Recently, the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission issued the "Regulations on Commendations for Meritorious Service and Commendation of the Armed Forces" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") and issued a circular urging all localities and departments to conscientiously abide by them.
The "Regulations" innovate and set up measures for the commendation of commanders' meritorious honors, and the system design focuses on the medals and medals commemorative medals for winning battles and concentrating on strengthening the army, uniformly standardizes the treatment of recipients of military meritorious honors and commendations, and enriches the forms of honor and praise incentives.
Medals are rewarding badges, meritorious service medals are tangible signs of military honor and achievements, and awarding medals and medals is an important reward system for the army, which plays an important role in stimulating the self-motivation and sense of honor of officers and men and consolidating and enhancing the combat effectiveness of the troops, and has always been valued by the armed forces of various countries.
During the Red Army period, meritorious medals were awarded
Carrying out meritorious service campaigns is a tradition of our army. As early as the red army period, our army encouraged the soldiers in the front to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions by formulating standards for making meritorious contributions in wartime, which greatly improved the morale of the troops.
In October 1930, the Draft Regulations on Discipline of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army were promulgated, and in May 1932, they were promulgated by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of the Chinese Soviet Republic for trial implementation. Among them, the chapter on rewards stipulates the methods and approval authority of rewards, and establishes the principle of "spiritual encouragement as the mainstay and material rewards as the supplement".
Draft Disciplinary Decrees of the Red Army, 1932
On July 9, 1933, in order to adapt to the regularization of the Red Army and reward the officers and men of the Red Army who had made special merits in the struggle against the enemy, the Central Revolutionary Military Committee of the Chinese Soviet issued an order proposing to award the Red Star Medal on the anniversary of the founding of the army on August 1. Red Star Medals are divided into first, second and third degrees according to the size of their merits.
According to the regulations:
First class to personnel who have made special merits in leading all or one of the progressions of a revolutionary war;
Second class to personnel who have "won a great victory by transferring the tide of battle in a certain battle";
Third class is awarded to personnel who "often show heroism and determination".
The Red Star Medal was awarded only twice during the August 1st Founding Day in 1933 and 1934, but the situation changed due to the Long March of the Red Army, and the Red Star Medal was not awarded again.
Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, etc. were awarded the First Class Red Star Medal;
Chen Yi, Zhang Yunyi, Luo Ruiqing, Xiao Ke, He Changgong, Luo Binghui and 34 others were awarded the Second Class Red Star Medal;
Wang Zhen, Yang Dezhi, Cheng Zihua, Yang Yong, Su Zhenhua, Li Tianyou and 53 others were awarded the Third Class Red Star Medal.
Zhou Enlai was awarded the Red Star Medal, First Class, No. 9
Yang Dezhi was awarded the Third Class Red Star Medal
In addition to the army-wide Red Star Medal, various units of the Red Army have also awarded some medals to reward Red Army commanders and fighters who have made meritorious contributions in combat. For example, the "Special Meritorious Medal" of the Red Second Front, the "Soldier Medal" of the 30th Army of the Red Fourth Front, the Medal of the Third Column of the Red Fourth Army, the "Heroic Model Medal" of the 17th Division of the Red Army, the Medal of the First Division of the Jiangxi Military Region, and the "Medal of Excellence" of the Fourth Graduation of the First Branch of the Pengyang Military Academy.
Headquarters of the Seventeenth Division of the Red Army "Medal of Model of Heroism"
During the period of the agrarian revolutionary war, due to the war environment, there were no uniform regulations on the awarding and production of medals by our army. Medals are generally awarded to units above the division level, but at least there are also regimental-level units. The material of the medal is also different, during the Red Army period, although the conditions were difficult, but still attached importance to the quality of the medal, such as the first, second, third class "Red Star Medal" are gold, silver, bronze, the Red Second Front Army "Special Victory Medal", Northeast Jiangxi Province Revolutionary Military Committee "Effort Medal" and so on are silver.
Medal of the Third Column of the Fourth Army of the Red Army (Silver)
Medals of our army in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the units in the anti-Japanese base areas carried out the activity of selecting heroes and models with combat, production, and mass work as the main content.
The Disciplinary Regulations (Draft), issued in May 1939 in the name of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, did not specifically distinguish between wartime and peacetime.
In the "Instruction on rewards for the Eighth Route Army" issued by the Central Military Commission and the General Political Department on April 9, 1940, the standards for rewards were basically formulated around operations.
Medals awarded by various units include the "Iron Army Avant-Garde Medal" of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, the "May 1st Medal" of the Jizhong Military Region, the "Red Flag Medal" of the Ji-Jin-Jin Military Region, the "Mao Zedong Banner Medal" of the Eleventh Division of the New Fourth Army, the "Combat Hero Medal" of the Fourth Column of the Jin-Ji Luyu Column of the Eighth Route Army, the "Nanniwan Labor Hero Medal" of the 359th Brigade, the "Model Production Worker Medal" of the Cavalry Brigade of the Central Military Commission, and so on.
