The Sinicization of Marxism: "This is China" No. 290

Wu Xinwen on left, Zhang Weiwei in center, unnamed moderator on right.

Wow! What a great topic. Here’s Dragon TV’s synopsis of its 290th program broadcast on June 30, featuring Professor Zhang Weiwei, Dean of the Institute of China Studies of Fudan University, and Professor Wu Xinwen, Deputy Dean of the Institute of China Studies of Fudan University, engaging in a dialogue on the topic as described:

General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed "two combinations": the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with the specific reality of China, and the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture. These "two combinations" demonstrate the Sinicization of Marxism and the inherent strong vitality of China's excellent traditional culture.

The usual program format of opening remarks followed by discussion and capped by audience questions is what follows:

Wu Xinwen:

In the historical process of Sinicizing Marxism, there are "two combinations." The "first combination" is to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality; The "second combination" is to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with the fine traditional Chinese culture. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the latest theoretical achievement of the "two combinations". The "first combination" was put forward in the thirties of the last century, and the "second combination" was clearly put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping a few years ago, and had a major repercussion in the ideological and theoretical circles. Today, I would like to focus on the "second combination" and make a few of my own views.

The first point is that the "second combination" means that neither Marxism nor the excellent traditional Chinese culture singly is sufficient for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. On the one hand, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that Marxism is our soul, and to turn our backs on this soul is to make the subversive mistake of losing our soul and losing our direction. We must persist in taking Marxism as our guide, guard Marxism, the spiritual pillar of communists, and learn and make good use of this ability to take care of our own affairs, and we must not waver at any time and under any circumstances. He raised the issue of Marxism being speechless in some disciplines, missing from textbooks, and losing its voice in forums, and repeatedly criticized the Westernization theory that abandons Marxism, blindly copies from the West, and takes Western systems and values as the guideline, and warns party members and cadres that Marxism is the true scripture of our communists.

However, the Marxism referred to by the Chinese communists has never been an abstract Marxism, but a Marxism that concretely combines the characteristics of the nation and the characteristics of the times. This is an important starting point for our discussion of the "second union" today.

On the other hand, the general secretary called the excellent traditional Chinese culture our roots. Without the Chinese civilization that has lasted for more than 5,000 years, without the excellent traditional Chinese culture formed by the long-term accumulation of Chinese civilization, and without the spiritual identity of the Chinese nation established on the basis of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, there would be no Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style. If this root vein is cut off, socialism with Chinese characteristics will float without roots and be grounded, and it will be impossible to grow into a towering tree. Only by basing ourselves on Chinese civilization can we understand the historical inevitability, cultural connotation and unique advantages of China's path.

The "second combination" is proposed, and its practical relevance is obvious. In contemporary China's ideological and cultural circles, there is not only the trend of Westernization that rejects Marxism and the fine traditional Chinese culture, but also the conservatism that is hostile to Marxism and the dogmatism that ignores the fine traditional Chinese culture. They are all one-sided, wrong, and wishful thinking. Today, as the Chinese nation creates modern civilization and a new form of human civilization, Marxism and China's excellent traditional culture complement each other and are indispensable. To completely deny the two, to forget one's ancestors, or to set the two against each other is divorced from the reality of Chinese thought and culture.

The second point is that the focus of the "second combination" is on integration, and we must work hard on integration. Since the founding of the Communist Party of China, the integration of Marxism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture in different fields and to varying degrees has been carried out. The development achievements made by contemporary China and the stage of development in which it is located can enable us to view Marxism and China's fine traditional culture with a more confident, calm, and open mind, to better solve the problems of "two skins" and "confrontation between the two armies" that existed in the past, promote the integration of the two more consciously, comprehensively, and deeply, and achieve comprehensive innovation from a new starting point.

Therefore, the combination in the "second combination" is not to a lalang match [Chinese cultural term related to the incompatible becoming compatible] , not to make a platter, nor to merge similar items, but on the basis of the spiritual compatibility between Marxism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture, a profound chemical reaction will take place, so as to promote the integration of the two and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. In this process, we must neither forget our ancestors nor rely on them alone but make new inventions and creations in ideology and culture, put forward Chinese's own theories, and produce China's own thinkers and theoreticians.

