Continuously Deepening the Law-Based Understanding of Xi Jinping’s Important Thought on the Party’s Self-Revolution

Having the courage to engage in self-revolution is the most distinctive character and greatest strength of the Communist Party of China. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 Xi Jinping, speech at the conference on the study and implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, October 2022., Xi Jinping has scientifically summarized the Party’s century-long historical experience of struggle and the practical experience of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in the New Era, forming Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, which has made major original contributions to enriching and developing Marxist party-building theory. This important thought is a vital component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and represents a deepening of understanding and a major theoretical innovation regarding the laws governing the governance of communist parties in the New Era, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of human social development. In June 2023, during the sixth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee [2]2 Xi Jinping, speech at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, January 2022., Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must continuously deepen our law-based understanding of the Party’s theoretical innovation, achieving richer theoretical innovation results on the new journey of the New Era.” On the new road of the examination [3]3 Xi Jinping, speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China, July 1, 2021., we must adhere to the unity of upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, always maintain the sobriety and firmness needed to solve the unique problems of a large party, continuously deepen the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, effectively respond to the difficulties, risks, and challenges on the path forward, and build our Party into an even stronger and more powerful Marxist ruling party.

I. Deepening the Law-Based Understanding of Xi Jinping’s Important Thought on the Party’s Self-Revolution by Upholding the Soul and the Root

Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must never abandon the soul of Marxism, nor must we abandon the root of fine traditional Chinese culture. Upholding this soul and this root is the foundation and prerequisite for theoretical innovation.” This important statement points out the basic path of theoretical innovation, clarifies its essential requirements, and reveals its fundamental laws. Theoretical innovation must speak new words, but it cannot discard the ancestors; forgetting one’s ancestors means cutting off the soul and the root, ultimately leading to subversive mistakes. Deepening the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era requires firmly upholding the soul and the root, and always following the unity of inheritance, adherence, development, and innovation.

First, upholding the soul of Marxism is the foundation for deepening the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution.

In “On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship,” Mao Zedong pointed out: “Thank Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin for giving us a weapon. This weapon is not a machine gun, but Marxism-Leninism.” Xi Jinping vividly likens Marxism to the essential skill of communists, emphasizing the need to “truly learn, thoroughly understand, and skillfully use this essential skill of Marxism,” and that “to deviate from or abandon Marxism would cause our Party to lose its soul and direction.”

Having the courage to engage in self-revolution is an inherent trait of a Marxist political party. The Party’s self-revolution refers to the behavioral process, driven by the Communist Party of China as the revolutionary subject based on its essential attributes and historical mission, characterized by strong self-discipline and self-transcendence. Marx pointed out: “The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness. At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or — this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms — with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution.” “The revolution is necessary, therefore, not only because the ruling class cannot be overthrown in any other way, but also because the class overthrowing it can only in a revolution succeed in ridding itself of all the muck of ages and become fitted to found society anew.” [4]4 A Chinese idiom referring to a stabilizing force or anchor, literally a needle used to stabilize a sea god’s temple in folklore. Thus, revolutionaries must first engage in self-revolution, building a strong and powerful Marxist political party, and on this basis, use the great self-revolution to lead the great social revolution. In this process, Marxist party-building spirit, revolutionary theory, and philosophical foundations shape the Party’s revolutionary attributes, providing the ideological weapon for the Party’s self-revolution.

Accurately understanding the dialectical relationship and interaction between self-revolution and social revolution is an important theoretical prerequisite for upholding the soul of Marxism in the New Era. In theoretical logic, self-revolution and social revolution are dialectically unified; the intensity of the Party’s self-revolution determines the height of the great social revolution, and realizing the great social revolution is the goal, mission, and value orientation of the Party’s self-revolution. The Communist Party of China has no special interests of its own beyond the interests of the people; the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission determines that self-revolution is ultimately aimed at better serving the national overall situation and the people’s livelihood, thereby achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The first program of the Communist Party of China, discussed and passed at the First National Congress, clearly stated that “the Party’s fundamental political purpose is to carry out social revolution.” The “Resolution on the Organizational Charter of the Communist Party” passed at the Second National Congress again stated that the Communist Party of China is not a “Marxist society organized by intellectuals” nor a “utopian revolutionary group of a few communists detached from the masses,” but rather “should be a party of the proletariat organized by the most revolutionary masses to fight for the interests of the proletariat, acting as the vanguard of the revolutionary movement for the proletariat.” In practical logic, the great self-revolution leads the great social revolution; self-revolution is the prerequisite and guarantee for social revolution. Self-revolution manifests the revolutionary subject’s active sublation, development, and transformation. Through the strong courage and momentum of self-revolution, our Party has stimulated its ability to lead social revolution, and self-revolution continuously provides powerful spiritual momentum for social revolution.

