A Cultural Interpretation of the Regularization and Institutionalization of Ideal and Belief Education

The *Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Path Modernization*, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, makes arrangements for “promoting the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education” from the strategic height of further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. This centrally embodies a high degree of consciousness regarding adherence to the fundamental system of upholding the guiding role of Marxism in the ideological sphere, and intrinsically constitutes an important strategic arrangement for adhering to the guidance of core socialist values in cultural development, carrying significant and far-reaching implications. To interpret the promotion of the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education from a cultural perspective is to transform faith in Marxism, firm belief in the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, into a spiritual atmosphere that is present everywhere at all times and into values that the masses use daily without conscious awareness. In view of this, it is necessary to place the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education within a broader cultural horizon, to clarify the cultural context of its emergence, to excavate its deep cultural implications, to determine how to forge ideals and beliefs in the historical normalcy of change and opening up, how to implement ideals and beliefs in the concrete normalcy of daily life, and how to uphold ideals and beliefs in the normalcy of a person’s lifelong existence, and on this basis to explore and grasp the cultural strategies for the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education.

党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》立足进一步全面深化改革、推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的战略高度，对“推动理想信念教育常态化制度化”作出部署安排。这集中体现了对坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位的根本制度的高度自觉，内在构成坚持以社会主义核心价值观引领文化建设的重要战略安排，具有重大而深远的意义。从文化视角阐释推动理想信念教育常态化制度化，就是要将对马克思主义的信仰、对共产主义远大理想和中国特色社会主义共同理想的坚定信念，转化为无时不有、无所不在的精神空气和人民群众日用而不觉的价值观念。有鉴于此，需要将理想信念教育常态化制度化置于更为广阔的文化视野之中，廓清其出场的文化语境，挖掘其深层的文化意涵，厘定如何在变革与开放的历史常态中锻造理想信念，如何在鲜活具体的生活常态中落实理想信念，如何在人们毕其一生的生命常态中坚守理想信念等问题，并在此基础上探索把握理想信念教育常态化制度化的文化策略。

I. The Cultural Context of the Regularization and Institutionalization of Ideal and Belief Education

一、理想信念教育常态化制度化的文化语境

“Where history begins, the course of thought must also begin.” Ideal and belief education is a cultural proposition that is both historical and contemporary; without a specific cultural accumulation and cultural field, the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education would be impossible. Regarding the context of its emergence, the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education is a cultural strategy for responding to the changes unseen in a century in the world, manifests the cultural consciousness of the new path of Chinese-path modernization, and intrinsically contains the cultural wisdom of the century-old Party in uniting hearts and minds and striving with determination.

“历史从哪里开始，思想进程也应当从哪里开始。”理想信念教育是一个兼具历史性与现实性的文化命题，离开特定的文化积累与文化场域，理想信念教育常态化制度化也将无从谈起。就其生发的语境而言，理想信念教育常态化制度化是应对世界百年未有之大变局的文化战略，彰显了中国式现代化新道路的文化自觉，内在葆有着百年大党凝心聚力、矢志奋斗的文化智慧。

1. A Cultural Strategy for Responding to the Changes Unseen in a Century in the World

1. 应对世界百年未有之大变局的文化战略

At present, the changes unseen in a century in the world are accelerating, and the global ideological and cultural landscape is undergoing profound changes. These include technological changes caused by social informatization, value conflicts resulting from cultural diversification, and changes in the balance of international forces brought about by world multipolarization. The impact of these new changes on human production, life, and China’s development situation is increasingly prominent. To understand and grasp the changes of the times from a cultural perspective, the key lies in leveraging the guiding and orienting role of ideals and beliefs in the people’s spiritual life, and in consolidating the ideological foundation for the common struggle of all the people. On the one hand, along with the profound adjustment of the world pattern and order and the revolutionary changes in the balance of international forces, the international influence and competitiveness of developing countries previously on the “periphery” have been continuously enhanced, and the Chinese nation has ushered in a great leap from standing up and growing rich to becoming strong. Under these circumstances, how to enhance China’s international influence and international discourse power, to make China’s voice heard and tell China’s story well, and to provide Chinese solutions and contribute Chinese wisdom to answering the questions of the times and the world, are major issues that particularly need attention and resolution on the new historical journey. The struggle for international discourse power always resorts to contestation at the ideological and cultural level, and the essence and focus of this contestation lies in the struggle over values. It is in this sense that General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “No matter in the past, present, or future, faith in Marxism, belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and confidence in realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are all powerful spiritual forces guiding and supporting the Chinese people in standing up, growing rich, and becoming strong.” To deeply promote the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education, it is necessary to give full play to the role of scientific ideals and beliefs in spiritually uniting members of society and guiding their values, transforming faith in Marxism and belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics into a value consciousness shared and steadfastly upheld by all the people. On the other hand, science and technology are an important driving force behind the current changes in the world pattern. The metabolism and intense competition brought about by the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation are unprecedented, profoundly shaping the world pattern and people’s spiritual life. At the same time, along with the deep involvement of the new technological revolution in people’s production, life, and social interactions, and the interaction of various modern conditions such as the logic of capital and mass culture, dependence on material things is objectively becoming the material foundation and necessary prerequisite for the survival and development of modern people. In this context, the spiritual life of people in the present era is increasingly characterized by technological dependence, and fragmentation, entertainment, and fast-food consumption are increasingly becoming important features of people’s spiritual life in the present era. How to use lofty ideals and beliefs to steer and orient people’s spiritual life, how to respond to and grasp the profound changes of the changes unseen in a century in the world with a more positive and uplifting attitude, and how to guide people to transcend the technological tendency of spiritual life constitute important problem orientations for promoting the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education.

当前，世界百年未有之大变局加速演化，全球思想文化格局发生深刻变化。这其中既有社会信息化造成的技术之变，也有文化多样化导致的价值观之争，更有世界多极化带来的国际力量对比之变。这些新变化对人类生产生活和我国发展形势的影响愈加突出。从文化视角认识和把握时代变化，关键在于发挥理想信念对于人民精神生活的引领导向作用，筑牢全体人民共同奋斗的思想基础。一方面，伴随着世界格局与秩序的深刻调整以及国际力量对比的革命性变化，先前处于“边缘地带”的发展中国家的国际影响力和竞争力不断提升，中华民族迎来了从站起来、富起来到强起来的伟大飞跃。在此情况下，如何增强我国的国际影响力和国际话语权，唱响中国声音、讲好中国故事，为解决时代之问、世界之问提供中国方案、贡献中国智慧，是新的历史征程上尤其需要关注和解决的重大课题。而国际话语权的争夺总是要诉诸思想文化层面的博弈，这种博弈的实质和焦点就在于价值观念之争。正是在此意义上，习近平总书记指出：“无论过去、现在还是将来，对马克思主义的信仰，对中国特色社会主义的信念，对实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的信心，都是指引和支撑中国人民站起来、富起来、强起来的强大精神力量。”深入推进理想信念教育常态化制度化，需要充分发挥科学的理想信念对社会成员的精神凝聚和价值引领作用，将马克思主义信仰与中国特色社会主义信念，转化为全体人民共同分享、矢志坚守的价值自觉。另一方面，科学技术是推动当前世界格局变化的重要驱动力。新一轮科技革命和产业变革带来的新陈代谢和激烈竞争前所未有，深刻形塑着世界格局和人们的精神生活。同时，伴随着新科技革命对人的生产生活、社会交往的深度介入，以及资本逻辑、大众文化等各种现代性要件的相互作用，对物的依赖客观上正在成为现代人生存发展的物质基础与必要前提。在此背景下，现时代人的精神生活日趋呈现技术依赖性，碎片化、娱乐化、快餐化日趋成为现时代人们精神生活的重要表征。如何以崇高的理想信念为人们的精神生活把关定向，如何以更加积极昂扬的姿态应对和把握世界百年未有之大变局的深刻变化，引导人们超越精神生活的技术化倾向，构成了推动理想信念教育常态化制度化的重要问题指向。

