Build a solid barrier to safeguard national security through cultural identity

Cultural identity is at the heart of a nation's cultural security

  Cultural security is manifested in two basic dimensions: internally, it is manifested in the dominance and cohesion of the state, and externally, it is manifested in the country's defense and influence. In other words, a culture can make its citizens identify with the existing social system and political order by mixing with ideology, and at the same time, it also has the cultural soft power to attract other citizens and can be recognized by the international community.

  The so-called cultural identity refers to the sense of belonging to a community formed by people as a result of sharing common historical memories and cultural customs. The establishment of cultural identity is embodied in the fact that the culture as the self is able to integrate the other into the self in the exchange and confrontation with the culture of the other, so as to maintain a stable appearance. In this sense, the process of establishing cultural identity is also the process of consolidating a country's cultural security. Only when a country has values that are recognized by all its citizens, forms a common national psychology, a common collective memory and public culture, and constructs a cultural soft power with strong appeal and influence, can a country form a solid national identity to ensure national unity and national unity, and can it remain invincible in the fierce international competition. Specifically, cultural identity is of great significance in the following aspects to enhance national cultural security and improve the overall level of national security.

  Cultural identity is the spiritual pillar of the survival and development of a country and a nation. The most basic meaning of identity is identity, that is, a thing still maintains its own identity after changing time and space. The state is a community that includes factors such as system, culture, ethnicity, and kinship, and in addition to the natural factors such as territory and population formed in history, it also represents the "political-legal" community and the "historical-cultural" community. For a country, its territory may change, its population size may grow or decrease, and its ancestry may even change with intermarriage, but it will continue and develop as cultural traditions that have been formed over a long period of time remain relatively stable. The Chinese civilization has outstanding continuity, and is the only civilization in the world that has continued since ancient times and has never been interrupted, forming a unique, broad and profound value concept and civilization system. A very important reason why the Chinese nation has been able to survive and develop tenaciously in the long river of history for thousands of years is that our nation has a continuous spiritual pursuit, spiritual characteristics, and spiritual lineage. Ideology and culture are the soul of a country and a nation, and an important force for its survival and development. A nation that lacks a common language, a common historical memory, and a common value pursuit, that is, a nation that lacks cultural identity, will lose the cultural foundation on which it depends for its existence, and it will be difficult for it to stand on its own feet among the nations of the world.

  Cultural identity enhances people's confidence and adherence to their cultural identity. Identity is closely related to identity, and identity highlights identity traits. Culture is the sum of stable values, ways of thinking, common psychology, customs and other conceptual forms condensed by people in their common life for a long time, highlighting the characteristics of a nation and a country, and embodying the characteristics that are different from other nations and countries. Cultural identity is an important symbol for group members to identify their own identity and distinguish their own group from other groups, which affects the individual's self-identity and social identity, guides each member to love and be faithful to his or her own culture, and then preserves and magnify his own culture, and internalizes it into the deep cultural psychological structure of values. By constructing a cultural value system that has its own characteristics compared with other nations and other countries, and highlighting the "self-nature" in the comparison of differences, on the one hand, we can enhance the "sense of us" of the members of the country, and have a clearer feeling and understanding of their own belonging, self-identity, and self-identity; on the other hand, we can stimulate the sense of responsibility of all members and enhance their determination and courage to maintain and develop their own national culture and make due contributions to the development of the country.

  Cultural identity promotes national unity and national unity. Identity is the foundation of unity. The existence of individuals has always belonged to a specific cultural tradition, which shapes the character and psychology of the people, and constitutes the basic thinking framework for understanding themselves and others. Without a common language and history, national identity and national identity will become a source of water. Chinese cultural identity transcends regional locality, blood lineage, religious beliefs, etc., and integrates the vast land giants with great internal differences into a pluralistic and integrated Chinese nation. The unity of the Chinese civilization fundamentally determines the integration of the cultures of all ethnic groups of the Chinese nation and its firm cohesion even in the face of major setbacks, the common belief that the territory cannot be divided, the country cannot be chaotic, the nation cannot be dispersed, and the civilization cannot be broken, and that national unity will always be the core of China's core interests, and that a strong and unified country is the destiny of the people of all ethnic groups. The common culture, ideals and values have closely united all members of the Chinese nation and formed a solid community of the Chinese nation. Therefore, to strengthen national unity and safeguard the unity of the motherland, the long-term and fundamental thing is to strengthen cultural identity. Only when the problem of cultural identity is solved can the identification with the great motherland, the Chinese nation, the Communist Party of China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics be further consolidated.

