One of the main ideas of Confucianism is that people are naturally good, but there needs to be structure in society for this good to emerge. To create this structure, Confucius set out the Confucian Five Relationships in which every individual would have certain responsibilities. The Five Relationships are as follows:
Parents and Children
Husband and Wife
Older sibling and Younger sibling
Older friend and Younger friend
Ruler and subjects
Those on the right side in the Five Relationships above are expected to respect and obey those on the left side of their relationship. So, children are expected to respect and obey their parents, wives are expected to respect and obey their husband, younger siblings and friends are expected to respect and obey older siblings and friends, and subjects are expected to respect and obey their ruler. In some cases, this obedience is expected to be absolute. For example, Filial Piety is one of the most important values of Confucianism. This is the idea that children must always respect and obey their parents, even into old age. The inhabitants of a country should always be obedient to the ruler. Wives are also expected to respect and obey their husbands in traditional Confucianism. Confucius believed women should fulfil what we would consider today to be traditional gender roles; their place was in the home, raising children, and being meekly obedient to their husbands. In the case of younger sibling and younger friend, the idea is that they would respect and follow the example of their older sibling or friend who had more life experience.
For those on the left side of the five relationships above- Parents, Husband, Older Sibling, Older Friend, and the Ruler of the country, their responsibility is to protect and provide for those on the right side of their relationship. So, parents are expected to protect and provide for their children and husbands have to protect and provide for their wives. In these cases, the parents and husband must work hard, put food on the table, provide a place to live and all the necessities of life for their kids or their wife. The older sibling and older friend is expected to provide guidance and protection for their younger siblings and friends. If they see their younger brother being bullied for instance, they should step in to protect them and fight the bully off. Finally, it’s the job of the ruler of the country to protect and provide for his people. He must ensure that the people have enough to eat and are protected from invasion and outside attack.
Confucius envisioned a society in which everyone followed their responsibility in the five relationships. One individual may have many different responsibilities on both sides of the relationships. For example, everyone is a child who is expected to respect and obey their parents. However, after marriage, men would be expected to fulfill the role of the husband by protecting and providing, and women would fulfill the role of the wife by respecting and obeying. But even as a husband, if you have older siblings, you would be expected to respect and obey those siblings. And of course all the inhabitants of the country would be expected to respect and obey the ruler. Confucius believed that if everyone fulfilled their responsibilities within the Five Relationships, it would create a stable, harmonious, and peaceful society.
