The Implications of Consolidating Cultural Subjectivity for Values Education

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “For any culture to stand firm, go far, and have leading power, cohesive power, shaping power, and radiating power, it must have its own subjectivity.” Consolidating cultural subjectivity helps to master the leading power in the process of cultural inheritance and development, and is crucial for enhancing the country’s cultural soft power. As an educational practice that transmits the achievements of human culture, values education not only draws educational resources from fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture, but also plays an irreplaceable role in enhancing individual cultural literacy, creating a social cultural atmosphere, and serving national cultural construction. The goals, content, and methods of values education all embody unique cultural attributes. To consolidate cultural subjectivity, what mission values education should undertake and how it should undertake that mission are questions that must be considered to promote the innovative development of values education in the New Era.

习近平总书记指出：“任何文化要立得住、行得远，要有引领力、凝聚力、塑造力、辐射力，就必须有自己的主体性。”巩固文化主体性有助于在文化传承与发展的过程中掌握主导权，对于提升国家文化软实力至关重要。作为一项传递人类文化成果的教育实践活动，价值观教育不仅从中华优秀传统文化、革命文化和社会主义先进文化中汲取教育资源，也在增强个体文化素养、营造社会文化氛围和服务国家文化建设等方面发挥不可替代的作用。价值观教育的目标、内容、方法无不体现了独特的文化属性。巩固文化主体性，价值观教育应担负怎样的使命以及如何担负其使命，是推动新时代价值观教育创新发展必须思考的问题。

I. The Basic Connotation of Cultural Subjectivity

一、文化主体性的基本内涵

Culture is the human world processed and created by humans to meet their needs for survival and reproduction; it encompasses all the material and spiritual wealth formed by humanity in the course of long-term development. Culture is specific to humans; humans “have ‘self-knowledge’ of their culture, understanding its origins, its process of formation, its characteristics, and its development trends,” and “strengthen the autonomous capacity for cultural transformation, gaining the autonomous position to decide on cultural choices that adapt to the new environment and the New Era” — this is the subjective consciousness and confidence in culture. Culture contains all the cognitive systems and behavioral models accumulated and shared by human society. Therefore, we must first reveal the hierarchical structure of culture, and then analyze its subjectivity.

文化是人类加工创造出来满足其生存和繁衍所需的人文世界，它涵盖人类在长期发展中形成的各种物质与精神财富。文化是属人的，人“对其文化有‘自知之明’，明白它的来历、形成过程、所具有的特色和它的发展趋向”，“加强对文化转型的自主能力，取得决定适应新环境、新时代文化选择的自主地位”，就是对文化的主体自觉和自信。文化内含人类社会积累和共享的所有认知体系和行为模式，因此，我们必须先揭示文化的层次结构，进而对其主体性加以分析。

1. Culture and Its Structure

1.文化及其结构

In the philosophical context, “culture” is the way humans create meaning and communicate experience. “Symbolic thought and symbolic behavior are among the most representative characteristics of human life,” and culture is precisely the symbolic system of the interaction between humans and the external world. The narrow concept of culture mainly refers to the part of human behavior that involves spiritual activity, “including knowledge, belief, art, morality, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” as a composite whole. [1]1 This is a quotation from the definition of culture by the British anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in his 1871 work *Primitive Culture*. The broad concept of culture represents the entire way of life of any society; “every individual’s existence is a cultural existence.” Culture is transmitted across generations through the process of socialization, integrating members of society who share a set of ideas and norms. Psychology holds that culture has a significant impact on human cognition, emotion, and behavior. It shapes the way people think to understand the world around them, regulates people’s emotional experiences when facing external stimuli, and provides the basis for setting social roles and behavioral norms for individuals and collectives and for establishing identity. Some scholars have proposed a vivid metaphor for the basic structure of culture, likening culture to a large tree with roots, trunk, and branches and leaves; the external cultural forms people see are the branches and leaves, while the unseen roots are the inner quality of culture. As a whole, culture has different levels and elements, and there are complex relationships among them. We can divide culture into three parts: the hard-core structure, the middle-level structure, and the outer-ring structure.

“文化”在哲学语境中，它是人类创造意义和沟通经验的方式。“符号化的思维和符号化的行为是人类生活中最富于代表性的特征”，文化正是人类与外部世界相互作用的符号系统。狭义的文化概念主要指人类行为中精神活动的部分，“包括了知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、习俗以及人们作为一个社会成员所习得的能力和习惯在内的复合整体”。广义的文化概念代表了任何社会的全部生活方式，“每个人的存在都是文化的存在”。文化通过社会化的过程进行代际传承，将共享一套观念和规范的社会成员整合在一起。心理学认为，文化对人的认知、情感和行为都有重要影响。它塑造人理解周围世界的思维方式，调节人在面对外部刺激时的情感体验，为个人和集体设定社会角色和行为规范、建立身份认同提供依据。有学者对文化的基本架构提出了形象的比喻，认为文化像一棵大树，有根茎、树干和枝叶，人们所看到的外在文化形式是枝叶，看不到的根部是文化的内在质。文化作为一个整体，具有不同的层次和要素，它们之间有着复杂的关系。我们可以将文化分为硬核结构、中层结构和外圈结构三个部分。

The hard-core structure is the most basic element of the cultural system; it defines the particularity that distinguishes one culture from others. In the process of cultural change, the hard-core structure is rooted in the soil from which culture arises, and no storm of any era can easily shake it. The hard-core structure dominates the other levels of culture, shaping the spiritual world of all members belonging to that culture. Although the hard-core structure is extremely stable, external influences may also penetrate through the outer-ring structure and the middle-level structure to the core, thereby causing overall changes in the cultural structure. For every culture, its hard-core structure is its core values, “the deepest-level element that determines the nature and direction of culture.” As the “center” of culture, core values provide the fundamental guidance for culture and its members to understand and interpret the world. All the specific cultural forms created by humans in cultural practice are, in their origin, derivatives of core values in specific fields. Core values have both high stability and strong adaptability, providing inexhaustible spiritual motivation for the inheritance and development of culture. Core values are also an important marker of cultural differences and cultural characteristics; different core values reflect the diversity of cultures and lay the conceptual foundation for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

硬核结构是文化系统中最基本的要素，它定义了一种文化区别于其他文化的特殊性。在文化变迁的过程中，硬核结构植根于文化产生的土壤，任何时代风雨都难将其撼动。硬核结构主导着文化的其他层次，塑造了属于该种文化的全部成员的精神世界。尽管硬核结构极为稳定，但外在影响也可能通过外圈结构、中层结构渗透至内核，进而引起文化结构的整体性变动。对于每一种文化而言，其硬核结构就是核心价值观，“是决定文化性质和方向的最深层次要素”。作为文化的“圆心”，核心价值观为文化及其所属成员提供了认识和解释世界的根本指引。人类在文化实践中创造的各种具体文化形式，究其本源，都是核心价值观在特定领域的衍生物。核心价值观既有高度的稳定性，也有强大的适应力，能为文化的传承和发展提供不竭的精神动力。核心价值观也是体现文化差异与文化特色的重要标志，不同的核心价值观反映了文化的多样性，为文明交流互鉴奠定观念基础。

