The Philosophical Implications of Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought and the Construction of Cultural Discourse Power

“Culture is the soul of a country and a nation.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed cultural development in a prominent position in the governance of the country. In October 2023, the National Conference on Propaganda, Ideology and Cultural Work formally proposed Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought. This important thought not only points out the development path for contemporary Chinese cultural construction in practice, but also contains profound philosophy concerning culture and cultural construction in theory. This article offers a preliminary exploration of these profound philosophical implications.

“文化是一个国家、一个民族的灵魂。”党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央把文化建设摆在治国理政的突出位置。2023年10月，全国宣传思想文化工作会议正式提出习近平文化思想。这一重要思想不仅在实践上指明了当代中国文化建设的发展道路，而且在理论上蕴含着关于文化和文化建设的深刻哲理。本文就这些深刻哲理作初步探索。

I. The Spiritual-Level Structure of the Social Cultural System

一、社会文化体系的精神层面结构

The meaning of “culture” is very complex. “Culture” in the broad sense echoes “nature” and generally refers to all man-made things. Cultural construction is a component of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan; it does not refer to culture in the broad sense in a general way, but rather to humanity’s spiritual production activities and their spiritual products. It permeates every field of social practice and runs through the entire process of social life, thereby forming a social cultural system. Its spiritual level is the content of social culture, which is also expressed through various material carriers.

文化”的含义十分复杂。广义的“文化”（culture）与“自然”（nature）相呼应，泛指一切人造事物。文化建设是“五位一体”总体布局的组成部分，并非泛泛而谈的广义文化，而是指人类精神生产活动及其精神产品。它渗透于社会实践各领域，贯穿于社会生活全过程，由此形成社会文化体系，其精神层面是社会文化内容，同时也通过各种物质载体表现出来。

Core values are the spiritual bond that holds society together. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Any society has a variety of values and value orientations. To unite the will and strength of the whole society, there must be a set of core values that are compatible with the economic base and political system and can form broad social consensus. Otherwise, a nation will have no spiritual bond to rely on, and a country will have no common ideological and moral foundation.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 17. Core values belong to the category of social culture; they are the reflection of the social economic base in people’s minds and express the value goals that the social community wants to achieve. To be truly realized, they must be put into practical activity. From this inevitably arises a contradiction between core values and objective reality that does not depend on people’s subjective will. To resolve this contradiction, it is necessary to form programmatic thought. At the macro level, this becomes the guide for national decision-making; at the micro level, it becomes the code of conduct for the people.

核心价值观是维系社会的精神纽带。习近平总书记指出：“任何一个社会都存在多种多样的价值观念和价值取向，要把全社会意志和力量凝聚起来，必须有一套与经济基础和政治制度相适应、并能形成广泛社会共识的核心价值观。否则，一个民族就没有赖以维系的精神纽带，一个国家就没有共同的思想道德基础。”核心价值观属于社会文化范畴，是社会经济基础在人们头脑中的反映，表达社会共同体想要实现的价值目的。而要真正得到实现，必须付诸实践活动。由此，必然产生核心价值观与不以人们的主观意志为转移的客观现实之间的矛盾。为了解决这个矛盾，必然要求形成纲领性思想。它在宏观上成为国家的决策指南，在微观上成为民众的行为规范。

Programmatic thought needs to be expressed through a complete set of discourse systems. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Attention must be paid to strengthening the construction of the discourse system… We must be good at refining identifying concepts, creating new concepts, new categories, and new expressions that are easy for the international community to understand and accept, and guide the international academic community to carry out research and discussion.” [2]2 “Color revolutions” refers to a series of political movements and uprisings that began in the early 2000s in post-Soviet states and other regions, often characterized by the use of a specific color or flower as a symbol, and widely seen as attempts by Western powers to install pro-Western governments through non-violent means. The “discourse system” thus constructed is the form of expression of programmatic thought. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the programmatic thought of the New Era, and the core value of “people-centered” runs through it. As the general outline, programmatic thought generates three spiritual branches through three paths — “knowledge, emotion, and will” — thereby forming the structure of the spiritual level of social culture.

纲领性思想需要通过一整套话语体系来表达。习近平总书记指出：“要注意加强话语体系建设。……要善于提炼标识性概念，打造易于为国际社会所理解和接受的新概念、新范畴、新表述，引导国际学术界展开研究和讨论。”由此建构的“话语体系”是纲领性思想的表达形式。习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想是新时代的纲领性思想，“以人民为中心”的核心价值观贯穿始终。纲领性思想作为总纲，通过“知、情、意”三条路径，生成三条精神支脉，由此生成社会文化的精神层面的结构。

First, through the rational path of “entering the brain,” that is, constructing the theoretical foundation of programmatic thought — the knowledge systems of various philosophical and social sciences — and using the power of reason to conquer people’s minds. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “The foundation that supports the discourse system is the system of philosophy and social sciences. Without one’s own system of philosophy and social sciences, there is no discourse power.” [3]3 The “military-industrial complex” is a term popularized by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1961 farewell address, referring to the close, symbiotic relationship between a nation’s armed forces, its defense industry, and the political and economic interests that support them. Programmatic thought is contained within the knowledge systems of philosophy and social sciences; the latter are the theoretical embodiment of the former. This kind of theoretical research can only be undertaken by the various branches of philosophy and social sciences. Their task is to use programmatic thought to analyze and study various social fields, forming the theoretical foundation that supports programmatic thought — the knowledge systems of the various philosophical and social sciences — thereby “entering the brain” through the rational path and convincing people with reason. *Capital* is a model of this kind of knowledge system; it provides scientific demonstration for the programmatic thought of the *Communist Manifesto*, giving it powerful theoretical support.

其一，通过理性路径“入脑”，即构建纲领性思想的学理基础——各门哲学社会科学知识体系，用理性的力量征服人们的头脑。习近平总书记指出：“支撑话语体系的基础是哲学社会科学体系。没有自己的哲学社会科学体系，就没有话语权。”纲领性思想蕴含在哲学社会科学知识体系中，后者是前者的学理化体现。这种学理化的研究只能由各门哲学社会科学来承担，其任务是用纲领性思想分析研究各社会领域，形成支撑纲领性思想的学理基础——各门哲学社会科学知识体系，由此通过理性路径“入脑”，以理服人。《资本论》是这种知识体系的典范，它使《共产党宣言》的纲领性思想得到科学论证，具有了强大的学理支撑。

Second, through the emotional path of “entering the heart,” that is, constructing the emotional foundation for identifying with programmatic thought, displaying the humanistic sentiments of programmatic thought through news, public opinion, literature, and art, and using emotional power to conquer people’s hearts. Through emotionally resonant narrative and artistic images that go straight to the heart, and through the logic of events and emotions inherent in the logic of human feelings, it evokes people’s inner emotional resonance with core values and cultivates people’s identification with programmatic thought. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Great causes need great spirit. To realize this great cause, the role of literature and art is irreplaceable, and literary and art workers have great potential to contribute.” [4]4 The term “disaster capitalism” was coined by Canadian author Naomi Klein in her 2007 book *The Shock Doctrine*, describing the practice of using large-scale disasters—whether natural, economic, or political—to push through radical free-market policies and corporate interests. Lu Xun’s *Call to Arms* awakened people’s strong anti-feudal consciousness; the *March of the Volunteers* aroused the anti-Japanese fighting spirit of hundreds of millions of Chinese people; the opera *The White-Haired Girl* aroused countless soldiers and people to rush to the front lines of the War of Liberation; news reports on the deeds of heroic models are deeply moving — all these demonstrate the immense spiritual power of literature and art.

