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In the new era, Chinese Communists continue to promote theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, and practical innovation in the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, deeply grasp the inherent laws of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics, and build a series of original theoretical systems that grasp the pulse of the times. They systematically answer a series of major questions, such as “Why is it necessary to build a culturally strong country?” “How is it possible to build a culturally strong country?” “What is possible to build a culturally strong country?” The theme demonstrates the historical initiative from cultural consciousness, cultural self-confidence, to respect for civilization, highlights the cultural confidence that gives Chinese civilization modern power and shapes a modern civilized country, and forms a cultural chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture contains theoretical characteristics such as strategic thinking, dialectical thinking, systematic thinking, innovative thinking, historical thinking, rule of law thinking, and bottom-line thinking. It not only provides a worldview and methodology for building a strong socialist cultural country, but also provides a direction for cultural development and civilization renewal for building a strong country and promoting the great cause of rejuvenation.

1 The Generative Logic of the Theoretical System of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture

The formation of the theoretical system of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has a profound theoretical foundation, distinct cultural genes, and a clear historical context. It originates from the Chinese adaptation and interpretation of Marxist cultural theory, is inherited from the cultural accumulation of China’s excellent traditional culture, and is rooted in the century-old history of China’s cultural construction under the CPC’s leadership.

1.1 Theoretical logic: a Chinese expression of Marxist cultural theory

Xi Jinping (2018b) pointed out: “In the history of human thought, no ideological theory has had such a broad and profound impact on mankind as Marxism.” Marxism has not only profoundly changed the development trend of world civilization, but also profoundly influenced the shaping of modern Chinese society. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture absorbs the essence of Marxist cultural theory and forms theoretical results that guide the development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. Marx and Engels did not directly discuss the word “culture” in their works. Still, the two scholars’ in-depth analysis of ideology, spiritual life, and knowledge value, as well as their elaboration of social systems, material mode of production, and all aspects of society, formed a rich Marxist cultural theory and built a solid framework for the Marxist cultural theoretical system (Lin, 2011). Based on these explanations, it is not difficult to get a glimpse of Marx and Engels’ systematic thinking on culture-related issues.

1.1.1 Emphasizing the Creative Subject and the Value of Culture

In the 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, Marx emphasized the subjectivity of human beings in cultural creation by criticizing the process of capitalist alienated labor and self-alienation. In “The German Ideology”, Marx and Engels directly said: “Men are the producers of their own ideas, thoughts, and so forth.”(Marx, & Engels, 2012: 15). “It is from their practical life process that men abstract the ideological reflections and echoes of that life process.”(Marx, & Engels, 2012: 152). In the “Communist Manifesto”, Marx and Engels emphasized: “The communist revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional property relations; its development involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas in the process of its development.” (Marx, & Engels, 2012: 421) which reflects the value and purpose of Marxist cultural theory that takes human freedom and liberation as the transformation. Xi Jinping (2022b: 322) pointed out: “From the people, for the people, and of the people is the fundamental position of socialist literature and art, and it is also the driving force for the prosperity and development of socialist literature and art.” This idea inherits the value orientation of Marxist cultural theory and demonstrates the directionality of implementing the concept of people’s supremacy into the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

1.1.2 Pay Attention to the Precious Value of the Interaction Between Culture and Practice

Marx and Engels(2012: 138) believed: “Men must prove the truth, i.e., the reality and power, of their thinking in practice, and the this-sidedness of their thinking.” Marx and Engels attached great importance to the outstanding value of spiritual power in social development. At the same time, he emphasized the reactive role of cultural and spiritual forces on material life and social production. Engels pointed out: “The development of politics, law, philosophy, religion, literature, art and so on is based on economic development. But all these react on one another and also on the economic base.” (Marx, & Engels, 2009: 668) Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, on the basis of inheriting the historical materialism in Marxist cultural theory, also attaches great importance to the important value of cultural construction in promoting the development of other fields.

1.1.3 Demonstrate the Openness and Inclusiveness of Culture

Marx believed: “Theoretical thinking in each age, and thus also theoretical thinking in our own age, is a historical product, which in different ages has assumed very different forms and has therefore possessed very different contents.” (Marx, & Engels, 2012: 138) The openness of Marxist theory determines the openness of Marxist cultural theory. This openness becomes the source of the CPC’s continuous efforts to advance theoretical innovation. It also determines that the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural construction theory changes with changes in the conditions of the times, social development, and national missions. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture inherits the inclusiveness of Marxist cultural theory. It advocates that while adhering to cultural self-confidence, we should boldly absorb and learn from the beneficial elements of other civilizations, develop them through inheritance, and enhance the vitality of cultural innovation.

