On the Basis of a Scientific Analysis of the World Situation, National Conditions, Party Circumstances, and Popular Sentiment, to Explain Ideological-Political Courses in Higher Education Thoroughly, Clearly, and Vividly

At the symposium for teachers of ideological-political theory courses in schools, Xi Jinping proposed that the purpose of ideological-political courses is to cultivate socialist builders and successors who are well-developed morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise. “Ideological-political courses should teach students scientific thinking. What ideological-political course teachers give to students should not be merely some abstract concepts, but rather standpoints, viewpoints, and methods for observing and understanding the contemporary world and contemporary China. The teaching of ideological-political courses is a highly creative task; one must learn dialectical materialism and historical materialism, be adept at using innovative thinking and dialectical thinking, be adept at using the method of contradiction analysis to grasp the key, identify the focal point, and elucidate the laws, innovate classroom teaching, and give students a profound learning experience.”[1]1 The “Outline of Modern Chinese History,” “History of the People’s Republic of China,” “History of Reform and Opening Up,” “A Concise History of the Communist Party of China,” and “History of Socialist Development” are required courses in China’s college ideological and political education curriculum, collectively covering China’s modern history, the history of the People’s Republic, the reform era, the Party’s history, and the global history of socialism. [2] Hegel’s “great historical sense” (der große historische Sinn) refers to his concept of grasping history as a coherent, developmental process, as discussed in his lectures on the philosophy of history. The author believes that, based on the basic characteristics of ideological-political courses in higher education, scientifically analyzing the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment closely related to the course content, enabling students to master the Marxist worldview and methodology and consciously practice the ideals and beliefs, thoughts and emotions, values, practical wisdom, and struggle goals conveyed by ideological-political courses, is the foundation for enhancing the guiding power of course teaching.

习近平在学校思想政治理论课教师座谈会上提出，思政课的目的是培养德智体美劳全面发展的社会主义建设者和接班人。“思政课要教会学生科学的思维。思政课教师给予学生的不应该只是一些抽象的概念，而应该是观察认识当代世界、当代中国的立场、观点、方法。思政课教学是一项非常有创造性的工作，要学会辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义，善于运用创新思维、辩证思维，善于运用矛盾分析方法抓住关键、找准重点、阐明规律，创新课堂教学，给学生深刻的学习体验。”[1]笔者认为，基于高校思政课的基本特点，科学分析与课程内容息息相关的世情、国情、党情、民情，让学生掌握马克思主义世界观和方法论并自觉践行思政课所传达的理想信念、思想情感、价值观念、实践智慧、奋斗目标，是提升课程教学引导力的基础。

I. Explain Theory Thoroughly in the Socio-Historical Context of the World Situation, National Conditions, Party Circumstances, and Popular Sentiment, So That Students Identify with the Theory in the Course of Deeply Understanding Its Scientific Nature

一、在世情、国情、党情、民情的社会历史情境中把理论讲深，让学生在深入理解理论的科学性中认同理论

Some university students hold cognitive biases, believing that ideological-political courses are not as objective, rigorous, systematic, or universally applicable as the natural sciences, and even that the theories taught in ideological-political courses are merely ideological preaching under certain political requirements. This is a serious misunderstanding of ideological-political courses, and this misunderstanding even causes some teachers to teach without full confidence. In fact, the scientific nature of ideological-political courses lies in their profundity, legitimacy, and effectiveness.

有些大学生存在认识偏见，认为思政课不像自然科学那样客观、严谨、系统、普适，甚至认为思政课上所讲的理论只是某种政治要求下的意识形态说教。这是对思政课的严重误解，这种误解甚至让一些教师授课也不那么理直气壮。其实，思政课的科学性在于深刻性、正当性、有效性。

As courses in Marxist theory, ideological-political courses fully run through the basic principles of Marxism. Marxism is a theory for understanding and changing the world; it fundamentally advocates that theory faces reality, recognizes the objective laws contained in reality, transforms reality on the basis of following the laws, and continuously idealizes reality. Marx and Engels pointed out: “Where speculation ends—in real life—there real, positive science begins: the representation of the practical activity, of the practical process of development of men. Empty talk about consciousness ceases, and real knowledge has to take its place.”[2]2 “Cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world” (修齐治平) is a classical Confucian ideal from the *Great Learning* (《大学》), outlining a progression from personal moral cultivation to ordering the family, then to governing the state, and finally to bringing peace to the world.(P526) Marx believed that “in the analysis of economic forms, neither microscopes nor chemical reagents are of use” and that “the force of abstraction must replace both.”[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians.(P8) But materialist abstraction rejects arbitrariness; from the perspective of the theory of reflection, it means accurately reflecting the subject of the object, reflecting the relationship between the object and its external conditions, thereby revealing the laws of its movement and development in the interaction between internal factors and external conditions. The values contained therein are not so-called “value preferences,” but rather value orientations supported by the laws and trends of historical development.

思政课作为马克思主义理论课程，全面贯穿马克思主义的基本原则。马克思主义是认识世界和改造世界的理论，它从根本上主张理论面向现实，认识现实中蕴含的客观规律，在遵循规律的基础上改造现实，使现实不断理想化。马克思、恩格斯指出：“在思辨终止的地方，在现实生活面前，正是描述人们实践活动和实际发展过程的真正的实证科学开始的地方。关于意识的空话将终止，它们一定会被真正的知识所代替。”[2](P526)马克思认为，“分析经济形式，既不能用显微镜，也不能用化学试剂”，它“必须用抽象力来代替”。[3](P8)但唯物主义的抽象排斥任意性，从反映论的角度来看，就是要准确地反映对象主体，反映对象与其外在条件的关系，从而在内在因素与外在条件的相互作用中揭示其运动发展规律。其中包含的价值观也不是所谓的“价值偏好”，而是得到历史发展规律和趋势支撑的价值取向。

Before the emergence of Marxism, the fundamental characteristic of Western philosophy was logically deductive speculative metaphysics. From the “water” (Thales), “fire” (Heraclitus), “atoms” (Democritus), “numbers” (Pythagoras), “being” (Parmenides), “ideas” (Plato), and “substance” (Aristotle) of ancient Greece as the origin of all things, to the “God” and “the Divine” of medieval religion, the “individual” and its “desires” of Renaissance humanism, all the way to Kant’s “thing-in-itself” and Hegel’s “Absolute Idea,” Western philosophers always sought, in the mode of ontological thinking, to find a “origin” of the world, thereby obtaining a logical and historical starting point for constructing a world system. To this end, they almost without exception took the logical starting point as the historical starting point, thereby deducing a theoretical system of the origin, movement, and development of the entire world.

在马克思主义产生以前，西方哲学的根本特征是逻辑演绎式的思辨形而上学。从古希腊作为万物本原的“水”（泰勒斯）、“火”（赫拉克利特）、“原子”（德谟克利特）、“数”（毕达哥拉斯）、“存在”（巴门尼德）、“理念”（柏拉图）、“实体”（亚里士多德）到中世纪宗教的“神”“上帝”，文艺复兴时期人本主义的“个人”及其“欲望”，一直到康德的“自在之物”、黑格尔的“绝对观念”，西方哲学家总是以本体论的思维方式想方设法寻找一个世界的“本原”，从而获得一个构建世界体系的逻辑起点和历史起点。为此，他们几乎无一例外地将逻辑起点当作历史起点，由此演绎出整个世界起源、运动、发展的理论体系。

