The Three Major and Six Minor Principles

The Three Main Ropes (gang) are the relationships between lord and minister, between father and son, and between man and wife. The Six Binding Threads (ji) are the relationships between father and father, between older and younger brother, between clanspeople, between uncle and uncle, between teacher and teacher, and between friend and friend. The lord is the guideline for his minister, the father the guideline for his son, and the man a guideline for his wife. We can also say, to respect father and elder brother, is a behaviour representing the thread for the right way of social order. Uncles have a righteous position, clansmen have a different grade, elder and younger brothers have an intimate relationship, teachers venerate each other, and friends have common remembrances. The Main Ropes serve to extend and to display the social relationships, the Binding Threads serve to create order between these relationships. The big Ropes and the small Threads will differentiate and arrange upper and lower and will level the human ways on the appropriate path.