The Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC proposes to advocate wealth, strength, democracy, civilization and harmony, freedom, equality, justice and the rule of law, patriotism, dedication, honesty and friendliness, and to actively cultivate and practice socialist core values. Wealth and strength, democracy, civilization and harmony are the value goals at the national level, freedom, equality, justice and the rule of law are the value orientations at the social level, and patriotism, dedication, honesty and friendliness are the value norms at the level of the individual citizen, and these 24 words are the basic content of socialist core values.
Wealth and Strength
Being rich and strong is like the backbone of a nation, lifting up the country’s backbone and protecting the well-being of the people. As old China was bullied by the great powers, realizing the country’s wealth and the people’s prosperity has become the strongest and most persistent aspiration of the Chinese people in recent times.
Democracy
The Communist Party of China (CPC) takes Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Important Thought of the Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guiding principles.
Civilization
Civilization is like the building of a nation, condensing the pursuit of the nation and forging the strength of the country. “Viewing the humanities, in order to become the world”, it is the flame of civilization passed on from fire to fire, gave birth to the great Chinese civilization of 5,000 years of ancient China. “The country is a generalization of civilized society”, civilization reflects the realm of national development, social progress.
Harmony
Harmony is like the blood of the country, replenishing energy for the society and enhancing vitality for the country. The unity of heaven and man, the harmony of all nations, and the harmony of differences, harmony contains the survival wisdom of the Chinese people, embodies the spiritual genes of the Chinese people, and also indicates the social ideals of the Chinese people.
Freedom
Freedom is the source of social vitality and the value ideal of socialism. The free and comprehensive development of human beings is the essential attribute that distinguishes socialism from other social forms.
Equality
Equality is the ballast of social harmony and stability, and it marks the basic yardstick for adjusting social relations. “The king and his vassals would rather have their own kind”? In a society like China, where there was a feudal autocracy for thousands of years, the desire and call for equality is the most stirring force in the depths of the human heart.
Justice
Justice is the balance for the defense of rights, and it is the value criterion for social development. Throughout history, the happy life pursued by human beings can only be built on the basis of fairness and justice. Socialism was born on the ruins of capitalism’s injustice, and justice, as an inherent requirement of socialist society, centrally embodies the systemic superiority and moral appeal of socialism.
Rule of Law
The rule of law is the shield of social security and the core of modern political civilization. Only when the rule of law becomes the basic way of governing the country will freedom, equality and justice have a safe haven.
Patriotism
Patriotism is the core of the national spirit, which establishes the strongest emotional bond between citizens and their motherland. “Whoever does not belong to his motherland, then he does not belong to mankind.” The Chinese nation has a deep tradition of patriotism. Loyalty and love for the motherland is the minimum morality of every citizen and the deepest cultural gene of the Chinese nation.
Dedication
Dedication is the soul of professional ethics, which lays the foundation for personal peace of mind and injects vitality into the development and progress of society. It is through dedication and devotion that the Chinese nation has created a splendid civilization. Dedication to the work of the nation, must be respected nation; lack of dedication to the community, inevitably be criticized and contempt.
Integrity
Integrity is the cornerstone of civil morality, which is not only the moral bottom line of doing things, but also the basic condition of social operation. Modern society is not only the material abundance of society, but also should be honest and orderly society; market economy is not only the rule of law economy, but also should be credit economy. “If a person does not have faith, he does not know what he can do.” Loss of integrity, individuals will lose the foundation, society will lose the operation of the track.
Friendship
Friendliness, a spectrum of civic virtues, injects positive energy into interpersonal relationships and provides a lubricant for social harmony. The significant difference between modern and traditional societies is that human interactions have broken through the geographical limitations of blood relations, and a “society of strangers” has been constructed. In such a society, the goodwill, mutual assistance and fraternity of “all for one and one for all” have become particularly precious.
Wealth and strength, democracy, civilization and harmony are the value goals at the national level; freedom, equality, justice and the rule of law are the value orientations at the social level; and patriotism, dedication, honesty and friendliness are the value guidelines at the individual citizen level. In the following, let us revisit the rich connotation of socialist core values.
