Renwen (人文) encompasses the cultural and ethical progress created by rites, music, education, codes, and systems as well as a social order which is hierarchical but harmonious. Renwen is in contrast to tianwen (天文), the study of celestial bodies including the sun, moon, and stars. Renwen also refers to human affairs in general, that is, behavior…

This term refers to the state of mind in which external things evoke one’s inner feelings, thus creating aesthetic appreciation. As an aesthetic term, evocation means both stimulation and association. In artistic appreciation, Confucius(551-479 BC) used evocation to refer to the psychological effect and educational function of reading poetry, and…

The term means to lessen desires for external things. Humans are prone to pursue excessive desire, which can be harmful to themselves, cause problems with others and lead to social disorder. This is why both Confucian and Taoist scholars called for restraining desires. In Confucian thinking, self-moral cultivation is needed to restrain desires, whi…

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