Creating a New Situation for Cultural Heritage and Development in the “Two Integrations”

Culture is a living organism, carrying the genes of history and the memory of tradition. Only with a constant flow of living water and sufficient nourishment can it maintain vigorous vitality. This determines that culture is a process of development within inheritance, constantly upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and full of dynamic change. The long-standing and well-established history of Chinese civilization is an excellent positive example, while those ancient civilizations buried in ruins that have not been passed down prove that the continuous transmission of a cultural lineage is not inevitable. Continuing to advance the heritage and development of Chinese culture amid the tides of the times is not only a respect for and continuation of history, but also a responsibility and commitment to the future.

文化是一个生命体，携带着历史的基因、传统的记忆，唯有活水不断、养分充足，才能保持旺盛的生命力。这就决定了文化是一个在传承中发展，不断守正创新、充满动态变化的过程。中华文明源远流长的历史就是绝佳的正面例证，而那些湮没在废墟里没有传下来的古老文明又证明了文脉永续并非必然。在时代的浪潮中继续推进中华文化传承发展，不仅是对历史的尊重与延续，更是对未来的责任与担当。

The Communist Party of China is both an active leader and practitioner of China’s advanced culture and a faithful inheritor and promoter of China’s fine traditional culture. Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which our Party and country are founded and thrive, while China’s fine traditional culture is the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation. How to understand and grasp the relationship between the two is a fundamental issue concerning the heritage and development of Chinese culture. “To develop socialism with Chinese characteristics on the foundation of over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, it is a necessary path to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s fine traditional culture.” “The Second Integration makes Marxism Chinese, makes China’s fine traditional culture modern, and makes the new culture formed through ‘integration’ the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization.” Two years ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development gave a clear and powerful answer. In this brilliant document, the General Secretary takes a broad view of China and abroad, discusses the past and present in depth, and incisively elaborates on a series of major theoretical and practical issues concerning the heritage and development of Chinese culture. In particular, he provides a very rich and profound explanation of the great significance and internal mechanism of the “Two Integrations,” elevating our understanding of the laws governing the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics to a new height. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is precisely a major achievement that consciously adheres to the “Two Integrations” and promotes the innovative development of Marxist cultural theory. We must deeply study and practice Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, consciously recognize and apply the “Two Integrations,” adhere to the path of developing socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, develop advanced socialist culture, promote revolutionary culture, inherit China’s fine traditional culture, and continuously promote the renewal of life and modern transformation of Chinese civilization.

中国共产党既是中国先进文化的积极引领者和践行者，也是中华优秀传统文化的忠实传承者和弘扬者。马克思主义是我们立党立国、兴党兴国的根本指导思想，中华优秀传统文化是中华民族的精神血脉，如何理解和把握二者的关系是事关中华文化传承发展的一个根本性问题。“在五千多年中华文明深厚基础上开辟和发展中国特色社会主义，把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化相结合是必由之路。”“‘第二个结合’让马克思主义成为中国的，中华优秀传统文化成为现代的，让经由‘结合’而形成的新文化成为中国式现代化的文化形态。”两年前，习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上的重要讲话作出鲜明而有力的回答。在这篇光辉文献中，总书记放眼中外、纵论古今，鞭辟入里论述了中华文化传承发展一系列重大理论和实践问题，特别是对“两个结合”的重大意义和内在机理作了十分丰富、深刻的阐释，把我们对中国特色社会主义文化建设规律的认识提升到新高度。习近平文化思想正是自觉坚持“两个结合”、推动马克思主义文化理论创新发展的重大成果。我们必须深入学习实践习近平文化思想，自觉体认和运用“两个结合”，坚持走中国特色社会主义文化发展道路，发展社会主义先进文化，弘扬革命文化，传承中华优秀传统文化，持续推动中华文明的生命更新和现代转型。

The “Two Integrations” reveal the necessary path for opening up and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and also reveal the necessary path for promoting theoretical innovation and cultural prosperity, greatly expanding the cultural foundation of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In advancing cultural construction, only by adhering to the “soul vein” of Marxism and the “root vein” of China’s fine traditional culture can we consolidate our cultural subjectivity and ensure that cultural heritage and development proceed in the correct direction. On the one hand, we must unswervingly use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to consolidate souls and forge spirits, solidly advance the systematic and academic research and interpretation of the Party’s innovative theories in the New Era, and continuously consolidate Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological domain and the common ideological foundation for the unity and struggle of the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups. On the other hand, we must deeply excavate the ideological concepts, humanistic spirit, and moral norms of China’s fine traditional culture, and carry out creative transformation and innovative development in accordance with the requirements of the times, so that tradition and modernity connect and blend, and radiate new brilliance in the New Era.

