Strong strategic reserves of PLA 'soft power'

Military culture is indispensable at any time. Culture is to the military as what wheels are to a vehicle and wings are to a bird.

With the rapid modernization of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Chinese military culture is bound to be increasingly prosperous. A strong army should be accompanied with mighty war drums and heroic songs.

With the development of the times, science and technology, people's ideas have changed. The military culture will inevitably adapt to the new change. New cultural equipment provides strong hardware support for the entertainment and life of grassroots officers and men. Like all advanced weapons, these cultural "light arms" provide a platform for officers and men to become a useful person beyond eight working hours and strong support for the reserves of the troops' "soft power".

What is the troops' "soft power"? It is the brilliant mind, high morale and good health of the officers and men. In his book entitled European Military, Friedrich Engels also mentioned, "Guns will not fire by themselves, and they need to be used by those with a brave heart and strong hands."

To enhance combat effectiveness through the power of culture is a strategic choice of all the armed forces in the world. Available data show that the United States clearly put forward the concept of "culture-centric warfare" in recent local wars, thinking "real military transformation should be interpreted more as cultivation of innovative culture and spirit than as development of hardware".

The Chinese PLA is certainly no exception. The status and importance of the military culture construction have been significantly strengthened in the strategic planning and combat training of the PLA in the past ten years.

By means of such military culture communication platforms as library, gymnasium and club, and a large number of excellent and highly-artistic cultural works with distinctive characteristics of the times, the PLA has fully exploited the cohesion and inspiration of advanced military culture and made positive contributions to gathering troops' will, boosting troops' morale, cultivating troops' bearing and tempering troops' spirit.