The Long March Spirit in the Process of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context: Logical Path, Value Implications, and Contemporary Expression

The Long March of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army from 1934 to 1936 was a great historic turning point for the Communist Party of China under extremely complex conditions. The Long March was a historic leap that profoundly propelled the CPC from “dogmatic Marxism” toward a “practical, nationalized Marxism,” marking a major shift in the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context from passive imitation to active creation. The victory of the Long March not only laid the strategic foundation for the Chinese revolution but also opened up a new path for integrating Marxism with the actual conditions of the Chinese revolution, driving the first historic leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context at the ideological, political, and organizational levels. In this process, the Long March spirit was born and nurtured. The Long March spirit is not an isolated revolutionary spiritual phenomenon but a concentrated expression of the intellectual achievements and spiritual forms of the early stage of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. The firm ideals and convictions, the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, the strategic wisdom of independence, the practical orientation of the mass line, the revolutionary will to endure hardship and struggle, and the collectivist spirit of taking the overall situation into account that are embodied in the Long March spirit all originate from the basic principles of Marxism and are also the result of theoretical generation achieved through localization in the practice of the Chinese revolution, laying the foundation for the Sinicized Marxist ideological system.

1934年至1936年的中国工农红军长征，是中国共产党在极端复杂环境下进行的一次伟大历史性转折。长征是一次深刻推动中国共产党从“教条化的马克思主义”走向“实践化、民族化马克思主义”的历史性跨越，标志着马克思主义中国化进程从被动模仿向主动创造的重大转向。长征的胜利，不仅奠定了中国革命的战略基础，更开创了马克思主义与中国革命实际相结合的新路径，在思想、政治与组织层面推动了马克思主义中国化的第一次历史性飞跃。在这一过程中，长征精神孕育而生。长征精神并非孤立的革命精神现象，而是马克思主义中国化早期阶段的思想成果与精神形态的集中体现。长征精神所蕴含的坚定理想信念、实事求是的思想路线、独立自主的战略智慧、群众路线的实践导向、艰苦奋斗的革命意志和顾全大局的集体主义精神，既源于马克思主义基本原理，也是在中国革命实践中实现本土化的理论生成结果，为中国化的马克思主义思想体系奠定了基础。

I. The Logical Path of the Long March Spirit in the Process of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

一、马克思主义中国化进程中长征精神的逻辑理路

The Long March was not only an arduous military expedition but also an important stage in which the CPC achieved a historic breakthrough in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context through practice. It enabled the Party to complete an ideological turn from “copying the Soviet Union” to “independent creation” in extreme adversity, realizing a value reshaping in political line, theoretical method, organizational form, and mass standpoint. The logic of conviction, the logic of practice, and the logic of theory contained in the Long March spirit are precisely the concentrated embodiment of the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with the actual conditions of the Chinese revolution, reflecting how the CPC opened up a path of theoretical innovation suited to its own national conditions in revolutionary practice.

长征不仅是一场艰苦卓绝的军事远征，更是中国共产党在实践中实现马克思主义中国化历史性突破的重要阶段。它使党在极端困境中完成了从“照搬苏联”到“自主创造”的思想转向，在政治路线、理论方法、组织形态与群众立场等方面实现了价值重塑。长征精神所蕴含的信念逻辑、实践逻辑与理论逻辑，正是马克思主义基本原理与中国革命实际相结合的集中体现，体现了中国共产党如何在革命实践中开辟出适合自身国情的理论创新之路。

(A) Practical Breakthrough and Theoretical Consciousness: From the Soviet Model to the Sinicized Path

（一）实践突围与理论自觉：从苏联模式到中国化道路

The Long March is the starting point for the CPC to achieve a historic breakthrough in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context through revolutionary practice. It was not only a great military operation of strategic transfer but also a major practice of ideological liberation and theoretical awakening. In this process, under the severe test of revolutionary reality, the CPC completed the transformation from mechanically copying the Soviet model to independently exploring the path of the Chinese revolution, fully embodying the internal logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, which takes “practice as the starting point, independence as the direction, and innovation as the driving force.” In the early 1930s, under the guidance of the Comintern’s “urban center theory” and “everything subordinate to Moscow,” the CPC once fell into the error of “Left” dogmatism, copying Soviet experience, which led to the failure of the Fifth Counter-Encirclement and Suppression Campaign [n1]. This setback exposed the profound contradiction between dogmatism and China’s actual conditions, profoundly demonstrating the historical inevitability that adapting Marxism to the Chinese context must achieve theoretical autonomy. The strategic transfer of the Long March was precisely a practical response at this historical juncture, completing the first historic transcendence of “book worship” [n2] through action.

长征是中国共产党在革命实践中实现马克思主义中国化历史性突破的起点，它不仅是一场战略转移的伟大军事行动，更是一场思想解放与理论觉醒的重大实践。在这一进程中，中国共产党在革命现实的严峻考验下，完成了从机械照搬苏联模式到自主探索中国革命道路的转型，充分体现了马克思主义中国化“以实践为起点、以独立为方向、以创新为动力”的内在逻辑。20世纪30年代初，在共产国际“城市中心论”和“一切服从莫斯科”的指导下，中国共产党党内一度陷入“左”倾教条主义的误区，照搬苏联经验，导致第五次反“围剿”失败。这一挫折暴露出教条主义与中国实际之间的深刻矛盾，深刻体现了马克思主义中国化必须实现理论自主的历史必然。长征的战略转移，正是在这一历史关口的现实回应，以行动的方式完成了对“本本主义”的第一次历史性超越。

The Zunyi Conference held in January 1935 became the historic turning point of this ideological breakthrough. The conference established a new central leadership collective represented by Mao Zedong, marking the Party’s major leap from “theoretical dependence” to “ideological consciousness.” At the same time, the conference established the ideological line of “seeking truth from facts and independence,” enabling the CPC to begin reinterpreting and applying Marxism centered on the country’s own realities. Thereafter, the strategic thinking formed by the Red Army under extremely harsh conditions—flexible maneuvering, avoiding the enemy’s strong points and striking at its weak points, defeating a larger force with a smaller one—was a vivid manifestation of “proceeding from reality and creatively applying Marxism.” These military wisdoms transcended the theoretical framework of traditional dogmatism, demonstrating the historical transformation of Marxism from “textual truth” to “experiential truth” in the practice of the Chinese revolution. The CPC thus completed the role transformation from “theory receiver” to “theory creator,” forming the primary law of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context: practice precedes theory, and experience generates truth.

1935年1月召开的遵义会议成为这一思想突围的历史转折点。会议确立了以毛泽东为代表的新一届中央领导集体，标志着党实现了从“理论依附”到“思想自觉”的重大飞跃。同时，会议确立了“实事求是、独立自主”的思想路线，使中国共产党开始以本国实际为中心来重新阐释和运用马克思主义。此后，红军在极端艰苦环境中形成的灵活机动、避实击虚、以少胜多等战略思想，正是“从实际出发、创造性运用马克思主义”的生动体现。这些军事智慧超越了传统教条的理论框架，展现了马克思主义在中国革命实践中由“文本真理”向“经验真理”的历史转化。中国共产党由此完成了从“理论接受者”到“理论创造者”的角色转变，形成了马克思主义中国化的首要规律，即实践先于理论，经验生成真理。

This ideological breakthrough not only changed the fate of the Chinese revolution but also laid the spiritual foundation for the Party to advance the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context at different historical stages. For example, the Yan’an Rectification Movement [n3], with the banner of “opposing book worship,” further elevated the “seeking truth from facts” formed in the Long March into a systematized ideological methodology; after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Party adhered to the policy of “independence and self-reliance” in the process of socialist construction, realizing the institutionalized expression of “China-centered” theoretical consciousness; since reform and opening up, the policy of “emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts” is precisely a contemporary continuation of the Long March spirit, pushing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context into a second historic leap. Therefore, from the perspective of the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the Long March is not only a history of revolution but also a turning point in the history of theory. Through practical breakthrough, it established theoretical consciousness, and through independent exploration, it initiated local innovation. Its core ideas constitute the driving source for the CPC to continuously advance the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context.