“两个结合”揭示了开辟和发展中国特色社会主义的必由之路，也揭示了推动理论创新和文化繁荣的必由之路，大大拓展了中国特色社会主义道路的文化根基。我们推进文化建设，只有坚守马克思主义这个“魂脉”和中华优秀传统文化这个“根脉”，才能巩固我们的文化主体性，确保文化传承发展朝着正确的方向前进。一方面，要坚持不懈用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想凝心铸魂，扎实推进新时代党的创新理论体系化学理化研究阐释，不断巩固马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位、巩固全党全国人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础。另一方面，要深入挖掘中华优秀传统文化的思想观念、人文精神、道德规范，结合时代要求进行创造性转化和创新性发展，使传统与现代相接相融并在新时代绽放出新的光彩。

Cultural heritage carries the genes and bloodline of the Chinese nation and is an irreplaceable and non-renewable resource of China’s fine civilization. The prerequisite and foundation for cultural heritage and development is to protect cultural heritage well. We must adhere to the principles of protection first, rational utilization, and minimal intervention, strengthen the systematic protection and unified supervision of cultural heritage such as cultural relics and historic sites, ancient buildings, famous cities and towns, historical districts, traditional villages, cultural landscapes, and intangible cultural heritage folk customs, and carefully protect, promote, and develop the treasures of Chinese civilization, so that the historical lineage thrives with vitality and renewed vigor in contemporary China. We must accelerate the establishment of a new pattern for the comprehensive protection of cultural heritage, establish and improve the legal and regulatory system for cultural heritage protection, strengthen the monitoring, protection, and restoration of cultural heritage, deeply advance the construction and protection of national cultural parks, and severely crack down on all types of illegal and criminal acts that damage cultural heritage. At the same time, using methods that the masses find pleasing and forms imbued with the spirit of the times, we should ensure that more cultural heritage is rationally utilized, enriching the historical and cultural nourishment of the whole society.

文化遗产承载着中华民族的基因和血脉，是不可再生、不可替代的中华优秀文明资源。文化传承发展的前提和基础是保护好文化遗产。我们要坚持保护第一、合理利用和最小干预原则，加强文物古迹、古老建筑、名城名镇、历史街区、传统村落、文化景观和非遗民俗等文化遗产系统性保护和统一监管，把中华文明瑰宝呵护好、弘扬好、发展好，让历史文脉在当代中国生机勃发、气象更新。要加快建立起文化遗产大保护新格局，建立健全文化遗产保护的法律法规体系，加强对文化遗产的监测、保护和修复，深入推进国家文化公园建设保护，严厉打击各类破坏文化遗产的违法犯罪行为。同时，用群众喜闻乐见的方式、富有时代气息的形式，让更多文化遗产合理利用起来，丰富全社会历史文化滋养。

Cultural heritage and development must be conditioned on genuine prosperity, marked by the continuous emergence of outstanding works, the strengthening and expansion of the cultural industry and cultural undertakings, and the emergence of a large number of outstanding cultural talents. This requires us to adhere to the “Two For” direction [1]1 The “Two For” direction refers to the policy of literature and art serving the people and serving socialism. and the “Double Hundred” policy [2]2 The “Double Hundred” policy refers to the policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend in the realms of literature, art, and academic research., promote academic democracy and artistic democracy, create a positive, healthy, relaxed, and harmonious atmosphere, give rise to more monumental works, cultivate more cultural masters, and enable Chinese theory, Chinese scholarship, Chinese literature and art, and Chinese aesthetics to stand tall among the nations of the world and lead the trend. We must strive to enhance the capacity for original cultural creation, combine the production of results with the cultivation of talent, and integrate the focus on works with the improvement of the environment, strengthen and improve the production of literary and artistic creations, and accelerate the construction of an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences. We must strive to improve the quality and level of supply of cultural products and services, and promote innovation in cultural formats, products, and services. Adhere to a people-centered creative orientation, actively promote the development of “new mass literature and art,” and better meet the diverse, multi-level, and multi-faceted spiritual and cultural needs of the people. Strive to cultivate a high-level cultural talent team, improve the mechanisms for talent selection, cultivation, utilization, and incentive that conform to the characteristics of the cultural field, respect the laws of talent growth and the laws of cultural creation and production, and fully mobilize the initiative, creativity, and enthusiasm of the vast number of cultural talents. Culture and technology mutually reinforce each other. We must conform to the development trends of digitalization, networking, and intelligence, use internet thinking and information technology to improve the processes of cultural creation, production, and dissemination, and continuously transform China’s rich and profound cultural resource advantages into advantages for cultural development.

