Why “The Influence of Culture Is First and Foremost the Influence of Values”

“When culture thrives, the nation thrives; when culture is strong, the nation is strong.” General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “Values play a pivotal role in the culture of a given society, and the influence of culture is first and foremost the influence of values.”[1]1 A classical allusion from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, advocating the ideal of achieving victory through strategic superiority rather than direct military confrontation. This “core values” refers to the core socialist values, whose main content is prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendship. The crux of the issue lies in how, within the contemporary “cultural landscape” where ideas contend with each other, content encompasses everything, forms are diverse and pluralistic, and the ecology is complex and tangled, the core values shape cultural influence. Consideration and analysis of this question must be situated within four common cultural states: cultural creation, cultural charm, cultural exchange, and cultural infiltration.

“文化兴国运兴,文化强民族强”。习近平总书记指出，“价值观念在一定社会的文化中是起中轴作用的，文化的影响力首先是价值观念的影响力”[1]。这一“核心价值观”，即以富强、民主、文明、和谐、自由、平等、公正、法治、爱国、敬业、诚信、友善为主要内容的社会主义核心价值观。问题的关键在于，在思想相互激荡、内容包罗万象、形态多元多样、生态纷繁复杂的当代“文化图景”中，核心价值观如何塑造了文化影响力呢？对这一问题的考量与分析，需置放于文化创作、文化魅力、文化交流、文化渗透四种常有文化状态。

First, the core socialist values are “a banner” guiding cultural creation.

第一，社会主义核心价值观是指引文化创作的“一面旗帜”

“How can the channel be so clear? Because there is a source of living water from which it flows.” [2]2 A four-character idiom-like couplet used by Xi Jinping to express the close bond between cultural vitality and national destiny. Innovation and creation are the lifeblood of culture and the foundation of cultural construction. Cultural creation that keeps pace with the times is the living source that enables the long river of human culture to always carry forward the legacy and open up the future, surging onward. Clarifying the question of “for whom” is the primary and principled issue of cultural creation, and the fundamental question that answers “which path to take” in cultural construction. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly states, “Socialist literature and art are, in essence, the literature and art of the people.” The essence of socialist culture determines that it must take reflecting the spirit of the times as its sacred mission and reflecting the needs of the people as its fundamental task. The core socialist values are the concentrated expression of the contemporary Chinese spirit, the greatest common denominator of the values of the people of the whole country, the essential embodiment of socialist ideology, and they determine the fundamental nature, basic temperament, and deep meaning of socialist cultural creation. Taking the core socialist values as the “banner” guiding cultural creation means solving the question of orientation in cultural creation and preventing deviations in the fundamental issues of “for whom” and “which path to take” in cultural construction. That is to say, cultural creators must hold high the banner of the core socialist values, always adhere to the people’s standpoint and the socialist direction, vividly and lively embody the contemporary Chinese spirit in cultural works, and use the unique thoughts, emotions, and aesthetics of the Chinese people to present the image of a great Eastern country with clean politics, economic development, cultural prosperity, social stability, national unity, and beautiful mountains and rivers.

“问渠那得清如许,为有源头活水来。”创新创作，是文化的生命，是文化建设的根本。与时同频的文化创作，就是人类文化长河始终能够继往开来、滔滔向前的源头活水。而明确“为什么人”的问题，则是文化创作的首要的、原则的问题，是回答文化建设“走什么路”的根本问题。对此，习近平总书记旗帜鲜明地指出，“社会主义文艺，从本质上讲，就是人民的文艺”。社会主义文化的本质决定了它必须以反映时代精神为神圣使命，反映人民需求为根本任务。社会主义核心价值观，是当代中国精神的集中呈现，是全国人民价值观念的最大公约数，是社会主义意识形态的本质体现，决定着社会主义文化创作的根本性质、基本气质与深层意义。把社会主义核心价值观作为指引文化创作的“旗帜”，就是要解决文化创作的导向问题，防止文化建设在“为什么人”“走什么路”的根本问题上发生偏差。这就是说，文化创作者要高扬社会主义核心价值观的旗帜，始终坚持人民立场和社会主义方向，把当代中国精神生动活泼、活灵活现地体现在文化作品之中，用中国人独特的思想、情感、审美去展现政治清明、经济发展、文化繁荣、社会稳定、人民团结、山河秀美的东方大国形象。

Second, the core socialist values are “a fixed star” that manifests cultural charm.

