In this sense we can say that just as each person has a basic human right to good government, a
family, spouse, etc., as expressed in the first Four Confucian Relationships, the Fifth Relationship
underscores the moral importance of friendship also as a basic human right.
The Analects opens with an accolade to the Confucian understanding of friendship32 and several
other examples appear throughout the text which shows the intimate connection between the
virtuous life and cultivation of friends:
Tsze-hsiâ (one of Confucius' disciples) said, "If a man withdraws his mind from the love of
beauty, and applies it as sincerely to the love of the virtuous; if, in serving his parents, he
can exert his utmost strength; if, in serving his prince, he can devote his life; if, in his
intercourse with his friends, his words are sincere (hsin) men say that he has not learned, I
will certainly say that he has" (The Analects 1:7).
This statement suggests that all of the Five Relationships, if lived out properly and wholeheartedly,
are the foundation of moral learning and character development in the Confucian
sense, as the next saying illustrates this connection in reference to friendship:
The Master said, "If the scholar (chün-tzu) be not grave, he will not call forth any
veneration, and his learning will not be solid. Hold faithfulness (ch'ung) and sincerity
(hsin) as first principles. Have no friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults,
do not fear to abandon them" (The Analects 1:8).