Evolution of the “Zhejiang Spirit”During the Forty Years of Reform and Opening-up
Liao Fangling & Wan Bin＊
Abstract: The “Zhejiang spirit” refers to a theoretical summary of the group consciousness, mental state, value orientation and ideological realm, which is, as a motivating power, owned and recognized by all Zhejiang people, and carries Zhejiang peculiarities. President Xi Jinping, during his term of office in Zhejiang, launched a number of seminars and activities to seek “a Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times.” Forty years of reform and opening-up, the“Zhejiang spirit” has experienced an evolution that can be summarized as three improvements: from spontaneous formation to deliberate cultivation,from something limited to eastern Zhejiang to an integrating force that spans the entire Zhejiang Province, and from a mere existence to a role that functions adequately. The “Zhejiang spirit” is extracted from the humanistic spirits shaped in all corners of Zhejiang province. It is “an instrumental ensemble played across the entire province,” and represents a certain judgment and interpretation. The “Zhejiang spirit” not only describes and summarizes the past and present, but will also guide and motivate the future, and support people in their enterprising and industrious practices to move with the times.
Keywords: move with the times; the “Zhejiang spirit;” forty years of reform and opening-up
The “Zhejiang spirit” is a strong motivating force that boosts the sustainable,healthy and rapid development of Zhejiang’s economy and society. It is a deep spiritual pillar that complements the internal needs of the Chinese market economy. It refers to a theoretical summary of the group consciousness, mental state, value orientation and ideological realm, which is, as a motivating power, owned and recognized by all Zhejiang people, and carries Zhejiang peculiarities. President Xi Jinping, during his term of office in Zhejiang,attach great importance to the inheritance and promotion of the spirit, and launched a number of seminars and activities to seek “a Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times.” In September 2016, during the G20 Hangzhou Summit, President Xi Jinping again proposed that Zhejiang should “uphold the ‘Zhejiang spirit,’ remain downto-earth,” which fully indicates the significance of maintaining the “Zhejiang spirit.” In such a new era, several questions arise that call for contemplation. What is the logic behind the development of the “Zhejiang spirit?”What is its source or propellant? And how can the “Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times” be fully utilized as a guiding power? None of these questions can be answered unless there is some reflection on the evolution of the “Zhejiang spirit” during the forty years of reform and opening-up.
1. From spontaneous formation to deliberate cultivation
The “Zhejiang spirit” is a like a gene inherited from its history and culture which has brought prosperity to Zhejiang. This gene is inherently unyielding to frustrations and is prone to survive and flourish given even the slightest chance. In terms of phylogenetics, the “Zhejiang spirit” was gradually shaped by Zhejiang people during their thousands of years of social practice. Its origin can be traced back to our prehistoric civilization and through generations of Zhejiang people who created a tremendous wealth and a material civilization through industry and entrepreneurship and carried forward the spirit and passed it down to posterity, leaving behind a precious spiritual treasure. However, it must be noted that the “Zhejiang spirit” before the reform and opening-up to a large extent took on a spontaneous form, i.e. a mental state that could only be discerned in the folk customs in Zhejiang. These folk customs refer to an unprompted, unsystematic and amorphous social and cultural psychology displayed in the lives of Zhejiang people. Though this formation was not deliberate, it was significant and became a kind of paradigm that people tended to consciously defend. Just as the folklorist Sumner commented, “folklore is a social force” which governs the social life, “everyone is forced to obey it,” and “the entire human life of all stages and culture are largely ruled by folklore.” ① Gao, 1994, p.96 In this sense, the folklore of Zhejiang in fact made more direct and far-reaching contributions to the province’s economic and social development than is often thought. At the same time, the “Zhejiang spirit” was merely a mental state embodied in folk customs and a “grass-roots spirit” peculiar to Zhejiang. This implies that the practitioners -Zhejiang people - had not yet achieved a universal cultural consciousness.
