The Value Implications of Continuously Enriching the People’s Spiritual World

General Secretary Xi Jinping recently issued important instructions on the work of cultural-ethical progress, emphasizing that “on the new journey of the New Era, cultural-ethical progress must take on a new look and achieve new accomplishments,” and clearly put forward the “Four Musts,” one of which is “to place greater emphasis on educating and cultivating people through culture, continuously enrich the people’s spiritual world, and promote the comprehensive development of the individual.” This important exposition is a systematic summary and theoretical elevation of the Party’s practical experience in leading cultural-ethical progress in the New Era. It contains the value implications of continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world in terms of resolving the principal contradiction of the New Era, focusing on strengthening ideological cohesion, serving the great cause of national rejuvenation, and promoting the comprehensive development of the individual.

习近平总书记近日对精神文明建设工作作出重要指示，强调“新时代新征程，精神文明建设要有新气象新作为”，并鲜明提出“四个要”，其中之一就是“要更加注重以文化人、以文育人，不断丰富人民精神世界，促进人的全面发展”。这一重要论述是新时代党领导精神文明建设实践经验的系统总结和理论升华，蕴含着不断丰富人民精神世界在破解新时代社会主要矛盾、聚焦增强意识形态凝聚力、服务于民族复兴伟业和促进人的全面发展等方面的价值意蕴。

1. Resolving the Principal Contradiction of the New Era and Continuously Meeting the People’s Aspirations for a Better Life

1.破解新时代社会主要矛盾，不断满足人民对美好生活的向往

From the perspective of the actual circumstances of the era’s development, continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world is an inherent requirement for resolving the principal contradiction of the New Era. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has been transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. The people’s needs for a better life are becoming increasingly broad; not only have higher requirements been raised for material and cultural life, but demands in areas such as democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and the environment are also growing day by day. To resolve this contradiction, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has paid close attention to the people’s spiritual and cultural needs, making the continuous enrichment of the people’s spiritual world and the promotion of their spiritual prosperity the top priority in meeting the people’s aspirations for a better life.

从时代发展现实境遇来看，不断丰富人民精神世界是破解新时代社会主要矛盾的题中应有之义。党的十八大以来，我国社会主要矛盾已经转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾。人民美好生活需要日益广泛，不仅对物质文化生活提出了更高要求，而且在民主、法治、公平、正义、安全、环境等方面的要求日益增长。为破解这一矛盾，以习近平同志为核心的党中央高度关注人民精神文化需求，把不断丰富人民精神世界、促进人民精神富有作为满足人民美好生活向往的重中之重。

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The people’s needs for spiritual and cultural life exist at every moment.” On the new journey of the New Era, the people’s growing needs for spiritual and cultural life are characterized by diversity, multi-levels, and multi-faceted aspects. Specifically, from the perspective of spiritual experience, this manifests as demands for diverse cultural consumption and artistic aesthetic experiences; from the perspective of spiritual growth, it is reflected in the desire to enhance cognitive levels through lifelong learning, the pursuit of a stable and harmonious psychological order, and the enrichment and perfection of one’s inner personality; from the perspective of spiritual gain, it appears as a strong yearning for the realization of self-worth, including a sense of achievement from growth and social recognition; from the perspective of spiritual pursuit, it presents demands for a full moral world and a firm world of faith, seeking the elevation of life’s value and spiritual realm. Therefore, the value implication of continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world ultimately lies in responding to the people’s beautiful expectations in the spiritual domain. Through cultural projects that nourish the heart and digital cultural services that benefit the people, the inclusiveness and precision of cultural supply are enhanced, making high-quality spiritual and cultural products an important resource for nourishing the soul, enlightening wisdom, and cultivating sentiment; through ideological and cultural construction, mainstream value guidance is organically aligned with diverse cultural needs, enabling the people to form spiritual beliefs, value concepts, moral outlooks, and cultural consciousness that meet the development requirements of the new journey of the New Era. When the people experience spiritual pleasure and a sense of satisfaction from a high-quality spiritual life in cultural consumption, achieve an elevation of their spiritual realm through lifelong learning, and gain value recognition through the creation of spiritual wealth, they will possess the ideological foundation for united struggle, the proactive spirit for pioneering and advancing, and the value pursuit of health and upward mobility, thereby strengthening their confidence that the socialist system with Chinese characteristics can realize the people’s vision of a better life.

