responding to the epochal demands of promoting cultural prosperity. Xi Jinping’s cultural thought originates from practice and continuously develops and enriches itself in answering the questions posed by practice. This is the distinct practical logic it manifests.

(1) A Summary of the Practical Experience of Cultural Construction Led by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at Its Core

In his decades-long leadership practice from the local to the central

The concept of preserving historical and cultural heritage germinated in the protection of cultural relics and historic sites. From March 1982 to May 1985, during his successive tenures as Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of the Zhengding County Party Committee in Hebei Province, Comrade Xi Jinping attached great importance to cultural development. He criticized

The initial outline of a cultural construction work approach emerged from the understanding of local folk customs and conditions. From June 1985 to October 2002, Comrade Xi Jinping successively held important posts in Xiamen, Ningde, Fuzhou, and the provincial Party committee and government of Fujian Province, leading and exploring Fujian’s path of cultural construction.

First, vigorously promoting the flourishing of literature and art. Comrade Xi Jinping made great efforts to revitalize Min opera [n], promoted the “upgrading and replacement” of the development environment for the Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe, and led the creation of a number of literary and artistic works, including *Symphony of Mountains and Seas*. He pointed out that it was necessary to “grasp artistic creation in all categories, including literature, music, film and television, song and dance, folk art forms, and calligraphy and painting. Every artistic category must vigorously enhance artistic productive forces.”

Second, making every effort to protect the city’s historical context. Comrade Xi Jinping led the protection of Gulangyu Island in Xiamen and the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys in Fuzhou, rescued the Wanshouyan site, restored the series of Lin Zexu relics, created the urban cultural sculpture landscape of Fuzhou, and promoted the application of Mount Wuyi and Fujian Tulou for World Cultural Heritage status.

Third, doing everything possible to support the cultural publishing industry. Comrade Xi Jinping promoted the resumption of publication of *Mindong Daily

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture developed and matured in the great practice of cultural construction in the New Era [n] and is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Chinese Communists of the New Era. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [n], the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put forward a series of new ideas, new viewpoints and new judgments in the governance practice of cultural construction, encompassing both innovations and breakthroughs in cultural theoretical viewpoints and deployments and requirements in the layout of cultural work. From the first proposal in 2014 to strengthen cultural confidence, to the proposals to firmly grasp leadership over ideological work, cultivate and practice the core socialist values, and prosper and develop socialist literature and art; from the "Nine Insistences" [n] put forward at the 2018 National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work, to the goal set at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee [n] of building China into a strong socialist culture by 2035; from the "Two Integrations" to the "Seven Efforts" [n]; from the propaganda and ideological work mission of "consciously undertaking the mission of raising the banner, gathering the people's hearts, educating new people, revitalizing culture, and presenting the image," to the new-era "new cultural mission" of "continuing to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural country, and construct the modern civilization of the Chinese nation at a new starting point," Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has continuously matured and been perfected in the practice of cultural construction in the New Era. It was first formally proposed in October 2023 at the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideological and Cultural Work, embodying the collective wisdom of the practical experience of the Chinese Communists of the New Era in leading cultural construction work.

In summary, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture was gradually formed and ultimately established in the Party's work practice of leading cultural construction in the New Era. Its related concepts and viewpoints germinated and first emerged from Comrade Xi Jinping's early political experience in local areas, and developed and matured in the practice of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. It originates from the practical experience of cultural construction; its generation and perfection process embodies a distinct practical logic, and in the future it will inevitably continue to be enriched and perfected along with the advancement of the great practice of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics.

(II) The Inevitable Requirement for Enhancing Cultural Confidence and Safeguarding Cultural Security in the New Era

The proposal of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is an inevitable requirement for enhancing cultural confidence, safeguarding cultural security, and ensuring the steady construction and development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics amidst the tide of globalization and digitalization. The generation and proposal of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture echoes and aligns with the practical needs and practical process of enhancing cultural confidence and safeguarding cultural security in the New Era.

