The nation is urged to strengthen its traditions

Analysts welcome president’s call to build unity and cultural trust

The vision presented by President Xi Jinping on Friday to build a modern Chinese civilization will empower the nation to follow its own path of modernization and strengthen national unity in the face of various risks and challenges, analysts said.

At a symposium with officials and experts in Beijing, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, explained the need to boost the Chinese people’s confidence in its history and culture. , and to use Chinese wisdom to summarize Chinese experience and transform it into Chinese theory, in order to achieve “spiritual independence and self-reliance.”

Experts said that building a modern Chinese civilization and pursuing China’s beautiful traditional culture will help strengthen Beijing’s narrative against the dominance of Western countries in social sciences and turn traditional culture into assets for the future development of the nation.

He Yun’ao, a professor who researches history and traditional cultural heritage at Nanjing University, said that by emphasizing the building of a modern Chinese civilization, the Chinese president reiterated the need to pool the strength of traditional Chinese culture, which spans 5,000 years.

“For China to achieve its great rejuvenation, it will take progress both materially and culturally and ethically. The President has made it clear that to make China a cultural powerhouse, the priority must be to further explore the strength of its traditional culture,” he said.

Xi characterized key elements of China’s beautiful traditional culture in five aspects, praising Chinese civilization for its continuity, innovative nature, unity, inclusiveness and peaceful nature.

The peaceful nature of Chinese civilization determines that China will continue to build world peace, contribute to global development and safeguard the international order, and will continue to pursue exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations rather than cultural hegemony, he said.

Professor He said that by emphasizing the inclusive and peaceful nature of Chinese civilization, Xi has conveyed the message to the international community that Beijing will remain committed to its national strategy of opening up and upholding peace and development. global.

Meanwhile, stressing that Chinese civilization is characterized by its unity in nature, the Chinese president reiterated the warning that since national unity will always be at the core of China’s core interests, separatist activities will not be tolerated, the professor said.

Liu Qingzhu, former director of the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Xi stressed the importance for China, a nation made up of 56 ethnic groups, to pool strength of history and its traditional culture to strengthen its unity and strengthen the nation’s sense of community.

“For China, a key source of its strength is its inexhaustible traditional culture, which can be applied to everyday life,” he said.

He said another highlight of Xi’s vision at Friday’s symposium is its elaboration on integrating basic principles of Marxism with the realities of China and its beautiful traditional culture.

Xi stressed at the meeting that integrating the basic principles of Marxism into traditional Chinese culture has made it possible to fully utilize the precious resources of traditional Chinese culture in a broader cultural space by exploring theoretical innovation. and institutional for the future.

Liu said integrating Marxism into traditional Chinese culture will pave the way for building China’s own system of discourse on civilization and help the nation firm up its confidence in the complex international landscape.

Some experts have pointed to the importance of Xi’s view on civilization in fueling Chinese modernization, which also requires material and cultural and ethical progress.

Fan Di’an, chairman of the Chinese Artists Association and dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said China’s path to modernization will be an opportunity to usher in a new leap forward for Chinese civilization. .

At the same time, China’s civilization will help propel the nation’s cultural modernization, he said.

Ahead of Friday’s symposium, the president paid fact-finding visits to the National Publications and Culture Archive of China and the Chinese Academy of History, inspecting collections of historical documents and exhibits of cultural relics.

Professor He said one of the reasons why Xi has placed so much emphasis on preserving and studying China’s cultural heritage in recent years is to explore the resources of traditional culture to guide ways. of the nation, enrich the spiritual world of the people and foster innovation.

“Exploring the past will help explain where Chinese characteristics come from and where they go,” he said. “It will also provide the mental toughness needed to build a modern Chinese civilization.”