The Five Ruling Houses (五大世家) are often referred to as the Five Great Ruling Houses or Five Great Families.

They refer to the houses that are so large and influential that they can be considered a ruling house. In martial arts novels there are usually 6 possible houses of this size and each author picks 5 out of the 6. There are actually more than 6 possible total. The common 6 that authors pick 5 out of are:

• House of Namgoong
• Sachun House of Dang
• Habok House of Peng
• House of Moyong
• House of Jegal
• House of Hwangbo