On the one hand, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a positive theoretical response to the practical need for enhancing cultural confidence in the New Era. Since modern times, accompanied by the massive aggression of Western powers, China fell into a state of "national humiliation, people's suffering, and civilization

This cultural inferiority complex, originating from the crisis of cultural loss in modern China, has persisted to the present day. Against the backdrop of increasingly integrated world cultures in the era of globalization, it is all the more prone to giving rise to many practical dilemmas in cultural construction, such as a crisis of cultural subjectivity and risks to cultural security. Therefore, the practical needs of cultural construction in China in the New Era urgently require Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture—an advanced cultural theory—to correct cultural mindsets, guide cultural development, and carry out the contemporary reconstruction of the cultural confidence of the Chinese nation. Firmly establishing cultural confidence is a profound source of strength for safeguarding national security, a basic cultural stance of the Chinese Communists, and an inevitable requirement for enhancing national cohesion and centripetal force in the New Era and for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through cultural construction. The formulation of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture precisely responds to the practical needs of constructing a national cultural mindset and cultural values in the New Era, answers the practical call for the contemporary construction of Chinese cultural confidence, and possesses a distinct practical orientation and profound practical implications.

On the other hand, the practice of safeguarding national cultural security in the New Era calls for the guidance of a new cultural theory. Since reform and opening up, China’s cultural security has faced numerous challenges. First, the deep development of globalization has triggered cultural collisions, giving rise to many cultural security issues such as ideological confusion and the worship of foreign things. In the globalization initially dominated by Western countries, China’s cultural development was in a weak position, and China’s cultural industries and traditional cultural concepts were directly impacted by Western-led globalization. Second, the proliferation of information technology in the internet and digital age has brought about cultural chaos in the realms of public opinion and values. Western countries, leveraging internet information technology, have carried out cultural infiltration into China, causing harmful cultures and erroneous ideological trends to negatively influence or even undermine China’s cultural and value systems. Third, under Western ideological infiltration and cultural expansion, China’s cultural security is threatened, and its cultural values face the risk of Westernization and division. Western cultural hegemony and cultural imperialism are the deep-seated causes of China’s cultural security problems.

The practical problems of national cultural security likewise call for a response from advanced cultural theory. Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture is precisely a response to the security dilemmas faced in the practice of socialist cultural construction. Oriented toward solving the real problems of cultural security, it is an inevitable requirement of the practice of cultural construction. Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture “clarifies the roadmap and task book for cultural construction in the New Era” and proposes strategies to address the security problems encountered in the practice of cultural construction from the following aspects:

First, “ideological work is the work of establishing the heart for the nation and the soul for the people,” and “ideology determines the direction and path of cultural development.” Firmly grasping the leadership, management, and discourse power over ideological work is crucial for safeguarding national cultural security and is an important aspect of cultural construction in the New Era. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “The work of propaganda and ideology is to consolidate the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological domain and to consolidate the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of the entire Party and the entire people.” The cultural infiltration and ideological incursion of Western capitalist countries into China’s ideological domain seriously threaten and erode China’s cultural security. Whether ideological work can be done well and the healthy development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics can be guided concerns the future and destiny of the Party, concerns the long-term stability and security of the nation, and concerns national cohesion and centripetal force. Therefore, it is necessary to strive to build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and guiding force, and to fortify the barrier of national cultural security.

Second, to safeguard national cultural security, “it is necessary to strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over propaganda and ideological work, and to clearly and unequivocally uphold the principle of the Party managing propaganda.” Strengthening the Party’s cultural leadership is a proposition put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping based on a profound insight into the laws of cultural construction, inheriting and developing the important principle of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Party management of culture,” and directly confronting the problems and challenges facing national cultural security in the New Era. From the “fourteen emphases” on cultural construction at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development in June 2023 to the “seven efforts” at the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology, and Cultural Work in October 2023, both clearly insist on upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over propaganda, ideology, and cultural work. Only under the leadership of the Party, and only when the entire people are closely united in their ideals and beliefs, values, and moral concepts, will China’s cultural security be more solid.

Finally, “if we cannot get through the challenge of the internet, we cannot get through the challenge of long-term governance.” Under the conditions of informatization, safeguarding online cultural security is an important part of propaganda, ideology and cultural work. General Secretary Xi Jinping, standing at the forefront of the times and of science and technology, and after analyzing the laws of online cultural dissemination and the mechanisms of generation and evolution of online public opinion, has pointed out that “the development of the internet poses new challenges to national sovereignty, security and development interests.” It is necessary to strengthen awareness of online cultural security, “strengthen the construction of online content, establish a comprehensive system for online governance, and create a clear and bright cyberspace,” and cultivate a positive, healthy, upward and virtuous online culture. Without cybersecurity there is no national security. Under the conditions of informatization in the internet era, mastering the leading role in public opinion, building concentric circles online and offline, better consolidating social consensus, and consolidating the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of the whole Party and the entire people are the keys to safeguarding national cultural security.