The middle-level structure lies between the hard-core structure and the outer-ring structure of culture. Fei Xiaotong believed that the subsystems of culture are in a process of dynamic equilibrium, with subtle coordination among the parts, and it is only within this coordination that the function of each part exists. [2]2 Fei Xiaotong (1910–2005) was a pioneering Chinese sociologist and anthropologist. The middle-level structure plays an important role in connecting the cultural core and the surface structure. The middle-level structure of culture can be divided into two parts, internal and external. Closer to the center are elements of concepts and norms such as emotion, will, character, and language, institutions, and habits. They have a certain similarity to the cultural core, being able both to unite members belonging to the same culture and to distinguish them from other cultural groups, constituting the relatively stable psychological state and spiritual temperament of cultural members. The other part of the middle-level structure consists of specific cultural forms and cultural phenomena formed in fields such as morality, politics, and art through further cultural production of these elements, which are closest to what people generally refer to when using the word “culture.” They are products of humans transforming the subjective and objective worlds in practice, exhibiting characteristics of being knowledge-based and systematized, and can have a more direct impact on social life. Generally speaking, the middle-level structure is like an adhesive permeating the entire culture; it is the “passageway” through which the hard-core structure exerts its leading role outward, and also the intermediary through which the outer-ring structure takes root inward and transforms inward.

中层结构介于文化的硬核结构与外圈结构之间。费孝通认为，文化的子系统处在动态平衡的过程中，各部分间有微妙的搭配，只有在这搭配里才有各部分的功能。中层结构发挥着连接文化内核与表层结构的重要作用。文化的中层结构可分为内外两个部分。更靠近圆心的，是情感、意志、品格以及语言、制度、惯习等观念和规范要素。它们与文化内核具有一定的相似性，既能将归属于同一文化的成员凝聚在一起，又能将之与其他文化群体区别开来，构成文化成员相对稳定的心理状态与精神气质。中层结构的另一个部分，是这些要素经过进一步的文化生产，在道德、政治、艺术等领域形成的具体文化形式和文化现象，与人们一般使用“文化”一词所指代的内容最为接近。它们是人在实践中改造主观世界与客观世界的产物，呈现知识化、体系化的特征，能够对社会生活产生更直接的影响。总体上讲，中层结构就像渗透在整个文化中的黏合剂，它是硬核结构向外发挥引领作用的“甬道”，也是外圈结构向内扎根、向内转化的中介。

The outer-ring structure is the most easily observable and perceptible part of culture, the direct manifestation of the hard-core structure and the middle-level structure at the material level. People’s overall grasp of the cultural structure always begins with its outer ring. Compared with the unified and stable psychological impression formed of the cultural core, people’s perceptions of the outer-ring structure vary and are in a constant state of change. The outer-ring structure is like the cell wall of a plant, a barrier for a particular culture to exchange matter with the external world. It is at the forefront of cross-cultural communication, displaying the actual image of a culture externally, and serving as an interface for promoting cultural dissemination. Therefore, the impact caused by the external environment or other cultures always first triggers changes in the outer-ring structure, and then influences the middle-level structure and even the hard-core structure. At the edge of the outer-ring structure, there also exist various emerging cultures and subcultures. Emerging cultures are cultural types relative to traditional content and form, products of the direct contact between rapidly changing external factors and the original cultural structure, characterized by strong interactivity and fast dissemination. Subcultures are partial cultures produced by some cultural members based on their own interests and demands. They emphasize the individuality and diversity of culture and are a means of self-expression used by specific groups. To maintain the stability and order of the cultural structure and fully exert the leading and radiating role of the cultural core, the dynamics and development trends of the outer-ring structure must not be ignored.

外圈结构是文化中最易被观察、被感知的部分，是硬核结构、中层结构在器物层面的直接表现。人们对文化结构的整体把握，总是从其外圈开始的。相较于对文化内核所形成的统一、稳定的心理印象，人们对外圈结构的认知各不相同，并处在不断变化的过程中。外圈结构如同植物的细胞壁，是某一文化与外部世界进行物质交换的屏障。它处在跨文化交流的前沿，对外展示一种文化的实际形象，是促进文化传播的接口。因此，外部环境或其他文化所造成的影响，也总是先引发外圈结构的变动，进而对中层结构乃至硬核结构产生影响。在外圈结构的边缘，还存在各种新兴文化和亚文化。新兴文化是相对于传统内容和形式而言的文化类型，是瞬息万变的外部因素与原有的文化结构直接接触的产物，具有互动性强、传播速度快的特征。亚文化是部分文化成员基于自身利益诉求生产的局部性文化。它强调文化的个性与多样性，是特定群体用于自我表达的方式。若要保持文化结构的稳定有序，充分发挥文化内核的引领和辐射作用，决不能忽视外圈结构的变化动态与发展趋势。

2. What Is “Cultural Subjectivity”

2.何谓“文化主体性”

Subjectivity is a philosophical concept related to self-consciousness and subjective initiative; it reflects the capacity of humans as the center of perception, experience, thought, and action. Connecting the connotation and structure of culture, cultural subjectivity refers to the autonomy, initiative, and creativity that culture displays in practice; it includes self-cognition, self-identification, self-determination, and self-renewal of the cultural core and its external manifestations. Specifically, subjectivity and its embodiment at the cultural level can be grasped from three dimensions.

主体性是一个与自我意识和主观能动性有关的哲学概念，它反映了人作为感知、体验、思考、行动的中心所具备的能力。联系文化的内涵、结构可知，文化主体性是指文化在实践中所展现的自主性、能动性和创造性，它包含对文化内核及其外在表现的自我认知、自我认同、自我决定和自我更新。具体而言，可以从三个维度对主体性及其在文化层面的体现加以把握。

First, the subject is an identity concept; cultural subjectivity concerns how to understand and adhere to the self in a cultural sense. The “self” primarily refers to an individual’s cognition of their own state of existence, including awareness of physiological state, psychological state, social relations, and so forth. James, who studied the concept of the self early in the field of psychology, distinguished between the “empirical self” and the “pure self.” The empirical self is the “everything” that people attempt to designate with “I,” encompassing all that each person can experience as coexisting with other objects in the world. The pure self, on the other hand, is the active, conscious part of self-awareness, the capacity of the self as a knower. Rogers built on this by proposing the “real self” and the “ideal self.” The ideal self is the self-image an individual hopes to possess, including a series of artificially set self-characteristics. The real self is the self recognized by the individual through objective, unbiased observation and evaluation. Consistency between the ideal and the real is the driving force for the positive development of the self-concept. So-called cultural subjectivity is the understanding of “what makes me me” in a cultural sense; it is the sum of ideas at the cultural level concerning “who I am,” “where I come from,” and “where I am going.” As members of a specific culture, people must fully understand the structure of their culture, identify with its core and essential definitions, and be familiar with its rich and diverse external forms. The formation and development of cultural self-awareness is synchronous with the history of the culture itself. A sound cultural self-awareness not only enables people to accurately grasp the historical trajectory of their culture but also has a prominent motivational and guiding function, leading people to achieve the unity of the ideal self and the real self, and actively undertaking the mission of responding to challenges and opening up new situations in the process of cultural development.