其二，通过情感路径“入心”，即构建认同纲领性思想的情感基础，通过新闻舆论与文学艺术展示纲领性思想的人文情怀，用情感力量征服人心。用直抵人心的感性叙事与文艺形象，通过人类情感逻辑的事理与情理，唤起人们内心对核心价值观的情感共鸣，培育人们对纲领性思想的认同。习近平总书记指出：“伟大事业需要伟大精神。实现这个伟大事业，文艺的作用不可替代，文艺工作者大有可为。”鲁迅的《呐喊》唤醒人们反封建的强烈意识，《义勇军进行曲》唤起中华民族亿万民众的抗日斗志，歌剧《白毛女》唤起无数战士与民众奔赴解放战争前线，关于英雄模范人物事迹的新闻报道震撼人心，这些都体现了文学艺术的巨大精神力量。

Third, through the path of interpersonal interaction of “entering ritual,” through public ceremonies and ritual customs that embody programmatic thought, constructing the social collective will and its behavioral norms in line with programmatic thought. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “For a value to truly play its role, it must be integrated into social life, allowing people to perceive it and comprehend it in practice, reaching a state where ‘the people use it daily without being aware of it’.” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Cultivate and Promote Core Socialist Values” (October 15, 2014), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 1, Foreign Languages Press, 2024, p. 192. The “people use it daily without being aware of it” here refers to values “entering ritual” and being unconsciously integrated into the daily behavior of the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping further points out: “In this respect, ancient China can be said to have reached the extreme; moral education permeated every aspect of clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, words and deeds, using various rituals and systems to regulate and constrain people’s words and deeds, emphasizing ‘Do not look at what is contrary to ritual, do not listen to what is contrary to ritual,’ and ‘Ritual is the norm for people; observing ritual is how one establishes oneself’.” [6]6 Ibid., p. 192. The classical quotations are from the *Analects* and the *Book of Rites*. The sociologist Durkheim divided people’s social life world into two major fields: one is the “profane world” of pursuing worldly interests; the other is the “sacred world” composed of worshipful rituals, “a special world, completely different from the world in which he ordinarily lives, an environment filled with particularly powerful forces that completely possesses him and turns him into another person.” [7]7 Émile Durkheim, *The Elementary Forms of Religious Life*, Free Press, 1995, p. 218. The so-called “sacred objects” are symbolic carriers of the collective power of society; “worship of sacred objects” is essentially the worship of the core values upheld by the social collective, thereby forming the spiritual bond that unites social members and regulates people’s behavior. Therefore, public rituals and folk customs are by no means meaningless “forms,” but important ways to shape people’s spiritual beliefs.

其三，通过人际交往活动路径“入礼”，通过体现纲领性思想的公共典礼与礼仪习俗，构建符合纲领性思想的社会集体意志及其行为规范。习近平总书记指出：“一种价值观要真正发挥作用，必须融入社会生活，让人们在实践中感知它、领悟它，达到‘百姓日用而不知’的程度。”这里的“百姓日用而不知”，指的是价值观通过“入礼”而不知不觉地融入到百姓日常行为中。习近平总书记进而指出：“在这方面，我国古代可以说是做到了极致，道德教育渗透到衣食住行、言谈举止各个方面，通过各种礼仪、制度来规范和约束人们的言行，强调‘非礼勿视，非礼勿听’，‘礼者人之规范，守礼所以立身也’。”社会学家涂尔干将人们的社会生活世界分为两大场域：一是追求世俗利益的“世俗世界”；二是由崇拜性仪式构成的“圣物世界”，“一个特殊的世界，一个和他平时生活的世界完全不同的世界，这个充满了各种特别强大的力量的环境完全占有了他，使他变成了另外的人”。所谓“圣物”乃是社会集体力量的符号化载体，“圣物崇拜”本质上是对社会集体奉行的核心价值观的崇拜，由此形成凝聚社会成员的精神纽带，规范人们行为。因此，公共礼仪与民俗民风绝非无意义的“形式”，而是塑造人们精神信仰的重要途径。

II. The Material Carriers of the Spiritual Level of Social Culture

二、社会文化精神层面的物质载体

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: “Core values are the spiritual bond that holds a nation together and the common ideological and moral foundation of a country.” [8]8 Xi Jinping, “Cultivate and Promote Core Socialist Values” (October 15, 2014), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 1, Foreign Languages Press, 2024, p. 189. The “spiritual bond” is the spiritual relationship between people; the spiritual level of social culture is essentially the social spiritual relationship between people. This spiritual relationship cannot exist abstractly; it must pass through material carriers to generate a real spiritual relationship. The material carriers of culture constitute the material level of the social cultural system, appearing in the surrounding world.

习近平总书记强调：“核心价值观是一个民族赖以维系的精神纽带，是一个国家共同的思想道德基础。”“精神纽带”是人们之间的精神关系，社会文化的精神层面本质上是人们的社会精神关系。这种精神关系不可能抽象地存在，必须通过物质载体，才能生成现实的精神关系。文化的物质载体构成社会文化体系的物质层面，呈现在周遭世界。

First, the material carriers of the spiritual production activities of social culture: the human brain, which carries out spiritual production, is itself the most important material carrier of cultural activities, and the survival of the human brain requires material resources for nourishment. At the same time, cultural production activities require a series of material conditions such as pen, ink, paper, computers, and networks. Spiritual production activities such as painting, calligraphy, song and dance, drama, and film require countless equipment and devices. Without material carriers, the spiritual production activities of culture cannot be carried out.

一是社会文化的精神生产活动的物质载体：进行精神生产的人脑本身就是文化活动最重要的物质载体，而人脑的生存需要物质资料来滋养。同时，文化生产活动需要笔墨纸张、电脑网络等一系列物质条件。书画歌舞、戏剧电影等精神生产活动需要无数设备器材。没有物质载体，无法进行文化的精神生产活动。

Second, the material carriers required for the presentation, storage, and transmission of cultural products: books and pictures are among the most basic material carriers of culture. At the same time, spiritual products permeate material production, so that all material products, such as craft products, gardens, and architecture, bear social culture, because “man also builds according to the laws of beauty.” [9]9 Karl Marx, *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*, in *Marx & Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 3, Progress Publishers, 1975, p. 277. In the digital age, databases, digital museums, etc., have become important material carriers of culture.

二是文化产品呈现、存储、传承所需的物质载体：书籍图画是文化的最基本的物质载体之一。同时，精神产品渗透于物质生产中，使得一切物质产品，如工艺产品、园林建筑等无不承载社会文化，因为“人也按照美的规律来构造”。在数字化时代，数据库、数字博物馆等成为文化的重要物质载体。

Third, the material carriers of the social dissemination of culture: media such as books, newspapers, radio, television, and mobile internet undertake the function of cultural dissemination. The internet is one of the most important material carriers; it can digitize all cultural products and carry out cultural dissemination at an exponential growth rate.

三是文化的社会传播的物质载体：书刊报纸、广播电视、移动互联网等媒介承担文化传播功能。互联网是其中最重要的物质载体之一，它能够将一切文化产品数字化，并且以指数级增长速度进行文化传播。

Fourth, social public cultural facilities: museums, libraries, cultural centers, art galleries, science and technology museums, memorial halls, sports venues, and so on. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the construction of public cultural infrastructure. He points out, “Museums are important halls for the preservation and transmission of human civilization, bridges connecting the past, present, and future, and play a special role in promoting exchanges and mutual learning among world civilizations,” and “We must improve the public cultural service system, strengthen the construction of grassroots venues and facilities, so that every village, every township, and every county can extensively carry out cultural and sports activities. … Accelerate the construction of libraries, cultural centers, gymnasiums, children’s palaces, etc.” [10]10 Xi Jinping’s remarks on museums and public cultural services, drawn from speeches on cultural development.

四是社会公共文化设施：博物馆、图书馆、文化馆、美术馆、科技馆、纪念馆、体育场馆等。习近平总书记十分重视公共文化基础设施建设。他指出，“博物馆是保护和传承人类文明的重要殿堂，是连接过去、现在、未来的桥梁，在促进世界文明交流互鉴方面具有特殊作用”，“要完善公共文化服务体系，加强基层场地设施建设，让村村、乡乡、县县都可以广泛开展文化体育活动。……加快图书馆、文化馆、体育馆、少年文化宫等建设”，等等。

Without material carriers, cultural production cannot proceed, and cultural products cannot exist. The spiritual production process of culture and its products both have a dual character—their spiritual level constitutes the spiritual social relations that serve as the spiritual bond and moral foundation of society, while their material level constitutes the material carriers and material conditions for establishing these spiritual relations. The dialectical unity of the two constitutes actual social culture. The philosophical principle contained in Xi Jinping’s cultural thought is the creative extension and development of Marx’s principle of the dual character of labor in material production activities into the field of human spiritual production activities, and is an important innovation and development of historical materialism in the New Era.

