Item 5 in Confucian Five Relationships
Friend and Friend
Friendship should involve trustworthiness, honesty and mutual moral support.
- Position
- 5
- Form
- Mixed formulation
- Obligation
- Strong duty
- Wording status
- Editorial paraphrase
- Intended audience
- Persons participating in Confucian social life
- Last reviewed
- 28 June 2026
Names and terminology
Canonical name: Friend and Friend
Source wording
Editorial paraphrase: Friendship should involve trustworthiness, honesty and mutual moral support.
Literal meaning
Friendship should involve trustworthiness, honesty and mutual moral support.
Broader interpretation
This item should be interpreted within the historical purpose, intended audience and wider structure of its parent ethical framework.
Historical context
This item belongs to Confucian Five Relationships. Classical Confucian foundations with later systematisation; China.
Practical meaning
Practical application requires attention to intention, consent, evidence, rights, foreseeable effects and the needs of all persons or beings affected.
Ethical purpose
To shape conduct, judgment or character in a way consistent with the wider framework.
Exceptions and disputes
Loyalty should not require concealing serious harm or supporting wrongdoing.
Variations across schools or traditions
Wording and interpretation may vary between translations, denominations, schools and historical periods.
Modern application
Modern application should distinguish the historical formulation from present legal, social and ethical conditions.
Criticism and difficult cases
Loyalty should not require concealing serious harm or supporting wrongdoing.
Truth By Reason analysis
Truth By Reason assesses this principle through evidence, intentions, rights, foreseeable consequences, consistency and the treatment of all affected beings.
Ethical themes
Sources
- Introduction to Confucian Thought Academic / peer reviewed