The Value Connotation, Theoretical Character and World Feelings of the Great Anti-epidemic Spirit

In the past three years, the epidemic situation in COVID-19 has broken out in many places and spread around the world, which has brought great threats to the life safety and health of people all over the world and severe challenges to the normal development of the whole human society. Anti-epidemic has become a major issue that human society has to go all out to deal with in a period of time. China has effectively responded to the impact of five global epidemics, properly handled more than 100 clustered epidemics, always achieved the maximum prevention and control effect at the minimum cost, and achieved significant positive results in coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development. China’s anti-epidemic for more than three years has created a miracle in the history of human civilization that a populous country has successfully emerged from the epidemic.

Domestically, in the face of the world’s worst outbreak and pandemic of infectious diseases in the past century, the people of China, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), took the lead in launching a people’s war, a general war and a blocking war to prevent and control the epidemic. After arduous efforts, they paid great sacrifices and costs, and achieved a major decisive victory in the prevention and control of the epidemic. China’s economy took the lead in achieving positive growth in the world, with a stable overall social situation and a surging patriotic spirit. Globally, China took the lead in winning the strategic initiative of epidemic prevention and control, which had an important positive impact on the international community’s anti-epidemic and world economic development. In the past three years, China has provided hundreds of billions of anti-epidemic materials to more than 150 countries and 15 international organizations, published epidemic data without reservation, publicized prevention and control plans, shared treatment experience and diagnosis and treatment plans, and tried its best to carry out international cooperation and assistance in funds, materials, medical care, vaccines and international debts. In 2021, China’s economic growth rate reached 8.1%. In the past three years, China’s economy has grown at an average annual rate of 4.5%, which is much higher than the average growth rate of 1.8% in the world economy. It has become an important engine for stimulating the world economy. In the past three years, China-Europe trains have operated a total of 43,000 trains, transporting 4.2 million TEUs of various goods including anti-epidemic materials. These measures have effectively maintained the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain and injected vitality into the recovery and development of the world economy. China has become the most stable force to promote world economic development.

In the process of fighting the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese nation has the courage to explore, take responsibility and be willing to make sacrifices, forming a great anti-epidemic spirit of life first, national unity, giving up life and forgetting death, respecting science and sharing common destiny. This spirit is not only the experience summary, ideological promotion and spiritual conciseness of the Chinese nation’s anti-epidemic struggle, but also more and more brilliant international humanitarian light, which makes the community of human destiny initiative have richer historical connotation and deeper world feelings.

Great anti-epidemic spirit is a vivid manifestation of people-oriented value pursuit of Chinese excellent traditional culture.

For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has always maintained indomitable high morale after suffering, always maintained a vigorous and enterprising attitude, and always showed an indomitable spirit of struggle in generate. The great anti-epidemic spirit is the inheritance and development of people-oriented thought and benevolence tradition in Chinese excellent traditional culture. The Chinese nation, which has experienced many vicissitudes, and the Chinese culture which has experienced many hardships, have already written the word "person" on the land of China, and constructed a firm word "country". In dealing with the relationship between the two, they also show the spirit of being willing to contribute and sacrifice. Respecting and cherishing life has long been the gene and spiritual blood of the Chinese nation, and the spiritual essence and ideological connotation of the great anti-epidemic spirit perfectly embodies this point.

After modern times, China gradually became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Countless people with lofty ideals, in order to explore the road to national salvation and survival, made unremitting efforts to advance wave after wave, and finally established a new China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Adhering to and developing Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the correct way to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Over the past hundred years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has gone through hardships, not afraid of difficulties, dared to sacrifice and be brave in dedication, and formed a spiritual pedigree of the Communist Party of China (CPC) people with the great spirit of party building as its source, which has enabled the Chinese national spirit to be continuously sublimated and reached a new height, and the great spirit of fighting epidemic is an important manifestation of this spiritual pedigree in the contemporary era. During the revolutionary war years, the Chinese nation gave birth to the spirit of the Long March, the spirit of the Anti-Japanese War and the spirit of Xibaipo. After the founding of New China, the Party led the masses to create the spirit of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, the spirit of "two bombs and one satellite" and the spirit of Daqing. Since the reform and opening up, in the magnificent process of adhering to and developing Socialism with Chinese characteristics, the spirit of fighting floods and earthquake relief has emerged. Entering a new era, it has formed a great anti-epidemic spirit in the process of fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. These spirits are the cultural representations of the Chinese nation’s unyielding, enduring strength and growing frustration, which embodies the endless vitality of the whole Chinese culture. The great anti-epidemic spirit not only fully embodies the long-term idiosyncratic endowment of the Chinese nation, but also shows the institutional advantages and ultimate value pursuit of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.The great anti-epidemic spirit vividly shows the cultural genes that have been honed by Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years and countless disasters, but can always come down in one continuous line and keep pace with the times.

Great anti-epidemic spirit is the inheritance, innovation and development of Marxist people’s view.