1.2 Cultural Logic: Inheriting and Innovating China’s Excellent Traditional Culture

The Chinese ancestors had already interpreted their insightful understanding of “culture” and “civilization” in the “Book of Changes” written during the Warring States Period. To be precise, culture is “Observing the humanities to transform the world”(Feng, 2022: 6); civilization is “the process and result of the objectification of human values in social practice. Human beings realize the ‘humanization of nature’, including the creation of material cultural artifacts and the shaping of the inner subject’s mind. Therefore, civilization is divided into two major categories: technical system and value system”(Feng, 2022: 6). Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has preserved the cultural essence of thousands of years of Chinese civilization and innovated the cultural wisdom of ancient Chinese civilization.

1.2.1 Respect the Inner Spirit of China’s Excellent Traditional Culture and Protect the “Roots” of the Chinese Nation

Xi Jinping(2022b) pointed out that “China’s fine traditional culture represents the wisdom and essence of Chinese civilization, is the root and soul of the Chinese nation, and serves as the foundation for China to gain a firm footing amidst global cultural interaction”. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture attaches great importance to the “root” role that China’s excellent traditional culture plays in Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation. Xi Jinping also profoundly pointed out: “Chinese excellent traditional culture accumulates the deepest spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation, contains the most fundamental spiritual genes of the Chinese nation, and represents the unique spiritual identity of the Chinese nation.”(Editorial Office of Party Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, 2014: 280) The deepest spiritual pursuit, the most fundamental spiritual genes, and the unique spiritual identity have now become the key to explaining why Chinese-style modernization is “Chinese-style”. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture recognizes that China’s excellent traditional culture is the cultural gene that accurately interprets Chinese modernization. It is the core code for an in-depth understanding of China’s path choices, system choices, and value principles. It is also a prominent advantage in forging the consciousness of the Chinese national community, building a strong country, and promoting the great cause of rejuvenation. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture integrates the concepts in China’s excellent traditional culture such as “A just cause should be pursued for the common good” throughout the entire process of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics in the new era, transforming it into a cultural force for building a a culturally strong country.

1.2.2 Inheriting the Spirit of “Huitong” in China’s Excellent Traditional Culture and Continuing the “Soul” of the Chinese Nation

Zhang Qizhi, a famous expert on the history of Chinese thought, once pointed out: “An important feature of ‘Huitong’ in Chinese culture is that it is good at discussing, communicating, absorbing and improving each other. It can not only see the differences between other schools and its own, but also see the strengths of other schools; it can not only persist in Adhering to one’s own theoretical principles, one can also correct one’s own theoretical deficiencies and make them ‘keep pace with the times’”(Zhang, 2012: 81). The entry of Marxism into China not only triggered profound changes in Chinese civilization, but also went through a process of gradual Sinicization. Chinese Communists are able to draw on the theoretical power of Marxist theory in “explaining the world” and “changing the world”, always integrating Marxist positions, views and methods with China’s reality, and exerting the influence of Marxist theory in guiding the progress of Chinese society. Zhang Qizhi also pointed out: “Another characteristic of ‘Huitong’ in Chinese culture is that it does not reject foreign thought and culture, but strives to understand it and absorb its advantages to integrate with local culture.”(Zhang, 2012: 81) Xi Jinping’s (2023b) important assertion on the “second combination” is a concentrated expression of this spirit. We must respect the different origins of Marxism and China’s excellent traditional culture. Still, we must also promote the process of the two theories from “combination” to “compatibility” and then to “integration” to “forge a new organically integrated cultural entity”. Relying on promoting the “second combination”, we not only create the “soul” that guides the advancement of Chinese-style modernization, but also activate the cultural genes of the Chinese nation and transform the modern form of Chinese civilization, thereby realizing the “mutual achievement” of the basic principles of Marxism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

1.2 Historical Logic: Innovation in the CPC’s Cultural Thought

When the Communist Party of China was founded, it was not “born in a cultural vacuum, but responded to the reconstruction of Chinese culture in a specific way”(Yang, 2023: 31). The century-old struggle of the Communist Party of China resonates with and goes hand in hand with China’s cultural construction. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a guiding principle for the CPC’s cultural construction of the Communist Party of China, embodying the historical wisdom of Chinese Communists in leading cultural construction in different historical periods. During the New Democratic Revolution, based on the conditions of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society at that time, the Communist Party of China initially proposed that the proletariat, like other classes, can of course create its own special culture - the culture of the proletariat before communism is realized (Jiang, 1924: 3) concept, injecting historical materialism into culture and highlighting the decisive role of the economic base of culture. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, with the opening of base areas and the establishment of the Soviet system, the Communist Party of China proposed the construction of a “Soviet cultural concept” in a relatively stable geographical space. Since then, the Chinese Communists have refined and practiced “New Democratic Cultural Thought”, whose rich connotation is reflected in the fact that it includes, from the inside out, the political stipulations of the united front, the stipulations of new democratic social and cultural construction, and the cultural stipulations of Marxism-Leninism. New democratic culture strives to establish a reasonable relationship between Marxist cultural ideals and the reality of Chinese society, and create a “new national, scientific and mass culture of the Chinese nation”(History Research Institute of Gansu Academy of Social Sciences, 1985: 198).