文化传承发展要以真实的繁荣为条件，以精品力作竞相涌现、文化事业产业做大做强、文化优秀人才辈出为标志。这就要求我们必须坚持“二为”方向和“双百”方针，发扬学术民主、艺术民主，营造积极健康、宽松和谐的氛围，催生更多扛鼎之作，培育更多文化大家，让中国理论、中国学术、中国文艺、中国审美屹立世界之林、引领风气之先。要着力提高文化原创能力，将出成果和出人才相结合、抓作品和抓环境相贯通，加强和改进文艺创作生产，加快构建中国哲学社会科学自主知识体系。着力提高文化产品和服务的供给质量和水平，推动文化业态创新、产品创新、服务创新。坚持以人民为中心的创作导向，积极推动“新大众文艺”发展，更好满足人民群众多样化、多层次、多方面的精神文化需求。着力培育高水平文化人才队伍，完善符合文化领域特点的人才选拔、培养、使用、激励机制，尊重人才成长规律和文化创作生产规律，充分调动广大文化人才的积极性主动性创造性。文化和科技相生相促，要顺应数字化、网络化、智能化发展趋势，用互联网思维和信息技术改进文化创作、生产、传播流程，把我国丰富厚重的文化资源优势不断转化为文化发展优势。

Reform is an important magic weapon for liberating and developing cultural productive forces. Currently, reform in the cultural field has entered a deep-water zone and a critical period, with increased challenges and pressures, and the opportunity is fleeting. We must deeply implement the deployment requirements of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC [3]3 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, held in July 2024, focused on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization., unswervingly make stimulating innovation and creativity the central link in deepening the reform of the cultural system and mechanism, fully grasp the characteristics of culture possessing both industrial attributes and ideological attributes, and focus on key and difficult issues to accelerate the planning and implementation of reform measures. We must accelerate the improvement of the cultural management system and production and operation mechanisms, build a modern public cultural service system, improve the modern cultural industry system, and perfect cultural economic policies and legal systems, providing strong impetus and institutional guarantees for cultural heritage and development.

改革是解放和发展文化生产力的重要法宝。当前文化领域改革已进入深水区、攻坚期，挑战压力增大，时机稍纵即逝。要深入贯彻落实党的二十届三中全会部署要求，坚定不移把激发创新创造活力作为深化文化体制机制改革的中心环节，充分把握文化兼具产业属性和意识形态属性的特征，聚焦重点难点问题加紧谋划实施改革举措。要加快完善文化管理体制和生产经营机制，构建现代公共文化服务体系，健全现代文化产业体系，完善文化经济政策和法律制度，为文化传承发展提供强劲动力和制度保障。

Chinese culture has inherently possessed the characteristic of openness and inclusiveness since ancient times. The exchange and mutual learning of different cultures is an important pathway for cultural heritage and development. We must strengthen the concept of using culture to dialogue with the world, more proactively promote culture to go global, encourage and support cultural enterprises, cultural institutions, and cultural talents to carry out foreign cultural exchange activities abroad, encourage and support the introduction of a batch of cultural products and services that integrate Chinese and foreign elements into the mainstream international society, and enhance the affinity, influence, and competitiveness of Chinese culture. We must steadily and orderly expand the opening up of the cultural field to the outside world, learn from and draw on all outstanding achievements of human civilization with a more open mindset and a broader vision, absorb the beneficial components of foreign cultures, and enrich and develop Chinese culture.

中华文化自古以来就具有开放包容的特性，不同文化的交流互鉴是文化传承发展的重要途径。要强化用文化同世界对话的理念，更加主动地推动文化走出去，鼓励和支持文化企业、文化机构、文化人才到国外开展对外文化交流活动，鼓励和支持推出一批融通中外的文化产品和服务进入国际主流社会，提高中华文化的亲和力、影响力和竞争力。要稳妥有序扩大文化领域对外开放，以更加开放的心态、更加开阔的视野学习借鉴人类文明的一切优秀成果，吸收外来文化的有益成分，丰富和发展中华文化。

“All that is beneficial follows the trend of the times.” [4]4 A classical Chinese allusion from the *Book of Changes* (*Yijing*), meaning that all beneficial principles and measures must evolve and adapt with the changing times. Cultural heritage and development have a soul and a root, a source and a flow, a basis and a following, a transformation and a creation. As we forge ahead on the new journey of building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation, an “expedition” to carry out cultural creation in practical creation and achieve cultural progress in historical progress has also set off. Let us focus our gaze on the strategic goal of building a strong cultural nation, shoulder the sacred mission and heavy responsibility, never forget the past, absorb the foreign, and face the future, composing a more splendid and dazzling new chapter of Chinese civilization.

“凡益之道，与时偕行。”文化传承发展，有魂有根、有源有流，有因有循、有革有化。当我们奋进在强国建设、民族复兴新征程上，一场在实践创造中进行文化创造、在历史进步中实现文化进步的“远征”也随之开拔。让我们把目光聚焦于建成文化强国的战略目标，肩负起神圣的使命和沉甸甸责任，不忘本来、吸收外来、面向未来，谱写中华文明更加灿烂夺目的新华章。

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心