The “Fengqiao Experience”: Mao Zedong’s Concepts and Wisdom in Governing the Country and Their Contemporary Development

Mao Zedong led the Chinese people to seize political power and achieve victory in the New Democratic Revolution. After the founding of New China, Mao, as the leader of the Party and the state, took Marxism-Leninism as the guiding ideology, explored the path of socialist construction in China, and provided many valuable experiences for creating socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new historical period. The “Fengqiao Experience,” which he affirmed and advocated, not only produced positive effects and profound influence in Chinese social life in the 1960s but also retains vigorous vitality in 21st-century China, continuously radiating the light of concepts and wisdom under new historical conditions. Studying and exploring the “Fengqiao Experience,” which embodies Mao Zedong’s concepts and wisdom in governing the country, holds important theoretical significance and practical value for realizing Chinese-path modernization.

毛泽东领导中国人民夺取了政权，取得了新民主主义革命的胜利。新中国成立后，毛泽东作为党和国家的领导人，以马克思列宁主义为指导思想，探索中国社会主义建设的道路，为在新的历史时期开创中国特色社会主义提供了不少宝贵的经验。他肯定和倡导的“枫桥经验”，不仅在20世纪60年代的中国社会生活中产生了积极的效果、深刻的影响，而且在21世纪的中国依然有着旺盛的生命力，在新的历史条件下不断放射出理念和智慧的光芒。研究和探索体现毛泽东治国理政理念和智慧的“枫桥经验”，对于实现中国式现代化有着重要的理论意义和实践价值。

I. From “On the Ten Major Relationships” to the “Fengqiao Experience”: Mao Zedong’s Exploration of Governing New China

一、从《论十大关系》到“枫桥经验”：毛泽东对新中国治国理政的探索

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, how to lead the liberated Chinese people onto the broad road of socialism on the 9.6 million square kilometers of land awaiting reconstruction and achieve the prosperity and flourishing of the Chinese nation was a major historical mission facing the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative. Starting in February 1956, Mao and other leading comrades of the Central Committee spent a month and a half conducting a major investigation and study of the country’s national conditions, listening to work reports from 34 central departments, consulting a large amount of domestic and foreign materials, and engaging in repeated and in-depth reflection. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee held several meetings for serious discussion on this basis. On this foundation, Mao concentrated and summarized his thoughts to form the report “On the Ten Major Relationships.” This report proposed that China must follow its own path based on its national conditions, properly handling the relationships between heavy industry and light industry and agriculture, between coastal industry and inland industry, between economic construction and national defense construction, between the state, production units, and individual producers, between the central and local authorities, between the Han nationality and minority nationalities, between the Party and non-Party parties, between revolution and counter-revolution, between right and wrong, and between China and other countries. These “ten major relationships” were the product of integrating the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism with China’s specific realities, and their concepts and wisdom guided the path of China’s socialist construction for decades to come. For example, the relationships between the state, production units, and individual producers, and between the central and local authorities, were the breakthroughs in the early period of reform and opening up in the 1970s and 1980s. “On the Ten Major Relationships” meticulously sorted out the problems in China’s socialist construction, clarifying the thinking and providing a framework for China’s development. Mao explicitly pointed out: “These ten questions are all raised around a basic policy, which is to mobilize all positive factors, both domestic and international, to serve the socialist cause… Although reactionary forces are a negative factor, we must still do our work well and try our best to turn negative factors into positive ones.” The “Fengqiao Experience” was precisely the implementation of this basic policy.

中华人民共和国成立后，如何在百废待兴的960万平方公里的土地上，领导翻了身的中国人民走向社会主义的康庄大道，并实现中华民族的繁荣昌盛，是摆在以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人面前的重大历史使命。1956年2月起，毛泽东和其他中央领导同志用一个半月的时间对本国国情进行了一次重大调查研究，听取了中央34个部门的工作汇报，调阅了国内外大量资料，并进行了反复深入的思考。中央政治局为此几次开会展开了认真讨论。在这样的基础上，毛泽东集中概括形成了《论十大关系》的报告。这一报告提出了要根据中国国情走自己的路，处理好重工业和轻工业、农业的关系，沿海工业和内地工业的关系，经济建设和国防建设的关系，国家、生产单位和生产者个人的关系，中央和地方的关系，汉族和少数民族的关系，党和非党的关系，革命和反革命的关系，是非关系，中国和外国的关系。这“十大关系”是马克思列宁主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合的产物，其理念和智慧指引了后来几十年中国社会主义建设的道路。例如国家、生产单位和生产者个人的关系，中央和地方的关系，是20世纪七八十年代改革开放初期的突破口。《论十大关系》精心梳理了中国社会主义建设中的问题，为中国发展厘清了思路、提供了框架。毛泽东明确指出：“提出这十个问题，都是围绕着一个基本方针，就是要把国内外一切积极因素调动起来，为社会主义事业服务……反动势力虽是一种消极因素，但是我们仍然要作好工作，尽量争取化消极因素为积极因素。”“枫桥经验”正是这一基本方针的贯彻。

In 1956, a series of changes occurred in the international and domestic situations. Internationally, Khrushchev delivered a secret report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, exposing a series of serious mistakes made by Stalin and completely negating him. Domestically, China basically completed the socialist transformation and established the basic system of socialism, but problems of rash advance and tendencies toward bureaucracy also emerged. Influenced by various domestic and international situations, phenomena of workers’ strikes, student strikes, and peasants withdrawing from cooperatives occurred in some places within the country. In February 1957, Mao delivered an important speech at the Supreme State Conference on the topic of “How to Handle Contradictions Among the People.” Subsequently, Mao made several important revisions and supplements to the speech manuscript and published it publicly in the *People’s Daily*. In this classic document, Mao proposed a series of concepts and policies for governing the country, centered on “whether contradictions exist in socialist society” and “how socialist society handles two types of contradictions of different natures.” Mao believed that “contradictions still exist in socialist society. Denying the existence of contradictions means denying materialist dialectics.” For the first time, he elaborated that socialist society has two types of contradictions of different natures, namely contradictions between ourselves and the enemy and contradictions among the people, emphasizing that the theme of the country’s political life is correctly handling contradictions among the people. So-called correctly handling contradictions among the people means adhering to the principles of Marxism-Leninism and using “democratic methods” to resolve contradictions among the people. Mao also particularly pointed out that the two types of contradictions of different natures can transform under certain conditions; if handled properly, contradictions between ourselves and the enemy can be transformed into contradictions among the people. The possibility of transformation between contradictions of different natures was an important concept that later guided the “Fengqiao Experience.”

1956年，国际国内形势发生了一系列变化。国际上，赫鲁晓夫在苏共二十大上作秘密报告，揭露斯大林犯的一系列严重错误，并全盘否定斯大林。在国内，我国基本完成了社会主义改造，确立了社会主义基本制度，但也出现了急躁冒进的问题和官僚主义倾向。在国内外各种形势的影响下，国内一些地方发生了工人罢工、学生罢课、农民退社的现象。1957年2月，毛泽东在最高国务会议上以“如何处理人民内部的矛盾”为题作了重要讲话。此后，毛泽东对讲话稿作了若干重要修改和补充，在《人民日报》上公开发表。毛泽东在这一经典文献中，围绕着“社会主义是不是存在矛盾”“社会主义社会如何处理两类不同性质的矛盾”提出了一系列治国理政的理念和方针政策。毛泽东认为，“社会主义社会，仍然存在着矛盾。否认存在矛盾就是否认唯物辩证法”。他第一次阐述了社会主义社会具有两种不同性质的矛盾，即敌我矛盾和人民内部矛盾，强调国家政治生活的主题是正确处理人民内部矛盾。所谓正确处理人民内部矛盾，就是坚持马克思列宁主义的原则，“用民主的方法”解决人民内部的矛盾。毛泽东还特别指出了两类不同性质的矛盾在一定条件下可以转化，如果处理得当，敌我矛盾可以转化为人民内部矛盾。不同性质的矛盾可以转化，这是后来指导“枫桥经验”的重要理念。

In 1963, during the socialist education movement [1]1 The socialist education movement (社会主义教育运动), also known as the “Four Cleanups” movement (四清运动), was a political campaign launched by the CPC in rural areas from 1963 to 1966, aimed at addressing corruption and class struggle at the grassroots level. carried out in rural areas nationwide, the cadres and masses in Fengqiao, located in Zhuji, Zhejiang, adopted methods of mobilizing and relying on the masses to reform the “four categories of elements” [2]2 “Four categories of elements” (四类分子) was a political label used in Mao-era China, referring to landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, and bad elements, who were targets of class struggle and reform through labor., achieving good results. Leaders of the Ministry of Public Security reported this to Mao, who was inspecting Hangzhou. Mao affirmed, saying, “This is called not passing contradictions upward, resolving them on the spot,” and instructed that a good summary should be made. Following Mao’s instructions, an investigation team from the Ministry of Public Security rushed to Fengqiao and, after investigation and verification, presided over the drafting of the “Experience of Fengqiao District, Zhuji County, in Carrying Out the Struggle Against the Enemy During the Socialist Education Movement,” i.e., the “Fengqiao Experience.” Its main spirit was to make fewer arrests, not pass contradictions upward, rely on the masses, and use the form of reasoning struggle to reform the vast majority of “four categories of elements” into new people on the spot. Later, Mao wrote an instruction on the written speech submitted by the Ministry of Public Security for the Second Session of the Third National People’s Congress [3]3 The Second Session of the Third National People’s Congress was held in December 1964. The text refers to it as the “Second Session of the Fourth National People’s Congress” (全国人大二届四次会议) in the original, which is a historical error; the correct designation is the Second Session of the Third National People’s Congress.: “Let all localities follow suit, conduct pilot projects, and promote its implementation.” In January 1964, the Central Committee of the CPC issued the “Instruction on Relying on the Masses’ Strength, Strengthening the People’s Democratic Dictatorship, and Reforming the Vast Majority of ‘Four Categories of Elements’ into New People,” promoting the “Fengqiao Experience” nationwide. Subsequently, a wave of learning and promoting the “Fengqiao Experience” swept across the country. The year 1964 also became the year with the fewest arrests since the founding of New China, yet public security conditions were better than in previous years.