2. Manifesting the Cultural Consciousness of the New Path of Chinese-Path Modernization

2. 彰显中国式现代化新道路的文化自觉

At the ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the important thesis of “upholding the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture,” regarding it as an essential proposition for maintaining the vigorous vitality and exuberant vitality of Marxism and as the only way to open up new horizons for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. The major strategic significance of this thesis lies in: it not only reveals the essential stipulations and development direction of China’s modernization drive from an ontological perspective, but also discusses the specific requirements and practical essentials of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics from a methodological perspective, intrinsically concerning a series of major issues such as the Party’s theoretical and ideological innovation, the construction of a rule-of-law China, ideal and belief education, and the cohesion of values. In a sense, guided by the Two Integrations as ideological guidance, promoting ideal and belief education in the New Era has obtained new principles for problem-solving and methodological approaches. Specifically, carrying out ideal and belief education in the New Era mainly faces the following realistic situations and practical tasks: under the basic national condition of a huge population, how to unite the will of billions of people with common ideals and beliefs, how to steer the course and draw the blueprint well in a large socialist country with vast territory and a huge population, and how to uphold value ideals in the process of significantly improving population quality and continuously enhancing people’s well-being; in the sense of the coordinated development of the Two Civilizations [n], how to enable people to consciously resist the impact of negative cultures such as materialism and hedonism in the modern context of industrialization and cultural change, and how to avoid the problem of material civilization developing while cultural-ethical progress declines; and so on. Responding to and solving these problems is not only necessary for revealing and manifesting the value code and spiritual strength of the new path of Chinese-path modernization, but also an inevitable choice for strengthening the Four Confidences, and moreover an important direction for promoting ideal and belief education in the New Era. And basing the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education on the cultural foundation of the new path of Chinese-path modernization lies precisely in “integrating the essence of Marxist thought with the cream of fine traditional Chinese culture and with the common values that the people use daily without conscious awareness,” continuously endowing ideal and belief education with national historical roots and cultural characteristics, and fully manifesting its role in uniting, coalescing, and guiding members of society.

习近平总书记在庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会上提出了“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”的重要论断，并将其视为始终保持马克思主义蓬勃生机和旺盛活力的本质命题，是开辟马克思主义中国化时代化新境界的必由之路。这一论断提出的重大战略意义在于：它不仅从本体论的意义上揭示了我国现代化建设的本质规定和发展方向，更从方法论的角度探讨了坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的具体要求和实践要义，内在关涉着党的思想理论创新、法治中国建设、理想信念教育、价值观念凝聚等一系列重大问题。在某种意义上，以“两个结合”为思想指导，新时代推进理想信念教育获得了新的破题原则与方法理路。具言之，新时代开展理想信念教育主要面临着这样的现实情境和实践课题：在人口规模巨大的基本国情下，如何以共同的理想信念凝聚亿万人民的意志，如何在幅员辽阔、人口众多的社会主义大国中领好航向、绘好蓝图，如何在人口素质显著提升、民生福祉不断增进的过程中坚守价值理想；在“两个文明”协调发展的意义上，如何在工业化与文化变迁的现代化场景中，使人们能够自觉抵御物质主义、享乐主义等消极文化的冲击，如何避免物质文明发展而精神文明式微的问题；等等。回应和解决这些问题，既是揭示和彰显中国式现代化新道路的价值密码及精神力量的需要，也是坚定“四个自信”的必然选择，更是新时代推进理想信念教育的重要指向。而立足中国式现代化新道路的文化根基推进理想信念教育常态化制度化，正在于“把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通起来、同人民群众日用而不觉的共同价值观念融通起来”，不断赋予理想信念教育以民族的历史根基和文化特色，充分彰显其对于社会成员的团结、凝聚和引领作用。

3. Containing the Cultural Wisdom of the Century-Old Party’s Arduous Struggle

3. 饱含百年大党矢志奋斗的文化智慧

“Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has always been a party with lofty ideals and firm convictions. These ideals and convictions are the Marxist faith, the lofty ideal of communism, and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” From the day of its birth, the CPC has consistently carried the Marxist faith and the lofty ideal of communism through its actions. These are the spiritual calcium and political soul that sustain the life of Communists, the spiritual bond that unites them in struggle, and the spiritual pillar that enables them to meet various risks and challenges. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a New Era, facing successive risks and challenges, how to uphold truth and adhere to ideals, how to practice the original aspiration and shoulder the mission, how to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, and how to achieve an organic unity of theoretical consciousness, historical consciousness, and practical consciousness on the basis of looking back at history and looking forward to the future — these are important issues for carrying forward the great founding spirit of the Party and inheriting the bloodline of Chinese culture in the New Era. In the more than one hundred years of the CPC leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform and opening up, “taking the people’s heart as one’s own heart, breathing the same breath as the people, sharing the same fate, and being heart to heart with them — this is the Party’s original aspiration and also its enduring commitment.” [2]2 This sentence is a paraphrase of a common CPC expression, often attributed to Xi Jinping, emphasizing the Party Inspired and guided by this “original aspiration” and “enduring commitment,” we have been able to “remain vigorous and thriving after a century of trials and tribulations, and to grow from strength to strength despite severe hardships.” [3]3 The “three immortalities” (三不朽) refer to the classical Chinese ideal of achieving enduring fame through virtue (立德), merit (立功), and words (立言), as articulated in the Zuo Zhuan (Commentary of Zuo). “Without firm ideals and convictions, one will lose direction in the complex environment of chaotic clouds, shrink back and evade under the immense pressure of a mountain bearing down, and lay down one’s arms under the repeated bombardment of sugar-coated bullets.” [4]4 This is a paraphrase of a passage from *The German Ideology* by Marx and Engels. Looking back on the Party’s more than one hundred years of practical journey, the CPC has always taken ideal and belief education as an important lever, integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, seeking the value power and faith support of ideals and convictions from the profound historical and cultural accumulation of thousands of years and the scientific nature of Marxist theory; grasping the tension and balance between the lofty ideal of communism and the phased goals of struggle, manifesting the loftiness of ideals and the profundity of reality in the historical process and great practice of the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, thereby guiding direction in thought and integrating into life in practice. It can be said that persistently carrying out ideal and belief education is an organic component of the CPC’s century-old experience of struggle. Looking ahead to the new historical journey, we need to advance ideal and belief education in an institutionalized and normalized manner, making the firming of ideals and convictions a lifelong subject that people constantly cultivate and refine. Through ideological tempering, political training, and practical exercise, let the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics become the spiritual “lighthouse” for the people, thereby truly transforming ideals and convictions into people’s spiritual faith and conscious action.