习近平总书记强调：“人民对精神文化生活的需求时时刻刻都存在。”新时代新征程人民日益增长的精神文化生活需要具有多样化、多层次、多方面等特点。具体来说，从精神体验层面来看，表现为对多样文化消费、艺术审美体验等方面的需求；从精神成长层面来看，体现为希望通过终身学习提升认知水平，追求稳定和谐的心理秩序以及内在人格的丰富完善；从精神获得感层面来看，表现为对实现自我价值的强烈渴望，包括成长获得感、社会认同感等方面；从精神追求层面来看，呈现出对充盈的道德世界、坚定的信仰世界等方面的需求，追求人生价值和精神境界的提升。因此，不断丰富人民精神世界的价值意蕴归根到底是回应人民群众在精神领域的美好期盼。通过文化润心工程和数字文化惠民服务，提升文化供给的普惠性和精准性，使高品位精神文化产品成为滋养心灵、启迪智慧、陶冶情操的重要资源；通过思想文化建设，使主流价值引领与多样文化需求有机契合，使人民形成适应新时代新征程发展要求的精神信仰、价值观念、道德风貌、文化自觉。当人民群众在文化消费中体验到精神愉悦感和高品质精神生活的满足感，在终身学习中实现精神境界的跃升，在创造精神财富中获得价值认同，就会拥有团结奋斗的思想基础、开拓进取的主动精神、健康向上的价值追求，进而坚定对中国特色社会主义制度能够实现人民美好生活愿景的信心。

2. Upholding the Independence and Autonomy of the Spiritual World and Firmly Grasping the Party’s Leadership over Ideological Work

2.坚守精神世界独立自主，牢牢掌握党对意识形态工作领导权

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Without our own spiritual independence, the independence of politics, thought, culture, and institutions will be fundamentally undermined.” The independence and autonomy of the spiritual world is an inevitable requirement for upholding cultural subjectivity. The proposition of the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation embodies the pursuit of achieving the independence and autonomy of the Chinese people’s spiritual world—that is, the inheritance and development of the spiritual pursuits, spiritual characteristics, and spiritual lineage formed over more than five thousand years of Chinese cultural evolution. Only by upholding the subjectivity of Chinese culture, cultivating the independent spiritual character of the people, deeply infusing cultural confidence into the national spiritual bloodline and cultural genes, and fostering a vibrant spiritual atmosphere and an open and inclusive civilizational posture, can we ensure that the people always maintain political steadfastness and enhance their own strategic resolve.

习近平总书记指出：“如果没有自己的精神独立性，那政治、思想、文化、制度等方面的独立性就会被釜底抽薪。”精神世界的独立自主是坚守文化主体性的必然要求。中华民族的文化主体性的提出蕴含着对实现中国人民精神世界独立自主的追求，即对五千多年的中华文化演进过程中形成的精神追求、精神特质、精神脉络的传承与发展。只有坚守中华文化主体性，培育人民群众独立自主的精神品格，将文化自信深度浸润于民族精神血脉与文化基因之中，培育形成奋发进取的精神气象与开放包容的文明姿态，才能确保人民群众始终保持政治坚定性，提升自身的战略定力。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, against the backdrop of a multipolar world, economic globalization, social informatization, and cultural diversification, Chinese society has continuously exhibited the distinct features of unprecedented activity in ideological thought and deep collision of value concepts. Members of society have shown more pronounced characteristics of independent judgment, diverse choices, dynamic adjustment, and individual differences at the level of ideological cognition. At the same time, Western countries are conducting value export through intelligent, fragmented new forms of infiltration, with erroneous trends such as historical nihilism seeping into the cultural sphere in more covert ways, eroding people’s spiritual world. Once people fall into the trap of spiritual dependence, they are prone to losing their spiritual sovereignty and being swayed by others. When the spiritual pillar collapses, no matter how strong the material foundation, it is difficult to maintain national stability. Therefore, continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world requires building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and guiding force, adhering to the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological domain, so as to achieve the independence and autonomy of the spiritual world.

