III. Strive to Build a High Level Of Socialist Spiritual Civilization

FROM the time that the Party shifted the focus of its work to the modernization of China's economy, the Central Committee has proclaimed on many occasions that while working for a high level of material civilization, we must strive to build a high level of socialist spiritual civilization. This is a strategic principle for building socialism. The history of socialism and the present situation in China both tell us that the success or failure of socialism depends on whether or not we adhere to this principle.

Spiritual civilization is closely inter-related with material civilization in socialist construction. As Marx put it, in their productive activity to transform the world, "the producers themselves change, they evolve new qualities, by producing they develop and transform themselves, acquire new powers and new conceptions, new modes of intercourse, new needs, and new speech.[注释3] Comrade Mao Zedong, too, pointed out that the proletariat and other revolutionary people face a twofold task in their struggle for the transformation of the world: "to change the objective world and, at the same time, their own subjective world."[注释4] The objective world comprises nature and society. The transformation of society results in the establishment and development of new relations of production as well as a new socio-political system. The transformation of nature results in material civilization, as manifested in improved conditions for material production and in a better material life for the people. In the process of transforming the objective world, people also transform their subjective world, and the production of spiritual values and the spiritual life of society also develop. The latter achievement is what we call the spiritual civilization, as manifested in a higher educational, scientific and cultural level and in higher ideological, political and moral standards. The transformation of society or the progress of a social system will ultimately find expression in both material and spiritual civilization. As our socialist society is still in its initial stage, it is not yet highly developed materially. However, the establishment of the socialist system makes it possible for us to build a high level of socialist spiritual civilization while striving for a high level of material civilization, just as the development of a modern economy to a certain level and the appearance of the most advanced class of our time, the working class, and its vanguard, the Communist Party, make it possible to succeed in socialist revolution. Material civilization provides an indispensable foundation for socialist spiritual civilization which, in its turn, gives a tremendous impetus to the former and ensures its correct orientation. Each is the condition and objective of the other.

Socialist spiritual civilization constitutes an important characteristic of the socialist system and a major aspect of its superiority. In the past, when referring to the characteristics of socialism, people laid stress on the elimination of the system of exploitation, public ownership of the means of production, distribution according to work, planned and proportionate development of the national economy, and political power of the working class and other working people. They also laid stress on another characteristic of socialism, the high development of the productive forces and a labour productivity higher than that under capitalism as both a necessity and the end result of the development of socialism. All this is undoubtedly true, but it does not cover all the characteristics. Socialism must possess one more characteristic, that is, socialist spiritual civilization with communist ideology at its core. Without this, the building of socialism would be out of the question.

Communism as a social system can be completely realized in our country only through the protracted, arduous struggle of several generations. However, communism is above all a movement. Marx and Engels said, "We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things.[注释5] The final objective of this movement is the realization of communism as a social system. In our country, the spread of communist ideas and the movement for the ultimate realization of the ideal of communism began long ago when the Communist Party of China was founded, and continued during the new-democratic revolution which it led. This movement has now brought about a socialist society, which is the first phase of communism. As far back as the democratic revolution, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that the programme of the Chinese Communist Party in regard to China's social system comprised two stages, the present and the future. "For the present period, New Democracy, and for the future, socialism; these are two parts of an organic whole guided by one and the same communist ideology." He added, "Communism is at once a complete system of proletarian ideology and a new social system. . . . Without communism to guide it, China's democratic revolution cannot possibly succeed, let alone move on to the next stage."[注释6] Therefore, communist ideas and actions have long been part of our actual life. The view that communism is but a "dim illusion" and that it "has not been tested in practice" is utterly wrong. There is communism everywhere in our daily life, of which it forms an inseparable part. Inside and outside our Party, there are so many heroic and exemplary people, so many who are ready to give their all, including their very lives, for the realization of revolutionary ideals. Do they do all this for material rewards? Does not a lofty communist spirit guide them? Socialism is advancing steadily towards the goal of its higher phase - communism. This advance depends not only on the increase of material wealth but also on the steady growth of people's communist consciousness and revolutionary spirit. True, at the present stage, we must in our economic and social life persist in the system of "to each according to his work" and other socialist systems, and we cannot of course expect every member of our society to be a communist, but we must demand that the Party members, the Communist Youth League members and all other advanced elements acquire communist ideology, and we must, through their instrumentality, educate and influence the broad masses. If the great task of building a socialist spiritual civilization guided by communist ideology is overlooked, people will fall into a one-sided understanding of socialism and direct their attention exclusively to the building of material civilization or even only to the pursuit of material gains. In that case, we will not be able to safeguard the socialist orientation of China's modernization, and our socialist society will lose its ideals and objectives, its spiritual motivation and fighting will, lose the ability to resist the inroad of corrupt influences and even develop distortedly and degenerate. Comrades, this is not just alarmist talk but a conclusion drawn from present realities at home and abroad. It is from this high theoretical and political vantage point that we must recognize the significance and role of socialist spiritual civilization and make up our minds to do our utmost to ensure the building of both a material and a spiritual civilization so that our socialist cause will for ever retain its revolutionary youth and vigour.