Beyond this, the concepts advocated in Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought—such as consolidating the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, constructing philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture, building a Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative system, and guiding cultural construction with core socialist values—also forcefully respond to the practical needs of cultural construction for enhancing cultural confidence and safeguarding cultural security. In sum, the formulation of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought is an inevitable requirement for enhancing cultural confidence and safeguarding cultural security in the New Era. It systematically answers the practical problems of cultural inferiority and security dilemmas that Chinese cultural construction has long faced, coordinates cultural confidence and cultural security, and points the way forward for the healthy and stable development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

(3) The Practical Guidance for the Flourishing Development of Socialist Culture in the New Era

While enhancing cultural confidence and safeguarding cultural security, Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought is also committed to promoting cultural flourishing. It points out the practical path for cultural flourishing in the New Era and is a scientific action guide “born of the needs of the era for the flourishing development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.”

“Spiritual poverty is not socialism,” and “realizing the Chinese Dream is a process in which material civilization and cultural-ethical progress develop side by side.” Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought focuses on cultural-ethical progress, making detailed plans and practical deployments on how to promote the flourishing and prosperity of socialist culture, and clearly states that “continuing to promote cultural flourishing at the new historical starting point” is one of the new cultural missions of the New Era. Specifically, promoting the construction of a flourishing socialist culture requires efforts in the following two aspects.

At the macro level, promoting cultural flourishing means promoting the flourishing of cultural undertakings and the cultural industry. In October 2023, the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology and Cultural Work put forward the “seven efforts” [3]3 The “seven efforts” (七个着力) refer to a set of priorities for cultural work announced at the 2023 National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology and Cultural Work, covering areas such as leadership of the Party, core socialist values, public opinion, cultural undertakings and industry, cultural confidence, international communication, and cultural security. strategy for cultural construction, clearly stating the need to “make efforts to promote the flourishing development of cultural undertakings and the cultural industry.” Cultural undertakings and the cultural industry, as two major components of cultural construction in the New Era, are related to the effectiveness of cultural construction work, to whether the cultural needs of the people can be met and their spiritual strength enhanced, and to whether the cultural rights and interests of the people can be guaranteed and the level of social civility raised. They are concrete practical tasks of cultural construction in the New Era. On the new journey of the New Era, to flourish and develop cultural undertakings and the cultural industry, it is necessary to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought, ensuring that cultural undertakings and the cultural industry always follow the correct direction; to adhere to the people-centered value orientation, continuously enhancing the people’s sense of cultural gain, happiness and satisfaction, and constantly raising the level of public cultural services; to focus on using advanced socialist culture, revolutionary culture, and fine traditional Chinese culture to cultivate roots and nourish the soul; to make efforts to narrow the gap between urban and rural public cultural services, and deeply implement cultural projects benefiting the people; to make efforts to deepen the reform of the cultural system, and comprehensively strengthen the construction of the modern cultural industry system. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “When measuring the quality and level of development of the cultural industry, the most important thing is not to look at economic benefits.” Socialist cultural undertakings and the cultural industry must highlight social benefits and must contribute to the development and flourishing of socialist culture. This is the mission and task of the development of cultural undertakings and the cultural industry.

At the micro level, promoting cultural flourishing means promoting a cultural flourishing that comprehensively covers and coordinates the advancement of journalism and publishing, radio, film and television, literature and art, and philosophy and social sciences. “Comprehensively flourishing the undertakings of journalism and publishing, radio, film and television, literature and art, and philosophy and social sciences” is the specific field of action proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping for promoting the flourishing development of socialist culture. It stipulates that the cultural flourishing of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a great cultural flourishing that is broad in coverage, diverse in categories, rich in variety, and abundant in achievements. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC listed “the people’s spiritual and cultural life becoming richer” as one of the main targets and tasks for China’s development in the next five years. To ensure its smooth completion, it is necessary, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought, to provide the people with higher-quality and richer cultural products, and to realize an all-round, multi-field great flourishing and great development of socialist culture.

In sum, a great era calls for cultural flourishing and gives birth to great cultural thought. Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought points out the practical path for the flourishing development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and is a scientific action guide for promoting cultural flourishing in the New Era.