第二，社会主义核心价值观是彰显文化魅力的“一颗恒星”

“Fulfillment is called beauty; being fulfilled and radiant is called greatness.” (Mencius, Jinxin, Part II) [3] Since reform and opening up, culture has become an important vehicle for telling the “story of spring,” producing a large number of outstanding works that possess both “the beauty of fulfillment” and “the greatness of radiance.” For example, the national opera On the Road to Poverty Alleviation, with its distinct Chinese style and manner, the epic tableau The Great Journey, the TV series The Age of Awakening, and the film The Battle at Lake Changjin all embody contemporary values such as prosperity, patriotism, and dedication. These values are like “a fixed star,” “illuminating” the works themselves and determining their weight. At the same time, conversely, some cultural products have gradually succumbed to the logic of capital and economic efficiency, seeking novelty and sensationalism, blindly pandering to vulgar tastes, and indulging in lowbrow interests to increase highlights and selling points, turning works into “cash cows” for chasing profits, losing their direction and charm in the waves of the market economy. If ideals and convictions are the “calcium for the spirit” of Communists, then the core values are the “calcium for the spirit” of socialist culture. As General Secretary Xi Jinping states, “For literature and art, thought and values are the soul; all forms of expression are vehicles for conveying certain thoughts and values. Without certain thoughts and values, no matter how rich and diverse the forms of expression, they are pale and powerless.”[4] The reason culture can function to “establish a heart for the nation and a soul for the people” is precisely because it contains certain values that aspire upward and encourage goodness, thereby depicting the times, praising the light, and expressing ideals, capable of touching emotions, reaching the soul, and inspiring strength invisibly, thus manifesting its own charm while meeting people’s spiritual needs. “Whoever creates works that can be passed down through the ages must first have a heart that can be passed down through the ages.”[5] Embedding the core socialist values into every link of cultural development and enhancing the appeal and influence of culture is the “secret” to strengthening its bones and muscles and maintaining its eternal charm.

“充实之谓美，充实而有光辉之谓大。”（《孟子·尽心下》）改革开放以来，文化成为讲述“春天的故事”的重要载体，产生了大量既有“充实之美”又有“光辉之大”的优秀作品。例如，具有鲜明中国风格和中国气派的民族歌剧《扶贫路上》、情景史诗《伟大征程》、电视剧《觉醒年代》、电影《长津湖》等，内蕴了富强、爱国、敬业等当代价值观念。这些价值观念犹如“一颗恒星”，“点亮”了作品本身且决定了作品的分量。同时，与之相反的是，也有部分文化产品逐渐屈从于资本逻辑和经济效益，为了增加亮点、卖点而搜奇猎艳、一味媚俗、低级趣味，把作品当作追逐利益的“摇钱树”，在市场经济浪潮中迷失方向、丧失魅力。如果说理想信念是共产党人的“精神之钙”，那么，核心价值观就是社会主义文化的“精神之钙”。正如习近平总书记所言，“对文艺来讲，思想和价值观念是灵魂，一切表现形式都是表达一定思想和价值观念的载体。离开了一定思想和价值观念，再丰富多样的表现形式也是苍白无力的”[2]。文化之所以能发挥“为国家立心、为民族立魂”的功用，正是因为它蕴含了某种向上向善的价值观，以此抒写时代、歌颂光明、抒发理想，能够于无形中打动情感、触及心灵、激发力量，从而在满足人们精神需求的同时彰显自身魅力。“凡作传世之文者，必先有可以传世之心。”[3]把社会主义核心价值观嵌入文化发展的各个环节，增强文化的感召力、影响力，是其能够强筋健骨、永葆魅力的“秘诀”所在。

Third, the core socialist values are “a central axis” promoting cultural exchange.