Marxism fundamentally put an end to the metaphysical mode of philosophical thinking, studying and grasping the objective nature and laws of movement from objective reality itself, thereby achieving the dialectical unity of theoretical logic and historical logic, and moving Marxism toward materialism and dialectics. Regarding *Capital*, Marx clearly stated that he studied “the capitalist mode of production, and the relations of production and exchange corresponding to it”[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians.(P8) to reveal the economic law of motion of modern society. Marx believed that Britain at the time was the “classic” form of capitalist development, so his research mainly used British capitalism as an example. Marx believed: “Intrinsically, it is not a question of the higher or lower degree of development of the social antagonisms that result from the natural laws of capitalist production. It is a question of these laws themselves, of these tendencies working with iron necessity towards inevitable results.”[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians.(P8) *Capital* begins with the category of the commodity, because the commodity is the cell of the capitalist economy; it is precisely the complex relations of capitalism derived from commodity relations that form the specific contradictions of capitalism and their laws of motion. It can be seen from this that Marx’s materialism and dialectics are inseparable; “dialectics, in its comprehension of things as they are, includes at the same time an understanding of their negation, their necessary destruction.”[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians.(P22) Precisely because of this, “in its positive understanding of what exists, it also includes at the same time an understanding of the negation of that existence, its necessary destruction.”[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians.(P22) The transitory nature of capitalist society is rooted in the inevitability of its own inherent and insurmountable contradictions and fundamental defects. The study of capitalist society naturally involves people, but it is by no means a pure logical deduction or “free scientific research” divorced from reality. Marx pointed out: “Here individuals are dealt with only in so far as they are the personifications of economic categories, the bearers of particular class-relations and interests.”[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians.(P10) Therefore, Marxist theory not only reflects the basic laws of the objective world, the basic laws of human society, and the basic laws of capitalism, but also reflects the changing realities of the world situation in different eras.

马克思主义从根本上终结了形而上学哲学思维方式，从客观现实本身研究和把握其客观本性及运动规律，从而实现理论逻辑与历史逻辑的辩证统一，使马克思主义走向唯物主义和辩证法。关于《资本论》，马克思明确指出，他是通过研究“资本主义生产方式以及和它相适应的生产关系和交换关系”[3](P8)来揭示现代社会的经济运动规律。马克思认为，当时的英国是资本主义发展的“典型”形式，因此他的研究主要以英国资本主义为例证。马克思认为：“问题本身并不在于资本主义生产的自然规律所引起的社会对抗的发展程度的高低。问题在于这些规律本身，在于这些以铁的必然性发生作用并且正在实现的趋势。”[3](P8)《资本论》开始于商品范畴，因为商品是资本主义经济的细胞，正是由商品关系派生出的资本主义的复杂关系，形成了资本主义特有的矛盾及其运动规律。由此可见，马克思的唯物论与辩证法密不可分，“辩证法对每一种既成的形式都是从不断的运动中，因而也是从它的暂时性方面去理解”。[3](P22)正因为如此，“辩证法在对现存事物的肯定的理解中同时包含对现存事物的否定的理解，即对现存事物的必然灭亡的理解”。[3](P22)资本主义社会的暂时性根源于它自身固有的不可克服的矛盾及其根本弊端的必然性。对资本主义社会的研究当然要涉及人，但它绝不是脱离现实的纯粹逻辑演绎或“自由的科学研究”。马克思指出：“这里涉及的人，只是经济范畴的人格化，是一定的阶级关系和利益的承担者。”[3](P10)因此，马克思主义理论既反映了客观世界的基本规律、人类社会的基本规律、资本主义的基本规律，更反映了不同时代变化着的世情现实。

In a certain sense, the ideological-political theories taught in ideological-political courses are theories of the world situation, theories of national conditions, theories of Party circumstances, and theories of popular sentiment, or theories within the world situation, within national conditions, within Party circumstances, and within popular sentiment. If they cannot truthfully reflect the internal connections and interactions between their research fields and the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, these theories cannot be explained thoroughly, clearly, or vividly. The two Party innovation theory courses—“An Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” and “An Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”—study the historical process, theoretical innovations, and practical effects of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, as the Communist Party of China, in different historical periods of revolution, construction, and reform, based on the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment it faced and their interconnections, revolved around different theoretical and practical themes. For example, the course “Ideological and Moral Cultivation and the Rule of Law” can only be timely in content and targeted, persuasive, and impactful in teaching if it reflects the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, and combines general theory with specific real-world situations. Ideological and moral cultivation “cultivates” the moral sentiments that socialist builders and successors should possess, and “nurtures” the bearing and steadfastness toward these moral sentiments. Faced with the influence of erroneous social trends and youth subcultures, teachers of ideological-political courses must guide students to distinguish right from wrong through comparison, and acquire the ethical principles, moral norms, and spiritual style of socialism. The legitimacy and effectiveness of law are not abstract principles either, but rather norms of good governance formulated by a country, a nation, and a political party within specific world situations, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment. Discussing law in the abstract, divorced from the specific world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, makes it impossible for students to truly understand the spirit of the law.

从一定意义上说，思政课上讲授的思想政治理论是世情理论、国情理论、党情理论、民情理论，或世情中、国情中、党情中、民情中的理论，若不能如实反映其研究领域与世情、国情、党情、民情的内在关联和相互作用，其理论是无法讲深讲透讲活的。两门党的创新理论课程——“毛泽东思想和中国特色社会主义理论体系概论”“习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想概论”，研究的是中国共产党在革命、建设、改革的不同历史时期，根据所面对的世情、国情、党情、民情及其相互关联，围绕不同的理论和实践主题，不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化的历史进程、理论创新及其现实作用。如“思想道德与法治”课，只有反映世情、国情、党情、民情，将一般理论与具体现实情形相结合，内容才是现时的，教学才有针对性、说服力和感染力。思想道德修养，“修”的是中国特色社会主义建设者和接班人应有的道德情操，“养”的是对这种道德情操的气度与坚守。面对错误社会思潮、青年亚文化等的影响，思政课教师必须引导学生在比较中明辨是非，习得社会主义的伦理原则、道德规范和精神格调。法律的正当性、有效性也不是抽象原则，而是一个国家、一个民族、一个政党在具体的世情、国情、党情、民情中制定的善治规范，离开具体的世情、国情、党情、民情空谈法律，就无法让学生真正理解法律精神。

To teach the courses “Outline of Modern Chinese History,” “History of the People’s Republic of China,” “History of Reform and Opening Up,” “A Concise History of the Communist Party of China,” and “History of Socialist Development,” one must possess a consciousness of historical context, or, in Hegel’s words, a “great historical sense.” History is the cognition and practice of specific historical subjects responding to objective challenges and subjective responses within concrete historical contexts. The distinctions among these five courses are as follows: First, the historical spans they study vary in length. The “Outline of Modern Chinese History” must study both the modern history from the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and the contemporary history since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The “History of the People’s Republic of China” studies the history since the founding of the People’s Republic of China; the “History of Reform and Opening Up” studies the history of China’s reform and opening up since 1978; and the “History of Socialist Development” studies the history of world socialism over more than 500 years of its emergence and development. However, any historical figure or event must be understood and taught within the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment. The experiences and lessons of history are our reflections, evaluations, and summaries of the understandings, responses, and outcomes of that time. Second, their research emphases differ. The “Outline of Modern Chinese History” focuses on China’s arduous journey from modern to contemporary times, its fundamental transformations, and the great dream of realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, its unyielding struggles, and their world-historical significance. The “History of the People’s Republic of China” focuses on the tortuous yet glorious course of the establishment and development of an entirely new People’s Republic of China. The “A Concise History of the Communist Party of China” focuses on the Communist Party of China’s understanding, planning, and measures regarding its historical mission, tasks of the era, and its own construction within specific world situations, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, as well as their historical roles, experiences, and lessons. The “History of Socialist Development” focuses on socialism itself, studying the founders of Marxism and Marxist parties in their understanding and practice of what socialism is and how to build it within world situations, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, continuously advancing socialism’s tortuous development from utopia to science, from theory to practice, and from one country to many.

