Xi Jinping and his Party face an insoluble problem in trying to reconcile China’s historical culture with their Marxist ideology. The two don’t fit well together, however you turn it. But Xi and the leaders of the CCP are convinced that they must maintain both, if they are to assure the continuation of their rule.
According to a report of June 3 in The South China Morning Post, Xi Jinping said at a symposium held last week at the Chinese Academy of History that “China’s unique development path is rooted in the historical continuity of its culture.” The report continues: “Xi said the party’s understanding of the Chinese path and its cultural self-confidence had reached a new height through the integration of Marxism and China’s traditional culture. ‘This integration is the most important tool for the party to achieve its success,’ he said.”
There are just two problems with this. The first is that Marxism is a European import, however it is modified to acquire a Chinese character. Its importation exemplifies a discontinuity in China’s cultural history – of which there were, of course, many. The second is that Marxism is a theory of historical discontinuity.
I don’t know how Xi and his followers mean to bridge the divide between their belief in the continuity of Chinese culture and their profession of Marxism with its emphasis on revolutionary breaks. The Chinese Academy of History is Xi’s own creation. It is presumably supposed to help with filling that gap – real history be damned. My conjecture is that the Marxism will increasingly have to give way and that the party will have to look for support for its right to rule more and more in the annals of Chinese history. The CCP will not be the first revolutionary party in history to turn into a conservative establishment party.