首先，主体是一个身份性概念，文化主体性涉及如何在文化意义上理解自我与坚守自我。“自我”主要是个体对自身存在状态的认知，包括对生理状态、心理状态、社会关系等的认识和了解。心理学领域较早研究自我概念的詹姆斯区分了“经验自我”和“纯粹自我”。经验自我是人们试图用“我”来称呼的“一切”，是每个人能够经验到的与世界上其他对象共存的事物。纯粹自我则是自我意识中主动、自觉进行的部分，是自我作为认识者所具备的能力。罗杰斯在此基础上提出了“现实自我”与“理想自我”。理想自我是个体希望拥有的自我形象，包括一系列人为设定的自我特征。现实自我则是个体通过客观的、无偏见的考察和评价所认识的自我。理想与现实的一致性，是自我概念正向发展的动力来源。所谓文化主体性，即对文化意义上“我之为我”的认识，是在文化层面关于“我是谁”、“我从何处来”、“我向何处去”的观念总和。作为特定文化的成员，人们要对所属文化的结构有充分了解，认同文化的内核与本质规定，知晓其丰富多样的外在形式。文化自我意识的形成与发展，和文化本身的历史是同步的。健全的文化自我意识不仅能够使人们准确把握文化的历史脉络，也具有突出的激励导向作用，引领人们实现理想自我与现实自我相统一，在文化发展的进程中主动担负回应挑战、开创新局的使命。

Second, the subject is a social concept; cultural subjectivity is deeply rooted in the social environment of cultural development and can only be fully manifested through interaction and exchange. Marx pointed out: “Man’s relation to himself only becomes objective and real for him through his relation to other men.” [3]3 Karl Marx, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844,” in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 296. [Translator’s note: The English translation of the Marx quote is from the standard MECW edition.] Subjectivity exists not only in subjective consciousness and the spiritual world but also in practical activity and social interaction. Any subject’s understanding of the self is achieved by comprehending the differences between itself and others. In the process of socialization, the subject, on the one hand, learns collective concepts and behavioral norms, forming a community consciousness for participating in social life; on the other hand, it gradually understands its own characteristic markers through social interaction, obtaining a clear self-identity. So-called cultural subjectivity is the manifestation of social relations at the cultural level, the capacity to confirm one’s own essence through cultural exchange and interaction. Cultural subjectivity must be constructed through exchange and mutual learning; only by placing a culture within the forest of world national cultures can it, in the process of comparison and reflection, more clearly define the value pursuits it reflects and maintain its independence and autonomy amidst universal connections. Cultural differences and diversity are, in the final analysis, products of socio-economic development, determined by different modes of material production. Therefore, the practice of cultural exchange can also enable people to gain a deeper understanding of the history of cultural development and possess the consciousness and confidence to promote the prosperity and progress of human civilization. Understanding cultural differences does not mean emphasizing the opposition between self and other in a cultural sense, nor does it mean seeking to change the other with the self as the end, but rather “transforming all others into a ‘you’ that can be met and dialogued with through sincere action,” [4]4 This is a paraphrase of a concept from Martin Buber’s *I and Thou*, emphasizing dialogical relations. shifting the field of cultural practice from a subject-object relationship to an intersubjective relationship.

其次，主体是一个社会性概念，文化主体性深植于文化发展的社会环境，只有在交往互动中才能得到充分体现。马克思指出：“人对自身的任何关系，只有通过人对他人的关系才得到实现和表现。”主体性不仅存在于主观意识和精神世界中，也存在于现实实践和社会交往中。任何主体对自我的认识，都是通过理解自身与他者的差异来进行的。在社会化过程中，主体一方面学习集体观念和行为规范，形成参与社会生活的共同体意识；另一方面，在社会互动中逐渐了解自身的特征标识，获得清晰的自我认同。所谓文化主体性，是社会关系在文化层面的展现，是通过文化的交流互动来确证自身本质的能力。文化主体性要在交流互鉴中建构，只有将一种文化置于世界民族文化之林，才能使之在比较和反思的过程中更加明确自身所反映的价值追求，保持普遍联系中的独立自主性。文化的差异性和多样性，归根到底是社会经济发展的产物，是由不同的物质资料生产方式所决定的。因此，文化的交往实践也能使人们对文化发展的历史有更深刻的认识，具备推动人类文明繁荣进步的自觉与自信。理解文化差异并不是强调文化意义上自我与他者的对立，也不是谋求以自我为目的改变他者，而是“以真诚行动最终把一切他者转化为可以见面和对话的‘你’”，把文化实践的场域由主客体关系转变为主体间关系。

Finally, the subject is a value concept; cultural subjectivity not only answers the question of “what can culture know” but also the question of “what should culture do.” Subjectivity is an important concept in modern philosophy. Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” even endowed the subject with a central position in understanding the world. However, the cognitive subject cannot encompass the entire connotation of subjectivity; the value subject occupies a more fundamental position than the cognitive subject in terms of deep concerns, “because all concerns are practical, and even the concerns of speculative reason are only conditional, complete only in practical application.” [5]5 Immanuel Kant, *Critique of Practical Reason*, trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 121. [Translator’s note: The quote is adapted to reflect the sense of the Chinese text.] Subjectivity contains the values of freedom and independence; freedom is the nature of practical activity and also the basic definition of the subject, manifesting the fundamental value pursuit of socio-historical development. The core of cultural subjectivity is value subjectivity, embodied in the ability to maintain independent and autonomous value judgment and value selection throughout the process of cultural development and cultural exchange. Value subjectivity enables people to recognize the unique contribution of their own culture to the prosperity of world culture, to identify with and adhere to their own characteristics and direction in the process of cultural inheritance and development, and to become responsible subjects of free creation and self-determination. In the attitude toward foreign cultures, value subjectivity enables the selective absorption and borrowing of outstanding achievements from other cultures, rather than rejecting or passively accepting foreign cultures, and certainly not being assimilated or replaced by foreign cultures.

