In China, when people and characters of things were classified, first, they were divided into three categories, johin (higher-quality goods), chuhin (the middle grade goods) and gehin (lower-quality goods), and then, each category was further divided into three grades.
中国では、人物や物の性質を分類したが、まずはじめに、上品（じょうひん）・中品（ちゅうひん）・下品（げひん）の3つに大きく分け、これら一品ずつにまたそれぞれ上中下の三品があるとした。