Cultural development is realized via self-reflection and comparison. Only through self-reflection can there be “a break from the original domain,” i.e., a process from the “spontaneous” state to a “conscious” state ,or a process of continually escaping the restraints that the “spontaneous” state inflicts on human culture and entering into a universally “conscious” state. There are two prerequisites for people to have a consciousness of the Zhejiang culture and spirit. First, people must precisely know their culture, gain insight into the soul of their culture,they must achieve a scientific and accurate summarization and definition of the “Zhejiang spirit,”the soul of the Zhejiang culture, and in particular must adapt the spirit to the changing requirements posed by the times and the new attempts to develop Zhejiang. Second, they must have a deep understanding of the position, function and value of the “Zhejiang spirit,” and they must pay special attention to the extraordinary role the spirit will play in Zhejiang’s development when it “moves with the times.”
利用MATLAB进行系统仿真分析，根据以上算法设计考虑腹地货物产生数量、装卸时间和泊位资源等约束条件的干支航线网络确立系统，对比分析3个因素不同状态下对港口群内航线确立的影响，同时分析每种状态的运输效率变化。
As for the first prerequisite, several efforts have already been made by Zhejiang people to summarize and define the “Zhejiang spirit.” In December 1999, during the 4th Congress of the Zhejiang Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences Circles, Zhang Dejiang, the then Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of CPC, first proposed the important task of defining the “Zhejiang spirit,” summarizing the Zhejiang experience, marking the start of the study on the “Zhejiang spirit” by the social sciences and literature circles of Zhejiang. In July 2000, during the 4th (Enlarged) Plenary Session of the 10th CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, based upon a great deal of study, a preliminary definition for the “Zhejiang spirit” was laid down.It was condensed into four phrases: “striving for greatness, persevering, embracing innovation, and pursuing effectiveness.” This was undoubtedly a good beginning for the “Zhejiang spirit” to shift from a mental pattern spontaneously arising in the folk customs to something consciously cultivated. In January 2005, Xi Jinping,the then Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of CPC, gave instructions to “delve into the Zhejiang phenomenon, improve the Zhejiang experience and enrich the ‘Zhejiang spirit’” and to “study the ‘Zhejiang spirit’ from the perspectives of the historical inheritance of Zhejiang culture, the spiritual civilization of society and the comprehensive cultural competence.” Xi himself established the direction and fundamental framework for studying “the Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times,” and examined, modified and approved the related reports. After an extensive survey and a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion, summarization and definition, a consensus was achieved. The original four phrases that defined the “Zhejiang spirit” appropriately described the mental state of Zhejiang people during their efforts to shake off poverty and accumulate wealth while carrying forward the excellent Zhejiang cultural traditions. They were proved sensible by years-long practices, and thus must be further developed. It was also determined that as provincial, national and global circumstances have changed greatly, especially since the 16th CPC National Congress was held, Zhejiang’s reform and opening-up and modernization construction have entered a new era. This means the basis of the“Zhejiang spirit” has been changed accordingly. Hence the connotation that the spirit must adapt to the times and be further enriched. Later additions to the connotation, including the concept of “the Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times” and such phrases as “seeking truth, applying a pragmatic approach, being honest and harmonious, opening up, and striving for greatness,”① Xi, 2006 undoubtedly highlight the cultural consciousness and confidence of Zhejiang people, and indicate that the “Zhejiang spirit” has risen from a spontaneous state to a conscious state.