As Chairman Mao Zedong said: "Not as good as Marx, not Marxist; equal to Marx, not Marxist. Only by surpassing Marx can he be a Marxist." [Dialectical reasoning] Use Marxism to activate the excellent genes in Chinese civilization, and at the same time inject the rich wisdom of the Chinese nation into Marxism at a deeper level, integrate the essence of Marxist thought with the essence of traditional Chinese culture, and fuse it into a new ideological and theoretical advantage, providing a solid theoretical foundation for Chinese-style modernization. Therefore, the combination here is a strong alliance and mutual achievement, 1+1>2, which is to cultivate the new cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation and give vitality and vitality to contemporary Chinese thought and culture.

Third, the "second combination" is not a combination for the sake of combination, nor is it a purely conceptual game of philosophical speculation divorced from reality, but an attempt to answer the major and urgent questions and challenges facing China and the world; that is, to answer the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times. The "second combination" and the "first combination" are inseparable and mutually reinforcing. The continuous deepening of the "second integration" can better serve the "first integration" and solve the practical problems faced by contemporary China.

The greatest reality of contemporary China is that, on the basis of its existing achievements, it should overcome various problems and challenges, pursue comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development, and achieve the strategic goal of building a great modern socialist country at a new historical starting point. To achieve this goal, we need strong ideological and theoretical guidance and a broader cultural depth to mobilize all resources, integrate all forces, and stimulate the initiative and creativity of all Chinese. All these depend on the sustained and in-depth promotion of the "second integration" to form a general theoretical pattern and atmosphere that is inclusive and draws on the strengths of others, and constantly produces new ideological and theoretical achievements, endowing China with spirit and spirit in the 21 st century.

Contemporary China has become the China of the world, and China is closely related to the world. Solving China's problems is a pilot test and experiment in solving many of the world's problems. In the era of globalization and multipolarization, many problems in the world also affect the final settlement of China's problems. Today's world is facing the problems of the collapse of a unipolar world, the emergence of a multipolar world, and the formation of a multipolar world order, as well as the new scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution with artificial intelligence as the core, which will bring great opportunities to mankind, and at the same time bring new impacts to the human knowledge system and value system. Many of these problems and challenges are new and unprecedented.

Where is humanity headed? How can humanity form a new multipolar world order and a new order of human knowledge and values? What role will China play in addressing these issues and challenges? Answering these "big questions" requires new ideological theories and cultural creation. And any creation and innovation is not carried out in a vacuum, it needs a foothold, resources and nutrition, and more importantly, a clear direction. The "second combination" can make its own unique contribution in these areas.

Fourth, one of the focal points of the "second integration" is to further integrate the distinctive and sharp style of Marxism with the concise and lively characteristics of China's fine traditional culture, carry forward the fine tradition of being specific, concise, and lively in the Chinese version of Marxism, improve the style of study and writing, and enhance the pertinence, popularity, and effectiveness of ideological and theoretical propaganda. We all know that Sinicized Marxism can change China and the world, not by relying on long expositions and fundamentalism, but by relying on its power of truth to face problems, hit the key points, and conquer people's hearts.

Chairman Mao Zedong proposed that books should not be read, but rather they should not be read randomly and without a clue, and they should avoid being nerd [The Paradox of Knowledge]. Comrade Deng Xiaoping also held that Marxism is not mystical but is a very simple thing and a very simple truth and advocated that the study of Marxism-Leninism should be refined and effective and should not rely on the book. He used the Chinese idiom "seeking truth from facts" to summarize the essence of Marxism, which made people suddenly enlightened. General Secretary Xi Jinping also stressed that to spread Marxism well, we must not follow the script, find chapters and extract sentences, but popularize and popularize it, and earnestly change the bad tendencies of being the same, having the same people, following the rules, and not daring to go beyond the thunder pool in ideological and theoretical propaganda.