这一思想突破不仅改变了中国革命的命运，也为党在不同历史阶段推进马克思主义中国化奠定了精神基础。比如，延安整风以“反对本本主义”为旗帜，进一步将长征中形成的“实事求是”上升为系统化的思想方法论；中华人民共和国成立后，党在社会主义建设过程中坚持“独立自主、自力更生”的方针，实现了“以中国为中心”理论自觉的制度化表达；改革开放以来，“解放思想、实事求是”的方针更是长征精神的当代延续，推动马克思主义中国化进入第二次历史性飞跃。为此，从马克思主义中国化的进程视角出发，长征不仅是一段革命史，更是一场理论史上的转折，通过实践突围确立了理论自觉，并通过自主探索开启了本土创新，其核心思想构成了中国共产党不断推进马克思主义中国化的动力源泉。

(B) Theoretical Innovation and Local Generation: The Sinicized Reinterpretation of Universal Principles

（二）理论创新与本土生成：普遍原理的中国化再诠释

The Long March was a life-and-death turning point for the CPC in politics and military affairs, and it was even more so the historical starting point for achieving theoretical consciousness in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, marking the first time the Party completed an ideological leap from “dogmatic application” to “creative application” in revolutionary practice, enabling the universal principles of Marxism to achieve local growth and theoretical innovation under China’s social and historical conditions. The Long March not only reshaped the geographical pattern of the Chinese revolution but also reshaped the CPC’s way of understanding, interpreting, and applying Marxism, establishing the Sinicization logic of “taking Chinese experience as the theoretical source and practical creation as the criterion of truth.” This embodies the core law of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context: universal principles can only achieve reproduction and regrowth when deeply rooted in local practice. The Long March thus became a practical example of the “localized development” of Marxism, transforming this theoretical system from an imported foreign ideology into an ideological tool and action guide for solving the practical problems of Chinese society.

长征是中国共产党在政治与军事上的生死转折，更是马克思主义中国化实现理论自觉的历史起点，标志着党第一次在革命实践中完成了从“教条运用”到“创造性运用”的思想跃迁，使马克思主义的普遍原理在中国的社会历史条件下实现了本土化生长与理论创新。长征不仅重塑了中国革命的地理格局，更重塑了中国共产党理解、诠释和运用马克思主义的思想方式，确立了“以中国经验为理论源泉、以实践创造为真理标准”的中国化逻辑。这体现了马克思主义中国化的核心规律，即普遍原理只有深植于本土实践，才能实现再生产与再生长。长征由此成为马克思主义“在地化发展”的实践范例，使这一理论体系不再是外来思想的移植，而是成为解决中国社会现实问题的思想工具与行动指南。

Mao Zedong’s proposal during the Long March to “integrate the theory of Marxism-Leninism with the actual movement of the Chinese revolution” is precisely the concentrated embodiment of this logic of theoretical innovation, marking the CPC’s shift from “textual dependence” to “practical generation,” from receiver of theory to creator of theory. Consequently, the CPC gradually formed a Sinicized theoretical system centered on the united front, the mass line, and the thinking on protracted war, enabling Marxism to achieve renewal and iteration in the three dimensions of political strategy, social mobilization, and military thought. Thereafter, this logic of theoretical innovation continued to deepen in the historical process. During the Yan’an period, *On Practice* and *On Contradiction* took the experience of the Long March as their ideological starting point, profoundly expounding the epistemological principle of “from practice to practice,” establishing the scientific methodology of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and making “practice” the fundamental driving force of theoretical innovation. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the policy of “independence and self-reliance” continued the decision-making model of “strategic transfer” and “active creation” from the Long March period, elevating the theoretical creation of the revolutionary period into an institutionalized expression of socialist construction. Since reform and opening up, the theoretical reaffirmation of “seeking truth from facts and emancipating the mind” has made the problem orientation and independent exploration in the Long March spirit the ideological driving force for advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context, pushing the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics to achieve a second historic leap. Entering the New Era, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era further emphasizes “upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground” and “the unity of theory and practice,” enabling the Long March spirit to achieve a contemporary transformation from revolutionary rationality to developmental rationality at the level of theoretical creation.

毛泽东在长征中提出“要使马克思列宁主义的理论和中国革命的实际运动结合起来”，正是这一理论创新逻辑的集中体现，标志着中国共产党从“文本依赖”走向“实践生发”，从理论的接受者转变为理论的创造者。由此，中国共产党逐步形成了以统一战线、群众路线和持久战思想为核心的中国化理论体系，使马克思主义在政治战略、社会动员与军事思想三个维度上实现了更新迭代。此后，这一理论创新逻辑在历史进程中持续深化。延安时期，《实践论》《矛盾论》以长征经验为思想起点，深刻阐述了“从实践中来、到实践中去”的认识论原则，确立了马克思主义中国化的科学方法论，使“实践”成为理论创新的根本动力。中华人民共和国成立后，“独立自主、自力更生”的方针延续了长征时期“战略转移”与“主动创造”的决策模式，将革命时期的理论创造上升为社会主义建设的制度化表达。改革开放以来，“实事求是、解放思想”的理论重申，使长征精神中的问题导向与自主探索成为推进马克思主义中国化的思想驱动力，推动中国特色社会主义理论体系实现第二次历史性飞跃。进入新时代，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想进一步强调“守正创新”“理论与实践相统一”，使长征精神在理论创造层面实现了从革命理性到发展理性的时代转化。

(C) The Establishment of the Ideological Line: From Accumulation of Experience to System Construction

（三）思想路线的确立：从经验积累到体系建构

In the course of the Communist Party of China’s development, the Long March spirit not only existed as a driving force for revolutionary practice but also played a deep role as a mechanism of ideological generation, pushing the Party to achieve a theoretical leap from “reciting by rote” to “autonomous construction.” It was precisely on the basis of summing up the experience of the Long March that Mao Zedong put forward the historical proposition of “adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.” In important works such as *On Practice*, *On Contradiction*, and *On Protracted War*, Mao Zedong profoundly summarized the ideological experience of the Long March period, established the scientific principles of the CPC’s ideological construction, and, through the Yan’an Rectification Movement [n4] by criticizing dogmatism, sectarianism, and subjectivism, established “seeking truth from facts” as a common consensus within the Party and as the ideological line. The convening of the Seventh National Congress of the CPC in 1945 formally established Mao Zedong Thought as the guiding ideology of the Party, indicating that the ideological methodology nurtured by the Long March spirit had risen to the theoretical system of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context. Thus, the Long March spirit underwent a leap from revolutionary experience to ideological line, and then from ideological line to theoretical system, completing the initial shaping of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

在中国共产党的发展历程中，长征精神不仅作为革命实践的动力存在，更作为思想生成机制发挥了深层作用，推动党在理论上实现了从“照本宣科”到“自主建构”的跃迁。毛泽东正是在总结长征经验的基础上，提出了“马克思主义中国化”的历史命题。在《实践论》《矛盾论》《论持久战》等重要著作中，毛泽东深刻总结了长征时期的思想经验，确立了中国共产党思想建设的科学原则，并在延安整风运动中通过批判教条主义、宗派主义和主观主义，将“实事求是”确立为党内普遍共识与思想路线。1945年中共七大的召开，将毛泽东思想正式确立为党的指导思想，表明长征精神所孕育的思想方法论已上升为中国化马克思主义的理论体系。由此，长征精神经历了从革命经验向思想路线、再由思想路线向理论体系的跃迁，完成了马克思主义中国化的初步定型。

This ideological line has not remained unchanged; rather, it has been continuously inherited, deepened, and innovated in different historical stages, becoming the main ideological thread for the continuous advancement of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. During the period of socialist construction, Mao Zedong adhered to “independence and self-reliance” and emphasized “proceeding from reality in everything,” transforming “seeking truth from facts” into the fundamental principle of national governance and institutional construction. During the period of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping, with “emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts,” corrected the ideological shackles of the “two whatevers” [n5], reshaping the theoretical courage and historical initiative contained in the Long March spirit. Jiang Zemin put forward the “Three Represents” important thought, and Hu Jintao put forward the “Scientific Outlook on Development,” both of which were theoretical deepenings of the people-centered development thought in the context of new eras. Entering the New Era, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era further proposed “adhering to a problem-oriented approach and adhering to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground,” achieving the third historic leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. The Long March spirit runs through the entire process of the formation and evolution of the CPC’s ideological line. It is not only the spiritual gene of the systematization of Mao Zedong Thought but also the internal logic of the continuous deepening of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context. The evolution of the Long March spirit embodies the theoretical generation path of the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. This regular path not only constitutes the core logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context but also lays the ideological foundation for the CPC to continuously promote theoretical innovation and enhance historical initiative.