"May Day Medal" of The Central Military Region of Hebei
The Eighth Route Army Anti-Japanese War Wounded "Anti-Japanese Hero" medal of honor
359th Brigade "Nanniwan Labor Hero" Medal
During the period of the War of Liberation, the People's Liberation Army won one brilliant victory after another, and in order to cooperate with this favorable situation, our army extensively launched a meritorious service campaign and thousands of heroic models emerged. In order to ensure the healthy development of the meritorious service movement, all military regions and field armies have successively formulated regulations on meritorious service, stipulating the criteria for appraisal of meritorious service, the level of meritorious service, and the steps for appraisal of meritorious service, the reward of meritorious service, the appraisal of meritorious service, the reward of meritorious service, and the method of conferring the title of heroic model.
The launching of the meritorious service movement has greatly aroused the enthusiasm of officers and men in heroically killing the enemy, and the whole army has sprung up heroic collectives such as the "Linfen Brigade," the "Tashan Hero Regiment," the "Jinan First Regiment," the "Iron and Steel Battalion," and the "Dalian Island Company," as well as thousands of combat heroes and models such as Dong Cunrui, Zhi Shunyi, Liu Meicun, Wang Keqin, and Wei Laiguo.
As a result of the improvement of economic conditions during this period, in order to commend and reward heroic models, various units of our army issued more medals than during the War of Resistance Against Japan. For example, the "Great Meritorious Service Medal" and "Special Meritorious Service Medal" of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, the "Red Star Hero Medal" of the Chahar Military Region, the "Hero Medal", "Model Medal", "Bravery Medal" of the Northeast Democratic United Army (later the Northeast People's Liberation Army), the "Mao Zedong Medal" and the "Zhu De Medal", the "People's Hero Medal" of the East China Field Army, the "First Class Meritorious Service Medal" of the East China People's Liberation Army, the "People's Meritorious Service Medal" of the Jiluyu Military Region, the "Hero Medal for Killing the Enemy" of the Taihang Military Region, the "Combat Hero Medal" of the Third Army, the "Model Party Member Medal" of the Fourteenth Army, and the Sixteenth Army "Hero Medal for Crossing the River", "Medal for Meritorious Service to the Liberation of the Southwest People" and so on.
Medal of "People's Meritorious Service" of the Jiluyu Military Region
The "Great Meritorious Service" Medal of the Second Corps of the North China Military Region
Medal of the Sixteenth Army "Hero of the Battle of Crossing the River"
Carrying out meritorious service in the line of fire in combat, implementing rewards in a timely manner, and organizing mass competition activities such as making meritorious contributions and creating models are important contents of our army's wartime reward work.
During the Liberation War, in 1947, the General Political Department of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army put forward the "Interim Regulations on the Meritorious Movement of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army", and the military medals were divided into two types: wartime and peacetime.
In December 1948, during the Battle of Huaihai, the Political Department of the Central Plains Field Army issued the "Record of Fire Line Meritorious Service in the Encirclement and Annihilation of the Huang Wei Corps", which promptly summarized and popularized the methods and experiences of fire line meritorious service. All these are of guiding significance for the troops to make meritorious contributions to the firing line in a timely and correct manner and play a key role.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, most of the medals of our army were made of silver and bronze. In the later period of the Liberation War, with the continuous expansion of the Liberated Areas, the material conditions of our army were greatly improved, and the material and shape of the medals were also more exquisite than before. In particular, the type and quality of the Northeast People's Liberation Army medals that liberated many large and medium-sized industrial cities are in the leading position in the whole army.
Northeast Democratic Coalition Army "Mao Zedong Medal"
East China Field Army First Class "People's Hero" Medal
The criteria for meritorious service of the Volunteer Army in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
Chinese Volunteer Army did not have a unified standard for meritorious service in the early days of the Korean War (the period of the first to third campaigns). Since the units participating in the battle come from all major field armies, the grades and names of meritorious service stipulated by each unit are not the same, including "small merit," "great merit," "special merit," "double small merit," and "double major merit." The naming of heroic titles is not uniform, such as "combat hero," "hero of defending the country," and "hero of expeditions."; the units approved and issued are not uniform, and the corps can be awarded, and all armies and divisions can be awarded.
A certain unit of the Volunteer Army in the early stage of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea issued a first-class, second-class, and third-class combat hero medal
In order to better adapt to the war environment of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and further promote the extensive "Meritorious Service Campaign," the Political Department of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, after the end of the Third Campaign, quickly formulated the "Regulations on meritorious service and reward work of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Draft)" drafted by the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission in China, and quickly formulated the "Regulations on Meritorious Service and Reward Work of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (Draft)" and promulgated and implemented them.