1963年，在全国农村开展的社会主义教育运动中，地处浙江诸暨的枫桥干部群众采取发动群众、依靠群众的方式对“四类分子”进行改造，取得了良好效果。公安部领导向正在杭州视察的毛泽东作了汇报。毛泽东肯定地说，“这叫矛盾不上交，就地解决”，并指示要好好进行总结。根据毛泽东的指示，公安部调查组赶赴枫桥，在调查核实后，主持起草了《诸暨县枫桥区社会主义教育运动中开展对敌斗争的经验》，即“枫桥经验”。其主要精神是捕人少，矛盾不上交，依靠群众，以说理斗争的形式把绝大多数“四类分子”就地改造成新人。后来，毛泽东在公安部递呈的全国人大二届四次会议书面发言稿上批示：“要各地仿效，经过试点，推广去做。”1964年1月，中共中央发出了《关于依靠群众力量，加强人民民主专政，把绝大多数“四类分子”改造成新人的指示》，把“枫桥经验”推向全国，此后全国各地掀起了学习推广“枫桥经验”的热潮。1964年也成为新中国成立以来捕人最少的一年，但治安情况比往年都好。

As the long-term leader of the Party and the state, Mao Zedong engaged in unremitting exploration of how to build socialism in this great Eastern country, China, providing valuable historical experience for contemporary governance of the country. These experiences were formed over a considerable period, and we must carefully examine and study them by placing them within the historical process. Research on the “Fengqiao Experience” advocated by Mao must be linked with the relevant discussions in “On the Ten Major Relationships” and “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” to better understand and grasp Mao’s concepts of governing the country.

毛泽东长期担任党和国家的领导人，对于中国这个东方大国如何建设社会主义进行了不懈的探索，为当代中国治国理政提供了宝贵历史经验。这些经验是在相当长一段时间里形成的，我们必须将其置于历史进程中认真加以审视和研究。对毛泽东倡导的“枫桥经验”的研究，必须将其与《论十大关系》《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾》中的有关论述联系起来，才能更好理解和把握毛泽东有关治国的理念。

1. The Governing Concept of Combining a “Grand Vision” with “Focusing Downward”

1.“大格局”与“重心向下”相结合的治国理念

China is an ancient civilization with a vast territory and a large population. Leading such a great power, facing complex and ever-changing domestic and international situations, requires a grand vision and great wisdom. In “On the Ten Major Relationships,” Mao looked far ahead and took the overall situation into account, basing himself on China’s national conditions, and proposed the ten major relationships for socialist construction. These ten relationships succinctly and comprehensively summarized the main aspects to be addressed in development and profoundly revealed the ten major issues that needed to be resolved in China’s socialist construction. The theory of the “ten major relationships” was formed and developed in the process of reflecting on the lessons of the Soviet Union. Mao pointed out: “Recently, the Soviet Union has revealed some of its shortcomings and mistakes in the process of building socialism. Do you still want to follow the detour they took? In the past, we took fewer detours precisely because we learned from their experiences and lessons. Now, of course, we must take this as a warning even more.” He emphasized the need to “take the Soviet Union as a warning,” not to copy mechanically, and to follow our own path. This raised the issue of the general direction of taking a path of socialist construction suited to China’s characteristics. Even decades later, in the era of reform and opening up, Mao’s “On the Ten Major Relationships” still holds important guiding significance.

中国是文明古国，国土辽阔，人口众多。领导这样的泱泱大国，面对纷繁复杂的国内外形势，必须有大格局、大智慧。在《论十大关系》中，毛泽东高瞻远瞩，统揽全局，立足于中国国情，提出了社会主义建设的十大关系。这十大关系精辟完整地概括了发展要解决的主要方面，深刻地揭示了中国社会主义建设需要解决的十个重大问题。“十大关系”说是在反思苏联经验教训的过程中形成和发展起来的。毛泽东指出：“最近苏联方面暴露了他们在建设社会主义过程中的一些缺点和错误，他们走过的弯路，你还想走？过去我们就是鉴于他们的经验教训，少走了一些弯路，现在当然更要引以为戒。”他强调了要“以苏为戒”，不能照搬照抄，要走自己的路。这就提出了要走适合中国特色的社会主义建设道路的大方向问题。即使在几十年后的改革开放时代，毛泽东的《论十大关系》仍然具有重要指导意义。

The two documents *On the Ten Major Relationships* and *On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People* were speeches delivered by Mao Zedong to the highest leadership of the Party Central Committee and the state in 1956 and 1957 respectively. The time interval between them is not long, and there is an inherent logical connection in their content. Mao Zedong pointed out: “These ten relationships are all contradictions. Our task is to correctly handle these contradictions.” From the “ten major relationships” of governing the country, Mao Zedong revealed the principle that “relationships are contradictions,” while simultaneously proposing that the “task” is to “correctly handle these contradictions.” In this way, the top-level design of governing the country moved from concept to practice. On the path of China’s socialist construction, governing the country mostly confronts contradictions among the people, and correctly handling contradictions is more about correctly handling contradictions among the people.

《论十大关系》与《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题》两部文献是毛泽东分别在1956年和1957年党中央和国家最高领导层上的讲话，时间间隔不长，而且在内容上有着内在的逻辑联系。毛泽东指出：“这十种关系，都是矛盾。我们的任务，是要正确处理这些矛盾。”毛泽东从治国理政的“十大关系”中揭示了“关系就是矛盾”的道理，同时又提出“任务”是“正确处理这些矛盾”。这样一来，治国理政的顶层设计从理念走向了实践。在中国社会主义建设的道路中，治国理政面对的大多是人民内部矛盾，正确处理矛盾更多的是正确处理人民内部的矛盾。

How to correctly handle contradictions among the people is both a matter of concept and a matter of method. Mao Zedong believed: “We Communists must adopt two methods in whatever work we undertake: one is the combination of the general and the particular; the other is the combination of leadership and the masses.” “For any work task, without general and universal appeals, it is impossible to mobilize the broad masses to take action. But if one is limited to general appeals, without leading personnel concretely and directly implementing the called-for work in a number of organizations, breaking through at one point, gaining experience, and then using this experience to guide other units… there is the danger that the general appeal will come to nothing.” Mao Zedong’s leadership method has the characteristic of being practical, emphasizing learning from the practice of the broad grassroots masses, summing up experience, popularizing experience, and opening up the work situation. Mao Zedong’s affirmation and promotion of the “Fengqiao Experience” [4]4 The “Fengqiao Experience” originated from a method of resolving social contradictions through mass education and struggle, pioneered in Fengqiao Town, Zhejiang Province, in the early 1960s. It was endorsed by Mao Zedong and later promoted nationwide as a model for grassroots governance. was, in governing the country, a high regard for the practice of grassroots masses, and also a manifestation of his superb leadership art.

如何正确处理人民内部矛盾，既是理念问题，也是方法问题。毛泽东认为：“我们共产党人无论进行何项工作，有两个方法是必须采用的，一是一般和个别相结合，二是领导和群众相结合。”“任何工作任务，如果没有一般的普遍的号召，就不能动员广大群众行动起来。但如果只限于一般号召，而领导人员没有具体地直接地从若干组织将所号召的工作深入实施，突破一点，取得经验，然后利用这种经验去指导其他单位……就有使一般号召归于落空的危险。”毛泽东的领导方法具有实践性的特点，重视从广大基层群众的实践中总结经验、推广经验，打开工作局面。毛泽东对“枫桥经验”的肯定和倡导，是在治国理政中对基层群众实践的高度重视，也是他精湛领导艺术的体现。

“Contradictions are not handed up; they are resolved locally” is the core content of Mao Zedong’s affirmation and promotion of the “Fengqiao Experience.” From this, it is not difficult to see that Mao Zedong placed the foundation of state governance work on grassroots governance, or “shifting the center of gravity downward.” To summarize, from *On the Ten Major Relationships* and *On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People* to the “Fengqiao Experience,” Mao Zedong’s governance of the country initially formed a system, combining the top-level design of the “big picture” with the “downward-shifted center of gravity” of grassroots governance. This is a combination of macro and micro, theory and practice.

