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The Five Primary Cardinal Relationship

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Friendship is a radically different relationship amongst the five primary cardinal relationship mentioned in the WuLun (五伦). In this essay, we will be exploring the concept of friendship in the view of the Early Confucians thinkers and whether it is necessary for friendship to be grounded in commitment to the good. This is an important issue as Confucius himself always advocates cultivating of virtues. Lastly, this essay will also be explaining why Early Confucians thinkers believe it is necessary for friendship to be grounded in commitment to the good, and how it is still applicable in today’s context.
Firstly, how does one make friends? According to Tseng Tzu, “A gentlemen makes friends through being cultivated, but looks to friends for …show more content…

Confucius wrote the Analects during the Warring States, where smaller states were vying for power, causing constant outbreaks of war. Thus he went from state to state, transmitting his teachings in hope that it would be a solution for the rulers to govern their subjects, such that there is political obedience to the authority. It would stop the war and the suffering of the people, and different states would be able to co-exist with one another. Besides that, the underlying goals of the five primary cardinal relationship is to help cultivate moral virtues, where it can be also be seen as a way to achieve social stability. The relations between two individuals amongst the five primary cardinal relationship except for friendship, is always of a superior and subordinate, where one must submit himself to the superior. However friendship also plays an important role though it does not have this superior and subordinate relation. Friendship instead can be seen as a platform to further develop our virtues and extend it beyond our family. This helps us to achieve the highest ren where we acquired habits of freely assuming responsibilities for individuals beyond the family group. Thus in the society, we will be able to extend it to others, and treat them with sympathy, empathy and compassion from the cultivation of virtues. Lastly, Confucius also mentioned 3 kinds of good friendships, where "He stands to benefit who takes pleasure in three kinds of things. Equally, he stands to lose who takes pleasure in three other kinds of things. To take pleasure in the correct regulation of the rites and music, in singing the praises of other men's goodness, and in having a large number of excellent men as friends is to benefit..." (Analects, Book 16:5) Drawing from this quote, the similarity among the 3 kinds of good friendships are beneficial to one if his friends are committed to moral cultivation; where

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