Drawing on the Essence of Traditional Clean Governance Culture to Promote the Construction of Clean Culture in the New Era
Author: Zhang Jianwei
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasizes that we must resolutely win the protracted battle against corruption, deepen the comprehensive treatment of both symptoms and root causes, promote national legislation against corruption, strengthen the construction of a clean culture in the new era, and educate and guide Party members and cadres to enhance their awareness of not wanting to be corrupt. Corruption is a cancer to the vitality and ability of the Party, and fighting corruption is the most thorough kind of self-reform there is. To comprehensively and strictly govern the Party, we need to rely on treating the symptoms, using strong medicine to cure the illness, and treating chaos with severe measures; We also need to rely on treating the root cause, cultivating ourselves with a positive mindset, and cultivating culture. As a fundamental project to promote the unity of not daring to be corrupt, not wanting to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt, the construction of a culture of integrity is an important content and path to curb corruption and promote comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.The Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of a Clean Culture in the New Era issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out that "we must stand on the height of courage to self revolution, maintain the progressiveness nature and purity of the Party, and take strengthening the construction of a clean culture as a basic project to promote the construction of a clean culture as a whole. We should pay close attention to it." These important statements pointed out the direction for the construction of a clean culture in the new era.
The power and function of culture lies in its ability to subtly influence people's hearts in a daily and unconscious way, to cultivate people and change customs. Clean culture, as a specific cultural form, is the sum of elements such as the concept of integrity, clean politics, clean thoughts, clean behavior, clean habits, clean norms, clean system design, clean value orientation, and social evaluation. On the basis of adhering to the same direction of ideological and institutional governance, combining the rule of law and the rule of virtue, the construction of a culture of integrity is based on ideals and beliefs, advanced culture enlightens and nourishes the heart, noble morality sharpens character, establishes the concept and belief of integrity, advocates the spirit and value of integrity, creates a clean environment and atmosphere, and promotes the realization of cadre integrity, government integrity, political clarity, and social clarity. The direction and scope of the construction of a clean culture in the new era are aimed not only at party members and cadres, but also at the entire society. It emphasizes the construction of clean politics, clean governance, and clean government, as well as the cultivation of citizens' integrity and the cultivation of social integrity. Strengthening the construction of a clean and honest culture in the new era focuses on educating and guiding Party members and cadres to enhance their ideological, political, and action consciousness of not daring to be corrupt, not being corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt. This will solidify the ideological foundation of Party members and cadres to be honest and upright, build a strong ideological defense line against corruption and change, create and promote a good culture of advocating integrity and resisting corruption, and achieve the goal of Party members and cadres to engage in clean politics, use their power with integrity, cultivate themselves with integrity, and maintain integrity at home.
In the process of building a culture of integrity, starting from ideological and moral aspects plays a fundamental role. The Opinion requires us to draw nourishment from revolutionary culture, advanced socialist culture, and excellent traditional Chinese culture, "cultivate ourselves with a positive mindset, cultivate culture, and uphold the foundation of politics." Through subtle influence, we can improve the ideological consciousness and moral level of party members, cadres, and the masses, and then weave a dense ideological defense line for promoting integrity, anti-corruption, and anti-corrosion.The culture of clean governance formed by the ideas, systems, and practices of clean governance throughout history is a precious heritage in China's traditional political culture and an important ideological resource for carrying out the construction of clean governance culture in the new era. Drawing on the essence of the traditional culture of integrity, such as upholding morality and integrity, and integrity as the foundation of government, will help us to use historical wisdom to promote the construction of a clean government.
The governance philosophy of putting the people first. The people are the foundation of the country, and the foundation is solid and peaceful. The people-oriented ideology, although far beyond the scope of clean governance culture, is an important ideological foundation of clean governance culture, reflecting the value and destination of ancient China's clean political construction. When it comes to politics, the people are always the foundation. If the people are safe, then the country is safe. Confucius regarded "sufficient food and sufficient soldiers" as a prerequisite for the people to trust the country, and advocated for enriching and valuing the people as politicians. Mencius advocated for the importance of the people over the ruler, emphasizing that rulers should focus on winning the hearts of the people. "If you win the world, you will have the way: if you win the people, you will have the world; if you win the people, you will have the way: if you win the people, you will have the people.". Zheng Banqiao's "lying in the yamen, listening to Xiao Xiaozhu, is suspected to be the voice of the people's suffering. Some small officials from Caozhou County, one branch and one leaf, always care about the situation" reflects the love for the people as a child.He emphasized that "only by maintaining a clean government can we gain trust from the people, and using power impartially can we win people's hearts." Putting the people at the center, achieving power for the people, emotions for the people, and benefits for the people, can we establish a solid ideological foundation for a culture of integrity.
