Be Professionally Dedicated and Sociable

This notion first appeared in The Book of Rites (Li Ji). Originally, it stressed that students should immerse themselves in learning and develop fraternity with fellow students. Later, usage expanded to a more general sense to mean that a person should work diligently while developing friendly relations with others.

The Chinese have a long tradition of valuing professional ethics through emphasis on the strength of unity and stressing the importance of pooling the wisdom and efforts of everyone at work. Dedication to work and team spirit are considered  the core of professional ethics. Only wholehearted devotion to work will empower a person to constantly improve their professional skills and better realize self-fulfillment. At the same time, being sociable at work requires a person to actively fit in the group and strive to achieve common goals in coordination with others rather than staying isolated or toiling alone. In contemporary China, being professionally dedicated reflects core socialist values while being sociable at work facilitates social unity and harmony.

敬業樂群

敬業樂群出自《禮記·學記》，原意強調求學者要專心于學業、和同學相處融洽；后泛指一個人要認真干好自己的本職工作，同時與他人友好相處，努力融入群體之中。

中國人自古以來就注重職業道德，倡導“眾志成城”“群策群力”，“敬業”“樂群”被視為職業道德的核心內容。“敬”是一種專心致志、心無旁騖的心理狀態，以這種狀態投入工作，才能不斷提升職業技能，更好地實現自我價值。“樂群”意味著一個人應當積極融入集體生活，在與他人的相互協作中實現共同目標，而不是離群索居、自我封閉或單打獨斗。在當代中國，“敬業”是社會主義核心價值觀在個人層面的一個具體要求，“樂群”的精神有利于社會的團結與和諧。