I remember this place very well -- I came to the village on my bike back then. Today I came to listen to everyone, meet villagers, remain in contact with the ground, and recharge my batteries.

-- Speech by Xi Jinping when visiting officials and villagers in Tayuan-zhuang Village, Zhengding County, Hebei Province, July 11, 2013

"Remaining in Contact with the Ground" and "Recharging One's Batteries"

-- Leading officials must go all the way down to the grassroots and learn from the people

"Remaining in contact with the ground" (jie di qi, literally "connecting with the ground's energy) is a colloquial phrase. In a traditional Chinese sense, the Earth has underground energy that moves upward, and you can plug yourself into the Earth's energy, flow with nature, and replenish your health. In modern times, remaining in contact with the ground refers to meeting people at the grassroots level. "Recharging batteries" is a technical term that refers to the process of replenishing the power stored in rechargeable batteries. When the energy in rechargeable batteries is used up, the batteries can be recharged and generate power again, forming a charge-discharge cycle. The modern connotation is that organizations and individuals can replenish their energy and knowledge, allowing them to continually improve themselves.

The phrase "connecting with the ground's energy" has been widely used in recent years, and was even included in Yaowen Jiaozi (Verbalism) magazine's "Top 10 Popular Phrases of 2012." Xi Jinping used this popular phrase for self-encouragement and to encourage all officials. It means that all levels of Party and government leaders must go all the way down to the grassroots where the people are, and learn from them and listen to their opinions. In this regard, "remaining in contact with the ground and recharging your batteries" is actually the basic requirement of the Party's program of the mass line education and practice.

His extensive experiences working at the grassroots level gave Xi Jinping a natural affinity with the grassroots masses and a strong identification with "remaining in contact with the ground and recharging your batteries." From 1969-1975 Xi worked as a sent-down youth with the Liangjiahe production team in the Wen'anyi Commune in Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province. He worked in Zhengding County, Hebei Province from 1982-1985. Therefore, even though he was born into the family of a high official, Xi Jinping gained extensive experience working at the grassroots level, which gave him intimate knowledge of the grassroots situation and intimate familiarity with ordinary people, which is why he naturally and aptly said he wanted to "remain in contact with the ground, and recharge my batteries."

Intimate connection with the masses is one of the three weapons that has made the CPC a peerless force. During the revolutionary war years, the CPC merged with the masses, which became the source of the Party's power. The Party was only victorious in the revolution due to the sincere embrace and powerful support of the people. Whether it was in the Jinggang Mountains era, Yan'an era, or Xibaipo era, the Party was with the people, and "remaining in contact with the ground" became an outstanding tradition of the CPC.

After the CPC led the people to power, they still devoted themselves to maintaining close ties to the people. But due to their long-time governance in times of peace, some leading officials started getting cozy hearing reports in their meeting rooms and reading reports in their offices, and spent less time at the grassroots learning about the situation, listening to the people's opinions, and connecting with the people. They grew distant from the people, and tensions started to develop between the people and the Party and officials. In many cases, there was no effective communication, and small issues turned into big issues. A lot of the problems that have bubbled to the surface now are actually directly related to a lack of communication between the people and officials of leading organs who fail to put their ears to the ground.

The people are the creators of history, and in their own everyday experiences they have accumulated valuable experience. The people have the final say in whether the Party and government are following the right path and employing the right policies, and in whether policies are being implemented correctly. Therefore, officials at all levels must "put their ears to the ground," get a handle on the grassroots situation, and listen to the voices of the people. At the same time, the origins of practice and innovation lie at the grassroots level, and we can "recharge our batteries" by directly learning from the masses. We can only truly solve the real problems faced by the people by combining these two strategies and thus be accepted by the people. Only in this way can we resolve conflicts and issues and drive the harmonious development of society.

(An excerpt from XI JINPING: WIT AND VISION SELECTED QUOTATIONS AND COMMENTARY, published by FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS in 2015)