Since the 18th National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has talked about traditional Chinese culture on many occasions, expressing his recognition and respect for traditional culture and traditional thought and value systems. On May 4, 2015, he had a talk with students at Peking University, and he also mentioned core values and cultural self-confidence several times. In his activities and speeches on different occasions at home and abroad, Xi has demonstrated the spirit of the Chinese government and people, and boosted the cultural confidence of the Chinese nation.
Cultural self-confidence is the full affirmation and active practice of a nation, a country and a political party of its own cultural values, as well as its firm confidence in the vitality of its culture.
Xi Jinping pointed out that "we have to insist on road confidence, theoretical confidence, institutional confidence, and most fundamentally, cultural confidence." So, what is cultural self-confidence? Cultural self-confidence is the full affirmation and active practice of a nation, a country and a political party of their own cultural values and their firm confidence in the vitality of their culture.
Why does Xi Jinping emphasize "cultural confidence"?
Since the 18th Party Congress, Xi Jinping has mentioned cultural self-confidence on several occasions, conveying his cultural philosophy and outlook. At the thirteenth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on February 24, 2014, Xi Jinping proposed to "enhance cultural self-confidence and confidence in values." In the two years that followed, Xi had several more discussions on this, "Enhancing cultural self-consciousness and cultural self-confidence is the key to firm road, theoretical, and institutional self-confidence." "China has firm road self-confidence, theoretical self-confidence, and institutional self-confidence, the essence of which is cultural self-confidence founded on the inheritance of more than 5,000 years of civilization." In May and June 2016, Xi emphasized "cultural self-confidence" on two consecutive occasions, pointing out that "we have to be firm in our self-confidence in the road, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and in the final analysis we have to insist on cultural self-confidence"; and that Party members, especially leading cadres, should be guided to "be firm in their confidence in the road, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics".
In his speech to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping emphasized cultural self-confidence, pointing out that "cultural self-confidence is a more basic, broader and deeper self-confidence". It has a more solemn context, a more distinctive point of view and a more resolute attitude, and it is both a cultural concept and a guiding ideology. Therefore, cultural self-confidence has become the "fourth self-confidence" of socialism with Chinese characteristics after road self-confidence, theoretical self-confidence and institutional self-confidence.
Why do we need "cultural confidence" in addition to the "three confidence"? Why does President Xi Jinping attach so much importance to the role of culture? President Xi has already given an answer to this question.
Because "civilization, especially ideology and culture, is the soul of a nation or a people. No matter which country or nation does not cherish its own ideology and culture, and if it loses the soul of its ideology and culture, it will not be able to stand in the forest of the world"; because China's excellent traditional culture "can provide useful insights into the management of the country and the construction of morality". "China's national governance system today is the result of long-term improvement and endogenous evolution on the basis of our historical inheritance, cultural traditions, and economic and social development"; and even more so, because "only by adhering to the principle of moving from history to the future, and pioneering and advancing in the continuation of the nation's cultural lineage can we do well in today's endeavors. "; "without the inheritance and development of civilization and the promotion and prosperity of culture, there can be no realization of the Chinese dream".
What is the basis of "cultural confidence"?
Is "cultural confidence" just a slogan or a theoretical term? No. The "cultural self-confidence" we advocate has deep roots and can be truly practiced. Because we have an excellent traditional cultural heritage, as well as the revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture nurtured during the great practice of Chinese revolution, construction and reform. This inheritance and development on the basis of excellent traditional culture has strengthened the foundation of our cultural construction and laid a strong foundation for our cultural self-confidence.
We have a broad and excellent traditional culture. It "strengthens our backbone and strength as Chinese people", is our deepest cultural soft power, is the basis of our cultural development, and has accumulated the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation, such as the spirit of struggle of "continuous self-improvement", the patriotic sentiment of "serving the country with loyalty", the sense of "responsibility for the prosperity and demise of the world", and the spirit of "sacrificing life for righteousness", the innovative idea of "bringing forth the new through the old", the sense of public morality of "helping the weak and the small", and the values of "putting country before family, public before private", etc. have always been the spiritual driving force of the Chinese nation. In addition, the social ideals of "unity of heaven and mankind" and "the world is a public place", the concepts of governance of "people-oriented" and "the people are the foundation of the nation", the sense of worry of "water can carry a boat and it can also overturn it" and "be prepared for danger in times of peace", the peaceful thought of "stopping the war" and "harmony among all nations", the philosophy of life "Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you", the governing thought of "Confucianism and Law" and "Virtue and Punishment", and the oriental wisdom of "Harmony is Precious" and "Harmony and Difference" have always been the source of the Chinese people's philosophy of governance. Even the concept of a moderately affluent society, which we are trying to build, comes from the Book of Rites, and is the ideal social state pursued by the Chinese nation since ancient times.
