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Integrating Rule of Country by Law and by Morality
In his speech delivered at the National Conference of Heads of Publicity Departments of CPC, Comrade Jiang Zemin put forward a very important idea, that is, in the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and developing a socialist market economy, we should unremittingly strengthen socialist legal system construction, and run the country by morals, at the same time, we should untiringly strengthen socialist morality construction and run the country by morality. This important idea represents the application and development of our Party's strategic thinking known as "doing two types of work at the same time and attaching equal importance to both", it is a sublimation of our understanding of the law governing the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics, a perfection and innovation of the basic strategy for our Party to lead the people in the administration of the country, and enrichment of and contribution to the Marxist theory on the State. Conscientious study and resolute implementation of this important idea will definitely yield major and far-reaching influence on China's development in the new century.
Rule by law and rule by morality complement and promote each other, neither of them can be dispensed with and neither should be overemphasized at the expense of the other. Many people in Chinese history have advocated the simultaneous use of Confucianism and law. During the Tang Dynasty, a period of prosperity of Chinese feudal society, the rulers, on the one hand, formulated a set of feudal morality systems for properly running the family and bringing stability to the world; on the other hand, they enacted laws, which formed the most compact and most systematic feudal code-the law of the Tang Dynasty in Chinese history. This practice not only expressed in legal form the will of the ruling class, but also required the forcible implementation of their moral concepts in the form of law. Its aim was to "formulate rites to express one's respect, and establish law of penalty to show one's might", so as to promote social development.
Today, as we practice administration of the country according to law and running the country by morality, our fundamental aim is to guarantee that the masses of the people genuinely become masters of the country. Ruling the country according to law means that the Party-led State organs of power, administrative organizations, judicial organs and other social organizations should administer the country in accordance with the law and systems that express the will and interests of the people. Running the country with morality means that taking Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory as the guide, we should actively establish a socialist ideological and moral system that is adapted to the development of the socialist market economy, and develop socialist culture and ethics. This system takes serving the people as the core, collectivism as the principle, and loving the motherland, the people, labor, science and socialism as the basic requirements.
Through energetically initiating social morality, such as promoting ethics and courtesy, taking pleasure in helping others, cherishing public property, protecting the environment, observing discipline and abiding by law, vigorously advocating professional ethics as expressed in the love for one's job and devotion to one's career, being honest and keeping faith, handling affairs with fairness and justice, serving the masses, and being dedicated to society, and forcefully promoting the family virtue featuring respect for the old and care for the young, equality between man and woman, harmony between husband and wife, diligence and thrifty in running the household and unity between neighbors. We should set down rules of conduct to be generally confirmed and consciously observed by all people; and we should establish an inter-personal relationship featuring unity and mutual-aid, equality, fraternity and common progress.
Ruling the country according to law and running the country with morality are a closely integrated whole. The rule of law belongs to political construction and to political civilization; while rule by morality belongs to ideological construction and to advanced culture and ethics. They both have their respective positions and functions. Rule by law regulates the conduct of social members with its authoritative and coercive means; while rule with morality enhances the ideological understanding and moral consciousness with its moving and inspiring force and its strength of exhortation. Socialist rule of law provides a legal guarantee for establishing, safeguarding and practicing socialist morality. Socialist rule of morality is to regulate the conduct of all social members with socialist ideology and morality and raise the moral level of the entire nation. Success in rule by morality makes it possible to administer the country according to law.
In the new historical period of the reform, opening up and modernization drive, ruling the country by morality requires strengthening the building of socialist culture and ethics. Through painstaking, in-depth and careful ideological-political work, we should form a favorable public opinion environment, so that Marxism and the ideological theory on the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics will go deep into the minds of all Party members and cadres and the entire people, and that the ideology of patriotism, collectivism and socialism can really become a strong spiritual pillar for rallying and uniting the whole Party and the people of the whole country.
The establishment of a socialist ideological and moral system compatible with the socialist market economy is a colossal social systematic project. Centering around the establishment of a correct outlook on world, life and value, we must integrate the inheritance of the fine tradition with the promotion of the spirit of the times, unify the respect for personal legal rights and interests with the shouldering of social responsibility, coordinate attention to efficiency and the safeguarding of social justice, combine advanced requirement with extensive requirement, and strive to set down a healthy, harmonious, and progressive ideological and moral standard adaptable to economic and social development. We must carefully formulate and earnestly implement a guidance plan for moral construction, blend the requirement of basic moral concepts with related laws, regulations and various specific policies and mix it in various fields of social management, and constantly promote the formation and perfection of the socialist ideological and moral system. We must, in compliance with the requirements of the "three representatives" (representing advanced culture, advanced productive forces and the fundamental interests of the people), strengthen Party building, so that the broad masses of Party members and cadres will become models in carrying out the "three representatives" and in pursuing socialist and communist morality, and that the Party members can become examples of the entire people and Party cadres at all levels can become examples for all Party members.
We are convinced that under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core, as long as members of the whole Party and people of the whole country adhere to the basic strategy of ruling the country according to law and running the country with morality, the great cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics will definitely develop even faster and better.
(This article written by Our Commentator is published on the front page of People's Daily, February 1, 2001.)
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