What is the meaning of "five permanent members" in "three cardinal guides and five permanent members"?

The "five permanents", namely, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness, are the code of conduct used to adjust and standardize the interpersonal relationship between monarch and minister, father and son, brother, husband and wife and friends.

Three cardinal guides and five permanents in Confucian ethics

I. Meaning:

Three cardinal guides: the monarch is the minister's cardinal guide, the father is the son's cardinal guide, and the husband is the wife's cardinal guide. The five permanent members: benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith. ?

Three cardinal guides and five permanents are important thoughts in China's Confucian ethical culture. Confucianism maintained social ethics and political system through the enlightenment of the Three Cardinal Principles and the Five Permanent Principles, which played an extremely important role in the long feudal society.

Second, the specific meaning of the five permanent members:

( 1)，P5:？ Ren? Justice? Gift? Wisdom? Letter. ?

The five permanent members are also called "Five Codes", that is, five codes of conduct. Shi Xia, the Book of History, said: "Shame on the Five Permanent Members". ?

[Tang] Confucius said, "The Five Permanent Principles are the Five Codes, meaning the righteousness of the father, the kindness of the mother, the friend of the brother, the respect of the younger brother and the filial piety of the son." ?

(2)、P5:？ It is said to mean "five virtues". The ancients called five kinds of human relations: monarch and minister, father and son, brother, couple and friend. Take loyalty, filial piety, filial piety, forbearance and kindness as the "five ethics" relationship criteria. ?

Mencius believed that the way of courtesy and righteousness between monarch and minister should be loyalty; There is a distinction between father and son, so be filial. Brothers and sisters are flesh and blood relatives, so be filial. Husband and wife love each other but are different inside and outside, so be tolerant; Friends have the virtue of honesty, so they should be good; This is the principle and code of conduct for dealing with ethical relations between people.

Third, the impact on society:

In today's society, the "three cardinals" should behave as role models and responsibilities rather than bondage and oppression. "The monarch is the minister's program" should explain that leaders should set a good example for other staff. "A father should be a child" means that parents should set a good example for their children. "Husband's wife's plan" means that the husband should set a good example for his wife. At the same time, the "procedures" can be changed. People should set an example for each other, supervise each other, respect each other and make progress together. Five permanent members. It can often become the norm of morality and life. Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith have profound connotations. It is the precious cultural heritage accumulated by the people of China in thousands of years' history, the essence of traditional morality and the standard to measure character. It plays an important role in maintaining social ethics and promoting social progress. For the new understanding of the five permanent members, we should abandon the traditional mindset and adhere to the attitude of seeking truth from facts. We can't simply think that any old morality is bad, and any morality popular in feudal society is bad. We should see that the morality of the five permanent members does not belong to any class, and any society or group can use and transform these morality for the benefit of society and group. While fully affirming the "five permanent members", we can also give them some new significance of the times. Love a person, Confucius said "universal love", in today's society should be a person worthy of love, not all beings. Righteousness should not only be loyal, but also pay attention to the discretion of loyalty and adhere to the principle of the mean. Rites should advocate civilized manners, but they should oppose complex and vulgar ceremonies. Wisdom should strive to improve the IQ and knowledge reserve of the whole people and improve people's scientific and cultural knowledge, rather than playing tricks. Credit is the most important thing in the market economy. "People without credit don't know what they can do." Market economy should adhere to the principle of honesty and trustworthiness.