这一思想路线并非一成不变，而是在不同历史阶段中不断被继承、深化与创新，成为马克思主义中国化持续推进的思想主线。社会主义建设时期，毛泽东坚持“独立自主、自力更生”，强调“一切从实际出发”，将“实事求是”转化为国家治理与制度建设的根本原则；改革开放时期，邓小平以“解放思想、实事求是”纠正“两个凡是”的思想束缚，重塑了长征精神所蕴含的理论勇气与历史主动性；江泽民提出“三个代表”重要思想，胡锦涛提出“科学发展观”，均是在新的时代语境下对以人民为中心的发展思想的理论深化；进入新时代，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想进一步提出“坚持问题导向、坚持守正创新”，实现了马克思主义中国化的第三次历史性飞跃。长征精神贯穿了中国共产党思想路线的形成与演进全过程，它不仅是毛泽东思想体系化的精神基因，更是中国化马克思主义不断深化的内在逻辑。长征精神的演化体现了马克思主义中国化进程的理论生成路径，这一规律性路径既构成了马克思主义中国化的核心逻辑，也奠定了中国共产党不断推进理论创新、增强历史主动的思想根基。

(IV) The Mass Line and the People as the Main Body: The Social Logic of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

（四）群众路线与人民主体：马克思主义中国化的社会逻辑

The Long March was a historical turning point at which the CPC transformed the Marxist view of the masses from a theoretical principle into a logic of social practice. It was not only an arduous military expedition but also a great practice of people-centered social mobilization and organizational restructuring, marking the first systematic and localized generation of the Marxist view of the masses in China. The fundamental principle of “for the people, relying on the people,” condensed in the Long March spirit, became the starting point of the social logic of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context, enabling Marxism to move from theoretical dissemination to taking root in society. During the long march, the Red Army, by strictly implementing the “Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention” [n6], actively safeguarded the interests of the masses, extensively mobilized peasants, ethnic minorities, and local people to participate in the revolution, transforming the masses from passive objects of revolution into active historical subjects. The Red Army’s political propaganda, policy education, and ethnic unity work enabled the Marxist principle that “the people are the creators of history” to be practically transformed under China’s social conditions, initially forming a “people-centered” logic of social governance. During the Yan’an period, this logic achieved theoretical self-awareness. Through the Rectification Movement, the Party deeply summarized the practical experience since the Long March, elevating “from the masses, to the masses” into a unified principle of ideological line and working method.

长征是中国共产党将马克思主义群众观从理论原则转化为社会实践逻辑的历史转折点。它不仅是一场艰苦卓绝的军事远征，更是一场以人民为中心的社会动员与组织重构的伟大实践，标志着马克思主义群众观第一次在中国实现体系化、本土化的生成。长征精神中所凝练的“为了人民、依靠人民”的根本原则，成为中国化马克思主义社会逻辑的起点，使马克思主义由理论传播走向社会扎根。在漫长的征途中，红军通过严格执行“三大纪律、八项注意”，主动维护群众利益，广泛发动农民、少数民族和地方民众参与革命，使得群众从被动的革命对象转变为主动的历史主体。红军的政治宣传、政策教育与民族团结工作，使“人民是历史创造者”的马克思主义原理在中国社会条件下得以现实转化，初步形成了“以人民为中心”的社会治理逻辑。延安时期，这一逻辑实现了理论自觉。通过整风运动，党深刻总结长征以来的实践经验，将“从群众中来，到群众中去”上升为思想路线与工作方法的统一原则。

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the mass line achieved a transformation from an ideological principle to an institutional logic, becoming the fundamental support for socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics. The establishment of the system of people’s congresses and the system of political consultation transformed “the people being the masters of the country” from a revolutionary slogan into a logic of national governance. Entering the period of reform and opening up, the mass line achieved a new integration with modern governance concepts. Deng Xiaoping proposed that “development is the absolute principle,” while emphasizing “everything for the masses, relying on the masses in everything,” shifting mass participation from political mobilization to economic construction and social governance. With the establishment of the socialist market economy system, the mass line continuously innovated in organizational forms and institutional mechanisms. Villagers’ committees, residents’ committees, trade unions, and social organizations became important carriers for mass participation in public affairs. This historical evolution from “revolutionary mobilization” to “institutional participation” is precisely a manifestation of the continuous deepening of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context at the level of social structure. Entering the New Era, the people-centered development thought has further expanded the connotation and boundaries of the mass line. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the people are the creators of history and the fundamental force determining the future and destiny of the Party and the country. Today, from online political consultation to digital governance, from the collaborative provision of public services to the co-construction and shared governance of society, the mass line is achieving new social expressions through technological empowerment, becoming an important source of conviction and governance support in the process of Chinese-path modernization.

中华人民共和国成立后，群众路线实现了从思想原则到制度逻辑的转化，成为中国特色社会主义民主政治的根本支撑。人民代表大会制度和政治协商制度的确立，使“人民当家作主”由革命口号转化为国家治理逻辑。进入改革开放时期，群众路线与现代治理理念实现了新的融合。邓小平提出“发展是硬道理”，同时强调“一切为了群众，一切依靠群众”，使群众参与从政治动员转向经济建设与社会治理。随着社会主义市场经济体制的建立，群众路线在组织形式与制度机制上不断创新，村民委员会、居民委员会、工会与社会组织成为群众参与公共事务的重要载体。这种从“革命动员”到“制度参与”的历史演进，正是马克思主义中国化在社会结构层面持续深化的体现。进入新时代，以人民为中心的发展思想进一步拓展了群众路线的内涵与边界。习近平总书记指出，人民是历史的创造者，是决定党和国家前途命运的根本力量。如今，从网络问政到数字治理，从公共服务的协同供给到社会治理的共建共享，群众路线正通过科技赋能实现新的社会化表达，成为中国式现代化进程中重要的信念来源与治理支撑。

(V) Spiritual Sublimation and Cultural Generation: The Cultural Foundation of Confidence in the Theory

（五）精神升华与文化生成：理论自信的文化根基

The cultural core of the Long March spirit epitomizes the deep integration of the Marxist worldview and the spirit of Chinese culture. It not only inherits the historical materialist stance of Marxism concerning human liberation and social development but also incorporates the ethical spirit of “ceaseless self-improvement,” “people as the foundation,” and “the world is for all” from traditional Chinese culture, thereby nurturing a Chinese cultural form centered on the people, oriented toward practice, and supported by ideals. This process of cultural generation constitutes the cultural logic and spiritual mechanism of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. During the Long March, the Red Army soldiers, with their spiritual qualities of cohesion through conviction, support through ideals, and fulfillment through sacrifice, transformed revolutionary ideals into social and cultural forces. This spiritual power, sublimated from faith, not only consolidated political identity but also completed the transformation at the cultural level from “theoretical dissemination” to “value internalization.” The Long March spirit thus became an important example of the CPC transforming ideology into a cultural form, providing important experience for the subsequent construction of the cultural system of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context. In 1942, Mao Zedong, in his *Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art*, clearly stated that literature and art should “serve the people and serve socialism,” transforming the idealism, heroism, and mass concepts of the Long March spirit into the basic principles of cultural production. Thus, Yan’an literature and art, red narratives, and mass literary and artistic movements jointly constructed the initial cultural system of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context, enabling the Party’s ideology to gain lasting vitality in cultural dissemination. During this period, adapting Marxism to the Chinese context completed its first systematic transformation from political theory to cultural form, laying the foundation for the Party’s leading role in cultural-ethical progress.