The moral character of governing with morality. Rule of virtue is a fundamental proposition in traditional Chinese political thought. Confucius said, "A politician is upright. When a leader is upright, who dares not to be upright?"; To govern with virtue, for example, in the North Star, where one resides and all the stars share it; If one's body is upright, they will not follow orders; if one's body is not upright, they will not follow orders. The traditional culture of clean governance attaches great importance to the construction of political ethics, official ethics, and integrity among officials at all levels, highlighting the use of moral education to educate them that "wealth and status cannot be debauched, poverty and lowliness cannot be moved, and authority and martial arts cannot be subdued.". Prudence and reverence are important ways of self-cultivation in Confucianism, and moral cultivation was a compulsory course for honest officials in ancient times. The heart of a gentleman always holds reverence, reverence for the commandments of heaven, reverence for morality and laws, reverence for the conscience of the people, and reverence for justice and justice. Where there is reverence, there is shame; where there is no reverence, there is no shame.
The value orientation of integrity as the foundation of government. Integrity is the foundation of government. As early as in the Book of Rites of Zhou, it was proposed to examine the "six virtues" of officials: integrity, competence, respect, integrity, law, and discernment, which serve as behavioral norms for officials to serve the public with integrity and make decisions for the people, as well as reference standards for examining officials and rectifying their governance. For officials and individuals, Confucius advocated "thinking for profit", "acting shamelessly", "desire but not greed", "being unjust but rich and noble is like a floating cloud to me". Mencius said, "How could there be a gentleman who can take goods?" "You can take them, you can take them without, and taking them harms integrity.". Laozi said, "Which is closer to name and body? Which is more between body and goods? What is the disease between gaining and losing? Love will cost a lot, and hiding too much will lead to thick death. Therefore, knowing enough will not disgrace, knowing to stop will not be dangerous, and can last for a long time." In the "Book of Rites" and "Laozi", the basic meaning is "integrity but not Gui", which means integrity and generosity. Although there are differences in the specific understanding of the connotation, the standard for considering "integrity" as a gentleman or sage is consistent. Under the influence of this ideology, honest officials have always been the role models in the hearts of ancient Chinese people, the embodiment of the power of justice in the field of social governance, and the backbone of social righteousness. "If a minister is not honest and cannot lead others down, then a small minister will be corrupt; if a small minister is not honest and cannot govern the people, then customs will be bad." As an important part of ancient clean government culture, honest officials have been integrated into social public opinion education, becoming a cultural phenomenon that the emperor and the common people are eager to pursue and talk about.In the construction of a clean and honest culture in the new era, drawing on and absorbing excellent ideological resources of a clean and honest government culture has important value and practical significance for party members and cadres to strengthen their party spirit cultivation, cultivate moral character, and always maintain the political nature of communists.
The fine tradition of valuing institutional construction. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the construction of ancient clean culture has gradually shifted from moral pursuit to institutional design, and emphasizing institutional construction has become a major feature of ancient clean culture. Although many systems and laws of integrity have been repeatedly undermined within the framework of the imperial political system, and corruption cannot be eradicated, the experience and lessons learned from the construction of a clean government system can still serve as useful references for promoting anti-corruption and effective prevention of corruption. If governance is not possible, chaos will arise. Various dynasties designed systems such as supervision, inspection, calculation, and examination for officials to punish corruption and promote integrity. They put forward many countermeasures and measures in the selection, appointment, assessment, reward, and punishment of officials. The Han Dynasty's "Food Transmission Law" and the Tang Dynasty's "Personnel System Law" even made specific provisions for places where officials are prone to "micro corruption" such as travel, consumption, banquets, and gifts. In order to ensure the effective operation of the system, various strict laws have been formulated throughout history to punish corrupt officials, such as the "Law Classic" that punishes corruption with punishment, the "Wei Law" and "Jin Law" that refine the provisions for punishing corruption, and the "Tang Law Commentary" that uses national laws to fix the provisions for punishing corruption crimes. Drawing on the experience and lessons learned from the construction of a clean government system in history, the construction of a clean culture in the new era needs to strengthen legal and institutional construction, and promote anti-corruption and integrity construction with the rule of law thinking and methods.
Guangming Daily
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