Finally, it should be pointed out that some people may be worried that only emphasizing the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture will cause the Chinese people to form a closed and conservative mentality, which will affect China's absorption of the excellent achievements of human civilization, especially Western civilization. In fact, this worry is unnecessary. Writers of Marxist classics and successive generations of leaders of the Communist Party of China have always emphasized that Marxism is not a dogma, but a guide to action, a banner for progress, and an ideological weapon. It does not end the truth, but opens the way to it.

The excellent traditional Chinese culture originally contains the enterprising spirit of daring to be the first in the world, the innovative consciousness of reforming the old and bringing forth the new, returning to the original and opening up the new, and the broad mind of tolerance and symbiosis, good at learning and learning from others. In this respect, Marxism and China's fine traditional culture can be said to be like-minded and complement each other. The comprehensive and in-depth integration of the two will provide a broader space and open up brighter prospects for learning from all the outstanding achievements of human civilization, including Western civilization. Thank you!

【Roundtable Discussion】

Moderator: Mr. Wu gave a speech just now, and the "two combinations" proposed by the general secretary made us feel the basic tenets of Marxism and the strong inner vitality of China's excellent traditional culture, and it is very important to understand them. I would like to ask Mr. Zhang, how can the basic principles of Marxism help us understand the excellent traditional Chinese culture?

Zhang Weiwei: "The second combination", in fact, we started to do this for a long time, and now we have refined it. An important reason for this is that there is a natural fit between Marxism and many things in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, or in other words, the excellent traditional Chinese culture contains many simple socialist elements, making it easier for the Chinese people to accept Marxism. For example, there is a great emphasis on equality, "not suffering from the few but suffering from inequality", since more than 2,000 years ago, the "Book of Rites" emphasized "great harmony" and emphasized that "the road is the journey, the world is for the public", and now we can explain its relationship with the communist ideal.

Moderator: There are many combinations of the basic tenets of Marxism and China's specific practice, and young people may have some understanding of the excellent traditional Chinese culture if they do not have a deeper understanding of the culture, and they may not be able to grasp the inner vitality.

As Teacher Zhang said just now, we also said in our program that Chinese are philosophers, and the relationship between part and whole, the relationship between two things that are interdependent and mutually influencing, everyone seems to have understood since childhood. Understanding the principles of Marxism is also very helpful for understanding the fine traditional Chinese culture.

Wu Xinwen: I would like to add that in the basic tenets of Marxism, there is a law in the development of social history, and this law can be understood by us. For example, the relationship between the productive forces and the relations of production, between the economic base and the superstructure. There is a saying in ancient China that "things must come to pass, and reason is certain", some things are not transferred by people's subjective will, what should come will definitely come, you should not be confused by that phenomenon, but to grasp the fundamental regularity behind it. For example, the principle of productive forces and production relations, why reform and opening up? In fact, the relations of production have already hindered the development of the productive forces, and if the relations of production are not changed, the further development of the productive forces will be hindered, so it is necessary to carry out reform and opening up.

Including the tradition in Chinese history, it is necessary to innovate and demand new, which is something engraved in the bones of the Chinese. The two happen to be mutually inspiring.

Zhang Weiwei: Because it has certain genes, such as the genes of dialectical thinking, which are more compatible with Marxism. Therefore, it is easier for Chinese to accept Marxism, and it is easy to accept the Sinicization of Marxism.

Moderator: Western scholars have also put forward dialectical thinking, but their dialectical thinking is not as profound as ours in practice or its impact on everyone.

Zhang Weiwei: Anyway, I often share Chinese wisdom with them when I go out, and we think that a lot of very ordinary wisdom is difficult to produce in other cultures. For example, "take a step back and open the sky", some small countries, they have never retreated, and as soon as they retreated, they were destroyed, and they did not produce this kind of culture, including the Middle East, where small countries are the mainstay, and there is no way to retreat, and this tradition has not been formed. During our reform and opening up period, we used a lot of common people's words, which are also part of Chinese culture, such as "crossing the river by feeling the stones", and Deng Xiaoping actually quoted the words of the common people.