“中国共产党成立一百年来，始终是有崇高理想和坚定信念的党。这个理想信念，就是马克思主义信仰、共产主义远大理想、中国特色社会主义共同理想。”中国共产党自诞生之日起，就始终将马克思主义信仰与共产主义远大理想贯穿于行动中。这是共产党人安身立命的精神之钙和政治灵魂，也是共产党人团结奋斗的精神纽带和应对各种风险挑战的精神支柱。中国特色社会主义进入新时代，面对接踵而来的风险与挑战，如何坚持真理、坚守理想，如何践行初心、担当使命，如何将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，如何在回望历史、翘首未来的基础上达成理论自觉、历史自觉与实践自觉的有机统一，是新时代弘扬伟大建党精神、传承中华文化血脉面临的重要课题。在中国共产党领导人民开展革命、建设与改革的百余年征程中，“以百姓心为心，与人民同呼吸、共命运、心连心，是党的初心，也是党的恒心”，在这种“初心”与“恒心”的感召与引领下，我们才能够“历经百年而风华正茂、饱经磨难而生生不息”。“没有坚定的理想信念，就会在乱云飞渡的复杂环境中迷失方向、在泰山压顶的巨大压力下退缩逃避、在糖衣炮弹的轮番轰炸下缴械投降。”从党的百余年实践征程来看，中国共产党始终坚持以理想信念教育为重要抓手，将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，在千百年来深厚的历史文化积淀与马克思主义理论的科学性中寻求理想信念的价值力量与信仰支撑；把握共产主义远大理想与阶段性的奋斗目标之间的张力平衡，在中国特色社会主义发展的历史进程与伟大实践中彰显理想的崇高性与现实的深刻性，从而在思想上指引方向，在实践中融入生活。可以说，坚持开展理想信念教育是中国共产党百年奋斗经验的有机组成部分。展望新的历史征程，我们需要以常态化制度化的方式推进理想信念教育，使坚定理想信念成为人们常修常炼的终身课题，通过思想淬炼、政治历练与实践锻炼，让共产主义远大理想和中国特色社会主义共同理想成为人们的精神“灯塔”，从而真正将理想信念转化为人们的精神信仰与行动自觉。

II. The Cultural Implications of the Institutionalization and Normalization of Ideal and Belief Education

二、理想信念教育常态化制度化的文化意涵

As a unique cultural phenomenon and cultural product, ideals and convictions are the rational expression of people’s deep-seated need to transcend real life and pursue an ideal life. They are people’s high degree of certainty and conscious identification with a certain life ideal and its concepts, and the concentrated embodiment of worldview, outlook on life, and values in the goals of life struggle and the vision of social development. In the contemporary Chinese context, firming ideals and convictions means “firming faith in Marxism, belief in socialism and communism, and confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” [5]5 These three phrases are standard formulations in contemporary Chinese political discourse, often referred to as the “three certainties” (三个坚定) or similar, emphasizing faith in Marxism, conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and confidence in national rejuvenation. Promoting the institutionalization and normalization of ideal and belief education means running this scientific and lofty ideal and conviction through the entire historical process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and building a modern socialist country in all respects, comprehensively integrating it into all aspects of people’s production, life, and social interaction, effectively transforming it into a spiritual atmosphere that is present everywhere at all times and into values that the people use daily without being aware of it, truly making it the spiritual banner and source of strength for achieving national prosperity, national rejuvenation, and people’s happiness.

理想信念作为一种独特的文化现象和文化产物，是人们超越现实生活、追求理想生活的深层需要的理性表达，是人们对某种生活理想及其观念的高度确信和自觉认同，是世界观、人生观、价值观在人生奋斗目标与社会发展愿景上的集中体现。在当代中国语境中，坚定理想信念就是要“坚定对马克思主义的信仰，对社会主义和共产主义的信念，对中国特色社会主义道路、理论、制度、文化的自信”。推进理想信念教育常态化制度化，就是要将这种科学而崇高的理想信念全程贯穿实现中华民族伟大复兴和建设社会主义现代化强国的历史进程，全面融入人民生产生活、社会交往的各个方面，使之有效转化为无时不有、无所不在的精神空气和人民群众日用而不觉的价值观念，真正成为实现国家富强、民族振兴、人民幸福的精神旗帜和力量源泉。

1. The Cultural Implications of the Normalization of Ideal and Belief Education

1. 理想信念教育常态化的文化意涵

Any kind of ideological and theoretical education must take root in real life, be implemented in the specific lives of social members in a way that conforms to the laws of ideological construction, and run through the entire life process of social members, enabling them to maintain a relatively long-term “stable state” and “regular state” in practice. Therefore, promoting the normalization of ideal and belief education requires examining it within the normality of historical development, the normality of people’s daily lives, and the temporal process of life development, thereby endowing its educational practice with rationality and its value choice with inevitability.

任何一种思想理论教育都必须根植于现实生活，以符合思想建设规律的方式落实到社会成员的具体生活中，并贯穿社会成员的生命全过程，使其能够在实践中保持一种较长时期的“稳定性状态”与“经常性状态”。因此，推动理想信念教育常态化，需要将其置于历史发展的常态中、人们的日常生活中以及生命发展的时间进程中加以审视，从而赋予其教育实践的合理性与价值选择的必然性。

Forging ideals and convictions in historical normality. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Viewed from the perspective of several thousand years of history, change and opening up have generally been the historical normality of China.” [6]6 “Replenishing the calcium of the spirit” (补足精神之钙) is a metaphor frequently used by Xi Jinping, comparing ideals and beliefs to calcium, a nutrient essential for bodily health, implying that a lack of firm ideals and beliefs leads to spiritual “weakness” or “rickets.” In China’s several thousand years of historical process, change has always been the driving force and source of social progress. From the reforms of various states to strengthen themselves during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, to Wang Anshi’s reforms in the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhang Juzheng’s reforms in the Ming Dynasty, these measures continuously enriched the Chinese nation’s vivid and great practice of change. At the same time, the Chinese nation has always, with the broad-mindedness of “Great Harmony under Heaven,” engaged in deep exchanges with foreign peoples in the process of interactions such as Jian Zhen’s eastward voyage to Japan and Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Seas, [7]7 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the International Conference Commemorating the 2565th Anniversary of Confucius’s Birth and the Fifth Congress of the International Confucian Association” (September 24, 2014). thereby laying the foundation for the splendid civilization of the Chinese nation over more than five thousand years. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a New Era, facing an intricate and increasingly competitive international environment and domestic development challenges where old and new problems intertwine and old and new contradictions overlap, how to maintain the firm faith of the Party and the people in the historical normality of change and development, making it a powerful driving force for national progress and national development, is an important prerequisite for whether the Chinese nation can stand firm and overcome various risks and challenges in the volatile international situation. Therefore, examining the normalization of ideal and belief education from a macro perspective means placing ideal and belief education within the historical normality of China’s development. On the one hand, the normalization of ideal and belief education means using history to educate people, placing historical and national conditions education in a prominent position within ideal and belief education under the normality of change and opening up, thereby thickening the historical foundation for the broad masses of social members to firm their ideals and convictions. On the other hand, the key to the normalization of ideal and belief education lies in always prioritizing the Marxist faith and communist belief amid constantly changing social realities. In the open historical time and space, the normalization of ideal and belief education is not only an inevitable choice of reality but also a spiritual pillar and spiritual bond in the practical exploration of the future.

在历史常态中锻造理想信念。习近平总书记指出：“以数千年大历史观之，变革和开放总体上是中国的历史常态。”在中国几千年的历史进程中，变革始终是推动社会向前发展的动力与源泉。从春秋战国时期各国的变法图强，到北宋的王安石变法、明朝的张居正变法等，这些举措都不断丰富着中华民族生动而伟大的变革实践。与此同时，中华民族始终以“天下大同”的宽广胸怀，在鉴真东渡、郑和下西洋等同域外民族交流的过程中展开中华民族与世界民族的深切交往，从而奠定了中华民族五千多年灿烂文明的底色。中国特色社会主义进入新时代，面对错综复杂、竞争日趋激烈的国际环境与新老问题交织、新旧矛盾叠加的国内发展挑战，如何在变革与发展的历史常态中始终保持党和人民的坚定信念，使之成为国家前进、民族发展的强大动力，是中华民族能否在风云变幻的国际形势下站稳脚跟、战胜各种风险与挑战的重要前提。因此，从宏观意义上审视理想信念教育常态化，就是要将理想信念教育置于中国发展的历史常态中。一方面，理想信念教育常态化意味着要用历史来教育人，在变革与开放的常态中将历史文化和国情教育摆在理想信念教育的突出位置，为广大社会成员坚定理想信念厚植历史根基；另一方面，理想信念教育常态化的关键在于在不断变化的社会现实中，始终将马克思主义信仰与共产主义信念放在首位。在敞开的历史时空中，理想信念教育常态化既是现实性的必然选择，也是未来性实践探索中的精神支柱与精神纽带。

