Ancient society placed great emphasis on a strict hierarchy of rank.
Tips
culture
A core Confucian concept: society works when everyone keeps to their proper rung, ruler/subject, father/son, elder/younger. The phrase 长幼尊卑 sums up the four classical relationships of seniority.
memory
尊 = honored, lifted up (think 尊敬 'respect'); 卑 = lowly, brought down (think 卑微 'humble'). Two opposite verticals: high + low = the hierarchy itself.
