TERMBASES
The basic meaning of the term is love for others. Its extended meaning refers to the state of harmony among people, and the unity of all things under heaven. Ren (仁) constitutes the foundation and basis for moral behavior. It is also a consciousness that corresponds to the norms of moral behavior. Roughly put, ren has the following three implications: 1) compassion or conscience; 2) virtue of respect built upon the relationship between fathers and sons and among brothers; and 3) the unity of all things under heaven. Confucianism holds ren as the highest moral principle. Ren is taken as love in the order of first showing filial piety to one’s parents and elder brothers, and then extending love and care to other members of the family, and eventually to everyone else under heaven.
This refers to governance of a state based on benevolence, proposed first by Mencius (372?-289 BC). He held that everybody was born with a heart of benevolence, but this needed to be nourished constantly to attain the virtue of benevolence in reality. The ruler should constantly have his heart of benevolence nourished, taking care of his subjects, providing them with necessary living materials, and keeping good social order. Governance based on this kind of benevolence is called benevolent governance. If the ruler implements such governance, he will be able to unite the whole people and have a strong country.
This phrase means that one should behave ethically and never dodge one’s responsibility. Ren (仁 benevolence) is the highest virtue upheld by Confucius(551-479 BC). In general, it refers to everything that is right to do, namely things compatible with moral principles and social justice. The term is similar in meaning to “committing oneself completely out of a sense of duty,” and “feeling morally obliged.” It promotes a positive attitude that takes safeguarding morality and justice as one’s own responsibility and dares to shoulder and execute that responsibility.
The term means to have love for the people, and cherish all things in the world. Here wu (物) includes plants and animals, while ai (爱) implies using them in a measured and appropriate way. This was first proposed by Mencius (372?-289 BC) who differentiated natural emotions as: a love for close family, a broad compassion for other people, and a sense of cherishing for plants and animals. The love could be close or distant, but a person of virtue always begins with love of close relatives, which then extends to other people and eventually to all things in the world. Though this feeling starts within the family, it should extend beyond it, even beyond the human race to include plants and animals, to become a broad love. The goal is to achieve harmony within oneself, with others and with nature. Zhang Zai’s (1020-1077)concept that “all people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions” is very similar.
The benevolent person has a loving heart. Renzhe (仁者) refers to benevolent and virtuous people or people with loving hearts, who have tremendous courage, wisdom, perfect moral character, charm, and charisma, and who love and care about others. Confucianism holds ren (仁) as the highest moral value. The basic meaning of ren is loving others, and to love others, one should first show filial piety to one’s parents and respect one’s elder brothers, and then extend love and care to other family members, and eventually to everyone else in the world. Mencius (372?-289 BC) synthesized and upgraded this notion into a theory to be applied to the governance of a country. He proposed that a person of virtue should love and care about first his loved ones, then other people, and finally everything on earth. Confucianism believed that love could be extended to people in a certain order, but that benevolence has general value, which is both the foundation and the goal of building a harmonious and good-will society.
The one who is benevolent has no enemy. The benevolent refers to a ruler who has the virtue of benevolence or to a state with benevolent rule. In terms of political affairs, benevolence manifests itself as benevolent governance based on love and care for the people, use of penalties with restraint, lighter taxes, and benefiting the people to the greatest extent possible. In this way, the ruler will gain the support of the people and achieve unshakeable unity of will among his subjects and himself, so that the state will be invincible. The underlying principle is that a state’s source of strength lies in winning the hearts and minds of its people; if only the people are cared for, will the state be able to draw strength from this source.
The basic meaning of yi (义) is “reasonable” and “proper.” It has two extended meanings. One is the proper basis and standard for people’s actions. The other is to adjust one’s words or deeds to meet certain standards, under the guidance of moral judgments. Scholars in the Song Dynasty used li (理) or “principles of heaven” to interpret yi, and considered yi to be the reasonable standard defined by the “principles of heaven,” and hoped that people’s words and deeds would fall in line with the “principles of heaven.”
Li (礼) is a general term for social norms which regulate an individual’s relationship with other people, everything else in nature, and even ghosts and spirits. By setting various regulations about ceremonial vessels, rituals, and systems, rites define an individual’s specific status and corresponding duty and power, thereby differentiating between people in a community in terms of age, kinship, and social status. With such differentiations, the rites determine the proper position of each individual, thus achieving harmony among human beings, and between humanity and everything else in nature.
Zhi (智), originally written as zhi (知)a different Chinese character representing knowing), means intelligence. It suggests clear cognition and good judgment of right and wrong, advantage and disadvantage. Intelligence shows both one’s awareness of other people and events as well as one’s ability to conduct introspection. Confucianism believes that people should have intelligence so as not to be confused by complexities of life and be able to act in conformity with ethical and ritual standards. However, excessive use of intelligence may lead to deception and fraud. Therefore, Daoists tend to view intelligence with suspicion and disapproval.
This term means acting in good faith. Good faith is one of the principal ethical standards one should observe in order to establish oneself in society. However, one must comply with ethical principles in honoring a promise. If a promise goes against ethical principles, one should not blindly deliver it. Confucianism stresses the importance of acting in good faith for both rulers and people: A ruler must keep his promises made to the people so that they will abide by his decrees; one should be honest and truthful towards friends.
Sincerity is among the core concepts of the Confucian school of thought. Basically, it means truthfulness without deceit. Confucians believed that sincerity is the essence of the “way of heaven” or “principles of heaven,” a basis on which everything else is built. At the same time, sincerity is also the root and foundation of morality. All moral deeds must be conducted on the basis of sincerity from the bottom of the heart. Otherwise, they are nothing but pretensions. The Doctrine of the Mean maintains, “Nothing can be achieved without sincerity.” Sages are sincere by nature. Therefore, their words and deeds are naturally consistent with the “way of heaven” and the “principles of heaven.” Junzi (a man of virtue) upholds sincerity as his goal for moral attainment and an approach to achieving the “way of heaven” and the “principles of heaven.”
The term has two different meanings. One is an individual’s fine moral character, or his proper conduct in society. At first de (德) was only related to an individual’s behavior, referring to his external moral conduct. Later, it also referred to something that combined external behavior with internal emotions and moral consciousness. The other meaning of de refers to the special laws and features obtained from Dao, or the physical manifestation of the hidden and formless Dao, as well as the internal basis for the origination and existence of all things.
Loyalty involves doing one’s utmost. A person in a certain position or office should wholeheartedly perform his duties and must not be influenced by personal interests. The object of loyalty can be the person who appoints you to your post or grants you a position; it can also be an organization, group or the state where you belong. For example, in ancient society it was thought the monarch should be loyal to the people while the subjects should be loyal to the monarch.
The basic meaning of the term is to put oneself in another person’s position and have empathy, and to reflect what one would do in the same kind of situation. Starting out from their own likes and dislikes, people can understand and show considerations for the wishes of others, and on the basis of such understanding, people should refrain from imposing their own likes and dislikes on others. This is what it means to be considerate. To those enforcing the law and to the victims of wrongdoing, the meaning of the term extended to mean forgiveness or pardon.
The four initiators are buds of four virtues: ren (仁), yi (义), li (礼), and zhi (智), or roughly benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, which Mencius (372?-289 BC) believed were all rooted in man’s mind. Commiseration is the initiator of benevolence. Shame is the initiator of righteousness. Deference is the initiator of propriety and a sense of right and wrong is the initiator of wisdom. The four initiators are naturally possessed by man. They are fundamental features defining a human being. Man should fully cultivate and develop his inherent kindness, then he can accomplish the four virtues, and consequently become a man of virtue or even a sage.