REN AND YI are basic terms in Confucian thought. Ren is often translated as "benevolence" or "humaneness," and yi as "propriety" or "rightness"; in combination, the expression ren-yi refers to the Confucian way of life and is often translated as "morality."

Ren was probably cognate with another term, ren* (human beings, persons, others), and there are two main scholarly views regarding the early use of ren. One theory takes it to refer originally to the desirable attributes making one a distinctive member of certain tribes or aristocratic clans. The other takes it to refer originally to love or the tender part of human feelings, especially the kindness of a ruler toward his subjects. The term is used in the Analects of Confucius (sixth to fifth century BCE) more often in a broader sense, but sometimes in a narrower sense. In the broader sense, it...