II. The Theoretical Logic of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought

Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought embodies a profound theoretical logic. It enriches and develops Marxist cultural theory, representing the Sinicized and modernized Marxist cultural theory; it inherits and innovates the cultural construction thought of the Communist Party of China, marking that our Party’s understanding of the laws of cultural construction has reached a new height; it critiques and transcends Western civilizational thought, advocating the promotion of the common values of all humanity, promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and creating a new form of human civilization.

(1) Inheritance and Innovation of Marxist Cultural Theory

Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought combines Marxist cultural theory with the concrete realities of Chinese cultural construction in the New Era, scientifically answering the major epochal proposition of “what is socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era, and how to build and develop it.” It achieves the latest development in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times in the field of cultural theory, embodying both theoretical inheritance and epochal innovation.

In his speech at the ceremony marking the 200th anniversary of Marx’s birth, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “To study Marx, we must study and practice Marx’s thought on cultural construction.” Marxist cultural theory is rich in content. It is the reflection and understanding of the phenomenon of “culture” by the classical Marxist writers. Starting from the understanding that “culture is the objectified activity of human essential forces,” it reveals the causes of the emergence of culture and the laws of its development, summarizes the characteristics of culture such as nationality, class character, people’s character, inheritance, and openness, explores the relationship between culture and economy and politics, and discusses the essence, connotation, function and role of culture. Based on a thorough analysis of the laws of the development of human social culture, Marxist cultural theory exposes the cultural contradictions of capitalist society, explores the internal mechanisms of the transformation of social civilization, and points out that the cultural function of communism lies in creating people who are freely and fully developed.

Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, as the contemporary presentation of the Marxist view of culture, originates from its inheritance of Marxist cultural theory and is a natural extension and rational integration of this theory based on historical and practical development. Specifically, first, Xi Jinping’s cultural thought inherits and develops the Marxist cultural theory’s view of the people, proposing that propaganda, ideology and cultural work in the New Era must adhere to a people-centered work orientation; literature and art should reflect the people’s voices, be people-centered, and take meeting the people’s cultural-ethical needs as the starting point and落脚点 [n4] of literature, art and cultural work. “If China’s philosophy and social sciences are to achieve something, they must adhere to a people-centered research orientation. Divorced from the people, philosophy and social sciences will have no appeal, no power to influence, no impact, no vitality.” Second, Xi Jinping’s cultural thought inherits and develops the Marxist cultural theory’s view of practice. It focuses on many concrete practical issues in the development of cultural industries and undertakings, such as the protection of historical and cultural heritage, the building of a cyber power, and news and publishing. It has both innovations and breakthroughs in cultural theoretical viewpoints and deployment requirements in the layout of cultural work, embodying the distinctive practical characteristic of “understanding the substance and applying it, integrating substance and application” (明体达用、体用贯通). Third, Xi Jinping’s cultural thought inherits and develops the Marxist cultural theory’s view of openness. It is “a constantly unfolding, open-ended ideological system” and will inevitably continue to reflect on the development of practice in the future, constantly innovating and enriching itself as the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics advances. Fourth, Xi Jinping’s cultural thought inherits and develops the Marxist view that culture has a political and ideological character, pointing out that cultural construction in the New Era must strengthen the Party’s cultural leadership, cultivate core socialist values, master the dominant power over public opinion under the conditions of informatization, consolidate the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, adhere to common ideals, values and moral concepts, and promote the excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, so as to unite all the people closely together in thought and spirit.

In summary, Xi Jinping’s cultural thought is both in the same lineage as Marxist cultural theory and innovative. It emerged in response to the practice of cultural construction in the New Era, is more suited to the reality of China’s cultural development, and is more closely integrated with the actual interests of the Chinese people.

(II) Inheritance and Development of the Chinese Communist Party’s Cultural Thought

The Chinese Communist Party has always represented the forward direction of China’s advanced culture; it is the leader of China’s cultural construction, the pioneer of cultural transformation, and the helmsman of cultural development. The Chinese Communist Party’s cultural thought, in line with the advancement of the practice of revolution, construction and reform, has successively undergone theoretical-form evolution from the New Democratic cultural view, the socialist cultural view, to the cultural view of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the cultural view of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. This demonstrates the theoretical logic of both maintaining the same lineage and advancing with the times in the development of thought, leading China to achieve a great leap in cultural construction from promoting “cultural emancipation,” devoting itself to “cultural transformation,” and attempting “cultural reflection,” to enhancing “cultural confidence” and pursuing “cultural self-strengthening.”