I have also said in Russia that our evaluation of Chairman Mao Zedong is 37 points, 7 points are huge achievements, and 3 points are mistakes. In fact, this is dialectics. Russian friends say, how did we not think of it? We have all denied Stalin.

Recently, the United States and Russia have started talks, and some people have been hyping it up, especially the West, and the United States wants Russia to side with the United States against China. Lavrov spoke very well, he said that our friendship with China is very strong, he said that the Chinese are very calm and long-term, which is a very concise summary of the cultural inheritance of the Chinese.

Wu Xinwen: When it comes to the long-term nature of Marxism, I would like to add that Marxism and China's excellent traditional culture have one thing in common, that is, they are both very lofty and long-term. We ancient Chinese talked about great ambitions, and for the whole society, it has a Taiping-style ideal, the ideal of great harmony. Marxism, on the other hand, pursues the emancipation of all mankind, and even at the lowest ebb of humanity’s career development, it will not throw away his ideals. Like Mao Zedong, before the victory of the Long March in 1935, he proposed that "the world is peaceful, and the world is hot and cold".

On the other hand, however, the Marxist ideal is integrated with reality, and its starting point is in line with people's common sense. Marxism says that people must first eat, wear, and shelter before they can do other things. Traditional Chinese thought, "Guanzi" says, "Cang Liao is honest and knows etiquette, food and clothing are enough to know honor and disgrace", which means that for ordinary people, the first thing to solve is to solve the problem of food, clothing and housing. These two things can be excited by each other, at the high point and at the base. So the combination of these two theories is not accidental.

Moderator: It's very important to understand them. And after understanding is practice, and after practice is development. So, I would like to hear Mr. Wu's point of view; what do you think will happen to the principles of Marxism after we understand the excellent traditional Chinese culture?

Wu Xinwen: I think one of the things that is very obvious is that the two can be combined because, first, they can fit together, and there are similar or even the same things; But on the other hand, we also have to admit that the two theories are not exactly the same, and sometimes there are differences. What's the biggest difference? The excellent traditional Chinese culture is built on the basis of the Chinese civilization and agricultural civilization. What is the emphasis of a civilization based on agriculture? I think it's like benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith, gentleness and generosity, pacifism, to talk about stability, it's best not to be chaotic, to be stable, not to toss around, so it regards peace and security as an important value.

But we know that Marxism arose in a society of change at a time when capitalism had already developed, especially when industry had already begun to develop. A very important feature of a changing society is that there is a struggle between people. Therefore, Marxism emphasizes struggle. In Marx's later years, an American reporter interviewed him and asked him where the ultimate meaning and value of life was. In particular, when the Communist Party became the ruling party and the leading party, there was still a lot of work to be done on how to govern the country and how to combine the criticism of Marxism with many wisdom and constructive things in traditional Chinese governance.

Moderator: Mr. Wu just said that because the excellent traditional Chinese culture was born from agricultural civilization, in fact, it is also constantly innovating. We have always said in the program that in our traditional culture, there is reform and self-transcendence, isn't this a struggle? Because the struggle is not only a struggle with the outside, but also a struggle with the self, to surpass the self and overcome this difficulty.

Zhang Weiwei: In addition, China is a civilized country, and the civilization that has not been interrupted for thousands of years is actually the "second combination" mentioned by the general secretary, which emphasizes the combination with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, that is, distinguishing the essence from the dross, and only combining it with the excellent part. For example, the strong impetus for reform that you mentioned earlier is behind the tradition of "renewing every day, renewing every day, and renewing every day", which is linked to the struggle.

Wu Xinwen: I said that I have absorbed a lot from Marxism, and there are Chinese traditions, but for the general analysis of Chinese traditions, you have to look at Lin Yutang's "My Country and My People", and he believes that the national character of the Chinese is still conservative and moderate, and they should not fight with others unless they have to.

Host: In fact, Chinese people have always wanted to pursue innovation, absolutely not resting on our laurels, we are full of curiosity about new things and take the initiative to embrace them.

