Making Greater Theoretical Contributions to Adapting Marxism to the Chinese Context and the Needs of the Times

Theory concerns direction, path, and future. The Communist Party of China is a political party that attaches great importance to theory. Possessing the scientific theoretical guidance of Marxism is a distinctive political character and a powerful political advantage of the CPC. General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued important instructions on the Marxist theory research and development project for the New Era, reflecting his high regard and full affirmation of this project, while also putting forward higher requirements and ardent expectations. Theoretical workers must further deepen their academic foundations, carry forward the Chinese cultural lineage, and shoulder cultural missions, in order to provide more academic resources and make greater theoretical contributions to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and to enriching contemporary Chinese Marxism and Marxism for the twenty-first century.

理论关乎方向、道路与前途。中国共产党是一个高度重视理论的政党，拥有马克思主义科学理论指导，是中国共产党鲜明的政治品格和强大的政治优势。习近平总书记对新时代马克思主义理论研究和建设工程作出重要指示，体现了习近平总书记对这一工程的高度重视和充分肯定，同时也提出了更高要求和殷切希望。理论工作者要进一步厚植学术根基、赓续中华文脉、肩负文化使命，为推进马克思主义中国化时代化，丰富当代中国马克思主义、二十一世纪马克思主义提供更多学术资源、作出更大理论贡献。

We must uphold fundamental principles and break new ground. Those who understand the constant and discern change will prevail; those who uphold fundamental principles and break new ground will advance. [1]1 “Uphold fundamental principles and break new ground” (守正创新) is a key methodological principle in the New Era, combining adherence to the basic tenets of Marxism and socialism with innovation in response to new conditions. The fundamental approach to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground in theoretical research in the New Era is to adhere to the Two Integrations, and to hold fast to the soul of Marxism and the root of fine traditional Chinese culture. Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology for building the Party and the country, and for rejuvenating the Party and the country. Without the guidance of Marxism, there would be a lack of fundamental directional guidance, coordinates of truth, and ideological weapons. Fine traditional Chinese culture is our spiritual root system and conceptual foundation. Without the nourishment of fine traditional Chinese culture, there would be a lack of core spiritual foundation, subjective consciousness, and civilizational origin. As the “fundamental principles” to be upheld, the two are interpenetrating and unified, combining substance and function, and also lead to adaptation and innovation. In particular, the Second Integration is both a great innovation in theoretical construction in the New Era and an important source of ideas for further theoretical innovation. A great civilization is manifested not only in material terms, but also in its spiritual contribution to the world and humanity, providing value-led inspiration that wins people’s heartfelt admiration and aspiration. Where, then, does the ideological source of this spiritual contribution come from? It comes from China’s five-thousand-year unbroken, endogenous, and highly civilized fine traditional culture, which orients the direction for the renewal and flourishing of its own civilization and provides possible ideological opportunities for the future development of world civilization. Therefore, promoting theoretical innovation in the New Era requires this kind of methodological consciousness, ideological boldness, and civilizational confidence—tracing back to origins, returning to the source to open up the new, and continuously carrying out creative transformation and innovative development under the new conditions of the times.

必须坚持守正创新。知常明变者赢，守正创新者进。新时代理论研究守正创新的根本就是坚持“两个结合”，坚守好马克思主义这个魂脉和中华优秀传统文化这个根脉。马克思主义是我们立党立国、兴党兴国的根本指导思想，没有马克思主义的指导，就缺乏根本的方向指引、真理坐标和思想武器；中华优秀传统文化是我们的精神根系、观念根基，没有中华优秀传统文化的滋养，就缺乏核心的精神基础、主体自觉和文明本原。作为守正之“正”，二者贯通统一、体用结合，也引向应变创新。特别是“第二个结合”，既是新时代理论建设的伟大创新，又是进一步理论创新重要的思想来源。伟大的文明不仅体现在物质层面，也在于对世界和人类的精神贡献，提供价值引领感召，使人心悦诚服、心向往之。那么这一精神贡献的思想源头从哪里来？就来自中华五千多年延绵不绝、内生自发、高度文明的优秀传统文化，它为自身文明更新繁荣规界主体定向，又为世界文明未来发展提供可能的思想契机。因此新时代推动理论创新要有这样的方法自觉、思想气魄和文明自信，追根溯源、返本开新，在新的时代条件下不断创造性转化、创新性发展。