The great anti-epidemic spirit is not water without a source and a tree without a root, but is deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Marxist values of people-oriented and people’s interests above everything else. It is not only the promotion and development of the Chinese excellent traditional cultural value concept of "attaching importance to people-oriented", but also a profound interpretation and vivid portrayal of the Communist Party of China (CPC) people’s initial mission. In the past hundred years, Marxism has been spreading in China, and it has become increasingly China-like. the Communist Party of China (CPC) people have organically integrated the two, internalized them into the value pursuit of the whole Chinese nation, and constantly transformed them into a powerful force to understand and transform the world. Over the past three years, more than 1.4 billion people in China have not been afraid to fight the virus for life and death, and have never backed down in order to prevent and control the epidemic. With indomitable will and perseverance, they have written magnificent epics that make people cry.

Three-year anti-epidemic is one of the most successful and vivid practices of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s mass line. Over the past three years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has firmly relied on the masses of the people, resolutely curbed the spread of the epidemic, and resolutely won the people’s war, the overall war and the blocking war to prevent and control the epidemic. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader said with deep emotion: "It is the people of Chinese who have given us strength and confidence to overcome this epidemic." From the treatment of critical wards against time, to the door-to-door investigation of urban and rural communities, from the overtime work of workshop sites to the research of laboratories around the clock. Grass-roots party organizations and the vast number of party member actively play the role of fighting bastion and vanguard and exemplary role, widely mobilize the masses, organize the masses, unite the masses, fully implement joint prevention and control measures, and build a strict defense line for prevention and treatment by the masses. It is precisely because of the silent dedication and hard work of hundreds of millions of ordinary people that we can gather the majestic trend with a trickle, and we can protect the mountains and rivers and the peace of our country when the virus is raging.

The party and the state always adhere to the people-centered principle, putting people’s life safety and physical health first. The whole party and the broad masses of the people watch and help each other, work together and overcome difficulties together, creating another heroic feat in the history of human struggle against diseases, and nurturing a great anti-epidemic spirit that fully embodies the character and mental outlook of the times. This spirit embodies the unity of the people of China, sharing weal and woe, and once again shows the truth of the basic principle of Marxism that "the people are the creators of history".

The Government of China has always been in an open, transparent and responsible attitude, actively fulfilling its international obligations, closely cooperating with the World Health Organization and relevant countries, promoting joint prevention and control by the international community, jointly safeguarding global and regional public health safety, and protecting the lives and health of people all over the world. As General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "Let’s join hands to protect the lives and health of people in all countries, protect the common home of the earth and build a healthy community of human beings." This once again vividly reflects that people are the power to create world history, and fully reflects the bright background of human feelings of the great anti-epidemic spirit.

The great anti-epidemic spirit has made the concept of the community of human destiny more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The great anti-epidemic spirit reflects the unique and profound human consciousness and world feelings of the people of China. China has always tried its best to support countries around the world in fighting the epidemic. In the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, the people of China did not hesitate or retreat, but threw themselves into this struggle without hesitation. The people of China deeply understand that the virus has no national boundaries and life is above everything else. In the face of this global epidemic, no country can be immune to it, and no individual can completely stay out of it and be completely unaffected. "The road is not isolated, and love is boundless". We launched the emergency humanitarian action with the most concentrated assistance time and the widest scope since the founding of New China, which injected a steady stream of power and confidence into the global epidemic prevention and control, fully demonstrated the image of a responsible big country that stresses faithfulness, values affection, upholds justice and abides by morality, and vividly interpreted the responsibility of a big country to promote the building of a community of human destiny.

In the face of the epidemic, we uphold the concept of "one family in the world" and do our duty to the global public health cause. China took the lead in finding an effective way to prevent and control the epidemic situation, taking the lead in resuming work and production, and continuously provided all kinds of epidemic prevention materials to the world, sharing the experience of prevention, control and treatment with all parties without reservation. China clearly declared that after the vaccine was developed and put into use, it would be regarded as a global public product, which contributed to the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries and played an active role as a global public health safety island and shock absorber. With practical actions, China has helped to save the lives of thousands of people around the world, and demonstrated its sincere desire to promote the building of a community of human destiny. Together with people of all countries, it has broken all kinds of mutual accusations, mutual suspicions and mutual abuse, and joined hands to sincerely cooperate and jointly fight against Covid-19, so that the concept of a community of human destiny can illuminate the "darkest moment" when epidemics and prejudices are rampant, and show a bright future for human development.

Facing the common enemy, countries all over the world are more and more aware that human beings are a community of shared destiny. Only by watching each other, helping each other in the same boat, racing against time and fighting against diseases can we win the fight against major infectious diseases. If the "Belt and Road Initiative" makes people of all countries feel that they are closely connected with each other in promoting the development on the material level, China’s proposal of international cooperation to jointly fight the COVID-19 epidemic will make people of all countries realize on the spiritual level that promoting the construction of a community of human destiny is based on the historical process that human beings as a whole share weal and woe in the process of moving towards the future, and constantly promote the gradual improvement of the spiritual world while pursuing material wealth, which is a historical process in which human thoughts are constantly improved and the realm is constantly sublimated.

(Author: Cao Xiaowen, special researcher of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center, the supreme leader of Beijing, and associate professor of History College of Capital Normal University)