E-Journal of Philosophy of Education:
International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 3, 2018

Confucius’s Concept of Ren and its Application in Education

Zhongying SHI
Beijing Normal University
Abstract
Confucius was a great philosopher and educationist of ancient China, the founder of Confucianism.
Ren (仁) is the central concept of his philosophical and educational theory, and a main topic of his
discussions with different disciples. Three sayings are of the most importance for the essential of Ren.
The first one is “to love others”, which is the guiding principle; the rest are “do not impose on others
what you yourself do not desire” and “to help others to take their stand in so far as he himself wishes
to take his stand, and get others there in so far as he himself wishes to get there”, which are thestandards for action. From a methodological view, sympathy is the basic way to practice Ren.
Confucius’ these comments upon Ren are of great significance for modern education. They inspire us
to reflect upon the human nature in education, the value judgment in education and the role ofsympathy in moral education and development.
Keywords
Confucius, Ren, Human Nature, Moral affection, Value Judgement in Education

1. Introduction
Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) was a great philosopher and an educationist ofancient China. A great amount of ancient books survived after his edition. He was thefounder of Confucianism and the earliest private school in China. His contribution to thepromotion of culture and education was so great that for about 2,500 years, he has always
been admired by Chinese people and the Temples of Confucius were built in different
places. Many people came to sacrifice him in festivals. During the process ofmodernization in the 20th century, Confucius suffered from many criticisms, some ofwhich were irrational and even of personal insults. While, criticisms cannot always cover
the great contributions he did to our state. Recently, there appears a renaissanceCorrespondence:
Zhongying SHI, Beijing Normal University, Email: szying@bnu.edu.cn

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movement of the Chinese traditional culture and people of different social levels became
interested in Confucius. The Analects (論語) is widely read nowadays in China.
In his philosophy, the concept of Ren (仁) is of the most importance. Some scholars
even call his philosophy the philosophy of Ren. While, people’s opinions diverge on how
to interpret this concept. One reason contributes to this phenomenon is that Confucius’statements of Ren vary with the contexts of his discussions with his different disciples;
another reason is that scholars after him, including Mencius (孟子), ZHU Xi (朱熹),WANG Yangming (王陽明), KANG Youwei (康有為) offered different interpretationsof Ren in different backgrounds, which make the literature on Ren expand greatly. This
article will try to re-analyze the concept of Ren based upon a close reading of The
Analects, in order to clarify the essential of Ren and reveal how it can be applied toeducation of nowadays. I do hope this article could interest those scholars from Japan andother countries.

2. The Essential of Ren
According to LIU (2008), Ren, as the central concept of Confucius, appears 109
times in The Analects. Considering that The Analects consists of only 11,705 characters,
it is fair to say that Ren is very important for Confucius. Ren appears directly and also
indirectly; sometimes in Confucius’ discussions with his disciples, sometimes in
Confucius’ comments upon other people, historical or contemporary. One of the direct
examples is that, “Fan Ch’ih(樊遲) asked about Ren. The Master said, ‘love your fellowmen’” (12:22; LAU, 1979, p.116).1 While, it also appears indirectly when Confucius
commented upon some other issues, like “the Master said, ‘It is rare, indeed, for a manwith cunning words and an ingratiating face to be of Ren” (1:3; Lau, 1979, p.59).
However, Confucius never clearly defined what Ren is, no matter in direct or indirect
way. This makes some people feel very hard to understand the concept of Ren. Someeven claim that Ren is mysterious. Sometimes, it looks like one of the moral requirements
and sometimes it seems to be equated with morality.
While, the concept of Ren is never beyond our comprehension. We can still
understand the essential of Ren, if we closely read Confucius’ great amount of statementsof it. Wittgenstein told us that “the meaning of word is its use in the language. And themeaning of a name is sometimes explained by pointing to its bearer” (PI: 43; Wittgenstein,1

All the translation of The Analects in this article is basically from the Penguin Classics Edition (1979), translated by D.
C. Lau, an excellent bilingual scholar from Hong Kong.