“矛盾不上交，就地解决”是毛泽东肯定和倡导“枫桥经验”的核心内容。从中不难看到，毛泽东把国家治理的工作基础放在基层治理上，或曰“重心向下”。概括起来说，从《论十大关系》《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题》到“枫桥经验”，毛泽东治国理政初步形成了一个体系，将“大格局”的顶层设计与“重心向下”的基层治理结合起来了，这是宏观与微观、理论与实际的结合。

2. The Philosophical Wisdom of Contradiction Analysis and Contradiction Transformation

2．矛盾分析与矛盾转化的哲学智慧

After the establishment of the socialist system, do contradictions still exist in social life? How to understand and handle these contradictions? These were major questions that Mao Zedong, leading the Chinese people in socialist construction under the domestic and international circumstances of the 1950s, inevitably had to answer. The existence of contradictions is an objective fact. One must acknowledge objective facts, and at the same time analyze objective facts. In *On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People*, Mao Zedong used philosophical dialectics to analyze the contradictions existing in socialist society. This analysis can be divided into three levels. First, contradictions exist in socialist society. “The unification of our country, the unity of our people, and the unity of our various nationalities—these are the basic guarantees for the inevitable victory of our cause. However, this does not mean that there are no longer any contradictions in our society. The idea that there are no contradictions is a naive idea that does not conform to objective reality.” Second, there are two types of contradictions of different natures in socialist society: contradictions between ourselves and the enemy and contradictions among the people; the natures of the two are completely different. Third, contradictions of different natures can transform under certain conditions. In our country, the national bourgeoisie in the socialist period has a dual character, and the antagonistic contradiction between the working class and the national bourgeoisie can, under certain conditions, transform into a non-antagonistic contradiction. And this transformation of contradictions unfolds around the basic policy of “mobilizing all positive factors, both inside and outside the Party, both at home and abroad, both direct and indirect, to serve the cause of socialism.”

社会主义制度建立以后，社会生活中是否还存在矛盾？如何认识和处理这些矛盾？这是20世纪50年代国内外形势下，毛泽东领导中国人民进行社会主义建设必然要回答的重大问题。存在矛盾是客观事实。要承认客观事实，同时要分析客观事实。毛泽东在《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题》中，用哲学辩证法分析了社会主义社会存在的矛盾。这种分析可以分为三个层面，一是社会主义社会存在矛盾。“国家的统一，人民的团结，国内各民族的团结，这是我们的事业必定要胜利的基本保证。但是，这并不是说在我们的社会里已经没有任何的矛盾了。没有矛盾的想法是不符合客观实际的天真的想法。”二是社会主义社会存在两类不同性质的矛盾。即敌我之间矛盾和人民内部的矛盾，两者性质完全不同。三是不同性质的矛盾在一定条件下可以转化。在我们国家里，社会主义时期的民族资产阶级具有两面性，工人阶级和民族资产阶级的对抗性矛盾在一定条件下可以转变为非对抗性矛盾。而这种矛盾转化是围绕着“要把国内外一切积极因素调动起来，为社会主义事业服务”的基本方针而展开的。

How to understand this basic policy? This policy not only involves mobilizing all positive factors but also includes turning negative factors into positive ones as much as possible. In *On the Ten Major Relationships*, Mao Zedong proposed handling counter-revolutionaries differently according to different circumstances. “Counter-revolutionaries in government organs are different from those in society. Counter-revolutionaries in society ride roughshod over the people, while those in government organs are farther removed from the people; they have widespread grievances, but not many direct grievances. What harm is there in not killing a single one of these people? Those who can be reformed through labor should be reformed through labor; those who cannot be reformed through labor should be supported. Counter-revolutionaries are waste, they are pests, but once caught, they can be made to do some work for the people.” And the “Fengqiao Experience,” by using the form of reasoning struggle to transform the vast majority of the “four categories of elements” [5]5 “Four categories of elements” (四类分子) refers to landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, and bad elements, a classification used in class struggle campaigns during the Mao era. locally into new people, is a classic case of successfully applying Mao Zedong’s dialectical thinking on contradiction transformation in practice. In governing the country, it is necessary to adhere to both the firmness of principle and the flexibility of strategy and method, grasp the conditions and laws of contradiction analysis and transformation, and turn negative factors into positive ones as much as possible. Mao Zedong’s leadership wisdom, full of dialectics, tells us that we must study philosophy and master the methods of dialectical materialism in order to be conducive to uniting more people to build a powerful socialist country.

如何理解这个基本方针？这个方针不仅是要调动一切积极因素，还包括尽可能化消极因素为积极因素。毛泽东在《论十大关系》中提出要按照不同情况，给反革命分子以不同的处理。“机关里的反革命跟社会上的反革命不同。社会上的反革命爬在人民的头上，而机关里反革命跟人民隔得远些，他们有普遍的冤头，但是直接的冤头不多。这些人一个不杀有什么害处呢？能劳动改造的去劳动改造，不能劳动改造的就养一批。反革命是废物，是害虫，可是抓到手以后，却可以让他们给人民办点事情。”而“枫桥经验”以说理斗争的形式把绝大多数“四类分子”就地改造成新人，是运用毛泽东关于矛盾转化的辩证法思想在实践中获得成功的典型案例。在治国理政中，既要坚持原则的坚定性，也要讲求策略方法的灵活性，掌握矛盾分析和转化的条件和规律，尽可能化消极因素为积极因素。毛泽东充满着辩证法的领导智慧告诉我们，要学哲学、掌握辩证唯物主义的方法，才能有利于团结更多的人建设一个强大的社会主义国家。

3. The Historical Materialist Mass Line

3．历史唯物主义的群众路线

Mao Zedong was a great Marxist, always adhering to historical materialism and consistently following the mass line. The mass line is the lifeline and fundamental working line of our Party, and it is an important magic weapon for Mao Zedong to lead the Chinese people to continuously achieve victory in revolution and construction. After the founding of New China, implementing the mass line in governing the country became a topic of the era. To correctly handle contradictions among the people, the most crucial thing is to follow the mass line. Mao Zedong pointed out: “The so-called question of correctly handling contradictions among the people is the question of the mass line that our Party has always talked about. Communists must be good at consulting with the masses on matters and must never leave the masses at any time.”

毛泽东是伟大的马克思主义者，始终坚持历史唯物主义，坚持走群众路线。群众路线是我们党的生命线和根本工作路线，是毛泽东领导中国人民不断取得革命和建设胜利的重要法宝。新中国成立以后，在治国理政中贯彻群众路线成为时代的课题。要正确处理人民内部矛盾，最关键的是要走群众路线。毛泽东指出：“所谓正确处理人民内部矛盾问题，就是我党从来经常说的走群众路线的问题。共产党员要善于同群众商量办事，任何时候也不要离开群众。”

The so-called mass line means everything for the masses and relying on the masses in everything. The proletarian party is the faithful representative of the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people, and its purpose is to serve the people wholeheartedly. The value goals contained in *On the Ten Major Relationships* and *On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People* are to build a powerful socialist country and seek the greatest interests for the people, that is, everything for the masses. But in realizing this value goal, one must insist on relying on the masses in everything. Rely on the strength of the broad masses of the people, concentrate the wisdom of the masses, and ensure the long-term stability and security of the country. In practice, the reason the “Fengqiao Experience” was able to succeed is that it “relies on the masses” (as Mao Zedong instructed). To learn from the “Fengqiao Experience,” one must grasp the key point of “relying on the masses.” It can even be said that to uphold and develop the “Fengqiao Experience” well is to uphold and implement the Party’s mass line well.

所谓群众路线，就是一切为了群众，一切依靠群众。无产阶级政党是最广大人民根本利益的忠实代表，其宗旨就是全心全意为人民服务。《论十大关系》《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题》所蕴含的价值目标就是为了建设强大的社会主义国家，为人民谋取最大利益，即一切为了群众。但在实现这一价值目标中，必须坚持一切依靠群众。依靠广大人民群众的力量，集中人民群众的智慧，使国家长治久安。在实践中，“枫桥经验”之所以能够获得成功，是因为它“依靠群众”（毛泽东批示）。学习“枫桥经验”，必须抓住“依靠群众”这一关键点。甚至可以说，把“枫桥经验”坚持好、发展好，就是要把党的群众路线坚持好、贯彻好。

The so-called mass line means coming from the masses and going to the masses. The “Fengqiao Experience” came from the masses; it is the crystallization of wisdom formed by the broad cadres and masses of Fengqiao Town, rooted in practice, and continuously summarized in their work. Under the advocacy and promotion of Party and state leaders such as Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping, the “Fengqiao Experience” has played a benchmark role in the social governance of governing the country, and has continuously developed in practice, showing vigorous vitality. Times have developed, and the content, forms, and methods of governing the country will also advance with the times, but the mass line cannot be discarded. Governing the country is a science; the mass line of coming from the masses and going to the masses reflects the scientific attitude of the Communist Party of China towards the relationship between practice and understanding. Coming from the masses and going to the masses is also a process of continuously summing up experience and improving the effectiveness of governing the country.