These concepts, which have been handed down for thousands of years, have permeated the hearts of every Chinese person, becoming values that are used daily without being realized, and constituting the unique spiritual world of the Chinese people. As President Xi said, traditional Chinese thought and culture "embody the worldview, outlook on life, values and aesthetics that have been formed and passed down through generations of the Chinese people in the course of production and life, and the most central elements of which have become the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese people. These basic cultural genes are the unique identity of the Chinese nation and people, which have been gradually formed in the process of cultivating themselves and their families, ruling the country and governing the world, and are distinct from those of other peoples".
We have a unique and positive revolutionary culture. From the spirit of the Jinggang Mountains, the spirit of the Long March, the spirit of Yan'an and the spirit of Xibaipo, to the spirit of Lei Feng, the spirit of Daqing, the spirit of the two bombs and one satellites, to the spirit of spaceflight, the spirit of the Beijing Olympics, and the spirit of anti-earthquake and disaster relief, all these valuable treasures rich in the characteristics of the times and the national characteristics are shaped by the excellent cultural traditions of the Chinese nation, and at the same time, they are constantly renewed and created and coalesced and sublimated in the new situation, thus laying a solid foundation for promoting the construction of culture in our new historical conditions.
We also have an advanced socialist culture that carries forward the old and develops the new. It is the inheritance and development of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation and the red revolutionary culture, and is a cultural creation under the guidance of Marxism. The distinctive features of advanced socialist culture are the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the national spirit with patriotism at its core and the spirit of the times with reform and innovation at its core, as well as the socialist concept of honor and shame. In just a few decades of socialist practice, we have created the Chinese road, the Chinese model and the Chinese miracle, which have fully demonstrated that advanced socialist culture is a living culture, one that embodies the direction of progress in the development of human civilization.
Our cultural self-confidence comes not only from the accumulation and precipitation, inheritance, innovation and development of culture, but also from the vigorous vitality of socialism with Chinese characteristics today, and from the bright prospect of realizing the Chinese dream. Over the past 30 years since the reform and opening up, we have made remarkable achievements. When a country prospers, culture is bound to flourish. Especially since the 18th Party Congress, the Party has put the construction of a strong socialist culture in a more prominent position, and Chinese culture is ushering in a golden period of prosperity and development.
The excellence of our culture, the strength of our country and the power of our people are the strong underpinnings and roots of our cultural self-confidence. As President Xi Jinping said, "Standing on a vast land of 9.6 million square kilometers, absorbing the cultural sustenance accumulated by the Chinese nation during its long struggle, and possessing the majestic power united by 1.3 billion Chinese people, our own path has an incomparably broad stage, an incomparably deep historical background, and an incomparably strong determination to move forward. Every Chinese should have this confidence." Indeed, we have no reason not to be confident!
Enhancing cultural soft power is a matter of national destiny.
Although China has strong cultural roots and a strong momentum of cultural development, one fact that cannot be ignored is that China is still only a cultural power rather than a cultural powerhouse, and the current status of our cultural soft power is not commensurate with our increasingly strong material hard power.
How to improve cultural soft power? It is necessary to practice cultural self-confidence and bring Chinese culture to the world. President Xi Jinping pointed out that "to improve the country's cultural soft power, we must strive to demonstrate the unique charm of Chinese culture" and "promote the spirit of culture that transcends time, space and countries, is rich in eternal charm and has contemporary value, and disseminate the innovative achievements of contemporary Chinese culture, which inherits the traditional excellent culture and carries forward the spirit of the times, and which is based on our own country and oriented to the world". He also pointed out that "we must convince people with reason, morality and culture, raise the level of cultural exchanges with foreign countries, improve the mechanism of humanistic exchanges, innovate the methods of humanistic exchanges, and comprehensively utilize mass, group and interpersonal communication to demonstrate the charm of Chinese culture."
Culture is used to educate people, culture is used to carry morality and righteousness, so that the cultural concepts of the Chinese nation can go out of the country, let the culture speak for itself, and make it become a medium of peaceful exchanges and communication between different languages, regions and countries. While showing the elegance of Chinese culture, it is more important to present the concept of China's peaceful development and peaceful rise, and to make it clear that "there is no gene in the blood of the Chinese nation to invade others or dominate the world, and that the Chinese people do not accept the logic that a strong country must be hegemonic, and are willing to live in harmony with all peoples of the world, to develop in harmony, and to work together to plan for peace, safeguard peace, and share peace", thereby creating a favorable international atmosphere for China's development.
"Improving the soft power of national culture is related to the realization of the 'Two Centenary' goals and the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." A country that fails in hard power may lose in a fight; and if soft power fails, it may lose without a fight. Practicing cultural self-confidence and improving cultural soft power is a matter of the whole situation and should not be delayed.
"In order for others not to doubt ourselves, we must first believe in ourselves." Only with firm confidence in one's own culture can one gain the motivation to persevere, the courage to forge ahead, and the vigor to innovate. Use culture to stand firm in the world, use culture to revitalize the country. Firm cultural confidence, vigorously promote China's culture to go out, provide more effective soft protection and construct a more favorable soft environment for China's economic, diplomatic and security influence, provide a more basic, deeper and more lasting power for our strong confidence in the country is the subject of the times that needs our attention.