党的十八大以来，在世界多极化、经济全球化、社会信息化、文化多样化的时代背景下，我国社会持续呈现出思想观念空前活跃、价值理念深度碰撞的鲜明特征，社会成员在思想认知层面展现出更为显著的自主判断、多样选择、动态调整和个性差异等时代特点。与此同时，西方国家正以智能化、碎片化的新型渗透方式进行价值输出，历史虚无主义等错误思潮以更隐蔽的方式渗入文化场域，侵蚀人们的精神世界。一旦人们掉入精神依附的陷阱，就容易丧失精神主权，从而被他人左右。当精神支柱瓦解，再强大的物质基础也难以维护国家稳定。因此，不断丰富人民精神世界要建设具有强大凝聚力和引领力的社会主义意识形态，坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位的根本制度，以实现精神世界的独立自主。

In the long scroll of human civilizational development, faith, belief, and confidence have always been the core driving forces for individual growth and social progress. Building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and guiding force must fill the people’s spiritual world with faith, belief, and confidence. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “Whether in the past, present, or future, faith in Marxism, belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and confidence in realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are the powerful spiritual forces that guide and support the Chinese people in standing up, growing rich, and becoming strong.” As a theory that achieves the internal unity of sublimity, truth, and reality, Marxism, with its profound critique of the logic of capital and its scientific demonstration of human liberation, provides a stable value anchor for the people’s beautiful spiritual world. Belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics reflects the collective will of the people, can evoke their emotional will, and inspire unwavering spiritual strength. Confidence in realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation unites the people into a community dedicated to achieving the lofty goal of building a modern socialist country. Therefore, it is necessary to consolidate the soul with faith in Marxism, guide the direction with belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and gather strength with confidence in realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, so that the people are spiritually steadfast in their high recognition of the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics, thereby achieving the independence and autonomy of the people’s spiritual world.

在人类文明发展的历史长卷中，信仰、信念与信心始终是推动个体成长与社会进步的核心动力。建设具有强大凝聚力和引领力的社会主义意识形态必须以信仰、信念、信心充盈人民精神世界。习近平总书记强调：“无论过去、现在还是将来，对马克思主义的信仰，对中国特色社会主义的信念，对实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的信心，都是指引和支撑中国人民站起来、富起来、强起来的强大精神力量。”作为一种实现了崇高性、真理性和现实性内在统一的理论，马克思主义以其对资本逻辑的深刻批判和对人类解放的科学论证，为人民美好精神世界提供了稳定的价值锚点。对中国特色社会主义的信念，反映了人民的集体意愿，能够唤起人民的情感意志，激发出矢志不渝的精神力量。对实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的信心，将人民群众凝聚成一个为了实现社会主义现代化强国崇高目标而结成的共同体。因此，要以马克思主义信仰凝心铸魂、以中国特色社会主义信念领航导向、以实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的信心凝聚力量，使人民群众从精神上坚定对伟大祖国、中华民族、中华文化、中国共产党、中国特色社会主义的高度认同，进而实现人民群众精神世界的独立自主。

3. Building the Chinese Nation’s Shared Spiritual Home and Gathering the Mighty Force for Advancing the Great Cause of Building a Strong Country and National Rejuvenation

3.构筑中华民族共有精神家园，凝聚推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的磅礴力量

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must build the Chinese nation’s shared spiritual home.” As a rich soil that nurtures the national spirit and vitality, the Chinese nation’s shared spiritual home embodies the unique spiritual identity of all Chinese sons and daughters, gathers the common aspirations of people of all ethnic groups for unity of hearts, spiritual interdependence, and solidarity in struggle, and represents the presentation of the shared cultural identity, value pursuit, and emotional orientation of the entire Chinese nation.

习近平总书记指出：“必须构筑中华民族共有精神家园。”作为涵养民族精气神的丰厚沃土，中华民族共有精神家园体现了全体中华儿女独特的精神标识，凝聚了各族人民人心归聚、精神相依、团结奋进的共同期盼，是整个中华民族共有的文化认同、价值追求、情感取向的呈现。

Cultural identity is the solid foundation of the spiritual home. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Cultural identity is the deepest form of identity.” The prominent unifying characteristic of Chinese civilization fundamentally determines the integration of the cultures of all ethnic groups in China. The reason the Chinese nation can share a common destiny and honor and disgrace is due to the foundation of identity provided by Chinese culture. History has repeatedly proven that fine traditional Chinese culture possesses unique cultural charm and cultural integrative power, always nourishing the spiritual world of Chinese sons and daughters, and is the inexhaustible driving force for the Chinese nation’s continuous vitality, unity, and struggle.

