Listen to this articlerénlún 人伦
Human Relations
人与人之间的秩序差等及行为准则。“人伦”一词最早由孟子（前372？—前289）提出，指父子、君臣、夫妇、长幼、朋友等五种人与人之间的关系，也称“五伦”。古人认为，此五者构成了社会秩序的基本架构，体现着人们在长幼、亲疏、尊卑等方面的身份差等。在不同的人伦关系中，人们应遵循与其身份相符的行为准则。
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.
引例 Citation：
◎人之有道也，饱食、暖衣、逸居而无教，则近于禽兽。圣人有忧之，使契（xiè）为司徒，教以人伦：父子有亲，君臣有义，夫妇有别，长幼有序，朋友有信。（《孟子·滕文公上》）
（人之所以为人，吃得饱，穿得暖，住得安逸，如果没有教养，那就和禽兽差不多了。圣人为此而担忧，派契做司徒，教育百姓分辨不同的人与人之间的关系，遵循相应的规范：父子之间有骨肉之亲，君臣之间有公正之道，夫妻之间有内外之别，老少之间有尊卑之序，朋友之间有诚信之德。）
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)
