Listen to this articleshǎng xìn fá bì 赏信罚必
Confer Honors and Mete Out Punishment to Those Who Deserve Them
该奖赏的一定奖赏，该处罚的一定处罚。后用来形容做事严格公正而分明。同“赏罚严明”“赏罚分明”。古人认为，赏罚是治国治军的重要原则和方法；赏罚有示范作用——赏为了劝善，罚为了惩恶，所以必须依照规矩，分清功过善恶，不徇私偏袒，赏罚得当，这样才能形成整体合力。它是诚信精神的具体体现。
This term originally means awarding those who deserve it, and punishing those who must be punished. Later on it was used to mean that one must be strict, fair, and transparent in governance. Ancient Chinese believed that honors and punishments were important principles and methods in governing a state or an army. These measures can play an exemplary role. The purpose of giving award is to encourage people to do good things, and the purpose of meting out punishment is to bring wrongdoers to justice. Awards and punishments encourage people to follow the rules, and are used to distinguish merit from error and good from bad. When applied properly, awards and punishments avoid favoritism and partiality and urge people to better themselves.
引例 Citations：
◎文王问太公曰：“赏所以存劝，罚所以示惩。吾欲赏一以劝百，罚一以惩众，为之奈何？”太公曰：“凡用赏者贵信，用罚者贵必。赏信罚必于耳目之所闻见，则所不闻见者莫不阴化矣。”（《六韬·文韬·赏罚》）
（周文王问姜太公：“奖赏是用来鼓励人的，惩罚是用来惩戒人的，我想用奖赏一人来鼓励百人，惩罚一人以惩戒众人，应该怎么办呢？”太公回答道：“奖赏贵在守信，惩罚贵在必行。奖赏守信，惩罚必行，是人们耳朵能听到、眼睛能看见的行为。那么，那些没听到和没看见的行为，也因此会跟着潜移默化的。”）
King Wen of Zhou asked Jiang Taigong: “Rewards are used to encourage people to do good things, whereas punishments are used to warn people from doing bad things. I want to reward one person in order to encourage a hundred people, and punish one person to warn a large number of people from doing bad things. How should I do it?” Jiang replied: “It is important to give awards and mete out punishment. Acts of commendation and punishment can be heard and seen. And those who have not seen or heard of such acts will also be influenced in a subtle way.” (The Six Strategies)
◎赏善罚奸，国之宪法也。（《国语·晋语九》）
（奖赏善良的人，惩罚奸恶的人，这是国家的大法。）
It is a fundamental rule for a state to reward the benevolent and punish the wicked. (Discourses on Governance of the States)
◎好善嫉恶，赏罚严明，治之材也。（王符《潜夫论·实贡》）
（喜爱善行，憎恨恶行，赏罚严明，是治政的重要手段。）
It is an important means of governance of a state to encourage people to do good deeds and punish those who commit evil acts, and implement a strict and clear policy on commendation and punishment. (Wang Fu: Views of a Hermit)