In terms of the tendency of its development, the “Zhejiang spirit,” as the core or soul of a regional culture,is not only a portrayal and summary of Zhejiang’s group consciousness, mental state, value orientation and ideological realm, but more importantly, it is also a guiding and motivating power that supports Zhejiang people in their enterprising and industrious practices to keep up with the times. However, it also must be noted that the earliest definition of the “Zhejiang spirit” was more like a summary of the group unconsciousness,vitality of the ordinary people, and Zhejiang people’s entrepreneurship consciousness at the beginning of the socialist market economy. It touched on little of the value orientations that Zhejiang people must form to fit in with the transformations of the market economy. Nor did it involve much of the people’s self-diagnosed spirit and efforts to reshape their values as they adapted to the period when the socialist market economy’s gradual entery into maturity. Therefore, it is necessary to further extend the “Zhejiang spirit” from a mere existence to a functioning role. As an existing state, the “Zhejiang spirit” must be in line with the regional cultural realities of Zhejiang and highlight the regional cultural peculiarities. It should be given undeniable credit for having guided the rapid economic growth and social development of Zhejiang since the reform and opening-up,which quickly brought prosperity to the province. It is on account of that very fact that the “Zhejiang spirit”has gained wide support and recognition from Zhejiang people. To play a role that functions adequately, the“Zhejiang spirit” must link itself with and adapt itself to the economic, social, and future circumstances of Zhejiang to be qualified to guide the economic and social development of the province. Only in that manner can the “Zhejiang spirit” point out a direction for future development and realize the aspirations of people for a better life, thereby becoming a powerful spiritual pillar and propellant for people’s pursuit and creation of value.
Through the active efforts made at all levels of the Zhejiang government and CPC committee, scholars and the public, the “Zhejiang spirit” can be repeatedly refined and improved, and finally shape as a consciousness in the minds of Zhejiang people. Its formation, extending influence, accurate definition and continuous enrichment could never have happened without these efforts.
The second prerequisite, asks Zhejiang people to form a deep understanding about the position,function and value of the “Zhejiang spirit.” Zhejiang was one of the first provinces in China to recognize the importance of a cultural spirit to drive and support regional economic and social development. It was also among the earliest to name its regional spirit, i.e., the “Zhejiang spirit,” as a cultural impetus and spiritual pillar for its economic and social advancement. The cultural construction of Zhejiang Province has shifted its focus from scope to strength and quality. Each stage of the cultural construction implies a deeper understanding of the position, function and value of culture. Today Zhejiang people have attained a consensus: the cultural construction of Zhejiang Province could not really take root in the soil and bear fruit unless the culture makes itself highly useful for the economy, politics, society and ecology, as well as the improvement of its own governance. Practices have proved that, in order to achieve a cultural consciousness of the “Zhejiang spirit”and make the best use of the spirit, there must be “three combinations:” combination of the Chinese spirit and the “Zhejiang spirit,” the basic Zhejiang cultural genes and the advanced culture & spirit of the times, and the short-term and the long-term goals for the cultural construction of Zhejiang Province. In some sense, the three combinations are vital indicators to measure the level of the cultural consciousness during the cultural construction.
2. From something limited to eastern Zhejiang to an integrating force that spans the entire Zhejiang province
The tradition of “seeking truth” has long existed in thoughts, cultures, and practices of everyday life in Zhejiang. However, without prior experiences to learn from, Zhejiang people had to depend on spontaneous exploration and thus paid heavy price as they grew stronger. Their earlier entrepreneurship, for instance,mostly originated from the small-scale peasant economy and “grassroots” consciousness. It came from a desire to survive rather than the realization of one’s own value. Its advancement was based on life experience rather than science and knowledge. Therefore, the lack of interest and motivation in learning theories, rules and science was once a clear trait of Zhejiang people. Nowadays there is a pressing need for Zhejiang people to elevate their spontaneous exploration to a conscious state of “seeking truth.” “Seeking truth” means pursuing the truth, following the rules and respecting science, and the most important part is to improve one’s mode of thinking: to elevate experience-based thinking to theory-based thinking. Experience-based thinking has its limitations, rather than penetrating deep into the core and rules of things, it can only enable people to have a direct, partial, unsystematic and shallow understanding of them. Theory-based thinking, however, is able to help people go beyond the surface and reveal the true nature of and crucial associations among things,thereby grasping the universal laws about how things exist and develop. This is not inborn or spontaneous. As a quality and capacity exclusively owned by humans, theory-based thinking must be nurtured through social practices.