During the period of socialist revolution and construction, cultural transformation was a distinctive feature of China’s socialist cultural construction. Mao Zedong continued the mature cultural development theory of the Communist Party of China, combined with China’s reality, grasped the laws of cultural development, and promoted the new development of the party’s cultural theory. We respect cultural diversity and developmental nature even more, and proposed the policy of “Letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend”, which is a policy that “promotes the development of art and scientific progress.” It is the policy to promote the prosperity of my country’s socialist culture” (Mao, 2022: 6), which mobilized the enthusiasm of people from all walks of life to build socialist culture and promoted the pace of socialist cultural construction; from the perspective of emphasizing the functionality of culture, he proposed the cultural value of “the principle that literature and art serve the people” and affirmed the important role of cultural construction in value guidance. Starting from the subjectivity of culture, Mao Zedong emphasized the national characteristics of culture. He affirmed that only by upholding its national character can culture obtain the source of lasting development.

In the new era of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, China’s economic development and productivity growth have provided a material foundation for cultural construction. Deng Xiaoping affirmed the important role of culture in socialist modernization. The People’s Daily explained the direction of “the orientation of serving the people and socialism”, attaching importance to the mutual promotion of material and spiritual civilization. It regarded spiritual civilization as an “important feature” of socialism and an important manifestation of “the superiority of the system”. The Communist Party of China must “build a socialist country that not only has a high degree of material civilization, but also a high degree of spiritual civilization”(Deng, 1993: 54), pointing out the right direction for cultural prosperity. Under the pressure of the export of Western culture and peaceful evolution, Jiang Zemin first proposed the concept of “socialist culture with Chinese characteristics” and the proposition of cultural security for the times, emphasizing the need to cultivate and carry forward the national spirit and strengthen the development direction of advanced socialist culture. On this basis, Hu Jintao incorporated cultural security into the national security strategy, actively promoted cultural soft power, cultural industry construction and the construction of the socialist core value system, laying the foundation for promoting cultural consciousness, self-confidence, and self-improvement. In the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi Jinping advances cultural construction on the basis of the centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China.

In the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi Jinping, based on the cultural construction theoretical heritage of the Party’s previous leading collectives of the Communist Party of China, combined with the practical needs of Chinese modernization, proposed that “the prosperity of culture always supports the prosperity of a country and a nation.”(Editorial Office of Party Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, 2014: 280) We must continue to create new glories for Chinese culture, build a socialist cultural power, form a conceptual system with socialist cultural genes with Chinese characteristics, and elevate cultural construction to a new historical height and era realm. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is not only an upright innovation of the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural theory, but also a theoretical system that responds to the challenges of the times, providing theoretical guidance for building a socialist cultural power.

2 Theoretical Characteristics Contained in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is the achievement of the times achieved by the Chinese Communists in the historical process of opening up a new realm of the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and contains rich theoretical characteristics. Xi Jinping used strategic thinking, dialectical thinking, systematic thinking, innovative thinking, historical thinking, rule of law thinking, and bottom-line thinking to distill the experience of building a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, grasp the laws of building a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and provide scientific guidance and action guidelines for gathering the wisdom of Chinese civilization, exercising historical initiative, building a strong country, and promoting the great cause of rejuvenation.

