Xi Jinping’s Principled Contributions to Marxist Party-Building Theory

“Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, we have inherited and developed Marxist party-building doctrine, summarized and applied the historical experience of the Party’s century-long struggle, and deeply advanced practical, theoretical, and institutional innovation in governing the Party and managing it with strict discipline. We have reached a new height of understanding regarding the laws governing what kind of long-term governing Marxist political party to build and how to build it.” [1]1 This quotation is from Xi Jinping’s report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC in October 2022. The “Thirteen Persistences” (十三个坚持) and “Nine Withs” (九个以) are specific formulations summarizing Xi Jinping’s thought on Party building and self-revolution, respectively, codified in official Party documents. The hallmark of this is the formation of Xi Jinping’s important thought on Party building, whose main content is the “Thirteen Persistences,” and Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, whose practical requirements are the “Nine Withs.” This makes new contributions to the development of the fundamental principles of Marxist party-building theory and opens up a new realm in the development of Marxist party-building theory.

“党的十八大以来，我们继承和发展马克思主义建党学说，总结运用党的百年奋斗历史经验，深入推进管党治党实践创新、理论创新、制度创新，对建设什么样的长期执政的马克思主义政党、怎样建设长期执政的马克思主义政党的规律性认识达到新的高度。”[1] 其标志就是形成了以“十三个坚持”为主要内容的习近平关于党的建设的重要思想和以“九个以”为实践要求的习近平关于党的自我革命的重要思想。这是对马克思主义党建理论基本原理的发展作出新贡献，开辟了马克思主义党建理论发展的新境界。

I. From “The Party Is the Vanguard Organization of the Class” to “The Party Is the Highest Political Leadership Force That Leads Everything”

一、从“党是阶级的先锋队组织”到“党是领导一切的最高政治领导力量”

Party theory must first answer what the essence of a political party is, what role the party plays in political life, and how it plays that role. Before the 18th National Congress, “there were many problems within the Party of unclear understanding and weak action regarding upholding the Party’s leadership, and many problems of weakening, hollowing out, and diluting the implementation of the Party’s leadership.” [2]2 The “Three Represents” (三个代表) is a theory developed by Jiang Zemin, stating that the CPC must always represent the development of advanced productive forces, the direction of advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the Chinese people. This required a systematic answer to how a Marxist ruling party should be positioned and how it should play its role. Xi Jinping pointed out: “The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The Communist Party of China is the highest political leadership force of the state and the fundamental guarantee for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. East, west, south, north, center; the Party, the government, the military, the people, and the academic community — the Party leads everything.” [3]3 The “Four Cardinal Principles” (四项基本原则) are: upholding the socialist path, upholding the people’s democratic dictatorship, upholding the leadership of the CPC, and upholding Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. This important exposition reveals the basic laws of the leadership and governing activities of a long-term governing Marxist ruling party.

政党理论首先要回答政党的本质是什么、政党在政治生活中作用以及如何发挥作用。十八大之前，“党内存在不少对坚持党的领导认识模糊、行动乏力问题，存在不少落实党的领导弱化、虚化、淡化问题”[2]。这就要求必须对马克思主义执政党如何定位以及如何发挥其作用作出系统回答。习近平指出：“中国共产党领导是中国特色社会主义最本质的特征，中国共产党是国家最高政治领导力量，是实现中华民族伟大复兴的根本保证。东西南北中，党政军民学，党是领导一切的。”[3] 这一重要论述揭示了长期执政的马克思主义执政党领导执政活动的基本规律。

“A political party is a class-based political organization.” Marxist party-building theory holds that a Marxist political party is the party of the proletariat and the organized vanguard of the proletariat. Lenin pointed out: “The revolutionary party of the proletariat” is “the highest form of class association of the proletarians.” [4]4 The “historical cycle of rise and fall” (历史周期率) refers to the pattern observed in Chinese dynastic history of a ruling house rising, flourishing, declining, and being overthrown. Mao Zedong’s “first answer” to escaping this cycle was “letting the people supervise the government” (让人民监督政府), proposed in 1945. Xi Jinping’s “second answer” is the Party’s “self-revolution” (自我革命). Mao Zedong pointed out: “The Communist Party of China is the party of the proletariat. Within the proletariat, that part which is relatively advanced organizes itself into a political entity called the Communist Party.” [5]5 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the CPC was held in September 1994. The decision referred to is a key document on Party building in the reform and opening up period. The proposal of the “Three Represents” important thought further enriched the essential attributes, profound connotations, and practical requirements of the Marxist ruling party as the vanguard of the class and the nation. On the basis of adhering to the fundamental principle that “the Marxist political party is the highest form of class organization of the working class,” Xi Jinping unequivocally put forward the major political thesis that “the Party is the highest political leadership force.” This fundamentally reveals that the Marxist ruling party possesses the most advanced political attributes and occupies an irreplaceable leading position in the political life of a socialist country. It solidifies the theoretical foundation for establishing a leadership-led relationship between the Marxist ruling party and various political forces, state power, etc., and also provides ideological support for the Marxist ruling party to carry out leadership and governing activities.

