What relationship was Confucianism most based on?

Chinese philosopher and religious figure Confucius advocated personal goodness and good social order, which are rooted in respect for and reverence of one's parents. Confucianism holds that if a follower develops "hsiao," or care and concern for family, he will act appropriately in society.

Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 B.C., put forward five relationships as most important: a loving father and reverential son; a gentle elder brother and a respectful younger brother; a good husband and a wife who listens well; a considerate older friend and a deferential younger friend; and a benevolent ruler and loyal subject. Family is the basic unit of society, as denoted in the first three relationships.

When a person reveres and respects his parents, he may then extend this concept of hsiao to family, friends and people and society in general.