离开物质载体，文化生产无法进行，文化产品无法存在。文化的精神生产过程及其产品都具有双重性质——其精神层面是作为社会的精神纽带和道德基础的精神性社会关系，其物质层面是建立这种精神关系的物质载体和物质条件，二者的辩证统一构成现实的社会文化。习近平文化思想蕴含的这一哲理，是马克思关于物质生产活动的劳动二重性原理向人类精神生产活动领域的创造性延伸与发展，是唯物史观在新时代的重要创新和发展。

As is well known, Engels attributed Marx’s great contributions throughout his life to two major discoveries: historical materialism and the theory of surplus value. *Capital*, as the encyclopedia of Marxism, simultaneously contains these two discoveries. The principle of the dual character of labor proposed in *Capital* is not only “the pivot around which the understanding of political economy turns” but can also be extended to the entire field of history, becoming the “pivot” for understanding the whole of historical materialism—that is, the “pivot” linking the historical development of social relations with the natural material laws of the production process. Why does the historical development of society have objective laws? This is the fundamental question that historical materialism must answer. The answer to this question cannot, like Dühring, simply define society as a special kind of matter within the “all-embracing unique existence,” thereby possessing objective lawfulness. This kind of “proof by a magician’s three words” that the world is unified in matter, which defines the conclusion itself within the premise, is a tautology, equivalent to saying nothing, and moreover confuses social laws with natural material laws. Only through the principle of the dual character of labor discovered by Marx, grounded in human practice, can this question be profoundly answered. The reason why the historical development of society has objective laws is that all practical activities that create history are both material processes of transforming the objective world, thus possessing the natural materiality of following objective natural laws, and social activities that produce social relations among people, thus possessing sociality. All social relations must be realized through natural material processes, and are therefore constrained by objective natural laws, giving rise to the objective lawfulness of the historical development of social relations. This is the natural extension of the principle of the dual character of labor, because labor is the most fundamental activity that creates history. Precisely because of this, all actual social relations are necessarily constrained by objective natural laws; natural laws thus enter the social domain and are elevated to a higher level of law—the law of social history, which originates from natural laws yet transcends them, thereby yielding the basic viewpoint of historical materialism.

众所周知，恩格斯将马克思一生的伟大贡献归结为两大发现：唯物史观与剩余价值学说。作为马克思主义百科全书的《资本论》同时蕴含着这两大发现。《资本论》提出的劳动二重性原理不仅是“理解政治经济学的枢纽”，而且也可以延伸到整个历史领域，成为理解整个唯物史观的“枢纽”，即将社会关系的历史发展与生产过程的自然物质规律联结起来的“枢纽”。为什么社会的历史发展具有客观规律？这是唯物史观要回答的根本问题。对这个问题的解答不能像杜林那样，简单定义社会是“包罗万象的唯一存在”之中的特殊物质，从而具有客观规律性。这种由“魔术师的三两句话所证明”的世界统一于物质，将结论本身定义于前提中，是一种同语反复，等于什么也没说，而且把社会规律混同于自然物质规律。只有通过马克思发现的劳动二重性原理，立足于人类实践，才能深刻地解答这个问题。社会的历史发展之所以具有客观规律，是因为一切创造历史的实践活动既是改造客观世界的物质过程，从而具有遵循客观自然规律的自然物质性；同时也是生产出人们之间的社会关系的社会活动，从而具有社会性。一切社会关系必须通过自然物质过程来实现，因而受到客观自然规律的制约，由此产生了社会关系的历史发展的客观规律性。这就是劳动二重性原理的自然延伸，因为劳动是最根本的创造历史的活动。正因如此，一切现实的社会关系必然受到客观自然规律的制约，自然规律由此进入社会领域，升华为更高层次的规律——社会历史规律，它源于自然规律而又高于自然规律，由此得到唯物史观的基本观点。

Within such a historical materialism, the spiritual content of the social cultural system is people’s spiritual social relations, which are the reflection of material relations of production in people’s minds. And these spiritual relations must be realized through certain material carriers and material conditions; the social cultural system thus formed is the dialectical unity of the spiritual level and the material level.

在这样的唯物史观中，社会文化体系的精神内容是人们的精神性社会关系，它是物质生产关系在人们头脑中的反映。而这种精神关系又必须通过一定的物质载体和物质条件才能实现，由此形成的社会文化体系是精神层面与物质层面的辩证统一。

III. The Mechanism for Generating Discourse Power in the Social Cultural System

三、社会文化体系的话语权生成机制

The British sociologist Michael Mann says: “Societies are constituted of multiple overlapping and intersecting sociospatial networks of power.” [11]11 Michael Mann, *The Sources of Social Power*, Vol. 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 1. Here, “power” refers to the social relations of domination and subordination, including economic power, political power, and spiritual power. Only when the spiritual level of culture is combined with its material level can spiritual power be formed. “Spiritual power” is not a coercive power of domination, but a kind of “spiritual influence,” which is realized through discursive forms, hence it is called “cultural discourse power.” Cultural discourse power is the “intersubjective spiritual relationship” of actual people, the spiritual influence of people over people, and therefore possesses class character and national character. The discourse power of Western “universal values” is not the influence of a mysterious “universal spirit” detached from people and society over people, but the spiritual domination of the masses by monopoly capital groups under the signboard of “universal human nature.” The discourse power of socialist culture is the spiritual influence of the advanced culture of the advanced class and its political party, representing the fundamental interests of the people, over the people. Xi Jinping’s cultural thought contains profound philosophical principles concerning the mechanism for generating discourse power, specifically comprising the following three links.

英国社会学家迈克尔·曼说：“社会是由多重交叠和交错的社会空间的权力网络构成的。”这里的“权力”指人们支配与被支配的社会关系，包括经济权力、政治权力和精神权力。文化的精神层面与物质层面相结合，才能形成精神权力。“精神权力”不是强制性支配权，而是一种“精神影响力”，它是通过话语形式实现的，故称为“文化话语权”。文化话语权是现实的人的“主体际精神关系”，是人对人的精神影响力，因而具有阶级性与民族性。西方“普世价值”的话语权，不是脱离人和社会的神秘“普遍精神”对人的影响力，而是挂着“普世人性”的招牌的垄断资本集团通过精神产品对社会大众的精神支配权。社会主义文化话语权是代表人民根本利益的先进阶级及其政党的先进文化对人民的精神影响力。习近平文化思想蕴含着关于话语权生成机制的深厚哲理，具体包含以下三个环节。

The first link is the spiritual level of social culture, which is the spiritual foundation of cultural discourse power and generates the soft power of culture. Within the spiritual level of social culture, core values determine the moral essence of culture. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Values play a central role in the culture of a given society; the influence of culture is first and foremost the influence of values. The various cultural struggles in the world are essentially struggles over values, also struggles for people’s hearts and ideological struggles, as the saying goes, ‘Strength determines victory or defeat in the short term, but principle determines success or failure through the ages.’” [12]12 Xi Jinping, speech on cultural and ideological work, paraphrasing a classical Chinese saying about the long-term primacy of moral principle over brute force. Whether values are “in principle” determines the essence and foundation of their discourse power. Values that conform to the objective requirements of human survival and development, and thus to the laws of social development, are “in principle”; their essence and foundation are just, while the opposite is unjust. This justness changes with the demands of the development of the times. In the early stage of capitalism, individualist values drove people to liberate themselves from the oppression of feudal theocracy, conforming to the objective requirements of the laws of historical development; their discourse power was “in principle,” and their essence was just. In the present era, however, these values have been thoroughly capitalized, degenerating into a cultural tool for enslaving the world’s peoples, centered on capital and aimed at maintaining hegemonic rule; thus, they are “in force” but not “in principle,” and their essence is unjust. Just cultural discourse power, suppressed by hegemonic force and temporarily in a weak position, ultimately breaks through force and achieves victory because it is “in principle”; hence, “principle determines success or failure through the ages.” This is the basis of our “cultural confidence.”