最后，主体是一个价值性概念，文化主体性不仅回答了文化“能认识什么”的问题，也回答了文化“应该做什么”的问题。主体性是近代哲学的重要概念。笛卡尔的“我思故我在”，更是赋予了主体以认识世界的中心地位。然而，认知主体并不能够涵盖主体性的全部内涵，价值主体在深层关切上占据比认知主体更优先的地位，“因为一切关切都是实践的，甚至思辨理性的关切也仅仅是有条件的，只有在实践的应用中才是完整的”。主体性蕴含着自由与独立的价值，自由是实践活动的本性，也是主体的基本规定，彰显了社会历史发展的根本价值追求。文化主体性的核心是价值主体性，体现为在文化发展和文化交流的过程中始终保持独立自主的价值判断和价值选择能力。价值主体性能够使人们认识到自身文化对世界文化繁荣的独特贡献，在文化传承和发展过程中认同并坚守自己的特色与方向，成为自由创造和自我决定的责任主体。在对待外来文化的态度上，价值主体性能够有选择地吸收借鉴其他文化的优秀成果，而不是拒斥或被动地接受外来文化，更不是被外来文化所同化或取代。

II. Consolidating Cultural Subjectivity Is an Important Mission of Values Education

二、巩固文化主体性是价值观教育的重要使命

Consolidating cultural subjectivity and possessing a firm cultural sense of self is the foundation for better shouldering the new cultural mission. Among the many paths to mastering ideological and cultural initiative, values education, as an educational practice that enhances people’s cultural quality, enriches their spiritual world, and meets their spiritual and cultural needs, helps to integrate independence, self-confidence, and self-strengthening into the spiritual temperament and cultural character of the entire nation.

巩固文化主体性，拥有文化意义上坚定的自我，是更好担负起新的文化使命的基础。在诸多掌握思想和文化主动的路径中，价值观教育作为提升人的文化素质、丰富人的精神世界、满足人的精神文化需要的教育实践活动，有助于将独立自主、自信自强融入全民族的精神气质与文化品格。

1. The Core of Culture Is Values, Requiring Values Education to Strengthen Value Confidence and Promote the Extensive Practice of the Core Socialist Values

1.文化的核心是价值观，要求价值观教育坚定价值自信，推动社会主义核心价值观的广泛践行

The hard-core structure of culture is the core values it carries; therefore, cultural subjectivity is first embodied in firmly adhering to the self and preserving the self in terms of value stance and value orientation. Consolidating cultural subjectivity necessarily requires forming independent and complete value judgment standards, so that in the process of cultural inheritance and development, one can make rational value evaluations without interference from external factors. Although value standards involve multiple relationships such as “individual standards and social standards, historical standards and moral standards, motive standards and effect standards,” [6]6 This is a reference to a standard Chinese academic classification of value judgment criteria. they are ultimately formed in the interaction between the subject and the objective world, constrained by the subject’s capabilities, internal structure, and external conditions, reflecting the uniqueness of the subject’s needs and their irreplaceability as a criterion for evaluation. In the realistic context of increasingly frequent cultural exchange and collision, and deepening cultural influence and infiltration, if a culture and its members lack independent value standards and value propositions, they are highly susceptible to being dominated by the value standards of other cultures. Passive acceptance and adaptation at the value level will lead to the assimilation or marginalization of cultural values formed on the basis of one’s own historical traditions and practical experience.

文化的硬核结构是其所承载的核心价值观，因此文化主体性首先体现为在价值立场和价值取向上坚定自我、坚守本我。巩固文化主体性，必然需要形成独立且完备的价值判断标准，才能在文化传承与发展的过程中不受外界因素的干扰，作出理性的价值评价。尽管价值标准涉及“个体标准与社会标准、历史标准与道德标准、动机标准与效果标准”等多种关系，但归根到底是在主体与客观世界互动中形成的，受到主体的能力、内在结构和外部条件的制约，反映主体需要的独特性及其作为评价尺度的不可替代性。在文化交流与碰撞日益频繁、文化之间影响和渗透不断深化的现实背景下，一种文化及其所属成员如果缺乏独立的价值标准和价值主张，极易受到其他文化的价值标准支配。价值层面的被动接受与适应，将导致基于自身历史传统与实践经验所形成的文化价值被同化或边缘化。

Different social systems and cultural environments give rise to different value systems, which profoundly influence people’s ideas, concepts, and behavioral patterns. In contemporary China, the key to consolidating cultural subjectivity lies in promoting the extensive practice of the core socialist values. “The core socialist values are the concentrated embodiment of contemporary Chinese spirit and condense the common value pursuit of all the people.” [7]7 Xi Jinping, “Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” Report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC, October 18, 2017. Unlike capitalist values, which take the accumulation of material wealth as a measure and emphasize the priority of individual interests, the core socialist values uphold the people as supreme, possess a clear moral orientation, and have a prominent collective attribute. Under the guidance of Marxism and in the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, they have gained a solid foundation of truth and a rich contemporary connotation. The core socialist values draw nourishment from fine traditional Chinese culture, inheriting the value pursuits of fine traditional Chinese culture such as “advocating benevolence, valuing the people, keeping faith, upholding justice, promoting harmony, and seeking common ground,” [8]8 This is a standard formulation summarizing the value pursuits of fine traditional Chinese culture, often cited in official documents. and embody the spiritual characteristics and cultural roots of the Chinese nation. Cultivating and practicing the core socialist values is the foundation for consolidating cultural subjectivity.

不同的社会制度和文化环境孕育了不同的价值体系，这些价值体系深刻地影响着人们的思想观念和行为方式。在当代中国，巩固文化主体性，关键在于推动社会主义核心价值观的广泛践行。“社会主义核心价值观是当代中国精神的集中体现，凝结着全体人民共同的价值追求。”不同于资本主义价值观以物质财富积累为衡量标准、强调个人利益的优先性，社会主义核心价值观坚持人民至上、具有鲜明的道德导向和突出的集体属性。它在马克思主义指导下、在中国特色社会主义的伟大实践中，获得了坚实的真理基础和丰富的时代内涵。社会主义核心价值观以中华优秀传统文化为涵养源泉，继承了中华优秀传统文化“讲仁爱、重民本、守诚信、崇正义、尚和合、求大同”的价值追求，体现了中华民族的精神特质与文化根脉。培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，是巩固文化主体性的基础。

Values education is an educational practice in which educators purposefully, systematically, and organizedly transmit specific values to educatees, promoting their cognitive recognition and conscious practice. Values education always adheres to a certain value stance and value standard, and its aim is to cultivate and promote mainstream values that occupy a dominant position in the ideological and cultural system and are conducive to building consensus. The core of culture is values, and values education links cultural subjectivity with the construction of people’s spiritual world. Consolidating cultural subjectivity requires values education to continuously enhance people’s value confidence in their own national culture. Value confidence means holding firm belief and a high degree of identification with values, reflecting that people, through independent thinking about the historical traditions and development direction of their national culture, fully understand its structural system and unique endowments, and make defending the characteristics and advantages of the culture their own value pursuit. It is necessary to give full play to the guiding role of the core socialist values, draw ideological essence and moral marrow from fine traditional Chinese culture, and demonstrate cultural selfhood in the true sense at the value level.

