Photo: Global Times

Editor's Note:

The Spring Festival, the most important traditional holiday of the Chinese nation, embodies the Chinese people's cherished values of family reunion and bidding farewell to the old while welcoming the new. In December 2024, the successful inscription of the "Spring Festival" on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list highlights that it is not only a Chinese celebration but also a cultural treasure shared by all of humanity. 

"The Spring Festival is a wonderful moment to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, always bringing new hope to the people." This statement by Chinese President Xi Jinping captures the essence of Spring Festival culture. Xi has always attached great importance to traditional Chinese festivals and their cultural implications. On occasions such as the Spring Festival gathering, he has elaborated on the significance of Chinese culture, including the culture of the Spring Festival, and breathed new life into its meaning.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has emphasized the historical influence and significance of fine traditional Chinese culture, endowing it with contemporary relevance and promoting its creative transformation and innovative development.

In the article "Expand Research into the History of Chinese Civilization and Build a Stronger Sense of History and Cultural Confidence," included in the fifth volume of the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Xi pointed out: "China's long, extensive and profound civilization is one of the distinctive qualities of the Chinese nation. It underpins contemporary Chinese culture and creates a spiritual bond among all people of Chinese descent across the globe. It provides valuable resources and inspiration for China's cultural innovation."

Xi has also emphasized the need to "encourage exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity." 

Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, the heritage of Chinese culture is shining with renewed brilliance as it is carried forward.

In the 21st installment of the special series "Decoding the Book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," the Global Times, along with the People's Daily Overseas Edition, focuses on the values embedded in the Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival of the Chinese nation. We continue to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to delve into how the historical evolution and cultural essence of the Spring Festival reflect the continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness of Chinese civilization.

Here are the stories:

1. Scholars' Perspectives: Understanding five defining characteristics of Chinese civilization through Spring Festival: senior culture scholar

2. Readers’ Reflections: The Chinese values of ‘harmony is precious,’ ‘coexistence in harmony’ embodied in Spring Festival carry profound practical significance today

3. Practitioners’ insights: From traditional festival to world’s ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’: World shares Chinese culture's harmony and beauty

4. Translators' Voices: Spring Festival embodies profound cultural connotations, universal appeal that transcend national boundaries: Brazilian scholar

Photo: Global Times