We must take root in the Chinese soil. The times are the mother of thought; practice is the source of theory. Theoretical innovation must be built on the basis of practice and must respond to and solve practical problems. Therefore, to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times in the New Era, we must take root in the Chinese soil and engage with the propositions of the times. On the one hand, we must face Chinese reality, reflect back and place ourselves within it, to observe, penetrate, refine, and summarize reality and its operational mechanisms, discover real Chinese problems, grasp real Chinese conditions—seeking truth from facts, learning from practice, and seeing the big from the small. On the other hand, we must face China’s future, more deeply researching the major theoretical, practical, and strategic issues in the practice of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization, adapting to the demands of the times, focusing on the tasks of the times, responding to the concerns of the times, using theoretical innovation to guide practice and serve the overall situation, and continuously perfecting, enriching, and developing theory in the process of solving practical problems.

必须扎根中国大地。时代是思想之母，实践是理论之源。理论创新必须建基于实践之上，也必须回应、解决现实问题。因此新时代推进马克思主义中国化时代化要扎根中国大地、对接时代命题，一方面要面朝中国现实，返身回观、置身事内，去观察、洞穿、提炼、概括现实及其运转机理，发现真实中国问题、把握真实中国实际，即事言理、从实求知、见微知著；另一方面要面向中国未来，更加深入研究以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业实践中的重大理论、现实、战略问题，适应时代要求、聚焦时代任务、回应时代关切，以理论创新引领实践、服务大局，并在破解实际问题中不断完善、丰富、发展理论。

We must build a strong academic subjectivity. Promoting theoretical innovation in the New Era requires accelerating the construction of an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences. The level of knowledge in philosophy and social sciences reflects a country’s theoretical capacity, cognitive height, and spiritual temperament. An independent knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences embodies a country’s subjectivity and influence. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The characteristics, style, and ethos of philosophy and social sciences are products of a certain stage of development, marks of maturity, symbols of strength, and manifestations of confidence.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences,” May 17, 2016. Conversely, cutting history with foreign theories, trying to fit square pegs into round holes, and forcing incompatible things together will deconstruct one’s own system of legitimacy and meaning. China has its own logic, intention, and values. We should take China as the reference point and China as the method. On the one hand, we must enhance the ability to perceive, understand, grasp, and explain reality, discovering laws, summarizing propositions, and refining theories from it. In particular, we must deepen the academic interpretation of iconic concepts proposed since the New Era, such as whole-process people’s democracy, new quality productive forces, and a new form of human civilization, as well as original theoretical propositions such as the Two Integrations, “self-revolution is the second answer for our Party to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall,” [3]3 “The historical cycle of rise and fall” (历史周期率) refers to the pattern of dynastic cycles in Chinese history, where a ruling dynasty rises, flourishes, declines, and falls. The “first answer” was Mao Zedong’s proposal of “letting the people supervise the government” during a 1945 conversation with Huang Yanpei. The “second answer” of self-revolution was and “forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation,” [4] clarifying their reasoning, principles, and philosophy. On the other hand, we must deepen research on Chinese history and fine traditional culture. Reality is formed through the sedimentation and evolution of history; cognition of society necessarily includes a historical dimension. Especially for China, the five-thousand-year unbroken, endogenous, and self-contained Chinese civilization has its own original and unique cognitive system, understanding and meaning-giving, and value concerns. Through an unbroken history, this has sedimented into a common national deep-seated cultural psychological structure, shared empathy, and conceptual consensus, condensed into the “Way and the hearts of the people,” [5] exerting a profound shaping influence on reality. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Without the five-thousand-year Chinese civilization, how could there be any Chinese characteristics?” [6] The “principle” of China exists within its “history”; only by entering history can one understand the “Way” of China, which constitutes the fundamental source of China’s uniqueness and subjectivity. Therefore, theoretical workers must integrate history, reality, and the future; connect concepts, practice, and institutions; take the Party’s innovative theory in the New Era as guidance; excavate an independent knowledge system composed of iconic concepts, core propositions, original theories, and unique narratives; demonstrate the Chinese principle behind the Chinese path and Chinese governance; and also highlight the diversity of human civilization while providing a new possibility for its universality.