2.1 Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is a way of thinking that takes a long-term view, coordinates the overall situation, analyzes the operating rules of things, grasps the development trends of things, and achieves established strategic goals. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture uses strategic thinking to grasp cultural work, understand the strategic significance of cultural work from the height of building a strong country and the depth of civilization inheritance, and place greater emphasis on the strategic value of culture in building a strong country, promoting rejuvenation, and prospering culture. The Communist Party of China must shoulder a new cultural mission, endow Chinese civilization with modern power, and promote the construction of Chinese-style modernization with more spiritual “roots” and ideological “soul”. First, clarify the strategic goals and build a strong socialist cultural country. Starting from the overall situation of Chinese-style modernization, Xi Jinping identified building a cultural power as one of the important tasks in building a powerful country and elevated it to the core of the national strategy. The construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics has not only achieved historic achievements and undergone historic changes in “upholding fundamental principles and fostering innovation”, but has also become a key part of the country’s overall layout, and has provided strong positive energy for upholding and developing “socialism with Chinese characteristics and creating a new situation for the cause of the party and the country”(Xi, 2022d: 309). The Communist Party of China has elevated the building of a culturally strong country to an unprecedented strategic level and placed it in a more prominent position. It has become an important perspective for understanding ancient China, modern China, and future China. Xi Jinping (2022d: 309) pointed out: “Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a great cause of all-around development and all-around progress. Without the prosperity and development of socialist culture, there will be no socialist modernization.” Second, attach importance to strategic value and create a new form of human civilization. Xi Jinping (2023b) pointed out: “The best inheritance of history is to create new history, and the greatest tribute to human civilization is to create a new form of human civilization.” Chinese Communists endow Chinese civilization with modern power to pay back history and grasp the direction of the historical pulse of Chinese-style modernization. One of the important reasons why the Chinese nation has “prospered” in history is the uniqueness, continuity, tolerance, and integration of Chinese culture and civilization. Its civilizational power not only benefits the land of China, but is also yearned for by other civilizations. Today, national rejuvenation not only includes a country’s economic strength, political maturity, sound institutions, ecological sustainability, social harmony, and national unity, but also should create a new form of human civilization, make great efforts to promote national development, and enrich the spiritual world of humanity. Third, clarify strategic thinking and add cultural power to the prosperity of world culture. Xi Jinping (2018c: 164) pointed out that Chinese culture is the foundation for us to “stand firm upon in the global mingling and clashing of cultures”. Endowing Chinese civilization with modern power is not only to inherit the “roots” of Chinese civilization, but also to safeguard the diversity of world cultures. In exchanges and mutual learning with world cultures, we should absorb nutrients from other cultures, maintain the authenticity and uniqueness of our own culture, give full play to the strengths of our own culture, and demonstrate the advantages of our own culture, so that people around the world can know, understand, and experience Chinese culture.

2.2 Dialectical Nature of Thinking

Dialectical thinking is a method of thinking that uses the dialectical materialist standpoint and method to grasp the development process of things and deeply grasp the laws of the development of things. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture continues to absorb new understandings as social conditions change, the cultural environment updates, and cultural carriers transform. It is “an ever-expanding, open ideological system” that will continue to enrich and develop with the deepening of practice (Xinhua News Agency, 2023). First, it emphasizes grasping the dialectical relationship between ancient and modern, foreign and Chinese, and insists on the unity of inheritance and originality. Xi Jinping (2019) Thought on Culture adheres to the inheritance of Marxist cultural theory. Also, it emphasizes the activation of the cultural genes of Chinese civilization, requiring the past to serve the present, the foreign to serve China, dialectical selection, innovation, and the organic connection of tradition and modernity. This is to adhere to the law of the unity of opposites and handle the dialectical relationship between traditional culture and modern civilization, foreign culture, and Chinese civilization more scientifically. Only by learning from the nutrients of other civilizations can we create cultural achievements that integrate China and foreign countries, connect ancient and modern times, and have cohesion, inspiration, dissemination, and influence, thereby resolving the “controversy between ancient and modern times” and “the debate between China and foreign countries”. Keeping track is precisely to grasp the direction of innovation. Only by better inheriting the achievements of predecessors can we provide rich materials for innovation. Innovation can activate the original intention of being upright. Only by constantly creating new things can we break the inertia of being complacent. Xi Jinping (2023b) Thought on Culture emphasizes keeping upright, and upholding “the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding position in the ideological field, the fundamental requirements of the ‘two combinations’, the cultural leadership of the Communist Party of China, and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation”. Innovation creates “new ideas, new discourse, new mechanisms, and new forms”. The second is to emphasize the grasp of the dialectical relationship between internal and external, destruction and establishment, and adhere to the unity of nationality and globality. Xi Jinping (2023b) Thought on Culture advocates the consolidation of cultural subjectivity, and Chinese civilization will have “distinct cultural characteristics of exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations in the world”. Every culture should maintain its own unique culture and national attributes while maintaining strong appeal and attraction to other cultures through exchanges and mutual learning with other cultures in the world. Xi Jinping (2023a: 279) pointed out: “Civilizations become richer and more colorful through exchanges and mutual learning, which form an important driver for human progress and global peace and development.” We must respect and maintain the diversity of cultural civilizations of all nations in the world, avoid estrangement, rejection, and substitution between cultures, and strengthen exchanges, learning, and reference between cultures.