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1958, pp.20-21). Though never giving us a definite definition of Ren, Confucius did tell
us what kind of behavior can be called Ren and what cannot in particular situations. We
can still find a way to understand the essential of it, if we give our attentions to thosedistinctions made by Confucius.
Three paragraphs are worth attention, since they contains Confucius’ directstatements on Ren. The first one is that, “Fan Ch’ih(樊遲) asked about Ren. The Master
said, ‘love your fellow men.’” (12:22; LAU, 1979, p.116) This is a summary statementof Confucius about Ren. To love ‘fellow men’, which refers to others, is compared with‘to love yourself’. Ren is the emotional connection between me and others. To be a manof Ren is to hold strong affection to others. The next paragraph is that, “Chung-kung(仲弓) asked about Ren. The Master said, ‘When abroad behave as though you werereceiving an important guest; when employing the services of the common people behaveas though you were officiating at an important sacrifice. Do not impose on others what
you yourself do not desire. In this way you will be free from ill whether in a state or in anoble family’” (12:2; LAU, 1979, p.112). Confucius’ this statement consists of threestages: the first one is about how should people behave in their daily lives in accordancewith Ren, to show respect to others; the second one promotes the standards of behavior
up to an abstract ethical principle which means that never force others to do what you
yourself do not desire; the last one is about the result of the behavior of Ren, which would
never bring resentment whether in a state or in a noble family. However, the time
Confucius lived was a time of resentment because of the dramatic social changes. Herethe last paragraph that needs our attention is that “when answering Tzu-kung(子貢),Confucius said, ‘a man of Ren helps others to take their stand in so far as he himself
wishes to take his stand, and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to get there.
The ability to take as analogy what is near at hand can be called the method of Ren’”(6:30; Lau, 1979, p.85). Ren means sympathy, which would help yourself and others toachieve their goals. “Help others to take their stand in so far as he himself wishes to takehis stand, and get others there in so far as he himself wishes to get there” was comparedby Confucius with “do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire”. If the latter
one is of the negative Ren, which refers to what you should not do; the former one is of
the positive Ren, which refers to what you should do. Confucius’ concept of Ren consistsof these two closely related parts. More than a strong affection to others, Ren is also an
action which shows your sympathy to others and your effects on others.
If the credo of ancient Greek philosophers was “the love of wisdom”; comparatively,
Confucius’ philosophy was “the love of people”. The term people here refers to others.
While, since everyone exists as “the other” to anyone else, “to love yourself” was also
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generalized and contained in this believing. In this sense, Mencius defined Ren as “thepeople”2. A person who pursue this virtue with his whole life can be called a man of Ren;this kind of action can be called an action of Ren; and politics of this kind can be called
the politics of Ren; our society can be called “back to Ren” if everyone lives inaccordance with Ren and makes a community of love.

3. Confucius’ Advice on How to Practice Ren
As stated above, Ren, the core concept of Confucius, is basically “the love ofpeople”. It contains two principles of sympathy: 1, do not impose on others what you
yourself do not desire; 2, Help others to take their stand in so far as he himself wishes totake his stand. However, Ren still seems difficult to reach in our practice, though not
absolutely impossible. Confucius’ discussions with his disciples can be seen as his advice
on how to practice Ren.
Firstly, Confucius hoped that everyone should use their subjective initiatives tobehave in accordance with Ren. Ren is like seeds which have already existed ineveryone’s heart, not only those talented ones. Since Ren is closely related to our attitudes,
affections and moral concerns to others, it comes out in anyone’s heart and can beachieved by anyone. As Confucius said, “is Ren really far away? No sooner do I desire it
than it is here” (7:30; Lau, 1979, p.90). He also believed that the practice of Ren requires
no special ability. “The Master said, ‘I have never met a man who finds Ren attractive ora man who finds non-Ren repulsive. A man who finds Ren attractive cannot be surpassed.
A man who finds non-Ren repulsive can, perhaps, be counted as Ren, for he would notallow what is not Ren to contaminate his person. Is there a man who, for the space of asingle day, is able to devote all his strength to Ren? I have not come across such a man
whose strength proves insufficient for the task. There must be such cases of insufficientstrength, only I have not come across them’” (4:6, Lau, 1979, pp.72-73). However,Confucius did required more upon the elite than upon common people. As one of his
disciples, Tseng Tzu (曾子) said, “A Gentleman must be strong and resolute, for hisburden is heavy and the road is long. He takes Ren as his burden. Is that not heavy? Only
with death does the road come to an end. Is that not long?”(8:7, Lau, 1979, p.93) In Tseng
Tzu’ view, a gentleman has the responsibility to practice and carry forward Ren.
Confucius even said that, “When faced with the opportunity to practice Ren do not give
precedence even to your teacher” (15:36; Lau, 1979, p.137). This saying reveals
2Interestingly, Ren (仁) and People (⼈) pronounce the same in Chinese.

