The Construction of Socialist Spiritual Civilization

Socialist ideological and ethical progress is the inevitable reflection and essential requirement of the socialist economic and political systems, and is one of the important characteristics of socialist society. Promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress is an important goal of socialist modernization. It creates conditions for promoting socialist material progress, while promoting socialist material progress provides the material foundation for promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress. Promoting material progress and cultural and ideological progress is mutually aimed, closely linked, and inseparable, and shall be pushed forward together, which is an important strategic policy of socialist modernization construction in China.

In September 1979, the 4th Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee made it clear for the first time that constructing a high-level socialist ideological and ethical progress was an important goal of socialist modernization. The “Resolution on Certain Historical Issues of the Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China” passed by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee further confirmed that socialism must have a high level of cultural and ideological progress. For the first time, in the form of a resolution of the CPC Central Committee, socialist cultural and ideological progress was determined as one of the goals of China in the new era. The 12th CPC National Congress argued that “socialist ideological and ethical progress is an important feature of socialism” and determined it as a strategic policy for building socialism. In 1986, the 6th Plenary Session of the 12th CPC Central Committee issued the “Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Important Issues Concerning Strengthening Socialist Ideological and Ethical Progress”, which clearly put forward the guidelines, fundamental tasks, and organizational guarantees for promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress. The 13th and 14th CPC National Congress took socialist ideological and ethical progress as the main content of the theory and practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and determined it as one of the long-term goals and fundamental tasks of socialist modernization. The 14th CPC National Congress proposed that only material progress and cultural and ideological progress are well promoted, socialism with Chinese characteristics can be achieved, and further clearly put forward the ideological principle that the cultural and ideological progress shall focus on promotion. The 5th Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee emphasized that promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress should be given a more prominent position. In 1996, the 6th Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee issued the “Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Important Issues Concerning Strengthening Socialist Cultural and Ideological Progress”, which clearly proposed the guiding ideology, objectives, tasks, basic principles and important measures for promoting cultural and ideological progress, and formulated a cross-century action program for promoting material progress and cultural and ideological progress.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has attached great importance to promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress, focusing on the “Four Comprehensives” strategic layout, made a series of major decisions and deployments, and vigorously promoted socialist cultural and ideological progress in the fields of theory and practice. Promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress mainly includes two aspects: ideological and moral construction and scientific and cultural construction. The former mainly solves the problem of the spiritual pillar and spiritual drive of the entire nation; the latter mainly solves the problem of the scientific and cultural quality of the entire nation and the intellectual support of modernization. Ideological and moral construction is the soul of promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress, determines the nature and direction of promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress, and has a huge dynamic effect on the political and economic development of society. Its basic content can be summarized into three aspects: ideal construction, moral construction and discipline construction. It runs through the whole process and all aspects of promoting socialist ideological and ethical progress.

The construction of education, science and culture is an indispensable basic aspect of promoting ideological and ethical progress. It is not only an important condition for promoting socialist material progress, but also an important condition for improving the ideological and moral standards of the people. Inspired by the goal of realizing the Chinese Dream for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, China will not only achieve highly developed material progress, but also achieve highly developed socialist ideological and ethical progress that is guided by Marxism, critically inherits historical traditions, fully reflects the spirit of the times while basing on our own country and facing the world.