Avoiding the history’s cycle of rise and fall is a historical question for the future, and a “heavenly question” for the destiny of the Communist Party of China. Mao Zedong gave the first answer to this question in a cave-dwelling in Yan’an: that is, democratic oversight of government. Xi Jinping, on the occasion of the Party’s centennial, gave the second answer: self-reform. The former created a new way to avoid the history’s cycle of rise and fall, while the latter made a great milestone contribution to it. The two answers to the question of history are not isolated, but are interrelated, with the latter constantly enriching and developing the former. A historical examination of the historical question shows that Mao Zedong’s proposal of a new road to democracy is not the same as the absence of the idea of self-reform; Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao’s full elaborations on the historical question go two ways, and many of these ideas are not only the enrichment and development of the connotation of Mao Zedong’s new road to democracy, but some also fall into the category of self-reform at the same time. Xi Jinping’s second answer has also greatly enriched and developed the first answer. Xi Jinping, while proposing the second answer, also greatly enriched and developed the first answer. By constantly seeking answers to the question of history, the Communist Party of China works to avoid the cycle of rise and fall, thus realizing its ultimate ideal. The two answers to the question of history are a great contribution to the 5,000-year history of the Chinese nation, and a great enhancement of the knowledge of the laws governing Communist Party rule, socialist development and human social development.

Editor: Zhong Yao、Zheng Yifan

From:Marxism & Reality.2022.No.3.