Mao Zedong scientifically defined the connotation of culture and its position in the social structure, expounded the characteristics and future direction of New Democratic culture, and put forward the cultural methodology of “letting a hundred flowers bloom, letting a hundred schools of thought contend” (双百) and “making the past serve the present, making foreign things serve China” (两用), as well as the cultural orientation of “serving the masses of the people.” Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to the importance of socialist cultural-ethical progress and the prominent role of intellectuals in the construction of socialist culture, restored the “letting a hundred flowers bloom, letting a hundred schools of thought contend” policy, proposed the “serving the people, serving socialism” (二为) direction for cultural construction, and formulated the “three orientations” (三个面向) [n5] cultural and educational policy. Jiang Zemin deeply elaborated the connotation of culture with Chinese characteristics, emphasized that advanced culture must be elevated to the height of building the Party and governing the country, proposed that culture with Chinese characteristics is an important indicator of comprehensive national strength, and that “the all-round development of the human person” is the ultimate goal of cultural development. Hu Jintao proposed that “building a harmonious culture” is an important task in constructing a harmonious socialist society, established the cultural strategic goal of enhancing the country’s cultural soft power and striving to build a socialist cultural power, and creatively put forward the historical proposition of “building a socialist core value system.”

Xi Jinping’s cultural thought is the culmination of the Chinese Communists’ cultural thought. It inherits, continues, innovates and develops the Party’s fine tradition of cultural construction in many aspects, such as the view of cultural essence, cultural values, cultural concepts and cultural development. This marks that our Party’s understanding of the laws governing the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics has reached a new height, and shows that our Party’s historical confidence and cultural confidence have reached a new height. In the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has raised the banner, gathered the people’s hearts, educated

(3) Critique and Transcendence of Western Civilizational Thought

Western civilization takes the “civilization–barbarism” dichotomy as its ideological foundation. In the colonial history of violent plunder, it gradually formed a cultural value orientation of “Western civilizational superiority” that endogenously expands outward, creating cultural value concepts centered on “power,” “conflict” and “civilizational hierarchy.” With the global expansion of Western civilization, the “theory of Western civilizational superiority” it professes has given rise to Western cultural centrism, endowing Western culture with a self-proclaimed “universality” and “superiority,” and causing widespread value opposition and cultural conflict across the world. For a long time, such Western civilizational ideas as the clash of civilizations, cultural colonization, cultural hegemonism, cultural imperialism, cultural nihilism, and elitist cultural views — all laced with erroneous ideology — have been rampant, becoming harmful cultural factors that threaten world peace and undermine human solidarity. People must clearly recognize that Western capitalist civilization can never be the universal form or the final form of human civilization, still less can it alone determine the future direction of human civilization. How to contend with Western civilizational ideas tinged with “expansion,” “universality,” “hegemony,” “conflict” and “centrism,” while upholding the dominance and independence of one’s own national culture, safeguarding the subjectivity and security of one’s national culture, and constructing a new type of civilizational outlook characterized by harmonious mutual learning, co-prosperity and co-existence — this has become a major issue of the times that all countries must explore.

Xi Jinping’s thought on culture drives the evolution of the current world cultural pattern from Western cultural centrism toward non-Western cultural awakening, from cultural hegemony toward cultural pluralism, and from cultural conflict toward cultural integration. It breaks free from the Western civilisational shackles and cultural constraints of “monistic universalism, central superiority, hegemonic conflict”, and stresses that “intercivilisational exchanges and mutual learning are an important driving force for the progress of human civilisation and the peaceful development of the world”, that “civilisations are not superior or inferior, but only different in their characteristics and regions, and that they can only be integrated through exchange and can only progress through integration”, and that it is necessary to “respect the diversity of world civilisations, transcend civilisational estrangement through civilisational exchange, transcend civilisational conflict through civilisational mutual learning, and transcend civilisational superiority through civilisational coexistence”. General Secretary Xi Jinping is committed to resolving the difficult question of “where human civilisation is headed”. He has proposed the Global Civilisation Initiative, advocating the resolution of civilisational conflict through civilisational dialogue, the replacement of civilisational hegemony with civilisational equality, and the resistance to civilisational centrism with civilisational pluralism. This leads the relations among human civilisations in the correct direction and provides a Chinese solution for maintaining world peace and development, promoting goodwill among human civilisations, strengthening international people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, enriching the garden of world civilisations, and reshaping the world cultural pattern. On the premise of respecting the diversity and equality of world civilisations, strengthening civilisational exchanges and mutual learning, attaching importance to civilisational inheritance and innovation, promoting the common values of all humanity, and constructing a new form of human civilisation – this is precisely the concept of civilisation for the New Era contained in Xi Jinping’s thought on culture.