In deepening the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution by upholding the soul, on the one hand, we must always adhere to the Marxist worldview and methodology, and uphold and apply the basic positions, viewpoints, and methods that run through them. For example, the self-criticism and self-transcendence emphasized by self-revolution are essentially the Marxist philosophical law of the negation of the negation, an internal manifestation of Marxist revolutionary theory within this law, and a concrete application of this law by the Communist Party of China. On the other hand, we must deeply explore and study the ideological resources, internal logic, and contemporary value of the theory of self-revolution of proletarian parties within Marxist theory. For instance, the classical Marxist writers’ discussions on the purity of the proletarian party laid the theoretical foundation for the proletarian party’s self-purification; their discussions on the advanced nature of the proletarian party revealed the endogenous driving force for the proletarian party’s self-improvement; their discussions on the thorough revolutionary spirit of the proletarian party elucidated the political character of the proletarian party’s self-innovation; their discussions on the strategy of the proletarian party pointed out the strategic direction for the proletarian party’s self-enhancement; and so on. These valuable ideological and theoretical resources have important practical value and enlightening significance for advancing the Party’s self-revolution and promoting comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in the New Era.

Second, upholding the root of fine traditional Chinese culture is the prerequisite for deepening the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution.

Xi Jinping emphasized: “Fine traditional Chinese culture is the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation, an important source for nurturing core socialist values, and also a solid foundation for us to stand firm amidst the global cultural currents.” The profound and extensive fine traditional Chinese culture provides rich theoretical soil for the proposal of the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era. As the report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC pointed out, the fine traditional Chinese culture contains concepts such as the common good for all under heaven, the people as the foundation of the state, governing with virtue, discarding the old and fostering the new, appointing people on their merits, harmony between man and nature, unremitting self-improvement, great virtue carrying all things, honoring commitments and cultivating goodwill, and being friendly with neighbors. These are important manifestations of the Chinese people’s views on the universe, the world, society, and morality accumulated over long-term life, and they are highly compatible with the value propositions of scientific socialism.

For example, the fine tradition of self-reflection in Chinese culture. From the *Zhou Yi*’s “seeing goodness, then moving toward it; having faults, then correcting them,” to the *Analects*’ “The faults of a gentleman are like eclipses of the sun and moon: when he errs, everyone sees it; when he reforms, everyone looks up to him,” and then to the *Han Shu* and *Zizhi Tongjian*’s emphasis that “attending to small things makes them great; being cautious about the subtle makes them manifest,” these expressions of self-examination from different historical periods, though differing in concrete content and form, share a consistent value implication of self-renewal that has been passed down. After being sedimented by the ages, this fine tradition has long become a value we use daily without being aware of it, and thus it has become an important ideological and cultural resource that nurtures the CPC’s spirit of self-revolution. Another example is the sense of vigilance in times of peace found in Chinese culture. The *Zhou Yi*’s “do not forget danger in times of safety, do not forget ruin in times of survival, do not forget chaos in times of order,” and the *Han Shu*’s “do not forget peril in safety, and in prosperity always consider decline,” both highly manifest a rational reflection on the future and destiny of the nation and the country, spurring the CPC’s continuous exploration of “taking the exam in Beijing” [5]5 The “four selfs” (自我净化, 自我完善, 自我革新, 自我提高) are self-purification, self-improvement, self-innovation, and self-enhancement, requirements for the Party’s self-revolution. and escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall. [6]6 Xi Jinping, speech at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, January 2022. Yet another example is the idea of discarding the old and establishing the new in traditional Chinese culture. The *Li Ji*’s “if you can renew yourself for one day, then renew yourself daily, and again renew yourself daily,” which emphasizes an attitude of renewal, and the wisdom of upholding integrity and pragmatism in reform contained in the *Zhou Yi*’s hexagrams of Revolution and the Cauldron, have inspired the CPC’s theoretical and practical consciousness of self-revolution. The CPC is a faithful inheritor and promoter of fine traditional Chinese culture. It is precisely by organically integrating the outstanding innovativeness of Chinese civilization with the revolutionary and critical nature of Marxism and the advanced nature and purity of a Marxist political party that the Party’s spirit of self-revolution has been forged and formed.

