Putting into Practice “Core Confucian Values.” Intertextuality and Ideology in Xi Jinping’s May 4th 2014 Speech

The current Chinese leadership, emerged from the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012 and represented by President and General Party Secretary Xi Jinping, immediately consolidated its rule through energetic anti-corruption campaigns, concentration of power, and a populist propaganda project supported by massive media coverage. This presentation will provide an insight into Xi's far-reaching ideological mission, using the speech 'Qingnian yao zijue jianxing shehuizhuyi hexin jiazhiguan' (The youth must consciously put into practice socialist core values), delivered by Xi at Peking University on May 4th, 2014, as a case study. Xi Jinping's style of political communication shows a systematic use of intertextual quotations from the Chinese classics - mainly from the Confucian canon, but also from Legalist texts and classical poetry - serving a number of discursive functions (Dong/Cheng 2014; Ma/Li 2014; Zhao 2014). The first observation that can be made is that such references use pride in a revered cultural tradition to rally the nation and to promote Xi's image as a Confucian man of virtue, underscoring 'the connection between proper language [including the ability to correctly quote the classics], morality, and political legitimacy' (Link 2013: 308-309). Moreover, the use of classical quotations also contributes to toning down the socialist component of CPC ideology in favour of traditional culture, now innovatively presented as the root of the Party's legitimacy. Classical references also help Xi establish an original connection between the Confucian socio-pedagogical model and the spirit of the May Fourth Movement (wusi yundong), emphasising the Confucian ideal of 'harmony' (hexie) and playing down the subversive, iconoclastic, anti-traditional and Westernophile component of said movement. In the final analysis, intertextuality provides a useful tool to stress the uninterrupted connection between traditional culture and contemporary society: classical quotations conveniently support Xi's 'core values' discourse, a major ideological mainstay of his official rhetoric, because they are presented as the expression of 'core values' (hexin jiazhi) that were elaborated in the traditional past but are still valid today. The source, significance, and ideological content of the intertextual devices at play in Xi Jinping's May 4th speech will be identified and commented upon, by resorting to a selection of representative textual examples. Special emphasis will be put on the role of intertextuality and classical quotations in the building of an 'S-ideology', namely a form of ideology aiming to create a sense of solidarity between those who rule and those who are ruled (Hodge and Louie 1998: 51), and in the establishment of a discursive and ideological perspective.