所谓群众路线，就是从群众中来，到群众中去。“枫桥经验”来自人民群众，是枫桥镇广大干部和群众植根于实践，在工作中不断总结形成的智慧结晶。在毛泽东、习近平等党和国家领导人的倡导和推动下，“枫桥经验”在治国理政的社会治理中发挥着标杆的作用，并在实践中不断发展，呈现出旺盛的生命力。时代发展了，治国理政的内容、形式和方法也将与时俱进，但群众路线不能丢。治国理政是一门科学，从群众中来、到群众中去的群众路线反映了中国共产党对待实践与认识关系的科学态度。从群众中来，到群众中去，也是不断总结经验、提升治国理政效能的过程。

II. The “Fengqiao Experience”: Mao Zedong’s Governance of the Country and Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture

二、“枫桥经验”：毛泽东治国理政与中华优秀传统文化

The “Fengqiao Experience” originated in the countryside and is a summary of the experience of grassroots governance in rural China in the 20th century. This experience is rooted in China’s national conditions, reflects the characteristics of fine traditional Chinese culture, and has been proven effective in practice. Mao Zedong came from a rural background, led the peasant movement for a long time, and fully understood the characteristics of China’s rural areas and traditional culture. Mao Zedong most enjoyed reading Chinese historical books; among his tens of thousands of books, historical works accounted for the largest proportion. The book he read most frequently was *Zizhi Tongjian* [Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government], which he read 17 times in his life. He believed that “this book is well written” and that “reading this book helps to become familiar with historical events and draw lessons from them.” From Mao Zedong’s affirmation and advocacy of the “Fengqiao Experience,” it is not difficult to glimpse his profound grasp of China’s national conditions and the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture.

“枫桥经验”起源于乡村，是20世纪中国乡村基层治理的经验总结。这些经验植根于中国国情，反映中华优秀传统文化的特点，被实践证明是行之有效的。毛泽东出身农村，长期领导农民运动，充分了解中国农村和中国传统文化的特点。毛泽东最喜欢读中国历史书籍，在数万册藏书中，历史书籍占比最大。他阅读次数最多的是《资治通鉴》，一生读了17遍。他认为“这部书写得好”“读这部书借以熟悉历史事件，从中汲取经验教训”。从毛泽东对“枫桥经验”的肯定和倡导中，不难窥见他对中国国情和中国传统文化特点的深刻把握。

1. Mao Zedong’s advocacy of the “Fengqiao Experience” is a development of the co-governance of virtue and law in fine traditional Chinese culture

1.毛泽东对“枫桥经验”的倡导是对中华优秀传统文化中德法共治的发展

The characteristics of traditional Chinese culture were formed over thousands of years of historical development. In the historical process of transitioning from primitive society to civilized society, the East and the West followed two different paths. One is the “classical ancient” represented by ancient Greece, and the other is the “Asiatic ancient” represented by ancient Eastern countries; China belongs to the latter. [6]6 The “Asiatic mode of production” is a concept used by Marx and later theorists to describe a distinct path of social development in ancient Eastern societies, characterized by the persistence of communal land ownership and a centralized state, in contrast to the Western classical slave-owning path. The “Asiatic ancient” moved directly from clans to the state, and the organizational form of the state was combined with the blood lineage system. The structure of traditional Chinese society was built on the basis of blood ties and geographical ties, forming an “orderly pattern of differential association” [7]7 “Orderly pattern of differential association” (chaxu geju) is a sociological concept coined by Fei Xiaotong to describe the Chinese social structure, where relationships are organized in concentric circles of intimacy radiating from the self, unlike the Western “organizational mode of association.” with ethics as the standard. The governance of traditional society was carried out through two tracks: one was the top-down implementation of national laws by state organs, and the other was the implementation of rituals and customs by gentry power and clan power within rural society. In rural culture, rituals and customs played a foundational role. “Traditional Chinese rural areas relied on promoting a ‘ritual order’ for governance and achieving stability.” There are obvious differences between China and the West in the concepts, ideas, and approaches to national governance.

中国传统文化的特点是在几千年的历史发展中形成的。在由原始社会进入文明社会的历史进程中，东西方经过了两条不同的途径。一条是以古代希腊为代表的“古典的古代”，一条是以古代东方国家为代表的“亚细亚的古代”，中国属于后者。“亚细亚的古代”由氏族直接到国家，国家的组织形式与血缘制相结合。中国传统社会结构是建立在血缘、地缘基础上的，形成了以伦理为本位的“差序格局”。传统社会的治理是通过两条轨道进行的，一是国家政权机构依据国法自上而下实施，二是乡土社会内的绅权和族权依据礼俗实施。在乡村文化中，礼俗发挥着基础性作用。“传统的中国农村是靠推行‘礼治秩序’来进行治理、实现稳定的。”中国和西方在国家治理的理念、思路、途径上有明显的差异。

Traditional Chinese society long implemented the policy of co-governing with virtue and law, which was determined by the mode of production and cultural characteristics of Chinese society. Ancient Chinese society was an agrarian society based on individual households. In the struggle to maintain survival and resist natural disasters, the Chinese nation cultivated a national mentality compatible with rule by virtue. During the Western Zhou period, the Zhou people reflected on the painful lessons of the Shang dynasty’s destruction and proposed new ideas such as “cultivating virtue to match the mandate of Heaven” and “revering virtue and protecting the people.” [8]8 The Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–771 BCE) is a foundational period in Chinese history. The ideas of “cultivating virtue to match the mandate of Heaven” and “revering virtue and protecting the people” were key political doctrines developed by the Zhou rulers to justify their overthrow of the Shang dynasty. “Virtue” not only involved the effort of rectifying the mind and cultivating oneself but also had the function of governing the state and bringing peace to the world. Thus, in the course of history, a political culture unique to ancient China was formed. This political culture held that the rise and fall of a state were inseparable from “cultivating virtue,” and for a regime to remain prosperous for a long time, it was necessary to govern with both virtue and law.

中国传统社会长期实行德法共治的治国方针，这是由中国社会的生产方式、文化特点所决定。中国古代社会是建立在一家一户基础上的农耕社会，在维持生存和抵御自然灾害的斗争中，中华民族养成了与德治相适应的民族心态。西周时期，周人反思殷商覆灭的惨痛教训，提出“修德配命”“敬德保民”的新思想。“德”不仅有正心修身的功夫，而且还具有治国平天下的作用。这样，在历史的演进中，形成了中国古代所特有的政治文化。这种政治文化认定，国家的兴衰存亡与“修德”密不可分，要使政权长盛不衰，必须德法共治。

The “Fengqiao Experience” combines moral self-discipline with legal heteronomy, “resolving on the spot” various grassroots contradictions, providing a model for grassroots governance in Chinese society. Fengqiao Town strengthened the construction of village rules and civil agreements, bringing a new look to rural grassroots governance. Village rules and civil agreements reflect both the requirements of legal norms and the requirements of moral norms. They make governing the village according to law concrete and operable, and also make governing the village by virtue codified and standardized, embodying the value of co-governance by virtue and law in governance. In the governance of grassroots society, the principle of rule of law must be upheld, taking the rule of law as the “yardstick,” while simultaneously strengthening moral construction, building the rule of law on the “cornerstone” of morality. Because the “ritual order” is deeply entrenched, there is still a long way to go for the true formation of modern legal concepts in rural areas. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen rural moral and cultural construction, form a new rural trend of respecting and abiding by the law, and support the rule of law in rural areas. Fengqiao is a historic Jiangnan town with profound cultural heritage. According to historical records, many famous historical figures such as Sima Qian, Wang Yangming, and Xu Xiake left their footprints in Fengqiao, and Zhu Xi of the Southern Song dynasty came to Fengqiao four times to give lectures. [9]9 Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BCE) was the grand historian of the Han dynasty and author of the *Records of the Grand Historian*. Wang Yangming (1472–1529) was a Ming dynasty Neo-Confucian philosopher. Xu Xiake (1587–1641) was a Ming dynasty travel writer and geographer. Zhu Xi (1130–1200) was a leading Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar. History and culture gave birth to a culture of local worthies, which supported the ideal of a litigation-free society and the governance concept of combining virtue and law in traditional Chinese rural society. In the “Fengqiao Experience,” the “Old Yang Mediation Center” innovatively developed the traditional culture of local worthies, advocating reasoning, blending virtue and law, and resolving grassroots contradictions with a very high success rate. The founder of the “Old Yang Mediation Center” received commendations and awards from relevant government departments. In summary, the “Fengqiao Experience” absorbed the governance concept of combining virtue and law from fine traditional Chinese culture and successfully applied it to modern grassroots governance, enhancing the effectiveness of social governance.

