Promoting the Construction of Socialist Culture with Chinese Characteristics through the “Two Integrations”

The construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is of great significance; it directly concerns the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, concerns the shaping of the modern form of Chinese civilization, and concerns the success or failure of the entire cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. On the surface, culture appears to be “soft,” with only material forces being decisive. Yet under specific conditions, “soft power” can even determine “hard power”; soft power is in fact not soft at all—this is the dialectics of soft power. To carry out the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, it is necessary to clarify its important status, grasp its inherent requirements, and reveal the genuine driving forces that propel it.

中国特色社会主义文化建设意义重大，它直接关乎中华民族伟大复兴，关乎中华文明现代形态的建构，关乎整个中国特色社会主义事业的成败。表面上看，文化似乎是“软性”的，只有物质才是决定性的力量。但在特定条件下，“软实力”甚至决定“硬实力”，软实力其实并不软，这正是软实力的辩证法。进行中国特色社会主义文化建设，需要明确它的重要地位，把握它的内在要求，揭示推动它的真正动力。

The Important Position of Socialist Culture with Chinese Characteristics in the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation

中国特色社会主义文化建设在中华民族伟大复兴中具有重要地位

In an era where the importance of culture is particularly prominent, the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is becoming increasingly urgent. In the historical process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and in the dynamic construction of the modern form of Chinese civilization, the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics occupies a pivotal strategic position and essential significance.

在一个文化的重要性格外凸显的时代，中国特色社会主义文化建设显得日益迫切。在实现中华民族伟大复兴的历史进程中，在中华文明现代形态的能动建构中，中国特色社会主义文化建设具有举足轻重的战略地位和本质意义。

On the one hand, as some scholars have pointed out: “In fact, the difference between one nation and another is less due to racial factors than to factors of habit or living environment.” [1]1 The author is paraphrasing a view common in cultural studies; the specific source is not identified in the original text. This means that the defining character of a nation comes not from ethnology, nor from geography, but from culturology. For customs in the cultural sense are expressed on the basis of the nation; as a strategy for human beings to cope with their environment, culture is also largely determined by the unique environment faced by a given nation. This being the case, the historical goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation should be understood with an emphasis on the cultural dimension.

一方面，诚如有学者所指出的：“事实上，一民族与另一民族之间的区别，种族因素尚不如习惯或生存环境的因素为多。”这意味着民族的规定性在本质上并非来自人种学，亦非来自地域学，而是来自文化学。因为文化意义上的风俗习惯是以民族为单位被表达的，作为人类应对环境的一种策略，文化也在很大程度上决定于一个民族所面对的独特环境。既然如此，中华民族伟大复兴的历史目标，其内涵应该侧重于从文化的角度领会。

On the other hand, whether it is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation or the modern form of Chinese civilization, neither is an abstract goal or an abstract stipulation; rather, each has its own concrete historical content and is therefore a historical stipulation. As a historical stipulation, it can only acquire itself through a specific cultural tradition and its construction, bearing distinct national features and national forms. The more than five thousand years of Chinese civilization and the cultural tradition formed on this basis constitute the historical foundation of cultural subjectivity and are the important cultural genes for the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

另一方面，无论是中华民族伟大复兴，还是中华文明现代形态，都不是一个抽象的目标，不是一个抽象的规定，而是有其具体的历史内涵，因而是一个历史的规定。作为历史规定，它只能通过特定的文化传统及其建构而获得自身，带有鲜明民族特征、民族形式。中华民族五千多年的文明史以及在此基础上形成的文化传统，是文化主体性的历史底蕴所在，构成中国特色社会主义文化建设的重要文化基因。

The path of “rejuvenation” taken to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is a “return” to the starting point at a new historical height and on a new foundation—this is the dialectics of history. This new historical height and foundation are ultimately determined and provided by the socialist system, path, and historical practice. Without the choice of the socialist path, without the establishment of the socialist system, and without the practical exploration of socialism, it would be impossible for us to blaze a path different from Western modernization, and impossible to break the myth that “modernization equals Westernization.” The construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is ultimately based on the socialist system, which historically sublates capitalist civilization. This temporal coordinate opens up broad historical prospects for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

实现中华民族伟大复兴所走的“复兴”之路，是在新的历史高度和基础上向出发点的“复归”，这正是历史的辩证法。这个新的历史高度和基础，归根到底是由社会主义制度、道路和历史实践规定和提供的。离开了对社会主义道路的选择，离开了社会主义制度的建立，离开了社会主义的实践探索，我们就不可能走出一条异质于西方现代化的道路，不可能打破“现代化=西方化”的迷思。中国特色社会主义文化建设归根到底是以历史地扬弃资本主义文明的社会主义制度为依据的。这一时代坐标为实现中华民族伟大复兴开辟了广阔的历史前景。

The “Two Integrations” as the Inherent Requirement for the Construction of Socialist Culture with Chinese Characteristics