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Confucius’ encouragement to his disciples to practice Ren in their coming days and it isinteresting to compare it with Aristotle’s famous saying that “Plato is dear to me, butdearer still is truth”.
Secondly, Confucius emphasized the restraint of desire, and he put the observanceto the rites as an important act in political life. According to him, those selfish desires,
including lust, avarice, and greed for power, are the worst enemies of Ren. Xun zi(荀子),a Confucian philosopher after Confucius analyzed that, once the selfish desires went outof control, they would expand crazily and dominate our attitudes, affections and value
judgments, make us the slaves of our desires. It would break our sympathy to others andthe community we live in. Based upon this, when Yen Yuan(顏淵) asked about Ren, theMaster said, “To return to the observance of the rites through overcoming the self
constitutes Ren. If for a single day a man could return to the observance of the rites
through overcoming himself, then the whole Empire would consider Re to be his.
However, the practice of Ren depends on oneself alone, and not on others” Yen Yuan said,“I should like you to list the items.” The Master said, “Do not look unless it is inaccordance with the rites; do not listen unless it is in accordance with the rites; do not
speak unless it is in accordance with the rites; do not move unless it is in accordance withthe rites” (12:1, Lau, 1979, p.112). The restraint is not equal to elimination. To restrain
our desires is to keep them in control, not evolving into a disastrous ending. In this sense,“to overcome the self” in Confucianism is different from “to destroy the desire” inBuddhism and “to eliminate the desire” in Daoism. In Confucius’ view, one should
restrain his desires to the extent as not to violate the rites. One should not look, hear anddo anything, as long as the rites do not allow. No doubt that the rites here refers to theRites of Zhou(周礼), which represents the ideal society for Confucius.
Thirdly, Confucius emphasized that the persistence to practice Ren is very important.
Since Ren comes from everyone’s heart, it is never something too difficult to achieve forcommon people. Nevertheless, Confucius admitted that to persist on Ren is of difficulty.
He praised his disciple Yen Hui (顏回)3 that “in his heart for three months at a time Huidoes not lapse from Ren. The others attain Ren merely by fits and starts”(6:7; Lau, 1979,p.82). A gentleman like Yen Hui could persist on Ren for three months, while common
people just did it occasionally. Hence, those who want to become a man of Ren, should
practice consistently, reflect and restrain himself during his whole life. “The Master said,
3

Yen Hui (顏回) and Yen Yuan(顏淵) was actually the same person. Hui was his first name. In ancient China,
only people in higher position could call others in their first names. Therefore, Confucius could call him “Hui”.
While, Yuan is his courtesy name(字).