Since the reform and opening-up entered a new era, it became pressing to keep the “Zhejiang spirit”with the times, to better lead the development of Zhejiang Province. In 2005, Xi Jinping, the then Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of CPC, valued the work of extracting a “Zhejiang spirit” for the new era.Related local authorities held a series of seminars to discuss the “Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times,”dispatched investigation teams to the east and west of the province, gathered opinions from local scholars,community leadership and ordinary people on how to enrich the “Zhejiang spirit,” and evaluated how well the work of extracting regional spirits was going. In 2006, after rounds of discussion and study, the final definition of the “Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times” was established by the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee as “seeking truth, applying a pragmatic approach, being honest and harmonious, opening up and striving for greatness.” The traditional factors of “honesty” and “harmony” in life, which the western Zhejiang people had long cherished and pursued were added to the original regional humanistic spirit bred in the east of Zhejiang.This new connotation also conveyed the “open” spirit of Hangzhou, which is blessed by its proximity to the metropolis of Shanghai.
Western Zhejiang, including Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou, boasted abundant resources, booming agriculture, a long small-commodity-production history. People lead a less stressful life. Hence its humanistic spirit was more conservative, profound, subtle and tender, emphasizing collectivity, rank, honesty, harmony and knowledge. Today this spirit still has profound influence. Take “honesty” for example. It has long served as a cornerstone for the commercial and cultural prosperity in the western cities of Zhejiang. For instance,Hu Qing Yu Tang, a time-honored traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy in Hangzhou, ever since its first owner Hu Xueyan laid down “no fraud” as its fundamental ethic, has been treating its fellows and clients with honesty. This has won it wide trust and recognition and keeps its business bustling. Feng Gensheng, the last apprentice from Hu Qing Yu Tang, who founded the Qing Chun Bao Group, is still piously holding on to the holy phrase - “no fraud,” and allows himself to only engage in honest business. As for “harmony,” the western Zhejiang has worshiped an overall “harmony” in traditions and mental states throughout its thousands of years of history. The business guilds here during the Ming and Qing dynasties, for instance, promoted the spirit of mutual aid through “sacrifices offered to gods and relief efforts” to “prevent inside conflicts and safeguard the solidarity among their members.” Though they invoked “egalitarianism in making regulations to prevent competition,” the business guilds did, objectively speaking, cultivate an ethic to coordinate between or regulate their members by “establishing all kinds of regulations that asked common compliance,” ① Jiang, 2002, p.435 thereby largely contributing to the establishment of a harmonious business environment. The overall harmony-oriented humanistic spirit of western Zhejiang can also be found in the architectural layout, landscape and style of the gardens scattered in its urban and rural areas, especially in the West Lake, a freshwater lake in Hangzhou,and surrounding scenic architectural complexes. Western Zhejiang, owing to its geographical advantages,witnessed a booming urban economy during the Ming and Qing dynasties and a relatively comfortable life for its citizens. That enabled citizens to spend their leisure time on entertainment, which boosted the prosperity of all forms of literature and art that ranged from ci (a type of lyric poetry), sanqu (a fixed-rhythm form of Classical Chinese poetry), novel, xiqu (traditional Chinese opera), to music, calligraphy, painting, seal cutting and sculpture. Western Zhejiang thus took the lead and predominated in the literary and artistic development of Zhejiang Province. This explains why the east and west of Zhejiang are subtly different in the contents and forms of literature and art.
Therefore, defining the “Zhejiang spirit” that moves with the times as “seeking truth, applying a pragmatic approach, being honest and harmonious, opening up, striving for greatness” not only preserves the vivacity of the humanistic spirit of eastern Zhejiang, but also sensibly adopts and incorporates the core spirit of western Zhejiang. The spirit is no longer a summary of theories selected from eastern Zhejiang. Instead,it is an “instrumental ensemble played across the entire province,” and represents a certain judgment and interpretation.