讲好“中国近现代史纲要”“中华人民共和国史”“改革开放史”“中国共产党简史”“社会主义发展史”这几门课程，必须具有历史情境意识，用黑格尔的话说就是“伟大的历史感”。历史是特定历史主体在具体历史情境下对客观挑战和主观应战的认识与实践，上述五门课的区别在于：一是研究的历史跨度长短不一。“中国近现代史纲要”既要研究中国自1840年鸦片战争爆发到1949年中华人民共和国成立期间的近代史，也要研究从中华人民共和国成立以来的现代史。“中华人民共和国史”研究中华人民共和国成立以来的历史，“改革开放史”研究1978年以来我国改革开放的发展史，“社会主义发展史”研究世界社会主义500多年发生发展的历史。但是，任何历史人物、事件都必须在世情、国情、党情、民情中来认识和讲授，历史的经验教训是我们对当时的认识、应对、结果的反思、评价和总结。二是研究的侧重点不同。“中国近现代史纲要”侧重研究中国从近代到现代的苦难历程、根本性变革和实现中华民族复兴的伟大梦想、不屈奋斗及其世界历史意义。“中华人民共和国史”侧重研究一个全新的中华人民共和国的建立和发展的曲折而辉煌的历程。“中国共产党简史”侧重于研究中国共产党在特定的世情、国情、党情、民情中，对自己的历史使命、时代任务和自身建设的认识、谋划、举措及其历史作用和经验教训。“社会主义发展史”侧重于社会主义本身，研究马克思主义的创始人和马克思主义政党，在世情、国情、党情、民情中对什么是社会主义、怎样建设社会主义的认识和实践，不断推动社会主义从空想到科学、从理论到实践、从一国到多国的曲折发展历程。

In summary, by thoroughly explaining theory within the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, enabling students to absorb and comprehend the scientific essence of theory through constant exposure, one can effectively overcome their prejudice that ideological and political theory courses are “unscientific,” thereby allowing them to calmly accept the truth, enhance their theoretical thinking, and improve their cognitive abilities.

综上所述，在世情、国情、党情、民情中把理论讲深，让学生耳濡目染理解感悟理论的科学本质，就能有效克服其对思政课存在的“非科学性”的偏见，从而心平气和地认同真理，提升理论思维和认知能力。

II. Thoroughly Explain Theory Amid Changes in the World Situation, National Conditions, Party Circumstances, and Popular Sentiment, So That Students Believe in Theory Through Genuinely Experiencing Its Vitality

二、在世情、国情、党情、民情的变动中把理论讲透，让学生在真切体悟理论的生命力中信仰理论

Some college students hold a preconceived notion that ideological and political theory courses are “preaching,” which affects their rational attitude toward these courses. The vitality of theory lies in its constant change in accordance with changes in the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment—reflecting change, responding to change, guiding change, and achieving the concrete and historical unity of theory and practice. To thoroughly explain theory is to guide students to genuinely experience the historical and theoretical logic of theoretical development amid changes in the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, to master the Marxist standpoints, viewpoints, and methods proficiently, and to enable them to learn a scientific theory that is thorough in reasoning, coherent in logic, and integrated with emotion and principle. Only in this way can their understanding be elevated from recognition to the level of belief.

有些大学生存在思政课“说教论”的先入之见，影响他们对思政课应有的理性态度。理论的生命力，在于它始终依世情、国情、党情、民情的变化而变化，反映变化、因应变化、引导变化，实现理论与实践具体的历史的统一。把理论讲透，就是要引导学生在世情、国情、党情、民情的变动中真切体悟理论发展的历史逻辑和理论逻辑，熟练掌握马克思主义的立场观点方法，让他们学到学理通透、逻辑贯通、情理交融的科学理论，只有这样，才能将他们的认识由认同提升到信仰的高度。

We take the content of Mao Zedong Thought in the course “An Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” as an example for illustration. Mao Zedong pointed out: “The salvos of the October Revolution brought us Marxism-Leninism. The October Revolution helped the advanced elements in China, as it did throughout the world, to use the proletarian world outlook as a tool for observing the fate of the country and to reconsider their own problems. Follow the path of the Russians — that was their conclusion.”[4]4 “Win without fighting” (不战而胜) is a phrase from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, often used in political discourse to imply achieving victory through non-military means, such as ideological subversion.(P1471) In particular, the Marxist theories of class, class struggle, the state, and social revolution suddenly enlightened those men and women of ideals and integrity who were accustomed to the Confucian precept of cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world.[2]2 “Cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world” (修齐治平) is a classical Confucian ideal from the *Great Learning* (《大学》), outlining a progression from personal moral cultivation to ordering the family, then to governing the state, and finally to bringing peace to the world. In the integration of Marxism-Leninism with the Chinese workers’ movement, the Communist Party of China was born in response to the times. At that time, “the main tasks facing the Party were to oppose imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, to strive for national independence and the liberation of the people, and to create the fundamental social conditions for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”[5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P3) From the very moment of its birth, the Communist Party of China threw itself into the historical mission of achieving national independence, the liberation of the people, national prosperity and strength, and the well-being of the people. However, when the Chinese Communists, with utmost sincerity, shared the heavy responsibility of the National Revolution with the Kuomintang, the right wing of the Kuomintang betrayed the revolution, massacred Communists on a large scale, and the Communist Party of China, which had been founded for less than six years, was nearly wiped out. The Chinese Communists rose up in counterattack against the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang, following the path of the October Revolution, relying on the workers’ pickets, the peasant armed forces led by the Party, and those units of the National Revolutionary Army influenced by the Party, and launched armed uprisings aimed at seizing power in provincial capitals, but all ultimately ended in failure. Consequently, the question “How long can the red flag keep flying?” became a widespread concern within the Party and the army. The bloody lessons showed that the Communist Party of China had to resolve the fundamental issues of life-and-death importance: In this semi-colonial and semi-feudal Eastern great power, what kind of Party should be built and how should it be built? What kind of army should be built and how should it be built? What revolutionary path should be taken and how should revolutionary victory be achieved? Answering and resolving the above issues required solving a deep-seated theoretical problem that ran through everything: What kind of Marxism should be upheld and how should Marxism be upheld? Politically, this issue also involved how to handle the relationship between the Communist Party of China and the Communist International. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, dialectically integrated the theoretical logic of Marxism with the historical logic demanded by China’s world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, and arrived at a series of entirely new conclusions. First, Mao Zedong believed that “from the time of China’s defeat in the Opium War of 1840, advanced Chinese went through untold hardships in their quest for truth from the Western countries.”[4]4 “Win without fighting” (不战而胜) is a phrase from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, often used in political discourse to imply achieving victory through non-military means, such as ideological subversion.(P1469) However, Marx and Engels pointed out that the Western bourgeoisie, in its restless movement around the world, sought to “create a world after its own image.”[6]6 The reference is to the period around 1989, when the Tian(P36) By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, the Western powers had already carved up the world, and China was torn to pieces by them. The historical logic determined by the world situation, national conditions, popular sentiment, and Party circumstances proved that “the bourgeois republic, which existed in foreign countries, could not exist in China, because China is a country under imperialist oppression. The only way is to go through a people’s republic led by the working class.”[4]4 “Win without fighting” (不战而胜) is a phrase from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, often used in political discourse to imply achieving victory through non-military means, such as ideological subversion.(P1471)[7](P48) The democratic revolution led by the Communist Party of China is the “new-democratic revolution,” thereby adapting Marxism’s theory of proletarian revolution to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. Third, China at that time was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country torn by warlord conflicts, with each warlord backed by different foreign forces; “the disunity among the imperialist powers leads to disunity among the ruling groups in China,”[7](P189) which provided the Party with enormous political space to exploit contradictions in carrying out the revolution; China was a vast country with extremely uneven regional economic and political development, containing numerous areas where political rule was weak, so the revolution led by the Party had enormous geographical room for maneuver, enabling it to achieve that “if it is dark in the East, it is light in the West; if it is dark in the South, there is light in the North,”[7](P189)[7](P49) and thus it created the revolutionary path of the armed independent regime of workers and peasants, encircling the cities from the countryside, and finally seizing political power. This was a major transcendence of the experience of the October Revolution. Fourth, the characteristic of the Chinese revolution was to use armed revolution to oppose armed counter-revolution, but how to build an army whose main component was peasants into a new type of army capable of fulfilling the political mission entrusted to it by the Party remained a difficult problem. In the early days of the Party, the army was mainly composed of workers’ pickets, peasant armies, and units of the National Revolutionary Army that had participated in the Nanchang Uprising, the Autumn Harvest Uprising, the Guangzhou Uprising, etc., and there were serious old-style army ideas, work styles, and habits within the troops. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, closely focusing on the relationship between military affairs and politics, and between the army and the Party, established that “military affairs are only one of the tools for accomplishing political tasks,” and that “the Red Army of China is an armed group for carrying out the political tasks of the revolution,”[7](P86) established the principle of the Party’s leadership over the army, resolutely corrected ultra-democracy, non-organizational viewpoints, absolute egalitarianism, subjectivism, individualism, roving-rebel ideology, and other non-proletarian ideas within the Party and the army, and used the Party’s advanced nature to ensure the army’s advanced nature; closely focusing on the relationship between the army and the people, starting from the countless details of caring for the vital interests of the masses, they formed the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention,[3]3 The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意) were a set of military regulations for the Red Army, later adopted by the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing obedience, discipline, and respect for civilians. made them the military regulations and the soldiers’ code of conduct, established a fish-and-water relationship between the army and the people, enabling the Party to open up revolutionary base areas and anti-Japanese base areas in the vast countryside, establish people’s political power, and wage people’s war, so that the army became the “people’s own army” and the people became the army’s solid backing and source of strength, thereby adapting Marxism’s thought on building a people’s army to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and using the people’s historical subjectivity to ensure the army’s moral sublimity. This was an innovative development of the Marxist theory of building a proletarian army. Fifth, it answered and resolved the question of how, in an Eastern agricultural country, to build a Party whose main component was people of peasant and petty-bourgeois origin into an advanced proletarian political party. According to the basic theory of historical materialism, a person’s social essence is determined by the social relations, especially the relations of production, in which they live. However, Marx also pointed out the intrinsic relationship between the “two thoroughgoing ruptures” — the most thorough rupture with “traditional relations of property” and the most thorough rupture with “traditional ideas” based on private ownership[6]6 The reference is to the period around 1989, when the Tian(P52) — and communism. Consequently, Mao Zedong was the first to propose the fundamental approach to building an advanced proletarian political party — building the Party ideologically: first, handling the relationship between the Party and Marxism, by mastering the ideological weapon of Marxism to establish the lofty ideals and convictions of Communists; second, handling the relationship between the Party and the people, establishing the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly; third, “making the thinking of Party members and the life of the Party both political and scientific,”[7](P92) and tempering Party spirit through regular organizational life. This was a major development of the Marxist theory of Party building. With the advanced proletarian political party — the Communist Party of China — “the face of the Chinese revolution took on an entirely new look.”[4]4 “Win without fighting” (不战而胜) is a phrase from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, often used in political discourse to imply achieving victory through non-military means, such as ideological subversion.(P1357) On the basis of understanding the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, it integrated the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities, achieved the first historic leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and created the first theoretical form of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context — Mao Zedong Thought, guiding the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people to “achieve the most extensive and profound social transformation in the history of the Chinese nation, and realize the great leap of a poor, blank, and populous Eastern great power into a socialist society.”[5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P14)

