与时俱进
yǔ shí jù jìn to advance together with the timesTo advance together with the times. A phrase that draws on the Confucian virtue of responding appropriately to each moment, which became one of the defining political slogans of early twenty-first century China — and a case study in how classical vocabulary can be charged with new political meaning without abandoning its original resonance.
Classical Roots · 出处 chūchù
与时俱进 is not a quotation from a single classical text. It is a phrase assembled from classical vocabulary — 与 (with), 时 (time, era, the appropriate moment), 俱 (together, in unison), 进 (to advance, to move forward) — that crystallized into a fixed four-character unit sometime in the Republican period and became widely used as a general idiom for keeping pace with changing times.
The classical concept behind it is 时中 (shí zhōng, "timely centrality"), a term from the Analects and the Book of Changes. Confucius, in the Analects, is described by Mencius as 圣之时者也 (shèng zhī shí zhě yě) — "a sage of the moment," meaning he was a sage who responded appropriately to the particular circumstances of his time rather than mechanically applying fixed rules. The Book of Changes, in its commentary tradition, develops 时 as a central virtue: the superior person reads the situation correctly and acts accordingly. 时中 is not relativism — the underlying principles do not change — but it insists that the correct application of principles varies by circumstance.
与时俱进 draws on this tradition. The phrase's rhetorical power before any political application came from the Classical resonance of 时: to invoke 时 is to invoke a long tradition of Confucian thought about the relation between eternal principle and historical change.
Character Breakdown · 字解 zì jiě
与 is a preposition meaning "with" or "together with." It positions the subject in relation to time — advancing alongside it rather than being left behind or racing ahead. The construction is symmetrical: you and time move forward together, in step. This is different from 追赶时代 (zhuīgǎn shídài, "chasing the era") — which implies falling behind — or 超越时代 (chāoyuè shídài, "transcending the era") — which implies detachment from it.
时 carries a double meaning that is important to the phrase. It means time in the general sense (as in 时间, shíjiān, time; and 时代, shídài, era). It also carries the classical sense of "the right moment" — the opportune, the situationally appropriate. This second meaning is what connects 与时俱进 to the 时中 tradition. Advancing with 时 means advancing with both the era and with what the era calls for.
俱 is a classical word meaning "all together" or "simultaneously." It appears in the phrase 俱乐部 (jùlèbù, club — a transliteration of "club" using 俱 for its meaning of collective activity) and in classical set phrases like 面面俱到 (miànmiàn jù dào, "covering all aspects"). Here it reinforces the "together with" sense of 与: the advance is synchronized, not lagging or leading.
进 means to advance, to move forward, to enter. It is the word in 进步 (jìnbù, progress), 前进 (qiánjìn, to march forward), and 进化 (jìnhuà, evolution). Its inclusion completes the phrase's directionality: you are not merely keeping pace with time (an essentially passive achievement) but moving forward together with it. The phrase is aspirational, not merely descriptive.
The Political Charge · 政治 zhèngzhì
In July 2001, Jiang Zemin gave a speech at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. The speech introduced what became known as the "三个代表" (sān gè dàibiǎo, Three Represents) political theory, and it used 与时俱进 as a key organizing concept. The party, Jiang argued, must 与时俱进 — it must advance with the times and update its theory and practice accordingly. The specific update being justified was the admission of private entrepreneurs (capitalists) into party membership, a significant departure from orthodox Marxist class doctrine.
The phrase's rhetorical function was elegant: it invoked classical Confucian authority (时中, responding to the moment) to justify a Marxist heresy, packaging political adaptation as timeless wisdom. Critics inside and outside China noted the circularity — 与时俱进 could justify any change the party wished to make, since the party itself would determine what "the times" required. The party advances with the times; the party defines what advancing means.
Supporters of the Three Represents framework read it more charitably, as a genuine attempt to apply flexible Confucian principle to the PRC's changing social reality. The private sector had already become the dominant engine of economic growth; refusing to represent it was refusing to represent the most productive forces in the actual economy. 与时俱进, on this reading, was not a blank check for arbitrary change but a call for honest engagement with material reality.
The phrase was incorporated into the Party Constitution in 2002 alongside the Three Represents theory. It remains in formal political usage, though it has also returned to its more general civilian meaning in everyday speech.
Usage and Register · 用法 yòngfǎ
与时俱进 operates in two registers simultaneously. In formal and political contexts, it carries the weight of the Three Represents doctrine and signals alignment with the party's self-image as an adaptable, historically responsive institution. In everyday speech and business writing, it has largely shed this specific political weight and functions as a general idiom for "keeping up with the times" — broadly approving, with no particular ideological charge.
The phrase is positive in almost all its everyday uses. Saying that a person or organization 与时俱进 is a compliment: they are responsive, not rigid, not trapped by convention. The contrast is typically with 墨守成规 (mòshǒu chéngguī) — sticking rigidly to established conventions — which carries a clear negative charge.
In business writing 与时俱进 is slightly overused, having become a near-stock phrase in management and strategy documents. In personal contexts it sounds more considered and carries the classical resonance more strongly.
企业要与时俱进，不断更新技术和管理模式，才能在竞争中保持优势。(Qǐyè yào yǔ shí jù jìn, bùduàn gēngxīn jìshù hé guǎnlǐ móshì, cái néng zài jìngzhēng zhōng bǎochí yōushì.) — Businesses must advance with the times, constantly updating their technology and management models, to maintain competitive advantage.
他的思想总是能与时俱进，不墨守成规，这正是他在行业里受人尊重的原因。(Tā de sīxiǎng zǒng shì néng yǔ shí jù jìn, bù mòshǒu chéngguī, zhè zhèng shì tā zài hángyè lǐ shòu rén zūnzhòng de yuányīn.) — His thinking always keeps pace with the times, refusing to stick to convention — this is precisely why he commands respect in his field.
课程改革的目标是与时俱进，培养学生在数字时代所需的批判性思维能力。(Kèchéng gǎigé de mùbiāo shì yǔ shí jù jìn, péiyǎng xuésheng zài shùzì shídài suǒ xū de pīpànxìng sīwéi nénglì.) — The goal of curriculum reform is to advance with the times: to cultivate the critical thinking skills students need in a digital era.