This refers to the order or hierarchy of human relations and the codes of conduct for people at different levels of the hierarchy. The term, first coined by Mencius (372?-289 BC), is about five human relationships: those between father and son, between monarch and minister, between husband and wife, between siblings, and between friends. It is also known as the five bonds. Such human relations were considered the basic framework of social order, with precedence of senior over junior, of close relatives over distant ones, and between different social ranks all clearly set. Different codes of conduct were to be followed for different human relations.

People possess a moral nature. If they are well fed, warmly clad, and comfortably lodged, yet left untaught, they would be no better than beasts. Such was the concern of the sage Shun that he appointed Xie to be the minister of instruction, to teach interpersonal relationships and the corresponding norms: between father and son, there should be affection; between sovereign and minister, righteousness; between husband and wife, attention to their separate roles; between old and young, a proper order; and between friends, honor and trust. (Mencius)