The criteria for judging the subjectivity of Chinese national culture
2025-12-08
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "with cultural subjectivity, there is a strong sense of cultural self, and cultural confidence has a fundamental basis. Cultural subjectivity reflects a country or nation's conscious awareness of its own culture and historical traditions, as well as its proactive spirit in promoting the renewal of civilization. Cultural subjectivity is a matter of practice, and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation is generated, constructed, and consolidated in practice. The self confirmation of cultural identity as' who am I 'is a self-examination related to the Chinese nation and cultural identity, and is the primary prerequisite for the construction of cultural subjectivity. With cultural subjectivity, we can clearly define who we are in the face of multicultural shocks. The difference between countries lies not in "hardware", but in "software", which refers to the genes of civilization and the spiritual world. The excellent traditional Chinese culture is the root and soul that confirms the cultural identity of the Chinese nation, and it is the foundation for us to stand firm in the turbulence of world cultures. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that 'the fundamental reason why we are born Chinese is that we have a unique spiritual world of Chinese people'. We were born and raised in this land, which has a complex ethnic structure, but all 56 ethnic groups share a common identity - the Chinese nation; With a huge population size, but over 1.4 billion people share a common name - Chinese children; Despite having a vast territory, people of all ethnic groups share a common home - China. 'China' is not only a geographical concept, but also a cultural concept with implicit subjectivity. The original intention of China was to "establish a country among the nations", but over time, the spatial significance of its "central country" gradually faded, and the cultural significance became the main focus. As a civilized order, 'China' comes with its own pattern, aura, and charm, known as' cultural China '. The Zuo Zhuan states: "China has great etiquette, hence it is called Xia; it has the beauty of clothing and rules, hence it is called Hua." The Tang Code of Rites states: "China is also China. It was personally taught by the king, belongs to China, has dignified attire, customs of filial piety and brotherly love, and values of propriety and righteousness, hence it is called China." Within China, among various ethnic groups, it is not ethnic supremacy, but Chinese culture supremacy. The people of all directions share Chinese culture, unify customs, education, and civilized order. The boundary of the Chinese nation has never been ethnicity but culture, and culture is the highest standard that ultimately determines whether it belongs to the big family of the Chinese nation. As a civilized entity in the sense of civilization, the "Chinese nation" is an iconic symbol related to cultural beliefs and spiritual homeland, deeply engraved in the hearts of every Chinese child. The Chinese nation is a cultural nation. Culturally speaking, the Chinese nation has a high degree of homogeneity and presents the same cultural characteristics. At the same time, 'China' is a 'civilization country' because this' country 'is also a huge' civilization 'with thousands of years of rich history. As Engels pointed out, 'the state is the epitome of civilized society'. China "is a summary of Chinese civilization, and the greatest resource of modern China is the historical civilization that spans over 5000 years. The cohesion and centripetal force of modern China mainly stem not from a common geographical origin, blood lineage, or religious beliefs, but from a shared cultural world, a common spiritual home, a common cultural belief, and a sense of community among the Chinese nation. This cultural subjectivity, spiritual belonging, and sense of spiritual home are irreplaceable and inseparable by other things. Consciously continuing the millennium cultural context of 'where do I come from?' is an ontological question related to cultural subjectivity. Only with cultural subjectivity can one find oneself in the ever-changing world. All things are born, but only know how to guard their roots. Culture is the root of a nation. A nation with a broken cultural heritage, a country forced to become a cultural colony, and a racetrack where foreign cultures roam freely, how can we talk about cultural subjectivity. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "the excellent traditional culture of China embodies the genes and codes of the continuous development of the Chinese nation. It is the historical responsibility and sacred mission of contemporary Chinese Communist Party members to uphold the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, protect, promote, and develop the treasures of Chinese civilization left behind by the vicissitudes of life. The Chinese nation has a civilization history of more than 5000 years. "Chinese civilization is the only great civilization in the world that has been continuously developed in the form of a country to this day," and has contributed astonishing achievements to humanity. Unfolding the long history of Chinese civilization, the study of Wangguan, the study of pre Qin philosophers, the study of Han dynasty classics, the study of Wei and Jin metaphysics, the study of Buddhism during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the study of Neo Confucianism during the Song and Ming dynasties, the study of textual research during the Qing dynasty, and modern Neo Confucianism have always adhered to their essence and opened up new horizons. The Chinese cultural context is continuous and peaks are constantly emerging. Chinese civilization did not develop through expansion from the inside out, but through cohesion from the outside in. Yan Huang Huaxia is the core of cohesion, and the "people of the five directions" share the world. The essence of civilization has always been consistent. Looking back at history, Chinese civilization has been "covered in dust" but never "interrupted". The ideological understanding and values accumulated by the Chinese nation in long-term life practice have become an important pillar of the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation. Feng Youlan devoted his life to the pursuit of "clarifying the old state to assist the new destiny", and the rivers and streams were always full of vitality. Old roots and new shoots, old country and new destiny, are all concentrated manifestations of the subjectivity of Chinese national culture. The historical context cannot be severed, and the consolidation of cultural subjectivity requires a high degree of recognition, sincere belief, and conscious continuation of our national culture. Continuing tradition is not about sticking to tradition. Tradition is not a pile of old paper, the future of Chinese culture depends on how we continue and recreate tradition in a higher sense. The outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization fully demonstrates its cultural subjectivity and vigorous vitality in self-development, response to challenges, and opening up new horizons. Whether modern China can rewrite the Western centric logic of the past five hundred years and create a larger pattern on the world historical stage largely depends on whether we can connect the five thousand year context and consciously place "modern China" within the long-standing "historical civilization". Continuing the Chinese cultural heritage is neither retro nor exclusive, but rather to 'follow the rules of the ancients and create our own unique style', consolidating the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation. Consciously adhering to the spirit of independence and autonomy from the standpoint of Chinese culture is the soul of the Chinese nation, and standing firm on the cultural standpoint is an important manifestation of cultural subjectivity. