In the Far East, by contrast, we see a different version of mankind. Mengzi maintained that all human morality was held together by a single concept: ren, or natural humanistic love. Simply put, ren is a love and respect for all things human (McGreal 6). To Mengzi, a person can only achieve ren if they undergo an attainment of knowledge to the point where they reach a workable grasp of the place for each form of love. The rituals and education that bring about knowledge is li; the ultimate form of li is yi -- the highest principle governing the adoption of li. So, although Mengzi believes that all people possess a certain amount of these qualities naturally, in order to fully attain ren and yi a person must cultivate their inner courage individually.

In this respect, the way in which man's spirit is cultivated is similar to the interpretation put forward by most sects of Islam: "God created us with a fitrah, or inherent nature, which can, if neglected, over time become corrupted. The closer a person is to his or her fitrah, the purer he or she is and the closer he or she becomes to God," (Elnaggar). In some ways, this is analogous to the Hebrew interpretation of human nature -- man was made by God capable of doing...

Confucianism, for example, was powerfully influenced by the ancient Upanishadic religions. Similarly, Islam was powerfully influenced by Hebrew beliefs. Nevertheless, they all diverge in regard to the specifics of human nature, and what place the human being has in relation to God.
Works Cited

Beck, Sanderson. "Katha Upanishad." Wisdom of China and India, 2007. Available:

http://www.san.beck.org/Upan2-Katha.html#6.

Bartleby. "Genesis: the Hold Bible: King James Version." Bartleby Bookstore, 2007. Available:

http://www.bartleby.com/108/01/.

Elnaggar, Marwa. "Islam and the Human Being." IslamOnline, 2007. Available:

http://www.islamonline.net/english/introducingislam/Individual/article07.shtml.

McGreal, Ian P. Great Thinkers of the Eastern World. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.