Moving from criticising “civilisational superiority” toward realising “civilisational coexistence” demonstrates the critique and transcendence of Western civilisational thought within Xi Jinping’s thought on culture. In the fierce debate and collision with Western civilisational thought, Xi Jinping’s thought on culture has gradually achieved theoretical maturity.

III. The Value Implications of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture

Xi Jinping’s thought on culture carries forward and continues the excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture. It guides and deploys the current cultural construction of the Party and the state, and plans the future direction of Chinese cultural development. It is a scientific theoretical system that runs through the unity of the three meanings of the past, the present, and the future, and is rich in profound value implications.

(I) Bearing the Past: Carrying Forward the Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture, Revolutionary Culture, and Advanced Socialist Culture

The excellent traditional culture nurtured by the splendid history of the Chinese nation over more than five thousand years, and the revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture created by the Communist Party of China over more than a hundred years in the great practice of leading the people in revolution, construction, reform, and the New Era, constitute the profound historical foundation and precious spiritual wealth of China’s cultural construction. These “three cultures” are jointly forged into the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for the New Era, jointly shape the unique cultural lifeline and spiritual character of the Chinese nation, and jointly promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the construction of a spiritual homeland in the New Era. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly summarised the five prominent characteristics of Chinese civilisation – continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness – and pointed out that the “three cultures” of excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture embody the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation, represent the unique spiritual symbols of the Chinese nation, and are the eternal spiritual guides and common value principles for generations of Chinese people. Cultural construction work in the New Era must focus on inheriting, promoting, and developing the “three cultures”, drawing cultural strength from them.

The excellent traditional Chinese culture is the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation, its prominent advantage, and its deepest cultural soft power. It is the historical foundation for constructing a shared spiritual homeland for Chinese culture. With its profound cultural accumulation and valuable intellectual resources, the excellent traditional Chinese culture constitutes the historical root of Xi Jinping’s thought on culture. Carrying forward the Chinese cultural lineage with a modern perspective and promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture demonstrates the important value of Xi Jinping’s thought on culture for inheriting and developing Chinese civilisation. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasised the historical influence and contemporary significance of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, endowing it with new contemporary connotations and modern forms of expression. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that in dealing with traditional culture, it is necessary not only to pass it on from generation to generation and protect it, but also to keep pace with the times and innovate by discarding the outdated, and that “we must strengthen the excavation and elucidation of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, so that the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese nation adapt to contemporary culture and coordinate with modern society”.

Revolutionary culture is a unique spiritual symbol and special cultural form nurtured in the practice of revolutionary struggle led by the Communist Party of China. It is an important component of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. To inherit and endow revolutionary culture with new contemporary connotations in the New Era is to focus on inheriting the red genes and carrying forward the red lineage. “Carrying forward the red lineage is a major issue for the construction of a Marxist ruling party.” In the New Era, it is necessary to “strengthen research on revolutionary history and deeply explore the ideological connotations behind red resources”, and to refine, promote, and pass on the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists represented by the great founding spirit of the Party, the Jinggangshan spirit, the Long March spirit, the Yan’an spirit, the Xibaipo spirit, the spirit of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the “two bombs and one satellite” spirit, the anti-epidemic spirit, and the spirit of fighting poverty. [6]6 The “Nine Insistences” (九个坚持), “Fourteen Emphases” (十四个强调) and “Seven Priorities” (七个着力) are successive sets of guiding principles for cultural and ideological work articulated by Xi Jinping at different points in the New Era, each building on the previous one. The revolutionary culture, represented by the revolutionary spirit, serves as a spiritual banner to guide contemporary social trends and provides strong cultural support for constructing a shared spiritual homeland for the Chinese nation. Promoting and inheriting revolutionary culture in the New Era has great value implications, as it provides an excellent cultural foundation for cultivating a spirit of the times centred on reform and innovation.