第一环节是社会文化的精神层面，它是文化话语权的精神基础，产生文化的软实力。在社会文化的精神层面中，核心价值观决定文化的道义本质。习近平总书记指出：“价值观念在一定社会的文化中是起中轴作用的，文化的影响力首先是价值观念的影响力。世界上各种文化之争，本质上是价值观念之争，也是人心之争、意识形态之争，正所谓‘一时之强弱在力，千古之胜负在理’。” 价值观是否“在理”决定其话语权的本质与根基。符合人类生存和发展的客观要求，因而符合社会发展规律的价值观“在理”，其本质和根基是正义的，反之则是非正义的。这种正义性随着时代发展的要求而变化。在资本主义早期阶段，个人主义价值观推动人们从封建神权压迫下解放出来，符合历史发展规律的客观要求，其话语权“在理”，其本质具有正义性；而在现时代，这种价值观已经彻底资本化了，堕落为以资本为中心、以维护霸权统治为目的的奴役世界人民的文化工具，因而其“在力”不“在理”，本质上是非正义的。正义的文化话语权遭遇霸权强力的打压而暂时处于弱势，但因其“在理”，最终总能突破强力而取得胜利，所以“千古之胜负在理”。这就是我们“文化自信”的依据。

Within the spiritual level of social culture, its spiritual “penetrative power” determines the depth of cultural discourse power. This “penetrative power” is the degree of force with which it “enters the brain,” “enters the heart,” and “enters ritual” through rational pathways, emotional pathways, and pathways of interpersonal interaction. To enhance this “penetrative power,” philosophy and social sciences should conform to rational logic, news and public opinion and literature and art should conform to emotional logic, and etiquette and customs should conform to the logic of social interaction; these are manifestations of the laws of human thought in different aspects.

在社会文化的精神层面中，其精神“渗透力”决定文化话语权的深度。这种“渗透力”即通过理性路径、情感路径与人际交往活动路径而“入脑”“入心”“入礼”的力度。要提高这种“渗透力”，哲学社会科学应符合理性逻辑，新闻舆论与文学艺术应符合情感逻辑，礼仪习惯应符合社会交往逻辑，它们是人类思维规律在不同方面的表现。

In the spiritual dimension of social culture, the overall systematicity of the cultural structure determines the firmness of cultural discourse power. Programmatic thought runs through all branches of philosophy and social sciences, echoing and supporting each other, forming a holistic spiritual force. The reason why Western discourse power still occupies a dominant position today is, at the spiritual level, that the bourgeoisie, after centuries of academic management, has embedded its “universal values” and programmatic thought into various branches of philosophy and social sciences, forming a complete set of interlocking disciplinary knowledge systems: including a philosophical knowledge system based on the structure of the individual subject, an ethical and legal knowledge system based on abstract human nature, a political science knowledge system based on social contract theory, an economic knowledge system based on marginal utility analysis, etc. These form an interconnected overall system that generates holistic power. At the same time, this knowledge system also permeates various news, public opinion, and literary and artistic works in a narrative and perceptual manner, shaping people’s behavior through various rituals and customs into daily life. The seemingly motley cultural hodgepodge thus formed is in fact a mutually supportive, systematized cultural system. Although full of fallacies, it is difficult to shake because of its interconnected systematicity—for any partial impact will encounter systematic resistance and rejection from the entire system, thereby enhancing the firmness of its discourse power. Socialist culture also needs to establish a spiritual cultural structure with a high degree of holism.

在社会文化的精神层面中，文化结构的整体系统性决定文化话语权的牢固程度。纲领性思想贯穿于哲学社会科学各部门之中，相互呼应相互支撑，形成具有整体性的精神力量。西方话语权之所以至今仍然占主导性地位，其精神层面的原因是资产阶级经过数百年的学术经营，已经将其“普世价值”及其纲领性思想贯穿于各门哲学社会科学，形成了一整套环环相扣的学科知识体系：包括以个人主体结构为基础的哲学知识体系、以抽象人性论为基础的伦理学和法学知识体系、以社会契约论为基础的政治学知识体系、以边际利益分析为基础的经济学知识体系等，它们构成相互响应的整体系统而产生整体力量。同时这种知识体系也以叙事性感性方式渗透于各种新闻舆论与文学艺术作品之中，通过各种礼仪习俗进入日常生活塑造着人们的行为。由此形成的看似光怪陆离的文化大杂烩，实则是相互支撑的系统化的文化体系。尽管充满谬误，但因其相互关联的系统性而难以撼动——因为某一局部性冲击会遭到整个体系的系统性抵抗与拒斥，从而增强其话语权的牢固程度。社会主义文化也需要建立具有高度整体性的精神文化结构。

In the spiritual dimension of social culture, the inclusiveness and openness of culture determine the resilience and development space of cultural discourse power. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Chinese civilization has a prominent inclusiveness, which fundamentally determines the historical orientation of the Chinese nation’s interactions, exchanges, and integration, determines the harmonious pattern of the coexistence of multiple religious beliefs in China, and determines the open-mindedness of Chinese culture to absorb all that is fine from world civilizations.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 17. The inclusiveness of social culture under the guidance of programmatic thought has at least the following functions: first, it meets the diverse spiritual needs of different social members, broadening the circle of identification with that culture; second, through debate, it can maintain the public heat of that culture, enhancing the public’s attention and participation; third, it provides space for self-correction and free development for that culture to meet challenges; fourth, it enriches that culture through mutual learning with the civilizations of the world. A uniform cultural form often loses the space for development in keeping with the times, harming its discourse power.

在社会文化的精神层面中，文化的包容度与开放性决定文化话语权的韧性与发展空间。习近平总书记指出：“中华文明具有突出的包容性，从根本上决定了中华民族交往交流交融的历史取向，决定了中国各宗教信仰多元并存的和谐格局，决定了中华文化对世界文明兼收并蓄的开放胸怀。”在纲领性思想统摄下的社会文化的包容性，至少具有以下作用：一是满足不同社会成员的多样化精神需求，拓宽该文化的认同圈；二是通过争论能够保持该文化的舆论热度，增强民众的关注度与参与度；三是提供该文化应对挑战的自我纠正空间与自由发展空间；四是使该文化通过与世界各国文明互鉴而丰富自身。千篇一律的文化形式往往失去与时俱进的发展空间，伤害其话语权。

The second link is the material dimension of social culture, which is the material foundation for cultural production and dissemination, determining the hard power by which culture is realized. The discourse power of the spiritual dimension of social culture must be realized through material carriers to become actual discourse power, and the spiritual dimension does not automatically translate into material carriers; it must be implemented by mastering the ownership and use rights of material carriers. Whoever owns the material carriers of culture holds the power to choose, control, and disseminate social culture, forming the hard power within cultural discourse power. The reason why the capitalist cultural system can form a strong actual discourse power is that the capital groups and their state forces that promote this culture monopolize the cultural material carriers of the entire society and even the international community, and through the capitalization of culture, carry out the expanded reproduction of culture, generating a powerful material system for cultural production and dissemination: investing huge amounts of capital to establish educational research institutions and various think tanks to control the production of spiritual products, carrying out the expanded reproduction of culture; setting up various funds and awards to select cultural products, formulating the value orientation and selection standards of social culture; establishing transnational media institutions and academic publishing institutions, film and television production institutions, and network communication systems, monopolizing the global communication channels of cultural products, etc. Contemporary Western capitalist culture, centered on capital and aimed at hegemony, possesses the hard power to monopolize international cultural discourse power. While occupying people’s spiritual world with spiritual opium, it also uses the invisible hand of culture to extract huge profits from people’s pockets, realizing the accumulation of cultural capital, while the broad masses fall into the accumulation of both spiritual and material poverty.