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Confucius’s Concept of Ren and its Application in Education

23‘Wealth and high station are what men desire but unless I got them in the right way I
would not remain in them. Poverty and low station are what men dislike, but even if I did
not get them in the right way I would not try to escape from them. If the gentleman
forsakes Ren, in what way can he make a name for himself? The gentleman never deserts
Ren, not even for as long as it takes to eat a meal. If he hurries and stumbles one may be
sure that it is in Ren that he does so’”(4:5, Lau, 1979, p.72). This saying means that agentleman should always be with Ren. His daily life should be in accordance with Ren,even in troublesome or dangerous situations.
Fourthly, Confucius emphasized the function of learning in understanding andpracticing Ren. As we know, Confucius himself loved studying very much. He learnt
from books, and also those of different occupations in the society. “The Master said,‘Even when walking in the company of two other men, I am bound to be able to learn
from them. The good points of the one I copy; the bad points of the other I correct inmyself’”(7:22, Lau, 1979, p.88). Though only a few people could be called Ren,
Confucius numbered three historical persons. “The Viscount of Wei(微子) left him, theViscount of Chi(箕子) became a slave on account of him and Pi Kan(比干) lost his life
for remonstrating with him. Confucius commented, ‘there were three men of Ren’”(18:1,
Lau, p.149). All of them lived in the time of King Zhou(紂王, ?–1046 BC), who was thelast king of the Shang(商) Dynasty and also one of the most famous tyrants in Chinese
history. Wei was King Zhou’s brother, but chose to leave the government; Chi and Pi Kan
were King Zhou’s uncles and never gave up criticizing his policies. Finally, Chi was put
into prison and Pi Kan was killed. They enjoyed Confucius’ praise probably because theydared to correct King Zhou’s ruthless doings, even making the supreme sacrifice. Anotherhistorical figure that Confucius praised was Kuan Chung(管仲, 720 BC ?–645 BC).
“Tzu-lu(子路) said, ‘When Duke Huan(桓公) had Prince Chiu(糾) killed, Shao Hu(召忽) died for the Prince but Kuan Chung failed to do so.’ He added, ‘In that case, did hefall short of Ren?’ The Master said, ‘It was due to Kuan Chung that Duke Huan was able,
without a show of force, to assemble the feudal lords nine times. Such was his Ren. Such
was his Ren’(14:16, Lau, p. 126). Owing to Kuan Chung’s efforts, Duke Huan could berecognized as the Hegemon by other states, which avoided a lot of probable wars thatwere disasters for common people. This met Confucius’ requirements of politics of Ren.
Besides, when “Tzu-kung asked about the practice of Ren. The Master said, ‘A craftsman
who wishes to practice his craft well must first sharpen his tools. You should, therefore,
seek the patronage of the most distinguished Counsellors and make friends with thegentlemen of the most Ren in the state where you happen to be staying’”(15:10, Lau,
1979, p.133).
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Fifthly, Confucius made some other important statements when talking about thepractice of Ren. For example, he said that “being good as a son and obedient as a young
man is, perhaps, the root of a man’s Ren”(1:2; Lau, 1979, p.59). It means that Ren always
begins with those very trifles in our daily lives. He also said that “It is rare, indeed, for a
man with cunning words and an ingratiating face to be of Ren”(1:3; Lau, p.59). Our inner
affections, respects and concerns, rather than those “cunning words and an ingratiatingface”, constitute Ren. In some other places, Confucius said that “of neighborhoods Ren
is the most beautiful. How can the man be considered wise who, when he has the choice,does not settle in Ren?”(4:1, Lau, 1979, p.72) It shows that a harmonious society
contributes a lot to the growth of a person of Ren. It was also believed by Confucius that“the man of Ren reaps the benefit only after overcoming difficulties. That can be calledRen”(4:22; Lau, 1979, p.84). A gentleman of Ren would always prefer to overcome any
difficulties if that is required by Ren and seldom consider about the benefits he can get.
All those sayings become a supplementary part of the essential of Ren, and makeConfucius’s concept of Ren of richer contents and higher operability.