第三，社会主义核心价值观是推进文化交流的“一根中轴”

“Civilizations become colorful through exchange, and civilizations become enriched through mutual learning.”[6] Exchange and mutual learning are inevitable requirements of the diversity and openness of world cultures. Today, “zero-distance” contact, exchange, and integration among the cultures of different ethnic groups occur every moment. Cultural exchange is two-way. On the one hand, we learn from foreign literary and artistic achievements such as academic theories, modern novels, ballet, orchestral music, oil painting, film, and drama, hoping to prosper socialist culture through the integration of Chinese and Western elements and pioneering innovation. On the other hand, the international community is paying increasing attention to China, learning about China through Peking opera, folk music, calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, and cuisine, and using Chinese-themed films like Kung Fu Panda and Mulan to enrich cultural creation materials. It can be said that today, different civilizations in the world are already “intertwined, with you in me and me in you.” These absorbed “foreign cultures,” after being digested by the “stomach” of national culture, become new content and new forms of national culture, reflected in politics, religion, literature and art, and even ideology, becoming a kind of “soft power

“文明因交流而多彩,文明因互鉴而丰富。”[4]交流互鉴，是世界文化多样性、开放性的必然要求。今天，不同民族的文化“零距离”接触、交流、交融每时每刻都在发生。文化交流是双向的，一方面，我们学习国外的学术理论、现代小说、芭蕾舞、管弦乐、油画、电影、话剧等文学艺术成果，以期在中西合璧、开拓创新中繁荣社会主义文化；另一方面，国际社会对中国的关注度越来越高，通过京剧、民乐、书法、国画、饮食等方式来了解中国，运用《功夫熊猫》《花木兰》等中国题材电影来丰富文化创作素材。可以说，今天世界上不同文明之间已经是“你中有我、我中有你”，这些被吸收的“异文化”，经过民族文化之“胃”消化后成为民族文化的新内容、新形态，并从政治、宗教、文艺甚至意识形态等方面反映出来，成为一种“软实力”。习近平总书记指出，“一个国家的文化软实力，从根本上说，取决于其核心价值观的生命力、凝聚力、感召力”[5]。社会主义核心价值观，是中华民族特有的精神旗帜，是阐释中华民族禀赋、中华民族特点、中华民族精神的关键所在。以社会主义核心价值观为“中轴”，一是在文化交流过程中有所依循、知所趋止的定力所在，如此才能讲好中国故事、传播好中国声音、阐释好中国特色；二是在文化交流中分清主流与支流、精华与糟粕的标准所在，如此才能真正做到择善而用、美美与共、和而不同。

Fourth, the core socialist values are a "line of defense" against cultural infiltration.

第四，社会主义核心价值观是抵御文化渗透的“一道防线”

“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” (The Art of War, “Planning an Attack”) [1]1 A classical allusion from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, advocating the ideal of achieving victory through strategic superiority rather than direct military confrontation. Cultural exchange needs to be advanced, but cultural infiltration needs to be guarded against. Today, people’s understanding of culture has already far exceeded its narrow original definition. Culture is organically linked to economy, politics, human rights, democracy, ecology, war, and the rise and fall of nations, and has even gradually been used to replace the original objects of discourse in these contexts. If a nation or a country does not have its own core values to adhere to at the core of its culture, then its independence in political, economic, institutional, and other aspects will be undermined at the foundation, and it may even fall into the mistaken path of “worshipping the West,” “taking the West as beautiful,” and “only following the West,” and will be unable to stand firm in the world’s cultural hot war. What needs even greater vigilance is that, for a long time, Western capitalist countries have clung to the biases of “cultural centrism” and “clash of civilizations,” using a vast “cultural arsenal” of the internet, film and television, publications, books, conferences, academia, fashion, awards, and so on to obtain high economic profits while simultaneously carrying out cultural infiltration and value dumping, with the intention of achieving the goal of “subduing the enemy without fighting.” This kind of cultural infiltration does not contain advanced knowledge content or intellectual wisdom; it merely serves the interests of Western hegemonic politics and becomes a “cancer” threatening our cultural security. Under such circumstances, if one does not have core values or lacks confidence in one’s own core values, one cannot resist external value infiltration and will ultimately be defeated in the confrontation of values. From this perspective, cultivating and promoting the core socialist values and building a solid ideological “defense line” to resist cultural infiltration concerns not only cultural security itself but also the rise and fall of political power, the safety and well-being of the people, and the long-term stability of the country; it is a deep-seated barrier to national security.

