The Chinese Communist Party’s 100th Anniversary of Interpreting Political Slogans and Slogans with Far-reaching Influence-BBC News

In July 1922, the Second National Congress of the CCP convened in Shanghai, which determined the CCP’s highest and lowest program. In the final slogan of the manifesto issued at this conference, it clearly stated “Long live the Chinese Communist Party!”

This slogan later appeared in the slogans of some major conferences and festivals, and it was also a slogan that Communist Party members must chant before sacrifice in Chinese films.

The popular slogan “Long live Chairman Mao” in the 1960s and 1970s has become part of the collective memory of the Chinese people with the death of Mao Zedong in 1976; however, the slogan “Long live the Communist Party of China” has added some content.

The Chinese internet phrase “Wei Guangzheng” is an abbreviation of the slogan “Long live the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China!”

According to the CCP’s record of party history, this was Mao Zedong’s proposal made by the CPC Central Committee at the emergency meeting in Hankou, Hubei in August 1927. It corrected the CCP’s failure to recognize the extreme importance of the military at the time, and it was also a summary of the CCP’s revolutionary failure experience and lessons. .

Before and after Mao Zedong’s thesis that “government comes from the barrel of a gun” was formally put forward, the CCP launched violent military operations such as the “Nanchang Uprising”, “Autumn Harvest Uprising”, and “Guangzhou Uprising” in 1927.

The “Nanchang Uprising” on August 1, which was designated by the CCP as the origin of the People’s Liberation Army Army Day, was also the beginning of China’s ten-year civil war from 1927 to 1937. In the history of the Chinese Communist Party, this decade of civil war with the Kuomintang is called the “Second Civil Revolutionary War”.

The CCP’s understanding of the importance of the military is the key to its victory in the Second Civil War of the KMT and the seizure of Chinese power. It is also the basis for the CCP’s adherence to the principle of “party commanding the gun” since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Although there have been occasional voices of “nationalization of the military” in China in recent years, the CCP still insists that the party’s absolute leadership over the military is the “essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics” and an “important political advantage” for the CCP and China.

On August 25, 1943, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Liberation Daily” published an editorial titled “Without the Communist Party, No China”. It focused on the KMT’s propaganda achievements in the War of Resistance and showcased the role of the Communist Party in the War of Resistance.

This slogan was later widely circulated and it was also written into a tune. After 1949, it was changed to “Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China.”

The song became a classic red song praising the CCP and must be sung in various celebrations.

In addition, there is also a New China Memorial Hall in China without the Communist Party. “More than 200 red songs were presented in various ways to praise history and create an immersive party history learning and education base.”

Through vigorous propaganda and singing, the CCP hopes to deepen the public’s recognition of the legitimacy of its governance, and it has constantly emphasized that the CCP is a “historical choice.”

This is what Mao Zedong said in 1944 to commemorate the death of Zhang Side, a soldier in the Garrison Corps who burnt charcoal in the mountains of northern Shaanxi due to the collapse of the coal kiln.

Mao Zedong said in his speech: “All our working cadres, regardless of their position, are servants of the people, and everything we do is to serve the people.”

“Serving the people” and “Serving the people wholeheartedly” were later regarded by the CCP as the party’s purpose, and it also required party members, officials and government personnel at all levels to regard this as a standard of ethical behavior.

In 2005, the famous Chinese writer Yan Lianke once published the novel “Serving the People”, which was banned by the Central Propaganda Department because of its sensitive content.

With the prevalence of money worship in China, some people have changed this slogan to “Serve the Renminbi”, ridiculing the rampant attitude of party members and cadres who use power for personal gain and corruption and all look at money.

Deng Xiaoping ended many slogans that were popular in China during the Mao Zedong era, such as: taking class struggle as the key link, grasping the revolution to promote production, educated youths going to the countryside, broad world and great achievements, and so on. However, the four basic principles put forward by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 have now entered the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese Constitution, and they are also political slogans that can be seen everywhere in China.

The so-called four basic principles are:

Although commentators have always questioned the CCP’s implementation of these four principles, from the Chinese Constitution clearly stipulating that “the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics” to the adherence to the party’s leadership in the CCP’s constitution, At least one of the four principles is firmly implemented by the CCP, and that is the leadership of the CCP in China.

In 2000, the then General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Jiang Zemin put forward the “Three Represents” theory, which was regarded as an important transformation of the Communist Party of China.

Jiang Zemin pointed out that the Communist Party of China always “represents the development requirements of China’s advanced productive forces, represents the forward direction of China’s advanced culture, and represents the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China.”

On July 1, 2001, Jiang Zemin stated in his speech at the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China that private business owners are also “builders of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” The most basic component and backbone force should also be absorbed into the party by “excellent elements from other aspects of society.”

So far, the CCP has opened its doors to capitalists who have been regarded as targets of dictatorship, self-employed and private entrepreneurs on the fringes of society.

In November 2002, the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China revised the party constitution, and the requirements for party applicants were changed from “workers, peasants, soldiers, intellectuals and other revolutionaries” to “workers, peasants, soldiers, intellectuals and other social Advanced elements of the class”.

In 2003, China’s fourth-generation leaders, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, came up and put forward the slogan “Establishing the Party for the Public and Governing for the People”, which is considered to be the CCP’s intention to downplay its image as a revolutionary party and highlight the status of the ruling party.

In the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Constitution of China, the era of Hu Jintao left behind the “scientific outlook on development.” This formulation symbolized the CCP’s emphasis on the economy and its so-called “people-oriented” purpose. It also reflected the sharp social contradictions caused by China’s very serious unemployment, environmental pollution, and corruption problems at that time.

While the CCP requires party members to govern for the people, other popular slogans such as “maintenance of stability” and “harmonious society” are showing the lack of stability and harmony.

In 2012, when Xi Jinping became the general secretary of the Communist Party of China, he proposed to China and abroad that “the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since modern times.”

To realize this “Chinese Dream”, Xi Jinping requires the CCP to “rule the party strictly,” and at the same time repeatedly emphasized that CCP members must “not forget their original mission and remember their mission.”

In 2019, the CCP held an education work conference on the theme of not forgetting the original heart and keeping in mind the mission; before the centenary of the founding of the CCP, it also held a CCP history exhibition with this theme; and Xi Jinping’s relevant quotations were edited by party committees at all levels to organize party members to learn. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, Mao Zedong’s “Red Book” became popular throughout the country.

In 2018, China amended the constitution and removed the two-term limit on the president of the country. It is generally believed that Xi Jinping will continue to hold the party, government, and military power after his ten-year term.

It seems that there will be more Xi era slogans in the future, and it is estimated that the slogans popular because of Xi Jinping will continue in China for quite some time.