4. Ren’s Application in Education
Based upon the analyses above, Confucius’ Ren is neither an isolated virtue, nor ageneric term of all the other virtues. Ever since Mencius, Chinese People tended to put“Ren, Justice, Proper Rite, Knowledge and Integrity(仁,義,禮,智,信)” 4 together.
However, unlike other moral virtues or Five Human Relationships( 五 倫 ) 5 ofConfucianism, Ren does not refer to any particular ethical relationship between people.
Ren is neither a generic term of other virtues. To achieve Ren is not like a game ofcollection of other virtues, which would make the concept of Ren very demanding.
However, Ren is never isolated from others, rather they have very close and innerconnections. Confucius once said that, “what can a man do with the rites who is not ofRen? What can a man do with music who is not of Ren?”(3:3, p.67) It means that Ren
plays as the essential of all the rites and music. It is also the source of all the virtues andbenevolence. Without Ren, without the sympathy and concerns to others, neither can one
understand all the virtues nor practice those virtues and become a man of morality.
Modern Chinese philosopher FENG You-lan (馮友蘭) has commented that “a man of

45

Sometimes, Integrity(信) is not included here.
The concept of Five Human Relationships was propounded by Mencius, which refers to five fundamental
relationships between people: King-Subject, Father-Son, Elder-Younger brothers, Husband-Wife and friends.

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Ren is a man of public spirit. However, he will show his affections and concerns to others.
Whether a man is of justice is only about whether he has the public spirit. While, theconcept of Ren is more than that. Ren contains an emotional feeling to others. This isabout the nature of man in his moral behaviors. Therefore, CHENG Yi (程頤) said that
Ren is the public spirit embodied in people’s feelings. And ZHU Xi said that the core of
Ren is about people” (Feng, 2007, pp.118-119).
Confucius’ concept of Ren influenced the Confucianism theory and Chinese
people’s sense of order in their daily lives greatly. Mencius applied it into politics andemphasized the significance of the common citizens in the state. When talking with KingHui of Liang(梁惠王), Mencius said that, “what is the point of mentioning the word
‘profit’? All that matters is that there should be Ren and Justice”6(1: A: 1; Lau, 1970,p.49). He held a view that “the Three Dynasties won the Empire through Ren and lost it
through cruelty. This is true of the rise and fall, survival and collapse, of states as well. An
emperor cannot keep the Empire within the Four Seas unless he is of Ren; a feudal lordcannot preserve the altars to the gods of earth and grain unless he is of Ren; a Minister ofa Counsellor cannot preserve his ancestral temple unless he is of Ren; a Gentleman or a
Commoner cannot preserve his four limbs unless he is of Ren. To dislike death yet revelin cruelty is no different from drinking beyond your capacity despite your dislike ofdrunkenness” (4: A: 3; Lau, 1970, p.119). According to this, Mencius made his famous
claiming that “the people are of supreme importance; the altars to the gods of earth andgrain come next; last comes the ruler” (7: B: 14; Lau, 1970, p.196). Its influence continues
until now. Confucius’ concept of Ren has been widely applied into different aspects ofChinese society, including our ethics, business, education and medicine. People resent
those who make profits through deviating from Ren. On the contrary, those who sacrifice
their lives to pursue Ren are always respected and admired.
Confucius’ Ren is also of great importance in education.
Firstly, it inspires us to think about some fundamental problems in philosophy andphilosophy of education, which includes “what is the nature of human being?” “Howdoes a man reaches maturity?”. Particularly about the nature of man, different
philosophers have offered different ideas from a very ancient time. In the west, answers
have come as “reason” (Aristotle, Descartes), “naturalness” (Montaigne, Rousseau),“culture” (Ernst Cassirer, Eduard Spranger), “labor” (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels),“play” (Schiller, Johan Huizinga), or “economic man” (Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall).
6

All the translation of Mencius is also basically from the Penguin Classics Edition (1970), translated by D. C.
Lau.