2.3 Systematic Thinking Framework

Systems thinking is a thinking method that insists on using a connected, comprehensive, and changing perspective to grasp the interconnections and interactions between the various elements of the system and between systems. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture uses systematic thinking to coordinate the construction of socialist culture and promote the development and prosperity of socialist culture. The first is to focus on the synergy of systems and elements. Each element has a different position in the overall system. Only by maximizing the nature and role of each element can the energy of the entire system’s leap be gathered. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture embodies the theoretical quality of being clear and practical, and integrating the practical and theoretical. It is a theoretical system under the influence of the dual elements of theory and practice. It not only focuses on updating the cognition, thoughts, opinions, and concepts of building a cultural power, but also proposes a practical path to promote the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. The second is to focus on the correlation between systems. The interaction between systems requires us to coordinate and arrange the various elements of the subsystem in a higher-level system. Modernization is the product of the interaction of various internal and external factors. Various factors play different roles in different development processes of modernization. In the integration stage of modernization, cultural factors often rise to an important position in the overall modernization system. Based on this, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture places the construction of a cultural power within the huge system of Chinese-style modernization and national rejuvenation, and considers it in conjunction with many factors such as economy, politics, society, and ecology. In promoting the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan of Chinese-style modernization and coordinating the advancement of the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, culture is an important content; to promote high-quality development, culture is an important fulcrum; to meet the people’s growing needs for a better life, culture is an important factor; to overcome various risks and challenges on the way forward, culture is an important source of strength. (Xi, 2022d: 309-310). Cultural factors occupy a fundamental position in the overall Chinese modernization system and are interconnected and interactive with other elements.

2.4 Originality of Theory

Innovative thinking generally contains two meanings. First of all, innovative thinking lies in taking the initiative to exert subjective initiative according to changing times and changing conditions, dare to challenge old things, and promote things to develop in new directions. Secondly, innovative thinking requires new ideas and methods to handle and solve emerging problems in order to update and promote the development of things. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is based on the general trend of the world and China’s needs, deepening the understanding of the laws of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics, and providing original thinking and creative interpretations of my country’s cultural development prospects, theoretical innovation potential, cultural power in the process of building a strong country, and national rejuvenation. First, the path and method for the modern transformation of China’s excellent traditional culture lies in creative transformation and innovative development. The famous scholar Jin Yaoji (2016: 6) believes: “In fact, there must be traditional elements in modern times. Successful modernity must also rely on cultural resources transformed from tradition.” Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has original thinking on the transformation path of China’s excellent traditional cultural resources into a modern civilized society: first, creative transformation and expansion of expression methods. Excavating the ideas, humanistic spirit, and moral norms in China’s excellent traditional culture, integrating modern ecological factors, historical and humanistic content, and cleverly transforming them into the cultural needs, aesthetic tastes, and living habits of the public in the new era. The second is innovation. The disruptive and innovative development of contemporary artificial intelligence has opened up a new space for the modern transformation of China’s excellent traditional culture. Digital methods such as artificial intelligence image technology are involved in cultural data interpretation, cultural relic protection technology, protection, analysis, integration, planning and other projects of material heritage and intangible cultural heritage, using scientific and technological means to demonstrate the breadth and depth of China’s excellent traditional culture. Second, Chinese civilization. The outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization help to enhance the cultural power of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Chinese civilization has continuity and unity, provides historical accumulation for the integration of the cultures of various ethnic groups, and becomes the spiritual power that sustains the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation through hardships. Chinese civilization is innovative and must “ignite the cultural creativity of the entire nation and build a powerful source of inspiration for realizing national rejuvenation”. (Xi, 2022c: 45), and become the spiritual power of the Chinese nation’s continuous rejuvenation. The important support of material civilization, spiritual civilization and political civilization also determines that it stands apart from any other civilization. Chinese civilization is inclusive and peaceful, which determines that Chinese civilization will never engage in cultural hegemony and be open-minded to the world’s civilizations. Third, the “first combination” is extended to the “second combination”, and the era proposition of “two combinations” is proposed. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture proposes “two combinations”. It is not only the greatest magic weapon for our success, but also the secret of promoting the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. It is not only the source of theoretical innovation of the Communist Party of China, but also the power of theoretical innovation of the Communist Party of China. Only by adhering to the “two combinations” and based on the profound foundation of Chinese civilization can we understand the “historical necessity, cultural connotation and unique advantages” of Chinese modernization.

