The Socialist Concept Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces

Love the country, do it no harm; serve the people, do no disservice; follow science, discard ignorance; be diligent, not indolent; be united, help each other, make no gains at other's expense;be honest and trustworthy, do not spend ethics for profits; be disciplined and law-abiding, not chaotic and lawless; live plainly, struggle hard, do not wallow in luxury, extravagance and pleasures. These virtues are also referred to as “Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces”. It was put forward by Hu Jintao on March 4, 2006 when he participated in the discussion of the China Democratic League and Democratic Progressive Committee of the 4th Session of the 10th CPPCC National Committee.

In 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress established it as one of the basic contents of the Socialist core value system. The concept of honor and disgrace is characterized by the evaluation of “honor” and “disgrace”, and represents the value confirmation of social objective or self-subjective evaluation standards for people's thoughts and behaviors. “Honor by righteousness, disgrace by wickedness”, those meeting certain ethical standards are regarded as “honor”, and those violating certain ethical standards are regarded as “disgrace” and “shame”. A certain social outlook on honor and disgrace, the content is historically specific. The socialist concept of honor and disgrace is a universal and common moral value that all Chinese citizens should establish. It is based and fundamentally based on the people's ideological and moral development level and common ideals, and has rich connotations and distinctive characteristics of the times. “Love the country, do it no harm” is an essential summary of the traditional virtues and national spirit of patriotism. “Serve the people, do no disservice” is an incisive summary of the core of socialist morality-serving the people. “Follow science, discard ignorance” is the basic requirement for dealing with scientific issues adapting to the requirements of the times. “Be diligent, not indolent” reveals the fundamental requirements of the socialist outlook on labor. “Be united, help each other, make no gains at other's expense” is a revelation of the collectivism thoughts that people in socialist society should possess. “Be honest and trustworthy, do not spend ethics for profits” is the generalization and development of the main content and basic principles of socialist honesty and morality.“Be disciplined and law-abiding, not chaotic and lawless” is a requirement for citizens' legal system concept and law-abiding consciousness in socialist society. “Live plainly, struggle hard, do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures” summarizes the traditional virtues of hard struggle of the Chinese nation.

The socialist concept of honor and disgrace is a concentrated expression of the socialist morality, with educational, adjustment, guidance, and evaluation functions. It plays important social roles such as promoting the improvement of individual personality, enhancing national cohesion, and fostering healthy social conduct. It has strong nationality, contemporaneity and practicality, which embodies the organic combination of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and the spirit of the times and reflects the essential requirements of the basic socialist ethics and social conduct, and is of great significance to promoting the formation of a good social atmosphere and building a harmonious socialist society.