To deepen the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution while adhering to the root vein, it is necessary to adhere to the guidance of Marxism and conduct an in-depth excavation of the treasure trove of China’s 5,000-year civilization. Xi Jinping once profoundly pointed out: “Without the 5,000-year Chinese civilization, where would Chinese characteristics come from? Without Chinese characteristics, how could we have the successful path of socialism with Chinese characteristics that we have today?” The root vein of fine traditional Chinese culture cannot be discarded. Once we neglect to draw nourishment from the history and culture of our own nation, theoretical innovation will lose its rich ideological resources and inexhaustible cultural source, and the radiance of Marxist truth will gradually dim.

Third, deepen the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution within the framework of the Two Integrations.

Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution is a new achievement of our Party in adhering to the Two Integrations and continuously advancing theoretical innovation. In 1938, Mao Zedong pointed out at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC: “Marxism must be combined with the specific characteristics of our country and realized through a national form.” This was the first time in the history of the CPC that the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context was explicitly put forward. In May 1943, at the time of the dissolution of the Comintern, our Party, based on the developments and changes in the international communist movement and the domestic revolutionary situation, deliberated and adopted the *Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Proposal of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist International to Dissolve the Communist International*, which stated: “Chinese Communists are the inheritors of the finest traditions of all our nation’s culture, thought, and morality, regarding all these fine traditions as things intimately connected with their own flesh and blood, and will continue to carry them forward,” and “it is necessary to further deeply combine Marxism-Leninism, this revolutionary science, with the practice of the Chinese revolution, Chinese history, and Chinese culture.” The “three deep combinations” mentioned here further concretized the proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

In 2021, at the celebration of the centenary of the founding of the CPC, Xi Jinping for the first time proposed “adhering to the combination of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture,” thus forming the important thesis of the Two Integrations. In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, he further clarified the basic connotation and practical significance of the Two Integrations, pointing out: “Only by combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, and by adhering to the use of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, can we correctly answer the major questions raised by the times and practice, and can we always maintain the vigorous vitality and exuberant vitality of Marxism.” It can be said that from “one combination” to “three deep combinations” and then to the Two Integrations, this is not only a process in which the CPC has continuously enriched and developed the scientific connotation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, but also a process in which the CPC has established and consolidated its subjectivity and developed the initiative of self-revolution through self-revolution.

To deepen the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution within the framework of the Two Integrations, on the one hand, it is necessary to use Marxism to activate the vital factors in fine traditional Chinese culture and endow them with new connotations for the times. Chinese civilization has outstanding innovativeness. This characteristic fundamentally determines the Chinese nation’s enterprising spirit of upholding integrity without being conservative, respecting antiquity without restoring the old, and its fearless character of not fearing new challenges and being brave in accepting new things. On this basis, it is necessary to use the Marxist worldview and methodology to carry out creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. On the other hand, it is necessary to create a new form of Marxism in the combination, injecting the great spirit and rich wisdom of the Chinese nation into Marxism at a deeper level. Only by taking root in the fertile soil of the history and culture of one’s own country and nation can the tree of Marxist truth flourish. It is necessary to effectively link the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture, and to integrate it with the common values that the people use daily without being aware of it, continuously endowing scientific theory with distinct Chinese characteristics, so that the two highly compatible ideological systems, in their combination, continuously manifest the profound cultural foundation and new theoretical advantages of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution.

II. Deepening the Law-Based Understanding of Xi Jinping’s Important Thought on the Party’s Self-Revolution in Scientifically Answering New Questions of the Times

The times are the mother of thought, and practice is the source of theory. To deepen the law-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, it is necessary to enrich and develop it in the continuous scientific answering of new questions of the times. Engels said: “Every era’s theoretical thinking, including our own era’s theoretical thinking, is a historical product, taking completely different forms and having completely different content in

First, deepen the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the scientific answer to breaking out of the historical cycle of rise and fall.[5]5 The “four selfs” (自我净化, 自我完善, 自我革新, 自我提高) are self-purification, self-improvement, self-innovation, and self-enhancement, requirements for the Party’s self-revolution.