我们以《毛泽东思想和中国特色社会主义理论体系概论》中的毛泽东思想这部分内容为例予以说明。毛泽东指出：“十月革命一声炮响，给我们送来了马克思列宁主义。十月革命帮助了全世界的也帮助了中国的先进分子，用无产阶级的宇宙观作为观察国家命运的工具，重新考虑自己的问题。走俄国人的路——这就是结论。”[4](P1471)特别是马克思主义关于阶级、阶级斗争、国家和社会革命的理论，让习惯于修齐治平的仁人志士们思想上豁然开朗。在马克思列宁主义与中国工人运动的结合中，中国共产党应运而生。此时，“党面临的主要任务是，反对帝国主义、封建主义、官僚资本主义，争取民族独立、人民解放，为实现中华民族伟大复兴创造根本社会条件。”[5](P3)中国共产党诞生伊始就投入到实现民族独立、人民解放和国家富强、人民富裕的历史使命中。然而，当中国共产党人满怀赤诚与国民党共担国民革命重任时，国民党右派却背叛革命，大肆屠杀共产党人，成立不到6年的中国共产党险些被斩尽杀绝。中国共产党人向着国民党反动统治奋起反击，循着十月革命的道路，依靠党领导的工人纠察队、农民武装和受党影响的部分国民革命军，发起在省会城市夺取政权的武装起义，但最终都以失败而告终。于是，“红旗到底能打多久”成为党内、军内的普遍忧虑。血的教训表明，中国共产党必须解决好生死攸关的根本性问题：在中国这个半殖民地半封建的东方大国，建设一个什么样的党、怎样建设党？建设一支什么样的军队、怎样建设军队？走什么样的革命道路、怎样取得革命胜利？回答和解决上述问题必须要解决好的一个贯穿始终的深层理论问题是：坚持什么样的马克思主义、怎样坚持马克思主义？这个问题在政治上还涉及如何处理中国共产党与共产国际的关系。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，将马克思主义的理论逻辑与中国的世情、国情、党情、民情所要求的历史逻辑辩证结合起来，得出了一系列崭新结论。第一，毛泽东认为，“自从一八四〇年鸦片战争失败那时起，先进的中国人，经过千辛万苦，向西方国家寻找真理。”[4](P1469)然而，马克思、恩格斯指出，西方资产阶级奔走于世界，是要“按照自己的面貌为自己创造出一个世界”。[6](P36)到19世纪末、20世纪初，西方列强已经把世界瓜分完毕，中国被它们撕扯得四分五裂。世情、国情、民情、党情决定的历史逻辑证明，“资产阶级的共和国，外国有过的，中国不能有，因为中国是受帝国主义压迫的国家。唯一的路是经过工人阶级领导的人民共和国。”[4](P1471)[7](P48)中国共产党领导的民主革命是“新民主主义革命”，从而把马克思主义的无产阶级革命理论中国化时代化。第三，当时的中国是军阀混战的半殖民地半封建国家，每个军阀背后都有不同的外国势力，“帝国主义的不统一，影响到中国统治集团间的不统一”，[7](P189)这就为党利用矛盾开展革命提供了巨大政治空间；中国是一个地域大国，经济政治的区域发展极不平衡，存在着大量的政治统治薄弱地区，党领导的革命具有巨大的地域回旋空间，能够做到“东方不亮西方亮，黑了南方有北方”，[7](P189)[7](P49)于是，创造了工农武装割据、农村包围城市、最后夺取政权的革命道路。这是对十月革命经验的重大超越。第四，中国革命的特点是以武装的革命反对武装的反革命，但是，如何把一支以农民为主要成分的军队建设成能够履行党赋予的政治使命的新型军队，仍然是一个难题。党初创时期的军队，主要成分为工人纠察队、农军和参加过南昌起义、秋收起义、广州起义等的国民革命军，部队中存在着严重旧式军队的思想、作风和习气。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人紧紧围绕军事与政治的关系、军队与党的关系，确立了“军事只是完成政治任务的工具之一”，“中国的红军是一个执行革命的政治任务的武装集团”，[7](P86)确立了党对军队的领导原则，坚决纠正党内和军队中的极端民主化、非组织观点、绝对平均主义、主观主义、个人主义、流寇思想等非无产阶级思想，用党的先进性保证军队的先进性；紧紧围绕军队与人民的关系，从关切人民群众切身利益的点点滴滴做起，形成了三大纪律八项注意，将其作为军队的军规兵心，建立了军民鱼水关系，使党得以在广大农村开辟革命根据地、抗日根据地，建立人民政权，开展人民战争，军队成为“人民子弟兵”，人民成了军队的坚强靠山和力量源泉，从而把马克思主义的人民军队建设思想中国化时代化，用人民的历史主体性保证了军队的道德崇高性。这是对马克思主义无产阶级军队建设理论的创新发展。第五，回答和解决在一个东方农业国，如何把一个以农民和小资产阶级出身的人为主要成分的党建设成先进的无产阶级政党。根据唯物史观的基本理论，人的社会本质是由他所生活其中的社会关系，特别是生产关系决定的。但是，马克思同时指出“两个决裂”——同“传统的所有制关系”实行最彻底的决裂，同建立在私有制基础上的“传统的观念”实行最彻底的决裂[6](P52)—与共产主义的内在关系。于是，毛泽东率先提出建设先进无产阶级政党的根本思路——思想建党：一是处理好党与马克思主义的关系，通过掌握马克思主义思想武器，树立起共产党人的崇高理想信念；二是处理好党与人民的关系，确立了全心全意为人民服务这一根本宗旨；三是“使党员的思想和党内的生活都政治化，科学化”，[7](P92)通过经常性组织生活锤炼党性。这是对马克思主义政党建设理论的重大发展。有了先进的无产阶级政党——中国共产党，“中国革命的面目就焕然一新了”。[4](P1357)、民情的认识基础上，把马克思主义基本原理与中国具体实际相结合，实现了马克思主义中国化的第一次历史性飞跃，创立了马克思主义中国化的第一个理论形态——毛泽东思想，指导中国共产党和中国人民“实现了中华民族有史以来最为广泛而深刻的社会变革，实现了一穷二白、人口众多的东方大国大步迈进社会主义社会的伟大飞跃”。[5](P14)

