Abstract: From the view of China traditional philosophy, the issue of the core values is that of the ontology of philosophy, and it is the essential issue of all problems. From the view of content, the core values are not only related to the virtue of heaven and earth, but also to the personal virtue, and all of them would better to be called “the virtue of birth and nurture”. From the view of structure, the core values show three levels: universe, society and individual. The integration of the three can be called “substance and function coming from the same source, and there being no gap between the manifest and the hidden”. The core values embodied the thinking way of “zhong dao yuan rong”. According to the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, the construction of social system is intermediate link between the ideal of the world virtue and the personal virtue. From the metaphysical to the under-shape, system is the guarantee of implementing the core values. For society and individual, system is the directive of the core values.

Key words: core values, Chinese philosophy, structure of substance and function, way of thinking