Patriotic Education in China

This article examines the enactment and implications of China’s 2024 Patriotic Education Law (PEL), situating it within the broader political, ideological, and legal transformations under Xi Jinping. It traces the evolution of patriotic education from the post-Mao reform era to the present, highlighting key shifts in content, scope, and institutionalization. Under Xi, patriotism has become increasingly conflated with loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Han-centric cultural nationalism, and ideological conformity, culminating in the legal codification of patriotic education as a comprehensive and compulsory societal obligation. The article argues that the PEL exemplifies the CCP’s strategy of legitimizing authoritarian governance through law while tightening ideological control over youth, religious institutions, families, and the Chinese diaspora. It analyzes the legal provisions of the PEL, its discursive underpinnings, and its broader ideological context. The article also considers how patriotic education is experienced and mediated through education, culture, and media, and explores the tension between top-down ideological control and grassroots nationalist expression. Finally, it reflects on the global trend toward state-led patriotic education and comparatively explores China’s approach with developments in Russia and the United States. The article concludes that China’s patriotic education efforts, legally sanctioned and expansively applied, serve not only to bolster regime legitimacy but also to shape national identity in ways that risk marginalizing diversity and suppressing critical discourse, with broader implications for international engagement and the global contest over values and historical narratives.