Implementing ideals and beliefs in daily life. Compared with the historical normal state, “daily life is the activity in which the total human being takes shape”; the concrete and the real are the core characteristics of the daily life of members of society. The so-called “the Way is not far from man” [1]1 The Two Civilizations (两个文明) refers to material civilization and cultural-ethical progress (精神文明), a key concept in the theory of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics. emphasizes that the ultimate pursuit of Chinese civilization lies neither in a distant other shore, nor in abstract liberation, nor does it rely on external standards; rather, it is the daily cultivation and attainable direction of “I desire humanity, and humanity is at hand” (The Analects, “Shu Er”). [2]2 This sentence is a paraphrase of a common CPC expression, often attributed to Xi Jinping, emphasizing the Party To some extent, daily life constitutes the basic fulcrum of the narrative system and meaning structure of Chinese civilization. Ideals and beliefs are “the unity of the highest-level ideal and the highest-level belief”; they are “a mental state in which a future social blueprint is regarded as the highest value, is deeply believed in and revered, and is used to govern one’s spiritual life as one’s spiritual sustenance, pursued unswervingly and consciously.” The regularization of ideal and belief education means that ideal and belief education should continuously and persistently play a role in people’s daily life over the long term, which also inherently stipulates that it must be embodied in the “every moment,” “every place,” and “every matter” of daily life—that is, consistency and sustainability in time, universality and multi-situationality in space, and concreteness and practicality in events. People experience the specific material, linguistic, and spatial conditions endowed by the era in their daily lives, and in infinite repetition and fluidity, they feel the directional significance of ideals and beliefs for the normal state of their lives. This encompasses not only the most basic, real, and direct scenes of material existence, but also spiritual life with its implicit and hidden characteristics. The key to the regularization of ideal and belief education lies in fully examining the practical conditions of ideal and belief education in material existence scenes and its guiding role in spiritual life, and on the basis of the dual needs of material life and spiritual life development, truly “taking the people’s aspiration for a better life as the goal of struggle.”

在日常生活中落实理想信念。相较于历史常态而言，“日常生活是总体的人在其中得以形成的活动”，具体与实在是社会成员日常生活的核心特质。所谓“道不远人”，强调的就是中华文明之终极追求既不在遥远的彼岸，也不在抽象的解脱，更不依托于外在的标准，而是“我欲仁，斯仁至矣”（《论语·述而》）的日常修养与可为方向。在某种程度上，日常生活构成了中华文明叙事体系与意义结构的基本支点。而理想信念是“最高层次的理想和最高层次的信念的统一”，“是把一种未来的社会蓝图视为最高价值，高度地信服和敬仰，并以之统摄自己的精神生活，作为自己的精神寄托，矢志不渝、自觉追求的精神状态”。理想信念教育的常态化意味着理想信念教育应始终在人们的日常生活中绵绵不断、久久为功地发挥作用，这也内在规定了它要体现在日常生活中的“时时”、“处处”与“事事”，即时间上的一贯性与可持续性、空间上的普遍性与多情境性、事件上的具体性与事务性。人们在日常生活中感受时代所赋予的特定的物质、语言与空间状况，在无限的重复性与流动性中感受理想信念对人们生活常态的方向性意义。这既涵盖最基本、真实、直接的物质生存场景，也包括具有内隐性与隐秘性特征的精神生活。而理想信念教育常态化的关键就在于充分考察理想信念教育在物质生存场景中的实践状况和在精神生活中的引领情况，在物质生活与精神生活发展双重需要的基础上真正“把人民对美好生活的向往作为奋斗目标”。

Upholding ideals and beliefs in the development of life. Daily life is a spatial concept that encompasses the state of time, while human life development is a temporal concept that encompasses spatial existence. From a practical perspective, life is finite, yet life also possesses infinity. For the Chinese, “life is a passerby in time,” and “the individual is first a biological entity, but more importantly, there are three forms of immortality related to culture, namely, establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing words.” [3]3 The “three immortalities” (三不朽) refer to the classical Chinese ideal of achieving enduring fame through virtue (立德), merit (立功), and words (立言), as articulated in the Zuo Zhuan (Commentary of Zuo). From the perspective of the finitude of life, the regularization of ideal and belief education is to set specific standards and development directions for the cultivation of people’s ideals and beliefs, and within finite life experience, “to delineate a ‘timetable’ and ‘roadmap’ for the cultivation of ideals and beliefs, thereby making such a seemingly autonomous and arbitrary cultivation process more planned and targeted.” Ideal and belief education should be integrated into and permeate the entire process of life, combining the corresponding characteristics of each developmental stage at different life stages, providing procedural guidance and planned stipulations for the continuously evolving and developing life course. From the perspective of the infinity of life, the reason why people can achieve immortality is that they can “obtain a life that transcends the biological body by being recognized by society, making contributions to society, and articulating their own explanations of issues of social concern.” Whether one can create value for society is an important criterion for measuring the finitude and infinity of life. A key point of ideal and belief education is to provide people’s life course with belief guidance in terms of value orientation. “Regardless of whether a person believes in and pursues the inevitable victory of socialism and the realization of the lofty ideal of communism in the future, they should establish some basic beliefs necessary for living in our society. Such as the belief in serving the people, the belief in collectivism, and the belief in patriotism.” It can be seen that ideal and belief education, in its inherent meaning, is highly consistent with the essential requirement of the infinity of life, regarding concern for society and service to society as inevitable in the normal state of human life.

在生命发展中坚守理想信念。日常生活是一个囊括着时间状态的空间概念，而人的生命发展则是涵盖了空间存在的时间概念。从现实角度而言，生命是有限的，但生命又具有无限性。对中国人而言，“生命是时间里的一个过客”，“个人首先是一个生物体，但更重要的是与文化有关系的三个不朽，即所谓立德、立功和立言”。从生命有限性的角度而言，理想信念教育常态化就是为人的理想信念养成确定具体标准和发展方向，在有限的生命体验中“划定理想信念养成的‘时间表’和‘路线图’，从而使这样一种貌似自主化、随意性的养成过程，变得更富有计划性、针对性”。理想信念教育应融入并渗透至生命的全过程，在不同的生命阶段中结合该发展阶段的相应特征，为不断演进和发展着的生命历程提供过程性指导和计划性规定。从生命无限性的角度而言，人之所以能够不朽，是因为其能够“从被社会承认、对社会做出贡献、对社会关注的问题做出自己的阐述，而得到超越人生物体的生命”。能否为社会创造价值，是衡量生命有限与无限的重要标准。而理想信念教育的一个重点，就是给予人们的生命历程以价值导向上的信念引导。“一个人，不论他对社会主义的必然胜利和未来共产主义远大理想的实现是否相信和追求，都应该确立一些在我们社会中生活所必需的基本信念。如对为人民服务的信念，对集体主义的信念，以及爱国的信念等。”可见，理想信念教育在其内在规定的意义上与生命无限性的本质要求具有高度的一致性，将关注社会与服务社会视为人的生命常态中的必然。

2. The Cultural Implication of the Institutionalization of Ideal and Belief Education

2. 理想信念教育制度化的文化意涵

Institutions are a stable, systematic set of organizational procedures and normative systems. Such procedures and systems are not only a series of power structures and ethical norms used to guide and control collective or individual behavior, but also a kind of thought habit and state of existence through which people understand and handle various social relations. At the same time, any institutional design or institutionalization process actually occurs within a specific cultural scene and cultural atmosphere, and engages in complex interactions and mutual effects with this scene and atmosphere. Synthesizing the above two implications of institutions, institutionalization can be understood as the process of establishing and formulating formal binding rules within a society, the regularization of the operational procedures of society’s internal operations, and the systematization and formalization of binding rules. The institutionalization of ideal and belief education is to regularize and systematize the operational procedures and operational models of ideal and belief education, thereby promoting ideal and belief education as an organizational procedure to manifest its unique value utility in the actual process of implementation.