“两个结合”是中国特色社会主义文化建设的内在要求

The construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is an indispensable organic component of the entire cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As a practical form of the “Two Integrations” at the cultural level, its inherent stipulations must necessarily derive from the basic principles of Marxism, China’s specific national conditions, and the excellent traditional Chinese culture embedded within them. Socialism, as a historical fact and a contemporary form, has never been an abstract existence; it can only be actually expressed and become a real existence through the historical path and practical construction of a specific nation and a specific country. The socialist cultural cause that grows on Chinese soil inevitably bears distinct Chinese characteristics and national forms. Comrade Mao Zedong, when discussing the establishment of a new-democratic culture, proposed that it should take “a national, scientific, and mass culture” as its basic features. [2]2 Mao Zedong’s formulation of “national, scientific, and mass culture” appeared in his 1940 work *On New Democracy*. In carrying out socialist cultural construction in contemporary China, it is equally necessary to prominently embody national characteristics. For without the Chinese characteristics rooted in cultural nationality, the construction of socialist culture will lose its cultural “self,” and it will be impossible to give a proper answer to the questions “whose cultural construction is this?” and “for whom is this cultural construction?” Therefore, the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, at a new historical height and in a new historical context, must likewise highlight the stipulation of nationality and consciously establish the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation. The so-called “Chinese characteristics” of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics depend not only on China’s specific economic and political conditions but, in a deeper sense, also on China’s cultural conditions.

中国特色社会主义文化建设是整个中国特色社会主义事业不可或缺的有机组成部分。作为“两个结合”在文化层面上的实践形式，其内在规定性必然源自马克思主义基本原理和中国具体国情及其内蕴的中华优秀传统文化。作为历史事实和当代形式的社会主义，从来都不是抽象的存在，它只有通过特定民族、特定国家的历史路径和实践建构才能被实际地表征出来，变成现实的存在。在中国大地上生长出来的社会主义文化事业，必然带有鲜明的中国特点和民族形式。毛泽东同志在谈到建立新民主主义文化时，就曾提出以“民族的、科学的、大众的文化”为其基本特征。在当代中国进行社会主义文化建设，同样需要鲜明地体现民族特点。因为离开了以文化民族性为根据的中国特色，社会主义文化建设将失去其文化意义上的“自我”，无法给出究竟是“谁的文化建设”，又是“为谁的文化建设”的恰当答案。因此，中国特色社会主义文化建设，在新的时代高度上和新的历史语境中同样需要凸显民族性规定，自觉确立中华民族的文化主体性。所谓中国特色社会主义文化的“中国特色”，既取决于中国社会特有的经济条件和政治条件，在更深刻的意义上还取决于中国社会的文化条件。

At the same time, the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics inherently possesses a dimension of contemporaneity. This cause can acquire its contemporary content only on the basis of the context of Chinese-path modernization. Without the choice of the socialist path and system, China could not have become a modern state. Since the late Qing dynasty, [3]3 The late Qing dynasty refers to the period from the mid-19th century to the fall of the dynasty in 1912, marked by foreign incursions and internal decline. the backward path was impassable, the capitalist path could not be taken and was not willing to be taken; only socialism could save China, and only socialism could develop China. This is a conclusion already proven by historical facts. Only through “creative transformation and innovative development” can excellent traditional Chinese culture be transformed into a new form compatible with the requirements of modernization. The socialist path opens up a genuine possibility for backward Eastern countries and nations to escape the domination and enslavement of the Western colonial system and thereby gain independence, liberation, and dignity. For China, the theoretical basis of the socialist cause lies in the basic principles of Marxism as the guiding theory. For China, the practical necessity of socialism is determined by the specific historical context of modern China, while the theoretical legitimacy of socialism is provided by Marxism. Therefore, in this sense, the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics cannot, in essence, depart from the basic principles of Marxism as its inherent foundation.

同时，中国特色社会主义文化建设还内在地固有其时代性维度。这一事业只有基于中国式现代化语境才能真正获得时代内涵。离开了对社会主义道路和制度的选择，中国不可能变成一个现代意义上的国家。晚清以降，回头路走不通，资本主义道路不能走也不愿走，只有社会主义才能救中国，也只有社会主义才能发展中国。这是已经被历史事实所证明了的结论。中华优秀传统文化也只有经过“创造性转化和创新性发展”，才能变成同现代化要求相适应的新形态。社会主义道路为东方落后国家和民族摆脱西方殖民体系的支配和奴役，从而获得独立、解放和尊严开辟了真正的可能性。中国的社会主义事业，从学理依据上说，就在于马克思主义基本原理作为指导思想的理论基础。对于中国来说，社会主义在实践上的必要性是由近代中国所处的特定历史语境决定的，社会主义在学理上的合法性则是由马克思主义提供的。因此，从这个意义上说，中国特色社会主义文化建设在本质上不能离开马克思主义基本原理这一内在根据。

The “Two Integrations” Provide the Fundamental Driving Force for the Construction of Socialist Culture with Chinese Characteristics

“两个结合”为中国特色社会主义文化建设提供根本动力

On the issue of constructing socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, one urgent task we face is to transform today’s China from a cultural power in quantity into a cultural power in quality as quickly as possible. “Cultural power in quantity” is a concept of magnitude, while “cultural power in quality” is a concept of quality. Today’s China is undoubtedly a cultural power in quantity, because we possess a history of civilization spanning more than five thousand years and an ancient cultural tradition. Yet we must also recognize that we are still some distance from the goal of becoming a cultural power in quality. This is precisely why the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is so important.