In summary, by thoroughly expounding theory amid changes in the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, and enabling students to truly appreciate the profound explanatory power of theory, it is possible to effectively overcome the prejudice that ideological-political courses are mere “preaching,” and to sincerely love the truth.

综上所述，在世情、国情、党情、民情变动中把理论讲透，让学生真切体悟理论的深刻解释力，就能有效克服对思政课的“说教论”偏见，真心实意地热爱真理。

III. Making Theory Vivid through Its Interaction with the World Situation, National Conditions, Party Situation, and Popular Sentiment, So That Students Can Apply What They Have Learned by Recognizing the Guiding Power of Theory

三、在理论与世情、国情、党情、民情的相互作用中把理论讲活，让学生在认识理论的指导力中学以致用

Some university students, to varying degrees, hold the erroneous view that ideological and political theory courses are “useless,” which also affects their attitude toward these courses, even leading to rejection and resistance. In fact, teaching ideological and political theory, like teaching any other theoretical course, can only increase not only the “attendance rate” and “head-raising rate” but also the “nodding rate” in understanding, and thereby ignite students’ theoretical enthusiasm for applying what they have learned, if students truly realize that theory is vivid and useful. The “vividness” of ideological and political theory lies in the fact that it arises from changing reality and serves as a guide for people’s action. The “usefulness” of ideological and political theory is manifested in three aspects: first, its use in cognition, becoming the theoretical basis for students to understand the objective world, the subjective world, and the relationship between the subjective and objective worlds. Second, its use in practice, becoming the theoretical guide for students to transform the objective world, transform the subjective world, and adjust the relationship between the subjective and objective worlds. Third, its use in self-cultivation, becoming the theoretical guide for students’ ability, style, and realm in handling relationships between people and between people and society.

有些大学生程度不同地存在思政课“无用论”的错误认识，这也影响到他们对待思政课的态度，甚至产生排斥抵触情绪。事实上，思政课教学和其他理论课程教学一样，只有让学生真切体悟到理论鲜活有用，才能不仅提高“上课率”“抬头率”，而且提高理解上的“点头率”，进而激发起学生学以致用的理论热情。思想政治理论之“活”，就在于它产生于变化中的现实，是人们行动的指南。思想政治理论之“用”，表现在三个方面：一是认识之用，成为学生认识客观世界、主观世界以及主客观世界关系的理论根据。二是实践之用，成为学生改造客观世界、改造主观世界、调整主客观世界关系的理论遵循。三是修养之用，成为学生处理人与人、人与社会关系的能力、格调、境界的理论指南。

From the perspective of epistemology, the purpose of university ideological and political theory courses is to help students understand and grasp the laws of governance by the Communist Party, the laws of building socialism, and the laws of the development of human society. This is an indispensable top-level theoretical framework for any high-quality, highly responsible talent in contemporary China. Only by understanding and grasping the laws of governance by the Communist Party can one truly understand why the Communist Party is capable; only by understanding and grasping the laws of building socialism can one truly understand why socialism with Chinese characteristics is good; only by understanding and grasping the laws of the development of human society can one truly understand why Marxism works. From the perspective of praxeology, the theories taught in ideological and political theory courses are all theories concerning the governance and rejuvenation of the Communist Party of China, with the purpose of helping students understand how the Communist Party of China fulfills its historical mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people, rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, progress for humanity, and harmony for the world. From the perspective of self-cultivation, not only “Ideological Morality and the Rule of Law” but also other courses play an important role in shaping values and cultivating morality. Ultimately, through correct worldviews, historical views, values, views of civilization, views of democracy, views of freedom, views of life, etc., they guide students to correctly handle the relationship between the individual and the collective, society, the nation, and the state, to cultivate collectivism, patriotism, and internationalism, and to become socialist builders and successors who are well-developed morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise, capable of shouldering the great task of national rejuvenation.

高校思政课，从认识论意义看，其目的是帮助学生理解和把握共产党执政规律、社会主义建设规律、人类社会发展规律。这是当代中国任何一个高素质、大担当人才都不可或缺的顶层理论架构。只有理解和把握共产党执政规律，才能真正明白为什么共产党能；只有理解和把握社会主义建设规律，才能真正明白为什么中国特色社会主义好；只有理解和把握人类社会发展规律，才能真正明白为什么马克思主义行。从实践论意义看，思政课上所讲的理论都是事关中国共产党执政兴国的理论，其目的是帮助学生认识和理解中国共产党如何履行为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴、为人类谋进步、为世界谋大同的历史使命。从修养论意义看，不仅是“思想道德与法治”，其他课程也具有价值观塑造、道德观涵养的重要作用，说到底都要通过正确的世界观、历史观、价值观、文明观、民主观、自由观、人生观等，引导学生正确处理个人与集体、社会、民族、国家的关系，树立集体主义、爱国主义、国际主义，成为担当民族复兴大任的德智体美劳全面发展的社会主义建设者和接班人。

The cognitive and practical utility of ideological and political theory lies in the understanding and transformation of the world situation, national conditions, Party situation, and popular sentiment, and its transformative effect is manifested in the correlative changes of the world situation, national conditions, Party situation, and popular sentiment in a direction that conforms to social development and the aspirations of the people. The “situation” in the world situation, national conditions, Party situation, and popular sentiment refers to the changing trends of their external environment, internal conditions, and the relationship between internal and external factors. Among these, the external environment is the condition for their development and change, the internal conditions are the basis for their development and change, and external conditions act through internal bases. Let us take the “History of Reform and Opening Up” as an example to illustrate.