The cyclical problem of rise and fall, order and chaos, and recurring cycles throughout history is a major issue that has plagued rulers of successive dynasties for thousands of years, known as the “Goldbach’s conjecture” of human political history. For over a century, the Communist Party of China has constantly pondered and continuously explored how to break out of the historical cycle, and has provided two answers. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Comrade Mao Zedong gave the first answer in the cave dwelling in Yan’an, which is that only when the people supervise the government can the government not slack off. After a century of struggle, especially the new practice since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, our Party has given the second answer, which is self-revolution.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, speech at the conference on the study and implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, October 2022. From the “first answer” to the “second answer,” from emphasizing popular supervision to emphasizing endogenous drive, this reflects the CPC’s theoretical and action consciousness in advancing its own construction, reflects the deepening of the CPC’s regularity-based understanding of the laws of Party governance and self-discipline, and has greatly enriched and developed the Marxist theory of Party building.

Having the courage to engage in self-revolution is a distinctive hallmark that distinguishes the CPC from other political parties. The Party’s self-revolution is a process of Party governance and self-discipline that takes forever preserving the Party’s purity and advanced nature and ensuring the Party’s long-term governance as its revolutionary goal, takes realizing the Party’s self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement as its revolutionary content, takes upholding truth and correcting errors, and discovering problems and rectifying deviations as its revolutionary mechanism, and takes continuously eliminating all factors that harm the Party’s advanced nature and purity and eliminating all viruses that damage the Party’s healthy organism as its revolutionary path. Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution creatively opens up a brand-new path for breaking out of the historical cycle.

We must deeply recognize that the historical cycle is an objectively existing cautionary proposition and a major test that the CPC will forever face. Finding self-revolution as the second answer to break out of the historical cycle does not mean that we have already successfully broken out of it; rather, it requires that we must continuously deepen our regularity-based understanding of Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution.

Second, deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the process of solving the unique challenges faced by a major party.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, in order to ensure that the Party can always effectively shoulder the missions and tasks entrusted to it by the New Era, Xi Jinping, based on the major risks and tests the Party faces and

By the end of 2023, the total number of CPC members was 99.185 million, and the number of primary-level Party organizations was 5.176 million. As a political party with a large number of members, a huge organizational scale, and a complex structure, how to always remain true to its original aspiration and founding mission, how to always unify thought, will, and action, how to always possess strong governing capacity and leadership competence, how to always maintain the entrepreneurial spirit in undertaking undertakings, how to always be able to promptly discover and resolve its own problems, and how to always maintain a clean and upright political ecosystem — these are all unique difficulties that our large party must resolve. Deeply understanding and grasping the scientific thesis of the unique difficulties of a large party has significant theoretical and practical significance for deepening the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution.

In resolving the unique difficulties of a large party to deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, on the one hand, it is necessary to always remain sober and steadfast, always adhere to a problem-oriented approach, maintain strategic resolve, carry forward the spirit of thorough self-revolution, unswervingly promote comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, and deeply advance the great new project of Party building in the New Era. On the other hand, it is necessary to base oneself on the characteristics of a large party to analyze issues within the thought on the Party’s self-revolution that are strategic, holistic, and forward-looking, to resolve the unique difficulties of a large party through the Party’s self-revolution, forming concepts, ideas, systems, mechanisms, and concrete measures that are epochal and targeted, so that the Party can form a virtuous cycle on the new journey of relying on its own strength to discover problems, correct deviations, promote innovation, and achieve an overall enhancement of governing capacity. It is necessary not only to forge a strong leadership core for resolving the unique difficulties of a large party, but also to temper high-level capabilities for resolving the unique difficulties of a large party, and also to stimulate lasting momentum for resolving the unique difficulties of a large party, continuously improving the actual effectiveness of solving problems.

Third, deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution amid

III. Deepening the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution from the perspective of the grand historical view

Attaching importance to learning and summarizing history, and being adept at drawing on and applying historical experience, is a fine tradition of our Party. Mao Zedong pointed out: “If you want to look at the future, you must look at history.” Xi Jinping emphasized the need to “establish a grand view of history, analyze the mechanisms of evolution and explore historical laws from the long river of history, the tide of the times, and the global winds and clouds, put forward corresponding strategic strategies, and enhance the systematic, forward-looking, and creative nature of work,” and that on the new journey it is necessary to “further grasp the laws and general trends of historical development and always master the historical initiative in the cause of the Party and the state.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, speech at the conference on the study and implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, October 2022. To deepen the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era, it is necessary to derive laws from the perspective of a grand view of history, from a comparison of the fates of Marxist political parties worldwide, and from the Party’s historical experience of over a century of struggle, so as to better guide reality and advance the cause.

