The rule of law and the rule of virtue complement each other. On the one hand, strengthening the rule of law can give authority to social moral norms and promote the legalization of social morality; On the other hand, strengthening the rule of virtue can effectively improve people's ideological and political quality and spiritual realm, thus fundamentally preventing and reducing the breeding of violations of law and discipline. The rule of law without the support of rule of virtue has no foundation. It is necessary to strengthen the rule of virtue in contemporary China. First of all, the modernization process of our society puts the rule of virtue in a more prominent position. First of all, the change of social structure highlights the importance of rule by virtue. In different periods of human society, the contents and control methods of public social norms are different. The complexity of social structure directly determines the control mode of public social behavior norms. In a society with simple structure, the space for people to engage in production activities and other social activities is extremely limited, such as economic organizations, family organizations and political organizations. Often combined into one. Close social relations, huge interests and the interdependence of human existence force people to consciously abide by various rules within social organizations. At this time, the norms of public social behavior are embodied in habits, clan rules and religion. In this simple small-scale society, the importance of moral self-discipline of social members has not been fully highlighted. With the expansion of production scale, the increase of population, the change of production mode and the diversification of social life, the complexity of social organization structure is constantly improving; The control means of maintaining public social behavior norms have also changed. The more complex the social structure, the wider the space for social activities, the fewer the direct objects affected by individual behavior, and the less obvious the direct interest impact of behavior consequences; On the contrary, in the social background of vast territory, complex organizational structure, large population and great mobility, the hidden conditions of individuals (such as scattered residence, declining fixed communication rate and increasingly common network communication) are increasing. At this time, the importance of moral self-discipline of social members in maintaining the norms of public social behavior is increasingly prominent. Second, the modernization of science and technology calls for strengthening the rule of virtue. For example, the development of biological "cloning" technology, the development of network technology, corporate ethics and the problems of earth ecology all put science and technology ethics in a more important position. The development of high technology needs more perfect rule of virtue. In addition, the modernization of human beings and the high degree of political democratization also put forward higher requirements for the rule of virtue: the modernization of human beings is first of all the modernization of ideas, and the primary prerequisite for bringing up modern people is to cultivate modern subject consciousness. Modern subject consciousness is extensive and profound, involving political, economic and cultural fields; Establishing lofty moral ideals and beliefs, shaping ideal personality and cultivating noble moral quality are the core of modern subject consciousness. The high development of democratic politics needs to be based on a large number of modern people with noble morality, because only such modern people can have modern democratic consciousness. Secondly, the social reality in the period of economic transformation in contemporary China calls for strengthening the rule of virtue. The development of socialist market economy and the expansion of opening to the outside world have greatly promoted the liberation and development of China's productive forces, and enhanced people's awareness of reform, democracy and legal system, and pioneering and innovative spirit. But at the same time, the control mode of ideology presents a more complicated situation. For example, the political opinions, values and lifestyles of the western bourgeoisie will further penetrate into me; Once the law of commodity exchange erodes social and political life and people's spiritual field, it will inevitably lead to forgetting profits and trading power and money, which will lead to the weakening of national consciousness, collective consciousness, mutual assistance spirit and dedication spirit; The complicated social contradictions, interest adjustment and some unexpected emergencies in the economic transition period will inevitably cause people's thoughts to fluctuate. Especially with the deepening of reform and opening up and the establishment of the socialist market economic system, values tend to be diversified. In the face of the new situation, how to consolidate the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field, establish a healthy and uplifting mental outlook among members of society, provide powerful spiritual motivation and ideological guarantee for realizing the grand goal of development in the new century, and strengthen the rule of virtue while governing the country according to law is an important measure related to the destiny and future of our country. Thirdly, the requirement of social sustainable development puts the rule of virtue in a more important position. An important part of the strategy of social sustainable development is to realize the coordinated development of social economy, politics and culture. Culture is an important guarantee for the sustainable development of economy and society. In social development, culture has always been the soul and blood of the nation, and it is the spiritual bond that unites the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country; In modern society, culture is an important symbol and an important part of comprehensive national strength. The comprehensive national strength of modern society is a combination of various material and spiritual factors, including natural resources, economy, politics, science and technology, education, diplomacy, national quality, national willpower, cohesion and so on. Culture is the representative of spiritual strength, which shows its comprehensive national strength in the form of spiritual wealth, as well as its influence and radiation on other countries. Nowadays, the increasingly fierce competition of comprehensive national strength is increasingly manifested in the competition of knowledge and culture. As the core of culture, moral belief and moral ideal are particularly important in comprehensive national strength. In addition, cultural contradictions and cultural conflicts are important factors of social instability, and advanced culture plays an irreplaceable role in regulating social contradictions, integrating national forces, coordinating social operation and promoting all-round social progress. A social and economic development, without the formation of the corresponding cultural environment and the perfection of people's spiritual world, is bound to be imperfect.

