Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture Points the Direction and Path for Solving the Problems of Cultural Heritage and Development

Xi Jinping’s Thought on Culture is the theoretical summation of the practical experience of the Party’s leadership over cultural work in the New Era. It enriches and develops Marxist cultural theory and achieves major innovations and breakthroughs in cultural theoretical viewpoints for the New Era. These new thoughts, new viewpoints, and new theses solve a series of major theoretical and practical issues at the new historical starting point: how to uphold the Party’s cultural leadership, how to construct an independent Chinese knowledge system, how to realize the Two Integrations, especially the Second Integration, how to promote cultural prosperity and development, how to build a culturally strong country, and how to shoulder the new cultural mission and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

习近平文化思想是新时代党领导文化建设实践经验的理论总结，丰富和发展了马克思主义文化理论，实现了新时代文化理论观点上的重大创新和突破。这些新思想新观点新论断，解决了在新的历史起点上如何坚持党的文化领导权，如何构建中国自主知识体系，如何实现“两个结合”特别是“第二个结合”，如何推动文化繁荣发展，如何建设文化强国，如何肩负新的文化使命、建设中华民族现代文明等一系列重大理论和实践问题。

To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must strengthen cultural confidence, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, and elevate Chinese experience into Chinese theory. This is the fundamental path to achieving cultural innovation and developmental innovation.

传承和发展当代中国文化，必须坚定文化自信，坚持以问题为导向，把中国经验提升为中国理论，这是实现文化创新与发展创新的根本路径

Theory is the “solution” and “answer” to the tasks and problems of an era. The reason a theory can be called a truly innovative theory is that it answers the questions of the era and completes the tasks of the era. The myriad forms of theoretical systems in different eras arise because different eras face different problems and tasks, and thus the answers to these problems and tasks also differ. The key to cultural innovation lies in whether it provides a plan to solve the problems of the era and complete the tasks of the era, whether it sees principle in matters and the Way in vessels, discovers the universal in the particular, elevates the general from the individual, generalizes Chinese theory from Chinese problems and Chinese practice, and then uses Chinese theory to guide Chinese practice.

理论是对时代的任务和问题的“解”和“答”。一种理论之所以能够被称为真正的创新的理论，就在于它回答了时代的问题，完成了时代的任务。不同时代的理论体系之所以有万千形态，就是因为不同时代面临着不同的问题和任务，因而对这些问题和任务的回答也就不同。文化创新的关键就在于它是否提供了解决时代问题、完成时代任务的方案，就在于它是否从事中见理，器中见道，从特殊中发现普遍，从个别中提升出一般，从中国问题和中国实践中概括出中国理论，再用中国理论指导中国实践。

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development that, at the new historical starting point, to continue promoting cultural prosperity, building a culturally strong country, and building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, we must strengthen cultural confidence, adhere to taking our own path, base ourselves on the great historical and contemporary practice of the Chinese nation, use Chinese principles to summarize Chinese experience well, elevate Chinese experience into Chinese theory, and achieve spiritual independence and self-reliance. Therefore, the innovation and development of contemporary Chinese culture must be based on the great historical and contemporary practice of the Chinese nation, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, listen to the voice of the times, respond to the call of the times, earnestly study and solve the major and urgent problems facing the Party and the state, earnestly study the laws of the Chinese Communist Party’s governance, the laws of Chinese socialist construction, and the laws of human social development, strive to reveal the great logic and great trends of our country’s social development and human social development, and provide Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the world.

习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上强调，在新的历史起点上继续推动文化繁荣、建设文化强国、建设中华民族现代文明，要坚定文化自信，坚持走自己的路，立足中华民族伟大历史实践和当代实践，用中国道理总结好中国经验，把中国经验提升为中国理论，实现精神上的独立自主。因此，当代中国的文化创新与发展，必须立足中华民族伟大历史实践和当代实践，坚持以问题为导向，聆听时代的声音，回应时代的呼唤，认真研究解决党和国家面临的重大而紧迫的问题，认真研究中国共产党执政的规律、中国社会主义建设的规律、人类社会发展的规律，努力揭示我国社会发展、人类社会发展的大逻辑大趋势，为世界提供中国智慧和中国方案。

To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must adhere to the guidance of Marxism, firmly uphold the soul of Marxism, and build a people-centered socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

传承和发展当代中国文化，必须坚持以马克思主义为指导，坚守好马克思主义这一魂脉，建设以人民为中心的中国特色社会主义文化

Adhering to the guidance of Marxism is the fundamental hallmark that distinguishes contemporary Chinese philosophy and social sciences from other philosophy and social sciences. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “We must never discard the soul of Marxism, and we must never discard the root of fine traditional Chinese culture. Upholding this soul and this root is the foundation and premise of theoretical innovation; theoretical innovation is also for the purpose of better upholding this soul and this root.”