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "in human history, no nation or country can achieve strength and revitalization by relying on external forces and following others step by step. Although economic and political independence is important for a country, if it loses its spiritual independence and cultural subjectivity, it will inevitably become a vassal of foreign civilization and a nation in a state of despair. Marxism was introduced into China and established as the fundamental guiding ideology for building the Party and the country. This historical process not only did not cause us to lose our cultural subjectivity, but also completely reversed the fate of the decline of the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation since 1840. Fundamentally, this is because we have decisively initiated the historical process of "concretizing Marxism in China". Marxism in China has transformed from foreign ideas to integrating with local ideas. To consolidate the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, it is necessary to accurately grasp one's position in the competition of diverse ideas, the game of multiple forces, and the "struggle between ancient and modern China and the West". Firstly, it is necessary to firmly stand on China's position, oppose historical nihilism and cultural hegemony, oppose the Western centric view of history that respects the West, resist cultural aggression, not be a cultural slave to foreign cultures, and enhance the determination, backbone, and confidence of being Chinese; Oppose Western academic colonization and knowledge hegemony, break away from the path dependence of Western academic paradigms, get rid of the identity of "Western theoretical transporters" and "apprentices", be adept at extracting landmark major concepts, original ideas and viewpoints, and principled theoretical achievements based on Chinese experience, form a self assertion of Chinese academia, and promote the construction of an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences. Secondly, we must firmly uphold the position of Chinese culture, oppose cultural nihilism, and not use the name of modernity to sever tradition and leave Chinese people homeless; Opposing cultural conservatism and not using the name of respecting tradition to practice retro style, which hinders China's progress. Thirdly, we must firmly adhere to the Marxist stance, oppose universalism, liberalism, and their modern variants, and never engage in a "de ideologization", "de valueization", "de historicization", "de Sinicization", or "de mainstreaming" approach. We must always maintain value autonomy and a firm cultural sense of ourselves in the context of economic globalization and cultural diversity. The independent choice of cultural development path determines the direction and future destiny of a country, and taking the right path is an inevitable requirement for constructing cultural subjectivity. With cultural subjectivity, one can firmly choose "which path to take" and "where to go" at the crossroads of where to go. The Chinese civilization has come from the depths of history, integrating numerous ethnic groups with different styles into a diverse and integrated Chinese nation. It has gathered the early civilizations of the star studded world into an internally unified Chinese civilization, forging a strong cultural subjectivity and becoming a deep force supporting the Chinese civilization to overcome difficulties and move towards the future. It should be said that for more than 5000 years, various ethnic groups have integrated their bloodlines, shared the same beliefs, shared cultures, relied on each other economically, and had close emotional ties. Rich and diverse cultures have converged on the land of China, creating a cultural development path with unique Chinese heritage. Throughout the history of the Chinese nation, no matter which ethnic group occupies the Central Plains, they have never chosen a narrow nationalist cultural path. For example, as early as the origin of Huaxia, the relationship between Yi and Xia was not static. "Yi" could become "Xia", and "Xia" could become "Yi". Since the Han Dynasty, local governments in the Western Regions have adhered to the policy of "looking east". In the early days of the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Tuoba Xianbei absorbed Han Chinese scholars into the ruling class, imitating the systems of ritual and music, official system, suburban temples, laws and regulations in the Central Plains, and stabilizing the state power. The Song, Liao, Xia, and Jin dynasties all vied for the "legitimacy of the world", jointly adopting the name "China" and practicing the "laws of China". During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols took control of the Central Plains and rebuilt a unified empire, accelerating the process of sinicization. In the early and mid Qing Dynasty, the unification of China reached its peak, "the unification of China began with the Qin family, while the unification of the frontier began with the Yuan family and was extremely prosperous in our dynasty. Since the late Qing Dynasty, the enduring Chinese civilization has encountered a major change of over three thousand years, and the Chinese nation has stumbled into modern society at the cost of the decline of cultural subjectivity and the disaster of national culture. During this period, the value system dominated by Confucianism was impacted, and the cultural system based on Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism gradually weakened until it lost its ability to integrate political, social, and spiritual life. The cultural and intellectual circles began to form a tendency to disdain their own culture and promote Western civilization, and Chinese culture faced a crisis of survival and rupture of "where to go". Mr. He Lin believes that the crisis in China over the past century is fundamentally a cultural crisis. With the collective influx of various Western ideologies, the dominant position, independent character, and cultural function of Chinese culture continue to weaken, and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation is facing a severe crisis. With the sound of the October Revolution, Marxism was introduced into China, the CPC came into being, and the historical process of sinicization of Marxism set sail from then on. The cultural subjectivity of this period is first manifested in the self salvation of "civilization covered in dust". Marxism has activated the ancient Chinese civilization with its power of truth, and the Chinese cultural heritage that has lasted for thousands of years has been rejuvenated. The Chinese people have welcomed“
Edit:Luoyu Responsible editor:Wang Xiaojing
Source:GMW.cn
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