价值观教育是教育者有目的、有计划、有组织地向受教育者传递特定价值观念，促进其认知认同与自觉践行的教育实践活动。价值观教育总是坚持一定的价值立场和价值标准，其目的在于培育和弘扬在思想文化体系中占据主导地位、有利于凝聚共识的主流价值观念。文化的内核是价值观，价值观教育将文化主体性与建构人的精神世界联系在一起。巩固文化主体性，要求价值观教育不断增强人们对本民族文化的价值自信。价值自信是对价值观持有坚定的信念和高度的认同感，体现了人们对本民族文化的历史传统和发展方向经过独立的思考，充分了解其结构体系与独特禀赋，把捍卫文化的特性与优势作为自身的价值追求。要充分发挥社会主义核心价值观的引领作用，从中华优秀传统文化中汲取思想精华和道德精髓，在价值层面展现真正意义上的文化自我。

2. Subjectivity is expressed as self-identification and belonging, requiring values education to strengthen emotional identification and deepen the love for Chinese civilization.

2.主体性表现为对自我的认同和归属，要求价值观教育强化情感认同，加深对中华文明的热爱之情

As a concept closely related to identity, subjectivity is expressed as the understanding and identification of the “self.” Consolidating cultural subjectivity requires the ability to independently identify the state of existence of culture itself and strengthen the identity recognition of the cultural self. From a psychological perspective, identification is a positive emotional state, and self-identification includes a stable, continuous sense of self-esteem and belonging. When self-identification is strengthened, one experiences positive emotions and establishes emotional connections with the collective or others; when self-identification is lacking or conflicts with external evaluations, negative emotions such as loneliness or alienation arise. Therefore, cultural subjectivity also reflects the independence of culture in terms of emotional stance and emotional attitude. Emotional independence is an important component of cultural subjectivity, indicating that culture has formed a unique set of emotional expression methods over its long development process, which can both display its own intrinsic emotional characteristics and stimulate emotional resonance among its members, thereby enhancing cultural identification.

作为一种与身份紧密有关的概念，主体性表现为对“我”的理解与认同。巩固文化主体性，必须能够独立识别文化本身的存在状态，增强对文化自我的身份认同。从心理学的视角来看，认同是一种肯定性的情感状态，自我认同包含了稳定、连续的自尊感和归属感。当自我认同得到强化时，就会拥有积极的情感体验，与集体或他人建立情感联结；当自我认同缺失或与外界评价产生冲突时，就会产生孤独或疏离等负面情感。因此，文化主体性也反映了文化在情感立场与情感态度上的独立自主。情感独立性是文化主体性的重要组成部分，它表明文化在漫长的发展历程中形成了一套独特的情感表达方式，既能展现自身内在的情感特质，也能激发所属成员的情感共鸣，增强文化认同。

Emotion is a complex psychological state interwoven by multiple factors. On the basis of rich perceptual experience, rational cognition provides a thinking framework for analyzing and explaining emotions, will and character drive the transformation of emotions into behavior, and behavioral activities consolidate and strengthen the impact of emotions. In contemporary China, the emotional dimension of cultural subjectivity is concentratedly expressed as a deep love for Chinese civilization. “Only by standing on the magnificent history of over five thousand years of Chinese civilization can we truly understand the historical inevitability, cultural connotation, and unique advantages of the Chinese path.” [9]9 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping’s speech at a symposium on cultural heritage, emphasizing the foundational role of Chinese civilization’s long history in understanding China’s development path. Sincere emotion toward Chinese civilization must be premised on establishing a correct view of history, view of the nation, view of ethnicity, view of culture, and view of civilization. At the same time, emotion is not an abstract or detached concept; it must be verified in practical action. This requires integrating a profound understanding of Chinese civilization and the ideal pursuit of continuing the Chinese cultural lineage into the great practice of building a culturally strong country.

情感是由多种因素交织而成的复合心理状态，在丰富的感性体验的基础上，理性认知提供分析和解释情感的思维框架，意志品格驱动情感向行为的转化，行为活动巩固和强化情感带来的影响。在当代中国，情感层面的文化主体性集中表现为对中华文明的深沉热爱。“只有立足波澜壮阔的中华五千多年文明史，才能真正理解中国道路的历史必然、文化内涵与独特优势。”对中华文明的真挚情感，要以树立正确的历史观、国家观、民族观、文化观、文明观为前提。与此同时，情感并非抽象或脱离现实的概念，必须在实践行动中得到验证，这就要把对中华文明的深刻理解以及赓续中华文脉的理想追求融入建设文化强国的伟大实践之中。

Emotional education is an important content of values education, as well as a necessary link and basic method of values education. Consolidating cultural subjectivity requires values education to move people with emotion, touch people with feeling, infuse emotional warmth into individuals’ cultural production and cultural life, and deepen their love for Chinese civilization. The core of leveraging the important role of emotion in values education lies in shaping stable, lasting emotional identification. Identification is a profound psychological process. When an individual forms a deep understanding of something, they incorporate it into their psychological framework, and while forming a clear psychological orientation, they develop feelings of closeness and dependence. In the philosophical sense, identification reveals how individuals maintain consistency with themselves through internal psychological mechanisms, thereby completing the exploration of self-identity and self-worth at the cognitive and practical levels. The subject is a concept of identity; consolidating cultural subjectivity requires internalizing cultural identity into the knowledge system and belief system, and continuously defending this identity in practical action. Therefore, values education should enable people to fully understand the connotation, history, and value of Chinese culture, generate pride and love for it, establish a complete cognitive understanding of cultural identity at the knowledge level, build a close connection with cultural identity at the emotional level, and unify rational understanding and emotional identification in the practical action of cultural inheritance and development.

情感教育是价值观教育的重要内容，也是价值观教育的必要环节与基本方式。巩固文化主体性，要求价值观教育以情感人、以情动人，为个体的文化生产和文化生活注入情感温度，加深其对中华文明的热爱之情。发挥情感在价值观教育中的重要作用，其核心在于塑造稳定、持久的情感认同。认同是一种深刻的心理过程，当个体对事物形成深入的理解后，会将其纳入自己的心理框架，在形成明确的心理定位的同时，产生亲近和依赖的情感。在哲学意义上，认同揭示了个体如何通过内在的心理机制与自我保持一致，进而在认知与实践层面完成对自我身份、自我价值的探索。主体是一个身份性概念，巩固文化主体性需要将文化身份内化于知识体系、信仰体系，并且在实践行动中不断捍卫这一身份。因此，价值观教育要使人们充分了解中华文化的内涵、历史和价值，对其产生自豪与热爱之情，在知识层面建立起对文化身份的完整认知，在情感层面建立起与文化身份的紧密联系，将理性认识与情感认同统一于文化传承与发展的实践行动。

3. Cultural subjectivity is reflected in cultural interaction, requiring values education to transmit public spirit and promote the common values of all humanity.