Roughly speaking, socialist spiritual civilization consists of two aspects, the cultural and the ideological, permeating and promoting each other.

The cultural aspect refers to the development of undertakings such as education, science, art and literature, the press and publication, broadcasting and television, public health and physical culture, and libraries and museums, as well as the raising of the level of general knowledge of the people. It is an important requisite both for the building of a material civilization and for the raising of people's political consciousness and moral standards. Cultural development also includes mass recreational activities which are healthy, pleasant, lively and varied so that, after a spell of hard work, people may refresh themselves with entertainments that are in good taste. All our cultural construction must, of course, be guided by communist ideology. In the past, owing to the influence of "Left" ideas and the small-producer mentality, erroneous views such as underestimation of the importance of education, science and culture and discrimination against intellectuals were rife in our Party over a fairly long time. They seriously hindered the building of material and spiritual civilization in our country. In recent years, we have made great efforts to eliminate these wrong views. We are determined gradually to step up cultural development so that it will no longer lag behind economic growth. We have worked hard to carry out the Party's policy concerning intellectuals and to enable the whole Party and all society to realize that, like workers and peasants, intellectuals are a force we must rely on in building socialism. We are determined to do everything possible to create favourable conditions in which the mass of intellectuals can work with ease of mind and in high spirits in the interest of the people. In this regard, there is still a good deal of painstaking ideological and organizational work to do.

Universal education is an important precondition for building material and spiritual civilization. In 1980, the Party's Central Committee and the State Council took the decision that universal primary education in various forms must in the main be achieved by 1990 and, in areas where the economy and education are more developed, this should be done earlier. In China's vast rural areas, this is an arduous task, but it can be done through unremitting efforts, and must be done, for the sake of the development of agriculture and of the rural areas. Teachers in schools of all levels, and especially rural primary school teachers, are engaged in extremely arduous but truly noble work. On their efforts depends the moral, intellectual and physical development of the next generation of our citizens. We must make sure that the whole society respects and energetically supports them in their noble endeavours. Development plans and goals for other cultural undertakings covering the next five to ten years should also be worked out.

The socialist character of our spiritual civilization is determined by ideological education. This consists mainly of the following: the working-class world outlook and scientific theory of Marxism; communist ideals, beliefs and moral values; the outlook of being masters of the country and collectivism which correspond with the system of socialist public ownership; a concept of rights and duties and a sense of organization and discipline which correspond with the socialist political system; devoted service to the people and a communist attitude towards work; and socialist patriotism and internationalism. In essence, it consists of, above all, revolutionary ideals, morality and discipline. All Party members and other advanced persons in our society must continuously propagate advanced ideas and set an example by their own deeds so as to inspire more and more members of our society to become working people with lofty ideals, moral integrity, education and a sense of discipline.