思想政治理论的认识和实践效用就在于对世情、国情、党情、民情的认识和改造上，其改造效应体现在世情、国情、党情、民情朝着符合社会发展和民心所向的方向发生的关联性变化上。世情、国情、党情、民情之“情”，就是其外部环境、内部状况及其内外关系的变化态势，其中，外部环境是其发展变化的条件，内部状况是其发展变化的根据，外部条件通过内在根据而起作用。我们以“改革开放史”为例予以说明。

After the end of the “Cultural Revolution,” [4]4 “Win without fighting” (不战而胜) is a phrase from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, often used in political discourse to imply achieving victory through non-military means, such as ideological subversion. China was a wasteland awaiting reconstruction. “The main task facing the Party was to continue to explore the correct path for building socialism in China, to liberate and develop the social productive forces, to lift the people out of poverty and make them prosperous as soon as possible, and to provide institutional guarantees full of new vitality and material conditions for rapid development for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P14-15) Our Party, through scientific understanding and response to the world situation, national conditions, Party situation, and popular sentiment, scientifically answered a series of basic questions concerning building socialism with Chinese characteristics, forming “the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, achieving a new leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.” [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P18)

“文化大革命”结束后，我国百废待兴，“党面临的主要任务是，继续探索中国建设社会主义的正确道路，解放和发展社会生产力，使人民摆脱贫困、尽快富裕起来，为实现中华民族伟大复兴提供充满新的活力的体制保证和快速发展的物质条件。”[5](P14-15)我们党通过科学认识和应对世情、国情、党情、民情，科学回答了建设中国特色社会主义的一系列基本问题，形成了“中国特色社会主义理论体系，实现了马克思主义中国化新的飞跃”。[5](P18)

At the beginning of reform and opening up, China’s greatest national condition was the large gap in economic and technological levels compared with developed countries; the greatest Party situation was the deep-rooted ultra-leftist ideology left over from the “Cultural Revolution”; the greatest popular sentiment was that hundreds of millions of people were living in poverty and had not yet fully solved the problem of food and clothing. Looking at the world situation, although the ideological opposition between socialism and capitalism in the East and West persisted, a world war could not be fought in the short term, and peace became the theme; the development gap between the North and South widened, and the Southern countries urgently sought to develop themselves, making development the theme. Therefore, the global, strategic, and fundamental issues of the world at that time were “peace and development.” Through a comprehensive observation and rational reflection on the world situation, national conditions, Party situation, and popular sentiment, Deng Xiaoping, with a political boldness and theoretical courage unimagin

改革开放之初，我国最大的国情是经济、科技水平与发达国家相比差距较大；最大的党情是“文化大革命”留下的极左思想根深蒂固；最大的民情是数亿人的生活较为贫困，还没有完全解决温饱问题。再看看世情，虽然东西方的社会主义与资本主义之间意识形态依然对立，但世界大战短时间打不起来，和平成为主题；南北方国家之间的发展差距拉大，南方国家急切发展自己，发展成为主题。所以，当时世界的全球性、战略性、根本性的问题就是“和平与发展”。通过对世情、国情、党情、民情的全面观察与理性思考，邓小平以常人无法想象的政治气度和理论勇气坦率指出：“社会主义是什么，马克思主义是什么，过去我们并没有完全搞清楚。”[8](P137)他以最朴素的话语告诫全党，“贫穷不是社会主义”，搞社会主义就是要让人民过上好日子；“发展太慢也不是社会主义”，社会主义制度的优越性首先表现为能够创造出比资本主义更高的劳动生产率。以邓小平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人领导全党通过开展“真理标准”大讨论，从如何科学评价毛泽东、毛泽东思想，到什么是马克思主义、怎样对待马克思主义，什么是社会主义、怎样建设社会主义，在理论上实现拨乱反正，从而恢复了党的实事求是思想路线，制定了党在社会主义初级阶段的基本路线，走上改革开放的强国之路。在公有制与非公有制经济、计划经济与市场经济、按劳分配与按生产要素分配、共同富裕与一部人先富起来，乃至社会主义与资本主义的关系等敏感而棘手的问题上，我们不断探索，大胆改革，建立起中国特色社会主义制度体系。对外，我们突破意识形态限制发展国家关系，全面学习借鉴外国的一切先进事物，迈出了开放的步伐。

A reform and opening up of such breadth, depth, and intensity was unprecedented, and therefore difficulties and twists were inevitable. To develop, there were no ideological obstacles at any level; the obstacle lay in how to develop. To become prosperous, all the people yearned for it; the concern lay in how to achieve prosperity. “Bringing in” inevitably meant that the good were mixed with the bad, and at the same time it could give the West an opportunity to “win without fighting.” [4]4 “Win without fighting” (不战而胜) is a phrase from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, often used in political discourse to imply achieving victory through non-military means, such as ideological subversion. “Going out,” as the weaker party, we had to first “integrate with international standards.” What is called “integrating with international standards” mainly meant aligning with the rules of the WTO, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. These so-called “international rules” were all formulated under the dominance of Western developed countries such as the United States and Britain, primarily reflecting their legal will and fundamental interests. Although nominally there was a “principle of non-discrimination,” in reality they contained a strong tendency toward “de-socialistization.” Since China’s opening up, the Western capitalist countries led by the United States have never relaxed their schemes to “Westernize” and “divide” China. “Westernization” is the means; “division” and “weakening” are the ends. Such a world situation had a major impact on China’s national conditions, Party conditions, and popular sentiment. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics came under multiple attacks from domestic ultra-leftist thought, the theory of “wholesale Westernization,” and foreign forces of peaceful evolution, leading to serious political disturbances. [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the This was followed by the Soviet and Eastern European socialist countries changing their banners. [6]6 The reference is to the period around 1989, when the Tian For a time, “the theory of the obsolescence of Marxism,” “the theory of the failure of socialism,” and “the theory of China’s collapse” were clamorously propagated. American and Western politicians believed that the time had come for the complete destruction of socialism and seized the opportunity to frantically sanction China. The path of opening up was severely obstructed; major reform measures had not yet been fully understood and accepted; a “crisis of faith” emerged within the Party; and some people in society fell into spiritual confusion for a time. Such were the world situation, national conditions, Party conditions, and popular sentiment at that time. In this situation, Deng Xiaoping turned the tide, firmly admonishing the entire Party and the Chinese people: “Do not panic, do not think that Marxism has disappeared, is useless, or has failed. There is no such thing!” [8](P383) “There will be more and more people in the world who approve of Marxism, because Marxism is a science.” [8](P382) He firmly believed that without reform and opening up, without developing the economy, and without improving the people’s livelihood, there would be no way out but a dead end. With the theoretical sobriety of an outstanding Marxist, Deng Xiaoping scientifically elucidated a series of basic theses to the entire Party. First, “The essence of socialism is to liberate and develop the productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization, and ultimately achieve common prosperity.” [8](P373) Second, whether our reform is “socialist” or “capitalist” must be evaluated from the relationship between ends and means. “The criterion for judgment should mainly be whether it is conducive to developing the productive forces of a socialist society, whether it is conducive to enhancing the comprehensive national strength of a socialist country, and whether it is conducive to raising the people’s living standards.” [8](P372) Third, whether our reform is right or wrong must be evaluated by the people, taking the people’s support or opposition, their approval or disapproval, their happiness or unhappiness, and their consent or dissent as the starting point and ultimate goal of all work. Fourth, he elucidated for the entire Party the materialist conception of history regarding changes in social formations and the scientific methodology for grasping the general trend of social development. He pointed out: “In the several hundred years during which capitalism replaced feudalism, how many times did dynastic restoration occur? Therefore, in a certain sense, some temporary restoration is also a regular phenomenon that is difficult to completely avoid. Some countries have experienced serious twists and turns; socialism seems to have been weakened, but the people have been tempered, and by absorbing lessons from this, they will promote the development of socialism in a healthier direction.” [8](P383) “We have only been building socialism for a few decades and are still in the primary stage. To consolidate and develop the socialist system will require a very long historical stage, requiring the unremitting efforts of several generations, a dozen generations, or even several dozen generations. We must never take it lightly.” [8](P379-380) All of this vividly embodies the living spirit of historical materialism and scientific socialism. In the historical low ebb of international communism, China’s reform and opening up did not retreat onto the closed and rigid old path, nor did it go astray onto the evil path of wholesale Westernization, but has always unswervingly advanced on the correct path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

