The Hero's Medal is currently the highest military decoration

Military decoration

A military decoration is a decoration given to military personnel or units for heroism in battle or distinguished service. They are designed to be worn on military uniform....

 awarded by the Government of the People's Republic of China

Government of the People's Republic of China

All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...

.

History

The Hero's Medal, along with the Meritorious Service Medal

Meritorious Service Medal (China)

The Chinese Meritorious Service Medal is currently the second highest military decoration awarded by the Government of the People's Republic of China.-History:...

, was first created in April 1951 by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army

People's Volunteer Army

The Chinese People's Volunteer Army was the armed forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army belonged to the People's Liberation Army , the People's Volunteer Army was separately constituted in order to...

 political director Du Ping in an effort to promote the unity of the Chinese armed forces during the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. The medal was conceived so that the common soldiers would follow the examples set by few selected role models. When the medal was first created, it was composed of three categories — second, first and special class. The special class was later eliminated when the Chinese People's Liberation Army

People's Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...

's (PLA) medal system formalized in 1988.

Criteria and selection process

According to the initial award criteria published in 1951, the medal was awarded to anyone "who have owned two medals of third or second class or one of the first grade [Meritorious Service] award, who are most outstanding at an army or army corps level, and whose remarkable contribution are also recognized by friendly units."

A candidate for the medal would normally be nominated by the deputy political officer

Political commissar

The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...

 of a company, while all squads within the company were required to meet once a month to list each soldier's accomplishments for the selection process. Once nominated, the PLA General Political Department or the candidate's military region

PLA Military Region

The People's Liberation Army uses a system of military regions, of which there used to be eleven, but are now seven:* Shenyang Military Region* Beijing Military Region* Lanzhou Military Region* Jinan Military Region* Nanjing Military Region...

 political department would be responsible for approving the nomination.

Reward and regulation

Once the nomination is approved, the recipient would be treated with a grand prize-giving ceremony that is intended to educate the entire PLA or the recipient's military region. Besides the medal, the recipient also receives a ribbon bar

Ribbon bar

Ribbon bars are small decorations that are worn by military, police, and fire service personnel or by civilians. Ribbon bars are mainly used when wearing either full decoration, or when wearing medals is considered inappropriate or impractical. Each military force has its own rules on what ribbons...

and a certificate from the PLA General Political Department. According to the 1988 regulation, the medal must be worn on the upper left side of the recipient's uniform. The regulation also decreed that the medal itself can only be worn during special meetings and celebrations, while the ribbon bars are allowed in daily functions.