3. From a mere existence to a role that functions adequately
一线教师的付出是辛劳的，不仅仅是脑力劳动，同时还有体力劳动，费心费力。备课、上课、批改作业和试卷，还要反思教学，针对个别学生补缺补差，很少有休息时间。可是，作为一名教师，只有用心教学才能赢得家长的尊重和理解，在工作中，只有家长和学校相互配合，教师和家长之间互相理解和尊重，才能共同的把孩子教育好。应该说，我们需要家长的配合，理解和支持，让学生学好是共同的期待，这需要我们用心与家长沟通、交流，做家长的朋友。得到了家长的理解和支持，我们才能教出成绩，从而收获快乐，提升幸福感。
一位不愿透露姓名的医生说：“患者生病后希望尽早恢复的焦急心情我可以理解，但没必要非得托熟人，有人觉得找熟人看病病好得快，这纯属心理作用，大多数医生在看病时对待病人是平等的，并不会因为你是熟人就超水平发挥。”
3.1 Seeking truth: from spontaneous exploration to conscious efforts to understand, follow and utilize the rules
The geographical scope of the “Zhejiang spirit” ought to cover, in an objective and comprehensive manner,the entire province. It should be a summary extracted from the humanistic spirits that exist in all regions of the province. Only if formed in that way can it become convincing. The “Zhejiang spirit” must be based on all regional humanistic spirits. It is supported by the humanistic spirit shaped across Zhejiang, and thus fully represents the spiritual factors that are extracted from the practices of Zhejiang’s reform and opening-up and its market economy. However, it is obvious that the earliest definition of the “Zhejiang spirit” was, to a large extent, more like a summary of the humanistic spirit in eastern Zhejiang, and there was little trace of western Zhejiang. In ancient times, Zhejiang was known as a combination of two parts: eastern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang. In this paper, Zhejiang refers to the “great eastern Zhejiang,” i.e., the “shangbafu” recorded in ancient local chronicles, which embraced eight administrative divisions (located to the south of the Qiantang River and with higher altitude in ancient times), including Ningbo, Shaoxing, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Chuzhou (today’s Lishui), Jinhua, Quzhou and Yanzhou (today’s Jiande), as well as the corresponding “xiasanfu”(located to the north of the Qiantang River and with lower altitude in ancient times) which included Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou. ① Cao, 1997, p.5 Throughout the history, the east and west of Zhejiang Province varied in their natural environment and social/economic situations, especially in their agricultural development patterns, and their people enjoyed different life styles. All of these resulted in the differences between the east and the west in the formation and development of regional humanistic spirits, and their different peculiarities and advantages. In the eastern administrative divisions like Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jinhua and Quzhou, land is inadequate,people are under great pressure. Thus, the humanistic spirit of eastern Zhejiang was exploring and liberating,especially pragmatic and emphasizing individuals’ personality, role and capability. Wenzhou’s bosses (the group of individual/private entrepreneurs), for instance, became rich and won fame across China. Their typical spirit, which emphasized aspiration combined with industry and perseverance, became a household name.The original connotation of the “Zhejiang spirit,” namely “striving for greatness, persevering, embracing innovation and pursuing effectiveness,” originated from the spirits that were formed in those eastern cities of Zhejiang and that took the lead in the early years of reform and opening-up, such as Wenzhou, Taizhou,Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jinhua and Quzhou.