长征精神的文化内核，集中体现了马克思主义世界观与中华文化精神的深度交融，既继承了马克思主义关于人的解放和社会发展的历史唯物主义立场，又融汇了中华传统文化中“自强不息”“以民为本”“天下为公”的伦理精神，从而孕育出一种以人民为中心、以实践为导向、以理想为支撑的中国化文化形态。这一文化生成过程，构成了马克思主义中国化的文化逻辑与精神机制。在长征中，红军战士以信念凝聚、以理想支撑、以牺牲成全的精神品格，将革命理想转化为社会文化力量。这种由信仰升华而来的精神力量，不仅巩固了政治认同，也完成了文化层面上从“理论传播”到“价值内化”的转变。长征精神因此成为中国共产党将意识形态转化为文化形态的重要范例，为后来的马克思主义中国化文化体系建设提供了重要经验。1942年，毛泽东在《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》中明确提出，文艺要“为人民服务、为社会主义服务”，把长征精神中的理想主义、英雄主义与群众观念转化为文化生产的基本原则。由此，延安文艺、红色叙事与群众文艺运动共同构筑了马克思主义中国化的初步文化体系，使党的意识形态在文化传播中获得了持久生命力。在这一时期，马克思主义中国化完成了从政治理论向文化形态的第一次系统转化，奠定了党在精神文化建设中的主导地位。

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the cultural logic of the Long March spirit continued to deepen and became institutionalized. The core value orientations formed during the period of socialist construction, such as “collectivism, patriotism, and revolutionary heroism,” are precisely the cultural reproduction of the Long March spirit. These spiritual resources were gradually internalized as value norms of national political culture and social life, becoming the institutionalized expression of Chinese Marxism at the cultural level. Since reform and opening up, with the proposal of socialist cultural-ethical progress and the core value system, the Long March spirit has been reinterpreted as the ideological source of the “reform spirit,” “innovation spirit,” and “struggle spirit,” promoting the modern transformation and timely renewal of the Chinese Marxist cultural system. Entering the New Era, the Long March spirit, as a core symbol of red culture, has been incorporated into the theoretical framework of confidence in the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Today, the Long March spirit not only serves as an important spiritual pillar for cultivating core socialist values through textbook development, red tourism, and ideological and political education, but also constructs a modern dissemination system for red culture through film, television, literature, and online narratives. This demonstrates that the cultural generation of the Long March spirit is not a historical accident but an inherent necessity of the cultural logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, achieving a historical sublimation from revolutionary spirit to national culture, and from ideological concepts to civilizational self-awareness.

中华人民共和国成立后，长征精神的文化逻辑持续深化并实现制度化。社会主义建设时期形成的“集体主义、爱国主义、革命英雄主义”等核心价值取向，正是长征精神的文化再生产。这些精神资源逐步内化为国家政治文化与社会生活的价值规范，成为中国化马克思主义在文化层面的制度化表达。改革开放以来，随着社会主义精神文明建设与核心价值体系的提出，长征精神被重新诠释为“改革精神”“创新精神”“奋斗精神”的思想源泉，推动了中国化马克思主义文化体系的现代转型与时代更新。进入新时代，长征精神作为红色文化的核心符号，被纳入中国特色社会主义文化自信的理论框架。如今，长征精神不仅通过教材建设、红色旅游与思政教育成为培育社会主义核心价值观的重要精神支柱，同时借助影视、文艺与网络叙事构建了红色文化的现代传播体系，体现出长征精神的文化生成并非历史偶然，而是马克思主义中国化文化逻辑的内在必然，实现了从革命精神到国家文化、从思想理念到文明自觉的历史升华。

II. The Value Implications of the Long March Spirit in the Process of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

二、马克思主义中国化进程中长征精神的价值意蕴

The Long March spirit is not only a precious spiritual treasure forged by the Communist Party of China during the revolutionary era but also an important value resource for Marxism to achieve creative transformation and innovative development in China. From the internal logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the reason the Long March spirit can be repeatedly evoked across different periods and produce practical effects lies not in its mobilizing power as a “slogan,” but in its stable value core and transformable action principles. It continuously addresses a series of questions: how the CPC maintains direction in complex environments, how it generates truth in practice, how it gains legitimacy among the people, and how it achieves organizational integration and coordination. Based on this, the value implications of the Long March spirit in the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context are embodied in three dimensions: first, as a “spiritual foundation” supporting direction and resilience; second, as a “methodological foundation” for generating truth and choosing paths; third, as an “organizational support” for consolidating strength and achieving governance coordination. These three together constitute the internal channel through which the Long March spirit moves from historical experience to contemporary practice, enabling it not only to explain the generative logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context but also to provide lasting spiritual motivation and value basis for Chinese-path modernization in the New Era.

长征精神不仅是中国共产党在革命年代淬炼而成的宝贵精神财富，更是马克思主义在中国实现创造性转化、创新性发展的重要价值资源。从马克思主义中国化的内在逻辑出发，长征精神之所以能够在不同时期被反复唤起并产生现实效力，并不在于其作为“口号”的动员性，而在于其以稳定的价值内核与可转化的行动准则，持续回答了中国共产党如何在复杂环境中保持方向、如何在实践中生成真理、如何在人民中获得合法性、如何在组织层面实现整合与协同等一系列问题。基于此，长征精神在马克思主义中国化进程中的价值意蕴，体现在三个维度：其一，作为支撑方向与韧性的“精神基座”；其二，作为生成真理与选择道路的“方法根基”；其三，作为凝聚力量并实现治理协同的“组织支撑”。这三者共同构成了长征精神由历史经验走向当代实践的内在通道，使其不仅能够解释马克思主义中国化的生成逻辑，也能够为新时代中国式现代化提供持久精神动力与价值依据。

(I) Spiritual Foundation: Ideals and Beliefs, and Hard Struggle

（一）精神基座：理想信念与艰苦奋斗

Ideals and beliefs, together with hard struggle, constitute the core content of the Long March spirit, centrally addressing the fundamental questions of how the CPC, at a historical juncture of life and death, could consolidate strength, maintain direction, and break through difficulties. From the perspective of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, ideals and beliefs are not abstract moral declarations but a forward direction capable of providing value coordinates and meaning legitimacy for theoretical innovation and political practice. Precisely because of a firm belief in the lofty ideal of communism and the cause of national liberation, the CPC was able to transform strategic shifts and route adjustments into the common will and sustained action of all its members, making the Long March not merely a passive “retreat” to break an encirclement, but a “restart” facing the future. In this sense, ideals and beliefs not only set the forward goal for the Long March but also provided a value foundation for revolutionary practice capable of penetrating short-term setbacks. In the historical process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, this belief has continuously achieved expression in the needs of the times. Mao Zedong Thought rallied revolutionary strength around “national independence and people’s liberation”; Deng Xiaoping Theory introduced ideals and beliefs into the practical framework of modernization through “building socialism with Chinese characteristics”; Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era further expands the historical dimension and contemporary connotation of faith through “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Thus, the ideals and beliefs embodied in the Long March spirit are not a temporary mobilizational resource of the revolutionary era, but a deep fulcrum for the continuous generation and constant leap of Chinese Marxism, supporting the Party’s deepening of theoretical innovation, practical advancement, and spiritual self-awareness under different temporal conditions.

理想信念与艰苦奋斗共同构成长征精神的核心内容，集中回应了中国共产党在生死存亡的历史关头何以凝聚力量、如何保持方向与怎样突破困境的根本命题。从马克思主义中国化视角出发，理想信念并非抽象的道德宣示，而是一种能够为理论创新与政治实践提供价值坐标与意义正当性的前进方向。正因为有对共产主义远大理想与民族解放事业的坚定信仰，中国共产党才能将战略转移、路线调整等转化为全体成员的共同意志与持续行动，使长征不只是被动突围的“撤退”，而是面向未来的“再出发”。在这一意义上，理想信念既为长征确立了前进目标，也为革命实践提供了能够穿透短期挫折的价值基础。在马克思主义中国化的历史进程中，这一信念不断实现时代化表达。毛泽东思想以“为民族独立和人民解放”凝聚革命力量，邓小平理论以“建设中国特色社会主义”将理想信念导入现代化建设的实践框架，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想以“实现中华民族伟大复兴”进一步拓展信仰的历史维度与现实内涵。由此可见，长征精神所蕴含的理想信念并非革命年代的阶段性动员资源，而是中国化马克思主义得以持续生成、不断跃迁的深层支点，支撑着党在不同时代条件下实现理论创新、实践推进与精神自觉的深化。

Accompanying ideals and beliefs is the action ethics and resilient practice embodied in hard struggle. “Hard struggle” does not merely mean “enduring hardship and hard work,” but a practical rationality that achieves strategic goals through organizational mobilization, disciplinary constraints, and long-term investment under conditions of extreme resource scarcity, continuously increasing external pressure, and high environmental uncertainty. The hard struggle in the Long March was manifested not only materially in enduring hunger and cold, marching and fighting, and survival tests, but also strategically in unremitting persistence, organizational self-repair, and effective advancement of action, enabling the CPC to build an executable action path between “limited conditions” and “grand missions.” During the Long March, the Red Army had to traverse extremely complex terrain such as snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and rivers. The reality of material scarcity and unsustainable external support prompted the Party to further recognize the need to rely on its own strength and establish mobilization methods and survival strategies more suited to China’s social structure and revolutionary conditions, thereby promoting a shift in path exploration from “empirical imitation” to “independent creation” amid adversity. Therefore, ideals and beliefs solve the directional question of “why to fight,” while hard struggle solves the action question of “how to win.” The two support each other, jointly forming the spiritual foundation for the continuous advancement of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and becoming the driving source for its sustained growth and extension.

