VII. The Guiding Role of Marxism in Building a Socialist Society With an Advanced Culture and Ideology
To modernize China and build a socialist society that is culturally and ideologically advanced, it is essential for us to adhere to Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought as our guiding theory. As the scientific world outlook of the working class and one of the great achievements in the history of civilization, Marxism is the theoretical basis of socialism and of the leadership given by the Party. It is the most important component of socialist ideology and will serve as a guide in all our work to build a socialist culture and ideology. In all our efforts to encourage high ideals and standards of conduct, to raise our cultural level and to publicize democratic principles and the importance of legality, we have to depend on Marxism as our guiding theory and make new progress in Marxist research.
Marxism is a science that constantly enriches and develops itself in keeping with historical and scientific advance. Far from exhausting truth, it constantly opens up new avenues to truth in practice. The tremendous changes that have taken place and are taking place in China and the rest of the world bear witness to the immense vitality of Marxism and, at the same time, demonstrate that we must apply its basic principles and methods to the creative solution of new problems. The task of China's Marxist theoretical workers in the new era is to study the new circumstances and new problems that have arisen in the economic, political, cultural and social fields and the new experience we have gained in the course of socialist modernization and reform, and to explore the laws that govern the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics. At the same time, they should investigate new developments and trends of thought in the contemporary world, assimilate those latest achievements of science that are useful to China and make a summation of them. Instead of using fossilized concepts to interpret life, we must proceed from reality, make practice the sole criterion for verifying truth and jettison all those judgments and conclusions that have proved wrong in actual practice or out of keeping with changing realities. That is the only way to ensure that Marxism will keep abreast of social change and serve to guide it. And that is the way both to uphold Marxism and to develop it, the two being integrated in our practice of revolution and construction. It would be impossible to uphold Marxism if we rejected the overriding importance of practice and the need to observe reality from a developmental perspective and to bring forth new ideas. It is wrong to regard Marxism as a rigid dogma. It is also wrong to negate its basic tenets, view it as an outmoded theory and blindly worship bourgeois philosophies and social doctrines.
Socialism is still in the process of being realized, and our modernization and reform are complex tasks that call for innovative thinking. There are not - and cannot be - any ready-made formulas, and it is only natural that differences of opinion should often arise in both theoretical and practical work. We should therefore carry out the policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought contend." We should encourage and support all bold explorative efforts and free debates that are based on scientific research, in order to stimulate research on Marxist theory, democratize our policy-making process and give our decisions a more scientific basis. In making policy decisions and formulating plans, we should observe the principle of democratic centralism. But when it comes to academic issues and issues relating to the arts, we must abide by the principles of the Constitution and ensure academic freedom, freedom of creative writing, freedom of discussion, and freedom of criticism and counter-criticism. Those freedoms are essential if Marxism is to serve as a guide in academic work and the arts. They are likewise essential if we are to create an environment of political stability and unity and a democratic, harmonious atmosphere in which science and culture can thrive to serve the people and socialism.
Party cadres, especially those who are in leading positions or in charge of ideological work, should take the lead in studying Marxism. It is impossible to uphold and develop Marxism if we do not study it seriously. The masses, and particularly young people, should also be encouraged to study it. Education in basic Marxist tenets should be conducted in conjunction with education in the Party's line, principles and policies, and with education concerning the current situation and our revolutionary traditions. It should also be combined with the study of history and the teaching of general and scientific knowledge, and be related to the current thinking of the masses. We must overcome the tendency to neglect Marxist studies. We should see to it that their content is not divorced from reality and that the methods of instruction are not dull and monotonous.
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