Beware of the "Tacitus Trap" of historical nihilism

Author: Yang Jianyi, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Marxism of Fujian Normal University, and researcher of the Fujian Provincial Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The essence of the historical nihilism trend of thought is historical idealism, and its purpose is to negate the socialist road, the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and the guiding ideology of Marxism. This has been agreed upon by the academic community. However, the "Tacitus Trap" in its logical presuppositions and practical influences deserves vigilance and is extremely destructive to the credibility of the party and the state.

The concept of the "Tacitus Trap" originally came from the History of Tacitus, "Once the emperor became the object of hatred, the good and bad things he did would arouse people's disgust for him." This leads to today's understanding of the Tacitus Trap, that is, when the ruler loses credibility, no matter what he says or does, people will think that he is telling lies and doing bad things. No contradiction can have only one aspect. The original meaning of Tacitus's words was both to criticize the emperor at that time and to point to the subjective likes and dislikes of the masses. It can be seen that the people's trust in the party and the government depends not only on what the party and the government have done, but also on the subjective likes and dislikes of the people, and is also closely related to factors such as media guidance and social psychology. Historical nihilism grasps this logic, misleads people's subjective likes and dislikes through nihilistic history, and buries "bad subjectivity", so as to achieve the dissolution of the credibility of the party and the government, so as to achieve the purpose of negation.

First, historical nihilism negates the objectivity of "historical choice" and dissolves the historical logic formed by the credibility of the party and the government. The formation of the credibility of the party and the government is inseparable from historical logic. In the process of revolutionary construction and reform, the ruling position of the Communist Party of China, the guiding ideology of Marxism, and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics have been fully recognized and supported by the Chinese people, and a stable political belief has been formed in this regard. This is the historical memory and historical logic of the credibility of the party and the government. Historical nihilism grabs the core of deconstructivism, or through the so-called "secret diary", the flexible penetration of memory oral narrative, or the vulgar jokes and spoofs of historical events and characters, or the historical "ridicule" with video and audio, memes, connotation paragraphs, etc., negates the "official narrative" and "grand narrative" of China's modern and contemporary history, rendering a negative atmosphere that history has lacked trust and recognition, and triggering people's erroneous understanding of history. In this way, we negate the general law of social development, negate the internal objective logic of historical development, and then negate China's historical choice of taking the socialist road and the ruling position of the Communist Party of China, and question the historical logical basis of the credibility of the party and the government. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the crux of historical nihilism is to fundamentally negate the guiding position of Marxism and the historical inevitability of China's march toward socialism, and to negate the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In this regard, we must take the initiative to speak out, let the correct voice preconceived, we can not be silent, we must refute in time, let the correct voice overshadow them.

Second, historical nihilism negates the subjectivity of "the people's choice" and severs the "unity of patriotism, love for the party, and love for socialism." The road of China's revolutionary construction and reform is the choice of the people, and it is also the people's strength that promotes the development of the cause. There is no doubt about it. At the same time, China's road exploration in modern times shows that the birth of the Communist Party of China is a groundbreaking event, which has opened a new chapter in national rejuvenation. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, the establishment of the Communist Party of China, the founding of the People's Republic of China, the promotion of reform and opening up, and the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the three major historical events that have occurred in China since the May Fourth Movement, and the three major milestones in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in modern times. Therefore, unlike the Western discourse that emphasizes the differences and even opposites of political parties, governments, and societies, the Communist Party of China has a natural blood connection with the broad masses of the people, and "the unity of loving the country and the party and loving socialism" is a Chinese characteristic and a Chinese advantage. This is the internal logic of the credibility of the party and the government. However, historical nihilism arbitrarily distorts "history as a little girl dressed up by others", or deliberately defames New China by spreading the "theory of revolutionary sabotage" in praise of the "Republic of China"; or slanders the history of the Party and the history of New China as "the continuation of a series of errors"; or exaggerates the mistakes in construction, equating "correcting the Left" with "correcting socialism". Historical nihilism uses all kinds of this to negate that the Chinese road has been the "choice of the people" in modern times, to sever the unified relationship between loving the party and the country and socialism, to deliberately create an emotional gap and psychological gap between the party and the government and the people, and to form an "imaginary" connection with some unsatisfactory problems in economic and social development. In view of this, it is necessary to take a clear-cut stand in upholding the truth, profoundly explain the historical logic and reality of "loving the party, the country, and loving socialism," and refute the fallacy of separating; on the other hand, we must also use good legal means to pursue legal responsibility according to law for the words and deeds that maliciously attack party and state leaders, attack revolutionary heroes, attack the socialist system, and distort the history of the party.