The regulations, which consist of 7 chapters and 33 articles, unify the meritorious service standards and evaluation methods of each unit of the volunteer army, and stipulate that the military merits of the volunteer army are divided into 2 types and 4 grades, 2 kinds of collective and individual, and 4 grades are "special merit", "first class merit", "second class merit" and "third class merit". Heroic models are divided into 2 types of 3rd class (level), 2 kinds of collective and individual, and 3rd class are "special level", "first level" and "second level".
Among them, the title of "hero" is awarded to those who have outstanding merits in combat; "model" is awarded to advanced in other aspects, such as work, production, discipline, etc. The title of Hero and the Title of Exemplary enjoy the same merit and honor.
Decision of the Political Department of the Chinese Volunteer Army on the Issuance of Certificates of Meritorious Service
Certificate of Meritorious Service of the Volunteer Army
Volunteer Corps Collective Meritorious Service Certificate
Due to the particularity of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the "Regulations on Meritorious Service" of the Volunteer Army stipulated in detail the criteria for awarding meritorious service and heroic exemplary titles in wartime and peacetime.
For example, the third class merit of Rong li is the person who destroys 1 enemy tank with anti-tank weapons, the destroyer pilot destroys or seriously injures 1 enemy destroyer or 2 bombers; the second class merit requires that 2 enemy tanks be destroyed with anti-tank weapons in a single battle, the destroyer pilot destroys 2 enemy destroyers or 3 bombers, those who seize the enemy's flag in battle or save the flag of their own troops from being plundered by the enemy, the navy personnel who can overcome difficulties and eliminate faults in wartime, ensure accurate and smooth navigation, and make significant contributions to combat victory, and so on. These are all stipulated in detail in the standards and regulations for meritorious service.
During the entire War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, more than 300,000 meritorious heroes emerged in the entire volunteer army, more than 410 people won the title of hero and model, and 231 were special meritorious heroes.
According to the "Regulations on Meritorious Service" of the Volunteer Army, the commendations and awards for meritorious service, heroes, and exemplary titles are mainly based on political honors, and material rewards are attached, and their specifications are:
Third class merit: to commend the meeting, and to make a statement, award certificates, and send good news to military dependents;
Second-class merit and first-class merit: reward the meeting, take photos under the military flag, and present the report;
Special meritorious service was rewarded by general orders, and he took pictures in front of the military flag, sent good news and compiled biographies, and broadcast them throughout the country.
Those who have been awarded personal merit, first class and second class merit shall also be awarded medals at all levels in accordance with the provisions of the Reward Regulations.
Individuals who have been elected heroes and models at all levels shall, in addition to giving awards according to merit, also award heroes and model medals in accordance with the "provisions on conferring honorary titles and awarding heroes and model medals" and "giving glorious titles" and respectively.
The volunteers were rewarded with meritorious service
For various reasons, the uniform medals and commemorative medals of the Volunteer Army were not issued, but only stayed in the regulations, and in practice only recorded the ranks and times of meritorious service and heroic models at all levels in the meritorious certificate.
After the founding of New China, our army unified the production and awarding of medals
After the founding of New China, the medals awarded by the Chinese People's Liberation Army gradually moved toward unification. In the early days of the founding of New China, there were no uniform regulations on the awarding of medals and medals to the whole army, and each unit produced and issued a variety of medals on its own, such as the "Heroic Model Medal" of the Southwest Military Region, the "Model Medal for Implementing Policies" of the Sixteenth Army, the "Ten Thousand Miles Driving Safety Medal" of the Eighteenth Army, the "Hero Medal" of the Southern Sichuan Military Region, and the "Labor Model Medal" issued by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
The Sixteenth Army "Third Work Model" medal
The Eighteenth Army "Ten Thousand Miles Driving Safety Medal"
Certificate of Meritorious Service of the Air Force
Temporary Meritorious Service Certificate of the Naval InstructionAlty
On January 21, 1952, in order to strengthen the leadership of the meritorious service and model creation movement and unify the reward work of the whole army, the People's Revolutionary Military Committee of the Central People's Government promulgated the "Regulations on meritorious service and reward work of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Draft)", which determined that before the Central People's Government issued nationwide medals and medals, the battle merit medals, honorary medals, heroes' commemorative medals, and model commemorative medals would be uniformly formulated and issued, and they would be awarded to those who had made various meritorious achievements and were selected as heroic models.
In 1955, the "August 1st Medal", "Independence and Freedom Medal" and "Liberation Medal" were awarded to the meritorious personnel of the revolutionary war.
On September 2, 1963, the General Political Department promulgated the Regulations on Wartime Meritorious Service of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Draft), which detailed the specific criteria, meritorious service levels, approval authority and forms of celebration of various types of personnel in wartime.
