Upholding the party’s cultural leadership is a major event related to the future and destiny of the party and the country.

　　【In-depth study and implementation of the cultural thought of the supreme leader】

　　Author: Liu Guangming (Research Fellow, New Era Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center, Supreme Leader of National Defense University)

　　Upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership and always upholding the Party’s cultural leadership are the fundamental political guarantee for promoting cultural prosperity, building a cultural power and building a modern civilization of the Chinese nation. At the first national conference on propaganda and ideological work held after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "Whether we the Communist Party of China (CPC) people can uphold the Party’s leadership, uphold and develop Socialism with Chinese characteristics in an increasingly complex international and domestic environment still needs our continuous answers from generation to generation in communist party. Do a good job in ideological work and do a good job in propaganda and ideological work. " Since the new era, the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader has profoundly summed up the historical experience of the party’s struggle for a hundred years, creatively proposed to uphold the party’s cultural leadership and raise the party’s overall leadership over propaganda and ideological and cultural work to a new historical height. We should deeply understand the extreme importance of upholding the party’s cultural leadership, adhere to the party’s management of propaganda, ideology and media from a political and strategic perspective, and firmly hold the leadership, management and discourse power of propaganda and ideological and cultural work in the hands of the party.

　　1. Independence of sovereignty: Only by adhering to the party’s cultural leadership can the will and practical experience of the party and the people be sublimated into the ideological banner of Guanghui and point out the way forward for the great historical cause.

　　Whether a country’s sovereignty is independent or not depends on whether its political power has independent cultural sovereignty and cultural leadership. Our party has always attached importance to mastering the cultural leadership. Speaking of the root, it means mastering the cultural sovereignty that should be mastered as a Marxist ruling party, and safeguarding the sovereign independence of socialist China from the ideological and cultural level, especially the ideological level. The most important manifestation of this point is that our party has put the will to safeguard the fundamental interests of the people of China and the Chinese nation into the party’s guiding ideology, sublimated the practical experience of the party leading the people in promoting the great social revolution into the party’s guiding ideology, and guided the direction of the great cause with the party’s guiding ideology.

　　On the eve of the founding of New China, Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the policy of "starting a new stove" and "cleaning the house before inviting guests". The policy of "starting a new stove" makes it clear that the new China will not inherit the old diplomatic relations established by the Kuomintang government with other countries, but will establish new diplomatic relations with other countries on a new basis. The policy of "clean the house before inviting guests" makes it clear that the new China will first devote itself to eliminating the remnants of domestic imperialism and not rush to establish diplomatic relations with imperialist countries. "We are willing to establish diplomatic relations with all countries on the principle of equality, but the imperialists who have never been hostile to the people of China must not treat us with an equal attitude quickly. As long as they do not change their hostile attitude, we will not give the imperialist countries legal status in China for a day", so as not to affect the newly gained independence. The implementation of these two policies shows that China adheres to an independent foreign policy and ensures that our party has full leadership over the new China, including the ideological and cultural fields. Since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, our party has always focused on realizing the interests and aspirations of the people of China and the Chinese nation, put forward ideological views and policy propositions based on China’s own national conditions and practices, promoted the modernization of Marxism in China, and led great practice with the party’s innovative theory. The party’s innovation theory is not the original version written by Marxist classical writers.It is not a reprint of socialist theories in other countries, nor a copy of foreign modernization theories, but a new version created by the people of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China. Holding high the banner of the Party’s innovative theory and using it to guide China’s practice means that the people of China are truly masters of their own house, mastering their own future and destiny on the road of their own choice, neither taking the old road of being closed and rigid, nor taking the evil road of changing their flags. In sharp contrast, the Soviet Union’s subjugation of the Party and the country began in the ideological field, especially when the CPSU gave up its cultural leadership. After Gorbachev, the leader of the CPSU, took office, he first focused on the ideology and political system, accepted and implemented the "humane and democratic socialism" program with obvious westernization with the "new thinking" of "the interests and values of all mankind are above everything else", which led the CPSU to take the wrong stand of tolerating or even supporting the anti-socialist and separatist thoughts, organizations and factions in the reform process, and to have a fundamental bearing on the party, socialist system and national destiny.

　　General Secretary of the Supreme Leader emphasized that "we must firmly grasp the leadership, management and discourse power of ideological work in our hands, and we must not be sidelined at any time, otherwise we will make irreparable historical mistakes". In the new era and new journey, we should take Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought, the supreme leader in the new era, as a guide, resolutely prevent the infiltration and erosion of fallacies and heresies of hostile forces, promote the further enrichment and development of Marxism in contemporary China and Marxism in the 21st century, and lead the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation to create a new situation.

　　2. About the subjectivity of culture: Only by adhering to the cultural leadership of the Party can we stick to the soul pulse of Marxism and the root pulse of Chinese excellent traditional culture and plant the cultural foundation of Chinese modernization.

　　The more national it is, the more cosmopolitan it is. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that Chinese-style modernization "shows a new picture different from the western modernization model and is a brand-new form of human civilization". Chinese-style modernization can become a new form of human civilization because the "Chinese style" of this civilized form is unique among the hundred gardens of world civilization. The cultural foundation of Chinese modernization is organically combined with the soul pulse of Marxism and the root pulse of Chinese excellent traditional culture. Marxism and Chinese excellent traditional culture are organically combined because of mutual agreement, and grow stronger because of mutual achievements, which makes the cultural foundation of Chinese modernization more distinctive, thick and solid. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is not only a firm believer and practitioner of Marxism, but also a faithful successor and promoter of Chinese excellent traditional culture. Only by upholding the party’s cultural leadership can we ensure that we always adhere to the soul of Marxism and the root of Chinese excellent traditional culture in the process of promoting Chinese modernization and protect the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation.