Third, historical nihilism uses new media to mislead the public into forming a distrustful view of journalism and to dissipate the credibility of the party and the government. Trust is the foundation of social development, and credibility is a valuable resource for governance. News dissemination is an important channel for communicating between the party and the government and the people, and an important force for building credibility. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to grasp the correct guidance of public opinion, improve the dissemination, guidance, influence and credibility of news and public opinion, and consolidate and strengthen mainstream ideology and public opinion. The news media should persist in giving priority to positive propaganda, better strengthen confidence, gather people's hearts, warm people's hearts, and build a common heart. However, historical nihilism takes exaggerating "negativity" as a gimmick, using the network to spread the characteristics of "emotional" and "fragmented", seizing some controversial events, deliberately rendering group emotions, creating a "post-truth" context on the Internet where emotions precede facts and question more than consensus, forming a "three-man tiger" communication atmosphere, so that its core views, methods of evaluating history and value orientation lurk to the psychological level of the masses, so that people's thoughts and emotions are turned by unconscious hints and mutual contagion. Form a deconstructive force for the mainstream media, trying to make the mainstream media lose their voice and lose credibility among the people, so as to block or weaken the formation of the credibility of the party and the government. The Network is the main battlefield, the main front, and the forefront of the ideological struggle. It is necessary to firmly grasp the correct guidance of public opinion, sing the main melody, strengthen positive energy, make the mainstream ideology and public opinion bigger and stronger, boost the morale and spirit of the whole party and the people of the whole country, and unite and advance toward the grand goal set by the party Central Committee.

Fourth, historical nihilism uses "bad subjectivity" as a social psychological presupposition, thereby projecting distrust in the evaluation of reality. In terms of the reality of credibility, facts come first and feelings come second. The party and the government have always insisted on ensuring and improving people's livelihood, enhancing people's well-being, maintaining long-term stability of the overall social situation, and becoming one of the most secure countries in the world, laying a profound practical foundation for the formation of the credibility of the party and the government. Historical nihilism, on the other hand, grasps the hot topics of disagreement and controversial historical topics to set the agenda, forming "bad subjectivity" presets, such as "far from the sublime", "questioning the mainstream", "everything is not taken seriously", "history is used to play" and other erroneous ideas, supplemented by personal understanding, the judgment is handed over to the public, trying to form a specific group unconscious through long-term immersion. This group unconscious will naturally reveal itself on certain occasions, and use it to project real life and form a distrust of reality. For example, "Please Stay Away from My Child" concocted by historical nihilists in 2017 is a typical example. In this regard, it is necessary to use objective facts to respond to subjective feelings and curb the publicity of "bad subjectivity" with objectivity. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, facts are facts, and axioms are axioms. In the face of facts and justice, all words and deeds that speak wildly and refer to deer as horses are futile. What is black is black, and it is impossible to become white when it is said ten thousand times; it is white to be white, and it is impossible to become black if it is said ten thousand times. All the practices of reversing black and white can only be self-deception in the end.

In the process of socialist modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, what we are now in is a time when the boat to the middle of the river is more urgent, and the road from people to the middle of the mountain is steeper, and it is a time when it is more and more difficult to advance, more and more dangerous, and if we do not advance, we must retreat, and we must advance. We must guard against the "Tacitus trap" of historical nihilism, "embody the people-centered development thinking in all aspects of economic and social development, and ensure that the people care about and expect what they want, and what reform must grasp and promote," and further unite our efforts with the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, and continue to take the long march of the new era.