Confucius’ Thought on Ren and Its Value for Modern Education

Abstract

Confucius was a great thinker and educator in ancient China. He began private education and founded a tradition of learning known as Confucianism, which has brought far and profound influence to the world as well as in China. He is regarded as the most influential cultural figure of the world. Ren (benevolence or humanity) is the core concept of Confucius’s thought system. Underlying it are notions of ai ren (“loving people”), zhong shu (“devotion and altruism”) and keji fuli (“overcoming the self and returning to ritual propriety”), which respectively constitute the essential philosophy, the basic principle and major approaches of ren . Confucius devoted most of his active years to education, through which he advocated his thought on humanity. Therefore, his educational thought is bound with human benevolence. His instruction, to some extent, was education in humanity and love, one that brimmed with a humanitarian spirit and humanistic concern. His thoughts on ren have been disseminated to the world along with his educational philosophy, which still glows with enlightenment for moral instruction in modern societies where educational equity and fairness, all-round human development, life-long learning, and internationalization are promoted.