第二环节是社会文化的物质层面，它是文化生产和传播的物质基础，决定文化得以实现的硬实力。社会文化的精神层面的话语权必须通过物质载体方能成为现实的话语权，而精神层面不会自动付诸物质载体，必须通过掌握物质载体的所有权和使用权方能实施。谁拥有文化的物质载体的所有权，谁就拥有对社会文化的选择权、支配权与传播权，形成文化话语权中的硬实力。资本主义文化体系之所以能够形成强大的现实话语权，是因为推行这种文化的资本集团及其国家力量垄断了全社会乃至国际社会的文化物质载体，并且通过文化资本化，进行文化的扩大再生产，生成文化生产与传播的强大物质体系：投入巨额资本兴办教育研究机构和各类智库以支配精神产品生产，进行文化的扩大再生产；设立各种基金奖项选择文化产品，制定社会文化的价值取向与选择标准；建立跨国传媒机构和学术出版机构、影视制作机构、网络传播系统，垄断文化产品的全球传播渠道等。以资本为中心、以霸权为目标的当代西方资本主义文化，拥有了垄断国际文化话语权的硬实力，在用精神鸦片占领人们精神世界的同时，又用文化的无形之手从人们口袋中攫取巨额利润，实现文化资本的积累，而广大民众则陷入精神与物质的双重贫困积累。

The third link is the degree to which cultural products meet the spiritual needs of the audience, which determines the audience’s identification with that culture. After the spiritual dimension is conveyed to society through material carriers, it must also be recognized by the audience to ultimately generate spiritual influence. This identification depends on the degree to which cultural products meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the audience. The spiritual and cultural needs of the audience are the pursuit of ideal goals generated by people in practice. The more closely cultural products align with the ideal goals pursued in the audience’s minds, the more identification and resonance they generate, and thus the stronger the cultural discourse power formed.

第三环节是文化产品对受众精神需求的满足程度，它决定受众对该文化的认同度。精神层面通过物质载体传达到社会之后，还需要被受众认同，才能最终生成精神影响力。这种认同取决于文化产品对受众的精神文化需求的满足程度。而受众的精神文化需求，乃是人们在实践中产生的对理想目标的追求。文化产品与受众心目中追求的理想目标越契合，就越能产生认同和共鸣，进而所形成的文化话语权就越强。

The “ideal goals” pursued by people are not determined by abstract human nature but, in the final analysis, by social existence: first, determined by the current reality of social existence, which depends on people’s cognition of real society, including direct personal experiential cognition and “indirect experiential” cognition obtained through media; second, formed by the generational accumulation of culture from historical social existence and transmitted through education across generations.

人们追求的“理想目标”，不是由抽象人性决定的，归根到底是由社会存在决定的：一是由当下现实的社会存在所决定，它取决于人们对现实社会的认知，包括亲身的直接经验认知与通过传媒得到的“间接经验”认知；二是由历史上的社会存在通过文化的世代积累所形成，并且通过教育而世代传递。

The above three links outline the formation mechanism of cultural discourse power: the spiritual structure of social culture is the soft power foundation of cultural discourse power; its material carriers determine the hard power by which cultural discourse power is realized; the degree to which cultural products meet the spiritual needs of the people determines their identification with the culture, thereby generating actual discourse power, with education and media playing a huge role in this process.

以上三个环节是文化话语权形成机制的轮廓：社会文化的精神层面结构是文化话语权的软实力基础，其物质载体决定文化话语权得以实现的硬实力，文化产品对民众精神需求的满足程度决定其对文化的认同度，由此生成现实的话语权，教育与传媒在其中发挥着巨大作用。

IV. The Historical Mission of China’s Cultural Discourse Power Construction under the Changes Unseen in a Century

四、百年未有之大变局下我国文化话语权建设的历史使命

The world today is facing changes unseen in a century. China’s great historical process of advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization is precisely carried out against this background. In this process, China’s cultural construction, especially the construction of cultural discourse power, undertakes two major historical missions: first, to counter the encirclement and suppression of the cultural discourse hegemony of the United States and Western capitalist countries, thwarting their plots to incite color revolutions [2]2 “Color revolutions” refers to a series of political movements and uprisings that began in the early 2000s in post-Soviet states and other regions, often characterized by the use of a specific color or flower as a symbol, and widely seen as attempts by Western powers to install pro-Western governments through non-violent means. to block China’s modernization process; second, to establish and develop a just socialist cultural discourse power, using powerful spiritual strength to unite the Chinese people in striving for the great cause of national rejuvenation, while also using cultural strength to unite people of all countries, promote the common values of all humanity, and actively build a community with a shared future for mankind. We need to follow the formation mechanism of cultural discourse power to accomplish these two major historical missions.

当今世界面临百年未有之大变局。我国以中国式现代化推进中华民族伟大复兴的伟大历史进程正是在这一时代背景下进行的。在这个过程中，我国的文化建设，特别是文化话语权建设，承担着两大历史使命：一是应对美西方资本主义国家文化话语霸权的围堵打压，挫败其煽动颜色革命以阻断我国现代化进程的图谋；二是建立和发展正义的社会主义文化话语权，用强大的精神力量团结我国人民为实现民族复兴伟业而奋斗，同时也用文化的力量团结世界各国人民，弘扬全人类共同价值，积极构建人类命运共同体。我们需要遵循文化话语权的形成机制来完成这两大历史使命。

(I) The Root Causes of the Western “Discourse Hegemony Anomaly” and the Inevitability of Its Collapse

（一）西方“话语霸权怪象”产生根源及其破灭的必然性

As capital moves from free competition to international monopoly, the fundamental contradictions of capitalism deepen day by day. The socialization of contemporary productive forces has developed to a highly globalized level, yet the capital that possesses and controls these globalized productive forces is highly concentrated in the hands of international capital groups (especially the “military-industrial complex”). [3]3 The “military-industrial complex” is a term popularized by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1961 farewell address, referring to the close, symbiotic relationship between a nation’s armed forces, its defense industry, and the political and economic interests that support them. The hegemonic states representing the fundamental interests of monopoly capital groups practice double standards on values, resort to any means to fabricate illusions, cover up the truth, slander and frame China and other developing countries, provoke world conflicts and even wars, and through military and political deterrence, force other countries to attach themselves to their hegemonic system. Western scholars call such capitalism “disaster capitalism”—capitalism that maintains its hegemonic rule by creating human disasters. [4]4 The term “disaster capitalism” was coined by Canadian author Naomi Klein in her 2007 book *The Shock Doctrine*, describing the practice of using large-scale disasters—whether natural, economic, or political—to push through radical free-market policies and corporate interests.

随着资本从自由竞争走向国际垄断，资本主义根本矛盾日益加深。当代生产力的社会化已经发展到高度全球化的水平，而占有和控制这种全球化生产力的资本却高度集中在国际资本集团（尤其是“军工复合体”）手中。代表垄断资本集团根本利益的霸权国家，实行价值双标，不择手段地制造假象、掩盖真相，造谣诬陷中国等发展中国家，挑起世界冲突乃至战争，通过军事政治威慑，迫使他国依附其霸权体系。西方学者将这样的资本主义称为“灾难资本主义”(Disaster Capitalism)——通过制造人类灾难来维护其霸权统治的资本主义。

Yet the hegemonic state that has brought such calamities to humanity can still stand at the so-called “moral high ground” to dominate international discourse, and the “universal values” it trumpets are still taken as a standard by many. This is the most incomprehensible “discourse hegemony anomaly” in the contemporary world, creating a situation in which “the international public opinion landscape is one where the West is strong and we are weak,” posing a serious threat to our national security. The hegemonic state uses its discourse hegemony to portray the game in which monopoly capital groups compete for political power through competing for votes as a “liberal democratic system,” forms so-called “international democratic alliances,” incites so-called “color revolutions” to “replace authoritarianism with democracy,” and undermines our modernization process. General

然而，给人类带来如此灾难的霸权国家居然仍能站在所谓“道义制高点”主导国际话语权，其鼓吹的“普世价值”仍被许多人奉为圭臬。这是当代世界最不可思议的“话语霸权怪象”，造成了“国际舆论格局是西强我弱”，对我国国家安全构成严重威胁。霸权国家利用其话语霸权，把垄断资本集团用争夺选票的方式争夺政治权力的游戏说成“自由民主制度”，结成所谓“国际民主联盟”，煽动所谓“民主取代威权”的“颜色革命”，破坏我国现代化进程。习近平总书记一针见血地指出：“各种敌对势力一直企图在我国制造‘颜色革命’，妄图颠覆中国共产党领导和我国社会主义制度。这是我国政权安全面临的现实危险。他们选中的一个突破口就是意识形态领域，企图把人们思想搞乱，然后浑水摸鱼、乱中取胜。”

How did this strange phenomenon arise? General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Some among us, even comrades within the Party, have failed to see the hidden machinations here. They ask: Western ‘universal values’ have been around for centuries—why can’t we identify with them? Why can’t we borrow some Western political discourse? If we accept them, what great loss would we suffer? Why must we go against the grain? Some people regard Western theories and Western discourse as golden rules and immutable laws, and unknowingly become trumpeters of Western capitalist ideology.” What is the “hidden machination” in the discourse power of Western “universal values”? This merits deep investigation.