We must try not only to help every member of our society to acquire a broader mental outlook but also to establish and develop throughout its ranks the new type of social relations which embody socialist spiritual civilization. These relations find expression in solidarity, friendship and mutual assistance in common struggle and common progress among all our nationalities, between the workers, peasants and intellectuals, the cadres and the masses, the army and the people, the army and the government, and among the people in general. Lenin has pointed out that it will take many decades to create new forms of social ties between people and that this is a most noble work.[注释7] We can say with full confidence that, relying on our long revolutionary tradition and proceeding from the foundation already laid for this work, we shall certainly be able to foster and develop such new social ties.

To build a socialist spiritual civilization is a task for the whole Party and the common task of our people in all fields of endeavour. Ideological education in the Party is the pillar of the building of spiritual civilization in the whole society, and Party members should, first of all, play an exemplary role morally and ideologically. Ideological and political workers, workers in culture, in the sciences and in education of all types and levels from kindergartens to graduate schools - all shoulder especially heavy responsibilities in building a socialist spiritual civilization. In particular, the Communist Party members among them must unite in thought and deed so as to organize a mighty contingent of militant ideological workers able to persuade and act as a magnet for others. It is necessary to do more to educate the masses of the people, and first of all the cadres and youth, in Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, in the history of our motherland, and especially its modern history; in the programme, history and revolutionary tradition of our Party; and in the Constitution of our country, the rights and duties of citizens and civic morality. It is necessary to do more to educate people of all trades and lines of work in professional responsibility, ethics and discipline. Education in all the areas enumerated above should be closely related to reality and conducted in vivid and varied ways. In formulating and implementing policies and in all their work, leading cadres in the economic field at various levels should concern themselves not only with the development of production but also with the building of a socialist spiritual civilization. In production and construction, we should try not only to turn out more and better material products, but also train successive generations of socialist-minded people of a new type. We must not allow our policies or work in any field to impede or, still worse, to undermine the building of a socialist spiritual civilization. In the past year or so, mass activities for building such a civilization have been unfolded in the People's Liberation Army and among the people in general. Relevant rules have been formulated for students in schools and for workers and staff members in enterprises, and written pledges have been drawn up by city residents, rural commune members and people in various trades and professions. All these activities have begun to yield gratifying results. We call on every locality and department to promote and persist in them. We must explore all possible ways and adopt all possible effective measures to promote education in ideals, morality and discipline among the entire population, and first of all among the youth, within the next five years. This is essential to our endeavour to bring about a fundamental turn for the better in standards of social conduct. From now on, when checking up on the work of any locality, department or unit, the Central Committee and the local Party committees at all levels must take into consideration not only its material side, but also its spiritual side. Every citizen should perform his duties and abide by social morality and professional ethics. Every working person should contribute his share to the building of socialist spiritual civilization.

Leading members of the various democratic parties, non-party personages and well-known social figures were invited to take part in the opening session of the Party congress.

To build it is no easy task, particularly at the present moment. In the years of the revolutionary wars and those immediately following the founding of the People's Republic, our material life was much harder than it is today, but all Party members and the people as a whole were full of vigour. The decade of domestic turmoil confounded the criteria of right and wrong, good and evil, and beauty and ugliness. It is much more difficult to undo its grave spiritual consequences than its material ones. For this and other reasons, many serious problems concerning standards of social conduct now exist in our country. The Central Committee of the Party is determined to effect a fundamental turn for the better in standards of social conduct in the next five years. This includes, in the main, the achievement of markedly better public order, generally improved attitudes towards all types of work and a marked decline in the crime rate. It also means putting an effective check on, and arousing universal contempt for, such unhealthy tendencies and practices as benefiting oneself at others' expense, pursuing private interests at the expense of public interests, loving ease and despising work, putting money first in everything, unscrupulous pursuit of personal enjoyment and attempting to isolate and attack advanced elements. It also includes resolutely eliminating all the vile social evils which had been stamped out long ago by New China but have now cropped up again. We must do our utmost to adapt ourselves to the new conditions and developments in the period of construction, do a good job of building socialist spiritual civilization and arouse, with revolutionary ideas and revolutionary spirit, the immense enthusiasm of the broad masses for building socialism.