“政党是阶级的政治组织”，马克思主义党建理论认为马克思主义政党是无产阶级的政党、是无产阶级的有组织的先锋队。列宁指出：“无产阶级的革命政党”是“无产者的阶级联合的最高形式”。[4] 毛泽东指出：“中国共产党是无产阶级的政党。无产阶级里头出了那样一部分比较先进的人，组织成一个政治性质的团体，叫共产党。”[5]“三个代表”重要思想的提出进一步丰富了马克思主义执政党作为阶级和民族先锋队的本质属性、深刻内涵和实践要求。习近平在坚持“马克思主义政党是工人阶级的阶级组织的最高形式”基本原理的基础上，旗帜鲜明地提出“党是最高政治领导力量”的重大政治论断，从根本上揭示了马克思主义执政党具有最为先进的政治属性，在社会主义国家政治生活中占据不可替代的领导地位，为马克思主义执政党与各类政治力量、国家政权等之间确立领导与被领导关系夯实了理论基础，也为马克思主义执政党实施领导执政活动提供了思想支撑。

Adhering to the leadership authority of the Marxist political party is an inevitable conclusion of “the Party is the vanguard organization of the proletariat” and a fundamental principle of Marxist party-building theory. “The Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Germany, precisely because it is a workers’ party, must necessarily pursue ‘class politics,’ i.e., the politics of the working class. … Moreover, every genuine proletarian party, from the English Chartists onward, has always made class politics, the organization of the proletariat as an independent party, its primary condition, and the dictatorship of the proletariat as the immediate goal of the struggle.” [6]6 The “seven issues” (七个有之) refers to seven types of political misconduct within the Party, such as spreading rumors, forming factions, and disobeying central Lenin pointed out: “The proletariat, as the only thoroughly revolutionary class in modern society, must be the leader of the entire people in the struggle for a thorough democratic transformation, and of all the exploited working people in the struggle against the oppressors and exploiters. The proletariat is revolutionary only when it is conscious of and realizes this idea of hegemony.” [7]7 The “Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy” (四个全面战略布局) is a strategic plan proposed by Xi Jinping, comprising comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively governing the country according to law, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. The Communist Party of China has always adhered to the Marxist fundamental principle of Party leadership. Before the founding of New China, it established the system of unified Party leadership in the anti-Japanese base areas. At the beginning of the founding of New China, the “Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference” stipulated the Party’s leadership position. The “1954 Constitution” wrote upholding the Party’s leadership into the preamble of the constitution and established the institutional system of Party leadership. Thereafter, the Party continuously explored the scientific connotation of Party leadership and constructed the systems and mechanisms of Party leadership in the process of socialist construction practice. Mao Zedong pointed out: “Among the seven aspects — industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and education, the military, the government, and the Party — the Party leads everything. The Party must lead industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and education, the military, and the government.” [8]8 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. Deng Xiaoping emphasized: “To carry out socialist modernization, we must ensure the Party’s leadership. The fact that we can withstand storms is the most fundamental guarantee of the Party’s leadership. Party leadership is the most fundamental of the Four Cardinal Principles.” [9]9 The Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was held in January 2023. The “Constitution of the Communist Party of China” adopted at the 12th National Congress of the CPC both reiterated and emphasized that “the Party is the leading core of the socialist cause in China” and specifically stipulated that political, ideological, and organizational leadership are the main content and methods of Party leadership. Hu Qiaomu explained this stipulation: “Party leadership is mainly political, ideological, and organizational leadership. The Party must realize this leadership by formulating and implementing correct lines, principles, and policies; through meticulous and powerful ideological and political work and propaganda and education work; through strict and prudent organizational work; and by giving full play to the vanguard and exemplary role of Party members.” [10]10 The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee is the highest leading body of the Party when the Central Committee is not in session.

坚持马克思主义政党的领导权是“党是无产阶级的先锋队组织”的必然结论，是马克思主义党建理论的基本原理。“德国社会民主工党，正因为它是工人政党，所以必然推行‘阶级政治’，即工人阶级的政治。……而且，每个真正的无产阶级政党，从英国宪章派起，总是把阶级政治，把无产阶级组织成为独立政党作为首要条件，把无产阶级专政当作斗争的最近目的。”[6] 列宁指出：“无产阶级作为现代社会唯一彻底革命的阶级，应当成为全体人民在争取彻底的民主主义变革的斗争中、全体被剥削劳动者在反对压迫者和剥削者的斗争中的领导者。无产阶级只有当它意识到并实现这个领导权思想的时候，才是革命的。”[7] 中国共产党始终坚持马克思主义关于党的领导的基本原理，新中国成立前即在抗日根据地确立党的一元化领导制度，新中国成立之初的《中国人民政治协商会议共同纲领》便规定了党的领导地位，“五四宪法”将坚持党的领导写入了宪法序言并构建起党的领导的制度体系。此后党在社会主义建设实践过程中不断探索党的领导的科学内涵、构建党的领导的体制机制。毛泽东指出：“工、农、商、学、兵、政、党这七个方面，党是领导一切的。党要领导工业、农业、商业、文化教育、军队和政府。”[8] 邓小平强调：“搞社会主义现代化建设，必须保证党的领导。我们之所以能经得起风浪，党的领导是最根本的一条保证。党的领导，是四项基本原则中带根本性的一条。”[9] 党的十二大通过的《中国共产党章程》既重申强调了“党是中国社会主义事业的领导核心”，又具体规定了政治、思想和组织的领导是党的领导的主要内容和方式。胡乔木对这一规定进行了解释：“党的领导主要是政治、思想和组织的领导。党一定要通过制定和执行正确的路线、方针和政策，通过细致而有力的思想政治工作和宣传教育工作，通过严密而审慎的组织工作，通过充分发挥党员的先锋模范作用，来实现这种领导。”[10]