3.2 Applying a pragmatic approach: shifting focus from “individual interests” to “national interests”
两年前，我班转来了一名特殊的孩子——小宇。他母亲病逝，父亲外出谋生，祸不单行，外公突遭事故痛失三指，抚养他的舅妈体弱多病，家中的顶梁柱舅舅又重病在身。在“童孙未解供耕织”的懵懂岁月里，他已饱尝丧母之痛，留守之苦；在“忙趁东风放纸鸢”的无忧时光中，他已初见岁月艰辛，人情冷暖；在“溪头卧剥莲蓬”的童趣年华中，他已体验囊中羞涩，生活不易。
Pragmatism is something ingrained in Zhejiang people’s minds, blood and actions. Yet the word was misunderstood by some Zhejiang people, who were prone to take “being pragmatic” as “seeking benefits,”especially “seeking benefits” for small units like individuals, households, villages or factories to help them survive and develop. In the early days of the reform and opening-up, for example, the Zhejiang economy was called a boss economy, for the traditional industries, especially the textile and small commodity industries,were generally started and managed by an individual boss or household. Everyone was working on his/her own and competing against each other. Admittedly, for the sake of earning one’s livelihood at the beginning of the market economy, it was a feasible approach, and moreover, the raft of self-centered benefit-seeking behaviors somehow resulted in a spontaneous, collective force that pushed entrepreneurship. Yet this pragmatic approach still had to be raised to a higher level where people would voluntarily seek shared interests for the public, the country and even the entire human race. Unfortunately, many Zhejiang people have long been accustomed to the narrower pragmatism: they just give the task of seeking the common interests mentioned above to the government and stand by doing nothing; they never stop asking the government to allow their pursuit of narrow benefits for small units like individuals, households, villages or factories, and to provide conveniences if need be for them. Aside from that, it is also a challenge for Zhejiang people to accept on their own according to the concept of sharing and shift their focus from increasing wealth to sharing wealth. Being pragmatic in fact means respecting reality and pursuing effectiveness. The key for Zhejiang people to come out of their“individual benefits” and move into “national interests” is to suppress and overcome their self-centeredness,for self-centeredness will inevitably lead to individuals’ neglect of their duties/obligations to society and their slight regard for the concept of sharing. Self-centeredness is a prominent and hard challenge yet to be conquered as Zhejiang’s market economy enters maturity. It is necessary for people to uphold socialist values,transcend their individual focus, their concrete and dispersed pursuit of fame and fortune, and view the shared interests for the public, the country and even the entire human race as their ultimate goal. Zhejiang is now playing a significant role in China’s Belt and Road construction, since it has always been a primary departure place and important hub for the Maritime Silk Road and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. It is thus especially important for the province to “take a broader perspective to envision its development”. Zhejiang Province must seek development by looking far afield rather than by focusing too much on itself, overcome its narrow-mindedness and realize its economic transformation. It must cultivate a broad mind that always cherishes the national interests in heart, apply a global approach for business, ride the wave of global economic prosperity through competition, cooperation and self-development, and strive to be a highly civilized world citizen that always values national interests and cares about the cultural progress and common development of the entire human race.
3.3 Being honest: from dependence on individual morality to the construction of a modern credit system
Honesty has been an especially marked principle which Zhejiang people take pride in throughout the commercial history of Zhejiang. Yet a sober opinion would point out that, since the Zhejiang economy has always been dominated by non-public sectors and characterized by the “grassroots sectors,” i.e., the privately-owned handicraft industry that was bred in the traditional small-scale peasant economy, since the early entrepreneurship of Zhejiang peasants, in particular, largely depended on human “connections” and“relationships” and was conducted without a mature market credit system, the credit pattern in business was to a large degree conducted on a specific, rather than universal basis, ① Chen, 2009 and the economic activities were mainly composed of “personality-based transactions” that were conducted in a huge network of connections such as blood ties, fellow townsmen, classmates, as well as workplace or battlefield companionships.② Zhuo, 2012 This mode of business culture and ethic for the modern market inevitably aroused prominent contradictions and conflicts and hence easily incurred a great deal of dishonesty. What’s worse, given the yet-to-be-improved social environment featuring the immature socialist market economy and legal system and underdeveloped supervision by public opinion, a number of people might get away with their dishonest behaviors without being punished by laws or condemned by morality. That is an incentive for more, repeated dishonest behaviors. Facing a new era, Zhejiang people must not only carry forward the virtue of being honest, but also establish a solid, collective consciousness of honesty, and set honesty as the foundation for livelihood and for modern social civilization. “Honesty” means respecting rules, following contracts, and keeping promises.Efforts must be made to focus on the construction of a modern “credit system” that is based on individual efforts, supported by companies and guided by the government. Attention must be shifted from individual morality to the construction of a modern credit system. Narrow pragmatism must be abandoned and the rash and selfish means for seeking small and short-term benefits must not be encouraged thus nipping egoism and the raw pursuit of wealth in the bud.