Continuously enhance cultural identity in the cultural practice of the new era

  Cultural identity is the deepest level of identity, which is related to the overall level of national security. History and reality have repeatedly shown that a nation that abandons or betrays its own history and culture is not only impossible to develop, but is also very likely to stage a historical tragedy. We must enhance historical awareness, promote cultural self-confidence and self-reliance, continuously enhance the cohesion of the Chinese nation and the influence of Chinese culture, and build a solid barrier for safeguarding cultural security and national security with cultural identity.

  First, we need to cultivate common core values and build a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the struggle between various cultures in the world is essentially a dispute of values, as well as a struggle of people's hearts and ideologies", and "if there is no common core values, a nation and a country will have no place to go and no place to go". Values are the soul of culture, and value identity is the core of cultural identity. In order for any society to unite the will and strength of the whole society, it must have a set of core values that are compatible with the economic foundation and political system and can build a broad consensus. In history and reality, a very important reason for social turmoil and regime change in some countries is that the core value system is chaotic, and the core values are doubted and denied. The mainland is a large country with 56 nationalities and a population of more than 1.4 billion, and it is very important to establish the greatest common divisor of the value identification of all members of society and to form a unified guiding ideology, common ideals and beliefs, a strong spiritual pillar, and basic moral norms in the whole society. The core values of socialism are the most basic and core part of the entire value system, and they are the fundamental principles that individuals, societies and countries have long adhered to.

  The core values of socialism are the condensation and realistic expression of the spirit of the Chinese nation, which embodies the spirit of contemporary China and determines the development direction of the common spiritual home of the people of all ethnic groups. It is necessary to take the promotion of the core socialist values as a basic project to unite the soul and strengthen the foundation, and as a fundamental task, build a value system that reflects Chinese characteristics, national characteristics, and the characteristics of the times, and strive to seize the commanding heights of the value system. Strengthen education on the core socialist values among the masses of all ethnic groups, guide people to firmly establish a correct view of the motherland, ethnicity, culture, and history, enhance the identification of the people of all ethnic groups with the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics, and form a strong spiritual bond in which all ethnic groups breathe the same breath, share the same fate, and are heart-to-heart. Establish and highlight the Chinese cultural symbols and the image of the Chinese nation shared by all ethnic groups, and vividly express the characteristics of Chinese culture, the spirit of the Chinese nation, and the image of the Chinese nation through the construction of a complete and systematic visual expression system, so as to make it an important carrier for forging the sense of community of the Chinese nation.

  Second, strengthen cultural self-confidence and enhance cultural subjectivity. Cultural identity implies cultural self-confidence. Where do we come from and where are we going? To understand and solve this question that lingers in the minds of every cultural subject, we need to have a practical understanding and grasp of our own culture and have firm confidence in the future of our own culture. Cultural self-confidence is people's recognition, affirmation and adherence to their own culture, respect and pride in their existing cultural achievements, show confidence in their own cultural innovation ability, and be full of confidence in the future development prospects of culture. Cultural self-confidence is a more basic, broader and deeper self-confidence, and it is the most basic, deepest and most lasting force in the development of a country and a nation, which inspires people to realize that their nation has the determination and ability to stand on its own feet among the nations of the world, and can contribute their wisdom and strength to the development of mankind. Strengthening cultural self-confidence is related to major issues such as the rise and fall of the country, national security, and the independence of the national spirit. Self-confidence can lead to self-reliance, and self-reliance can lead to self-improvement. Only by having firm confidence in one's own culture can we gain the determination to stick to the right path, the motivation to forge ahead, and the vitality of change and innovation.