3.文化主体性反映在文化交往之中，要求价值观教育传递公共精神，弘扬全人类共同价值

Culture is a system of meaning construction, reflecting the generative interaction between humans and the external world at the levels of knowledge, emotion, and values. The contradiction between the diversification of individual cultural needs and the finiteness of cognitive ability means that people must enrich their spiritual life through cultural interaction. Therefore, culture has a public dimension. Publicness is a state characteristic formed on the basis of common interests, shared values, and symbiotic relationships. The cohesion and inclusiveness inherent in culture itself, as well as its role in spreading values and shaping social space and collective memory, all embody the characteristics of publicness. Publicness arises from social interactive relationships, and adhering to independence, seeking common ground while reserving differences in cultural interaction is an important manifestation of cultural subjectivity. It requires cultural subjects to independently examine and judge various phenomena, issues, and viewpoints in the public sphere, being able to both fully express their own stance and propositions and actively participate in cultural exchange and dialogue. Continuously consolidating cultural subjectivity in the process of cultural interaction can shape a stable, open core for cultural development and create a favorable external environment.

文化是一种意义建构体系，反映了人类在知识、情感、价值观等层面与外部世界的生成性互动。个体文化需求的多样化与认识能力的有限性存在矛盾，使人们必须通过文化交往来充盈精神生活。因此，文化具有公共性的维度。公共性是基于共同利益、共享价值和共生关系所形成的一种状态特性。文化本身所具有的凝聚力和包容性，以及它对于价值观的传播、社会空间和集体记忆的塑造，无不体现了公共性的特征。公共性生发于社会互动关系，而在文化的交往互动中坚持独立自主、求同存异，正是文化主体性的重要表征。它要求文化主体对于公共场域的各种现象、议题、观点进行独立的审视和判断，既能充分表达自身的立场和主张，又能积极参与文化的交流与对话。在文化交往过程中不断巩固文化主体性，能够为文化发展塑造稳定、开放的内核，创造有利的外部环境。

Promoting the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom—is the necessary value foundation for promoting cultural interaction, exchange, and integration. The history of the formation and development of Chinese civilization and its outstanding characteristics reflect the unremitting pursuit of the Chinese nation for the common values of all humanity. In terms of its historical evolution, Chinese civilization, with its strong cohesive capacity, has shaped the cultural identity of the Chinese nation that transcends local regions, blood lineages, and religious beliefs, integrating it into a diverse yet unified, broadly inclusive, and richly formed cultural community. This inclusiveness, formed over long-term development, has endowed Chinese civilization with an open-mindedness that embraces all world civilizations. At the same time, Chinese civilization advocates building a world where the individual and the collective are unified, taking peace, harmony, and concord as values passed down through generations. This concept has led China to consistently commit to maintaining world peace and international order, playing a unique role in the historical process of global cultural integration and mutual learning.

弘扬和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值，是推动文化交往、交流、交融的必要价值基础。中华文明形成和发展的历史及其所具有的突出特性，反映了中华民族对于全人类共同价值的不懈追求。就其历史演进而言，中华文明以强大的内聚能力，塑造了中华民族超越乡土地域、血缘世系、宗教信仰的文化认同，将其整合为一个多元一体、广纳博采、形态丰富的文化共同体。在长期发展过程中形成的这种包容性，使中华文明拥有对世界文明兼收并蓄的开放胸怀。与此同时，中华文明主张构建一个群己合一的世界，把和平、和睦、和谐作为世代传承的价值理念。这一理念使中国始终致力于维护世界和平与国际秩序，在世界文化融通互鉴的历史进程中发挥独特作用。

Values education is a practical activity that shapes the world of ideas. It not only concerns the growth and perfection of individuals but also focuses on the progress and development of society as a whole. The maintenance of a social community depends on its members’ identification with and practice of shared values, and values education, precisely by cultivating and disseminating these values, lays the ideological foundation for uniting the social community. In the process of consolidating cultural subjectivity, values education must manifest its public concern for people, enabling them to find their own meaning and value in cultural production and cultural exchange. At the same time, values education must cultivate public reason and transmit public spirit in cultural exchange. Public reason is the capacity for rational thought and expression in public space, while public spirit is concern for the common interest and a sense of responsibility for the collective. Values education provides people with a rational framework for value judgment and choice, enabling them to resist the incursions of various erroneous ideological trends and to uphold the common order and rules of cultural exchange. Faced with the current trend of cultural exchange and integrated development in the world, values education must promote the common values of all humanity and strengthen the sense of cultural community. When people are highly aligned with the cultural community in terms of deep-seated values, emotional attitudes, and modes of behavior, they develop a strong sense of belonging and identification with that cultural community. This feeling confirms their own subjective identity, makes them more attentive to the value pursuits borne by the cultural community, and stimulates their practical motivation to participate in cultural exchange and promote cultural development.

价值观教育是塑造观念世界的实践活动，它不仅关注个体的成长和完善，更着眼于社会整体的进步和发展。社会共同体的维系有赖于其成员对共有价值观念的认同和践行，而价值观教育正是通过培育和传播这些价值观念，为凝聚社会共同体奠定思想基础。在巩固文化主体性的过程中，价值观教育要彰显对人的公共关怀，使之在文化生产与文化交往中找到自己的意义和价值。同时，价值观教育要在文化交往中培育公共理性、传递公共精神。公共理性是在公共空间理性思考和表达的能力，公共精神则是对共同利益的关注和对集体责任的担当。价值观教育为人们提供价值判断与选择的理性框架，使之能够抵御各种错误思潮的侵扰，维护文化交往的共同秩序与规则。面对当今世界文化交流与融合发展的趋势，价值观教育要弘扬全人类共同价值、强化文化共同体意识。当与文化共同体在深层次的价值观念、情感态度以及行为方式上高度契合时，人们就会对文化共同体产生强烈的归属感与认同感。这种感受确证了自己的主体身份，使人们更加关注文化共同体所承载的价值追求，激发其参与文化交往、促进文化发展的实践动力。

III. Pathways for the Role of Values Education in Consolidating Cultural Subjectivity

三、价值观教育在巩固文化主体性中的作用路径

Consolidating cultural subjectivity is an important mission of values education. To better fulfill this mission, values education must leverage its own advantages in areas such as strengthening cultural confidence, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and embracing openness and inclusiveness, actively exploring effective pathways for consolidating cultural subjectivity.

