General Secretary Xi Jinping's report to 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, especially where he emphasizes cultural confidence, provides the direction and guideline for further development of the Chinese culture.
Xi's report shows the cultural confidence the Party and the Chinese nation should possess, and underlines the responsibility and mission they should shoulder in promotingcultural innovation and creation and pushing for progress in China's cultural development. Only through constant innovation and creation can the Chinese culture continue to flourish and be full of vitality.
Earnest study and in-depth research of Xi's report with regard toshoulderingthe new mission for cultural development should become part of the cultural consciousness of the Party and the nation, which will be of practical significance.
First, shouldering the new cultural missionis essential to allow the Chinese culture to maintain its vitality, create new glories, and attain the goals for building the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.
"With decades of hard work, socialism with Chinese characteristics has crossed the threshold into a new era," reads Xi's report. "This is a new historic juncture in China's development."
The "new era" was a hard-won historic achievement by the Party and the nation, and serves as a new starting point for the Chinese nation to advance toward rejuvenation.
The new era requires more determination, courage and wisdom for meeting major challenges, guarding against major risks, overcoming major hindrances and resolving major contradictions. It also calls for new efforts to make the Chinese dream come true.
To meet these requirements, the cultural sector should work to make new achievements in sync with the progress of the times, guide new thoughts, and provide spiritual and talent support for making more progress in the new era.
Xi's report also points out, "As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved. What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life."
Looking forwardto a better life, Chinese now have increasing demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice, security, and a better environment, along with stronger needs for nourishing, high-quality spiritual culture.
The cultural sector should work to meet the people's demands for improved spiritual culture, promote the advancement of the cultural cause alongside the growth of the cultural industry, improve public cultural services, and better implement programs for the well-being of the people.
Second, shouldering the new cultural missionmeans we should unswervingly push forward the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics toward prosperity; always serve the people and socialism; uphold the policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought flourish, and adhere to creative transformation and innovative development in order to continue to create new glories of the Chinese culture.
Third, shouldering the new cultural missionrequires us to cherish more our nation's excellent cultural traditions and carry them on through creative transformation and innovative development. Due consideration should be given tothe country's actual conditions when carrying out such endeavors.
Fourth, shouldering the new cultural missionrequires the fostering of self-confidence about the Chinese culture. To deal with the impact of western cultures, China should enhance confidence in its own modern culture and strive for new achievements in cultural development while saluting its long cultural traditions.
Last but not least, shouldering the new cultural mission requires boosting the whole nation's cultural capability, which usuallyrepresents a nation's cultural development levels and serves as the basis for its future cultural development as well as for the nurtureof cultural confidence. A nation with poor cultural capability cannot value cultural diversity from a strategic perspective, and a nation paying little attention to enriching its culture can neither sustainany cultural glory for long nor become a promising cultural force in the new era. The fundamental factor behind all changes in the world cultural order lies in the change of cultural capability of various nations.
The main task in building cultural capability is improving the capability in cultural innovation and creation. China should deepen all-round reform of its educational systems, improve cultural services for the public, and set sights on cultivating talent for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It should give top priority to people's development and improvement of population quality in the process of cultural development, constantly liberate cultural productive forces, and work to create a better policy and social environment to allow the free flow of innovative and creative dynamics in the new era.
Shen Zhuanghai, deputy chief of the Party committee at Wuhan University