“枫桥经验”将道德的自律与法律的他律相结合，“就地解决”各种基层的矛盾，为中国社会基层治理提供了范例。枫桥镇加强村规民约建设，使乡村基层治理出现了新的面貌。村规民约既反映了法律规范的要求，也反映了道德规范的要求。村规民约使依法治村具体化、可操作化，也使以德治村条文化、规范化，体现了德法共治在治理中的价值。在基层社会的治理中，必须坚持法治原则，将法治作为“准绳”，同时也要加强道德建设，将法治建立在道德“基石”上。由于“礼治秩序”是根深蒂固的，乡村中的现代法治观念的真正形成还有不少路要走。因此，要加强乡村道德文化建设，形成尊法、守法的乡村新风尚，支持乡村法治。枫桥是个有着深厚人文底蕴的江南古镇，据历史记载，司马迁、王阳明、徐霞客等不少历史名人都在枫桥留下了足迹，南宋朱熹曾四次来到枫桥讲学。历史和文化孕育了乡贤文化，这些乡贤文化支持了中国传统乡村社会无讼理想和德法并举的治理理念。在“枫桥经验”中，“老杨调解中心”创新发展了传统的乡贤文化，崇尚说理，德法交融，化解基层矛盾，成功率非常高。“老杨调解中心”的创办者因此获得了政府有关部门的记功表彰。总之，“枫桥经验”吸取了中华优秀传统文化中德法并举的治国理念，并将其成功运用于现代社会的基层治理，提升了社会治理效能。

Mao Zedong’s vigorous advocacy and promotion of the “Fengqiao Experience” affirmed the governance concept of co-governing with virtue and law in fine traditional Chinese culture and developed it under new historical conditions. With the development of the times, the “Fengqiao Experience” has been promoted not only to rural areas nationwide but also to towns and cities nationwide. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed adhering to and developing the “Fengqiao Experience” in the New Era at the “social grassroots level” and improving the social governance system. [10]10 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. The report of the Congress is a key policy document outlining the Party’s direction for the next five years and beyond. Facing a large number of contradictions among the people at the “social grassroots level,” strengthening grassroots social governance by combining virtue and law will better resolve contradictions, solve problems, and promote the realization of Chinese-path modernization.

毛泽东大力倡导和推广“枫桥经验”，是对中华优秀传统文化中德法共治的治国理念的肯定，并在新的历史条件下对它进行发展。随着时代发展，“枫桥经验”不仅推广到全国乡村，也推广到全国城镇。党的二十大报告提出，要在“社会基层”坚持和发展新时代“枫桥经验”，完善社会治理体系。面对“社会基层”大量的人民内部矛盾，德法并举加强基层社会治理，将能更好地化解矛盾，解决矛盾，推进中国式现代化的实现。

2. Mao Zedong’s advocacy of the “Fengqiao Experience” contains an affirmation of the people-oriented thought in fine traditional Chinese culture

2.毛泽东对“枫桥经验”的倡导蕴含着对中华优秀传统文化中民本思想的肯定

Traditional Chinese culture is rich in people-oriented thought. People-oriented thought originates from the phrase in the *Book of Documents*: “The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is secure, the state is at peace.” [11]11 The *Book of Documents* (Shangshu) is one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, a collection of speeches and documents from ancient Chinese rulers. People-oriented thought, or “the people are the foundation of the state” (*Book of Documents · Songs of the Five Sons*), means that the people are the foundation of the state, and the state’s tranquility depends on this “foundation”; it is an important part of fine traditional Chinese culture. Mencius’s statement, “The people are the most valuable, the altars of the state come next, and the ruler is the least important,” is the concentrated expression of Confucian people-oriented thought. “Jie and Zhou lost their empires because they lost the people; they lost the people because they lost their hearts. There is a way to win the empire: win the people, and you will win the empire. There is a way to win the people: win their hearts, and you will win the people” (*Mencius · Li Lou I*). [12]12 Jie was the last king of the Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BCE) and Zhou the last king of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE); both are traditionally depicted as tyrants who lost the Mandate of Heaven. *Mencius* is a foundational Confucian text attributed to the philosopher Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE). Ancient Chinese Confucian people-oriented thought held that the fundamental reason for Jie and Zhou’s loss of power was the loss of the people’s hearts, and for a state to stabilize its regime, it must win the people’s hearts to gain the people’s support. Wise rulers and virtuous ministers of ancient China practiced Confucian people-oriented thought, which in governing the country was mainly manifested as valuing the people, esteeming the people, reassuring the people, sympathizing with the people, and loving the people. Only by implementing benevolent governance and providing tangible benefits to the people could one win the people’s hearts and achieve long-term stability for the state. In summary, the issue of the people at the bottom of society is the foundational issue of national governance, and under certain conditions, it can even affect the survival or destruction of the state.

中华传统文化有着丰富的民本思想。民本思想源于《尚书》中“民惟邦本，本固邦宁”一语。民本思想或曰“民惟邦本”（《尚书·五子之歌》），意思是民众是国家的根本，国家的安宁依赖于这个“根本”，它是中华优秀传统文化的重要内容之一。孟子的“民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻”是儒家民本思想的集中体现。“桀纣之失天下也，失其民也；失其民者，失其心也。得天下有道：得其民，斯得天下矣。得其民有道：得其心，斯得民矣。”（《孟子·离娄上》）中国古代儒家的民本思想认为，桀纣失去政权的原因中，归根结底是民心的失落，而国家要稳固政权，必须得民心，才能得到民众的拥护。中国古代的明君、贤臣实践了儒家的民本思想，在治国理政中主要表现为重民、贵民、安民、恤民、爱民等。只有施仁政，给民众以实际利益，才能得民心，使国家长治久安。概而言之，处于社会底层的民众问题，是国家治理的基础问题，在一定条件下甚至关系到国家的生死存亡。

The foundation of national governance lies at the grassroots level. This was true not only in ancient Chinese society but also in New China after entering socialist society. Mao Zedong attached great importance to historical experience and drew wisdom from the experience of governing the country in Chinese history. Mao Zedong’s requirement to promote the “Fengqiao Experience” of “not passing contradictions upward, resolving them on the spot” emphasized strengthening grassroots social governance. The grassroots level is the frontline of social governance and the foundation of “Chinese governance.” In contemporary China, various contradictions often arise at the grassroots level. If conflicts and disputes are not resolved in a timely manner at the grassroots level and in their nascent state, it may lead to losing the people’s hearts, losing the support of grassroots masses for the state and government, and may brew enormous social risks. This further highlights the necessity and urgency of doing a good job in grassroots social governance to stabilize state power, and demonstrates the modern value of traditional people-oriented thought.

国家治理的基础在基层，不仅古代中国社会是这样，进入社会主义社会的新中国也是如此。毛泽东非常重视历史的经验，并从中国历史上的治国理政经验中汲取智慧。毛泽东要求推广“枫桥经验”的“矛盾不上交，就地解决”的做法就是强调加强基层社会治理。基层是社会治理的最前沿，是“中国之治”的根基。在当代中国，基层常常发生各种矛盾，如不及时把矛盾纠纷化解在基层、化解在萌芽状态，就可能失去民心，失去基层群众对国家和政府的拥护，就可能酿成巨大的社会风险。这更突出了做好基层社会的治理才能稳固国家政权的必要性和迫切性，彰显了传统民本思想的现代价值。

To achieve good grassroots governance, one must win the affirmation and praise of the masses through “wholeheartedly serving the people,” thereby gaining popular support and the people’s allegiance. The people of Fengqiao have strengthened institutional construction and accumulated good experience in “ensuring that services are never absent.” For issues concerning the vital interests of the masses, they have carried out institutional reforms for “handling matters in at most one visit,” advancing the universal accessibility and equalization of public services, and effectively implementing one-network processing and one-time processing, “letting data run more errands and the masses run fewer errands,” which has been highly praised by the masses. In “ensuring that services are never absent,” they have leveraged the exemplary vanguard role of Party members, creating the “Red Maple Party Building” brand. To implement and give play to the exemplary vanguard role of Party members, Fengqiao Town has established a supervision and management system for Party members, whereby Party members accept supervision from the masses through the “Three Displays” activity of displaying scores, displaying badges, and displaying achievements. To resist the temptations of interests in the market economy, the people of Fengqiao have strengthened the construction of regulatory systems in economic activities, confining the power of village cadres within the cage of institutions. Taoyuan Village in Fengqiao Town has created good experience; the village has established relevant systems requiring village cadres to achieve the “Five Zeros,” namely zero violations in management, zero breaches of commitments, zero tolerance for illegal phenomena, zero complaints about village-level projects, and zero hospitality at village-level public affairs.

搞好基层治理，要在“全心全意为人民服务”中赢得群众的肯定和赞扬，获得民心和群众的拥护。枫桥人加强制度建设，在“服务不缺位”中积累了好经验。他们对于群众切身利益的问题，进行“最多跑一次”的制度改革，推进了公共服务的普惠化和均等化，并切实做到一网办，一次办，“让数据多跑路，群众少跑腿”，深受群众的好评。他们在“服务不缺位”中发挥党员的先进模范作用，创建“红枫党建”品牌。为了落实发挥党员先锋模范作用，枫桥镇建立了党员监督管理制度，党员通过亮分、亮牌、亮业绩的“三亮”活动，接受群众的监督。为了抵御市场经济中的利益诱惑，枫桥人加强了经济活动中的监管制度建设，把村干部的权力关进制度的笼子里。枫桥镇桃源村创造了好经验，该村建立了相关制度，要求村干部做到“五个零”，即管理零违规、承诺零违背、违法现象零容忍、村级工程零投诉、村级公务零招待。

The people-oriented thought in fine traditional Chinese culture can be divided into two parts. Valuing the people and honoring the people belong more to the realm of concepts, that is, the cognition of the importance of the people in governing the country; pacifying the people, sympathizing with the people, and loving the people belong more to the realm of practical operation, that is, what policies to implement in governing the country. The former has many points of convergence with the purpose and mission of the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as the main representative; the latter emphasizes that the operational orientation of grassroots governance and attention to popular support is the essence of the “Fengqiao Experience” advocated by Mao Zedong.