制度是一种稳定性、系统性的组织程序和规范体系。这种程序和体系既是一系列用以引导和控制集体或个体行为的权责结构和伦理规范，也是一种人们认识和处理各种社会关系的思想习惯和存在状态。同时，任何一种制度设计或制度化过程，都现实地发生于特定的文化场景和文化氛围之中，并同这种场景和氛围发生复杂关联和相互作用。综合制度的上述两个意涵，制度化可以被理解为社会内部正式约束规则的确立与制定过程，是社会内部运作程序的规则化以及约束规则的体系化与程式化。理想信念教育制度化，是要使理想信念教育的运作程序与运作模式规则化、体系化，从而推动理想信念教育作为一种组织程序在实际展开过程中彰显其独特的价值效用。

Leading ideals and beliefs with lofty institutional value. Marx and Engels analyzed the relationship between the division of labor and ownership, proposing that institutions are the product of interactions between people, and that “at a certain stage of development of production, exchange and consumption, there will be corresponding social institutional forms, corresponding families, estates or class organizations.” [4]4 This is a paraphrase of a passage from *The German Ideology* by Marx and Engels. On the one hand, institutions are formed in the actual interactions between people; on the other hand, from the moment of their formation, institutions play a role in practice, defining and regulating social relations and people’s practical activities. As inevitable and substantive products of people’s social interactions, the value of institutions lies in framing people’s collective practice with regulatory requirements, promoting people’s continuous transformation of themselves and the world, thereby better meeting people’s material and cultural needs. In other words, the overall value of institutions is to serve people rather than restrict them, to achieve people’s freedom rather than limit their freedom. In view of this, the process of institutionalizing ideal and belief education is, in a certain sense, a process of people’s self-shaping and self-development, a process of promoting and helping people to use institutional value to guide the construction of their own value system, achieving the unity of institutional construction and people’s self-realization. In this process, ideals and beliefs and institutional construction influence and interconnect with each other, jointly playing a role in the formation and development of people’s value concepts. From the perspective of “institutionalization,” ideal and belief education is the subject; the goal and core of achieving institutionalization is to frame ideal and belief education through an institutional system composed of multiple institutions, and to specify and fix ideal and belief education as a tradition and custom, thereby ensuring the effective implementation of ideal and belief education. From the perspective of ideal and belief education, institutions combine spirit and matter, integrating society’s value orientations and behavioral norms, and are a value system and structural order system. The key to this value system lies in using institutions for substantive creation, placing people in the optimal organizational form. The purpose of ideal and belief education is to help all members of society “strengthen their faith in Marxism and communism,” “strengthen their conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics,” and “strengthen their confidence in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” [5]5 These three phrases are standard formulations in contemporary Chinese political discourse, often referred to as the “three certainties” (三个坚定) or similar, emphasizing faith in Marxism, conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and confidence in national rejuvenation. among which institutionalization is an effective path and optimal choice for achieving the above goals.

以崇高的制度价值引领理想信念。马克思、恩格斯曾分析分工和所有制的关系，提出制度是人与人之间交往的产物，“在生产、交换和消费发展的一定阶段上，就会有相应的社会制度形式、相应的家庭、等级或阶级组织”。一方面，制度在人与人之间的现实交往中形成；另一方面，制度自其形成之始就在实践中发挥作用，限定并规范着社会关系与人的实践活动。制度作为人们社会交往中的必然性、实在性产物，其价值在于以规制性要求框定人的群体实践，推动人不断改造自身与改造世界，从而更好地满足人的物质需求与文化需求。换言之，制度的整体价值在于服务人而非限制人，在于成就人的自由而非限制人的自由。有鉴于此，理想信念教育制度化的过程在一定意义上就是人的自我塑造与自我发展的过程，就是推动并帮助人以制度价值引领自身价值体系建构，达成制度建设与人的自我实现相统一的过程。在这一过程中，理想信念与制度建设之间相互影响、互为勾连，共同在人的价值观念形成与发展过程中发挥作用。从“制度化”角度看，理想信念教育是主体，实现制度化的目标与核心是将理想信念教育以多种制度构成的制度体系的方式框定下来，并将理想信念教育特定化、固定化为一种传统与习俗，以此保障理想信念教育的有效实施。从理想信念教育角度看，制度将精神和物质结合在一起，整合着社会的价值取向和行为规范，是一种价值体系和结构秩序体系。这种价值体系的关键就在于以制度进行实体性创造，使人处于最佳的组织形态下。而理想信念教育的目的则在于帮助全体社会成员“增强对马克思主义、共产主义的信仰”，“增强对中国特色社会主义的信念”，“增强对实现中华民族伟大复兴的信心”，其中制度化是达成上述目的的有效路径与最优选择。

Supporting ideals and beliefs with solid institutional practice. Institutions are “the acquired skills, habits, legal norms, and ethical commands that are accepted by or imposed upon their members.” In the view of some economists, the main function of institutions “lies in reducing the coordination costs of people’s economic and social activities.” This indicates that the degree of compliance with institutional rules is directly proportional to the degree of realization of people’s ideal goals. As an educational practice, ideal and belief education requires the coordinated functioning of multiple educational elements such as educational subjects and educational resources. The more scientific and reasonable the institution itself, the less time and effort people expend, the higher the efficiency of the institution, and the better it can meet people’s needs, thereby better promoting people’s free and comprehensive development. From the perspective of institutional practice, the institutionalization of ideal and belief education is an important means of improving the efficiency, quality, and effectiveness of ideal and belief education. Supervision and accountability over the entire practical process of ideal and belief education can both regulate the allocation of educational resources within the entire educational practice and better promote the effective implementation of ideal and belief education. Furthermore, institutional practice is a system of practice within the scope of society. A complete institutional system can meet the different needs of social members within the institutional provisions and realize their different values, thereby maximizing the space for the value choices of the institution. On the one hand, the institutionalization of ideal and belief education prescribes for social members the highest level within their value system and uses this value concept to guide the construction of social members’ value systems. On the other hand, the institutionalization of ideal and belief education also gives social members sufficient possibility for value choices within this institutional system, enabling them, under the guidance of ideals and beliefs, through autonomous choice rather than external coercion, to form a value concept system that manifests the unity of sociality and individuality and the coordination of normativity and freedom.

以坚实的制度实践支撑理想信念。制度是“由其成员所接受或被强加的后天习得技能、习惯、法律规范和伦理指令”。在一些经济学家的眼中，制度的主要功能“就在于降低人们经济和社会活动中的协调成本”。这说明，制度规则的遵守程度与人们理想目标的实现程度是成正比的。理想信念教育作为一种教育实践，需要教育主体、教育资源等多种教育要素协同发挥作用，而制度本身越是科学合理，人们付出的时间和精力越少，制度的效率也就越高，也就越能够满足人的需求，从而更好地促进人的自由全面发展。从制度实践来看，理想信念教育制度化是提高理想信念教育效率、质量、效果的重要手段。对理想信念教育整个实践过程的监督与问责，既能够规范整个教育实践中的教育资源分配，也能够更好地推动理想信念教育的有效落实。此外，制度实践是一种社会范围内的实践体系，完整的制度体系能够满足制度规定内社会成员的不同需求，实现其不同的价值，从而使制度的价值选择空间达到最大化。一方面，理想信念教育制度化为社会成员规定了其价值体系中的最高层次，并以这种价值观念引领社会成员价值体系的建构。另一方面，理想信念教育制度化也给予社会成员在这一制度体系中进行价值选择的充分可能性，使其能够在理想信念的指引下，出于自主选择而非外部压迫，形成彰显社会性与个体性相统一、规范性与自由性相协调的价值观念体系。