Advanced socialist culture demonstrates the strong vitality and significant superiority of socialism, represents the requirements of the development of advanced productive forces, the direction of advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people, and is an important spiritual force for promoting cultural development and guiding cultural construction in the New Era. Promoting advanced socialist culture, which is guided by Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and the system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics, embodies national characteristics, and keeps pace with the development of the times; adhering to using scientific theory to point the way, correct public opinion to unite hearts and minds, advanced culture to shape the soul, and excellent works to inspire morale – this can continuously strengthen the ideals, convictions, and cultural confidence of the entire nation, significantly improve the people’s spiritual outlook and the level of social civility, and greatly enhance the country’s cultural soft power and cultural influence. This is the important value reflected in carrying forward and promoting advanced socialist culture in the New Era.

The necessary path for carrying forward the “three cultures” lies in combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture on the profound historical foundation of more than five thousand years of Chinese civilisation and more than a hundred years of Chinese revolution, construction, and reform. Adhering to the “Second Integration” – the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture – is a major innovation of Xi Jinping

To carry forward the “three cultures” [1]1 The “fourteen emphases” (十四个强调) refer to fourteen key points on cultural construction emphasized by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development in June 2023., we must also strengthen cultural confidence, uphold an open and inclusive cultural mindset, integrate Chinese and foreign elements, and dialectically draw on all outstanding achievements of human civilization. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “To inherit and promote traditional Chinese culture does not mean standing still and closing our eyes to the world. The Chinese nation is a nation that is inclusive and embraces all, and in the long course of history it has constantly learned from the good things of others and turned them into its own, thereby forming its own national characteristics.” [2]2 The “seven efforts” (七个着力) refer to seven areas of focus for propaganda, ideology, and cultural work outlined by Xi Jinping at the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology, and Cultural Work in October 2023. “Since ancient times, Chinese civilization has been known for its openness and inclusiveness, and it has constantly radiated new vitality through exchange and mutual learning with other civilizations.” [3]3 The “seven efforts” (七个着力) refer to a set of priorities for cultural work announced at the 2023 National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology and Cultural Work, covering areas such as leadership of the Party, core socialist values, public opinion, cultural undertakings and industry, cultural confidence, international communication, and cultural security. In the New Era, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture, we must inherit and develop fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture with an open, inclusive and confident attitude. While upholding the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, we must promote the localization of outstanding foreign cultures, achieve the integration of Chinese and foreign elements, the linking of past and present, dialectical selection and innovation, realize the organic connection between tradition and modernity, between East and West, carry forward the historical cultural lineage, and write a glorious chapter of the times.

Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture places the construction of socialist culture within the long river of history in which Chinese civilization is inherited and transmitted, examines it within the historical currents of the evolution and development of socialist civilization, and grasps it within the historical background of the surging and flourishing of human civilization. It embodies profound historical thinking, deep historical vision and rich historical wisdom, and highlights the important value of achieving the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture in the New Era.

(II) Serving the Present: Systematic Deployment of Cultural Construction Work in the New Era

Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture, based on the conditions of the world, the country and the Party in the new stage of the New Era, has made systematic plans and strategic deployments for China’s cultural construction, embodying the distinctive feature of “understanding the substance and applying it, with substance and application integrated” [4]4 The "clash of civilizations" thesis was popularized by Samuel Huntington in his 1993 article and subsequent 1996 book, arguing that post-Cold War conflicts would be primarily cultural and religious rather than ideological or economic., and achieving the organic unity of theoretical innovation in culture and the layout of cultural work. Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture takes “application” as its goal, adheres to a problem-oriented and practice-oriented approach, and, from the perspective of the integration of worldview and methodology, points out the main tasks and realization paths for China’s cultural construction in the New Era. This is reflected both in the roadmaps, task books and mobilization orders at the level of cultural construction planning, and in the deployment of a series of engineering projects in cultural construction practice. It is a program of action that must be implemented and carried out in China’s cultural construction in the New Era.