2.5 The Historical Nature of Vision

Historical thinking is dynamic thinking that focuses on reflecting on the present from the past and looking to the future from the present. It is a fundamental method and broad vision that connects the past, present and future of human development to think about problems. Xi Jinping (2022a) pointed out: “Chinese Communists are not historical nihilists or cultural nihilists, and they cannot forget their ancestors and belittle themselves.” Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, standing in the perspective of the history of the development of Chinese civilization and in the process of the development history of the ideology and culture of the Communist Party of China, put forward a profound understanding of Chinese civilization and expectations for the Chinese Communist Party to shoulder a new cultural mission. The first is to view the importance of the Chinese Communist Party’s new cultural mission from a historical perspective. Throughout the history of human development, “those countries that have maintained long-term prosperity and strength in history have not only created a strong material civilization, but also often created a spiritual civilization that led that era”(Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, 2024: 20). Chinese-style modernization requires both material and spiritual wealth. The new cultural mission is starting from this dimension. By promoting cultural prosperity and building a culturally strong country, it not only provides the sublimation of spiritual civilization for the country’s prosperity and national rejuvenation, but also provides cultural strength for the country to stand among the nations of the world. The second is to find the cultural power to connect the past and the future for the civilization renewal and modern transformation of Chinese civilization from the perspective of civilization endurance. China has millions of years of human history, 10,000 years of cultural history, and more than 5,000 years of civilization history, which have profoundly affected the development of human society and the process of world civilization. The continuous and self-contained history of Chinese culture and civilization shapes the spiritual world of the country and nation. It establishes and consolidates the spiritual foundation, the foundation of values, and the source of strength of the Chinese nation in the process of cultural inheritance and development and the continuous progress of civilization. Only by insisting on constantly updating the form of civilization can we achieve “respect for human civilization” and allow Chinese culture and civilization not only to shine in the past history of human development, but also to regain their glory in the historical process of human future development.

2.6 Guarantee of the Rule of Law

Rule of law thinking is a way of thinking that uses the concept of the rule of law, follows the logic of the rule of law, carries forward the spirit of the rule of law, uses the rule of law, and rationally brings into play the role of the rule of law and the rule of morality in regulating social operations, thereby solving problems and contradictions. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture attaches great importance to the important role of the rule of law in promoting the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. The first is to focus on absorbing concepts from China’s excellent traditional legal culture and transforming them into nutrients for building a socialist legal culture with Chinese characteristics. Xi Jinping (2017: 118) pointed out: “The legal system of ancient China embodied a huge wealth of knowledge and wisdom, allowing it to occupy a unique place among the major legal systems of the world. We need to take note of the successes and failures of China's ancient legal traditions; identify, extract, and promote the very finest elements of China's traditional legal culture; and selectively integrate these elements into our present initiatives.” Although China’s excellent traditional legal culture remains at the level of the rule by law rather than the rule of law, it has accumulated many beneficial ingredients during the long inheritance and development process. In terms of legal goals, we emphasize the establishment of good laws and pursue the organic combination of good laws and good governance. Regarding the role of law, we attach great importance to the role that law plays in the success or failure of a country. In terms of the legal system, we advocate the construction of a systematic and complete legal system. In terms of governance methods, we advocate the integration of ritual and law, and the complementary use of etiquette and law. In terms of governance effectiveness, we should give full play to the governance effectiveness of co-governance by virtue and law. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture emphasizes absorbing the essence of China’s excellent traditional legal culture and contributing to the renewal of Chinese civilization. The second is to pay attention to the protective effects of different laws and regulations in protecting and inheriting China’s excellent traditional culture, promoting cultural prosperity, and building a culturally strong country. The Communist Party of China ensures that cultural construction operates stably in the legal order by promulgating laws and regulations in different fields and types. The main laws include: “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Guarantee of Public Cultural Services,” “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Cultural Relics Protection,” “Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China,” “Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People’s Republic of China,” “Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China,” etc. Administrative regulations include: “Radio and Television Management Regulations,” “Printing Industry Management Regulations,” “Network Information Content Ecological Governance Regulations,” “Regulations on the Implementation of the Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China,” “Commercial Performance Management Regulations,” etc.