Third, deepen the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution from the perspective of a grand view of history.

As the largest Marxist ruling party in the world, the Communist Party of China has traversed a glorious history of over a century and has become the mainstay of the international communist movement and the world socialist movement. In contrast, the Soviet Communist Party rose to prominence and then declined, losing both the Party and the state after 93 years of Party building and 74 years in power, dealing a major setback to the world

Marx once said that what distinguishes the proletarian revolution from any other revolution is that, in order to realize its “own infinitely grand goals,” it often “stops in its advance,” “frequently criticizes itself,” and grows stronger by criticizing itself. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Once a political power is established, it is very difficult to maintain its prosperity and long-term stability. If it does not engage in self-examination, remain vigilant, or make efforts, even the most powerful political power may end up on a dead-end road.” The painful lesson of the Soviet Communist Party’s loss of political power repeatedly warns us that even a once-advanced Marxist political party, even a once-powerful socialist state power, will collapse if it cannot promptly and proactively discover and correct its own problems. From a comparison of the fates of Marxist political parties worldwide, deepening the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution yields a basic conclusion: one must have the courage to face one’s own problems and shortcomings, strive to resolve prominent issues and contradictions within the Party, continuously temper selfless qualities through self-revolution, strengthen the ideals and convictions of Communists in the face of hardships and dangers, always maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity amid continuous development and growth, and, with the courage to scrape the poison off the bone and cut off one’s own wrist [6]6 Xi Jinping, speech at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, January 2022., forever preserve the true character of a Marxist ruling party.

Second, deepening the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution from the historical experience of the Party’s more than one hundred years of struggle.

An advanced Marxist political party is not born naturally; it is forged through continuous self-revolution. The magnificent history of the Chinese Communist Party’s development is a history of daring to cleanse away the foul and uphold the pure [7]7 The “four tests” (四大考验) are tests of governance, reform and opening up, the market economy, and the external environment. and daring to engage in self-revolution. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, from the August 7th Meeting [8]8 The “four dangers” (四种危险) are dangers of mental laxity, incompetence, disengagement from the people, and corruption. to the Gutian Congress [9]9 The “four forms of decadence” (四风) refers to formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, a target of the Party’s mass line education and practice campaign launched in 2013., from the Zunyi Meeting [10]10 The “nine withs” (九个以) refers to the practical requirements for advancing the Party’s self-revolution to the Yan’an Rectification Movement [11], the Party matured through one self-revolution after another. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, from the “Three Antis” and “Five Antis” campaigns [12] to the Eighth National Congress’s [13] raising of the issue of Party building in power, and then to the criticism and self-criticism at the 7,000-Cadre Conference [14], the Party grew and strengthened through one self-revolution after another. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, from the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee’s [15] bringing order out of chaos in the ideological line, organizational line, and political line to the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee’s [16] thorough correction of the errors of the “Cultural Revolution” [17], the Party was reborn from the ashes through one self-revolution after another. As socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, centering on the fundamental question of what the Chinese Communist Party is and what it should do, we advanced comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, waged the “tiger hunt” [18] with no forbidden zones, the “fly swat” [19] with zero tolerance, and the “fox hunt” [20] without stopping, launching a combined set of measures for self-revolution, and the Party has been forged to be stronger and more powerful through one self-revolution after another.

Since the 18th National Congress of the

Looking back on the Party’s century-long struggle, it is not that the Party has never made mistakes, experienced setbacks, taken detours, or suffered defeats. But the Party’s greatness lies precisely in that it has never concealed its maladies or glossed over its faults; instead, it has always maintained the spirit of self-revolution and constantly corrected its errors. As Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Looking back on the Party’s history, our Party has always, while promoting social revolution, been courageous in advancing self-revolution, persistently upholding truth and correcting errors, daring to face problems squarely and overcome shortcomings, and bravely scraping poison from the bone and expelling the rotten to regenerate the healthy. It is precisely because our Party has always done this that it has been able to find a way out at critical moments of crisis, to set things right after mistakes, and to become a Marxist political party that can never be knocked down or crushed.” We must be adept at drawing wisdom and strength from the historical experience of the Party’s century-long struggle, continuously deepen our understanding of the laws governing Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, rely on the political character of self-revolution to overcome difficulties, and constantly march from victory to new victory.

