What do you mean by three cardinal guides and five permanent members?

The three cardinal principles are that the monarch is the minister, the father is the son and the husband is the wife; The five permanent members are benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith. Three cardinal guides and five permanents are important thoughts of Confucian culture.

Confucius first put forward the moral concepts of "Jun Jun, minister, father, son, husband and wife" and "benevolence, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness". Mencius continued his theory and put forward the moral standard of "father and son are blind, monarch and minister are righteous, husband and wife are different, young and old are orderly, and friends are trustworthy".

Dong Zhongshu summed up the theories of the two predecessors in the Western Han Dynasty, and added his own understanding, and put forward the definition of the three cardinal guides and the five permanent members for the first time. He believes that there is a master-slave relationship among monarch, minister, father and son, and husband and wife, and benevolence, courtesy, wisdom and faith are the ways to solve this contradiction.

Extended data:

Three cardinal guides and five permanents are the basic ethics of ancient China society and an important pillar to maintain the hierarchical order of ancient patriarchal clan system. Being a minister is the maintenance of imperial power in feudal society and caters to the needs of the ruling class, so it is strongly supported and promoted.

The father is the son, emphasizing filial piety to parents. Although parents may not be right, such ideological norms have solved contradictions to a certain extent and maintained social stability.

The principle of husband's wife embodies the low social status of ancient women and the dross of feudal society. The five permanent standards are applicable to every stratum, the benchmark for the ancients to solve contradictions and the essence left by traditional culture, which is worth advocating.