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Z. SHIFor Chinese philosophers, some defined the nature of human as good; some as evil; some
said there exists neither goodness nor evilness; some said that goodness and evilness are
mixed together. While for Daoism, the nature of human should be in correspondence with
the Nature. Compared with them, Confucius did not offer a very clear proposition on it,
and he just said that “men are close to one another by nature. They diverge as a result of
repeated practice” (17:3; Lau, 1979, p.144) which means that the natures of different
people are very close to each other. The sympathy in his Ren also suggests that there exist
some fundamental feelings, attitudes and value judgments that can connect our humanbeings. For Mencius, this became the standard to tell the difference between human andbrutes. He said that “slight is the difference between man and the brutes. The common
man loses this distinguishing feature, while the gentleman retains it. Shun( 舜 ) 7
understood the way of things and had a keen insight into human relationships. He
followed the path of morality. He did not just put morality into practice”(4: B: 19; Lau,
1970, p.131). Modern Chinese scholar QIAN Mu(錢穆) also agreed that “a society
cannot be built without Ren; human beings cannot last long without a society; education
cannot exist without a time that is long enough. Therefore, Ren is the source of our humanculture and a common human nature across different cultures.” Since Ren is such acommon human nature, it will normally define the maturity of human beings. “To
become a man”, is some kind of mission that one needs to accomplish in correspondencewith Ren, rather than a natural result.
Secondly, Ren tells us the importance of sympathy in education. In my opinion, in
the western philosophy of moral education, no matter in virtue ethics, deontologicalethics, utilitarianism, or in the school of values clarification, the moral affection has
always been ignored. Compared with the western philosophical tradition founded upon
logos, Confucius’ concept of Ren is not exactly a theory abstracted based upon logics. It
contains a great amount of affections, showing one’s respect, concerns, forgiveness,
responsibilities and hopes to others. A man of Ren acts not only according to someprinciples, but all to his inner emotional feelings. In private and public lives, the idea of“to love others”, the principle of “do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire”
and “to help others to take their stand in so far as he himself wishes to take his stand, andget others there in so far as he himself wishes to get there” are founded upon sympathyof our human beings. Sympathy functions as a mental mechanism which connects us
with others and adjusts our behavior. As Adam Smith said, “and hence it is, that to feelmuch for others and little for ourselves, that to restrain our selfish, and to indulge our
7

Shun, also known as Emperor Shun, was a legendary leader of ancient China.

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Confucius’s Concept of Ren and its Application in Education27

benevolent affections, constitutes the perfection of human nature; and can alone produce
among mankind that harmony of sentiments and passions in which consists their wholegrace and propriety”(Smith, 1801, p.38). The lack of sympathy, or the lack of Ren, might
be one key reason why the ethic knowledge and action separate and inhospitality
dominates our society.
Thirdly, the concept of Ren makes us reflect upon the value judgment in our modern
education. Modern education developed with the modern society, which is basicallyfounded upon individualism, utilitarianism, scientificism and performancism. Itemphasizes the priority of individual, utility, intelligence and performances. Comparedwith this tradition, Confucius’ concept of Ren emphasized the priority of others, moral,
harmony and the development of human nature (see Chen, 2015, pp.36-74). Therefore,
it will help us to solve those problems, like the conflicts between people because ofindividualism, the inequality in our society because of the extreme utilitarianism, theoppression upon human spirits because of scientificism, and the ignorance of thedevelopment of human nature because of performancism. It will lay a foundation for
personal development, a harmonious society and a collaborative development of humanbeings.

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Feng, Youlan (2007). A New Treatise on the Nature of Man (新原人). Beijing: SDX
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Lau, D.C. (trans.) (1970), Mencius. New York: Penguin.
Lau, D.C. (trans.) (1979), The Analects. New York: Penguin.
Li, Zehou (2004). Notes on The Analects. Beijing: SDX Jointed Publishing.
LIU, Zhaowei (2008). On The Analects. Beijing: People's Education Press.
Nussbaum, Martha C. (2010). Not For Profit. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Qian, Mu (2009). Culture and Education. Beijing: SDX Jointed Publishing.
Smith, Adam (1801).The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: A. Strahan.
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