IV. Deepening the understanding of the laws governing Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the great practice of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party

The vitality of theory lies in practice. Xi Jinping pointed out, “The theoretical innovation we advance is theoretical innovation on the basis of practice, not utopian speculation in an ivory tower; we must persist in discovering truth and developing truth through practice, and use practice to realize truth and test truth.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, speech at the conference on the study and implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, October 2022. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has incorporated comprehensive and strict governance of the Party into the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, advancing the construction of clean governance and the fight against corruption with unprecedented courage and resolve. It has curbed unhealthy tendencies and evil practices that had gone unchecked for years, resolved many stubborn and chronic problems that had long remained unsolved, and fundamentally reversed the lax and soft state of Party governance and Party management. Xi Jinping pointed out, “Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is the great practice of the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era, opening up a new realm of self-revolution for a century-old major Party.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, speech at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, January 2022. This profoundly reveals that comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is the concrete manifestation of the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era. To continuously deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era, we must discover truth and test truth from the great practice of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.

First, deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership.

The key to running China’s affairs well lies in the Party. Xi Jinping pointed out, “The Party’s leadership is the foundation and lifeline of the Party and the country, and the interests and destiny of the people of all ethnic groups across the country.” [3]3 Xi Jinping, speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China, July 1, 2021. The leadership of the Communist Party of China has always been the “stabilizing sea god needle” [4]4 A Chinese idiom referring to a stabilizing force or anchor, literally a needle used to stabilize a sea god’s temple in folklore. for the continuous development of the Party and the country’s cause. The Party’s century-long struggle has profoundly proven that without the Communist Party, there would be no New China, and there would be no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, in the face of problems that once existed within the Party, such as vague understanding and weak action regarding upholding the Party’s leadership, and problems of weakening, hollowing out, diluting, and marginalizing the implementation of Party leadership, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has given a clear-cut answer from the height of the future and destiny of the Party and the country’s cause, both theoretically and practically. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed that the Party’s leadership is comprehensive, systematic, and holistic, and must be implemented comprehensively, systematically, and holistically. Following the amendment to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China (Revised) adopted at the 19th National Congress of the CPC, which wrote into the General Program that “The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest strength of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. The Party commands the military, the government, the people, and all sectors; the Party leads everything in all parts of the country,” the 20th National Congress of the CPC also wrote into paragraph 32 of the General Program that “The Party is the highest political leadership force.” This further perfected the constitutional basis within the Party for upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership.

Upholding self-revolution is an inevitable requirement for upholding the Party’s overall leadership, a valuable experience from the Party’s century-long struggle in achieving major historical accomplishments, the Party’s most distinctive character and greatest strength, and the foundation for ensuring that the Party can stand out from numerous political forces and lead all work. Without persistently advancing the Party’s self-revolution, it is difficult to forge and enhance the Party’s leadership capability. Among the “four selfs” [5]5 The “four selfs” (自我净化, 自我完善, 自我革新, 自我提高) are self-purification, self-improvement, self-innovation, and self-enhancement, requirements for the Party’s self-revolution. requirements of the Party’s self-revolution, “self-improvement” means continuously enhancing one’s own capabilities, the core of which is the Party’s leadership. Therefore, to deepen the law-based understanding of self-revolution in upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership, on the one hand, we must resolutely uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, implement Party leadership in all areas, aspects, and links of the Party and the country’s cause, and give full play to the Party’s core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. On the other hand, we must always bear in mind the original aspiration and founding mission, continuously improve political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, ensure alignment with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in political stance, political direction, political principles, and political path, unswervingly use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to consolidate souls and inspire minds, profoundly grasp the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, resolutely defend the major political achievement of the Two Establishments, and continuously strengthen the Four Consciousnesses, firm up the Four Confidences, and achieve the Two Upholds.

Second, deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in systematically advancing the great new project of Party building in the New Era.