与理想信念相伴而生的，是艰苦奋斗所体现的行动伦理与韧性实践。“艰苦奋斗”并非停留于单一的“吃苦耐劳”，而是一种在资源极度匮乏、外部压力持续加大、环境高度不确定的条件下，通过组织动员、纪律约束与长期投入来实现战略目标的实践理性。长征中的艰苦奋斗既表现为物质层面的忍饥受寒、行军作战与生存考验，更体现为战略层面的不懈坚持、组织层面的自我修复与行动层面的有效推进，使中国共产党能够在“有限条件”与“宏大使命”之间搭建起可执行的行动路径。长征途中，红军必须穿越雪山、草地、江河等极端复杂地形，物资匮乏与外援不可持续的现实，促使党进一步认识到必须依靠自身力量，建立更符合中国社会结构与革命条件的动员方式与生存策略，从而在困境中推动道路探索由“经验模仿”转向“自主创造”。因此，理想信念解决“为何而战”的方向问题，艰苦奋斗解决“如何能赢”的行动问题，二者相互支撑，共同构成马克思主义中国化得以不断推进的精神底盘，成为马克思主义中国化持续生长与延展的动力源泉。

(II) Methodological Foundation: Seeking Truth from Facts and Independence and Self-Reliance

（二）方法根基：实事求是与独立自主

The “seeking truth from facts” and “independence and self-reliance” in the Long March spirit together constitute the most important methodological resource for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, solving the epistemological and methodological problems of how Marxism generates truth and forms paths in the Chinese context. “Seeking truth from facts” is not a mere slogan declaration, but a practical path for the Marxist view of practice, epistemology, and method of contradiction analysis. The strategic shifts, route adjustments, and operational deployments during the Long March period were all completed through practical deduction under complex and changing objective conditions and sharp contradictions. The convening of the Zunyi Conference in 1935 [n7] enabled the CPC to begin breaking free from mechanical dependence on the experience of the Communist International and independently resolve major issues of the Chinese revolution. Subsequently, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the CPC formulated the comprehensive resistance line and the strategic policy of protracted war based on actual conditions and the trends of war development. Comrade Mao Zedong, in *On Protracted War*, scientifically predicted the development process and final outcome of the War of Resistance through analysis of the political, economic, and military aspects of both China and Japan, pointing out the direction of the resistance for the entire nation. Therefore, the CPC combined the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution, forming the great theoretical achievement of “taking practice as the standard.” This enabled the CPC to formulate lines, principles, and policies suited to China’s national conditions, lead the Chinese revolution to victory, and lay a solid foundation for China’s modernization.

长征精神中的“实事求是”与“独立自主”，共同构成了马克思主义中国化最重要的方法资源，解决了马克思主义如何在中国情境中生成真理、形成道路的认识论与方法论问题。“实事求是”并非单一的口号宣示，而是马克思主义实践观、认识论与矛盾分析方法的实践路径。长征时期的战略转移、路线调整与作战部署，均是在复杂多变的客观条件与尖锐矛盾中通过实践推演来完成的。1935年遵义会议的召开，使中国共产党开始摆脱对共产国际经验的机械依赖，独立自主地解决中国革命的重大问题。此后，在抗日战争时期，中国共产党根据实际情况和战争发展的趋势，制定了全面抗战路线和持久战的战略方针。毛泽东同志在《论持久战》中，通过对中日双方政治、经济、军事等方面的分析，科学预见了抗日战争的发展进程和最终结局，为全国人民指明了抗战的方向。因此，中国共产党将马克思主义基本原理与中国革命的具体实践相结合，形成了“以实践为标准”这一伟大理论成果。这使中国共产党能够制定出符合中国国情的路线方针政策，领导中国革命取得胜利，并为中国的现代化建设奠定了坚实基础。

What is mutually interdependent with “seeking truth from facts” is “independence and self-determination.” Independence and self-determination are not an abstract nationalist declaration, but a subjective method formed by Chinese Marxism at the level of historical logic. This includes both the critical absorption of external experience and the strategic resolve and operational sovereignty maintained amid international configurations and ideological competition. During the Long March, the Communist Party of China gradually shed its dependence on external models and independently resolved the major issues of the Chinese revolution. Among these, the Zunyi Conference [n8] constituted a crucial node in this turn. The conference centrally criticized the “Left” dogmatist military line, promoted the formation of a new central collective leadership represented by Mao Zedong, and initiated the historical process in which the Party independently applied the basic principles of Marxism, combined with China’s actual conditions, to make decisions on major lines, principles, and policies. From then on, the Party’s strategic decisions were no longer centered on passive compliance with external directives, but shifted to autonomous planning and dynamic adjustment based on the actual conditions, contradictory structures, and demands of struggle in the Chinese revolution. For example, in the campaign of the Four Crossings of the Chishui River [n9], under conditions where the enemy was strong and the Red Army was weak, with highly variable situations, the Red Army flexibly maneuvered between enemy forces, continuously created favorable opportunities through rapid mobility and luring the enemy into motion, disrupted the enemy’s deployment in movement, and achieved effective annihilation of the enemy. This concentratedly embodied the capacity for independent decision-making and a high level of military command art. Such practical experience shows that the formation of a revolutionary path cannot rely on the simple transplantation of external models; it must take China’s specific national conditions as the premise and open up a feasible path through autonomous exploration. Looking across the long river of history, “independence and self-determination” did not stop at the crisis response of the Long March period but has been continuously deepened and institutionalized as a methodological principle. From the practical orientation of “independence and self-determination, self-reliance,” to the choice of the path of “building socialism with Chinese characteristics” after reform and opening up, and then to the emphasis in the New Era on confidence in the path, confidence in the theory, confidence in the system, and confidence in the culture, all can be regarded as the theoretical unfolding and institutional expression of independence and self-determination at different stages. The major turning point in the Long March enabled the Party to further confirm at the practical level that only by adhering to a subjective stance and an autonomous direction can it maintain strategic initiative in a complex external environment and promote continuous innovation in theory and institutions.

与“实事求是”相互依托的是“独立自主”。独立自主并非抽象的民族主义宣示，而是中国化马克思主义在历史逻辑层面形成的主体性方法，既包括对外部经验的批判性吸收，也包括在国际格局与意识形态竞争中的战略定力与行动主权。长征进程中，中国共产党逐渐摆脱对外部模式的依赖，独立自主地解决中国革命的重大问题。其中，遵义会议构成这一转向的重要节点，会议集中批判了“左”倾教条主义的军事路线，推动形成以毛泽东为代表的新的中央领导集体，开启了党在重大路线方针政策问题上独立运用马克思主义基本原理、结合中国实际作出决策的历史进程。自此以后，党的战略决断不再以对外部指令的被动遵循为中心，而是转向以中国革命的现实条件、矛盾结构与斗争需求为依据的自主谋划与动态调整。比如，在四渡赤水战役中，红军在敌强我弱、态势多变的条件下，灵活穿插于敌军之间，通过快速机动与诱敌调动不断创造有利战机，在运动中打乱对方部署并实现有效歼敌，集中体现了独立自主的决策能力与高水平的军事指挥艺术。这类实践经验表明，革命道路的形成不可能依赖外部模式的简单移植，必须以中国的具体国情为前提，在自主探索中开辟可行路径。纵观历史长河，“独立自主”并未止步于长征时期的危机应对，而是作为一种方法论原则持续被深化并制度化，从“独立自主、自力更生”的实践取向，到改革开放后“建设有中国特色社会主义”的道路选择，再到新时代对道路自信、理论自信、制度自信、文化自信的强调，均可视为独立自主在不同阶段的理论展开与制度表达。长征中的重大转折，使党在实践层面进一步确认，只有坚持主体立场与自主方向才能在复杂外部环境中保持战略主动，并推动理论与制度的持续创新。