Entering the New Era, in the face of prominent problems in Party leadership, Xi Jinping pointed out: “Party leadership is comprehensive, systematic, and holistic; it must be implemented comprehensively, systematically, and holistically. Improve the Party leadership system that coordinates overall work and coordinates all parties, improve the implementation mechanism for major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, ensure that the entire Party maintains a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in political stance, political direction, political principles, and political path, and ensure the unity and solidarity of the Party.” [11] Xi Jinping, starting from the political essence of the Party as “the highest political leadership force,” reveals the political rationality of upholding the Party’s comprehensive leadership; from the historical perspective that “Party leadership concerns the future and destiny of the Party and the country,” he explains the historical inevitability of upholding the Party’s comprehensive leadership; he also explicitly makes “upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership” the highest political principle and fundamental political rule; and he systematically elaborates the basic connotation and practical requirements of upholding and strengthening the Party’s comprehensive leadership. He requires that Party leadership must be implemented according to the principle of comprehensiveness, system, and holism, penetrating all fields of governing the Party, the state, and the military, all aspects of domestic and foreign affairs, national defense, and the entire process of decision-making, implementation, and supervision; upholding and strengthening Party leadership must achieve institutionalization and rule of law, improve and perfect the Party’s organizational system, institutional system, and working mechanisms for leadership; and it is necessary to continuously improve the Party’s governing capacity and leadership level, and improve and perfect the Party’s leadership style and governing style. The principled contribution of these important expositions lies in: developing the scientific revelation of the essence of a political party in Marxist party-building theory with the major thesis that “the Party is the highest political force”; supplementing and perfecting the leadership principle of a long-term governing Marxist ruling party with the systematic exposition of “the Party’s comprehensive leadership,” thereby providing fundamental guidance for the Marxist ruling party to correctly carry out leadership and governing activities.

进入新时代，面对党的领导方面存在的突出问题，习近平指出：“党的领导是全面的、系统的、整体的，必须全面、系统、整体加以落实。健全总揽全局、协调各方的党的领导制度体系，完善党中央重大决策部署落实机制，确保全党在政治立场、政治方向、政治原则、政治道路上同党中央保持高度一致，确保党的团结统一。”[11] 习近平既从“党是最高政治领导力量”的党的政治本质出发揭示了坚持党的全面领导的政治合理性，又从“党的领导关乎党和国家前途命运”的历史视域阐释了坚持党的全面领导的历史必然性，还明确将“维护党中央权威和集中统一领导”作为最高政治原则、根本政治规矩，并系统阐述了坚持和加强党的全面领导的基本内涵和实践要求，要求党的领导必须按照全面系统整体的原则贯穿到治党治国治军各领域、内政外交国防各方面、决策执行监督全过程；坚持和加强党的领导要实现制度化、法治化，健全完善党的领导的组织体系、制度体系、工作机制；要不断提高党的执政能力和领导水平、改进完善党的领导方式和执政方式。这些重要论述的原理性贡献在于，以“党是最高政治力量”的重大论断发展了马克思主义党建理论关于政党本质的科学揭示；以对“党的全面领导”的系统论述补充完善了长期执政的马克思主义政党的领导原理，从而为马克思主义执政党正确开展领导执政活动提供了根本遵循。

II. From the “First Answer” for Escaping the Historical Cycle of Rise and Fall to the “Second Answer”

二、从跳出历史周期率的“第一个答案”到“第二个答案”

How to break out of the historical cycle of rise and fall is both a historic challenge that regimes throughout the ages and across the world have sought to resolve, and a universal issue that political parties worldwide, especially Marxist parties, must confront. In 1945, when Mao Zedong responded to Huang Yanpei’s question about how the Chinese Communist Party could “break free from the domination of the cycle of rise and fall,” he stated: “We have already found a new path. We can break out of this cycle. This new path is democracy. Only when the people are allowed to supervise the government will the government not dare to slack off. Only when everyone takes responsibility will there be no ruin of the state and extinction of the people.” [12] Xi Jinping pointed out: “As the world’s largest Marxist ruling party, how can our Party successfully break out of the historical cycle of order and chaos, rise and fall, and ensure that the Party never changes its nature, its color, or its flavor? This is a strategic question facing all Party comrades. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, in the great practice of advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, we have continuously engaged in practical exploration and theoretical reflection. On the basis of the first answer given by Comrade Mao Zedong at the time—‘letting the people supervise the government’—we have provided a second answer, namely, continuously advancing the Party’s self-revolution.” [13] Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, for the first time in the history of the development of Marxist party-building theory, explicitly proposes the entirely new theoretical category and ideological system of “the Party’s self-revolution,” marking a new height in the understanding of the laws governing how a Marxist ruling party consolidates its long-term ruling position.