Nurturing ideals and beliefs with rich institutional culture. Institutional culture arises from within institutions and exerts an important counteractive effect on the implementation of institutions. In a certain sense, the interactive relationship between institutional construction and institutional culture governs whether institutional value can be effectively transformed into material results through institutional factors. Chinese civilization has always had a tradition of “virtue as the principal, punishment as the auxiliary, transforming people through virtue.” Confucius said: “Lead them with government policies, regulate them with punishments, and the people will avoid [wrongdoing] but have no sense of shame. Lead them with virtue, regulate them with ritual, and they will have a sense of shame and also correct themselves” (The Analects, “Wei Zheng”). This actually expresses the basic idea that Chinese culture does not take force or violence as the fundamental principle of governing the state, but rather emphasizes the institutional function and edifying power of morality and culture. As an important manifestation of society’s common values, ideals and beliefs both inherit traditional Chinese institutional culture and are embodied in socialist institutional culture. They are a concentrated display of the core socialist values, continuously enriching their connotation and perfecting corresponding educational methods through socialist institutional culture. Within a rich system of institutional culture, people begin to understand, accept, and identify with the ideals and beliefs contained within it, and then transform them into their behavioral habits. First, a rich socialist institutional culture enhances social members’ understanding and identification with ideals and beliefs. In the institutional culture that people take for granted or even treat as normal, people begin to connect their own subjective needs with the ideals and beliefs embedded in the institutional culture, so that ideals and beliefs are gradually chosen and accepted by the subject, and even slowly become the norms and behavioral rules that the subject practices. Second, a rich socialist institutional culture optimizes the transmission and internalization of ideals and beliefs among social members. In essence, the core values manifested by institutional culture are consistent with the purpose and content of ideal and belief education. The edification of institutional culture enables social members not only to understand and identify with the core content of ideal and belief education, but, more importantly, to share it with surrounding groups in terms of internal attributes such as values, emotions, attitudes, and intentions, so that people consciously accept the influence of institutional culture and form corresponding ideological concepts and behavioral patterns. Finally, a rich socialist institutional culture promotes social members’ confidence in ideals and beliefs and their externalization into practice. In the process of deepening identification with ideals and beliefs, people will consciously or unconsciously disseminate ideals and beliefs, and widely promote the value orientation behind them, enriching people’s spiritual world and achieving a high degree of confidence in ideals and beliefs among social members.

以丰厚的制度文化涵养理想信念。制度文化生发于制度之中，并对制度落实发挥着重要的反作用。在一定意义上，制度建设与制度文化的互动关系规制着制度价值能否通过制度因素切实转化为物质成果。中华文明历来有“德主刑辅、以德化人”的传统。孔子有言：“道之以政，齐之以刑，民免而无耻。道之以德，齐之以礼，有耻且格。”（《论语·为政》）实际上就表达了中华文化不以强力、暴力作为治理国家的根本原则，而是重视发挥道德和文化的制度功能与教化力量的基本思想。理想信念作为社会共同价值观的重要表现，既传承了中国传统制度文化，又体现在社会主义制度文化之中，是社会主义核心价值观的集中展现，通过社会主义制度文化不断丰富内涵并完善相应的教育方式。在丰富的制度文化体系中，人们开始理解、接受并认同蕴含于其中的理想信念，进而将其转化成为人们的行为习惯。首先，丰厚的社会主义制度文化提升社会成员对理想信念的理解与认同。在人们习以为常甚至常态处之的制度文化中，人们开始基于自身的主体需求对接制度文化中蕴含的理想信念，使理想信念逐渐为主体所选择、接受，甚至慢慢成为主体践行的规约与行为规范。其次，丰厚的社会主义制度文化优化社会成员的理想信念传递与内化。在本质上，制度文化所彰显的核心价值与理想信念教育的目的和内容是一致的，制度文化的熏陶能够使社会成员不仅了解并认同理想信念教育的核心内容，更重要的意义在于其能够在价值、情感、态度与意向等内部属性上与周围群体共享，使人们自觉地接受制度文化的熏染，并形成相应的思想观念与行为方式。最后，丰厚的社会主义制度文化推动社会成员的理想信念自信与外化实践。在人们对理想信念认同不断加深的过程中，人们会自觉或不自觉地对理想信念进行传播，并对理想信念背后蕴含的价值导向予以广泛宣扬，丰富人们的精神世界，实现社会成员对理想信念的高度自信。

In summary, the regularization of ideal and belief education is both a historical concept and a futuristic concept, reflecting the gradual and enduring characteristics of ideal and belief education in ideological understanding, educational process, and social practice, and signifying a state of constancy over a long period of time. The institutionalization of ideal and belief education is a systematic process of systematizing and formalizing ideal and belief education, a process of fixing and materializing ideal and belief education in the form of an institutional system and procedural rules. The regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education manifests the organic integration of historicity and reality, collectivity and individuality, normality and instantaneousness within ideal and belief education, unified within the framework of ideal and belief education as a system of practice, a historical process, and a cultural creation. As a system of practice, the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education is a practical process that promotes the daily normalization and standardization of the form of ideal and belief education, the rationalization and ordering of the educational process, and the sustainability and generalizability of educational effects. As a historical process, the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education places ideal and belief education within a historical process of change and openness, a system developed in the temporal state where history and reality intersect. As a cultural creation, the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education is both embedded in people’s real life and life experiences, and acculturated within institutional culture and institutional practice. It continuously enriches cultural content and transforms cultural forms in the ever-opening future field, thereby forming a new cultural system.

综上，理想信念教育常态化既是一个历史性概念也是一个未来性概念，体现着理想信念教育在思想认识、教育过程与社会实践中的渐进性与持久性特征，表征着长时间意义上的恒定性状态。理想信念教育制度化是理想信念教育体系化与程式化的系统过程，是将理想信念教育以一种制度体系与程式规则的方式固定化、实在化的过程。理想信念教育常态化制度化，彰显着理想信念教育历史性与现实性、集体性与个体性、常态性与瞬时性的有机整合，统一于作为实践体系、历史进程、文化创造的理想信念教育框架之中。作为一种实践体系，理想信念教育常态化制度化是推动理想信念教育样态日常化与规范化、教育过程合理化与有序化、教育效果可持续化与可推广化的实践过程。作为一种历史进程，理想信念教育常态化制度化是将理想信念教育置于变革与开放的历史进程中，在历史与现实交汇的时间状态下发展的体系。作为一种文化创造，理想信念教育常态化制度化既内蕴于人的现实生活与生命体悟中，也涵化于制度文化与制度实践中，并在不断敞开的未来场域中丰富文化内容、变革文化样态，进而形成崭新的文化体系。

III. Cultural Strategies for the Regularization and Institutionalization of Ideal and Belief Education

三、理想信念教育常态化制度化的文化策略

From a cultural perspective, the regularization and institutionalization of ideal and belief education means using socialist culture with Chinese characteristics to consolidate the foundation of faith, accurately grasping the contradictions and tensions between theoretical cognition and emotional resonance, material life and spiritual life, finite life experience and infinite life value. Through the combined action of educational guidance mechanisms, practice cultivation mechanisms, and cultural edification mechanisms, it steadies the rudder of thought and replenishes the calcium of the spirit.[n]

从文化的视角来看，理想信念教育常态化制度化就是要以中国特色社会主义文化筑牢信仰根基，准确把握理论认知与情感共鸣、物质生活与精神生活、有限生命体验与无限生命价值之间的矛盾和张力，通过教育引导机制、实践养成机制、文化熏染机制的共同作用，把稳思想之舵，补足精神之钙。