During its development in the new era, Zhejiang Province must continue upholding the “Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times.”
3.4 Being harmonious: from giving free play to individuality to pursuing overall harmony
Harmony and happiness have always been the lifelong pursuit of Zhejiang people. However, inharmony also came in as their spirit of always taking the initiative, striving for breakthroughs, pursuing efficiency and emphasizing individuality cast a long shadow on the process of the planned economy being transformed into a market economy. In the eyes of Zhejiang people, for example, breaking through the barriers of the planned economy was the most praiseworthy thing, thus they are able to abandon the old systems. Yet the reestablishment after the overthrowing work daunted them. Some scholars even asserted that Zhejiang culture contributes more to breaking than to establishing. In some measure that happens to indicate that during the early years of reform and opening-up, it was on account of their very courageous and enterprising spirit that Zhejiang people were finally able to seize precious opportunities, create great miracles and overcome the impossible. Times, however, have changed. Nowadays, regulations for the socialist market economic system have generally been established in China. They ask for more compliance than defiance, and Zhejiang people thus can no longer merely resort to their original daring spirit. It becomes crucial to turn “possibilities” into“reasonable” and “harmonious” outcomes, to elevate the pursuit of individuality and better competence to a search for overall coordinated and harmonious development. Take increasing wealth as another example.For Zhejiang people, wealth used to be so holy in their lives that they would pursue it at whatever expense,and inevitably, inharmony arose. What’s worse, if increasing wealth is given too much attention while wealth sharing is disregarded, there is little chance for the establishment of a harmonious situation. Therefore, a key task for Zhejiang people in the new era is to set the harmonious spirit and relationships as an important part of the “Zhejiang spirit.” Harmony refers to democracy and the rule of law, fairness and justice, honesty and friendliness, stability and orderliness, and harmonious co-existence between man and nature. It is thus necessary for Zhejiang people to establish appropriate values of efficiency and justice, which stress efficiency and list justice and harmony as a goal to be striven for. Only justice can bring people together. Only harmony can help make great achievements.
3.5 Opening-up: from passive imitation to independent innovation
One important peculiarity of Zhejiang culture is its readiness to assimilate heterogeneous cultures, yet there is undoubtedly a weak point in the province’s opening-up: passive imitation far outpaces independent innovation. It is evident that Zhejiang’s economic development has reached a point where dependence on lowend commodity exports is no longer feasible, and a new stage has come when the exports and imports of highend commodities and elements must be accelerated and gradually combined. It is time for Zhejiang to take center stage through independent innovation. However, the idea of independent innovation is exerting little influence, and its implementation and promotion is suffering setbacks. Some private enterprises based in Zhejiang, for instance, are good imitators, yet are lacking in capacity, experience or motivation to transform their imitative efforts to independent innovation attempts. The fact that these enterprises are largely bound by the family management mode, lacking in motivation for innovation in systems and management, indifferent to corporate culture construction, and passive in corporate cultural innovation, is hampering Zhejiang’s economic and social development. Moreover, during the early years of reform and opening-up, Zhejiang adopted the “bringing in” policy, namely bringing in capital, technologies, talents, resources, equipment,management, and labor, which given its then pressing need for development, was not a bad choice. Yet as Zhejiang grows stronger and more open, it becomes more dependent on “going out,” which is now viewed as a necessary trend and choice. Therefore, it is necessary for Zhejiang people to carry forward their open spirit if the economic transformation, upgrading and development are to be achieved and the level of independent innovation is to be raised. “Openness” means a global consciousness and a broad mind, and a readiness to absorb all kinds of heterogeneous strengths and leverage them to the fullest. Openness in systems and human minds is particularly important. First, Zhejiang people must make active efforts to fit into the global stage,to envision Zhejiang’s economic and social development from a broader, higher horizon, to set the concept of openness as a guideline, and to strive for an economic transformation, upgrading and developing, always encouraging a higher level of independent innovation. The “going out” and “bringing in” policies must be combined, and the all-round communication between Zhejiang and the outside world maintained. Resources must be integrated for better development and breakthroughs made in competition and cooperation. Second,Zhejiang people must cultivate a consciousness of openness, play an active role in global cooperation and competition, and adapt their thoughts, lives, behaviors and attitudes to the open world and global competition.