如何才能跳出历史周期率既是古今中外各种政权试图解决的历史性难题，也是世界政党特别是马克思主义政党必须面对的普遍性课题。1945年毛泽东在回答黄炎培提出的中国共产党如何“跳出周期率的支配”这一问题时指出：“我们已经找到新路，我们能跳出这周期率。这条新路，就是民主。只有让人民起来监督政府，政府才不敢松懈。只有人人起来负责，才不会人亡政息。”[12] 习近平指出：“我们党作为世界上最大的马克思主义执政党，如何成功跳出治乱兴衰历史周期率、确保党永远不变质不变色不变味？这是摆在全党同志面前的一个战略性问题。党的十八大以来，在推进全面从严治党的伟大实践中，我们不断进行实践探索和理论思考，在毛泽东同志当年给出‘让人民来监督政府’的第一个答案基础上，给出了第二个答案，那就是不断推进党的自我革命。”[13] 习近平关于党的自我革命的重要思想在马克思主义党建理论发展史第一次明确提出“党的自我革命”这一全新理论范畴和思想体系，标志着对马克思主义执政党如何巩固长期执政地位的规律性认识达到新的高度。

The basic viewpoints of historical materialism endow the Marxist party with the historical mission of continuously advancing social revolution, while dialectical materialism inherently contains the fundamental spirit of the Party’s self-revolution. “The revolution is necessary, not only because no other way can overthrow the ruling class, but also because the class that overthrows the ruling class can only, in a revolution, shed all the old, filthy things that cling to it and become capable of rebuilding society.” [14] The above exposition by Marx and Engels focuses on the idea that the proletariat can only achieve self-revolution and its own liberation through social revolution, but it already implies the mutual reinforcement between the social revolution led by the Party and the Party’s self-revolution. Engels once pointed out: “It seems that any workers’ party in a big country can only develop through internal struggle, which conforms to the general law of dialectical development.” [15] Lenin emphasized that the Party must dare to acknowledge its mistakes and strive to correct them: “Not afraid to admit one’s mistakes, not afraid to make repeated efforts to correct them, and in this way we will reach the mountaintop.” [16] In its glorious history of over a hundred years, the Chinese Communist Party has always adhered to the truth and dared to correct errors, accumulating ideological understandings and effective forms of the Party’s self-revolution, such as carrying out criticism and self-criticism, Party rectification and consolidation, strictly enforcing Party discipline, and resolutely advancing the fight against corruption. Mao Zedong pointed out: “We advocate active ideological struggle, because it is a weapon for achieving unity within the Party and revolutionary groups, making them conducive to struggle.” [17] Deng Xiaoping’s important judgment that “to rectify our Party well and achieve our strategic goals, if we do not punish corruption, especially high-level corruption within the Party, there is indeed a danger of failure” [18] initially revealed the relationship between Party building and the Party’s cause. In his speech at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the CPC, Jiang Zemin not only regarded the Party’s “great task of leading the people throughout the country in reform and opening up and realizing socialist modernization” in the new historical period as “a new revolution,” but also explicitly emphasized that “for our Party to lead and advance this revolution, it must itself be strong and powerful.” [19]

历史唯物主义基本观点赋予马克思主义政党不断推进社会革命的历史使命，唯物辩证法内蕴着党的自我革命的基本精神。“革命之所以必需，不仅是因为没有任何其他的办法能够推翻统治阶级，而且还因为推翻统治阶级的那个阶级，只有在革命中才能抛掉自己身上的一切陈旧的肮脏东西，才能胜任重建社会的工作。”[14] 马克思、恩格斯的上述论述着重阐述了无产阶级只有在社会革命才能实现自我革命、才能实现自身解放，但已蕴含着党领导的社会革命与党的自我革命相互促进的意味。恩格斯曾指出：“看来大国的任何工人政党，只有在内部斗争中才能发展起来，这是符合一般辩证发展规律的。”[15] 列宁强调党要勇于承认错误、努力改正错误：“不怕承认自己的错误，不怕三番五次地作出努力来改正错误，这样，我们就会登上山顶。”[16] 中国共产党在一百多年的光辉历程中始终坚持真理、勇于修正错误，积累了诸如开展批评与自我批评、整党整风、严格执行党的纪律、坚决推进反腐败斗争等党的自我革命的思想认识和有效形式。毛泽东指出：“我们主张积极的思想斗争，因为它是达到党内和革命团体内的团结使之利于战斗的武器。”[17] 邓小平关于“要整好我们的党，实现我们的战略目标，不惩治腐败，特别是党内的高层的腐败现象，确实有失败的危险”[18] 的重要论断初步揭示出党的建设与党的事业的关系。江泽民在十四届四中全会上的讲话中，既将党在新的历史时期肩负的“领导全国人民进行改革开放和实现社会主义现代化的伟大任务”视为“一场新的革命”，又明确强调“我们党要领导和推进这场革命，自身必须坚强有力”。[19]