这种怪象是怎么产生的？习近平总书记指出：“我们有些人甚至党内有的同志却没有看清这里面暗藏的玄机，认为西方‘普世价值’经过了几百年，为什么不能认同？西方一些政治话语为什么不能借用？接受了我们也不会有什么大的损失，为什么非要拧着来？有的人奉西方理论、西方话语为金科玉律，不知不觉成了西方资本主义意识形态的吹鼓手。”西方“普世价值”话语权“暗藏的玄机”是什么？值得深究。

The “hidden machination” of Western cultural discourse hegemony, at the spiritual level, is the discursive trap of “universal values.” So-called “universal values” constitute a system of discourse that, in name, advocates “the supremacy of individual freedom,” but in essence is a commodity-fetishist discourse system “centered on capital.” One important reason it possesses such strong spiritual power is that it is supported by a corresponding system of philosophical and social scientific knowledge. These knowledge systems are constructed using methods that conform to human rational thought, appearing in the guise of so-called “science,” so that people who revere “science” unconsciously become its spiritual captives. Yet their theoretical premises are fictitious, and from these they construct a fictitious “ideal social order.” The “hidden machination” of this discursive trap is as follows.

西方文化话语霸权“暗藏的玄机”，在精神层面是“普世价值”话语陷阱。所谓“普世价值”，乃是一套名义上鼓吹“个人自由至上”，实质上“以资本为中心”的资本拜物教话语体系。它之所以具有很强的精神权力，重要原因之一是有一套相应的哲学社会科学知识体系作为支撑。这些知识体系采用符合人类理性思维的方法来建构，以所谓“科学”的面貌出现，使崇尚“科学”的人们不知不觉地成为它的精神俘虏，然而其理论前提却是虚构的，并且由此构造出虚构的“理想社会秩序”。这套话语陷阱“暗藏的玄机”如下。

The object of study of philosophy and social sciences is, by its very nature, the real social relations generated by social practice and the real people shaped by them. However, Western philosophy and social sciences strip away all the real social relations in which people are situated, deriving “abstract individuals” divorced from social relations. They treat these as conceptualized “free persons in the universal sense,” carry out logical deductions, fabricate a social structure composed of such “free persons,” take the principles followed as “universal values,” and then construct various systems of philosophical and social scientific knowledge with “individual freedom” as their core value. For example, in the economic sphere, the abstract individual is understood as the self-interested “rational economic man.” Through logical deduction, a system of economic knowledge with the maximization of individual interests as its core value is established, fabricating an “equal private property liberal market structure” that does not exist in reality, which is then upheld as an economic structure that follows “universal values.” In the political sphere, the abstract individual is understood as the free individual in a “state of nature.” Through logical deduction, a political science knowledge system of “social contract theory” is established, fabricating a political power structure produced by equal individuals through elections, which is then upheld as a political structure that follows “universal values.” Capitalist economic structures, political structures, and so on completely conceal the domination of individuals by the power of capital and the manipulation of society by capital. These theories that uphold “universal values” thus become the conclusions of “rational science,” possessing supreme discursive power and being believed by people. Extremists even go so far as to claim that “rejecting universal values means cutting oneself off from humanity.”

哲学社会科学的研究对象本来就是由社会实践生成的现实的社会关系及其塑造的现实的人。然而西方哲学社会科学却抽去人们所处的一切现实的社会关系，得出脱离社会关系的“抽象个人”，将其作为概念化的“普遍意义上的自由人”，进行逻辑演绎，虚构一个由这种“自由人”组成的社会结构，奉行的法则便是“普世价值”，进而由此构造出以“个人自由”为核心价值的各门哲学社会科学知识体系。例如，在经济领域，把抽象个人理解为利己的“理性经济人”，通过逻辑演绎而建立起以个人利益最大化为核心价值的经济学知识体系，虚构一个现实中根本不存在的“人人平等的私有制自由主义市场结构”，奉为遵循“普世价值”的经济结构。在政治领域，把抽象个人理解为“自然状态”下的自由个人，通过逻辑演绎而建立起“社会契约论”的政治学知识体系，由此虚构一个由平等的个人通过选举产生的政治权力架构，奉为遵循“普世价值”的政治结构。资本主义经济结构、政治结构等完全隐匿了资本力量对个人的支配和对社会的操纵。这些奉行“普世价值”的理论于是成为“理性科学”的结论，拥有至上的话语权而被人们信奉，极端者甚至认为“拒绝普世价值就是自绝于人类”。

Thus it can be seen that although the Western philosophical and social scientific knowledge system follows rational logic, its premises are false, because the object of study of any philosophy or social science can only be real social relations and the real people shaped by them. These Western knowledge systems strip away the true object of study of philosophy and social science—the real social relations of humanity. What they establish is therefore not genuine philosophy or social science at all, just as it would be impossible to establish “mechanics” if one stripped away “force” from the real world. The society constructed with this “abstract individual” as its logical starting point is not a real society at all, but a fictitious “society of individual freedom.” Once this fictitious society is applied to the real society dominated by the power of capital, the fictitious “society centered on individual freedom” manifests in reality as a “society centered on capital.” In such a real society, individual freedom becomes freedom measured by the money and capital one possesses. Thus “equal individuals’ freedom of speech” manifests in reality as the freedom of monopolistic cultural capital groups to dominate the global public opinion space, and to sell the “space of freedom of speech” they occupy as a commodity, while the masses are dominated by cultural capital groups. No matter how unequal or brutal reality is, this system of “universal values” discourse is regarded as “eternal truth,” using its fictitious “world of individual freedom and equality” to whitewash a world ruled by hegemonic capital—this is the truth of so-called “universal values.”

由此可见，西方哲学社会科学知识体系，虽然遵循理性逻辑，但前提是虚假的，因为任何哲学社会科学的研究对象只能是现实的社会关系及其塑造的现实的人。这些西方知识体系抽掉了哲学社会科学的真正研究对象——人类的现实的社会关系，由此建立的就根本不是真实的哲学社会科学，正像把现实世界的“力”抽掉，就不可能建立“力学”一样。由这种“抽象个人”作为逻辑起点所构造的社会，根本不是现实的社会，而是虚构的“个人自由社会”。一旦将这种虚构的社会套用于资本权力支配的现实社会，虚构的“以个人自由为中心”的社会，在现实上就表现为“以资本为中心”的社会。在这样的现实社会中，个人自由就变成按照其拥有的金钱和资本来量度的自由。于是“平等的个人的言论自由”，在现实上表现为垄断性文化资本集团霸占全球舆论空间的自由，并且将其占有的“言论自由空间”作为商品来出售，民众被文化资本集团所支配。无论现实如何不平等，如何残酷，这套“普世价值”话语体系却被认为是“永恒真理”，用其虚构的“个人自由平等世界”粉饰霸权资本统治的世界——这就是所谓“普世价值”的真相。

The “hidden machination” of Western cultural discourse hegemony, at the material level, is that monopoly capital, by appropriating the material carriers of culture, dominates the international system of cultural production, dissemination, and evaluation. Monopoly capital establishes schools and think tanks, dominates the production of culture, determines the value orientation of culture by setting up various awards and titles, and monopolizes the channels of cultural dissemination by investing in global media systems. Through its control of the material carriers of culture, it exercises whole-process control over the production, evaluation, and dissemination of social culture, establishing a cultural system centered on the interests of monopoly capital.

