Zheng Bijian

The Communist Party of China is 96 years old! This is a fairly brief span of time compared to the more than 5,000-year history of the Chinese civilization. However, it is over this period of time that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has fundamentally changed the course and destiny of the Chinese nation since the dawning of modern times.

Such fundamental change does not mean the discarding of the traditions of the Chinese civilization, one of the oldest surviving civilizations in the world, nor the creation of a different civilization; rather, it means that the Chinese people were freed of the shackles of semi-feudalism and semi-colonialism, stood up, and embarked on the road of socialism, and that the Chinese civilization and nation have been rejuvenating themselves in the course of building socialism with Chinese characteristics since the implementation of reform and opening up.

In order to more fully understand why the CPC has been able to save and revitalize the Chinese civilization, it is necessary that we, first of all, understand the fundamental nature of the CPC and its relationship with the Chinese nation.

What is the fundamental nature of the CPC? The Constitution of the Communist Party of China states, “The Communist Party of China is the vanguard both of the Chinese working class and of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. It is the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and represents the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.” Note here that the CPC, in essence, is the vanguard of both the Chinese working class and the Chinese people and nation.

In fact, that’s how the CPC has consistently and steadfastly defined itself. In December 1935, the Political Bureau of the CPC explicitly stated that it was the vanguard of the Chinese working class and was also the vanguard of the whole Chinese nation. That is, as a communist party, the CPC was the vanguard of a working class; specifically, as China’s communist party, it was the vanguard of the Chinese people and nation.  

It is unprecedented in the International Communist Movement that the CPC defines itself as being a vanguard. Also, it was the first to do so in the history of party politics all over the world.

By defining itself as such, the CPC clearly and unequivocally declares its distinguished positions, viewpoints, and approaches, sets itself wide apart from all the other parties that have emerged in modern China, and proclaims its root and soul.  

Note that the CPC had come into being in an era in Chinese history when the Chinese nation was at a critical juncture and was preoccupied with its very salvation and survival. It is often said that the CPC was born out of the union of Marxism-Leninism and the Chinese workers’ movement. Both the introduction of Marxism-Leninism into China and the ascendance of the Chinese working class on the historical arena were for the mission of saving the Chinese nation. It was in the great historical tide of national salvation that the CPC was founded, and from the first day of its existence it was the vanguard leading the struggle for national liberation. 

Note that all the founding members of the CPC, such as Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong, and Zhou Enlai, were deeply under the nurturing influence of the traditions of the Chinese civilization and thus had profound patriotic sentiments. They had sought truths from the West in order to save the nation and people; being strongly patriotic, they went on the road of communism and established the Communist Party of China. Ardent patriotism has been an unshakable tradition among the CPC members, as they are “part of the great Chinese nation, flesh of its flesh and blood of its blood”[3]. 

Note that the theme of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation runs through all the political lines mapped out during different historical periods for saving, building, or rejuvenating the nation. These political lines most eloquently show that the CPC is a responsible party and that it is good at taking the responsibility; that is, it is a vanguard team capable of changing the destiny of the Chinese nation and leading the nation in a course of achieving ever greater prosperity and strength.  

In the surging waves of the national-democratic revolution after the Opium War of 1840, different forces ascended on the scene and tried to save the Chinese nation, including the Conservatives, Westernizers[4], those championing semi-colonialist and semi-feudalist rule by the West, and those within the CPC who preached dogmatic Marxism. However, eventually all of these failed to do so. It was the CPC, as a vanguard team founded on Sinicized Marxism, that proved to be the most qualified for the historical mission. The Chinese people had chosen the CPC based on their experience of hard struggles over the long years, and had reached the ultimate conclusion that only the CPC was able to save the nation based on the outcomes of repeated confrontations among the various political factions since modern days.   

That’s why the CPC has scored earthshaking achievements over the past 96 years, from the revolutionary years to those of nation building and reform and opening up. It has done so bearing firmly in mind the broad interests of the country, nation, and people and taking into consideration both the domestic and international situations. With a daring revolutionary spirit, it has combined patriotism with internationalism, and kept pace with the times while carrying forward the traditions. As a result, it has been able to handle the most complex situations, overcome untold daunting challenges and setbacks, and rectify the mistakes it has made.   