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping, integrating the Party’s cause in the New Era and the great practice of governing the Party, has founded the important thought on the Party’s self-revolution. Taking the 19th National Congress of the CPC as a dividing point, before this

党的十八大以来，习近平结合新时代党的事业和管党治党的伟大实践创立了关于党的自我革命的重要思想。以党的十九大作为分界点，在此之前习近平重点强调党应具备自我革命的政治勇气与政治品格，在此之后逐步深化、拓展了对党的自我革命的认识并形成了完备的理论体系。习近平在党的十九大报告中将“勇于自我革命”纳入党的建设的目标体系，在十九届中央纪委三次全会上深刻阐述了党的自我革命“四个自我”的内涵要求，在十九届中央纪委六次全会上提出推进党的自我革命的“六个必须”，在二十届中央纪委三次全会上又提出党的自我革命“九个以”的实践要求。从马克思主义党建基本原理的维度审视，习近平关于党的自我革命的重要思想着眼于永葆马克思主义政党政治本色，明确给出党的自我革命是马克思主义执政党跳出历史周期率的“第二个答案”。强调锻造强大的政党必须坚持党的自我革命，马克思主义政党必须要以保持“以伟大的自我革命引领社会革命的高度自觉”，深刻揭示了党的自我革命与党领导的事业、党自身的发展之间的关系，系统阐述了党的自我革命的重大意义、深刻内涵和具体路径，将开展党的自我革命明确为马克思主义政党生存发展的常态，全面深化升华了对马克思主义政党巩固长期执政地位的规律性认识，为马克思主义党建理论增添了新的基本原理。

III. From the “Five Constructions” to the “Five Plus Two” Overall Plan for Party Building

三、从“五大建设”到“五加二”党的建设总体布局

“What kind of party to build and how to build it” is a foundational question in the Marxist theory of party building. It is necessary to define the objectives and tasks, constituent elements, and methods and pathways of Party building. The essence of the overall plan for Party building is to specify the main content, key components, and their interrelationships. The process of enriching and expanding the overall plan or main content of Party building is the process by which Marxist political parties deepen their understanding of the laws of Party building. In guiding the construction of workers’ parties in various countries, Marx and Engels formed the basic principles of the Party-building plan around organizational construction, ideological construction, and institutional construction. Lenin’s theory of the new-type proletarian party emphasized ideological construction, organizational construction, democratic centralism construction, discipline construction, and work style construction. Before reform and opening up, the Party formed main contents such as ideological, organizational, and work style construction in Party-building theory and practice and stressed placing ideological construction first. After reform and opening up, it gradually added institutional construction, the fight against corruption, and other contents and gradually developed and refined the concept of the overall plan for Party building. The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Strengthening Party Building” adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the CPC [5]5 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the CPC was held in September 1994. The decision referred to is a key document on Party building in the reform and opening up period. summarized the Party’s achievements in ideological construction, theoretical construction, political construction, organizational construction, and work style construction since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee. In a speech in May 2002, Jiang Zemin proposed that “ideological construction, organizational construction, and work style construction must be organically integrated, with institutional construction running through them.” [20] This overall plan for Party building was confirmed in the report to the 16th National Congress of the CPC, which also first proposed the major topic of “the Party’s governance capacity building.” The report to the 17th National Congress of the CPC clearly defined the overall plan for Party building as including the “Five Constructions” of ideological construction, organizational construction, work style construction, institutional construction, and anti-corruption construction, and explicitly designated the Party’s governance capacity building and advanced nature building as the main line of Party building. The report to the 18th National Congress of the CPC continued to use the “Five Constructions” overall plan, adding “purity building” around the main line of Party building. Although the report explicitly called for “strengthening the Party’s discipline construction,” it did not place it within the overall plan.

“建设一个什么样的党、怎样建设党”，是马克思主义建党学说的基础性问题。必须回答党的建设的目标任务、构成要素和方法路径。党的建设的总体布局的实质就是规定党的建设的主体内容、重点构成及其相互关系。关于党的建设的总体布局或主体内容拓展丰富的过程就是马克思主义政党对党的建设规律认识的不断深化的过程。马克思、恩格斯在指导各国工人政党建设的过程中围绕组织建设、思想建设、制度建设等方面形成了党的建设布局的基本原理。列宁新型无产阶级政党学说重点强调思想建设、组织建设、民主集中制建设、纪律建设、作风建设等。改革开放前党在党的建设理论和实践中形成了思想、组织、作风等方面主要内容并强调要把党的思想建设放在首位。改革开放后又逐步增加了制度建设、反腐败斗争等内容并逐步发展提炼出党的建设总体布局这一概念。党的十四届四中全会通过的《中共中央关于加强党的建设几个重大问题的决定》总结了十一届三中全会以来党在思想建设、理论建设、政治建设、组织建设、作风建设方面的成就。江泽民在2002年5月的讲话中提出“一定要把思想建设、组织建设、作风建设有机结合起来，把制度建设贯穿其中”[20]，这一党的建设的总体布局在党的十六大报告中得到确认并首次提出“党的执政能力建设”这一重大课题。党的十七大报告明确党的建设总体布局包括思想建设、组织建设、作风建设、制度建设、反腐倡廉建设等“五大建设”，并将党的执政能力建设和先进性建设明确为党的建设的主线。党的十八大报告继续沿用“五大建设”总体布局，围绕党的建设主线增加了“纯洁性建设”，虽在报告中明确提出“加强党的纪律建设”的要求但未将其摆放在总体布局中。