In October 1939, in the inaugural issue of the Party Central Committee’s journal *The Communist*, Mao Zedong proposed “building a Bolshevikized Communist Party of China that is nationwide, mass-based, and fully consolidated ideologically, politically, and organizationally,” calling Party building a “great project” and an important magic weapon for our Party to defeat the enemy. Advancing Party building as a great project is a major pioneering initiative of the Communist Party of China. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has closely focused on the main line of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, insisted that the Party must govern itself strictly and with discipline, started by formulating and implementing the Eight-Point Regulations to break the ground, proposed and implemented the general requirements for Party building in the New Era, led all Party building work with political construction, insisted on the simultaneous advancement of ideological Party building and institutional Party governance, proposed the organizational line for the Party in the New Era, incorporated discipline construction into the overall layout of Party building, persistently rectified work styles and enforced discipline, and launched an unprecedented anti-corruption struggle. The great new project of Party building in the New Era has taken on a new look, opened up a new situation, and achieved new results. For the first time, the 20th National Congress of the CPC wrote “leading the great social revolution with the great self-revolution” into paragraph 25 of the General Program of the Party Constitution, within the general requirements for Party building, thereby further clarifying the strategic position of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the great new project of Party building in the New Era, providing the self-revolution with an institutional basis in the Party’s fundamental law.

Xi Jinping pointed out, “Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, comprehensive and strict governance of the Party has achieved historic and groundbreaking accomplishments, producing comprehensive and profound impacts, and must be adhered to for the long term and continuously advanced.” [6]6 Xi Jinping, speech at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, January 2022. In systematically advancing the great new project of Party building in the New Era, to deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, on the one hand, we must follow the deployment requirements of the 20th National Congress of the CPC and deeply advance the seven strategic measures of the great new project of Party building in the New Era; on the other hand, we must also clearly recognize that the “four tests” [7]7 The “four tests” (四大考验) are tests of governance, reform and opening up, the market economy, and the external environment. facing the Party will be long-term and complex, and the “four dangers” [8]8 The “four dangers” (四种危险) are dangers of mental laxity, incompetence, disengagement from the people, and corruption. facing the Party will be acute and severe. Party governance and Party management cannot be relaxed for a moment; the strict tone, strict measures, and strict atmosphere must be maintained for the long term, with persistent and unremitting efforts, to comprehensively and strictly govern the Party, build our Party stronger and more powerful, ensure that our Party always retains its vitality, and remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the mainstay of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. At the same time, we should also deepen the understanding of the position and function of the Party’s self-revolution within the great new project of Party building in the New Era. From the composition of the great project of Party building, a “5+2” overall layout has been formed, emphasizing the comprehensive advancement of the Party’s political construction, ideological construction, organizational construction, work style construction, and discipline construction, with institutional construction running through all of them and deeply advancing the anti-corruption struggle. “Leading the great social revolution with the great self-revolution,” as an important component of the great project of Party building, together with “comprehensively improving the scientific level of Party building,” constitutes the development direction and important goals of the great project of Party building. Therefore, from the top-level deployment of Party building, upholding the Party’s self-revolution is not a simple basic unit or component of Party building, but rather the historical experience of the Communist Party of China’s century-long struggle, the most distinctive political character of the Communist Party of China, and the greatest political strength of the Communist Party of China. We must understand and grasp the dialectical and unified relationship between self-revolution and Party building from a higher position, a broader perspective, and a larger framework.

Third, deepen the law-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in addressing both symptoms and root causes in rectifying work styles and fighting corruption.

The Party’s work style is the Party’s image, bearing on popular support and on the Party’s survival or extinction. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized that “anti-corruption is the most thorough self-revolution.” Xi Jinping has

In the New Era, while addressing both symptoms and root causes in rectifying work styles and combating corruption, deepening the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution requires, on the one hand, a profound recognition of the stubbornness and repetitiveness of the “four forms of decadence” [9]9 The “four forms of decadence” (四风) refers to formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, a target of the Party’s mass line education and practice campaign launched in 2013., maintaining the strategic resolve of “always being on the road,” taking the rectification of formalism and bureaucratism as key tasks, fostering an atmosphere of genuine and strict governance, daring to govern strictly, and maintaining long-term strict governance, continuously eliminating factors that harm the Party’s advanced nature and integrity, continuously eradicating viruses that erode the Party’s healthy organism, and ensuring that the Party never deteriorates in quality, color, or taste. On the other hand, it requires adhering to the integrated advancement of “daring not to corrupt, being unable to corrupt, and not wanting to corrupt,” curbing the increase and eliminating the stock, simultaneously exerting efforts in punishment and deterrence, institutional constraints, and raising awareness, with the determination that “comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is always on the road, and the Party’s self-revolution is always on the road,” resolutely winning the tough and protracted battle against corruption, comprehensively purifying the political ecosystem, and achieving clean and transparent governance.