Zhang Weiwei: I once looked at a sociological study, because the traditional Western concept is that Chinese are more conservative and Westerners are innovative.

But China's enthusiasm for embracing new things is unimaginable abroad. In China, whether you approve of it or not, but in general, face recognition has been available every day, everywhere, almost every community, and the European Union is still discussing whether it can use face recognition, and Chinese culture believes that if the benefits of something new outweigh the disadvantages, embrace it, and then solve various problems that may arise in use. I went to France to the Champs-Élysées, I wanted to take pictures, and my French friends said to beware of your phone being robbed. I mean, don't you have surveillance? They say it's all fake.

Moderator: It is because we seek truth from facts, and the basic tenets of Marxism are well integrated with China's specific reality, and we will innovate when there is a need for innovation, and we will not cling to some concepts. But sometimes in the West, the people's voices are in need of innovation, and it may be trapped in that system.

Zhang Weiwei: I said that the attitude of the Chinese is very realistic, and it is really a brave spirit of innovation. If we embrace new things that cannot be stopped, we will make use of them in pursuit of advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and this is Marxism.

In the process of development, it is useless to be afraid of what problems to solve, and to solve any problems. [Putin practices that approach.]

Moderator: To be afraid is to go against the tide. When we understand and truly grasp the essence of culture, we will promote the process of Sinicizing Marxism. On the other hand, if you truly grasp the principles of Marxism, you can also help us very well distinguish the good parts of the traditional culture from the bad parts, and at the same time carry forward the good parts.

Wu Xinwen: We read Chairman Mao Zedong's "Three Old Articles", one of which is called "The Fool Moves the Mountain" In fact, there are "two combinations" in "Yugong Moves Mountains", that is, there is a combination of Marxism and China's specific reality. Such an article was part of Mao Zedong's speech at the closing session of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China. So he was solving the problem of where China was going after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and when the Japanese were about to be defeated.

When Mao Zedong talked about this issue, he borrowed the fable "The Fool Moves the Mountain" in the chapter of "Liezi Tangwen". He said that the two mountains of imperialism and feudalism in "Yu Gong Moving Mountains" are Taihang and Wangwu Ershan, and Yu Gong said that I dig mountains to rely on my descendants is endless, as long as I insist on digging, sincere, and focus on doing one thing and keep doing it, I will definitely succeed. And Chairman Mao said that the real strength is like who the children and grandchildren are, and the strength of the children and grandchildren depends on our Communist Party, and the Communist Party members must be conscious, the vanguard must be conscious, and the people must be conscious. In the end, God was moved by the spirit of Yugong and sent the gods to remove the two mountains. Chairman Mao said that God is the people, and the people are God.

Therefore, in Mao Zedong Thought, these "two combinations" are closely integrated, and it is necessary to solve China's problems, but it is necessary to stimulate the traditional resources of China, the spirit of sincerity, the spirit of man conquering heaven, and the spirit of believing in the power of the people.

Zhang Weiwei: It was about the 50s, when Chairman Mao talked to Vice Premier Li Fuchun, who was in charge of industry. Chairman Mao said that the country must have strength, and today it is called hard power, and it is necessary to develop industry. Then Mao Zedong made an analogy, he said that we have a saying, if you don't have a handful of rice in your hand, the chickens won't come. This is very vivid, it is a vernacular, it is the wisdom of the people, but the truth is very profound, this is the Sinicization of Marxism.

Moderator: These are very factual statements and practices, and this is also a very good suggestion for us at the moment. All our goals are to solve the people's yearning for a better life, whether we draw strength from the excellent traditional Chinese culture or combine it with China's specific practice, in the final analysis, we want to solve the problem.

Wu Xinwen: When it comes to the issue of the people, I would also like to add that ancient China also had people-oriented thinking, but there was a major weakness of the people-oriented in ancient China, in the traditional agricultural society, although the people-oriented emphasized the importance of its value, but in actual operation, it was to let the people be self-sufficient, that is, the government should not interfere too much, and let the people do things themselves. But it's not okay to think about it.