For a period of time, there existed within the Party such prominent problems as “the intertwining of political and economic issues,” “insufficient political and principled nature of intra-Party political life,” and “lax Party discipline,” indicating that the main components of Party building had to adapt to the practical development of Party building. Therefore, the overall layout of Party building achieved a new breakthrough in the report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC. In his report to the 19th National Congress, Xi Jinping made an overall plan and comprehensive arrangement for Party building in the New Era under the “general requirements for Party building in the New Era,” and achieved innovative development in the basic principles, main line, focal points, goals, and tasks of Party building. Examined at the principled level, the outstanding contribution of these general requirements lies in the fact that, for the first time, they explicitly incorporated political building and discipline building into the overall layout of Party building and further clarified the interrelationships among the various components of Party building. Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: “Practice has made us deeply realize that political building of the Party determines the direction and effectiveness of Party building; if political building is not carried out or deviates from the direction it guides, it will be difficult for other aspects of Party building to achieve the expected results.” [21] Focusing on the fundamental issue of maintaining the political advanced nature of a Marxist political party, which is the essence of Party building, and focusing on solving prominent political problems within the Party, such as the “seven issues,” [6]6 The “seven issues” (七个有之) refers to seven types of political misconduct within the Party, such as spreading rumors, forming factions, and disobeying central Xi Jinping, for the first time in the history of the development of Marxist theory on Party building, explicitly emphasized that “political building is the fundamental building of the Party,” that “political building must lead all other work in Party building,” and that “the primary task of political building is to ensure that the entire Party obeys the Central Committee, upholds the authority of the Party Central Committee, and maintains its centralized and unified leadership.” This not only profoundly elucidated the important status and great value of political building but also systematically expounded its main content, direction, and path, making the theoretical understanding of political building in Marxist political parties more scientific. An advanced Marxist political party must formulate and strictly implement high-standard disciplinary rules. However, the failures of some large and long-established Marxist parties in discipline building also show that problems such as Party members and cadres having an unclear understanding of the connotation of disciplinary rules, formulating disciplinary rules that are insufficiently scientific, and lax and lenient enforcement of disciplinary rules are issues that Marxist political party building must pay close attention to. Xi Jinping emphasized that discipline building is a “routine task” of Party building and a “fundamental strategy for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.” He pointed out: “We must adhere to law-based governance and rule-based governance of the Party, and tighten and establish discipline and rules”; “Strengthening discipline building is the fundamental strategy for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. … Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party focuses on strengthening discipline building.” [22] The “five-plus-two” [7]7 The “Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy” (四个全面战略布局) is a strategic plan proposed by Xi Jinping, comprising comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively governing the country according to law, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. overall layout of Party building is more in line with the laws of Party building for a Marxist ruling party and represents a major innovation in Marxist theory on Party building. Incorporating political building and discipline building into the overall layout of Party building has theoretical significance and practical value not only in providing theoretical guidance for the Party to strengthen political building and discipline building but also as a theoretical manifestation of the Party reaching a new height and achieving new results in its understanding of the laws governing the main content of Party building.

在一个时期里，党内存在着“政治问题与经济问题相互交织”“党内政治生活的政治性、原则性不足”“党的纪律松弛”等突出问题，表明党的建设的主要构成必须要适应党的建设的实践发展，因此，党的建设总体布局在党的十九大报告中实现了新的突破。习近平在党的十九大报告中用“新时代党的建设总要求”对新时代党的建设作出总体部署和全面安排，并在党的建设的基本原则、主线、着力点、目标任务等方面实现了创新发展。从原理性层面考察，这一总要求的突出贡献在于首次明确把党的政治建设和纪律建设纳入党的建设总体布局并进一步阐明了各项建设之间的相互关系。习近平深刻指出：“实践使我们深刻认识到，党的政治建设决定党的建设方向和效果，不抓党的政治建设或背离党的政治建设指引的方向，党的其他建设就难以取得预期成效。”[21] 习近平着眼于保持马克思主义政党政治上的先进性这一党的建设的根本，着眼于解决党内存在的诸如“七个有之”等突出政治问题，在马克思主义党建理论发展史上第一次明确强调“政治建设是党的根本性建设”“要以政治建设统领党的建设各项工作”“党的政治建设的首要任务是保证全党服从中央、坚持党中央权威和集中统一领导”，既深刻阐明了党的政治建设的重要地位、重大价值，又系统阐述了党的政治建设的主要内容、方向路径，使马克思主义政党关于政治建设的理论认识更加科学。先进的马克思主义政党必须制定并严格执行高标准的纪律规矩。但是一些马克思主义大党、老党在纪律建设上的失误也表明，党员干部对纪律规矩的内涵认识不清、制定纪律规矩不够科学、执行纪律规矩宽松软等是马克思主义政党建设必须高度关注的问题。习近平强调指出纪律建设是党的建设的“经常性工作”、是“全面从严治党治本之策”。他指出：“要坚持依法治国、依规制党，把纪律和规矩挺起来、立起来”；“加强纪律建设是全面从严治党的治本之策。……全面从严治党，重在加强纪律建设”。[22]“五加二”的党的建设总体布局更加符合马克思主义执政党党的建设的规律，是马克思主义政党党建理论的重大创新，将党的政治建设、纪律建设纳入党的建设总体布局，其理论意义和实践价值不仅在于为党加强政治建设、纪律建设提供了理论指南，更是党在党的建设主体内容的规律性认识上达到新高度、取得新成果的理论体现。