(3) Organizational Support: The Mass Standpoint and Unity and Cooperation

（三）组织支撑：群众立场与团结协作

The unfolding of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is not only the generation of ideas in the sense of intellectual history and theoretical history, but also a construction in the sense of organizational history and institutional history. Any theory, if it cannot be transformed into reproducible and sustainable organizational mobilization and institutional integration capacity, will find it difficult to enter the depths of the social structure and form stable governance outcomes. The reason the Long March spirit possesses historical penetrating power lies precisely in the fact that, at the organizational level, it established and strengthened two foundational principles: the mass standpoint and unity and cooperation. Along the Long March route, most of the areas the Red Army passed through were new regions lacking a mass base, and many people were indifferent, suspicious, or even fearful of the Red Army. To change this situation, the Party Central Committee called on Red Army officers and soldiers to fully play the role of “propaganda teams” and “sowing machines,” and specially established chisel-writing teams and chalk-writing teams. Through flexible and diverse cultural propaganda methods such as writing slogans and mottos, drawing propaganda pictures, composing poems and songs, and publishing battlefield newspapers, using language that was easy to understand and forms that the masses liked to hear and see, they propagated the Party’s propositions and policies, as well as the nature, purpose, and tasks of the Red Army. This made the Party’s ideas of liberating the oppressed working masses and resisting Japan to save the nation deeply rooted in people’s hearts, gradually eliminating the local people’s misunderstandings of the Red Army. This practice was not accidental, but a realistic transformation of the Marxist view of the people under China’s social conditions. The people are both the object of revolution and the subject of history.

马克思主义中国化的展开，不仅是思想史与理论史意义上的观念生成，更是组织史与制度史意义上的建构。任何理论若无法转化为可复制、可持续的组织动员与制度整合能力，就难以进入社会结构深处并形成稳定的治理成果。长征精神之所以具有历史穿透力，正在于在组织层面确立并强化了群众立场与团结协作两项基础性原则。长征途中，红军所经之地大多是缺乏群众基础的新区域，不少群众对红军持冷漠、怀疑甚至恐惧的态度。为改变这一状况，党中央号召红军将士充分发挥“宣传队”和“播种机”的作用，并专门成立了錾字队和粉笔队，通过书写标语口号、绘制宣传画、创作诗词歌曲、出版战地报刊等灵活多样的文化宣传方式，用通俗易懂的语言和群众喜闻乐见的形式，宣传党的主张、政策以及红军的性质、宗旨和任务，使党解放被压迫劳苦大众和抗日救国的主张深入人心，逐渐消除了沿途群众对红军的误解。这种实践并非偶然，而是马克思主义人民观在中国社会条件下的现实转化，人民既是革命的对象，更是历史的主体。

Compared with the social foundation laid by the mass standpoint, unity and cooperation focus more on presenting the institutional capacity for organizational integration and coordinated mobilization, and are the concentrated embodiment of the Long March spirit at the level of organizational logic. The reason the Long March was able to complete the strategic transfer and preserve revolutionary strength under conditions of extreme danger, encirclement and pursuit by strong enemies, and severe resource scarcity lies at its core in the collaborative system that ran through the entire process. This includes both the centralized unity of high-level decision-making and the sharing of hardships between officers and soldiers, coordinated operations and mutual support among different units, and the connection and mutual aid between the military and civilians, as well as ethnic unity work. It was precisely this multi-layered, cross-subject, and sustainable collaborative structure that provided solid organizational guarantees for the victory of the Long March and the subsequent advancement of the cause of resistance against Japan. From the perspective of action form, the Long March was a complex project spanning regions, units, and ethnic groups. Any narrative centered on individual heroism would find it difficult to explain its sustained organizational effectiveness. Under the dual pressure of enemy fire and harsh natural environments, Red Army officers and soldiers were still able to maintain high trust, mutual support, and a quality of sharing life and death, so that collaboration did not remain at the level of moral advocacy but was transformed into an organizational capacity that could be executed and replicated, thereby becoming a core element of the Long March spirit. For this reason, unity and cooperation are an important support for the stable operation and continuous innovation of Chinese Marxism at the institutional level. By coordinating with the mass standpoint, they together constitute the organizational realization mechanism of Chinese Marxism. This not only consolidates the Party’s mass base and long-term governance capacity but also provides profound cultural deposits and spiritual resources for the governance coordination and social integration necessary for the process of Chinese-path modernization.

相较于群众立场所奠定的社会基础，团结协作更侧重呈现组织整合与协同动员的制度能力，是长征精神在组织逻辑层面的集中体现。长征之所以能够在极端艰险、强敌围追堵截与资源高度匮乏的情境中完成战略转移、保存革命力量，其核心在于贯穿全程的协作体系，既包括高层决策的集中统一，也包括官兵之间的同甘共苦、各部队之间的协同作战与相互支援，还包括军民之间的联结互助与民族团结工作。正是这种多层次、跨主体、可持续的协作结构，为长征胜利及后续抗日事业的推进提供了坚实的组织保障。从行动形态出发，长征是一项跨区域、跨队伍、跨民族的复杂工程，任何以个人英雄主义为中心的叙事都难以解释其持续运行的组织效能。在敌火压迫与恶劣自然环境的双重压力下，红军将士仍能维持高度信任、相互支撑与生死与共的群体品质，使协作不再停留于道德倡导，而是转化为可被执行、可被复制的组织能力，并以此成为长征精神的重要内核。为此，团结协作是中国化马克思主义在制度层面实现稳定运行与持续创新的重要支撑，通过与群众立场相互配合，共同构成中国化马克思主义的组织化实现机制。这不仅夯实了党的群众基础与长期执政能力，也为中国式现代化进程所必需的治理协同与社会整合提供了深厚的文化底蕴与精神资源。

III. The Contemporary Expression of the Long March Spirit in the Process of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

三、马克思主义中国化进程中长征精神的当代表达

As an important early intellectual achievement of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the Long March spirit has undergone a deep transformation from revolutionary spirit to institutional culture, from historical symbol to practical driving force. Entering the New Era, the proposal of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era marks the third historic leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. In this process, the Long March spirit has been reactivated and reinterpreted. It is not only a symbolic emblem of revolutionary memory but has also been endowed with the new mission of serving modernization construction, optimizing social governance, shaping cultural confidence, and participating in global narratives. Its contemporary expression profoundly reflects the theoretical consciousness and practical deepening of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context in the New Era.

长征精神作为马克思主义中国化早期的重要思想成果，经历了从革命精神到制度文化、从历史象征到现实动力的深层转化。进入新时代，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的提出标志着马克思主义中国化的第三次历史性飞跃。长征精神在这一进程中被重新激活与再阐释，它不仅是革命记忆的象征符号，而且被赋予服务现代化建设、优化社会治理、塑造文化自信、参与全球叙事的新使命，其当代表达深刻体现出马克思主义中国化在新时代的理论自觉与实践深化。

(1) Serving National Development: Integration into National Strategy and Institutional Construction Practice

（一）服务国家发展：融入国家战略与制度建设实践

In the historical process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the Long March spirit is not only a symbolic memory of the revolutionary era but also a spiritual resource capable of continuous “reinterpretation, reorganization, and reinstitutionalization,” able to continuously enter the core agenda of national development and governance modernization. Entering the New Era, the Long March spirit has completed its historical transformation from a revolutionary ideal narrative to a modern strategic will. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “No matter how far our cause develops, no matter how great our achievements, we must vigorously promote the great Long March spirit and continue to forge ahead courageously on the new Long March.” [n10] This important statement not only endows the Long March spirit with a contemporary action orientation but also reflects its practical logic in the construction of Chinese-path modernization, indicating that the Long March spirit is both a spiritual bond of historical inheritance and an important support for theoretical consciousness and institutional innovation. In the national strategic system of the New Era, the value core of the Long March spirit has been deeply embedded in major policy design and governance practice. The fight against poverty concentratedly embodies the character of struggle of “fearing no hardship and facing difficulties head-on”; rural revitalization highlights the development method of “seeking truth from facts and adapting measures to local conditions”; the Belt and Road Initiative and the strategy of common prosperity further reflect the contemporary temperament of “unity and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness.” It is precisely by relying on this spiritual mobilization and organizational resilience that grassroots Party cadres and members were able to continuously tackle tough problems in complex situations, enabling nearly 100 million rural poor to be lifted out of poverty and all 832 poor counties to be removed from the poverty list, fully demonstrating the creative transformation and institutionalized presentation of the Long March spirit in the New Era.

