Great history breeds great cultural thoughts, and great cultural thoughts give birth to great national spirit. The Chinese nation has a long history and culture, in modern history, the founding of the Communist Party of China started the great journey of national rejuvenation and achieved world-renowned results. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new ideas, new perspectives, and new assertions on cultural and ideological work with a broad historical vision, deep historical concern, and firm cultural self-confidence, which are very rich in connotation and extremely profound in exposition, and are the theoretical summary of the Party's practical experience in leading cultural construction in the new era, enriching and developing the Marxist theory of culture, and constituting the chapter of culture of Xi's thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, and forming Xi Jinping's cultural thought. To deeply understand this great thought, we must focus on the historical self-confidence embedded in it.
Chinese culture has a long history and profound civilization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "The most fundamental thing about being Chinese is that we have a unique Chinese spiritual world and unified values." In the more than 5,000 years of development of Chinese civilization, many ideologists and cultural giants such as Laozi, Confucius, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Qu Yuan, Li Bai, Du Fu and so on have been born, and the vast sea of cultural texts they have left behind include the ideological pursuit of "the world for all" and "universal harmony", as well as the philosophy of governance of "the people are the foundation of the state" and "governance is based on virtue", still provide the Chinese nation with rich historical nourishment, and are invaluable spiritual treasures for China and even for all mankind.
At the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "To open up and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics on the deep foundation of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, combining the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete realities and with China's outstanding traditional culture is an inevitable way to go. This is the regular understanding we have come to in exploring the road to socialism with Chinese characteristics." Among them, the proposal of "the second combination" gives the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics a broader and more far-reaching historical depth, expands the cultural foundation of the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and profoundly answers the question of where the "Chinese characteristics" and the "Chinese road" come from, and manifests the firm conviction and historical concern of the Chinese Communists, which is based on the history of China's civilization of more than 5,000 years.
The Two Combinations, especially the "second combination", have built the foundation of Xi Jinping's cultural thought. Throughout history, a country's level of development and civilization has depended not only on hard power, such as economic and military strength, but has also been reflected in the enhancement and advancement of soft power, such as cultural ideas and values, "Culture is an important force for the survival and development of the nation. Every leap forward of human society and every sublimation of human civilization is accompanied by a historic progress of culture". In contemporary China, in the great journey of rejuvenation from "standing up", "getting rich" to "getting strong", cultural thinking has always been the source of Chinese spirit and Chinese power. "The river that has a deep source flows long, and the tree that has deep roots flourishes." We should not only respect the excellent traditional Chinese culture, but also cherish and reflect on it, and in the process of inheritance and promotion, adhere to the concept of using the past for the present and promoting the new, uphold the attitude of openness and tolerance, and keep the righteousness and innovation, so as to promote the organic connection and integration of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and modern culture.
"History is the best teacher." When studying and implementing Xi Jinping's cultural thought, we should constantly broaden our historical perspective, learning the history of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, the history of more than 500 years of world socialism, the history of more than 180 years of struggling by the Chinese people since modern times, the history of more than 100 years of struggling by the Communist Party of China, the history of more than 70 years of development by the People's Republic of China, and the history of more than 40 years of reform and opening up practice, and deeply understanding the historic achievements and historic changes of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Only in this way can the spirit of Xi Jinping's Cultural Thought of "historical self-confidence" be continuously forged and the rich cultural genes contained therein be activated.
To promote the prosperity of socialist cultural undertakings with Chinese characteristics in the new era, the most fundamental thing lies in guiding role of the scientific cultural thinking. If there is no cultural thought that can guide the times, fancy cultural endeavors will only be superficial; they cannot truly penetrate into the people's spiritual world, nor can they resonate with the times. Xi Jinping's cultural thought was born in such a great era, based on profound history, leading the changes of the times and responding to the problems of the times, not only creatively integrating the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and the common values of the people, but also continuously giving scientific theories distinctive Chinese characteristics, and consolidating the historical and mass foundation for the modernization of Marxism.
History is like a lighthouse, guiding people to move forward. "No matter how far we have traveled, we must not forget the way we came." In the long practice of leading China's revolution, construction and reform, the CPC has insisted on combining the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete realities and with China's excellent traditional culture, guiding the Chinese people to great victories one after another and illuminating China's cultural and intellectual endeavors. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "At every major historical juncture, culture can sense the changes in the nation's fortunes, stand at the head of the tide of the times, speak for the times, and cheer for the hundreds of millions of people and the great motherland." From the New Culture Movement of the May Fourth period, the founding of New China, reform and opening up to today's new era, benefiting from the nourishment of Marxism, China's cultural endeavors have left behind a wealth of literary and artistic masterpieces, giving rise to the powerful spiritual strength of the Chinese nation.
When culture flourishes, the nation flourishes; when culture is strong, the nation is strong. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "History and reality have shown that a nation that has abandoned or betrayed its own history and culture is not only unlikely to develop, but is also likely to stage a historical tragedy." How to look at history reflects the attitude of a nation, a country, or a political party toward its own culture and thought, and the degree of self-confidence in the vitality and creativity of its own culture and thought. Xi Jinping's cultural thought carries forward the past and continues the future, comprehensively grasps the overall situation of the strategy for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the great changes that have not been seen in the world for a hundred years, and shows that our Party's historical and cultural self-confidence has reached a new height and demonstrated a strong cohesive force. We should strengthen the study, research and interpretation of Xi Jinping's cultural thought from the perspective of historical self-confidence, and consciously implement Xi Jinping's cultural thought into all aspects and the whole process of cultural undertakings on the basis of in-depth understanding.