IV. From “the Party must supervise itself and govern itself strictly” to “comprehensive and strict governance of the Party”

四、从“党要管党、从严治党”到“全面从严治党”

Maintaining the advanced nature and purity of a Marxist political party requires strict governance and supervision of the Party, which is a basic viewpoint of Marxist theory on Party building. Marx’s provision in the *General Rules of the International Working Men’s Association* that “every branch is responsible for the conduct of the members it accepts” [23] indicates that a Marxist political party must strictly manage and discipline its members. Starting with Lenin, and especially during the development of the CPC, the understanding of the laws governing Party governance and supervision has gradually deepened. Lenin pointed out: “Only the party of the revolutionary working class, such as ours, does not pursue the quantity of members, but pays attention to improving the quality of members and ‘cleansing the Party of those who have wormed their way in.’” [24] In his letter to Lei Jingtian regarding the Huang Kegong case, [8]8 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. Mao Zedong sternly pointed out: “The Communist Party and the Red Army cannot but enforce stricter discipline on their own Party members and Red Army members than on ordinary civilians.” [25] In 1962, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: “The Party must supervise itself; first, supervise Party members, and second, supervise cadres. For a ruling party, the most crucial issue in the Party supervising itself is the cadre issue, because many Party members serve as cadres of various levels.” [26] In 1985, the Central Committee’s Guiding Commission for Party Consolidation first proposed the requirement of “strict governance of the Party” in the *Notice on the Arrangement of Party Consolidation Work in Rural Areas*. Jiang Zemin, in his report to the 14th National Congress of the CPC, first proposed “adhering to the principle that the Party must supervise itself and govern itself strictly,” and in the report to the 16th National Congress, this was explicitly established as a principle that Party building must adhere to. The longer a Marxist political party remains in power and the more complex its governing environment, the higher the requirements for the scientific, systematic, and effective nature of Party governance and supervision. Before the 18th National Congress, the grim reality that “some Party members and cadres wavered in their political beliefs, formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism, and extravagance were repeatedly prohibited in some localities and departments, the phenomenon of privilege-seeking and privilege mentality was relatively serious, and some corruption problems were shocking” [27] caused many people to be “deeply worried.” This urgently required the CPC to form a more law-based understanding and propose a more systematic strategy for how a Marxist ruling party can effectively govern and supervise itself.

保持马克思主义政党的先进性和纯洁性必须严格管党治党是马克思主义党建理论的基本观点。马克思在《国际工人协会共同章程》中关于“每一支部应对接受的会员的品行负责。”[23] 的规定就表明马克思主义政党必须严格管理约束党员。从列宁开始特别是中国共产党在发展过程中对管党治党的规律性认识逐步深入。列宁指出：“世界上只有我们这样的执政党，即革命工人阶级的党，才不追求党员数量，而注意提高党员质量和‘清洗混进党里来的人’。”[24] 毛泽东在因黄克功案件给雷经天的信中严肃指出：“共产党与红军，对于自己的党员与红军成员不能不执行比较一般平民更加严格的纪律。”[25] 1962年邓小平指出：“党要管党，一管党员，二管干部。对执政党来说，党要管党，最关键的是干部问题，因为许多党员都在当大大小小的干部。”[26] 1985年中共中央整党工作指导委员会在《关于农村整党工作部署的通知》首次提出“从严治党”要求。江泽民在党的十四大报告中第一次提出要“坚持党要管党和从严治党”并于十六大报告中将其明确为党的建设必须坚持的方针。马克思主义政党执政时间越长、执政环境越复杂对管党治党的科学性、系统性、有效性要求就越高。十八大之前“有些党员、干部政治信仰发生动摇，一些地方和部门形式主义、官僚主义、享乐主义和奢靡之风屡禁不止，特权思想和特权现象较为严重，一些贪腐问题触目惊心”[27] 的严峻现实导致很多人“忧心忡忡”，这就迫切需要中国共产党在马克思主义执政党如何有效管党治党上形成更富规律性的认识、提出更具系统性的方略。

