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.
敬业乐群
敬业乐群出自《礼记·学记》,原意强调求学者要专心于学业、和同学相处融洽;后泛指一个人要认真干好自己的本职工作,同时与他人友好相处,努力融入群体之中。
中国人自古以来就注重职业道德,倡导“众志成城”“群策群力”,“敬业”“乐群”被视为职业道德的核心内容。“敬”是一种专心致志、心无旁骛的心理状态,以这种状态投入工作,才能不断提升职业技能,更好地实现自我价值。“乐群”意味着一个人应当积极融入集体生活,在与他人的相互协作中实现共同目标,而不是离群索居、自我封闭或单打独斗。在当代中国,“敬业”是社会主义核心价值观在个人层面的一个具体要求,“乐群”的精神有利于社会的团结与和谐。