Benevolence and Love

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

3.0

Word count: 1.3K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Ren'ai, a term meaning "benevolent love": the feeling of kindness, compassion, care, and sympathy. The term appears in Huainanzi, "Xiuwu Xun": "Yao established filial piety, compassion, and benevolent love, and treated the people as his own children." It also appears in Shiji, "Biography of Yuan Ang": "He was benevolent and loving toward the soldiers, and the soldiers all vied to die for him." Jin dynasty, Gan Bao, In Search of the Supernatural, volume 20: "I am a messenger of the Queen Mother of the West, sent to Penglai, and I was careless and was struck by an owl. You, my lord, in your benevolent love, rescued me, and I am truly moved by your great virtue." Ming dynasty, Tang Shunzhi, "Policy Essay for the Palace Examination": "Perhaps although Heaven's heart is benevolent and loving, and wishes to aid Your Majesty's diligent labors, and to enhance the governance of the Jiajing era, could it be that the people's peril, hardship, and helplessness, which injure the harmonious qi, also have something to do with it?" Ren'ai is also the core content of Confucian thought. Confucius believed that benevolent love is the foundation of being human. Confucius was not only a proclaimer of benevolent love but also a practitioner of it.

Editor's review

This book takes "ren'ai" as its core term and gathers related formulations from traditional classics, from Huainanzi, Shiji, and In Search of the Supernatural to a Ming dynasty policy essay, presenting the multiple faces of this concept in historical texts. The materials show that ren'ai refers both to the feeling of kindness, compassion, care, and sympathy and is also regarded as the core content of Confucian thought; Confucius both proclaimed benevolent love and practiced it. The editorial value lies in placing lexical definition and classical examples side by side, letting readers see how "ren'ai" expanded from an interpersonal feeling into a governing idea. Concise in length, it is suitable as an introductory reader to a keyword of traditional culture and also for reading entry by entry during morning reading or in fragmented time. When reading, attention should be paid to contextual differences among sources, and a single example should not be taken as the whole definition.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Beginning readers of traditional culture who want a quick understanding of the origins and development of the concept of "ren'ai"
Chinese teachers and writers who need material from classical examples
Middle school and university students interested in keywords of Confucian thought
General readers who like short selections from classics and reading with notes as they go

Not a good fit for

Research-oriented readers expecting a systematic monograph on Confucian theory
Deep readers who need long-form argumentation and a complete system of thought
Readers who prefer contemporary cases and practical psychological techniques

Reading tips

Read in order of source: first look at the explanation of the term's meaning, then read the classical examples and note their contexts.
After finishing each example, restate in your own words the specific meaning of "ren'ai" in that passage.
You may read it alongside public-domain chapters of the Analects and compare Confucius's words and deeds with later formulations.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
仁爱

FAQ

What is the relationship between ren'ai and Confucian thought?

The given materials point out that ren'ai is the core content of Confucian thought; Confucius believed that benevolent love is the foundation of being human, and he was both a proclaimer and a practitioner of it. Through classical examples from Huainanzi, Shiji, and other works, the book shows the different uses of this concept, from which readers can understand how ren'ai extends from personal feeling to a governing idea.

Is this book suitable for students to accumulate material for essays?

Yes. The book gathers several examples from Huainanzi, Shiji, In Search of the Supernatural, and a Ming dynasty policy essay, each with its specific context. Students can excerpt short passages and note the sources, but they are advised to understand the original meaning as well and avoid applying them directly out of context.

Can reading only this book give a comprehensive understanding of ren'ai?

It cannot fully replace systematic reading. This book focuses on defining the keyword and on classical examples; it is concise and suitable as an entry point. To understand ren'ai's place in Confucian thought more deeply, one should continue reading public-domain classics such as the Analects and related commentaries.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.