In the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has taken charge

From the “Nine Insistences” to the “Fourteen Emphases” and then to the “Seven Priorities,” these are the systematic strategic deployments successively made by General Secretary Xi Jinping in response to the practice of China’s current cultural construction work. They run through General Secretary Xi Jinping’s overall planning for the cultural development cause, profoundly answer the major issues of direction, overall situation and strategy in cultural construction in the New Era, and provide a powerful ideological weapon and scientific action guide for doing a good job in propaganda, ideology and cultural work on the new journey of the New Era and for shouldering the new cultural mission. The “Nine Insistences” are the programmatic requirements put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping for propaganda and ideology work in the New Era, and are practical guidelines that must be firmly adhered to, thoroughly implemented and strictly carried out in carrying out the Party’s propaganda and ideology work in the New Era. The “Fourteen Emphases” are General Secretary Xi Jinping’s systematic summary of the laws governing China’s current cultural construction, pointing out the direction of development for the conduct of cultural construction work. The “Seven Priorities” are the roadmap and task book formulated by General Secretary Xi Jinping for the current deployment of China’s cultural construction. They constitute an organic whole composed of seven important elements in cultural construction work, which are interconnected, closely linked and indispensable, and accurately grasp the key points and focal points of cultural construction with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.

The era is the mother of thought. Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought was established in the practice of cultural construction in the current historical period, focuses on the tasks of cultural construction in the current historical period, and is summarized from the experience of cultural construction in the current historical period. It is the theoretical sublimation of the Party’s regular understanding formed in leading cultural construction in the New Era, and it is also a great action guide that guides the prosperity and flourishing of Chinese culture in the irreversible historical process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, embodying profound contemporary value and rich significance of the times.

(III) Facing the Future: Drawing the Grand Blueprint for the Development of Chinese Culture

Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought inherits history, guides the present, and moreover, facing the future, draws the grand blueprint for the development of Chinese culture, embodying the important value implication of steering and leading the future direction of cultural construction. The “new cultural mission for the New Era” proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, namely “to continue to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural country, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation at a new starting point,” clarifies the “two constructions” vision for China’s cultural development in the coming period, pointing out the direction and drawing a grand blueprint for the cause of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics and the sustainable prosperity and development of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

Regarding the grand blueprint for building a socialist cultural strong country, the “Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035,” reviewed and approved at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, established the timetable and roadmap for building a cultural strong country by 2035. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC put forward the target requirement of building a cultural strong country by 2035. “A significant increase in the country’s cultural soft power,” “a happier and better life for the people,” and “more notable substantive progress in the well-rounded development of people and common prosperity for all” are the inherent requirements of building a socialist cultural strong country. The goal of building a cultural strong country is a grand blueprint formulated by General Secretary Xi Jinping for China’s cultural development with far-sighted vision, profound historical insight and broad historical perspective at a new historical starting point, and it occupies a prominent position and has important value in advancing the strategy of comprehensively building a modern socialist strong country.

Furthermore, the inevitable path of cultural development that is unified with the process of building a cultural strong country is to build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a grand blueprint drawn by General Secretary Xi Jinping for the realization of the modern transformation of Chinese civilization. It is a new form of civilization pursued by the construction of a socialist cultural strong country leading the development of Chinese culture. It is the product of absorbing and drawing on all achievements of human civilization and creatively transforming and innovatively developing fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture. It runs through ancient and modern times, East and West, originates from historical inheritance, modern transformation and civilizational integration, contains both the prominent characteristics and national spirit of fine traditional Chinese culture, and endows them with distinct contemporary features and modern spirit, forming an organically unified new cultural life entity. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new ideas, new viewpoints and new assertions on “building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation” profoundly discern the general trend of China’s cultural construction and the evolution of human civilization, manifest the high confidence of Chinese Communists in the brilliant future of Chinese civilization, and possess extremely strong guidance, foresight and leadership for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation from the cultural level.

In sum, the grand goal of “the new cultural mission for the New Era” [7]7 “The new cultural mission for the New Era” (新时代新的文化使命) refers to the task, set forth by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development in June 2023, of continuing to promote cultural prosperity, build a strong cultural nation, and develop a modern Chinese civilization for the Chinese nation. proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping manifests the broad historical vision of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture that links the past and the present, takes root in the present, and looks to the future. It is a profound embodiment of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s forward-looking thinking, overall planning, strategic layout and holistic deployment for the building of a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture grasps the general trend of history, takes the historical initiative, and closely integrates the practical concern for cultural construction with the strategic planning of cultural development. It has drawn a grand blueprint for creating the prosperity and enduring continuity of Chinese civilization, highlighting its important value in ensuring the steady and long-term progress of China’s cultural construction in the future.

Source: *Research on Teaching of Marxist Theory*, 21 October 2024

Online editor: Jing Mu