Scholars who advocate the operation mechanism of market economy have long seen that noble personality will not be produced under this mechanism, and they even shouted the slogan of "immoral economics". In a market economy society, keeping promises should be the basic code of conduct. But the trustworthiness here is based on self-interest. When keeping promises will harm their own interests, market subjects prefer to make the choice of default. There is a natural gap between this self-interested operating mechanism and the spirit of mutual assistance in the harmonious development of society, so people pay more and more attention to the restrictive role of the market. Now, the rise of the consumer protection movement provides a sufficient theoretical basis for protecting the rights and interests of the weak in the market, and the appearance of the Consumer Protection Law has found a legal basis for the spirit of mutual assistance in civilized society. However, the implementation of the law still needs moral soil. When the whole society is superstitious about the role of the market, the spirit of mutual assistance cannot be reflected in the judicial decisions of the courts. Vulnerable consumers are at a loss in the face of one seemingly just but completely different judgment after another. We don't lack the concept of the market, nor do we lack the care for the law. We lack moral support. In this context, it is necessary to re-examine the power of morality and take the rule of virtue as the general plan of governing the country. Because this is to correct the operating mechanism of the market economy, but also to provide a useful basis for the implementation of the rule of law. Under the glory of the rule of virtue, the shadow of the rule of law will be eliminated, the limitations of the market will be compensated, and the whole society will develop harmoniously. Whether we admit it or not, the market mechanism and the legal system themselves are based on "inherent bad habits". The market operation mechanism is to use people's primitive instinct to pursue wealth to promote the allocation of resources. In front of a person who is indifferent to wealth, the market economy cannot be started; But in front of people who are full of possessive desire for wealth, the market will move on its own. But because everyone in the market is self-interested, it is necessary to establish basic operating rules, and the law will be generated internally in the transaction. When the country conforms to the market demand and legalizes the market rules, the market operation mechanism can continue to develop; When the country can't conform to the requirements of the economy, legalize the operating rules of the market in time, or force the promulgation of rules that distort the operating mechanism of the market, the market will be chaotic. It can be said that a basic assumption of the market is that it contains legal rules. But when the market develops to a certain extent, the market operation mechanism will also face decline. For example, if resources are concentrated in the hands of a few people, the competition mechanism will not play a role. At this point, people either wait for new market entrants, or sit back and watch monopolists enjoy high profits. More importantly, in the process of waiting, the interests of consumers and social vulnerable groups will be damaged, and the law should play a role again here. It's like a hoop that keeps rolling. If there is no promoter, it will inevitably stop turning and fall naturally. However, where laws are needed, we often can't see the good image of the system, and laws are always born in endless debates and compromises of various interests. In the face of these lagging laws, the biggest losers are often the disadvantaged groups. We can draw a conclusion that in the social and economic changes, it is often the weakest people who bear the most turbulent costs, and the rules to protect the weak are always late in the contest of various interests. Since we can't rely on the market itself to provide us with the motive force for the development of social civilization, and we can't guarantee that the law will naturally protect the interests of the socially disadvantaged groups, what else can we rely on to achieve social justice? Morality, only morality! Morality can make market subjects have scruples, and it can also make law makers and applicators have basic norms. Therefore, advocating the rule of virtue is actually to correct the defects of the market and make up for the shortcomings of the law. The significance of morality in the times is not to maintain the dignity of the market, but to criticize the market operation mechanism rationally. Looking back at the original words of Marxist classic writers, we should understand the meaning more deeply. In the era of change, people's values change rapidly, and in the whirlpool of market economy, people will involuntarily accept the concept of market. If we lack critical consciousness and think that the market is omnipotent, and even let the market concept dominate all fields of society, then the result will be that all things that cannot be traded will become the objects of trading, and all acts that cannot be ruled by law will be ruled by law. People will succumb to the trap of their own rules more and more. At that time, Adam Smith, the originator of economics, once pulled himself out of the "invisible hand" obsessed with the market to explore his own business-ethical issues, and modern economists began to pay attention to the real people in economics. And should economists and jurists in China wake up from the addiction of the system and pay attention to the role of social morality? It is true that the concept of morality is diversified and the rules of morality are not mandatory, but paying attention to morality is actually paying attention to people themselves, which will make the market run more rationally and make the law more operable.