坚持以马克思主义为指导，是当代中国哲学社会科学区别于其他哲学社会科学的根本标志。习近平总书记指出：“我们决不能抛弃马克思主义这个魂脉，决不能抛弃中华优秀传统文化这个根脉。坚守好这个魂和根，是理论创新的基础和前提，理论创新也是为了更好坚守这个魂和根。”

Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology for our Party’s founding and governance, and for the nation’s prosperity. The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people rely on Marxism to found the Party and the state, and to rejuvenate the Party and the state. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Without Marxist faith and the communist ideal, there would be no Chinese Communist Party and no socialism with Chinese characteristics.” “A Marxist political party, once it abandons Marxist faith and the socialist and communist belief, will collapse.” Similarly, without Marxism, there would be no new socialist China. If Marxism were abandoned, the foundation and state system of the People’s Republic of China would cease to exist. The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century, adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC [1]1 The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC was held in November 2021. It adopted the third historical resolution of the Party, which summarizes the Party’s major achievements and historical experience over the past century., explicitly proposes “upholding the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological domain,” providing us with the fundamental guidance for adhering to Marxism in directing the development of contemporary Chinese culture.

马克思主义是我们立党立国、兴党兴国的根本指导思想。中国共产党和中国人民立党立国依靠的是马克思主义，兴党兴国依靠的也是马克思主义。习近平总书记指出：“没有马克思主义信仰、共产主义理想，就没有中国共产党，就没有中国特色社会主义。”“马克思主义政党一旦放弃马克思主义信仰、社会主义和共产主义信念，就会土崩瓦解。”同样，没有马克思主义，就没有社会主义新中国。放弃了马克思主义，中华人民共和国的根基和国体就不复存在了。党的十九届六中全会通过的《中共中央关于党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议》明确提出“坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位的根本制度”，为我们坚持用马克思主义指导当代中国文化发展提供了根本遵循。

To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must uphold the stance of Chinese culture, firmly uphold the root of fine traditional Chinese culture, adhere to making the past serve the present, realize the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, and truly make fine traditional Chinese culture a modern culture.

传承和发展当代中国文化，必须坚守中华文化立场，坚守好中华优秀传统文化这一根脉，坚持古为今用，实现中华优秀传统文化的创造性转化和创新性发展，让中华优秀传统文化真正成为现代的文化

General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “We must adhere to making the past serve the present and foreign things serve China, integrate various resources, and continuously advance knowledge innovation, theoretical innovation, and methodological innovation. We must adhere to not forgetting the original, absorbing the foreign, and facing the future; look inward to deeply study major issues concerning the national economy and people’s livelihood, and look outward to actively explore major issues concerning the future of humanity; look forward to accurately judge the development trends of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and look backward to be good at inheriting and promoting the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture.” To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must uphold the stance of Chinese culture, place contemporary Chinese culture within the long river of the entire Chinese culture and civilization development, and integrate contemporary Chinese culture into the great lineage of the entire Chinese culture and civilization development. If Marxism is not integrated with fine traditional Chinese culture, it remains merely a culture external to us; a culture external to us is a rootless culture and cannot take root, blossom, and bear fruit on Chinese soil. If fine traditional Chinese culture is not integrated with Marxism and with the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, it remains merely an ancient culture and cannot become a new socialist culture that reflects, maintains, and represents the interests of the broad masses of the people.

习近平总书记指出：“要坚持古为今用、洋为中用，融通各种资源，不断推进知识创新、理论创新、方法创新。我们要坚持不忘本来、吸收外来、面向未来，既向内看、深入研究关系国计民生的重大课题，又向外看、积极探索关系人类前途命运的重大问题；既向前看、准确判断中国特色社会主义发展趋势，又向后看、善于继承和弘扬中华优秀传统文化精华。”传承发展当代中国文化，必须坚守中华文化立场，把当代中国文化放到整个中华文化和文明发展的长河中去考量，让当代中国文化融入整个中华文化和文明发展的大系中。马克思主义如果不与中华优秀传统文化相结合，它就只是一种外在于我们的文化，外在于我们的文化就是无根的文化，就不可能在中华大地生根、开花和结果；中华优秀传统文化如果不与马克思主义相结合，不与新时代的中国特色社会主义实践相结合，它就依然还是古代的文化，就不可能成为反映、维护和代表广大人民群众利益的社会主义新文化。

Upholding the stance of Chinese culture means adhering to making the past serve the present and weeding through the old to bring forth the new, realizing the integration of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture. This requires that we must, under the guidance of Marxism, comprehensively excavate the treasure trove of China’s over 5,000-year civilization, use Marxism to activate the vital excellent factors in fine traditional Chinese culture and endow them with new contemporary connotations. At the same time, we must inject the great spirit and rich wisdom of the Chinese nation more deeply into Marxism, effectively link the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture, converge them into new theoretical advantages, and continuously scale new ideological heights. The result of the integration of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture is mutual achievement, creating an organically unified new cultural life form, making Marxism Chinese and fine traditional Chinese culture modern, and making the new culture formed through “integration” the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization.