2.7 Clarity of the Bottom Line

Bottom line thinking is a thinking method that defines the minimum goal, prepares for the worst, but also proactively strives for the best results. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has a bottom-line thinking of value, upholds the value concept of people first, and realizes the people’s new expectations for cultural construction and enriching spiritual life. Meeting the people’s cultural demands is the fundamental basis for building a culturally strong country and advancing national rejuvenation. It is also the value pursuit of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics. First, insist on cultural development in order to meet the people’s needs for spiritual life. Xi Jinping (2022c: 45) requires “We will encourage people-centered cultural creation and production of more outstanding works that inspire the people”, so as to meet the people’s spiritual and cultural needs and protect the people’s cultural rights and interests. Implement the national cultural digitalization strategy, improve the modern public cultural service system, innovate cultural projects that benefit the people, and enrich mass cultural activities. Xi Jinping (2022d: 311) emphasized: “We must promote the integrated construction of urban and rural public cultural service systems, optimize the allocation of urban and rural cultural resources, improve the rural cultural infrastructure network, increase the total supply of rural public cultural services, and narrow the gap between urban and rural public cultural services.” Second, adhere to cultural development for the purpose of sharing cultural achievements with the people. Xi Jinping (2022c: 45) pointed out that “improve the modern systems for cultural industries and markets and implement major cultural projects to spur the development of the sector”, grasp the development laws and resource elements of the cultural industry, and combine the characteristics of industrial digitalization and digital industrialization to transform traditional cultural formats into new cultural formats and form a new pattern of cultural industry development. In terms of promoting the integration of the cultural industry, tourism industry and rural revitalization, the cultural industry and tourism industry are inseparable. It can not only increase the economic benefits of rural revitalization, but also allow people to share the huge benefits brought by the cultural industry, and allow people to feel the beauty of rural history and culture while feeling the natural beauty of the countryside. Third, adhere to the standard that the people test the effectiveness of cultural development. The value of people’s nature is the most distinctive and essential feature of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Whether the people’s growing spiritual and cultural needs can be met is a key criterion for measuring the effectiveness of the development of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics, testing the results of building a cultural power, and answering the people’s questions.

3 The Practical Value of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is a theoretical innovation rooted in the history of the development of the Chinese nation and the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It will ultimately guide practice. It has important theoretical innovation significance and extremely valuable practical value for enhancing China’s cultural confidence, promoting the construction of a cultural power, and promoting world cultural prosperity.

3.1 Fundamental Principles for Enhancing China’s Cultural Self-Confidence

Xi Jinping (2018a: 3), pointed out that cultural self-confidence is “a more basic, deeper and more lasting force in the development of a country and a nation”, which shows that our consciousness, recognition and affirmation of our own culture have reached a new height. Strengthening cultural self-confidence provides cultural strength for strengthening self-confidence in the path, theory and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The important conclusion of the “Four Self-Confidences” highlights the important position of cultural self-confidence in Chinese-style modernization and provides a cultural foundation for Chinese-style modernization. Xi Jinping (2023b) pointed out that a nation with cultural self-confidence “can stand firm, stand firm, and travel far”.

From a theoretical perspective, Marx emphasized that social change must distinguish two different forms: one is economic change in material, natural science, precision, and production; the other is change in the form of law, politics, religion, art, philosophy, and ideological forms that have conflicts and strive to overcome. This requires us to pay attention to both material and non-material forces of change at the same time, not only to the effect of social existence on social consciousness, but also to the reaction of social consciousness to social existence. The counter-effect of cultural self-confidence is reflected in the fact that firm cultural self-confidence provides spiritual strength to boost the spiritual temperament of the Chinese nation. Xi Jinping (2023b) pointed out that “cultural self-confidence should be integrated into the spiritual temperament and cultural character of the entire nation, and a high-spirited outlook and a rational and peaceful mentality should be developed”. Cultural self-confidence provides a cultural perspective for us to understand the necessity of independently exploring development paths, continuously promoting theoretical innovation, and the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. The famous scholar Chen Xianda believes: “Every society, as a certain type of social form, has its own economic base and superstructure. This superstructure, that is, its political system and corresponding cultural form, is determined by the economic base and nature and the tradition of the country where it is located, and is not an arbitrary combination.”(Chen, 2023: 106) In other words, if a country simply considers the national path, theoretical guidance, and institutional structure based on the choice of cultural form, it will be difficult to solve the deep-seated problems in the social structure.

From a practical perspective, in modern times, China has explored the relationship between different cultural forms and the social structure and national path in the long-term exploration of the Chinese-style modernization path, but has never found a balance point that finally solves the problem. We have proposed “Chinese learning as the foundation, Western learning for application,” “Western body for Chinese use,” “Western body for Western use,” “Chinese body for Chinese use,” “China as body, global for use,” etc. Regarding the theory of cultural value, it can be said that these are all interpretations of culture. What is construction? What is the value of cultural construction? What is cultural construction? Xi Jinping Thought on Culture offered a transformative paradigm that transcends the traditional debate between “ti” (substance) and “yong” (function). Its emphasis on cultural subjectivity has found a fundamental basis for strengthening cultural self-confidence, and has also found a cultural subject that strengthens path self-confidence, theoretical self-confidence, and system self-confidence in the cultural sense.

