Xi Jinping Thought will now be taught, researched and promoted in universities across China, ensuring that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) eponymous philosophy is implanted in students’ hearts and minds.
At least 20 universities have established research institutes for Xi’s ideology, which was enshrined in the Chinese Communist Party’s constitution during its 19th National Congress this month.
The distinction places Xi on a par with Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) and it means that his dogma — “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” — will become a mantra for a new generation.
Photo: AFP
According to media reports on Sunday, the research institutes will not “hide in the ivory tower” but advocate the incorporation of Xi thought in all aspects of daily life.
“We will gather many experts and professors to disseminate and preach Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in businesses, neighborhoods and villages,” Jiang Hongxin, (蔣洪新) head of Hunan Normal University’s Xi Thought research center, told the People’s Daily.
Liu Ying, party secretary of the Tianjin University of Technology’s Communist Youth League, said the idea of forming a Xi Thought “learning group” came to her spontaneously during his marathon speech at the congress’s opening.
“After studying these ideas, students will have more confidence not only in the country, but also in their own lives,” she said. “They will have a greater belief in the Chinese dream” — one of Xi’s pet slogans.
Planned activities for the group include tours to promote Xi Thought in rural communities and visits to Liangjiahe, the northern village where Xi spent seven years as a “sent-down youth” during the Cultural Revolution.
Liu’s attitude mirrors that of many institute directors, who in interviews with Chinese media over the weekend espoused a deep devotion to spreading Xi-isms.
“The [research] center has a unique duty, which is to push forward Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in curriculums, in classrooms and in minds,” Renmin University of China professor Chen Xianda told the Beijing-based Guangming Daily.
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