文化认同是精神家园的坚实根基。习近平总书记指出，“文化认同是最深层次的认同”。中华文明突出的统一性特征，从根本上决定了中华各民族文化融为一体。中华民族之所以能做到命运相连、荣辱与共，是因为有中华文化为其提供的认同基础。历史反复证明，中华优秀传统文化具有独特的文化魅力与文化融合力，始终滋养着中华儿女的精神世界，是中华民族生生不息、团结奋进的不竭动力。

Value consensus guides the direction for the construction of a spiritual home. The core of cultural identity is value identity. To focus on constructing the Chinese nation’s common spiritual home, it is necessary to take the core socialist values as the guide. The core socialist values, as the “greatest common divisor” [4]4 “Greatest common divisor” (最大公约数) is a mathematical term used metaphorically in Chinese political discourse to denote the broadest possible consensus or common ground shared by different groups. commonly recognized by the Chinese nation, possess a distinct national foundation and are the value expression that凝聚 [5]5 The Chinese term 凝聚 (ningju) means “to gather” or “to condense,” and in this context implies uniting or consolidating collective strength or consensus. the consensus of the Chinese nation. Only by grasping the forward direction of the Chinese nation’s common spiritual home with the core socialist values can the common ideological foundation of the Chinese nation be consolidated amid various complex social trends of thought and value concepts.

价值共识为精神家园的构筑指引方向。文化认同的核心是价值观认同，着力构筑中华民族共有精神家园，要以社会主义核心价值观为引领。社会主义核心价值观作为中华民族共同认可的“最大公约数”，有着鲜明的民族底色，是凝聚中华民族共识的价值表达。只有以社会主义核心价值观把握中华民族共有精神家园的前进方向，才能在各种纷繁复杂的社会思潮和价值理念中巩固中华民族共同的思想基础。

Emotional belonging is the source of warmth in the spiritual home. The cultural identity and value consensus of the people will ultimately sublimate into an emotional belonging to the Chinese nation’s common spiritual home. This emotional belonging includes psychological dependence at the individual level and faith in the common spiritual characteristics of the Chinese nation at the collective level. It manifests as “the psychology of people of the same ethnic group feeling that everyone belongs to a community of their own.” [6]6 This quotation is a paraphrase of a definition of ethnic belonging commonly cited in Chinese academic literature on ethnic studies. Entering the New Era, this emotional belonging manifests as a collective aspiration for the Chinese Dream, capable of凝聚 the powerful spiritual strength of all Chinese sons and daughters to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

情感归属是精神家园的温度源泉。人民群众的文化认同与价值共识最终会升华为对中华民族共有精神家园的情感归属。这种情感归属包括个体层面的心理依赖、集体层面对中华民族共有精神特质的信仰，它表现为“同一民族的人感到大家是属于一个共同体的自己人的这种心理”。走进新时代，这种情感归属表现为对中国梦的集体向往，能够凝聚起全体中华儿女实现中华民族伟大复兴的强大精神力量。

4. Promoting people’s all-round development, highlighting the Chinese characteristics and significant advantages of Chinese-path modernization

4.推进人的全面发展，彰显中国式现代化的中国特色和显著优势

From the dimension of Chinese-path modernization, the value pursuit of continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world is manifested in promoting the coordination of the people’s material life and spiritual life, and synergistically advancing the comprehensive enrichment of things and the all-round development of people. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The ultimate goal of modernization is to realize the free and all-round development of people.” [7]7 This quotation is from Xi Jinping’s speech at the Central Conference on Economic Work in December 2021, or a similar occasion, emphasizing the humanistic goal of modernization. The realization of this ideal state ultimately depends on the development of productive forces, but spirit is the soul of “free individuality.” The spiritual liberation of people and the pursuit of ideals constitute the driving system of spiritual productive forces, playing an important role in promoting people’s all-round development. Therefore, people’s all-round development inherently requires a high degree of unity between material life and spiritual life. The Communist Party of China adheres to a people-centered approach, continuously strengthens the material foundation of modernization, constantly consolidates the material conditions for the people’s happy life, and at the same time vigorously develops advanced socialist culture, strengthens education in ideals and beliefs, inherits Chinese civilization, and demonstrates that Chinese-path modernization is committed to continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world and promoting the unity of comprehensive enrichment of things and the all-round development of people.