巩固文化主体性是价值观教育的重要使命。为更好担负这一使命，价值观教育必须在坚定文化自信、坚持守正创新、秉持开放包容等方面发挥自身优势，积极探索巩固文化主体性的有效路径。

1. Elucidate the great significance of the “Two Integrations,” internalizing cultural confidence as a spiritual trait of the entire nation

1.阐明“两个结合”的重大意义，将文化自信内化为全民族的精神特质

To uphold and develop Marxism, it must be integrated with China’s specific realities and with the finest traditional Chinese culture. The “Two Integrations” are not only the magic key to the success of the CPC in leading the people in building the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also the necessary path for the generation, consolidation, and development of the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation. The basis for integration lies in the inherent compatibility between the two. Although Marxism and the finest traditional Chinese culture emerged from different intellectual sources and practical conditions, they share commonalities in areas such as social ideals, political concepts, people-centered principles, and practical spirit. Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with the finest traditional Chinese culture is not a simple patchwork or superposition of the two; rather, it creates a new cultural life form that deeply integrates the scientific theory of Marxism with the crystallized wisdom of the finest traditional Chinese culture, exhibiting unique creativity and leading power. It not only promotes adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times but also facilitates the life renewal and modern transformation of Chinese civilization. Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with the finest traditional Chinese culture resolves the long-standing “ancient-modern, Chinese-Western” debate in the ideological and cultural sphere, expands the historical depth, cultural foundation, and innovative space of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and provides the fundamental guidance for vigorously advancing the cultural construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

坚持和发展马克思主义，必须同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合。“两个结合”既是中国共产党领导人民建设中国特色社会主义事业取得成功的法宝，也是中华民族文化主体性生成、巩固和发展的必由之路。结合的基础在于两者之间的内在契合性，尽管马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化产生的思想来源和现实条件不同，但在社会理想、政治观念、人本理念、实践精神等方面存在相通相合之处。把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化相结合，并非两者的简单拼凑或叠加，而是造就了一个深度融合马克思主义科学理论与中华优秀传统文化智慧结晶、展现出独特创造力和引领力的新的文化生命体。它不仅推动了马克思主义中国化时代化，也促进了中华文明的生命更新和现代转型。把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化相结合，破解了思想文化领域长期存在的“古今中西”之争，拓展了中国特色社会主义道路的历史纵深、文化根基和创新空间，为有力推进中国特色社会主义文化建设提供了根本遵循。

The “Two Integrations” not only create the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization but also provide rich theoretical connotations and a scientific guide for action for values education. Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities is an innovative measure to solve China’s problems by applying the Marxist worldview and methodology, grounded in China’s historical traditions and social realities. Integrating Marxism with the finest traditional Chinese culture is a historical leap that propels the ancient Chinese civilization toward modernity while simultaneously overcoming the predicaments of modernity. The “Two Integrations” not only advance adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times but also open up a new realm for values education. Values education must be guided by the basic tenets of Marxism, take root in the practical soil of China’s revolution, construction, and reform, draw on the finest traditional Chinese culture as a nourishing source, and derive spiritual impetus from the “Two Integrations”; it must manifest the scientific nature and truth of Marxism, reveal the unique value stance of Chinese-path modernization; it must display the great practice of cultural construction by the CPC, and uphold and consolidate the Party’s cultural leadership. Faced with a series of complex issues such as how to view the relationship between tradition and modernity, and between local culture and foreign culture, values education must provide thorough explanations from the standpoint, viewpoint, and method of historical materialism, continuously enhancing the people’s consensus on the “Two Integrations.”

“两个结合”不仅创造了中国式现代化的文化形态，也为价值观教育提供了丰富的理论内涵和科学的行动指南。把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合，是立足中国的历史传统和社会现实，运用马克思主义的世界观和方法论解决中国问题的创新举措。把马克思主义同中华优秀传统文化相结合，是推动古老的中华文明走向现代、同时又克服现代性困境的历史跨越。“两个结合”不仅推进了马克思主义中国化时代化，也开辟了价值观教育的新境界。价值观教育要以马克思主义基本原理为指导，扎根于中国革命、建设、改革的实践土壤，以中华优秀传统文化作为涵养源泉，从“两个结合”中汲取精神动力；彰显马克思主义的科学性、真理性，揭示中国式现代化的独特价值立场；展现中国共产党文化建设的伟大实践，坚持和巩固党的文化领导权。面对如何看待传统与现代、本土文化与域外文化的关系等一系列复杂的问题，价值观教育要以历史唯物主义的立场、观点、方法予以透彻解答，不断增强人民群众对“两个结合”的共识。

2. Strengthen the cultural consciousness of theoretical innovation, guiding the construction of the knowledge system with a grand view of history and a new view of civilization

2.强化理论创新的文化自觉，以大历史观和新文明观引领知识体系建构

Consolidating cultural subjectivity embodies a grand view of history and a new view of civilization that connect tradition and modernity and align with the direction of human civilization’s development. It endows theoretical innovation with civilizational significance and historical implication. Cultural subjectivity includes autonomy and consciousness in knowledge production and theoretical construction. It must take the progress of civilization as its goal and practical experience as its foundation, enhancing the leading power, cohesive power, shaping power, and radiating power of culture by improving the autonomy and consciousness of knowledge and theory. “Every major leap forward in human society and every major development in human civilization have been inseparable from the intellectual transformation and ideological guidance of philosophy and social sciences.” [10]10 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences” (17 May 2016). Every discipline within philosophy and social sciences is a cultural practice of human beings. It must not only create new impetus for the progress and development of human civilization but also provide theoretical justification for the subjectivity of culture in upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground. Therefore, philosophy and social sciences must rationally sublimate the practical experience of humanity in cultural production and cultural life, place theoretical innovation under a holistic examination within the context of the times, and scientifically answer the questions of China, the world, the people, and the era.

巩固文化主体性，体现了贯通传统与现代、合乎人类文明发展方向的大历史观和新文明观，它赋予理论创新以文明意义和历史意蕴。文化主体性包含了知识生产和理论建构上的自主自觉，既要以文明进步为目的，也要以实践经验为基础，通过提升知识和理论的自主性、自觉性来增强文化的引领力、凝聚力、塑造力、辐射力。“人类社会每一次重大跃进，人类文明每一次重大发展，都离不开哲学社会科学的知识变革和思想先导。”任何一门哲学社会科学都是属人的文化实践活动，既要为人类文明的发展进步创造新动力，也要为文化的守正创新提供理论层面的主体证成。因此，哲学社会科学要对人类在文化生产与文化生活中的实践经验进行理性升华，把理论创新置于时代境遇中进行总体性考察，科学回答中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问。

Values education is the unity of knowledge transmission and value guidance. From the dimension of value guidance, values education must revolve around the fundamental goal of realizing human freedom and liberation, guide the construction of the spiritual world of contemporary Chinese people with core socialist values, broadly consolidate value consensus on Chinese-path modernization, and shape spiritual belief in the new form of human civilization. From the dimension of knowledge transmission, values education must internalize the CPC’s practical experience and cognitive laws in consolidating cultural subjectivity into the knowledge system of education, grasp the deep-seated problems existing in the construction of socialist cultural-ethical progress, proactively carry out theoretical interpretation work, and provide a solid ideological foundation for upholding the Party’s cultural leadership. Knowledge transmission and value guidance are not completely independent in the process of values education; rather, they are mutually reinforcing and organically unified.