An important viewpoint of Marxism is that the people have to be organized, and the people who are not organized have no strength. As Sun Yat-sen said, it was a plate of loose sand, or as Marx said, the peasants in the French Revolution were a bag of potatoes. So, how do you get organized? It is necessary to rely on a vanguard and a party to go down to the grassroots level and integrate the people's forces, and this is what the Communist Party does. I think this is a very big supplement to traditional Chinese culture, and it is also a development.

Moderator: The "two combinations" we just discussed are Chinese wisdom and a very important part of the "four self-confidences". We often say that the civilizations of all countries in the world should learn from each other and learn from each other's strengths. What are some of the lessons we have learned that we can share with other places?

Zhang Weiwei: That's too much. Many foreigners, especially in the "Global South", take the initiative to learn from China, because it is true that China has achieved things that they could not have imagined. They used to follow the Western model, and the result has always been to hit a wall and fail, and now it is up to China to succeed. So as I said last time, the world has entered a new era of seeking knowledge about China.

Now we are not discussing whether the liberal arts are important; the liberal arts are still very important; but we must do a good job, and we must extract a lot of good things from China's great practice and explore its inspiration for the entire international community.

Not long ago, in an interview with a US media outlet, I compared China's two sessions with the US Congress, where Trump spoke. I said that the characteristic of Trump's speech, in your English, is "divide and rule", to emphasize that we are different from you, to emphasize that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are completely different, the Republican Party can, the Democratic Party cannot, the scene is also like this, half of the people applaud, half of them are sarcastic. China is not like that; China is seeking consensus: my name is unite and prosper.

Wu Xinwen: I think there is an important wisdom in the "two combinations" that can be used as a reference for the whole world, that is, the unity of knowledge and action in Chinese culture.

I think one of the biggest problems in Western politics now is that there is no action in the middle of a lot of talk, and there is only a lot of talk, which is the most taboo in Marxism and traditional Chinese culture.

Moderator: When Wang Yangming said that knowledge and action are united, he said that knowledge without action is not knowledge, and action without knowledge is not action, and these two are not separated, it is completely unified. In the principles of Marxism, there is often a concept of a unified whole.

Wu Xinwen: That's what Mao Zedong's "Theory of Practice" is talking about.

Moderator: The problem in the West now is that its knowledge is not knowledge that comes from deeds, but knowledge for the sake of knowing, it may be to solicit votes, it may be a concept of freedom of speech for the sake of partisan interests and individual interests for a period of time.

【Questions from the Audience】

Audience: Hello two teachers, good host. I'm Wang Ziqiang, a first-year student from East China University of Science and Technology. I found a phenomenon that on platforms where young people gather, such as Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, traditional culture is often decomposed into ancient role-playing and Hanfu punch-in, while Marxist theory is difficult to spread due to its obscure content. I'd like to ask how you think the "second union" responds to this cultural fragmentation? Is there a concrete case where this combination can really appeal to Gen Z and not just a formality?

Zhang Weiwei: I think so, I remember that we had a writer named Yan Wenjing, a fairy tale writer, and when he was at the Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Letters, he had the opportunity to have a long talk with Mao Zedong in Yan'an. After the talk, he said with emotion that Chairman Mao talked to me about the heavens and the earth, the south and the north, Tang and Song poems, and everything in the universe, all afternoon, but not once did he mention Marx, but after the conversation, I thought that he was talking about Marxism, that is to say, it had reached the stage of being superb. In my opinion, this is the most wonderful part of spreading Marxism.

Now what's the problem? Many of us professional scholars study Marxism, but they are not Marxists and do not believe in Marxism, so their lectures are very boring.

Wu Xinwen: There is no identity, no emotion, so he just reads according to the script, and even his heart is resistant, and he feels that talking about this thing seems to be a bit unreasonable, weak-hearted, and short of breath, so he will have more problems.

Zhang Weiwei: That is to say, when we talk about Marxism in ordinary times, it can be a very lively and vigorous Marxism, a Marxism that solves practical problems, and even does not use Marx's words to talk about Marxism, let Marx speak Chinese, and even this should become the mainstream. This is because Marxism is first and foremost an ideological method, a standpoint, viewpoint, and method for looking at problems, and from this angle, this will become very lively and vivid.