中华优秀传统文化中的民本思想可以分为两部分，重民、贵民更多地属于理念问题，即对民众在治国理政中的重要性的认知问题，安民、恤民、爱民等更多地属于实践操作问题，即在治国理政实施什么样的政策问题。前者与以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人的宗旨与使命有不少契合点，后者强调基层治理和重视民心的操作导向是毛泽东倡导的“枫桥经验”之精髓。

3. Mao Zedong’s Advocacy of the “Fengqiao Experience” Reflects the Necessity of Combining Grassroots Social Governance with Fine Traditional Chinese Culture

3.毛泽东对“枫桥经验”的倡导体现基层社会治理与中华优秀传统文化相结合的必要性

The “Fengqiao Experience” was formed in practice and proven successful in practice. Mao Zedong praised the “Fengqiao Experience” for achieving the governance effect of “fewer arrests, good public order.” The important reason for achieving such a governance effect is that it is rooted in the fertile soil of China’s history and cultural development. Mao Zedong’s advocacy of the “Fengqiao Experience” contains the importance of grassroots social governance and the necessity of combining it with fine traditional Chinese culture.

“枫桥经验”在实践中形成，并被实践证明是成功的，毛泽东称赞“枫桥经验”实现了“捕人少，治安好”的治理效果。之所以能取得这样的治理效果，其重要原因是它植根于中国历史和文化发展的沃土中，毛泽东倡导“枫桥经验”蕴含着基层社会治理的重要性以及它和中华优秀传统文化相结合的必要性。

“Whenever one is about to establish a state, institutions cannot but be examined” (The Book of Lord Shang, “First Chapter on Unification”). Governing the country must establish certain institutions and operate according to certain institutions. However, institutions are a category with rich content. In a broad sense, they include explicit institutions and implicit institutions. Explicit institutions are presented in the form of written provisions, while implicit institutions are often deeply embedded in culture such as social customs and ethics. Implicit institutions play a fundamental supporting role in governing the country. The necessity of combining grassroots social governance with fine traditional Chinese culture must be understood from this “fundamental supporting role,” and at the same time grasped from the two major levels of historical foundation and mass foundation.

“凡将立国，制度不可不察也”（《商君书·壹言》），治国理政必须建立一定的制度，依据一定的制度运行。然而，制度是一个具有丰富内容的范畴。从广义来说，它包括显性的制度和隐性的制度。显性的制度是以条文形式所呈现的，而隐性的制度往往深藏于社会习俗、伦理道德等文化中。隐性的制度对于治国理政起着基础性的支持作用。基层社会治理与中华优秀传统文化相结合的必要性必须从这种“基础性的支持作用”中加以认识，同时从历史基础和群众基础两大层面中加以把握。

Social governance is realistic; it is carried out under the conditions of real life and must resolve a large number of contradictions in real life. Social governance is also historical; the real society has come through the development of several thousand years of Chinese history and culture. We cannot sever history but must draw experience and wisdom from traditional Chinese culture. The reason why history and reality can communicate is the inherent basis of “the cross-temporal identity of society.” The governance of the state and society must draw on historical experience. For example, the aforementioned “Fengqiao Experience,” as a model of grassroots social governance, is the inheritance and development under new historical conditions of fine traditional Chinese culture such as “co-governance by virtue and law” and “the people are the foundation of the state.” The cultural traditions of each nation have their own characteristics; the social governance of countries around the world must be combined with the history and culture of that nation to achieve success. The successful experiences of countries around the world in social governance are outstanding achievements of human civilization, and we should learn from and draw on them, but such learning and drawing must be based on the soil of Chinese history and culture, and we must strengthen cultural confidence. In short, adhering to fine traditional Chinese culture as the “root vein” of China’s social governance and establishing a national governance system with Chinese characteristics is the only path for Chinese-path modernization.

社会治理是现实的，是在现实生活条件下进行的，要解决大量的现实生活中的矛盾。社会治理又是历史的，现实社会是在中华民族几千年历史和文化的发展中走过来的。我们不能割断历史，而要从中国传统文化中汲取经验和智慧。历史和现实之所以能够沟通，其内在的根据是“社会跨时间的同一性”。国家和社会的治理要借鉴历史的经验，例如本文前述的“枫桥经验”作为基层社会治理的典范，是“德法共治”“民惟邦本”等中华优秀传统文化的继承和在新的历史条件下的发展。各民族的文化传统各有其特点，世界各国的社会治理必须与该国民族的历史文化相结合，才能获得成功。世界各国在社会治理中的成功经验，是人类文明的优秀成果，我们应该学习和借鉴，但这种学习和借鉴必须立足于中国历史文化的土壤，必须坚定文化自信。简言之，坚持中华优秀传统文化是中国社会治理的“根脉”，建立中国特色的国家治理体系才是中国式现代化的必由之路。

The “Fengqiao Experience” shows people that grassroots social governance requires relying on the masses and following the mass line. This is also the main content affirmed by Mao Zedong in the “Fengqiao Experience.” To rely on the masses, the masses must be mobilized and united. This requires finding the greatest common divisor for the united struggle of the Chinese nation in grassroots social governance, building consensus, and gathering strength. Fine traditional Chinese culture has a long history and accumulates the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation. It is the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation, deeply rooted in the inner world of the Chinese people, and the values and moral norms it contains are recognized by the vast majority of the Chinese people. Only by combining grassroots social governance with the promotion of fine traditional Chinese culture can we better gain the support of the broad masses and attract more people to invest in the cause of grassroots social governance, thereby achieving twice the result with half the effort and improving the efficiency of national governance. It is no accident that the “Fengqiao Experience” originated in China’s rural areas. The Fengqiao area has a profound foundation and atmosphere of traditional Chinese culture. The fruitful results of grassroots governance work such as Fengqiao’s village rules and civil agreements and family building cannot be separated from this “foundation and atmosphere.” Entering the 21st century, although China’s rural areas have undergone tremendous changes, grassroots governance in Chinese society still needs to emphasize the promotion of fine traditional Chinese culture, enhance cohesion and political identity, and innovate the mass line in the New Era.

“枫桥经验”昭示人们，基层社会治理需要依靠群众，走群众路线。这也是毛泽东肯定“枫桥经验”的主要内容。要依靠群众，必须把群众发动起来，团结起来。这就需要在基层社会治理中，寻找中华民族团结奋斗的最大公约数，凝聚共识，汇聚力量。中华优秀传统文化源远流长，积淀着中华民族最深沉的精神追求。它是中华民族的精神命脉，深深地植根于中国人民的内心世界，它所蕴含的价值理念和道德规范为最大多数的中国人民所认同。将基层社会治理与弘扬中华民族优秀传统文化结合起来，才能更好地获得广大群众的支持，吸引更多群众投入到基层社会治理的事业中去，从而实现事半功倍，提高国家治理效能。“枫桥经验”起源于中国的乡村，绝不是偶然的。枫桥地区有着深厚的中国传统文化的底蕴和氛围，枫桥乡规民约、家庭建设等基层治理的工作结出的硕果离不开这一“底蕴和氛围”。进入21世纪，尽管我国的乡村已经发生了巨变，但中国社会的基层治理依然要强调弘扬中华优秀传统文化，增强凝聚力和政治认同，创新新时代的群众路线。

III. From Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping: The “Fengqiao Experience” in the Process of Chinese-Path Modernization

三、从毛泽东到习近平：中国式现代化进程中的“枫桥经验”

It has been 60 years since Mao Zedong gave his instruction on the “Fengqiao Experience.” In these 60 years, China has undergone earth-shaking changes. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core leads the Chinese people to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, forge ahead with vigor and determination, and strive courageously to realize Chinese-path modernization through united struggle. Facing the new situation, we need to seriously consider how to uphold and develop the “Fengqiao Experience.”