Fourth, deepen the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution in the process of improving the system of intra-Party regulations.

Regulatory systems are fundamental, holistic, stable, and long-term. Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party relies on ideological education, but even more so on institutional guarantees. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Strengthening the construction of the intra-Party regulations system is a long-term and fundamental strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.” The improvement and perfection of the intra-Party regulations system not only provides stable and strong institutional support for continuously and deeply advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party but also contributes strong institutional impetus to the effective implementation of national laws and regulations and the construction of a rule-of-law China. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee, from the height of coordinating the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the changes unseen in a century in the world, has creatively proposed governing the Party according to regulations, emphasizing the important role of intra-Party regulations in managing and governing the Party and improving the Party’s governance capacity and leadership level. Through vigorous construction, a relatively complete system of intra-Party regulations has been formed, a very strict responsibility system for the implementation of intra-Party regulations has been established, and comprehensive and strict governance of the Party has been raised to a new level. As of the end of June 2023, there were a total of 3,802 currently effective intra-Party regulations across the Party, including 227 central intra-Party regulations, 190 ministerial intra-Party regulations, and 3,385 local intra-Party regulations. Following the principle of coordinating and balancing “regulating subjects, regulating behavior, and regulating supervision,” a “1+4” intra-Party regulations system has been formed, including the Party Constitution, Party organizational regulations, Party leadership regulations, Party self-building regulations, and Party supervision and guarantee regulations, ensuring comprehensive coverage of all areas of Party leadership and Party building, achieving a vertical and horizontal regulatory effect of intra-Party regulations.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed for the first time the new proposition of improving the “institutional normative system for the Party’s self-revolution.” This institutional normative system is an organic component of the “system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party,” serving as the institutional construction segment within the comprehensive and strict governance system, playing a fundamental, strategic, and supporting role in the entire system. As an important part of the Party’s institutional construction, the core of the institutional normative system for the Party’s self-revolution is the intra-Party regulations system based on the Party Constitution and centered on democratic centralism. This inspires us to deepen the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution from the institutional level of the Party. First, we must improve the intra-Party regulations system, focusing on the needs of the development of the Party and the state, targeting prominent issues, and enhancing the completeness and overall level of the intra-Party regulations system, providing institutional guarantees for the Party to lead the great social revolution through the great self-revolution; at the same time, we must enhance the authority and execution of intra-Party regulations, forming mechanisms for adhering to truth and correcting errors, and for discovering problems and correcting deviations. Second, we must improve the supervision system under the unified leadership of the Party, with comprehensive coverage and authoritative efficiency, with intra-Party supervision as the leading force, promoting the organic integration and mutual coordination of various types of supervision. Under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, we must strengthen and consolidate the comprehensive supervision of Party committees (Party groups), strengthen leadership and coordination over various supervision entities, and ensure that power operates in the sunlight. Third, we must promote the concretization, precision, and normalization of political supervision. In terms of supervision content, we must focus on “key minorities,” “key issues,” and “key links,” pay attention to the role of political inspections as a sharp sword, implement the political responsibility of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, and make good use of the accountability tool.

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution is a major political achievement and a valuable historical experience condensed from the Party’s struggle over more than a hundred years. It not only highlights the distinctive character of the Chinese Communist Party but also reflects its prominent political advantage. In his important speech at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xi Jinping profoundly elaborated on the important thought of the Party’s self-revolution, scientifically answering major questions such as why our Party needs self-revolution, why it can carry out self-revolution, and how to advance self-revolution, and clearly put forward the practical requirements of the “nine withs” [10]10 The “nine withs” (九个以) refers to the practical requirements for advancing the Party’s self-revolution. This not only makes strategic arrangements for sustained efforts and in-depth advancement of the anti-corruption struggle but also points the way for further deepening the regularity-based understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution. Against this major background, we should adhere to the systems concept, fully combining the premise of adhering to the soul and root, the proposition of scientifically answering the questions of the times, the topic of viewing from the perspective of the grand historical view, and the theme of advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, to deepen the regularity-based understanding of self-revolution in an all-round, three-dimensional, and diversified manner.

Source: *Journal of Chinese Communist Party History Studies*, Issue 4, 2024

Online Editor: Jing Mu