Wu Xinwen: I think the "two combinations" can actually have many levels, the first one is at the language level, General Secretary Xi Jinping said that "civilization is like water, moisturizing things silently", which is a very important concept of civilization, and it is also traditional Chinese, but when he talks like this, there is actually Chinese Taoist thought contained in it. General Secretary Xi Jinping has said that the education of ideals and beliefs, moral education, and the cultivation of work style of our Communists is the study of the minds of our Communists. In ancient China, it was also said that Confucianism emphasized righteousness and sincerity, and Confucius said that "politicians are upright", that is, they should do correct, just, and righteous things. It turns out that we did not associate the study of mind with this set of things of the Communist Party, but when General Secretary Xi Jinping said this, I can say that we suddenly understand that these lofty things are completely passable, and people have the same heart and the same reason, and these things can be used.

Audience: Hello host, hello two teachers. I'm Li Yanhui, a first-year electronic information student at East China University of Science and Technology. The question I want to ask is, will we now use new media, such as short videos, to reinterpret the "second combination", will it undermine the seriousness of political theory? How to grasp the scale of this reinterpretation? Thank you.

Zhang Weiwei: You just introduced you as a freshman student, and you should pay attention to maintaining the vigor of young people. Some teachers in the university are not confident enough and will only read from the book and speak in a serious way about Marxism, which they do not believe in, should be a vigorous cause, and must not become an old-fashioned, rigid and disgusting thing. What is good communication? What the common people like to see, what young people are willing to accept, and what is tasteful, but we are not engaged in populism, which is a very important criterion. [As always, the need to connect the past with the present and show why the connection’s important is the challenge for the teacher.]

Wu Xinwen: There are two aspects to pay attention to, both serious and lively, but what do you think is the main problem now? I think the main problem and tendency is that there is more seriousness than liveliness; that is, everyone has a straight face, and the theoretical articles they write are all things that people don't want to read, and they are all too serious. So now it's time to be lively. Chairman Mao and General Secretary Xi Jinping can learn from this.

Chairman Mao has a famous saying about Marxism. He said that Marxism is the doctrine of wrangling. Some people say that will it affect the seriousness of Marxism. However, when Mao Zedong spoke at that time, he emphasized that many aspects of Marxism should be taken into account, and you can't just grasp one thing and then throw away the rest. This is not possible. Marxism is a wrangling doctrine. Some people say that it is too serious, but it works best and can achieve such an effect.

When General Secretary Xi Jinping talked about ideological issues, he said that don't care about a lot of rumors, what people say to you, don't care too much, don't be disturbed, just follow your own direction steadfastly. These words are very vivid and vivid words, do these words damage the seriousness of Marxism? I don't think so.

Audience: Hello two teachers, good host. I'm Zhang Cunzheng from the School of Economics at Fudan University. Marxism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture have commonalities, and both emphasize the practical basis of methodology. Based on the understanding of this issue, I would like to ask, in the process of grassroots governance, how to do a good job in the "second combination"? How to transform this theory and traditional culture into a practical driving force for the development of grassroots governance through the "second combination"? Thank you.

Wu Xinwen: In fact, a very important issue of grassroots governance is to pay attention to people's livelihood and how people can live a better life. Now common prosperity is an important point. But as I mentioned earlier, one of our Chinese traditions is to emphasize prosperity, but I think the way to get rich is a little weaker, and it is to let the people develop themselves. But Marxism emphasizes the need to organize.

Therefore, one of China's experiences in solving the problem of absolute poverty is that the party organizations should go down to the grassroots level, and the party should lead and organize the people, and it is necessary to develop a collective economy. On the other hand, I think that the Communist Party's grassroots cultural work and propaganda work should be strengthened, and this is a very big work, and it is the work of winning the hearts and minds of the people.