坚守中华文化立场，就是要坚持古为今用、推陈出新，实现马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的结合。这就要求我们必须以马克思主义为指导对中华5000多年文明宝库进行全面挖掘，用马克思主义激活中华优秀传统文化中富有生命力的优秀因子并赋予新的时代内涵，同时，要将中华民族的伟大精神和丰富智慧更深层次地注入马克思主义，有效把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通起来，聚变为新的理论优势，不断攀登新的思想高峰。马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化相结合的结果是互相成就，造就了一个有机统一的新的文化生命体，让马克思主义成为中国的，中华优秀传统文化成为现代的，让经由“结合”而形成的新文化成为中国式现代化的文化形态。

To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must uphold openness and inclusiveness, adhere to making foreign things serve China, actively absorb the beneficial achievements of foreign cultures, promote the localization of foreign cultures, and continuously cultivate and create socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for the New Era.

传承和发展当代中国文化，必须秉持开放包容，坚持洋为中用，积极吸收外来文化的有益成果，促进外来文化本土化，不断培育和创造新时代中国特色社会主义文化

“A single flower does not make spring; a hundred flowers in bloom bring spring to the garden.” To innovate and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must uphold the concept of openness and inclusiveness, vigorously promote the localization of foreign cultures, and continuously cultivate and create socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for the New Era. The Chinese people believe in the cultural concept that “all things grow together without harming each other, and the Ways run parallel without contradicting each other,” firmly convinced that civilizations with different characteristics and styles are not only not in “conflict” but can mutually stimulate and promote each other, thereby providing other civilizations with a referential “other” or “stones from other hills.” General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Civilizations develop through openness, and nations coexist through integration.” “Civilizations become diverse through exchange, learn from each other through exchange, and develop through mutual learning.” To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must broaden our theoretical horizons, learn from and draw on all the outstanding achievements of human civilization with an open mind as broad as the sea that accepts all rivers, draw on excellent ideological and cultural resources from the “sum total of human knowledge” to innovate and develop the Party’s theory, and form a grand theoretical pattern and atmosphere of inclusiveness and eclecticism.

“一花独放不是春，百花齐放春满园。”创新和发展当代中国文化，要秉持开放包容的理念，大力促进外来文化本土化，不断培育和创造新时代中国特色社会主义文化。中国人民信奉“万物并育而不相害”“道并行而不相悖”的文化理念，坚信不同特色和风格的文明不仅不是“冲突”的，而且可以互相激荡，互相推动，从而为其他文明提供可资借鉴的“他者”或“他山之石”。习近平总书记指出：“文明在开放中发展，民族在融合中共存”“文明因多样而交流，因交流而互鉴，因互鉴而发展”。传承和发展当代中国文化要拓宽理论视野，以海纳百川的开放胸襟学习和借鉴人类社会一切优秀文明成果，在“人类知识的总和”中汲取优秀思想文化资源来创新和发展党的理论，形成兼容并蓄、博采众长的理论大格局大气象。

With regard to foreign cultures, on the one hand we must see that “stones from other hills can polish jade” [2]2 An allusion to the *Book of Songs* (《诗经》), meaning that the strengths of others can be used to improve oneself., and on the other hand we must also see that “oranges grown south of the Huai River are oranges, but when transplanted north of the Huai they become trifoliate oranges” [3]3 An allusion to the *Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi* (《晏子春秋》), meaning that the environment changes the nature of things; here it is used to argue that foreign methods cannot be mechanically transplanted to China.. The methods of foreigners work among foreigners, but when they come to China they may no longer be effective. The development of contemporary Chinese culture cannot depart from the common achievements of human civilization. We must adhere to putting ourselves first and using them for our own purposes, absorb beneficial achievements from abroad, and construct and develop a Chinese independent system of philosophical and social scientific knowledge that is oriented toward Chinese practice and solves Chinese problems.