Regulations on Wartime Meritorious Service of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Draft)
After 1964, our army's awards for meritorious service in wartime and peacetime were uniformly implemented in accordance with the provisions of the "Discipline Regulations of the Chinese people's Liberation Army" promulgated by the Central Military Commission on rewards. In view of some special circumstances, the General Political Department has made specific provisions.
Since November 1975, the Central Military Commission has promulgated the "Discipline Regulations of the people's liberation army of the Chinese" successively, which has clear and unified provisions on reward items, standards, approval authority and implementation methods.
On March 23 and October 20, 1979, with the approval of the Central Military Commission, the General Political Department made uniform regulations on the awarding of medals in wartime and peacetime. Chinese People's Liberation Army Medals are divided into two categories: Heroic Model Medals and Meritorious Service Medals, which are uniformly produced by the General Political Department. There are two types of hero model medals: first-level and second-level; meritorious service medals are divided into three types: first-class, second-class and third-class merit. Those who have won the Heroic Model Medal or the Meritorious Service Medal shall be issued with a medal certificate uniformly printed by the General Political Department.
Chinese the People's Liberation Army Heroic Model Medal and Meritorious Service Medal
In addition to the all-army heroic model medals and meritorious service medals, various military regions and branches of the armed forces have also issued many honorary badges with the nature of medals and commemorative medals.
Medal of the Political Department of the Navy for "Building Nansha to Defend Nansha"
Air Force "Flyer Gold Medal of Honor"
New Century Redesign Meritorious Service Medal
At the beginning of the new century, in light of the characteristics of the situation in the new period and the needs of army building, the General Political Department designed and produced the First and Second Class Heroic Model Medals and commemorative medals for national defense service, defending the country, dedicating oneself to national defense, peace missions, and carrying out combat and major tasks in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Discipline Ordinances," and redesigned and produced medals and award certificates for meritorious service of the first, second, and third grades. From August 1, 2011, the whole army officially launched the new type of medals, medals, commemorative medals and award certificates.
Redesigned first, second, and third class merit medals
During the war years, the line of fire appeared on the battlefield. In the period of peace construction, with the expansion of the functions of the army, the line of fire has also expanded to non-war military operations such as earthquake relief and overseas peacekeeping.
In the "Disciplinary Regulations of the people's liberation army of the Chinese" (for trial implementation) promulgated by the Central Military Commission in April 2018, it is stipulated that the wartime meritorious service is as follows:
Article 30: Those who have the courage to overcome difficulties in combat, who are proactive, prompt, and effective in providing combat support, logistical support, equipment support, and other combat support, and who have made greater contributions to the fulfillment of combat tasks, may be credited with third-class merit; those who have made remarkable meritorious contributions and have important contributions may be recorded as second-class meritorious service; and those who have outstanding meritorious achievements and have made major contributions may be recorded as first-class meritorious service.
For meritorious service in special circumstances, it is stipulated as follows:
Article 32: In the course of carrying out urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, or at other critical junctures, those who are brave and composed, are not afraid of sacrifice, have outstanding achievements, and have made greater contributions may be credited with third-class merit; those who have made remarkable meritorious contributions may be recorded as second-class meritorious service; those who have outstanding meritorious achievements and have made major contributions may be recorded as first-class meritorious service.
It can be seen that meritorious service in carrying out urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks was formulated with reference to the standard of meritorious service in wartime.
The fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic that began in early 2020 is equivalent to a war, front-line medical personnel bravely shoulder heavy burdens, dare to fight hard battles, face life and death, charge ahead, are not afraid of fatigue, continuous combat, and highlight the great righteous responsibility of the people and the soldiers with practical actions.
The PLA Army, the Joint Logistics Support Force, huoshenshan hospital, the central theater general hospital and other units have successively held a ceremony to award meritorious service in the line of fire, and many comrades have been credited with second-class and third-class merits to commend their outstanding contributions in the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
The scene of the ceremony of awarding meritorious service in the line of fire of the General Hospital of the Central Theater
In order to commend the outstanding achievements of Chinese astronauts, on November 23, 2021, the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission decided to award Nie Haisheng the "First-Class Aerospace Meritorious Medal", liu Boming the "Second-Class Aerospace Meritorious Medal", Tang Hongbo the honorary title of "Heroic Astronaut" and the "Third-Class Aerospace Meritorious Medal". At present, 12 astronauts have been awarded the Medal of Merit in Spaceflight.
Nie Haisheng (center), Liu Boming (left), and Tang Hongbo were awarded the Medal of Merit in Aerospace
Jing Haipeng (center), Liu Wang (left), and Liu Yang were awarded the Medal of Merit in Aerospace
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhang Wu Text Editor: Song Hui Title Image Source: IC photo Image Editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: CCTV Military