  Cultural self-confidence comes from cultural subjectivity. Cultural subjectivity is the prescriptiveness of the intrinsic nature of the culture of a country or a nation, which is embodied in the autonomy, conscious initiative and creativity of cultural development. If any culture wants to stand and go far, it must have its own subjectivity if it has leadership, cohesion, shaping and radiation. With cultural subjectivity, there is a firm self in the cultural sense, cultural self-confidence has a fundamental basis, the Communist Party of China has a strong cultural force to lead the times, the Chinese nation and the Chinese people have a solid cultural foundation of national identity, and Chinese civilization has a distinctive cultural characteristic of exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations in the world. It is necessary to uphold the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field and adhere to the "two combinations" Adhere to the cultural leadership of the Communist Party of China and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation; adhere to our own path, based on the great historical practice and contemporary practice of the Chinese nation, accelerate the construction of China's independent knowledge system with a high degree of academic consciousness, and provide more solid and powerful theoretical support and intellectual support for comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization; integrate cultural self-confidence into the spiritual temperament and cultural character of the whole nation, develop a high-spirited style and a rational and peaceful mentality, and gather self-confidence, self-improvement, The majestic power to move forward bravely.

  Third, promote cultural self-improvement and enhance the country's cultural soft power. Strengthening cultural self-confidence is fundamentally aimed at achieving cultural self-improvement and building a socialist cultural power. Improving the country's cultural soft power is the proper meaning of building a cultural power. Cultural soft power is the core of a country's comprehensive strength, which embodies the cohesion and vitality of a country based on culture, as well as the resulting attraction and influence. A country with strong cultural soft power is more likely to achieve its goals in international affairs and maintain its own security. In today's world, where culture, economy, and politics are intertwined, and various ideologies and cultures are agitated with each other, cultural soft power has become the spiritual core of national strength in international competition, and its important position and role have become increasingly prominent. If a country wants to improve its own security, it must vigorously develop cultural productivity, enhance cultural innovation, expand cultural influence, enhance cultural appeal, and consolidate the foundation of cultural security with strong cultural soft power.

  A country's cultural soft power is the organic unity of its cultural cohesion and external influence. Countries with strong cultural soft power often have strong persuasive and appealing cultures, which can unite and unite all the people internally, and can be recognized and accepted by more people in other countries externally. For a country, if it wants to improve its own security, it must base itself on its national conditions, face the future development of the world and mankind, and establish cultural values that have strong appeal and can be recognized by the people at home and the international community. Marx profoundly pointed out that "if we look at it from a conceptual point of view, then the disintegration of a certain form of consciousness is enough to bring down an entire era." Marxism is the soul of contemporary Chinese cultural development. We must uphold the fundamental system of Marxism's guiding position in the ideological field, earnestly safeguard ideological security, unify thinking, pool strength, and ensure that cultural construction always advances in the correct direction. To improve the soft power of culture, we need to build our own culture well, so as to "walk in the middle" and "send it out". It is necessary to uphold the spirit of openness and inclusiveness, with the righteousness and vigor of integrity and innovation, based on the fertile soil of Chinese culture, to create a large number of masterpieces that embody the national spirit and the spirit of the times, are popular with people and widely recognized, and provide strong support for continuing the Chinese cultural context, inheriting the national spirit, maintaining cultural security, and promoting cultural innovation. Cultural communication is an important part of cultural soft power and an important influencing factor of cultural security level. We need to speed up the construction of Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative system, tell Chinese stories well, and spread Chinese voices well. Strengthen the capacity building of international communication, improve the efficiency of international communication, form an international discourse power that matches the comprehensive national strength and international status of the mainland, continuously enhance the influence of the communication power of Chinese civilization, enhance the international community's recognition of Chinese culture and contemporary Chinese values, and then create good external conditions for maintaining cultural security and national security.

Source: "Bright Theory" WeChat public account

Author: Wu Yujun

Editor: Muzi

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