必须筑牢学术主体性。新时代推进理论创新必须加快构建中国哲学社会科学自主知识体系。哲学社会科学知识水平体现了一个国家的理论能力、认知高度和精神气质，自主性的哲学社会科学知识体系体现了国家的主体性和影响力。习近平总书记指出：“哲学社会科学的特色、风格、气派，是发展到一定阶段的产物，是成熟的标志，是实力的象征，也是自信的体现。”反之，以外来理论切割历史、削足适履、圆凿方枘，会解构自身的正当性与意义系统。中国有着自己的逻辑、立意与价值，应以中国为观照、中国为方法。一方面，提升对现实的感知、理解、把握、解释能力，从中发现规律、概括命题、提炼理论，特别是深化对新时代以来提出的诸如全过程人民民主、新质生产力、人类文明新形态等标识性概念，和“两个结合”“自我革命是我们党跳出历史周期率的第二个答案”“铸牢中华民族共同体意识”等原创性理论命题的学理阐释，讲清其道理学理哲理。另一方面，深化对中国历史和优秀传统文化的研究。现实由历史沉积演化而成，对于社会的认知必然包含历史的维度。特别对中国而言，五千年延绵不绝、内生自发又自成一体的中华文明有其原创而独特的认知系统、理解赋义和价值关怀，它经由未曾断裂的历史已沉积为共通的民族深层文化心理结构和同情共感、观念共识，化约为“道统人心”，对现实有着深刻塑造影响作用。正如习近平总书记指出：“如果没有中华五千年文明，哪里有什么中国特色？”中国之“理”存在于“史”中，进入历史才能理解中国之“道”，它构成了中国独特性、主体性的根本来源。因此理论工作者要融通历史、现实与未来，贯穿理念、实践与制度，以新时代党的创新理论为指导，挖掘由标识概念、核心命题、原创理论、独特叙事等构成的自主知识体系，展示中国之路、中国之治背后的中国之理，也凸显人类文明的多样性并为其普遍性提供一种新的可能。

We must shoulder cultural missions. To make greater academic contributions to adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times on the new journey of the New Era requires theoretical workers to deepen their academic foundations, carry forward the Chinese cultural lineage, and shoulder the cultural missions of the New Era. First, we must aim high, facing the theoretical needs of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization, keeping pace with the Party’s steps in theoretical innovation, and having greater academic ambition, theoretical responsibility, and cultural duty, pursuing great scholarship in a great era. Second, we must nourish our scholarly cultivation, broaden our academic horizons, expand our academic vision, and deepen our academic foundations. Only with an interdisciplinary knowledge structure and academic accumulation that connects the ancient and the modern, and integrates China and the West, can we prepare for theoretical innovation. Third, we must understand practice. Practice is the forerunner of theory; great theories are all products of practice. We must refine academic theory and condense the essence of thought through deeper understanding and grasp of reality. Fourth, we must devote ourselves quietly to scholarship. Theoretical workers must settle their minds, be willing to sit on a cold bench for ten years, [7] be upright and sincere, concentrate with single-minded dedication, engage in sustained research and deep thinking, put in meticulous and painstaking effort, and avoid impatience. Fifth, we must serve the overall situation. As the pioneers of the Two Bombs, One Satellite [8] said, “Science has no national boundaries, but scientists have a motherland.” The mission for which they struggled all their lives was to use scientific principles to serve the construction of the motherland and uphold national dignity.

必须担负文化使命。在新时代新征程为马克思主义中国化时代化作出更大学术贡献，就要求理论工作者必须厚植学术根基、赓续中华文脉、担负起新时代的文化使命。一要志存高远，面向以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的理论需求，紧跟党的理论创新步伐，有更大的学术抱负、理论担当、文化责任，在大时代做大学问。二要滋润学养，打开学术格局、扩展学术视野、厚植学术根基，唯有通古今、汇中西的跨学科知识结构和学术积累方能为理论创新做好准备。三要了解实践。实践是理论的先声，伟大理论都是实践的产物，要通过更为深入地了解和把握现实来提炼学术理论、凝结思想精华。四是潜心问道。理论工作者要沉下心来，甘坐板凳十年冷，正心诚意、惟精惟一，持续研究、深度思考，下细功夫、笨功夫、不浮躁。五是要服务大局。如两弹一星元勋所言，“科学无国界，科学家有祖国”。他们为之奋斗一生的使命是用科学原理服务祖国建设、维护国家尊严。

(The author is a researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance) and a professor in the Department of National Governance Research and Teaching.)

（作者为中央党校（国家行政学院）习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心研究员、国家治理教研部教授）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