These are the historical truths: without keeping abreast of the times, we will lag behind and be bullied and humiliated; without carrying forward our traditions, we will lose our roots; and without being rooted in the Chinese soil, we will go nowhere at all. Chairman Mao Zedong once said, “One won’t make a good Marxist unless one tries to understand China in the process of transforming China and tries to transform China in the process of understanding China.”[5]

Those 96 years have been a process of Sinicizing Marxism, and the CPC now has two major theoretical frameworks to its name, both of which are already well-established. These include Mao Zedong Thought and the body of theories for building socialism with Chinese characteristics that are founded on Deng Xiaoping Theory.

As the first major theoretical achievement resulting from the Sinicization of Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought had guided the CPC in leading the Chinese people in their efforts to catch up with the times while carrying forward the traditions. Finally, the Chinese people stood up, New China was born, and the socialist system was established.  

As the second major theoretical achievement resulting from the Sinicization of Marxism, the body of theories for building socialism with Chinese characteristics that are founded on Deng Xiaoping Theory has guided the CPC in leading the Chinese people in their efforts to catch up with the times. China has now become a moderately well-off society, ranking as the world’s second largest economy, and the socialist system has been continuously improving and strengthening itself amid various arduous challenges.

As the practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics continues, the process of Sinicizing Marxism further deepens. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Central Committee of the CPC has been conscientiously pushing forward the lofty cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. A series of breakthrough concepts, ideas, and strategies for governing the country have come to the fore, which cover various fields as follows: reform, development, and stability; domestic and foreign affairs and national defense; governance of the Party, state, and army. These have further developed and enriched the system of theories for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. 

Then, while advancing Sinicization of Marxism, what has the CPC done, from the perspectives of both ideological and political lines, in its endeavor to carry forward the traditions of the Chinese civilization and nation? 

By emphasizing how the CPC has carried forward those traditions in terms of ideological and political dimensions, we do not pay particular attention to the levels of learning or cultivation of individual members of the leadership or the specific schools of thought entertained, nor do we consider how the CPC has done so in the cultural area or any other specific areas. Rather, we examine most closely how the CPC has carried forward those traditions through a zigzag historical process, in which they have had both successes and failures and kept learning from mistakes made.

Based on a review of the basic facts of the historical practice of the CPC, we arrive at a total of sixteen points as follows:

First, breaking through the conventions of the International Communist Movement, the CPC raises high its glorious banner that it is the vanguard of both the Chinese working class and the Chinese people and nation, and explicitly declares that its mission in the contemporary era is to achieve the great renaissance of the Chinese nation. This concept has served as a cardinal principle guiding all the theories, methodologies, and practice of the CPC throughout its historical course of struggles.   

Second, the totality of the CPC’s views on the traditions of the Chinese civilization and nation can be summarized by Chairman Mao’s well-known remarks. He said, “Our national history goes back several thousand years and has its own characteristics and innumerable treasures.”[6] He emphasized, “We should sum up our history from Confucius to Sun Yat-sen and take over this valuable legacy.”[7] He solemnly pointed out, “Another of our tasks is to study our historical heritage and use the Marxist method to sum it up critically.”[8] Back in the years of war, in accordance with these defining statements and guidelines, the CPC had achieved a number of results in the study of Chinese traditions from Marxist perspectives. These not only dealt a heavy blow to the anti-Communist rhetoric clamoring that Communism did not fit into the Chinese realities, but also contributed to “developing our new national culture and increasing our national self-confidence”[9] in the national struggles for survival. Also, Sinicization of Marxism was furthered in the process.

Third, the CPC had solemnly affirmed that the May 4th Movement, an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal patriotic movement that directly led to its founding, was a great watershed event marking the end of the old democratic revolution and the beginning of the new democratic revolution. Based on an analysis of the achievements and shortcomings of the Movement, the CPC embraced those aspects of it that were “vigorous and lively, progressive, and revolutionary”[10] and hence energetically pushed forward both the transformation of the its styles of work and learning and the revolution of the people.   

Fourth, the CPC had based itself in the rural areas and ultimately seized national power by using the farmers as the leading force and by encircling the cities from the rural areas and then capturing them. The Party had blazed out such a path to victory by, among other things, a careful examination of both China’s current national conditions and the historical experience of peasants’ uprisings throughout the successive Chinese dynasties. 

Fifth, among the strategic military theories of the CPC were the people’s guerilla war led by the Party, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression as a protracted war in three phases[11], and the strategies and tactics for the Chinese Civil War. These theories had been developed based on a grasp of the military thoughts of successive Chinese dynasties as well as the experience and lessons of peasants’ uprisings throughout these dynasties. The military theories of ancient China had been an important source of those of the CPC.