志气相投而能相互补益的人。它是非亲族的人之间所建立的亲密的社会关系，属于儒家认为的“五伦”之一。“朋”本义是上古货币单位，如同两串系在一起的贝（或玉），引申为“同门”，指一师之徒，即在一起相互切磋砥砺、探究学问和道义的人；“友”的古字形似方向相同的两只手，引申为“同志”，即志趣、志向相同的人。这种关系的建立和维系，对于超越血缘关系的构建及人格养成至关重要。为此，中国人历来崇尚以道义为其根本原则，而以诚信为其基本规范。人与人如此，国与国亦如此。
Pengyou are people who are not kin but share the same aspirations and sentiments and can help each other. Representing a close social relationship between these people, friendship is one of the "five relationships" among humans defined by Confucianism, namely, relationships between father and son, sovereign and subject, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and between friends. Peng originally was an ancient monetary unit resembling two bunches of shells or jade stringed together. It was extended to mean disciples who follow the same teacher, namely, people who study together to improve each other's knowledge and moral behaviors. An ancient ideographic form of the character you was two hands reaching in the same direction, which means comrades sharing the same interests and goals. The creation and fostering of this relationship is crucial to forming the society beyond blood ties, and to forming one's character as well. For this reason, Chinese have always revered moral standards as their fundamental principle and integrity as the basic norm governing their relationships. This applies to both relationships between people and relations among countries.
引例 Citations：
◎君子以朋友讲习。（《周易·象下》）
君子和朋友一道讲求学问、研习道义。
A man of virtue joins his friends in pursuing knowledge and studying Dao. (The Book of Changes)
◎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》）
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。
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)
◎《礼记》曰：“同门曰朋，同志曰友。”朋友之交，近则谤其言，远则不相讪。一人有善，其心好之；一人有恶，其心痛之。货则通而不计，共忧患而相救。（《白虎通义·三纲六纪》）
《礼记》上说：“共同研习的人称为‘朋’，志趣相投的人称为‘友’。”朋友相处，关系近的话，就相互问难毫不留情；关系远的话，就留一些情面。一人有善言善行，大家由衷感到喜爱；一人有恶言恶行，大家由衷感到痛惜。钱财通用而不斤斤计较，共同承担忧患而互相救助。
It is said in The Book of Rites, "People who study together are called friends, so are those who share similar interests and aspirations." If friends are close, they ask each other tough questions. If they are not so close, they ask each other questions in a soft way. If one is decent in what he says or does, he will be loved. If one is ill-intentioned in what he says or does, he will be deplored. Friends share wealth without haggling over how it should be distributed, and they come to each other's aid in time of adversity. (Debates of the White Tiger Hall)