王刚毅 | Building Stronger Cultural Confidence and Helping Socialist Culture

完整标题：

Building Stronger Cultural Confidence and Helping Socialist Culture to Flourish

读书嘉宾：中国外文出版发行事业局原副局长。

英文文本：

Building Stronger Cultural Confidence and Helping Socialist Culture to Flourish

Culture is a country and nation’s soul. Our country will thrive only if our culture thrives, and our nation will be strong only if our culture is strong. Without full confidence in our culture, without a rich and prosperous culture, the Chinese nation will not be able to rejuvenate itself. We must develop a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, inspire the cultural creativity of our whole nation, and develop a great socialist culture in China.

Socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is derived from China’s fine traditional culture,which was born of the Chinese civilization and nurtured over more than 5,000 years; it has grown out of the revolutionary and advanced socialist culture that developed over the course of the Chinese people’s revolution,construction, and reform under the Party’s leadership; and it is rooted in the great practice of social-ism with Chinese characteristics.

To develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics means developing a socialist culture for our nation – a culture that is sound and people-oriented, that embraces modernization, the world, and the future, and that both promotes socialist material well being and raises socialist cultural-ethical standards. In developing this culture, we must follow the guidance of Marxism, base our efforts on Chinese culture, and take into account the realities of contemporary China and the conditions of the present era. We should ensure that this culture serves the people and serves socialism. We should follow the principle of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend, and encourage creative transformation and development, so as to add new luster to Chinese culture.

1. Holding firmly the leading position in ideological work 

Ideology determines the direction a culture should take and the path it should follow as it develops. We must continue to adapt Marx-ism to China’s conditions, keep it up-to-date, and enhance its popular appeal. We will develop socialist ideology that has the ability to unite and the power to inspire the people to embrace shared ideals, convictions, values,and moral standards. We will better arm ourselves with theory and increase the public appeal of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will work harder to study and develop Marxist theory, work faster to develop philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, and develop new types of think tanks with distinctive Chinese features.

We will maintain the right tone in public communication, give priority to improving means of communication and to creating new ones, and strengthen the penetration, guidance, influence, and credibility of the media. We will provide more and better online content and put in place a system for integrated internet management to ensure a clean cyberspace. We will implement the system of responsibility for ideological work, and further consolidate our positions and improve management in this field. We will distinguish between matters of political principle, issues of understanding and thinking, and academic viewpoints, but we must oppose and resist various erroneous views with a clear stand.

2. Cultivating and observing the core socialist values

The core socialist values represent the contemporary Chinese spirit and are a crystallization of the values shared by all Chinese people.

We will focus on fostering a new generation capable of shouldering the mission of national rejuvenation; we will offer them better guidance, expose them to practice, and provide institutional guarantees. We will draw on the core socialist values to guide education, efforts to raise cultural-ethical standards, and the creation,production, and distribution of cultural and intellectual products, and see that all areas of social development are imbued with these values and that they become part of people’s thinking and behavior. To this end, we will encourage extensive public involvement, making our officials take the lead and starting with families and children.

We will draw on China’s fine traditional culture, keep alive and develop its vision,concepts, values, and moral norms, and do so in a way that responds to the call of our era. With this we will see that Chinese culture maintains its appeal and evolves with the times.

3. Raising intellectual and moral standards

When the people have ideals, their country will have strength, and their nation will have a bright future. We will help our people raise their political awareness and moral standards, foster appreciation of fine culture, and enhance social etiquette and civility.

We will undertake extensive public awareness activities to help the people develop firm ideals and convictions, build their awareness of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Chinese Dream,foster a Chinese ethos and a readiness to respond to the call of our times,strengthen the guiding role of patriotism, collectivism, and social-ism, and see that the people develop an accurate understanding of history, ethnicity, country, and culture. We will launch a civic morality campaign to raise public ethical standards, and enhance work ethics, family virtues, and personal integrity. We will encourage our people to strive for excellence and to develop stronger virtues, respect the elderly, love families,and be loyal to the country and the people.

We will improve and strengthen our ideological and political work, and launch initiatives to raise the public’s cultural-ethical standards. We will promote the spirit of science and make scientific knowledge widely attainable; we will work to see the back of outdated social mores and to promote good and up-to-date practices and trends; and we will resist the corrosive influence of backward and decadent culture. We will build credibility, institutionalize volunteer services, and heighten people’s sense of social responsibility,awareness of rules, and sense of dedication.

4. Seeing socialist literature and art thrive

Socialist literature and art are for the people: Writers and artists should take a people-centered approach and draw inspiration from everyday life and the experiences of the people to produce works that do justice to our times. We encourage them to create fine works that are thought provoking and of a high artistic standard, that reflect real life,and that extol our Party, our country, our people, and our heroes.

We will foster democracy in academic research and artistic pursuits, and encourage originality and experimentation with new approaches in the creation of literature and art. We encourage the cultivation of fine tastes, style, and a sense of responsibility, and reject vulgarity and kitsch in literary and artistic creation. We will strengthen the professional standards of artists and writers to see the emergence of a large number of eminent figures who have moral integrity and outstanding artistic appeal, and creators of inspiring works.

5. Promoting cultural programs and industries

To meet the people’s new aspirations for a better life, we must provide them with rich intellectual nourishment. We need to deepen structural reform of the cultural sector, improve the cultural management system, and accelerate the establishment of systems and mechanisms that put social benefits first while pursuing economic returns. We will improve the public cultural service system, carry out public-interest cultural programs, and launch more popular cultural activities. We will strengthen protection and utilization of cultural relics, and better preserve and carry forward our cultural heritage.

We will improve modern systems for cultural industries and markets, explore new mechanisms for cultural production and operation, improve economic policy on the cultural sector, and develop new forms of business in this sector. We will carry out extensive fitness-for-all programs, speed up efforts to build China into a country strong in sport, and make smooth preparations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. We will strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges with other countries, giving prominence to Chinese culture while also drawing on other cultures. We will improve our capacity for engaging in international communication so as to tell China’s stories well, present a true, multidimensional, and panoramic view of China, and enhance our country’s cultural soft power.

Comrades,

Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has actively guided and promoted China’s advanced culture while keeping China’s fine traditional culture alive and strong. Today, we Chinese Communists and the Chinese people should and can shoulder our new cultural mission, make cultural creations through practice,and promote cultural progress along with history.