具有如此广度、深度、力度的改革开放是前无古人的，因而困难曲折也在所难免。要发展，上上下下都没有思想障碍，障碍在如何发展上；要富裕，全体人民心向往之，顾虑在如何致富上。“引进来”，就难免鱼龙混杂，同时也可能会给西方“不战而胜”的机会。“走出去”，我们作为弱势一方，必须先与“国际接轨”。所谓与“国际接轨”，主要是对接WTO、世界银行、国际货币基金组织的规条，这些所谓的“国际规则”，都是在美英等西方发达国家的主导下制定的，主要体现的是它们的法权意志和根本利益，虽然名义上有“非歧视原则”，实际上内含着强烈的“去社会主义化”倾向。我国开放以来，以美国为首的西方资本主义国家从没有放松“西化”“分化”我国的图谋，“西化”是手段，“分化”“弱化”是目的。这样的世情对我国的国情、党情、民情产生了重大冲击，到上世纪80年代末、90年代初，中国特色社会主义思想受到国内极左思想以及“全盘西化”论、国外和平演变势力的多重打压，出现了严重的政治风波，接着又遭遇苏联东欧社会主义国家改旗易帜，一时间，“马克思主义过时论”“社会主义失败论”“中国崩溃论”甚嚣尘上。美西方政客们以为彻底灭亡社会主义的时机已到，借机疯狂制裁中国。开放之路严重受阻，重大改革举措尚未得到完全理解和认同，党内出现“信仰危机”，社会上有些人一度陷入精神迷茫，这是当时的世情、国情、党情、民情。在这种情况下，邓小平力挽狂澜，坚定地告诫全党和国人：“不要惊慌失措，不要认为马克思主义就消失了，没用了，失败了。哪有这回事!”[8](P383)“世界上赞成马克思主义的人会多起来的，因为马克思主义是科学。”[8](P382)他坚信，不改革开放，不发展经济，不改善人民生活，只能是死路一条。邓小平以一位杰出的马克思主义者的理论清醒，向全党科学阐明了一系列基本论断。第一，“社会主义的本质，是解放生产力，发展生产力，消灭剥削，消除两极分化，最终达到共同富裕。”[8](P373)第二，我们的改革是姓“社”还是姓“资”，必须从目的与手段的关系上来评价，“判断的标准，应该主要看是否有利于发展社会主义社会的生产力，是否有利于增强社会主义国家的综合国力，是否有利于提高人民的生活水平。”[8](P372)第三，我们的改革是对还是错，必须由人民来评价，把人民拥护不拥护、人民赞成不赞成、人民高兴不高兴、人民答应不答应作为各项工作的出发点和归宿。第四，他给全党阐明了社会形态变革的唯物主义历史观和把握社会发展大势的科学方法论，他指出：“资本主义代替封建主义的几百年间，发生过多少次王朝复辟？所以，从一定意义上说，某种暂时复辟也是难以完全避免的规律性现象。一些国家出现严重曲折，社会主义好像被削弱了，但人民经受锻炼，从中吸收教训，将促使社会主义向着更加健康的方向发展。”[8](P383)“我们搞社会主义才几十年，还处在初级阶段。巩固和发展社会主义制度，还需要一个很长的历史阶段，需要我们几代人、十几代人，甚至几十代人坚持不懈地努力奋斗，决不能掉以轻心。”[8](P379—380)所有这些都生动体现了历史唯物主义和科学社会主义活的精神。中国的改革开放在国际共产主义的历史低谷中，没有退回到封闭僵化的老路，也没有迷途到全盘西化的邪路，而是始终坚定不移地前进在中国特色社会主义正路上。

After the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee of the Party, [7] the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Jiang Zemin as their main representative, faced with the test of a very complex world situation, national conditions, Party conditions, and popular sentiment, and severe twists and turns in world socialism, “deepened their understanding of what socialism is and how to build it, and what kind of Party to build and how to build it, forming the important thought of the ‘Three Represents,’” [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P16) using the Party’s epochal advanced nature—representing the development demands of China’s advanced productive forces, representing the forward direction of China’s advanced culture, and representing the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the Chinese people—to ensure the correct direction of socialist reform and opening up. “It established the reform goals and basic framework of the socialist market economy system, established the basic economic system of the primary stage of socialism with public ownership as the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership developing together, and the distribution system with distribution according to work as the mainstay and multiple modes of distribution coexisting, initiated a new situation of comprehensive reform and opening up, advanced the great new project of Party building, and successfully pushed socialism with Chinese characteristics into the twenty-first century.” [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P16) After the 16th National Congress of the Party, [8] along with China’s rapid economic development, resources became strained, the ecological environment deteriorated, and development gaps and income gaps between urban and rural areas, between regions, and between different groups of people widened. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Hu Jintao as their main representative, “profoundly understood and answered major questions such as what kind of development to achieve and how to achieve it under the new situation, forming the Scientific Outlook on Development.” [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P16) Under the guidance of this theory, the Party led the people to seize the important period of strategic opportunity favorable to China, build a socialist harmonious society, advance the construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and promote the construction of the Party’s governance capacity and advanced nature, successfully upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics under the new situation, and China’s international status was greatly enhanced. [9](P150) Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the “Three Represents,” and the Scientific Outlook on Development constitute the second theoretical form of the CPC’s adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context—the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Under the guidance of this theoretical system, the Party led the people on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, through decades of vigorous efforts and arduous struggle, “achieved a historic leap from a state of relatively backward productive forces to becoming the world’s second largest economy, achieved a historic leap in the people’s livelihood from inadequate food and clothing to an overall moderate prosperity and then to a comprehensive moderate prosperity, and advanced the great leap of the Chinese nation from standing up to becoming prosperous.” [5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P22)

党的十三届四中全会后，以江泽民同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，在世情、国情、党情、民情十分复杂、世界社会主义出现严重曲折的考验面前，“加深了对什么是社会主义、怎样建设社会主义和建设什么样的党、怎样建设党的认识，形成了‘三个代表’重要思想”，[5](P16)用党的时代先进性——代表中国先进生产力的发展要求、代表中国先进文化的前进方向、代表中国最广大人民的根本利益——保证了社会主义改革开放的正确方向，“确立了社会主义市场经济体制的改革目标和基本框架，确立了社会主义初级阶段公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展的基本经济制度和按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存的分配制度，开创全面改革开放新局面，推进党的建设新的伟大工程，成功把中国特色社会主义推向二十一世纪”。[5](P16)党的十六大以后，伴随着我国经济的快速发展，资源趋紧，生态环境恶化，城乡之间、地区之间、不同人群之间的发展差距和收入差距扩大，以胡锦涛同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，“深刻认识和回答了新形势下实现什么样的发展、怎样发展等重大问题，形成了科学发展观”。[5](P16)在这一理论的指导下，党领导人民抢抓世情有利于我的重要战略机遇期，建设社会主义和谐社会，推进全面建设小康社会，推进党的执政能力建设和先进性建设，成功在新形势下坚持和发展了中国特色社会主义，我国的国际地位大幅提升。[9](P150)邓小平理论、“三个代表”重要思想、科学发展观构成中国共产党推进马克思主义中国化的第二个理论形态——中国特色社会主义理论体系。在这一理论体系的指导下，党领导人民在中国特色社会主义道路上，经过几十年的励精图治、艰苦奋斗，“实现了从生产力相对落后的状况到经济总量跃居世界第二的历史性突破，实现了人民生活从温饱不足到总体小康、奔向全面小康的历史性跨越，推进了中华民族从站起来到富起来的伟大飞跃”。[5](P22)