　　In the historical process of creating, persisting in and expanding Chinese modernization, our party has always firmly grasped the cultural leadership and kept the origin, source, root and soul of Chinese modernization. Facing the situation that the "total westernization theory" emerges from time to time and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation is challenged, our party has always unswervingly adhered to the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field, and at the same time unswervingly inherited and carried forward the excellent Chinese traditional culture, promoted the "two combinations", and built a solid road foundation, opened up innovative space and consolidated cultural subjectivity through "combination". On the one hand, activate the genes of Chinese civilization with the light of Marxist truth, promote its renewal and modern transformation, and lead the construction of modern civilization of the Chinese nation; On the other hand, it enriches the cultural life of Marxism with Chinese excellent traditional culture, and promotes Marxism to achieve a new leap of China modernization, showing an increasingly distinctive China style and China style. China modernization of Marxism has become the essence of Chinese culture and China spirit. It can be said that only by adhering to the party’s cultural leadership can the root of Chinese excellent traditional culture regain its brilliance, and Chinese modernization can constantly draw nutrition and wisdom from Chinese excellent traditional culture and show its charm of "Chinese style". It is precisely by upholding the party’s cultural leadership that Marxism can flourish and Chinese modernization can take Marxism as a telescope and microscope.Clear the fog of modernization and clarify the laws of modernization, so that the party and the people can grasp the historical initiative to promote socialist modernization on the land of China.

　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, cultural self-confidence has become a powerful spiritual driving force to realize the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation, and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation has been unprecedented. At the same time, we should also be soberly aware that hostile forces have never given up their attempt to "uproot my soul". When the strategy of mutation by "contact" fails, they will choose to use extreme pressure to promote change by pressure. We should always uphold the party’s cultural leadership, safeguard the soulful and fundamental position of Marxism as the soul pulse and the root pulse of Chinese excellent traditional culture, take a clear-cut stand against and resist all kinds of erroneous views, further promote the "two combinations", make the dialectical unity of soul pulse and root pulse reach a higher level of "harmony with reality", and make the "organically unified new cultural life" created by "combination" have stronger cohesion and leading power, so that

　　3. Initiative related to history: Only by upholding the party’s cultural leadership can we maximize the cohesion of the party’s heart, the army’s heart and the people’s hearts, and gather together the majestic forces of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

　　Our party’s mastery of cultural leadership not only has the fundamental consideration of safeguarding cultural sovereignty and the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation, but also has the mission pursuit of gathering strength to complete the central task and historical great cause. Engels believed that "the final result of history always comes from the conflict of many individual wills", just like "a parallelogram with countless forces, which produces a resultant force, that is, a historical result". Undoubtedly, people are the main body of creating history, but in the absence of advanced culture, people’s enthusiasm for creating history is often spontaneous and disorderly. Because everyone has a "subjective self", countless "subjective selves" collide and agitate with each other, which will lead to the dissolution of power. Only when advanced political parties master and make good use of cultural leadership can the spontaneous and disorderly forces of the people be transformed into conscious and orderly forces, and then gathered into concerted efforts. This requires our party to make good use of cultural leadership, fully gather forces from all aspects and fields, draw the greatest concentric circle, and form the greatest cohesive force.

　　In the historical process of leading and promoting the great cause of national rejuvenation, our party has always paid attention to the guiding and cohesive role of cultural leadership, led by pluralism and neutrality, sought consensus in diversity, and led the people of China to gather together to promote the great cause of history. For example, at the turn of the century, when various thoughts and cultures are stirring with each other and the cultural needs of the people are growing day by day, our party vigorously advocates all thoughts and spirits that are conducive to carrying forward patriotism, collectivism and socialism, all thoughts and spirits that are conducive to reform, opening up and modernization, all thoughts and spirits that are conducive to national unity, social progress and people’s happiness, and all thoughts and spirits that are conducive to striving for a better life through honest labor, thus giving full play to the role of advanced culture in uniting and educating the people. For another example, in the new century and new stage, when diversified social thoughts may affect and impact the mainstream socialist ideology and the ideological and political foundation of the United struggle of the party and the people, our party clearly put forward "persisting in leading social thoughts with the socialist core value system" to form a social ideological consensus to the maximum extent. For another example, in the new era of rapid development of information network and new media, our party has deeply realized that where people are, the focus of propaganda and ideological work lies. Cyberspace has become a new space for people’s production and life, and it should also become a new space for our party to build consensus. Insist on accelerating the development of media integration, strengthen positive online publicity, strengthen cyberspace governance according to law, and strengthen the construction of online content.Construct concentric circles online and offline to better unite social consensus and consolidate the common ideological foundation of the United struggle of the whole party and the people of the whole country.

　　In the new era and new journey, the negative factors that are not conducive to unity and struggle still exist, especially the hostile forces’ attempt to turn China from a piece of steel into a piece of sand through the so-called "precision strike". This puts forward new and higher requirements for us to uphold the party’s cultural leadership. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that it is necessary to persist in guiding people with correct public opinion, so that all work is conducive to upholding the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership and China’s socialist system, promoting reform and development, enhancing the unity of the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country, and maintaining social harmony and stability. We should adhere to the guidance of the Supreme Leader’s Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought in the new era, thoroughly study and implement the Supreme Leader’s cultural thought, improve the credibility of news and public opinion, firmly hold the ideological and public opinion position in our own hands, turn the "variable" of the Internet into an "increment" of career development, unite all forces that can be United, mobilize all positive factors that can be mobilized, continuously consolidate and expand the mainstream ideological and public opinion in the new era, and gather the majestic forces that are United and forge ahead bravely.