“不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。”（《孙子兵法·谋攻》）文化交流需要推进，但文化渗透需要防范。今天，人们对文化的认知已经远远超越狭窄的原初定义。文化与经济、政治、人权、民主、生态、战争以及民族兴衰等有机关联起来，甚至逐渐被用来取代这些语境中原有的言说对象。一个民族、一个国家如果在文化内核上没有自己坚守的核心价值观，那在政治、经济、制度等方面的独立性就会被釜底抽薪，甚至陷入“以洋为尊”“以洋为美”“唯洋是从”的误区，就不能在世界文化热战中站稳脚跟。更需要警惕的是，长期以来，西方资本主义国家执守“文化中心”“文明冲突”的偏见，利用网络、影视、刊物、图书、会议、学术、时装、奖项等庞大“文化武器库”获取高额经济利润的同时进行文化渗透和价值倾销，意图达到“不战而屈人之兵”之目的。这种文化渗透，并没有先进的知识含量或思想智慧，而仅是符合西方霸权政治的利益诉求，成为威胁我国文化安全的“毒瘤”。如此境况下，若没有或是不自信自己的核心价值观，就无法抵挡外来的价值渗透，最终只能在价值观的对抗中败下阵来。从这个角度看，培育和弘扬社会主义核心价值观，筑牢抵御文化安全的思想“防线”，不仅仅关涉到文化安全本身，更关系政权的兴亡更替、人民的安危祸福、国家的长治久安，是国家安全的深层屏障。

“The fortunes of culture are intertwined with the fortunes of the nation; the threads of culture are connected with the threads of the nation.” [2]2 A four-character idiom-like couplet used by Xi Jinping to express the close bond between cultural vitality and national destiny. In cultural construction, the first priority is to forge the soul. The soul of socialist cultural construction is the core socialist values. Actively cultivate and practice the core socialist values, so that they play the role of a “banner” in guiding cultural creation, the role of a “fixed star” in highlighting cultural charm, the role of an “axis” in advancing cultural exchange, and the role of a “defense line” in resisting cultural infiltration. Only in this way can we always stand out and excel in today’s cultural hot war, and can we ride the wind and waves and lead the way forward on the era’s journey of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

“文运同国运相牵，文脉同国脉相连。”文化建设，首在铸魂。社会主义文化建设之魂，即社会主义核心价值观。积极培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，使之在指导文化创作中发挥好“旗帜”作用、在彰显文化魅力中发挥好“恒星”作用，在推进文化交往中发挥好“中轴”作用、在抵御文化渗透中发挥好“防线”作用。唯有此，才能在今天的文化热战中始终独树一帜、脱颖而出，才能在中华民族伟大复兴的时代征程中乘风破浪、领航向前。

[About the author: Chen Na, Doctor of Ideological and Political Education, Associate Professor and Master’s Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Chongqing University, Director of the Teaching and Research Office for the Undergraduate Major in Marxist Theory.]

【作者简介：陈娜，思想政治教育博士，重庆大学马克思主义学院副教授，硕士生导师，马克思主义理论本科专业教研室主任。】

References:

参考文献：

[1]1 A classical allusion from Sun Tzu’s *The Art of War*, advocating the ideal of achieving victory through strategic superiority rather than direct military confrontation. *Excerpts from Xi Jinping’s Discussion on a Holistic Approach to National Security*, Central Party Literature Press, 2018 edition, p. 106.

[1] 《习近平关于总体国家安全观论述摘编》，中央文献出版社2018年版，第106页。

[2]2 A four-character idiom-like couplet used by Xi Jinping to express the close bond between cultural vitality and national destiny. *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Vol. 2, Foreign Languages Press, 2017 edition, p. 351.

[2] 《习近平谈治国理政》第2卷，外文出版社2017年版，第351页。

[3] Xi Jinping: *Speech at the Forum on Literature and Art Work*, People’s Publishing House, 2015 edition, p. 23.

[3] 习近平：《在文艺工作座谈会上的讲话》，人民出版社2015年版，第23页。

[4] *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Foreign Languages Press, 2014 edition, p. 258.

[4] 《习近平谈治国理政》，外文出版社2014年版，第258页。

[5] *Excerpts from Xi Jinping’s Discussion on Socialist Cultural Construction*, Central Party Literature Press, 2017 edition, p. 204.

[5] 《习近平关于社会主义文化建设论述摘编》，中央文献出版社2017年版，第204页。

Online editor: Huihui

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