在中国特色社会主义文化建设问题上，我们面临的一项紧迫任务，就是尽快把今天的中国由一个文化大国变成一个文化强国。“文化大国”是一个量的概念，“文化强国”则是一个质的概念。今天的中国毫无疑问是一个文化大国，因为我们拥有五千多年的文明史，有着古老的文化传统。但也需要看到，我们离文化强国的目标还有一定距离。这正是中国特色社会主义文化建设何以重要的原因。

Building a cultural power in quality is by no means an empty slogan; it cannot be separated from the practical innovation and creation of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics based on the “Two Integrations.” Historically, the success of China’s revolution, construction, and reform depended on the organic integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Historical experience has repeatedly taught us that when the integration is done well, our cause achieves success and victory; when the integration is not done well, our cause suffers losses or even setbacks. Today, as we build socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, we likewise cannot do without the continuous deepening and expansion of the “Two Integrations” in the new historical context. In a certain sense, it can be said that the actual process of advancing the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is precisely the process of continuously deepening the “Two Integrations” in practice. For the “Two Integrations” constitute the source of driving force for the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

建设文化强国决不是一个空洞口号，它离不开以“两个结合”为基础的中国特色社会主义事业在实践上的创新和创造。历史地看，中国革命、建设、改革之所以取得成功，靠的是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的有机结合。历史经验也反复告诉我们，什么时候结合得好，我们的事业就取得成功和胜利；什么时候结合得不好，我们的事业就会遭受损失甚至挫折。今天，我们建设中国特色社会主义文化，同样离不开“两个结合”在新的历史语境中的不断深化和拓展。从某种意义上可以说，中国特色社会主义文化建设实际推进的过程，就是“两个结合”在实践上不断深化的过程。因为“两个结合”构成中国特色社会主义文化建设的动力源。

The relationship between the basic principles of Marxism and China's concrete realities and its fine traditional culture appears on the surface to be one of mutual externality. In fact, this view is superficial. This is because the Marxist conception of history is constructed on the basis of a correct revelation of the laws of human history and on the specific historical context of "the transformation of history into world history"; the entire Eastern society, including China, is not situated in a "blind spot" of the perspective of historical materialism. It is by no means accidental that China's history and culture chose Marxism; in the final analysis, it depends on the inner needs of the evolution of Chinese social history. This historical choice itself once again confirms Marx's famous dictum: "The degree to which a theory is realized in a country always depends on the degree to which the theory satisfies the needs of that country." The historical practice of China's revolution, construction, and reform, and the successful practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, are theoretically undoubtedly the result of the guidance of Marxism. Moreover, China's modern and contemporary history has actually participated in the process of "world history" as Marx spoke of it, and constitutes an indispensable and important component of it. In this sense, for China, Marxism is not an external "other," but an actual constructor that is internal to Chinese history itself, intervening and playing a role in a theoretical manner. The entire great historical undertaking of socialism with Chinese characteristics is accomplished precisely in this way; socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, as an important component of this great historical undertaking, is likewise accomplished in this way.

马克思主义基本原理与中国具体实际和中华优秀传统文化之间的关系，表面上看似乎是互为外在的关系。其实这种看法是肤浅的。因为马克思主义历史观是基于对人类历史规律的正确揭示，基于“历史向世界历史的转变”这一特定历史语境建构起来的，包括中国在内的整个东方社会并非处于唯物史观视野的“盲区”。中国的历史和文化选择了马克思主义决不是偶然的，归根到底取决于中国社会历史演进的内在需要。这一历史选择本身再一次印证了马克思的那个著名论断：“理论在一个国家实现的程度，总是决定于理论满足这个国家的需要的程度。”中国革命、建设、改革的历史实践，中国特色社会主义的成功实践，从理论上说无疑是马克思主义指导的结果。而且，中国现当代的历史实际地参与了马克思所说的“世界历史”进程，并构成它的一个不可或缺的重要组成部分。在这个意义上，对于中国来说，马克思主义不是一个外在的“他者”，而是内在于中国历史本身、以理论的方式介入并发挥作用的实际建构者。整个中国特色社会主义历史伟业正是这样成就的，中国特色社会主义文化作为这一历史伟业的一个重要构成部分，同样是这样成就的。

In short, the combination of the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete realities and with China's fine traditional culture, through their mutual integration, forms a new category. The construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is precisely the expression of this new category at the cultural level. This means that the "Two Integrations" fundamentally define and promote the historical generation and active construction of the cause of building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

总之，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，通过彼此的契合融合为一个新的范畴。中国特色社会主义文化建设，正是这一新范畴在文化层面上的表达。这意味着，“两个结合”从根本上规定并推动着中国特色社会主义文化建设事业的历史生成和能动建构。

(The author is a specially appointed researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in Shandong Province)

（作者系山东省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心