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era. “The main task facing the Party was to realize the First Centenary Goal, embark on the new journey toward realizing the Second Centenary Goal, and continue advancing toward the grand goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”[5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P23) The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative, have adhered to integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, establishing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and achieving a new leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has coordinated the overall strategic layout of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the changes unseen in a century in the world, taken overall command of the great struggle, the great project, the great cause, and the great dream, led the great social revolution through the Party’s great self-revolution, secured a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and comprehensively built a modern socialist country, “achieving historic accomplishments and undergoing historic transformations in the cause of the Party and the state.”[5]5 “Political disturbances” (政治风波) refers to the(P27) China’s rapid and stable development has aroused increasingly severe anxiety and panic in the US and Western countries. Beginning with the Trump administration, the United States completely tore off the hypocritical veil of the Western world, comprehensively containing China’s development, disregarding the basic norms of the world market and international conduct, and using every means to encircle and suppress China’s economy, trade, and high-tech enterprises. However, this time the impact of changes in the world situation on China’s national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment is completely different from that around 1989. [6]6 The reference is to the period around 1989, when the Tian First, the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and others have banned the sale of high-end chips and lithography machines to China, fully exposing the hypocrisy of their principles of market freedom and fairness. The US and Europe have long played the “carbon emission card,” both to contain China’s development and to promote their own environmental technologies and products. Yet, when China’s new energy vehicles took the lead globally, the US Environmental Protection Agency acted against the trend, publishing its latest “research findings” to argue that electric vehicles emit more toxic gases than fuel vehicles, and major US, European, and Japanese automakers have also proposed returning to the old path of continuing to develop fuel vehicles, fully exposing the politicization of scientific issues and their hypocrisy on environmental issues. The US, together with the UK, France, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Canada, and Australia, has formulated common principles for the research and development of 6G wireless communication systems, while excluding China, which is at the forefront of 5G and 6G, allowing people to fully recognize their narrow-mindedness in the face of “scientific spirit.” The “double standards” of the US and the West in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Palestine conflict have made the international community thoroughly recognize the deceptiveness of their so-called “rules-based international order” and “humanitarian intervention,” and so on. All these hard facts have awakened many people from their traditional cognition of admiring the West, making them truly recognize the selfishness and hypocrisy of Western civilization. Second, under the West’s encirclement and suppression, China has abandoned all illusions. Far from collapsing, it has instead become stronger. China’s leading high-end technologies in the world are constantly innovating, the technical difficulties of “bottleneck” issues are gradually being overcome, and the accelerated development of new quality productive forces has made the West initially taste the “backlash” of sanctioning China, leaving the “public intellectuals” who speak for Western culture speechless. As a result, loving the country, supporting socialism, and embracing the CPC have become the main themes among contemporary Chinese youth.

党的十八大以来，中国特色社会主义进入新时代。“党面临的主要任务是，实现第一个百年奋斗目标，开启实现第二个百年奋斗目标新征程，朝着实现中华民族伟大复兴的宏伟目标继续前进。”[5](P23)以习近平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，坚持把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，创立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，实现了马克思主义中国化时代化新的飞跃。以习近平同志为核心的党中央，统筹把握中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局，统揽伟大斗争、伟大工程、伟大事业、伟大梦想，以党的伟大自我革命引领伟大社会革命，决胜全面建成小康社会，全面建设社会主义现代化国家，“党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革”。[5](P27)中国快速平稳的发展引起了美西方国家日益严重的焦虑和恐慌，美国从特朗普政府开始，彻底撕去了西方世界的虚伪面纱，全面遏制中国发展，不顾世界市场和国际行为的基本准则，不择手段地对中国的经济、贸易和高科技企业围堵打压。但是，这一次与1989年前后的世情变化对我国国情、党情、民情的影响完全不同了。第一，美国、欧洲、日本、韩国等禁售中国高端芯片、光刻机等，充分暴露了它们的市场自由、公正原则的虚伪性；美欧长期打“碳排放牌”，既为遏制中国发展，也为推销它们的环保技术和产品，可是，当中国的新能源汽车领先于世界时，美国环保局却倒行逆施，发表最新“研究成果”，论证电动汽车比油车更容易排放有毒气体，美欧日的大牌车企也纷纷提出走继续开发燃油车的老路，充分暴露了它们科技问题政治化以及环保问题上的虚伪性；美国联合英国、法国、日本、韩国、瑞典、芬兰、捷克、加拿大、澳大利亚，就6G无线通信系统的研究和发展制定共同原则，而将在5G、6G上走在世界前列的中国排除在外，让人们充分认清了它们在“科学精神”面前的狭隘性；美西方在俄乌冲突、巴以冲突中的“双标”做法，让国际社会彻底认清它们所谓的“基于规则的国际秩序”“人道主义干预”的欺骗性，如此等等。所有这些铁的事实，让很多人从崇尚西方的传统认知中清醒过来，切实认识到西方文明的利己性、虚伪性。第二，中国在西方的围堵打压下丢掉了一切幻想，非但没有垮下，反而更加强大，中国领先于世界的高端科技不断创新，“卡脖子”的技术难点正在逐渐被攻克，加快发展新质生产力，让西方初步尝到了制裁中国的“反噬”苦果，让那些为西方文化代言的“公知”们无言以对。由此，热爱国家、拥护社会主义、拥戴中国共产党成为当代中国青年的主旋律。

In summary, by making ideological-political courses lively through the interaction of theory with the world situation, national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment, and enabling students to fully recognize the practical guiding power of theory, we can effectively overcome students’ misunderstanding and prejudice of the “uselessness of ideological-political courses,” thereby stimulating students’ practical enthusiasm for practicing the truth.

综上所述，在理论与世情、国情、党情、民情的相互作用中讲活思政课，让学生充分认识理论的实践指导力，就能有效克服学生的“思政课无用论”的误解和偏见，从而激发起学生践行真理的实践热情。

In a word, the mutual response and complementarity of the world situation with national conditions, Party circumstances, and popular sentiment constitute the vivid dynamics of the interaction between a major country like China and the world. The Party’s theory advancing with the times and China’s rapid development are the source of wisdom and the confidence in educating for ideological-political course teachers, and the living water for ideological-political courses to be both “well-received” and “popular.” As Xi Jinping said: “Domestic and international situations and the tasks of the Party and the state change and develop relatively quickly; the teaching content of ideological-political courses must keep up with the times. Only through continuous lesson preparation and constant renewal can good teaching results be achieved.”[1]1 The “Outline of Modern Chinese History,” “History of the People’s Republic of China,” “History of Reform and Opening Up,” “A Concise History of the Communist Party of China,” and “History of Socialist Development” are required courses in China’s college ideological and political education curriculum, collectively covering China’s modern history, the history of the People’s Republic, the reform era, the Party’s history, and the global history of socialism. [2] Hegel’s “great historical sense” (der große historische Sinn) refers to his concept of grasping history as a coherent, developmental process, as discussed in his lectures on the philosophy of history.

总而言之，世情与国情、党情、民情的因应相成，是中国这样的大国与世界互动的生动气象，党的理论与时俱进与中国发展的日新月异，是思政课教师的智慧源泉和育人底气，是思政课“叫好”又“叫座”的源头活水。正如习近平所说：“国内外形势、党和国家工作任务发展变化较快，思政课教学内容要跟上时代，只有不断备课、常讲常新才能取得较好教学效果。”[1]

(Author’s bio: He Wei, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Distinguished Research Fellow of the Jiangsu Provincial Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

（作者简介：何畏，南京航空航天大学马克思主义学院教授、博士生导师，江苏省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心