毛泽东批示“枫桥经验”至今已经有60年，在这60年中中国发生了翻天覆地的变化。中国特色社会主义进入新时代，以习近平同志为核心的党中央带领中国人民守正创新、踔厉奋发、勇毅前行，为实现中国式现代化而团结奋斗。面临新的形势，我们需要认真思考如何坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”。

1. The Risks Brought by Complex and Changing Domestic and International Situations Highlight the Urgency of Upholding and Developing the “Fengqiao Experience”

1.复杂多变的国内外形势带来的风险凸显坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”的迫切性

The world is currently undergoing changes unseen in a century, and the characteristics of changes in the world, changes in the times, and changes in history are more pronounced. In the struggle to realize Chinese-path modernization, it is necessary to deeply analyze the international and domestic general situations and scientifically grasp the strategic opportunities and risks and challenges we face. From abroad, the United States and Western countries form small circles, frantically encircling and suppressing China, with trade wars, chip wars, high-tech wars, and so on coming one after another. From within the country, the development of the socialist market economy advances in waves, encountering various difficulties and contradictions. Structural and institutional contradictions in the adjustment of various interest relations, employment difficulties in the adjustment of economic development, and contradictions formed after the widening of the social wealth gap all become hotbeds of social risk. It is necessary to strengthen the awareness of potential dangers and strive to resolve various risks brought by society and nature. This requires China first to handle its own affairs well and raise the modernization level of the national governance system and governance capacity. “Strive to resolve risks at the source, prevent small risks from evolving into large risks, prevent individual risks from evolving into comprehensive risks, prevent local risks from evolving into regional or systemic risks, prevent economic risks from evolving into social and political risks, and prevent international risks from evolving into domestic risks.” In the concepts and wisdom of governing the country, shifting the focus downward to strengthen grassroots social governance is an inevitable choice. Because to resolve risks and achieve social stability and development, national governance must be done well, and the grassroots are the front line of reform, development, and stability, the gathering place of various contradictions and problems. Grassroots social governance is the cornerstone of national governance. “When the grassroots are strong, the country is strong; when the grassroots are secure, the world is secure.” It is necessary to “adhere to taking streets, towns, and residential communities as the focus, and promote the implementation of innovative policies for grassroots social governance,” “the grassroots are the foothold of all work, and the focus of social governance must fall on urban and rural communities.”

当前世界正处于百年未有之大变局，世界之变、时代之变、历史之变的特征更加明显。在为实现中国式现代化的奋斗中，必须深入分析国际国内大势，科学把握我们面临的战略机遇和风险挑战。从国外看，美西方国家组成小圈子，疯狂围剿、打压中国，贸易战、芯片战、高科技战等接连不断。从国内看，社会主义市场经济的发展是波浪式前进的，会遇到各种困难和矛盾。在各种利益关系调整中的结构性体制性矛盾、经济发展调整中的就业困难、社会贫富差距拉大后形成的矛盾，都会成为社会风险的温床。必须增强忧患意识，着力化解各种社会和自然界带来的风险。这就要求中国首先把自己的事情做好，提高国家治理体系和治理能力的现代化水平。“力争把风险化解在源头，不让小风险演化为大风险，不让个别风险演化为综合风险，不让局部风险演化为区域性或系统性风险，不让经济风险演化为社会政治风险，不让国际风险演化为国内风险。”在治国理政的理念和智慧上，重心向下加强基层社会的治理是必然的选择。因为要化解风险，实现社会稳定与发展，必须搞好国家治理，而基层是改革发展稳定的第一线，是各种矛盾和问题的集聚地，基层社会治理是国家治理的基石。“基层强则国家强，基层安则天下安”。要“坚持以街镇、居村为重点，推进基层社会治理创新政策落地”，“基层是一切工作的落脚点，社会治理的重心必须落到城乡社区”。

The “Fengqiao Experience” is a good experience for strengthening grassroots social governance. Only by understanding and reflecting on the urgency of upholding and developing the “Fengqiao Experience” within the current domestic and international context and the major trends of social development can we grasp it more deeply, thereby advancing grassroots social governance with a historical initiative. For many years, the “Fengqiao Experience” was primarily a banner based on rural governance, but now it has moved from the countryside into urban communities, becoming a model for urban and rural social governance. In the process of upholding the “Fengqiao Experience,” its content and forms have also kept pace with the times, continuously enriched and developed, and its status in governing the country has steadily risen.

“枫桥经验”是加强基层社会治理的好经验，只有将坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”的迫切性问题放到当前国内外大背景、社会发展的大潮流中认识思考，才能更深刻把握它，从而以历史主动精神推进基层社会治理。多年来，“枫桥经验”主要是以乡村治理为基础的一面旗帜，而如今“枫桥经验”从乡村走进了城市社区，成为城乡社会治理的楷模。在坚持“枫桥经验”的过程中，“枫桥经验”的内容、形式也与时俱进，不断丰富和发展，其在治国理政中的地位也不断提升。

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC [16]16 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, held in October 2019, focused on upholding and improving the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. elevated upholding and developing the “Fengqiao Experience” as an important component of social governance system construction, while the political report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC [17]17 The 20th National Congress of the CPC, held in October 2022, was a major Party congress that set the direction for the next five years and beyond, with raised it to a key aspect of perfecting the social governance system. In the New Era, the “Fengqiao Experience” has developed through inheritance and innovated through development, going beyond the “scope of experience” to distill the theoretical principle of a grassroots social governance system combining “self-governance, rule of law, and rule of virtue.” The essence of upholding and developing the “Fengqiao Experience” is to enhance the quality and efficiency of current grassroots social governance. The New Era “Fengqiao Experience” unifies human effort and technology, introducing modern information technology into grassroots social governance. Its high efficiency and precision have greatly promoted the improvement of governance quality and efficiency, opening a new chapter in the governance of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

党的十九届四中全会将坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”作为社会治理制度建设的重要内容，而党的二十大政治报告则将其提升为完善社会治理体系的重要方面。新时代“枫桥经验”在传承中发展，在发展中创新，超出了“经验范畴”，从中凝练出“自治、法治、德治”相结合的基层社会治理体系的理论原则。坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”的实质是提升当前基层社会治理中的质量和能效。新时代“枫桥经验”将人力和科技相统一，将现代信息技术引入基层社会治理，高效化和精细化有力促进了治理质量和能效的大幅提升，将打开中国特色社会主义治国理政的新局面。

2. Establishing a New Era Grassroots Social Governance System Based on the Principle of Combining “Self-Governance, Rule of Law, and Rule of Virtue”

2.以“自治、法治、德治”相结合的原则建立新时代基层社会治理体系

Grassroots social governance is the cornerstone of national governance. The grassroots social governance system is established by the state and government according to certain theoretical principles, through a series of systems, policies, and measures. In the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the principle of combining “self-governance, rule of law, and rule of virtue” running through the grassroots social governance system is a fruit borne from upholding and developing the “Fengqiao Experience.” It reflects the Chinese Communists’ understanding and grasp of the objective laws of governing the country based on China’s national conditions.

基层社会治理是国家治理的基石。基层社会治理体系是国家和政府按照一定的理论原则，通过一系列制度、方针和政策建立起来的。在中国特色社会主义新时代，贯穿在基层社会治理体系中的“自治、法治、德治”相结合的原则，是坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”中结出的硕果。它反映了中国共产党人立足中国国情，对治国理政客观规律的认识和把握。

The subjects in social governance are diverse, including the Party and government, grassroots organizations and social organizations, and grassroots masses. The broad participation of grassroots masses in social governance has allowed the mass line of the “Fengqiao Experience” to be inherited under new historical conditions. Resolving conflicts at the grassroots level requires taking self-governance as the foundation, developing mass prevention and mass governance, and building a social governance community where everyone has responsibility, everyone fulfills their duty, and everyone enjoys the benefits. Taking self-governance as the foundation in grassroots social governance embodies the spirit of whole-process people’s democracy under socialism with Chinese characteristics. The people being masters of the country is the essence and core of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics. Whether the people are truly masters of the country depends crucially on whether they have broad rights to participate. In grassroots social self-governance, mobilizing and relying on the masses to participate in grassroots management and services has aroused the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the broadest masses of the people. In promoting whole-process people’s democracy, the wisdom and strength of the broad masses have been stimulated and consolidated, enhancing the effectiveness of social governance. Conflicts encountered in grassroots society involve all aspects of people’s daily lives and are often complex, but they are mainly contradictions among the people. Resolving these contradictions requires significant social resources, yet social resources are ultimately limited. Only by taking self-governance as the foundation and developing and strengthening the forces of mass prevention and mass governance can risks be resolved at the grassroots level, ensuring that conflicts are not passed upward.

社会治理中的主体是多元的，包括党和政府、基层组织和社会组织、基层群众等。广大基层群众参与社会治理，使“枫桥经验”中的群众路线在新的历史条件下得到了传承。把矛盾化解在基层，这就要求以自治为基础，发展群防群治，建设人人有责、人人尽责、人人享有的社会治理共同体。在基层社会治理中以自治为基础，体现了中国特色社会主义全过程人民民主的精神。人民当家作主是中国特色社会主义民主的本质和核心。看是否真正做到了人民当家作主，重要的是看人民有无广泛参与权。在基层社会自治中，发动和依靠群众，参与基层管理和服务，调动了最广大人民群众的积极性、主动性和创造性。在推动全过程人民民主的过程中，激发和凝聚了广大人民群众的智慧和力量，提高了社会治理的效能。基层社会中遇到的矛盾，涉及人们日常生活的方方面面，往往错综复杂，但主要是人民内部矛盾。要解决这些矛盾需要占用大量社会资源，然而社会资源毕竟是有限的。只有以自治为基础，发展壮大群防群治的力量，才能把风险化解在基层，做到矛盾不上交。

The process of New Era grassroots social governance is a process of rule of law. During his tenure governing Zhejiang, Xi Jinping emphasized combining the study and promotion of the “Fengqiao Experience” with implementing the basic strategy of law-based governance. Among the complex contradictions at the grassroots level, interest contradictions are the basic contradictions. The law must be taken as the criterion to effectively ensure the systematic, normative, and coordinated nature of the national governance system, achieving social fairness and justice to a greater extent; it is necessary to think about the construction of the rule of law from China’s national conditions, pushing more legal forces toward the guidance and mediation ends. China has a population of over 1.4 billion. If every big and small matter in social life had to go to court, the resources of the political and legal system would be unsustainable. To uphold and develop the “Fengqiao Experience,” when using legal forces to handle grassroots conflicts and disputes, we must not only address the end and treat existing problems but also focus on the front end and prevent problems before they arise, taking the path of rule of law with Chinese characteristics.