从中国式现代化维度看，不断丰富人民精神世界的价值追求体现为促进人民的物质生活和精神生活相协调，协同推进物的全面丰富与人的全面发展。习近平总书记指出：“现代化的最终目标是实现人自由而全面的发展。”这一理想状态的实现归根到底要靠生产力的发展，但精神是“自由个性”的灵魂，人的精神解放和对理想的追求构成精神生产力的动力系统，对促进人的全面发展发挥着重要作用。因此，人的全面发展内在要求物质生活和精神生活的高度统一。中国共产党坚持以人民为中心，不断厚植现代化的物质基础，不断夯实人民幸福生活的物质条件，同时大力发展社会主义先进文化，加强理想信念教育，传承中华文明，彰显了中国式现代化致力于不断丰富人民精神世界，促进物的全面丰富和人的全面发展相统一。

The essence of modernization is the modernization of people. The Communist Party of China is committed to promoting the modernization of people and continuously enriching the people’s spiritual world, reflecting the historical transcendence of Chinese-path modernization over Western capitalist modernization. Chinese-path modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China not only pursues material growth but also takes people’s all-round development as its value goal. Our Party focuses on cultivating the people’s beautiful spiritual world, emphasizing that people are essentially cultural beings, not “reified” beings. It pursues not only the improvement of material conditions but also requires the people to undergo a transformation to modernization in their psychology, thoughts, attitudes, and behavioral patterns. It pays attention to the improvement of the people’s “happiness index,” the harmony of the “spiritual ecology,” and the realization of the meaning of life, continuously stimulating and satisfying the people’s more multi-dimensional and deeper-level internal needs, such as social and spiritual needs, and promoting a high degree of unity between the measure of things and the measure of people. Our Party vigorously develops new quality productive forces, promotes high-quality development, and strengthens the construction of a cultural power, making education, science and technology, and talent the basic and strategic support for Chinese-path modernization; fully stimulates social vitality, focuses on taking the core socialist values as the guide, resolutely prevents unhealthy trends of thought such as money worship and hedonism, so that while the people create a higher quality material life, their spiritual life becomes more colorful. When the people realize their own value in spiritual pursuits, Chinese-path modernization demonstrates its most fundamental superiority, making social progress truly serve to enrich the people’s spiritual world, and thereby promote people’s free and all-round development.

现代化的本质是人的现代化，中国共产党致力于推进人的现代化，不断丰富人民精神世界，体现了中国式现代化对西方资本主义现代化的历史性超越。中国共产党领导的中国式现代化不仅追求物质的增长，还以人的全面发展作为价值旨归。我们党注重对人民美好精神世界的培育，强调人本质上是文化的人，而非“物化”的人，既追求物质条件的改善，也要求人民在心理、思想、态度和行为方式上都经历向现代化的转变，注重人民“幸福指数”的提升、“精神生态”的和谐以及生命意义的实现，不断激发和满足人民的社会性和精神性等更多维度的、更深层次的内在需求，促进物的尺度和人的尺度的高度统一。我们党既大力发展新质生产力，推动经济高质量发展，又加强文化强国建设，将教育、科技、人才作为中国式现代化的基础性、战略性支撑；充分激发社会活力，注重以社会主义核心价值观为引领，坚决防范拜金主义、享乐主义等不良思潮，使人民群众在创造更高品质物质生活的同时，精神生活也更加绚丽多彩。当人民群众在精神追求中实现自身价值，中国式现代化便展现出其最根本的优越性，使社会进步真正服务于丰富人的精神世界，进而促进人的自由而全面的发展。

(Author: Wang Junqi, Professor at the School of Marxism, Tianjin University)

（作者：王军旗，系天津大学马克思主义学院教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心