对于外来文化，我们一方面要看到“他山之石可以攻玉”，另一方面还要看到“橘生淮南则为橘”，到了淮北“橘”就变成“枳”。洋人的办法在洋人那里行，到了中国可能就不灵了。当代中国文化的发展，不能离开人类文明的共同成果。要坚持以我为主、为我所用，汲取外来的有益成果，建设发展面向中国实践和解决中国问题的中国人自主的哲学社会科学知识体系。

To inherit and develop contemporary Chinese culture, we must uphold upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground [4]4 A key concept in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, meaning to maintain the fundamental principles of Marxism and socialism while actively innovating in theory and practice., excavate new materials, discover new problems, put forward new viewpoints, and construct new theories.

传承和发展当代中国文化，必须坚持守正创新，挖掘新材料、发现新问题、提出新观点、构建新理论

Comprehensive innovation is an important method for the construction and development of contemporary Chinese philosophy and social sciences. The first to propose this method of thought was Mr. Zhang Dainian [5]5 Zhang Dainian (1909–2004) was a prominent Chinese philosopher and historian of Chinese philosophy, known for his work on synthesizing Chinese and Western thought.. In the 1930s, Mr. Zhang put forward the theory of “creative synthesis,” which by the 1980s had developed into the theory of “comprehensive innovation.” Mr. Zhang’s viewpoint received the response and approval of most scholars in the academic community, but the problem lies in how to realize comprehensive innovation. We must deepen comprehensive innovation into the realm of social life and practice, advancing to the level of answering the questions of the times and completing the tasks of the times. Any theoretical innovation of an era, if it departs from the interrogation of the life and practice of that era and departs from the answer to the tasks and questions of that era, is in fact impossible to carry out. Therefore, the question of how to carry out comprehensive innovation has in fact never been well resolved in the academic community. Now, we have Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, which provides guidance for truly solving this historical problem.

综合创新是当代中国哲学社会科学建设和发展的一个重要方法。最早提出这一思想方法的是张岱年先生。张先生在上世纪30年代就提出了“创造的综合”论，到80年代发展为“综合创新”论。张先生的观点得到了学界大多数学者的响应和赞同，但问题在于如何实现综合创新。我们要把综合创新深入到社会生活和实践的领域，进到回答时代问题、完成时代任务的层面。一个时代的任何理论创新如果离开了对这个时代的生活实践的追问，离开了对这个时代的任务和问题的回答，实际上是无法进行的。因此，如何进行综合创新这一问题，在学界实际上一直没有得到很好的解决。现在，我们有了习近平文化思想，这就为真正解决这一历史问题提供了指引。

Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground embodies the Marxist scientific concept of innovation and is the ideological elevation of the open and developmental theoretical character of Marxism. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Only by upholding fundamental principles can we avoid losing our direction and committing subversive errors; only by breaking new ground can we grasp the times and lead the times.” [6]6 Quoted from Xi Jinping’s speech at the symposium on cultural heritage and development in 2023. Adhering to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground is a summary of the experience of Chinese Communists over more than one hundred years in promoting practical development and cultural innovation, and is a distinctive quality of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Upholding fundamental principles means upholding the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological domain, upholding the fundamental requirements of the Two Integrations, and upholding the cultural leadership of the Communist Party of China and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation. Breaking new ground means, on the basis of upholding fundamental principles, taking what we are doing as the center, applying the scientific principles and methods of thought provided by Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture, excavating new materials, discovering new problems, putting forward new viewpoints, constructing new theories, refining new theories with academic rationality, and summarizing new practices with regularity.

守正创新体现了马克思主义的科学创新理念，是马克思主义开放性和发展性理论品格的思想提升。习近平总书记指出：“守正才能不迷失方向，不犯颠覆性错误，创新才能把握时代、引领时代。”坚持守正创新是中国共产党人一百多年来推动实践发展和文化创新的经验总结，是习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的鲜明品格。守正，守的是马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位的根本制度，守的是“两个结合”的根本要求，守的是中国共产党的文化领导权和中华民族的文化主体性。创新就是在守正的基础上，以我们正在做的事情为中心，运用马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化所提供的科学原理和思想方法，挖掘新材料、发现新问题、提出新观点、构建新理论，提炼出有学理性的新理论，概括出有规律性的新实践。

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture points the direction and path for solving the problems of cultural inheritance and development, and provides a firm ideological guarantee, a powerful spiritual force, and favorable cultural conditions for comprehensively building a modern socialist country and comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

习近平文化思想为解决文化传承与发展问题指明了方向和路径，为全面建设社会主义现代化国家、全面推进中华民族伟大复兴提供了坚强思想保证、强大精神力量、有利文化条件。

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