西方文化话语霸权“暗藏的玄机”，在物质层面是垄断资本通过占有文化的物质载体，支配国际性文化生产体系、传播体系和评价体系。垄断资本兴办教育、智库，支配文化的生产，通过设立各种奖项、头衔来确定文化的价值取向，通过投资全球传媒体系，垄断文化的传播渠道。通过其掌握文化的物质载体，对社会文化的生产、评价和传播进行全过程控制，建立以垄断资本利益为中心的文化体系。

Monopoly capital’s grip on the material carriers of culture inevitably leads to the broad masses of the people being, to a large extent, deprived of the right to test truth by the standard of practice. People ought to judge the merits of various social cultures and social systems according to the standard of practice. Yet the world is so vast that the direct practice that grassroots people can personally experience amounts to less than one ten-thousandth of it. Each person can only make judgments based on the media information they receive, as “indirect practice.” In today’s highly informationized age, this media information, which serves as “indirect practice,” has already been monopolized by the media controlled by various capital groups. These media select or reject objective facts according to the needs of the capital groups they represent, and even fabricate facts out of thin air and spread lies. Hence the strange phenomenon arises: the “standard of practice” for testing truth is replaced by the “standard of media” that distorts facts, and the Western opinion machine that manufactures lies instead occupies the high ground of “truth.” General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “‘A lie repeated

垄断资本把持文化的物质载体，必然导致广大民众在很大程度上失去了用实践标准来检验真理的权利。人们本来应当根据实践标准来检验各种社会文化与社会制度的优劣。然而世界如此之大，基层民众能够亲历的直接实践不及其万分之一。每个人只能根据所接受的传媒信息，作为“间接实践”而作出判断。在高度信息化的今天，这些作为“间接实践”的传媒信息已经被各资本集团把控的传媒所垄断。这些传媒按照其代表的资本集团的需要，对客观事实进行取舍，甚至无中生有地捏造事实，传播谎言。于是产生了怪现象：检验真理的“实践标准”被歪曲事实的“传媒标准”所取代，制造谎言的西方舆论机器反而占领“真理”高地。习近平总书记明确指出：“‘谎言重复一千遍就会变成真理。’各种敌对势力就是想利用这个逻辑！他们就是要把我们党、我们国家说得一塌糊涂、一无是处，诱使人们跟着他们的魔笛起舞。”美西方资本主义国家占有的文化物质载体是将谎言变成“真理”的工具。

The “hidden trick” of Western cultural discourse power in shaping the spiritual needs of the masses is manifested in populism instrumentalized by monopoly capital. Populism is an irrational trend of thought among the grassroots masses and their spontaneous protest activities. It has a dual character: on the one hand, it expresses certain spontaneous demands of the masses and contains reasonable elements; on the other hand, the foothold of these demands is the individualist values advocated by capitalist culture, and the facts on which they rely often originate from the media system controlled by monopoly capital, thus easily becoming a tool of monopoly capital. Therefore, populism is an irrational monster produced by the mixing of certain spontaneous emotions of the grassroots masses containing reasonable demands with bourgeois liberal values, stirred up by capital-monopolized media. If these reasonable demands fail to be transformed into organized collective forces under the leadership of a political party representing the fundamental interests of the people, but instead are integrated into the discourse system of “universal values” under the manipulation of monopoly capital media, they will degenerate into a destructive force bearing the signboard of some “reasonable demand,” becoming a tool for hegemonic states to promote color revolutions in other countries under the guise of “democracy.” This insidious trick of hegemonic states in diverting the scourge of populism to other countries will inevitably backfire, and a populist explosion will inevitably occur within their own borders.

西方文化话语霸权“暗藏的玄机”在塑造民众精神需求方面的表现，是被垄断资本工具化的民粹主义。民粹主义是社会基层民众的非理性思潮及其自发性抗议活动。它具有两面性：一方面表达了民众的某种自发诉求，含有合理成分；另一方面这种诉求的立足点是资本主义文化鼓吹的个人主义价值观，其依据的事实往往来源于垄断资本控制的传媒体系，由此很容易沦为垄断资本的工具。因此，民粹主义乃是社会基层民众的某种含有合理诉求的自发情绪与资产阶级自由主义价值观相混合，在资本垄断传媒的挑动下产生的非理性怪胎。如果其中的合理诉求未能在代表人民根本利益的政党领导下转化为有组织的集体力量，而是在垄断资本传媒的操纵下被融入“普世价值”话语体系中，就会沦为挂着某种“合理诉求”招牌的破坏性力量，成为霸权国家借“民主”之名在他国推行颜色革命的工具。霸权国家这种把民粹主义祸水引向他国的阴招，必然会反噬自身，其内部必然发生民粹主义大爆炸。

This is the formation mechanism of the “hidden trick” of Western discourse power, which is the manifestation of the general formation mechanism of discourse power under the domination of monopoly capital. While exposing its deceptive nature, we should acknowledge that the rational methods it employs contain reasonable elements that conform to the logic of human thought. Only by distinguishing these reasonable elements from the absurd values of abstract human nature theory can we see through its “hidden trick,” thereby providing both positive and negative experience for building a just cultural discourse power.

这就是西方话语霸权的“暗藏的玄机”的形成机制，它是话语权一般形成机制在垄断资本支配下的表现。我们在揭示其欺骗性本质的同时，应当承认其采用的理性方法含有合乎人类思维逻辑的合理成分。只有将这些合理成分与其抽象人性论荒谬价值观区别开来，才能识破其“暗藏的玄机”，从而为建设正义的文化话语权提供正反两方面经验。

(II) Building Socialist Cultural Discourse Power in the New Era

（二）建设新时代社会主义文化话语权

Facing the current state of discourse power in the world, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The international public opinion landscape is one where the West is strong and we are weak; the major Western media dominate world public opinion, and we often have reason but cannot express it, or even if we express it, it cannot be spread.” [13]13 Xi Jinping, *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Vol. 2, Foreign Languages Press, 2017, p. 443. This not only points out the current situation of “the West is strong and we are weak” in discourse power and its crux, but also contains the basic ideas for the construction of China’s cultural discourse power: to achieve “having reason that can be expressed and, once expressed, can be spread,” thereby gaining broad recognition from the masses.

面对当今世界的话语权现状，习近平总书记指出：“国际舆论格局是西强我弱，西方主要媒体左右着世界舆论，我们往往有理说不出，或者说了传不开。”这既指出了话语权上“西强我弱”的现状及其症结所在，同时蕴含着我国文化话语权建设的基本思路，要实现“有理说得出、说了传得开”，由此获得人民群众的广泛认同。

First, adhere to cultural confidence, build a knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences that reflects the programmatic thought of the New Era, change the situation of “having reason but being unable to express it,” and achieve “having reason that can be expressed.” Cultural confidence is the prerequisite for the construction of cultural discourse power. We must fully leverage the advantage of Marxism’s “people-centered” high ground of human values, the advantage of the high ground of truth in Marxism’s seeking truth from facts and taking real social relations and real people as its research objects, and the advantage of fine traditional Chinese culture, to construct a new type of knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences in human history. While integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture, we should actively engage in people-to-people and cultural exchanges with countries around the world, and promote the common values of all mankind in mutual learning among civilizations. While criticizing the abstract human nature theory in Western philosophy and social sciences, we should absorb its reasonable elements that conform to the laws of human rational thought. Conquer people’s hearts with profound philosophical principles and theoretical logic, change the situation of “having reason but being unable to express it,” and achieve “having reason that can be expressed,” and moreover, express it with full confidence—because we have the guidance of Marxist truth, the accumulation of a civilization history of more than five thousand years, the unprecedented great achievements of Chinese-path modernization, and the peaceful development brought to the people of the world by the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. This is the source of confidence for the knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences in the New Era.