在马克思主义中国化的历史进程中，长征精神不仅是革命年代的象征性记忆，也是一种能够被持续“再阐释、再组织、再制度化”的精神资源，能够持续进入国家发展与治理现代化的核心议程。进入新时代，长征精神完成了从革命理想叙事向现代化战略意志的历史性转化。习近平总书记强调：“不论我们的事业发展到哪一步，不论我们取得了多大成就，我们都要大力弘扬伟大长征精神，在新的长征路上继续奋勇前进”。这一重要论述不仅赋予了长征精神以当代行动指向，也体现了其在中国式现代化建设中的现实逻辑，表明长征精神既是历史传承的精神纽带，更是理论自觉与制度创新的重要支撑。在新时代国家战略体系中，长征精神的价值内核已深度嵌入重大政策设计与治理实践之中。脱贫攻坚集中体现了“不畏艰难、迎难而上”的奋斗品格，乡村振兴凸显了“实事求是、因地制宜”的发展方法，“一带一路”倡议与共同富裕战略则进一步体现了“团结协作、开放包容”的时代气质。正是依托这种精神动员与组织韧性，基层党员干部才得以在复杂情境中持续攻坚克难，使近1亿农村贫困人口全部脱贫、832个贫困县全部摘帽，充分展现了长征精神在新时代的创造性转化与制度化呈现。

Furthermore, the contemporary expression of the Long March spirit in national development is also reflected in the institutionalized advancement of public cultural construction and the integration of culture and tourism, especially in the revitalization of old revolutionary base areas and the transmission of red culture. Places such as Yudu, Ruijin, and Jinggangshan have taken the construction of the Long March National Cultural Park, memorial parks, and red tourism routes as their starting point, transforming the Long March spirit from a static commemorative narrative into a driving mechanism for regional economic and social development. Through multiple pathways such as red culture forums, research on the history of the Red Army, and the protection of former sites and relics, they promote the conversion of red resources into educational resources, tourism resources, and development resources, gradually forming an institutionalized chain of “protecting well, transmitting well, and utilizing well.” Therefore, in the New Era, the Long March spirit has not only become the cultural foundation of modern national governance but also an important source of confidence in the system, promoting the continuous transformation and expansion of Chinese Marxism from a political spirit to an institutional civilization.

此外，长征精神在国家发展中的当代表达，还体现在公共文化建设与文旅融合的制度化推进上，尤其是在革命老区振兴与红色文化传承中。于都、瑞金、井冈山等地以长征国家文化公园、纪念园区与红色旅游线路建设为抓手，使长征精神从静态的纪念性叙事转化为带动区域经济社会发展的动力机制，并通过红色文化论坛、红军军史研究、旧址遗迹保护等多元路径，推动红色资源向教育资源、旅游资源与发展资源转换，逐步形成“保护好、传承好、利用好”的制度化链条。因此，新时代长征精神不仅成为现代国家治理的文化底色，也是制度自信的重要来源，推动中国化马克思主义实现从政治精神向制度文明的持续转化与拓展。

(II) Integration into Social Education: Embedding in the Educational System and Daily Value Formation

（二）融入社会育人：嵌入教育体系与日常价值塑造

In the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the reason the Long March spirit can continuously radiate vitality lies not in how many times it is narrated, but in whether it can be transformed into a set of social mechanisms that can be learned, experienced, and practiced, and can complete value reproduction across generational changes and media shifts. Today, the contemporary expression of the Long March spirit has gradually achieved a functional shift, from a “narrative resource of revolutionary memory” to an “institutional resource for social education.” Through the embedding of multiple pathways such as the curriculum system, practical scenarios, and public cultural supply, the core connotations of the Long March spirit are transformed into a value structure oriented toward youth development, social ethical order, and public action norms. This enables Chinese Marxism not only to guide national development at the macro level but also to promote individual personality formation and group moral construction at the micro level. Currently, schools at all levels generally offer courses on ideological and political theory and red culture. Through a linkage mechanism of textbook compilation, classroom teaching, and social practice, students are guided to strengthen their ideals and convictions and cultivate feelings of family and country in the process of “understanding history to grasp principles.” At the same time, the intervention of digital technology pushes the Long March spirit beyond the boundaries of traditional classrooms, extending it to smart education platforms and public cultural spaces, gradually forming a communication and education system with greater immersion, interactivity, and a sense of the times, thereby becoming an important spiritual resource for ideological and political education in the New Era.

在马克思主义中国化的进程中，长征精神之所以能够持续焕发生命力，其核心并不在于被讲述了多少次，而在于能否被转化成为一套可学习、可体验、可践行的社会化机制，并在代际更替与媒介变迁中完成价值再生产。如今，长征精神的当代表达逐步实现了功能性转向，从“革命记忆的叙事资源”转化为“社会育人的制度资源”，通过课程体系、实践场景与公共文化供给等多重路径的嵌入，将长征精神的核心内涵，转化为面向青少年成长、面向社会伦理秩序、面向公共行动规范的价值结构，使中国化马克思主义不仅能在宏观层面引领国家发展，也能在微观层面促进个体人格养成与群体道德建构。当前，各级学校普遍开设思政课与红色文化相关课程，通过教材编写、课堂教学与社会实践的联动机制，引导学生在“知史明理”中坚定理想信念、涵养家国情怀。同时，数字技术的介入推动长征精神突破传统课堂边界，延伸至智慧教育平台与公共文化空间，逐步形成更具沉浸感、互动性与时代感的传播与育人体系，进而成为新时代思想政治教育的重要精神资源。

The contemporary expression of the Long March spirit is not limited to the school education system; it depends on whether it can enter the daily life of society and settle into the moral structure and action norms of the public’s spiritual world. Against the backdrop of rapid social transformation and the coexistence of diverse value orientations, individuals generally face real pressures such as intensified competition, rising career uncertainty, and overlapping life risks. Therefore, there is a greater need for a value resource that can provide meaning integration, emotional comfort, and psychological support. The function of the Long March spirit here is to transform the “grand narrative” into “operable daily ethics,” entering social daily life with more routine and concrete ideals and convictions. For example, in scenarios such as emergency rescue and disaster relief, community epidemic prevention and control, and volunteer services, the continuous hard work and coordinated cooperation of medical personnel, grassroots cadres, community workers, and volunteers have pushed the Long March spirit from historical narrative into the social framework of public life. Similarly, in long-term tasks such as poverty alleviation, rural revitalization, and grassroots governance, the spirit of unity and cooperation—such as “rooting oneself at the front line, persevering over time, and working for the people”—demonstrated by village-based cadres, first secretaries, grassroots Party members, and rural leaders often enters the social field of vision through forms such as model publicity, deeds reports, and public courses, forming a chain of role models that can be perceived, imitated, and learned, thereby enabling the Long March spirit to be continuously embedded in the world of daily life. Therefore, from the “courageous responsibility in adversity” in emergency rescue and disaster relief practices, to the “dedication to the people” in poverty alleviation and volunteer services, and then to the “unremitting self-improvement” in youth entrepreneurship and innovation, the Long March spirit is constantly contextualized and made part of everyday life, thereby transforming into socially understandable behavioral norms and ethical beliefs.

