Confucius Jen - "Humanity" and

Confucius Jen - "Humanity" and "Good" and "Love' The concept of "jen" is among the most important of all of Confucian values; in ancient Chinese jen meant "freemen" and "men of the tribe." So its cultural roots are based on humanity, and as time has gone by, its meaning has evolved.

When jen is modified slightly it comes to represent "good" - and so when blended with the original meaning, jen becomes a reference which would be used to say a person is by way of "possessing the qualities of the tribe." This idea is a form of praise, and it is just like saying that "you are a true Icelander" or "you are a true gentleman." Lofty praise from sincere people to other sincere people has a Confucian value attached to it.

Love enters into the picture of this word in the Book of Songs; when jen is used as meaning "handsome and good" is means "a perfectly satisfactory lover." As meanings of words shift and change and grow, there is an expanded usage; the more uses and definitions that a word has, the wider its dissemination (but a person has to then be careful the word does not become watered down).

When time passed, jen (in reference to the tribe) jen was not just qualities of the tribe it became specific qualities of the tribe; it came to mean "kind," "gentle," and "humane." And as further time passed the usage came to be for "human being" (as opposed to "animal"). In the book by Waley it is explained that jen in the Analects means "good" but not a narrow "good" like you would say when a little girl, say, finishes her homework for the night.

"Good," her mother would say, as a way of indicating satisfaction. But "good" in the Analects, Waley writes, is the name "...of a quality so rare and peculiar" that when using it, "one cannot be but chary..." On page 28 Waley explains that jen also implies the description of a "sublime moral attitude," and a "transcendental perfection" that is attained "by legendary heroes such as Po I," but apparently jen can only be used for legends past, not for men currently alive.

The use of jen now has a mystical quality about it. And moreover, it is more perfectly understood when juxtaposed with "knowledge" - which is "active" and burns itself out - but goodness is not active, it is a "passive" state and "therefore eternal as the hills (Waley 29).

I would say that were Confucian concepts used in the colonial times in America, when the young country was ready to fight for its independence, the work of Benjamin Franklin would be jen-like, or you could say a folk hero like Ben Franklin has (or is) jen; his jen shines so brightly he helped to create the first democratic constitution in the new world; his mind exudes jen because he invented bifocals, he wrote scholarly books, he defined electricity, and had humor too.

Those who are altruistic and benevolent - who give of themselves and of their talents - and have a somewhat mystical grace to them (like maybe Mother Theresa was when she was alive; or the Dali Lama is today) would capture the spirit of jen, wholeheartedly. On page 38 of the Analects (Book IX), the Master rarely spoke of "profit or fate or goodness." And there were four things the Master avoided, which it implies that by eschewing these things goodness can be approached.

They are, never taking anything for granted; never being over-confident ("over positive"), of course never being "obstinate" (for that is a truly shameful attitude to take in any personal or social circumstance); and never being egotistic (self-love, or narcissism is akin to egotism, and in Confucian thought it is repugnant).

In Book IX (28) the Master says that "he that is really Good can never be unhappy." That doesn't mean one supposes that the truly jen person, the very Good person, goes around with a smile all the time and everything always goes right. It just means, the sense of being at peace comes when one achieves a level of goodness in life, and peace in this context relates to happiness, not to overt joy or ebullience. Book XII offers a great deal of information about Goodness, jen.

Ritual plays a pivotal role here, as the Master insists that sticking to traditional rituals is a form of Goodness. In other words, never question the values and rituals that have been part of our culture for centuries. Do not challenge or forget rituals. And moreover, Ssu-ma Niu inquired about Goodness; and the Master explained that the jen (the Good) man is "chary of speech" (chary also embraces the concept of jen), but Ssu-ma Niu wasn't doing well at understanding that reference.

So the Master, and all readers of Confucian thought now know what the Master means, right? Not completely. The Master is somewhat mysterious about the meaning, and he is not trying to be rude by his evasiveness, and yet he uses humor.

"Seeing that the doing of it is so difficult, how can one be otherwise than chary of talking about it." He is making a pun by saying the Good man is chary of speech and secondly, he is simply implying that his mysterious response is due to the fact that Ssu-ma Niu is not yet qualified to learn the true meaning; it will not be revealed at this time. It is.