新时代基层社会治理的过程是法治化的过程。在浙江主政时期，习近平就强调要把学习推广“枫桥经验”与贯彻依法治国基本方略结合起来。在基层社会复杂矛盾中，利益矛盾是基本矛盾。要以法律为准绳，有效保障国家治理体系的系统性、规范性、协调性，在更大程度上实现社会公平正义；必须从中国国情出发思考法治建设，推动更多法治力量向引导端和疏导端用力。我国有14亿多人口，如果社会生活中的大小事都要上法庭打官司，那是政法系统资源难以承受的。要坚持和发展好“枫桥经验”，在运用法治力量处理基层矛盾纠纷时既要抓末端、治已病，更要抓前端、治未病，走中国特色的法治道路。

New Era grassroots social governance requires a combination of hardness and softness. Governance needs both rigid and flexible forces, and importantly, the two must be integrated. Law emphasizes “must,” characterized by rigidity; morality emphasizes “ought,” focusing on flexible guidance. Combining hardness and softness, the two complement each other in governance. The “Fengqiao Experience” implements the principle of prioritizing mediation when handling civil disputes, containing the concept of balancing hardness and softness and combining virtue and law. Mediation is a process where two or more parties, regarding disputed substantive rights and obligations, voluntarily negotiate under the auspices of the people’s court, people’s mediation committee, or related organizations, reaching an agreement and resolving the dispute through education and guidance. Mediation is a link in the legal process; voluntary negotiation, education, and guidance embody the flexibility of morality and represent the integration of rule of law and rule of virtue.

新时代基层社会治理需要刚柔相济。治理需要刚性的力量，又需要柔性的力量，并且重要将两者融合起来。法律强调“必须”，以刚性为特点；道德强调“应当”，注重柔性引导。刚柔相济，两者在治理中的作用相得益彰。“枫桥经验”在处理民间纠纷时贯彻了调解优先的原则，内含刚柔并重、德法并举的理念。调解是双方或多方当事人就争议的实体权利、义务，在人民法院、人民调解委员会及相关组织主持下，自愿进行协商，通过教育疏导促使各方达成协议、解决纠纷。调解是法律程序中的一个环节，自愿协商、教育疏导体现着道德的柔性，是法治与德治的融合。

3. New Era Grassroots Social Governance Requires the Unity of Human Effort and Technology

3.新时代基层社会治理需要人力和科技相统一

Cutting-edge technologies such as big data, cloud computing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence have entered grassroots social governance, innovating grassroots management methods, models, and concepts, and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. To uphold and develop the “Fengqiao Experience” in the New Era, it is necessary to adhere to the unity of human effort and technology. The need for combining human effort and technology in New Era grassroots social governance is an inevitable historical development. Today’s society is in an era of rapid scientific and technological change, with trends of informatization, digitalization, and intelligence sweeping every corner of society. The pace of social life has greatly accelerated, and the speed of flow of people, goods, and capital across regions is incomparable to that of traditional societies in the past. To conform to the trends of the times and adapt to the development of the era, grassroots social governance must upgrade its tools and methods and attach importance to the use of modern science and technology.

大数据、云计算、区块链、人工智能等前沿技术进入社会基层治理，创新了基层管理手段、管理模式、管理理念，推动了国家治理体系和治理能力的现代化。新时代坚持好和发展好“枫桥经验”，就需要坚持人力和科技相统一。新时代基层社会治理需要人力和技术的结合是历史发展的必然。当今社会正处于科学技术日新月异的时代，信息化、数字化、智能化的潮流正席卷社会各个角落。社会生活的节奏大大加快，各地区人财物流动的速度之快是过去传统社会难以比拟的。顺应时代潮流，适应时代发展，基层社会治理必须升级社会治理工具、方法，重视运用现代科学技术。

First, high efficiency is an inherent requirement of modern grassroots social governance. The development of the socialist market economy has diversified and enriched all aspects of social life, presenting complex situations. Relying solely on traditional human management is clearly inadequate and insufficient. In tasks such as research, statistics, and analysis in grassroots social governance, modern digital technology has unique advantages. Only by using modern digital technology can efficiency be improved, achieving more with less. In particular, modern society is a risk society, where sudden major public security incidents, public health events, and natural disasters pose severe challenges to the efficiency of grassroots social governance. Grassroots social governance must promote the empowerment of digital technology to effectively respond to such challenges.

首先，高效化是现代基层社会治理的内在要求。社会主义市场经济的发展，使社会生活的各个方面多样化、丰富化，并呈现出错综复杂的情况。仅仅依靠传统的人力进行管理，明显力不从心，难以胜任。在基层社会治理的调研、统计、分析等工作中，现代数字技术有着独特的优势。运用现代数字技术，才能提高效率，事半功倍。特别是现代社会是一个风险社会，突如其来的重大治安事件、公共卫生事件、自然灾害，对基层社会治理的效率提出了严峻的挑战。基层社会治理，必须推动数字化技术赋能，才能有力地回应这种挑战。

Second, the introduction of modern digital technology into grassroots social governance meets not only the requirement of high efficiency but also the requirement of precision. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “Urban management should be as fine as embroidery,” and “through the care, patience, and ingenuity of embroidery, improve the level of precision.” The vivid metaphor of “embroidery” vividly illustrates the governance dialectic of “reaching the vast and exhausting the subtle.” Digital technology provides sufficient conditions and possibilities for the precision of grassroots social governance. We must exert our initiative, be careful, patient, and ingenious, abandon extensive management models, and accelerate the precision of grassroots social governance.

其次，现代数字化技术进入基层社会治理，不仅是满足高效化的要求，也是满足精细化的要求。习近平总书记指出，“城市管理应该像绣花一样精细”“通过绣花般的细心、耐心、巧心提高精细化水平”。“绣花”妙喻生动形象彰显了“致广大而尽精微”的治理辩证法。数字化技术给基层社会治理精细化提供了充分条件与可能，我们要发挥主动精神，做到细心、耐心、巧心，告别粗放型的管理模式，加速基层社会治理精细化。

The rapid development of society highlights the value of frontier technologies such as digital technology for grassroots social governance, but science and technology need to be mastered and correctly applied by people. Xi Jinping believes that “the most important achievement and the most distinctive feature of the ‘Fengqiao Experience’ as it has developed to the present day is the realization of the unity of self-discipline and external discipline, rigidity and flexibility, governing the body and governing the mind, and human effort and technology.” [18]18 The “Fengqiao Experience” (枫桥经验) originated from a mass-line method of resolving conflicts at the grassroots level in Fengqiao Town, Zhejiang Province, in the early 1960s, later promoted nationwide by Mao Zedong. It has been continuously updated in the New Era as a model for social governance. “The unity of human effort and technology” means that in grassroots social governance, various governance subjects must earnestly study and master frontier science and technology, and be adept at applying science and technology to the practice of governance. In practice, they must continuously sum up experience and improve their skills. Digitalization, networking, and intelligence have enriched and developed the “Fengqiao Experience,” opening up broad space for grassroots social governance, but they cannot replace face-to-face mass work. Indulging in “net-to-net” and “dialogue across the void” easily breeds bureaucracy and formalism. Therefore, Party members and cadres must go deep among the masses, go deep into the grassroots, and engage in face-to-face communication. In short, improving the quality of grassroots social governance personnel and “making good use” of digital technology to advance grassroots social governance in the New Era are not contradictory but go hand in hand.

社会的迅猛发展凸显了数字技术等前沿技术对基层社会治理的价值，但科学技术是需要人掌握并正确运用的。习近平认为，“‘枫桥经验’发展到今天，最重要的成果和最鲜明的特色就是实现自律和他律、刚性和柔性、治身和治心、人力和科技相统一”。“人力和科技相统一”意味着在基层社会治理中，各类治理主体要认真学习和掌握前沿科学技术，善于将科学技术运用到治理的实践中去。在实践中不断总结经验，提高技能。数字化、网络化、智能化丰富发展了“枫桥经验”，为基层社会治理开拓了广阔空间，但是它不能代替面对面的群众工作，沉湎于“网来网去”“隔空对话”，容易滋长官僚主义和形式主义。因此，党员干部要深入群众、深入基层，面对面进行交流。总之，提升基层社会治理人员的素养与“善用”数字化技术推进新时代基层社会治理是并行不悖的。

(Author’s bio: Zhou Zhongzhi, Researcher at the Urban Culture Research Center of Shanghai Normal University, Distinguished Professor at Shanghai Normal University)

（作者简介：周中之，上海师范大学都市文化研究中心研究员，上海师范大学特聘教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心