长征精神的当代表达并不局限于学校教育体系，而是取决于其是否能够进入社会日常生活并沉淀为公众精神世界中的道德结构与行动规范。在社会快速转型、价值取向多元并存的背景下，个体普遍面临竞争加剧、职业不确定性上升与生活风险叠加等现实压力，因而更需要一种能够提供意义整合、情感安顿与心理支撑的价值资源。长征精神在此所承担的功能则在于将“宏大叙事”转化为“可操作的日常伦理”，以更日常化、具象化的理想信念进入社会日常生活中。比如，在抢险救灾、社区防控与志愿服务等场景中，医务人员、基层干部、社区工作者和志愿者的连续奋战与协同配合，推动了长征精神由历史叙事进入公共生活的社会框架中。又如在脱贫攻坚、乡村振兴与基层治理等长期性任务中，驻村干部、第一书记、基层党员与乡村带头人所呈现的“扎根一线、久久为功、为民办事”等团结协作精神，往往借助典型宣传、事迹报告与公开课程等形式进入社会视野，形成可感知、可模仿、可学习的榜样链条，使长征精神得以持续嵌入日常生活世界。因此，从抢险救灾实践中的“逆行担当”，到脱贫攻坚与志愿服务中的“为民奉献”，再到青年创业创新中的“自强不息”，长征精神不断被情境化、生活化，进而转化为社会可理解的行为准则与伦理信念。

(III) Expanding Communication Scenarios: Empowering Innovative Practice and International Narrative Expression

（三）拓展传播场景：赋能创新实践与国际叙事表达

In the historical evolution of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, the key reason the Long March spirit can transform from historical narrative into practical driving force lies in the fact that the Long March spirit is no longer confined to the single space of commemorative ceremonies and propaganda education, but has entered the contemporary social system, technological system, and public communication space. In this process, the “innovation” dimension of the Long March spirit has been endowed with new contemporary connotations, gradually coupling with scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, institutional innovation, and governance modernization, forming a future-oriented spiritual mobilization and practical framework. Today, the spiritual character of “daring to try, daring to break through, and having the courage to make breakthroughs” embodied in the Red Army’s Long March is becoming an important prototype for contemporary China’s independent innovation and scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. From major scientific and technological achievements such as the “BeiDou networking,” “Tianwen Mars exploration,” and “Shenzhou spaceflight,” to institutional innovation practices such as “Digital China,” “smart government affairs,” and “green and low-carbon transformation,” all reflect the creative courage of continuous exploration in uncertain environments and persistent breakthroughs under external pressure. This phenomenon reflects the expansion of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context in the contemporary era, emphasizing the two-way empowerment of spiritual mobilization and technological progress, transforming the Long March spirit into a continuous driving force for institutional innovation, technological breakthroughs, and management reform, and promoting the leap of Chinese Marxism from confidence in the theory to confidence in science and technology and confidence in governance in the contemporary era.

在马克思主义中国化的历史演进中，长征精神之所以能够由历史叙事转化为现实动能，其关键在于长征精神不再局限于纪念仪式与宣讲教育的单一空间，而是进入当代社会制度体系、科技体系与公共传播空间之中。在这一过程中，长征精神的“创新”维度被赋予了新的时代内涵，逐渐与科技自立自强、制度创新和治理现代化形成耦合，构成一种面向未来的精神动员与实践框架。如今，红军长征所蕴含的“敢闯敢试、勇于突破”的精神品格，正成为当代中国自主创新与科技自立自强的重要原型。从“北斗组网”“天问探火”“神舟飞天”等重大科技成就，到“数字中国”“智慧政务”“绿色低碳转型”等制度创新实践，均体现出在不确定环境中持续探索、在外部压力下坚持突破的创造勇气。这一现象体现出马克思主义中国化的时代拓展，强调精神动员与科技进步的双向赋能，使长征精神转化为制度创新、技术攻关与管理变革的持续驱动力，推动中国化马克思主义在当代进一步实现从理论自信向科技自信、治理自信的跃迁。

At the level of international narrative, the contemporary expression of the Long March spirit shows a trend of translation from a “symbol of national spirit” to a “civilizational discourse resource.” Against the backdrop of profound changes in the global landscape and the international community facing a development deficit, a trust deficit, and a governance deficit, the value elements contained in the Long March spirit—such as adhering to ideals, pursuing justice, uniting and cooperating, and sharing a common destiny—can form a dialogue interface with global issues such as peaceful development, common prosperity, and win-win cooperation. For example, in the infrastructure connectivity, production capacity cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges of the Belt and Road Initiative countries, China’s emphasis on concepts such as extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, multilateral coordination and mutual benefit, as well as development first, inclusive benefits, and mutual learning among civilizations, can be regarded as the internationalized expression of the Long March spirit. Furthermore, in foreign aid and international cooperation projects, China demonstrates its governance capacity and willingness to cooperate in

在国际叙事层面，长征精神的当代表达呈现出从“民族精神象征”向“文明话语资源”的转译趋势。在全球格局深刻演变、国际社会面临发展赤字、信任赤字与治理赤字的背景下，长征精神所蕴含的坚持理想、追求正义、团结合作、命运与共等价值要素，能够与和平发展、共同繁荣、合作共赢等全球议题形成对话接口。例如，在“一带一路”各国基础设施互联互通、产能合作与人文交流中，我国强调的共商共建共享、多边协调与互利共赢以及发展优先、普惠包容、文明互鉴等理念，可被视作长征精神的国际化表达。此外，在对外援助与国际合作项目中，我国通过减贫经验分享、乡村发展模式交流与公共卫生合作等实践行为，展示“攻坚克难”的治理能力与合作意愿，从而将长征精神转译为“发展治理的中国经验”与“共同发展的合作叙事”。由此，在全球格局深刻演变的背景下，长征精神正在从民族精神转化为具有世界意义的文明话语，以精神资源的形式参与全球治理议题的对话与叙事建构，从而推动中国化马克思主义由民族性走向更具普遍性的表达形态。

IV. Conclusion: The Theoretical Sublimation of the Long March Spirit and the Regularity Insights of Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context

四、结语：长征精神的理论升华与马克思主义中国化的规律启示

The victory of the Long March marked the historical turn of the Communist Party of China from “copying Marxism” to “creatively applying and developing Marxism” in revolutionary practice, laying the logical starting point and methodological foundation for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. The Long March spirit was born precisely in this great practice, crystallizing the ideological exploration of Chinese Communists in combining universal truth with China’s actual conditions, and becoming the spiritual origin and theoretical source that continuously deepens the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context. Entering the New Era, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Long March spirit has completed its regeneration and expansion from a historical spirit to a spirit of the times. It not only serves as the value engine of Chinese-path modernization but also constitutes the practical logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context in the New Era. Looking ahead, the new journey of Chinese-path modernization remains a new “Long March road.” Under the multiple challenges of technological revolution, institutional innovation, ecological transformation, and global changes unseen in a century, the Communist Party of China must continuously strengthen theoretical consciousness, deepen cultural confidence, and adhere to the people-centered stance, enabling the Long March spirit to achieve continuous creative transformation and innovative development in the new historical orientation. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Every generation has its own Long March road.” [11]11 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Long March of the Red Army” (October 21, 2016). Revisiting the Long March spirit is not a commemoration of history but a reconfirmation of the laws of theoretical innovation and a renewed impetus for the process of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. In this sense, the contemporary expression of the Long March spirit is not only the historical echo of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context but also its continuously evolving ideological engine and civilizational inspiration. In the future, the Long March spirit will continue to support the Communist Party of China in leading theoretical innovation with spiritual consciousness on the new journey, and in opening up the future of civilization with theoretical innovation.

长征的胜利标志着中国共产党在革命实践中完成了从“照搬马克思主义”到“创造性运用和发展马克思主义”的历史性转向，奠定了马克思主义中国化的逻辑起点与方法论基石。长征精神正是在这一伟大实践中孕育而生，凝结了中国共产党人将普遍真理与中国实际相结合的思想探索，成为推动马克思主义中国化不断深化的精神原点与理论源泉。进入新时代，长征精神在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指引下，完成了从历史精神到时代精神的再生与拓展。它不仅成为中国式现代化的价值引擎，也构成新时代马克思主义中国化的实践逻辑。展望未来，中国式现代化的新征程仍是一条新的“长征路”。在科技革命、制度创新、生态转型与全球变局的多重挑战下，中国共产党必须不断强化理论自觉、深化文化自信、坚守人民立场，使长征精神在新的历史方位中持续实现创造性转化、创新性发展。正如习近平总书记指出：“每一代人有每一代人的长征路。”重温长征精神，不是对历史的缅怀，而是对理论创新规律的再确认，对马克思主义中国化时代化进程的再推动。在这一意义上，长征精神的当代表达，不仅是马克思主义中国化的历史回声，更是其持续演进的思想引擎与文明启示。未来长征精神将继续支撑中国共产党在新的征程中，以精神自觉引领理论创新，以理论创新开拓文明未来。