Zhang Weiwei: Last time we did an issue of "People's City and People's Construction", we put forward a concept, which is also very important, that in grassroots governance, socialism should take root and make the people feel socialism in their lives. For example, Shanghai's promotion of a 15-minute life circle is actually to make you feel socialism, and there is a post station where the courier brother can take a break, providing various services that are convenient and beneficial to the people, which is to let everyone feel the temperature of socialism in daily life.

Moderator: It is often said that the excellent traditional Chinese culture is "daily use without awareness", sometimes, many of our good practices and good practices are also "daily use without awareness", we are only in it, forget to talk about it, this work to do, cannot just "use daily without awareness", "daily use but also feel".

Zhang Weiwei: So this time Xiaohongshu [Mao’s Little Red Book] "big reconciliation", we have done a period, and the effect is also very good. In fact, when you compare it with typical capitalism, you find so many advantages of socialism. This is why I said “be patriotic as soon as you go abroad.”Once you arrive in a capitalist society, you feel that you don't agree with many things in the country, and they are actually socialist. Therefore, Xiaohongshu's “reconciliation” effect is very good.

Moderator: During the dialogue, we discussed the specific practice of the basic tenets of Marxism in China and also discussed the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture. I have a very big feeling that this kind of discussion and dialogue will deepen our understanding of theory and excellent traditional culture, and will also give us greater motivation, reminding us that the most important thing is that you have to practice after cognition, and practice can solve practical problems. And it is such a process that makes us truly Marxists.

Zhang Weiwei: And adhere to the Chinese cultural tradition, especially Wang Yangming's tradition, the unity of knowledge and action, don't wait, do it now, go back today and do it. [My Emphasis]

My initial comment: Isn’t Marxism itself Western as Marx built upon Hegel and other Western political-economsts? How much Marx must one read to reach his ism. And what about Lenin and the ism attributed to him? And what are “the basic tenets of Marxism”? I would think dialectical reasoning, but we’d need to be familiar with Xi Jinping’s "two combinations" to be certain.

Readers may be more confused now than when they started as much depends on their amount of prior knowledge. The fusing of Marxist thought with traditional Chinese thought predates the founding of China’s Communist Party as it was already part of Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary thought. About half-way through there’s a cryptic sentence concluding a paragraph—“We have all denied Stalin”—which also brought Russia into the picture. Journalist Anna Louise Strong lived in China and Russia during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and later returned to live out her life there. She interviewed Mao often and provided positive reportage about him as a theoretician of communism in the article "The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung", and about the CCP's communist revolution, in the 1948 book Dawn Comes Up Like Thunder Out of China: An Intimate Account of the Liberated Areas in China, which reports that Mao's intellectual achievement was "to change Marxism from a European [form] to an Asiatic form . . . in ways of which neither Marx nor Lenin could dream." When Khruschev denounced Stalin, despite the tussles Mao and company had with Stalin they denounced Khruschev as a revisionist and post-Stalin Russian Communism as the product of revisionist traitors. Yet, if Mao was attempting to alter or rather formulate his own Marxist pathway, then we seem to have a case where the pot is calling the kettle black. IMO, for China to bother with either Lenin or Stalin is a waste of time, and efforts concentrated on fusing China’s Confucian and Taoist “excellent” civilization culture with Marxist thought. I should also mention Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China.

For the many nations emerging from their colonial and mostly agrarian past, China probably offers a better development example than Russia that’s based on mobilizing the citizenry by the party in power. For china, as I noted in my parenthetical note, all past thought and Marxist teaching must be connected with today’s reality and demonstrated how it all remains useful, which is a tall order for teachers. And what about all those whose works Marx built his thought upon, and when in a child’s education should it begin being taught? IMO, Chinese civilization ought to precede the political-economy education so students can see and learn from the connections. It should also be clear that Xi Jinping Thought is being groomed as a complement to Mao Zedong Thought. Several links above go to downloadable texts, including the one immediately above which is a short paper on that topic. Finding unbiased analysis on the internet in English is very difficult even when using Yandex. This page and its parent site contain Xi’s speeches and his Works. The late John King Fairbank remains one of the best Western Chinese historians and his older texts provide a good foundational basis of China’s history.

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