1. Thickening the Foundation of Faith with Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture

1. 以中华优秀传统文化厚植信仰之基

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Excellent traditional culture is the foundation of a country’s and a nation’s inheritance and development; if it is discarded, the spiritual lifeline is severed.” [7]7 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the International Conference Commemorating the 2565th Anniversary of Confucius’s Birth and the Fifth Congress of the International Confucian Association” (September 24, 2014). The so-called “lifeline” is the foundation of an organism’s survival and the key to its standing. To advance the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education, the primary meaning lies in holding fast to the lifeline, using fine traditional Chinese culture to thicken the foundation of faith and enhance cultural depth and historical heritage. First, it is necessary to strengthen cultural cognition, excavating the important content where fine traditional Chinese culture and Marxist faith converge, and combining the value orientations contained therein—such as investigating things to extend knowledge, making the will sincere, rectifying the mind, cultivating the self, regulating the family, and governing the state and bringing peace to all under heaven [8]8 These terms are drawn from the Confucian classic *The Great Learning* (*Daxue*), which outlines a sequence of self-cultivation leading to social and political order.—with Marxist faith, thereby enhancing the scientific, theoretical, and cultural character of the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education. Second, it is necessary to advance cultural innovation, continuously endowing fine traditional Chinese culture, especially that related to ideals and beliefs, with new contemporary content and modern forms of expression, so that traditional concepts, expressions, and propositions such as “a moderately prosperous society,” [9]9 “A moderately prosperous society” (*xiaokang shehui*) is a traditional Confucian ideal of a society of modest comfort, later adopted by the CPC as a goal for socialist modernization. “the all-under-heaven system,” [10]10 “The all-under-heaven system” (*tianxia tixi*) refers to the traditional Chinese conception of a world order based on moral and cultural unity rather than territorial boundaries. and “the gentlemanly personality” [11]11 “The gentlemanly personality” (*junzi renge*) is a Confucian ideal of moral character, emphasizing virtue, integrity, and social responsibility. adapt to contemporary culture and harmonize with modern society. Third, it is necessary to enhance cultural experience, building a solid ideological foundation for ideals and beliefs in a regular and systematic manner. The educational role of rituals and ceremonies should be brought into play; through commemorative and celebratory ceremonies at major time nodes and life-type ceremonies closely linked to everyday life events, people’s collective memory is further strengthened, and the “contemporary value of fine traditional Chinese culture—advocating benevolence, valuing the people, keeping good faith, upholding justice, promoting harmony, and seeking common ground” [12]12 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on the Work of Philosophy and Social Sciences” (May 17, 2016). is subtly disseminated into people’s hearts. Fourth, it is necessary to create a cultural environment, expanding the channels of cultural dissemination, more closely integrating fine traditional Chinese culture with the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education, promoting the more vivid and lively integration of fine traditional Chinese culture into all aspects of people’s lives, and ensuring that the values and modes of thinking passed down through generations contained in fine traditional Chinese culture are scientifically and normatively integrated into the entire process and all links of the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education, thereby becoming people’s cultural habits. Furthermore, advancing the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education requires both consolidating consensus with fine traditional Chinese culture, inheriting the bloodline with revolutionary culture, and upholding the red foundation of the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education amid the changes of the era; and guiding the direction with advanced socialist culture, enabling advanced socialist culture to occupy the ideological and cultural front, lead the healthy development of social culture, absorb and draw on the strengths of foreign cultures, and become a rich resource for the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education.

习近平总书记指出：“优秀传统文化是一个国家、一个民族传承和发展的根本，如果丢掉了，就割断了精神命脉。”所谓“命脉”，是生命体生存之根本、立身之关键。推进理想信念教育常态化制度化，首要之义在于坚守命脉，以中华优秀传统文化厚植信仰之基，增强文化厚度与历史底蕴。一是要强化文化认知，挖掘中华优秀传统文化与马克思主义信仰相契合的重要内容，将其中所蕴含的格物致知、正心诚意、修身齐家、治国平天下等价值取向与马克思主义信仰相结合，从而增强理想信念教育常态化制度化的科学性、理论性和文化性。二是要推进文化创新，不断赋予中华优秀传统文化，尤其是与理想信念相关的中华优秀传统文化以新的时代内容与现代表达形式，使“小康社会”、“天下体系”、“君子人格”等传统概念、传统表达、传统命题与当代文化相适应、与现代社会相协调。三是要增进文化体验，以规律性、系统性方式筑牢理想信念的思想根基。要发挥仪式典礼的教育作用，通过重大时间节点的纪念庆典型仪式以及与日常生活事件紧密联系的生活型仪式，进一步强化人们的集体记忆，将中华优秀传统文化“讲仁爱、重民本、守诚信、崇正义、尚和合、求大同的时代价值”潜移默化地传播至人们心中。四是要营造文化环境，扩大文化的传播途径，将中华优秀传统文化更为紧密地与理想信念教育常态化制度化相结合，推动中华优秀传统文化更为鲜活生动地融入人们生活的方方面面，确保中华优秀传统文化所蕴含的世代相传的价值观念与思维方式得以科学且规范地融入理想信念教育常态化制度化的全过程、各环节，进而成为人们的文化习惯。此外，推进理想信念教育常态化制度化，既要以中华优秀传统文化固其共识，以革命文化承其血脉，于时代变局中坚守理想信念教育常态化制度化的红色底色，又要以社会主义先进文化引领方向，使社会主义先进文化占领思想文化阵地、引领社会文化健康发展、吸收借鉴外来文化优长，成为理想信念教育常态化制度化的丰厚资源。

2. Rooting in the Practice of Daily Life to Steady the Rudder of Thought

2. 扎根日常生活实践把稳思想之舵

Promoting the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education requires penetrating people’s daily lives, steadying the rudder of thought, exerting sustained effort within the normal state of life and the normal state of daily existence, and continuously enhancing people’s sense of happiness and gain in both material and spiritual life. First, strengthen the value support and directional guidance for united struggle. The institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education needs to closely integrate with the scenes and elements of people’s daily lives, clarifying ideal pursuits, firming up faith and conviction, and enriching the meaning of life. In terms of value orientation, core socialist values should be used to guide people in forming correct value judgments and self-identity, cultivating noble moral sentiments and good personal cultivation, and fostering a positive mental state in which people realize the value of life through serving society. In terms of practical methods, more life-oriented educational situations should be created, closely integrating with the scenes and elements of daily life, merging knowledge and values into people’s life practices, guiding people to strengthen their longing for and pursuit of a better life, and providing people with the power of ideals and firm conviction when facing difficulties and challenges. Second, meet the needs of material life and spiritual life. The process of meeting the needs of material life and spiritual life is a driving force for human development and also a catalyst for the effective implementation of the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education. It is necessary to grasp people’s needs promptly from the practice of production and life, enhance the moral rationality and practical appropriateness of people’s needs with value concepts, and enrich the value connotation of people’s needs with aesthetic awareness. At the same time, stimulate the endogenous motivation for people to meet their needs, fully mobilize people’s initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity, guide people to cultivate the good quality of creating a better life with their own hands, educate people to satisfy their own needs through reasonable and legitimate means, and form a value pursuit that continuously strives toward higher-level needs. Third, enhance the sense of happiness and gain. The sense of happiness and gain is an important dimension for evaluating the effectiveness of the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education. The institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education should use the striving ideal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation to guide people in understanding the value of social practice, broaden people’s perspective for examining the meaning of practice, educate people to evaluate the significance of struggle under the condition of the organic unity of social and individual interests, and then enrich people’s understanding of the sense of happiness and gain from the perspective of value concepts. At the same time, enrich the ways of practical cultivation, carry out activities such as volunteer service and productive labor that allow people to easily perceive the sense of happiness and gain, mobilize social forces to create spiritual and cultural products that people enjoy, and continuously enhance people’s sense of happiness and gain in material and spiritual life.

