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.\u00a0 To create this structure, Confucius set out the Confucian Five Relationships in which every individual would have certain responsibilities.\u00a0\u00a0 The Five Relationships are as follows:<\/p>\n
Parents and Children<\/p>\n
Husband and Wife<\/p>\n
Older sibling and Younger sibling<\/p>\n
Older friend and Younger friend<\/p>\n
Ruler and subjects<\/p>\n
Those on the right side in the Five Relationships above are expected to respect and obey those on the left side of their relationship.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In some cases, this obedience is expected to be absolute.\u00a0 For example, Filial Piety is one of the most important values of Confucianism.\u00a0 This is the idea that children must always respect and obey their parents, even into old age.\u00a0 The inhabitants of a country should always be obedient to the ruler.\u00a0 Wives are also expected to respect and obey their husbands in traditional Confucianism.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The older sibling and older friend is expected to provide guidance and protection for their younger siblings and friends.\u00a0 If they see their younger brother being bullied for instance, they should step in to protect them and fight the bully off.\u00a0 Finally, it\u2019s the job of the ruler of the country to protect and provide for his people.\u00a0 He must ensure that the people have enough to eat and are protected from invasion and outside attack.<\/p>\n
Confucius envisioned a society in which everyone followed their responsibility in the five relationships.\u00a0 One individual may have many different responsibilities on both sides of the relationships.\u00a0 For example, everyone is a child who is expected to respect and obey their parents.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 But even as a husband, if you have older siblings, you would be expected to respect and obey those siblings.\u00a0 And of course all the inhabitants of the country would be expected to respect and obey the ruler.\u00a0 Confucius believed that if everyone fulfilled their responsibilities within the Five Relationships, it would create a stable, harmonious, and peaceful society.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t