价值观教育是知识传授与价值引领的统一。就价值引领的维度而言，价值观教育要围绕实现人的自由和解放这一根本目的，以社会主义核心价值观引领当代中国人精神世界的建构，广泛凝聚关于中国式现代化的价值共识，塑造对人类文明新形态的精神信仰。就知识传授的维度而言，价值观教育要将中国共产党巩固文化主体性的实践经验和认识规律内化到教育的知识体系之中，把握社会主义精神文明建设中存在的深层次问题，积极主动地开展理论阐释工作，为坚持党的文化领导权提供牢固的思想基础。知识传授与价值引领在价值观教育的过程中不是完全独立的，而是相互促进、有机统一的。

Values education must, on the basis of absorbing and drawing upon the research paradigms of philosophy and social sciences, form a knowledge system and discourse system that meet the practical requirements of education, continuously enhancing the independence and autonomy of knowledge production and theoretical innovation in the educational process. The ideological concepts, humanistic spirit, and moral norms contained in the finest traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture provide rich resources for values education. Values education must be guided by a grand view of history that integrates the ancient and modern, connects China and the world, and a new view of civilization that advocates equal dialogue, inclusiveness, and mutual learning. It must leverage the foundational role of the finest traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture as a source of strength, refine conceptual markers and narrative discourses with civilizational characteristics, national features, and educational traits, and promote the innovative development of the knowledge system of values education with a high degree of cultural consciousness.

价值观教育要在吸收借鉴哲学社会科学研究范式的基础上，形成符合教育实践要求的知识体系和话语体系，不断增强教育过程中知识生产和理论创新的独立自主性。中华优秀传统文化、革命文化、社会主义先进文化中蕴含的思想观念、人文精神、道德规范，为价值观教育提供了丰厚的资源。价值观教育要以融贯古今、汇通中外的大历史观和倡导平等对话、包容互鉴的新文明观为指导，发挥中华优秀传统文化、革命文化、社会主义先进文化的力量根基作用，提炼具有文明特性、民族特色、教育特质的概念标识和叙事话语，以高度的文化自觉推动价值观教育知识体系的创新发展。

3. Promote the formation of a public character, manifesting the cultural trait of openness and inclusiveness in exchange and mutual learning

3.促进公共性品格的形成，在交流互鉴中彰显开放包容的文化特质

The development of culture and the progress of civilization are major issues confronting all of humanity. Chinese civilization possesses a strong inclusiveness, which is manifested not only in its rich cultural connotations and profound historical heritage, but also in its breadth and pattern of embracing and drawing on the strengths of other civilizations. This open and inclusive cultural character is both a driving force for cultural inheritance and development and a distinctive marker of cultural subjectivity. To consolidate cultural subjectivity, it is necessary to remain true to the original, absorb the foreign, and look to the future—that is, to base oneself on the historical traditions and unique advantages of one’s own national culture, grasp the laws and practical requirements of world civilization development, and consolidate humanity’s consensus on the future development of society. It is necessary both to enhance the cohesion and appeal of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and to promote the common values of all humanity, strengthen the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization, and contribute Chinese theories and Chinese methods to the leap forward of human civilization.

文化的发展与文明的进步是全人类共同面临的重大问题。中华文明具有强大的包容性，这不仅体现为丰富的文化内涵和深厚的历史底蕴，也体现为对其他文明兼容并包、博采众长的胸怀与格局。这种开放包容的文化特质，既是文化传承与发展的动力来源，也是彰显文化主体性的鲜明标识。巩固文化主体性，要做到不忘本来、吸收外来、面向未来，即立足本民族文化的历史传统与独特优势，把握世界文明发展的规律和现实要求，凝聚人类关于未来社会的发展共识。既要提升中国特色社会主义文化的凝聚力、感召力，也要弘扬全人类共同价值，增强中华文明的传播力、影响力，为实现人类文明跃迁贡献中国理论、中国方法。

As a practical activity that transmits ideological wisdom and promotes cultural development, values education must have the conceptual and action-oriented consciousness of “standing on the side of the progress of human civilization,” actively and proactively learning from and drawing on all the outstanding achievements of civilization created by humanity with an open attitude and an inclusive mindset. It must cultivate individuals to form a public character that participates in cultural exchange, enabling them to fully recognize their responsibilities and missions toward the cultural community. It must promote individuals’ cognition and identification with Chinese civilization, so that they consciously defend the outstanding characteristics and unique values of Chinese civilization in the process of cultural interaction, while at the same time being adept at learning from and drawing on the outstanding achievements of other world civilizations, continuously expanding the horizon of civilizational progress. It must stimulate individuals’ subjectivity and initiative in participating in civilizational exchange and mutual learning, requiring values education to accelerate the formation of a discourse system and narrative style that integrates the ancient and the modern, and synthesizes China and the West, providing strong ideological and theoretical support for telling China’s stories well and promoting the Chinese spirit. At the same time, maintaining the independence and autonomy of civilizational exchange and mutual learning also requires values education to adhere to the principle of combining constructiveness and criticality, enhancing the ability to discern and reflect on foreign cultures and emerging cultures, always adhering to the core socialist values, and consciously linking individual living conditions with the future and destiny of the cultural community.

作为一项传递思想智慧、促进文化发展的实践活动，价值观教育要有“站在人类文明进步的一边”的观念自觉和行动自觉，以开放的姿态和包容的胸怀，积极主动地学习借鉴人类创造的一切优秀文明成果。要培养个体形成参与文化交流的公共性品格，使其充分认识到对文化共同体的责任和使命。要促进个体对于中华文明的认知与认同，自觉地在文化交往的过程中捍卫中华文明的突出特性和独特价值，同时要善于学习借鉴世界其他文明的优秀成果，不断拓展文明进步的视野。要激发个体参与文明交流互鉴的主体性与能动性，要求价值观教育加快形成熔铸古今、汇通中西的话语体系和叙事风格，为讲好中国故事、弘扬中国精神提供有力的思想理论支持。与此同时，保持文明交流互鉴的独立自主性，也要求价值观教育坚持建设性与批判性相统一的原则，提升对外来文化、新兴文化的甄别和反思能力，始终坚守核心价值观，自觉把个人的生存境遇与文化共同体的前途命运联系在一起。

(The author is a doctoral student at the School of Marxism, Fudan University.)

（作者系复旦大学马克思主义学院博士研究生）

Online editor: Ma Jingren

网络编辑：马京仁