推动理想信念教育常态化制度化，需要深入人们日常生活，把稳思想之舵，在生命常态与生活常态之中绵绵发力，不断提升人们物质生活与精神生活的幸福感与获得感。首先，加强团结奋斗的价值支撑与方向引导。理想信念教育常态化制度化需要紧密结合人们日常生活场景与要素，明确理想追求、坚定信仰信念、丰富生命意义。在价值导向上，要以社会主义核心价值观引导人们形成正确的价值判断和自我认同，形成高尚的道德情操与良好的个人修养，培养人们在服务社会中实现生命价值的积极精神状态。在实践方式上，要创设更具生活化的教育情境，紧密结合日常生活场景与要素，将知识与价值融汇至人们的生活实践，引导人们坚定对美好生活的向往与追求，给予人们面对困难挑战时的理想力量与坚定信念。其次，满足物质生活与精神生活需要。物质生活与精神生活需要的满足过程是推动人向前发展的动力，也是理想信念教育常态化制度化有效开展的催化剂。要及时从生产生活实践中把握人的需要，以价值观念增强人的需要的道德合理性与现实适恰性，以审美意识丰富人的需要的价值内涵。与此同时，激发人们满足需要的内生动力，充分调动人们的积极性、主动性与创造性，引导人们养成用自己的双手创造美好生活的良好品质，教育人们以合理正当的途径满足自身需要，形成不断朝着更高层次需要奋进的价值追求。再次，提升幸福感与获得感。幸福感与获得感是评价理想信念教育常态化制度化成效的重要维度。理想信念教育常态化制度化要以中华民族伟大复兴的奋斗理想引导人们理解社会实践价值，拓宽人们审视实践意义的视角，教育人们在社会利益与个体利益有机统一的情况下评判奋斗意义，继而从价值观念上丰富人们对于幸福感与获得感的理解。同时，丰富实践养成途径，开展志愿服务、生产劳动等人们易于感知幸福感与获得感的活动，调动社会力量创造人们喜闻乐见的精神文化产品，不断提升人们物质生活与精神生活的幸福感与获得感。

3. Optimizing and Perfecting Systems and Mechanisms to Supplement the Calcium of the Spirit

3. 优化完善体制机制补足精神之钙

Promoting the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education requires following the laws governing the formation of people’s ideals and beliefs, firmly grasping key links such as educational guidance, practical cultivation, and cultural immersion, optimizing and perfecting institutional mechanisms, and actively responding to the new challenges and new problems of the New Era through scientific and reasonable institutional norms. The first is to construct an educational guidance mechanism. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must “establish ideals and beliefs on the basis of rational recognition of scientific theory, on the basis of correct understanding of historical laws, and on the precise grasp of basic national conditions.” [13]13 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Celebration of the 95th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China” (July 1, 2016), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, vol. 2, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2017, p. 50. Ideal and belief education should grasp the three key factors of theoretical education, historical education, and national conditions education, constructing a “three-in-one” educational guidance mechanism. Specifically, in the process of theoretical education, it is necessary to handle the issue of the application boundaries of advancing ideal and belief education from multiple perspectives, consistently strengthening Marxist theoretical education; in the process of historical education, it is necessary to cultivate people’s ability to correctly view history and learn from history, enabling them to establish a correct view of history, discern the infiltration of foreign values and malicious slander by unscrupulous media, and strengthen their lofty ideals and enhance historical confidence through historical comparison; in the process of national conditions education, it is necessary to construct a social linkage mechanism, relying not only on school education but also on social forces, guiding people to comprehensively grasp the new orientation of China’s development from multiple perspectives, and deeply understand the current complex and volatile world and national conditions as well as the development opportunities and practical challenges they contain. The second is to construct a practical cultivation mechanism. Following the law of “practice—cognition—re-practice—re-cognition,” guide people to apply experience and theory to life practice, tempering ideals and beliefs and forging practical character in practice. By constructing a transformation mechanism for practical experience and value recognition, guide people to realize the transformation of ideals and beliefs from spontaneity to consciousness in practice, perceive their own position in the process of deeply understanding complex social relations, and enhance their sense of experience and gain from actively participating in social construction; by constructing an online-offline linkage mechanism, strengthen the construction of practice platforms, create relatively long-term and stable practice fields, and provide people with practice platforms for testing theoretical knowledge, enriching emotional experience, and strengthening ideals and beliefs; by constructing a whole-process practice education mechanism, closely integrate the characteristics of people’s daily lives, provide process guidance and planned regulations for people’s daily life and modes of interaction, ensure that the process of forming people’s ideals and beliefs can always receive correct directional guidance, thereby promoting the long-term operation of the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education. The third is to construct a cultural immersion mechanism. Based on the New Era and looking forward to the new journey, the institutionalization and regularization of ideal and belief education should rely on the media carriers in people’s daily lives, fully tap into and vigorously publicize the spiritual power contained in the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics that can inspire lofty ideals, stir up enthusiasm for struggle, and guide value practice, forming a value force that promotes the upward striving of all people and a spiritual bond of unity and harmony, thereby promoting the formation of ideals and beliefs through ever-expanding value consensus.

推动理想信念教育常态化制度化，需要遵循人的理想信念生成规律，紧紧抓住教育引导、实践养成、文化熏染等关键环节，优化和完善体制机制，以科学合理的制度规约，积极应对新时代的新挑战与新问题。一是建构教育引导机制。习近平总书记指出，要“把理想信念建立在对科学理论的理性认同上，建立在对历史规律的正确认识上，建立在对基本国情的准确把握上”。理想信念教育应抓好理论教育、历史教育、国情教育三个关键因素，构建“三位一体”的教育引导机制。具言之，在理论教育过程中，要处理好多重视角推进理想信念教育的应用边界问题，一以贯之地加强马克思主义理论教育；在历史教育过程中，要培养人们正确看待历史、以史为鉴的能力，使其树立正确的历史观，明辨外来价值观念渗透以及不良媒体的恶意抹黑，在历史比较中坚定远大理想、增强历史自信；在国情教育过程中，要建构社会联动机制，不仅依托学校教育，还需要依托社会力量，引导人们从多重视角全面把握我国发展新方位，深刻认识当前复杂多变的世情国情及其所蕴含的发展机遇与现实挑战。二是建构实践养成机制。遵循“实践—认识—再实践—再认识”的规律，引导人们将经验和理论运用于生活实践，在实践中锤炼理想信念、锻造实践品格。通过建构实践体验与价值体认转化机制，引导人们在实践中实现理想信念由自发向自觉的转变，在深刻了解社会复杂关系的过程中感知自身所处位置，增强积极投身社会建设的体验感与获得感；通过建构线上与线下联动机制，加强实践平台建设，创设较为长期且稳定的实践场域，为人们提供检验理论知识、丰富情感体验、增强理想信念的实践平台；通过建构全程实践育人机制，紧密结合人们日常生活特点，对人们日常生活、交往方式等给予过程性指导和计划性规定，保障人们的理想信念生成过程能够始终得到正确的方向性引导，从而推进理想信念教育常态化制度化的长效运行。三是建构文化熏染机制。立足新时代、展望新征程，理想信念教育常态化制度化应借助人们日常生活中的媒介载体，充分挖掘并大力宣传中国特色社会主义文化中所蕴含的激发远大理想、激昂奋斗热情、引导价值实践的精神力量，形成促进全体人民奋发向上的价值力量和团结和睦的精神纽带，以不断扩大的价值共识推进理想信念的生成。

(The author is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Research Center for Ideological and Political Education, Northeast Normal University)

（作者系东北师范大学思想政治教育研究中心教授、博士生导师）

Online Editor: Ma Jingren

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