人物典型细小的动作最能体现其鲜明的形象，因为这些细节往往包含着人物丰富的思想感情。如《我的伯父鲁迅先生》中的一处动作细节描写：“他们把那个拉车的扶上车子，一个蹲着，一个半跪着，爸爸拿镊子给那个拉车的夹出玻璃片，伯父拿来硼酸水给他洗干净。”扶、蹲、跪、夹、洗等一系列动作描写突出了伯父的细致和热心，对车夫的帮助形象地体现了伯父关心和热爱劳动人民的高尚品质。俄国著名作家高尔基说过：“为了使艺术作品有教育说服力量，必须让主人公多行动，少说话”，选择典型而又有价值的人物行动细节进行描绘，有利于传神、逼真地反映人物的思想、情感和品格。
3.6 Striving for greatness: aiming for ceaseless aspirations rather than easy satisfaction
Courage, enterprise and industry were important lessons that Zhejiang people learned in their practices during the reform and opening-up. It was with their daring spirit that Zhejiang people overcame obstacles on the way toward great achievements in entrepreneurship and innovation. However, it is also true that Zhejiang entrepreneurs were, at the beginning of reform and opening-up, mostly peasants from the grassroots.That means they started their business mainly for subsistence. Once they shook off poverty or got rich,they might have obtained easy satisfaction, lost their original ambition and become short-sighted, narrowminded, and too careful to take “another painful try.” In addition, some private entrepreneurs, bound by their family management mode, were reluctant to establish a modern enterprise system or play a large role in modernization and globalization. Facing a new era, Zhejiang people must continue to uphold their daring spirit, aim higher and cherish visions for a more beautiful life. “Striving for greatness” means relentless striving for prominence. The most crucial step to move from easy satisfaction to ceaseless aspirations is to relinquish the narrow peasant consciousness, which is a consciousness formed among peasants within the backward self-sufficient natural economy that is represented by easy satisfaction with moderate wealth and a happy-go-lucky mentality. This mindset in one’s private life is in fact a sound choice. However, if the majority of people just soothe themselves with small goals, the regional economic and social development might sink into stagnation or even recession. The narrow peasant consciousness, though its influence has in some sense been weakened or eradicated in the reform and opening-up, is still found in a number of Zhejiang people and is hampering the cultivation of the enterprising spirit, which is the constant effort to make progress and achieve prominence and advancement despite the all tough challenges that lie ahead. The reform, innovation and pursuit of greatness are offering a great deal of flexibility and innumerable opportunities. Only with an enterprising spirit can Zhejiang people “remain down-to-earth, walk in the forefront and ride the waves” and realize the goal of “building a highly prosperous society in all respects and highly advancing the socialist modernization.”
A unified blueprint has been laid down. The Opinions on Promoting the Construction of a Cultural Zhejiang newly issued by Zhejiang Province in 2018, essentially marks the extension of the “Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times.” The evolution of the “Zhejiang spirit” during the four decades of the reform and opening-up, as a special section, is sure to have a place in history. The “Zhejiang spirit that moves with the times” will continue to spur the development of Zhejiang and China.
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*Liao Fangling, doctoral candidate, School of Marxism, Zhejiang University, lecture, the Theoretical Research Base of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology.
Wan Bin, professor and doctoral supervisor, School of Marxism, Zhejiang University.
*Foundation Item: This paper is a milestone achievement of the Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project of Zhejiang Province(13JDZT02YB).
(Translator: Lu Dunji; Editor: Xu Huilan)
标签：School of Marxism论文; Zhejiang University论文; the Theoretical Research Base of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics论文; Zhejiang University of Science and Technology论文;