第一，坚持文化自信，建设反映新时代纲领性思想的哲学社会科学知识体系，改变“有理说不出”的状况，实现“有理说得出”。文化自信是文化话语权建设的前提。要充分发挥马克思主义“以人民为中心”的人类价值制高点优势，发挥马克思主义实事求是、以现实的社会关系与现实的人作为研究对象的真理制高点优势，发挥中华优秀传统文化优势，建构人类历史上新型哲学社会科学知识体系。在将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合的同时，积极开展与世界各国的人文交流，在文明互鉴中弘扬全人类共同价值。在批判西方哲学社会科学中的抽象人性论的同时，吸收其符合人类理性思维规律的合理成分。用深刻的哲理学理征服人心，改变“有理说不出”的现状，实现“有理说得出”，而且还要理直气壮——因为我们有马克思主义真理的指导，有五千多年文明史的积淀，有中国式现代化的史无前例的伟大成就，有“一带一路”建设给世界人民带来的和平发展，这是新时代哲学社会科学知识体系的底气所在。

At the same time, efforts should be made to combine the construction of the knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences with literary and artistic creation, expressing profound philosophical principles and theoretical logic through vivid facts and human feelings, with “storytelling” as an important method. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We should organize various wonderful and refined story carriers, embedding the Chinese path, Chinese theory, Chinese system, Chinese spirit, and Chinese strength within them, so that people want to listen and love to listen, and after listening, they have something to think about and something to gain.” [14]14 Xi Jinping, *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Vol. 2, At the same time, attention should be paid to the construction of ritual systems and folk customs, “according to the basic requirements of the core socialist values, improve the rules and regulations of all walks of life, perfect codes of conduct such as市民公约 (civic conventions), 乡规民约 (village rules and folk agreements), and student codes, so that the core socialist values become the basic guidelines for people’s daily work and life,” [15] making this set of value systems “enter the brain,” “enter the heart,” and “enter the rites.”

同时，要努力使哲学社会科学知识体系建设与文学艺术创作相结合，把深刻的哲理学理通过鲜活的事理情理表达出来，“讲故事”是其重要方式。习近平总书记指出：“要组织各种精彩、精炼的故事载体，把中国道路、中国理论、中国制度、中国精神、中国力量寓于其中，使人想听爱听，听有所思，听有所得。”同时注重礼仪制度与民俗民风建设，“要按照社会主义核心价值观的基本要求，健全各行各业规章制度，完善市民公约、乡规民约、学生守则等行为准则，使社会主义核心价值观成为人们日常工作生活的基本遵循”，使这样一套价值观念体系“入脑”“入心”“入礼”。

Second, make full use of new quality productive forces to carry out the material-level construction of China’s cultural system, change the situation of “being expressed but unable to be spread,” and achieve “being expressed and able to be spread.” One important reason why Western cultural discourse power can dominate world public opinion is that monopoly capital groups possess powerful cultural material carriers and occupy international public opinion space. The current era is in a period of historical transformation where new quality productive forces are replacing traditional productive forces. We must fully utilize this historical opportunity, take the material foundation construction of China’s cultural system as a huge space for the development of new quality productive forces, and establish a world-class cultural production and dissemination system based on new quality productive forces. The successful advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative will effectively enhance China’s international cultural discourse power.

第二，充分利用新质生产力，进行我国文化体系的物质层面的建设，改变“说了传不开”的局面，实现“说了传得开”。西方文化话语权之所以能够主导世界舆论，其重要原因之一是垄断资本集团占有强大的文化物质载体，占领国际舆论空间。当今时代正处于新质生产力取代传统生产力的历史变革时期，要充分利用这一历史机遇，把我国文化体系的物质基础建设作为新质生产力的巨大发展空间，建立世界一流的以新质生产力为基础的文化生产、传播体系。“一带一路”的成功推进，将会有效提升我国的国际文化话语权。

Third, leverage the natural alignment between the “people-centered” values and the spiritual needs of the masses, so that socialist culture gains broader recognition from the masses, thereby generating a just discourse power that represents the direction of historical progress. Youth are the future of the country and the nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “To run ideological and political courses well is to carry out Marxist theory education, use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to forge souls and educate people, guide students to enhance their confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, deeply cultivate patriotic sentiments, and consciously integrate the love for the country, the ambition to strengthen the country, and the action to serve the country into the struggle to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, build a modern socialist power, and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” [16] Use vivid facts and profound yet simple reasoning to expose the discourse trap of Western “universal values,” using this as a breakthrough to cultivate the spiritual needs of the broad masses (especially young students) for a just culture. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “It should be admitted that, in terms of mastering and applying international discourse power, we are generally novices; on many occasions, we still parrot others, and there is even a phenomenon of abandoning our own to imitate others.” [17] To overcome this state, we should critically draw on the effective methods of disseminating Western cultural discourse power, while resolutely exposing its despicable acts of fabricating rumors and deceiving the public with fallacies, propagate truth with the reasoning of seeking truth from facts, and win the trust of the people with sincerity. “As long as we closely connect with the people, often go deep among the people, firmly rely on the people, sincerely take the people as our teachers, honestly learn from the people, and humbly seek advice from the people, we can obtain an inexhaustible source of practical strength and theoretical wisdom.” [18] We should analyze and study the spiritual and cultural needs and psychological characteristics of different groups, truly understand public opinion and the people’s hearts, use the “people-centered” values to unite the Chinese people in the struggle for Chinese-path modernization, and guide the people of all countries to identify with the important concept of “building a community with a shared future for mankind.”

第三，发挥“以人民为中心”的价值观和人民群众的精神需求之间天然契合的优势，使社会主义文化受到人民群众更为广泛的认同，由此生成代表历史前进方向的正义话语权。青年是国家、民族的未来。习近平总书记指出：“办好思政课，就是要开展马克思主义理论教育，用新时代中国特色社会主义思想铸魂育人，引导学生增强中国特色社会主义道路自信、理论自信、制度自信、文化自信，厚植爱国主义情怀，把爱国情、强国志、报国行自觉融入坚持和发展中国特色社会主义、建设社会主义现代化强国、实现中华民族伟大复兴的奋斗之中。”要用鲜活的事实与深刻而通俗的道理，戳穿西方“普世价值”的话语陷阱，以此作为突破口，培育广大人民群众（尤其是青年学生）对正义文化的精神需求。习近平总书记指出：“应该承认，对国际话语权的掌握和运用，我们总的是生手，在很多场合还是人云亦云，甚至存在舍己芸人现象。”要克服这种状态，应当批判性借鉴西方文化话语权传播的有效方式，同时坚决揭露其制造谣言、妖言惑众的卑劣行径，用实事求是的道理宣传真理，以坦诚之心取信于民。“只要我们紧密联系人民群众、经常深入人民群众、紧紧依靠人民群众，真心拜人民为师，诚心向人民学习，虚心向人民求教，就能够得到源源不断的实践力量和理论智慧。”要分析研究不同群体的精神文化需求与心理特征，真实地了解民意民心，用“以人民为中心”的价值观团结中国人民为中国式现代化而奋斗，引导世界各国人民认同“构建人类命运共同体”的重要理念。

General Secretary Xi Jinping, with far-sighted vision, pointed out: “Cultural soft power epitomizes a country’s cohesion and vitality based on its culture, as well as the attraction and influence generated thereby. Throughout history, the development process of any major country has been not only a process of improving hard power such as economic aggregate and military strength, but also a process of improving soft power such as values, ideas, and culture.” [19] Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era provides the fundamental guidance for advancing Chinese-path modernization, and Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture provides China’s cultural construction with the high ground of human morality, the high ground of truth, and the high ground of history. At this new historical starting point, we should actively construct socialist cultural discourse power in the New Era, continuously advance the building of a socialist cultural power, and contribute greater strength to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

习近平总书记高瞻远瞩地指出：“文化软实力集中体现了一个国家基于文化而具有的凝聚力和生命力，以及由此产生的吸引力和影响力。古往今来，任何一个大国的发展进程，既是经济总量、军事力量等硬实力提高的进程，也是价值观念、思想文化等软实力提高的进程。”习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为推进中国式现代化提供了根本遵循，习近平文化思想为我国文化建设提供了人类道义制高点、真理制高点和历史制高点。在新的历史起点上，积极建构新时代社会主义文化话语权，不断推进社会主义文化强国建设，为实现中华民族伟大复兴贡献更大力量。

Source: *Philosophical Research*, November 27, 2024

文章来源：《哲学研究》2024年11月27日

Online editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