3.2 Theoretical Guidance for Promoting the Construction of a Cultural Power

Since the new era, the construction of a cultural power has outlined a grand blueprint for building a strong country, national rejuvenation, and people’s happiness, demonstrating a good trend of enriching the spiritual world of the people and improving moral construction. Building a culturally strong country is one of the cornerstones for consolidating a modern powerhouse, and it is also one of the themes that runs through it. Based on this, Xi Jinping’s cultural ideology requires that cultural construction play an important role in national strategy. One is to strengthen the Party’s leadership over propaganda, ideological and cultural work. Ensuring the Party’s cultural leadership is essential to ensure the correct direction of propaganda and ideological work, and to ensure the correct direction of China’s cultural construction, providing a political foundation and leadership advantage for achieving cultural construction achievements. The second is to build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leadership. We must firmly adhere to the Party’s control over ideology, broaden the path of sinicization of Marxist theory, construct a knowledge system of Chinese independent philosophy, and enhance the persuasiveness and penetration of socialist ideology. The third is to cultivate and practice the socialist core values. To deposit the socialist core values into the cultural genes of building a strong cultural country, integrate them into the bones of the Chinese people, and practice them in the daily actions of the Chinese people. The fourth is to enhance the power, guidance, influence, and credibility of news and public opinion dissemination, comply with the requirements of the increasingly digital, technological, and diversified era of news dissemination, produce excellent and sincere cultural works, and consolidate the mainstream cultural public opinion battlefield. The fifth is to continue the Chinese cultural heritage, promote the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture. Pay attention to the modern renewal of excellent traditional Chinese culture, deeply explore innovative expressions of traditional festivals, folk customs, intangible cultural heritage, etc., and use virtual and real light and shadow technology, digital live streaming technology, 5G+lightweight digital technology to perfectly combine ultra-high technology with traditional art and integrate it into the lives of young people, so that excellent traditional Chinese culture can withstand the dual tests of public satisfaction and artistic level in the long run. Sixth, promote the prosperity and development of cultural undertakings and cultural industries. Persist in improving the public cultural service system and enhancing the cultural character of the people; Reform the development system of cultural industries, enrich the scope of excellent cultural content, improve cultural supply, and upgrade cultural and creative products. Adapting to the trend of cultural digitization and the transformation of the supply and demand relationship of the cultural industry system, we will accelerate the construction of a new model for the prosperity of cultural undertakings and the diversity of cultural industries, improve the basic systems related to cultural creation, cultural supply, and cultural consumption, and meet the diverse needs of the people. Seventh, we will strengthen the construction of international communication capabilities, promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning, enhance China’s discourse power with a rational and peaceful attitude, modern communication methods, and an open and inclusive perspective, and add cultural strength to the community with a shared future for humanity.

3.3 China’s Contribution to Promoting the Prosperity of World Culture

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture combines the reality of China’s cultural construction. It draws on the experience of cultural development at home and abroad to form a systematic approach to the lasting development of Chinese culture. The focus of these innovative theories is to solve the problem of building a culturally strong country. Still, their influence is far beyond the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and they have made China’s contribution to promoting the prosperity of world culture.

3.3.1 Providing a Chinese Path for Cultural Construction in Various Countries around the World

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture adheres to the combination of Marxist cultural theory and the actual practice of Chinese cultural construction, and adheres to the Chinese characteristics of cultural construction. It contains in-depth thinking on cultural construction issues, a profound grasp of the laws of cultural development, and major innovations in cultural construction theory. It promotes a cultural country to move towards a cultural power and opens up the road to socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics. This not only meets the needs of world cultural development and the laws of world cultural prosperity, but also broadens the ideas for other countries to develop their own cultures. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture not only emphasizes the need to adhere to cultural subjectivity, breaking the inherent situation of Western modern countries unilaterally exporting their own cultural concepts, but also emphasizes that every country and nation must pay more attention to consolidating the foundation of its own culture when developing its own culture. In the process of national modern transformation, a country or a nation should not stay in cultural isolation, nor should it blindly worship the advancement of other cultures. Instead, it should focus on civilization renewal and modern transformation.

3.3.2 Providing a New Form of Human Civilization for the Prosperity of World Culture

The diversity of world civilizations will inevitably form cultural diversity, and cultural diversity is one of the factors that maintains the lasting development of the world’s nations. Ethnic groups in the world have different languages, different national habits, different geographical environments, different psychological characteristics, and different economic lives, and must have different and diverse cultures. Xi Jinping (2020) Thought on Culture affirms that Chinese civilization has contributed “a profound ideological system, rich scientific, cultural and artistic achievements, and unique institutional creations to the world, which have profoundly affected the process of world civilization”. Elevating the value of Chinese civilization to an unprecedented historical height demonstrates the cultural confidence that gives Chinese civilization a new mission and gives cultural construction a higher goal to guide. Chinese civilization will surely contribute a new form of human civilization to the prosperity of world culture while adhering to integrity, innovation, and inclusiveness.

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