After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping upheld the basic views of Marxist party building theory on governing and disciplining the Party, and emphasized: “The Party must govern itself and govern itself strictly; this is a consistent requirement and fundamental policy of Party building.” [28] After first proposing “comprehensively advancing strict governance of the Party” in October 2014, Xi Jinping formally proposed “comprehensive and strict governance of the Party” in December of the same year, and incorporated it into the “Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy”. The proposal of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party added a new original concept to the theoretical system of Marxist party building. “The core of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is to strengthen Party leadership, the foundation lies in comprehensiveness, the key lies in strictness, and the crux lies in governance.” [29] This judgment is concise yet rich in content, pointing out the “core”, “foundation”, “key”, and “crux” of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, making a scientific definition of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party around basic concepts, core tenets, and practical requirements, thereby realizing innovation in the concepts and methods of Marxist party building theory regarding governing and disciplining the Party. In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping explicitly put forward the requirement to “improve the system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party”. This holistic and pioneering work requirement reflects that Xi Jinping’s understanding of the laws governing the governance and discipline of a Marxist party is constantly advancing with the times. In his speech at the Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xi Jinping pointed out: “The system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party should be a dynamic system with rich connotations, complete functions, scientific standards, and efficient operation. Improving this system requires us to adhere to institutional governance of the Party and governance of the Party in accordance with regulations, to more prominently highlight the organic connection, integrated integration, and coordinated synergy of all aspects of Party building, to more prominently highlight the perfection of systems and mechanisms and the scientific effectiveness of laws and regulations, and to more prominently highlight the use of governance concepts, systematic thinking, and dialectical reasoning to govern, discipline, and build the Party.” [30] This exposition points out the essential characteristics of the system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, emphasizing that governing, disciplining, and building the Party must attach importance to the use of governance concepts, systematic thinking, and dialectical reasoning, which is a further revelation of the objective laws of how to advance comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. In June 2024, when presiding over a collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping made arrangements around “improving the system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party”, emphasizing the need to improve “an organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and has strong execution”, “an education system that consolidates the foundation, nourishes the soul, and unites hearts”, “a supervision system that is precise in its efforts and addresses both symptoms and root causes”, “a system of institutions that is scientifically complete, effective, and practical”, and “a responsibility system with clear subjects and clear requirements”. [31] This shows that comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in the New Era is becoming increasingly systematic in both theory and practice, reflecting that the Party’s understanding of the basic laws of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party has become more profound. The foundational contribution of Xi Jinping’s important discourse on comprehensive and strict governance of the Party lies in clearly establishing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party as a basic principle that a Marxist party must always adhere to, pointing out that comprehensive and strict governance of the Party should highlight problem orientation, strengthen scientific thinking, and focus on system construction, thereby promoting the basic views of Marxist party building theory on governing and disciplining the Party and strict governance of the Party to be elevated to the basic principle of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.

党的十八大之后，习近平坚持马克思主义党建理论关于管党治党的基本观点，并强调指出：“党要管党、从严治党，是党的建设的一贯要求和根本方针。”[28] 习近平在2014年10月首次提出“全面推进从严治党”后，于同年12月正式提出“全面从严治党”，并将其纳入“四个全面战略布局”。全面从严治党的提出，为马克思主义党建理论体系增添了新的原创性概念。“全面从严治党，核心是加强党的领导，基础在全面，关键在严，要害在治。”[29] 这一论断简明扼要而内涵丰富，指明了全面从严治党的“核心”“基础”“关键”“要害”，围绕基本理念、核心要旨、实践要求对全面从严治党作出科学界定，实现了马克思主义党建理论在管党治党方面的理念和方法创新。在党的二十大报告中习近平又明确提出了“健全全面从严治党体系”的要求。这一具有全局性、开创性的工作要求反映出习近平对马克思主义政党管党治党规律的认识在不断与时俱进。在二十届中央纪委二次全会的讲话中习近平指出：“全面从严治党体系应是一个内涵丰富、功能完备、科学规范、运行高效的动态系统。健全这个体系，需要我们坚持制度治党、依规治党，更加突出党的各方面建设有机衔接、联动集成、协同协调，更加突出体制机制的健全完善和法规制度的科学有效，更加突出运用治理的理念、系统的观念、辩证的思维管党治党建设党。”[30] 这段论述指明了全面从严治党体系的本质特征，强调管党治党建设党必须重视运用治理理念、系统观念、辩证思维，是对如何推进全面从严治党客观规律的进一步揭示。2024年6月，习近平在主持中共中央政治局集体学习时围绕“健全全面从严治党体系”作出部署，强调要健全“上下贯通、执行有力的组织体系”“固本培元、凝心铸魂的教育体系”“精准发力、标本兼治的监管体系”“科学完备、有效管用的制度体系”“主体明确、要求清晰的责任体系”。[31] 这就表明新时代的全面从严治党在理论和实践上都日趋体系化，反映出党对全面从严治党基本规律的认识更为深刻。习近平关于全面从严治党重要论述的原理性贡献在于，将全面从严治党明确为马克思主义政党必须始终坚持的基本原则，指明了全面从严治党应突出问题导向、强化科学思维、注重体系构建，推动马克思主义党建理论关于管党治党、从严治党的基本观点跃升为全面从严治党的基本原理。

(The author is a professor and director of the Party Building Teaching and Research Department of the Party School of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the CPC)

(作者为中共山西省委党校党的建设教研部主任、教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心