ren

(, meaning "co-humanity" or "humaneness") is a Confucian virtue meaning the good quality of a virtuous human when reaching for higher ideals or when being altruistic. is exemplified by functional, instinctual, parental feelings and intentions of encouragement and protection for their children. It is considered the outward expression of Confucian ideals. Yan Hui, one of the Four Sages, once asked his master to describe the rules of . Confucius replied, "One should see nothing improper, hear nothing improper, say nothing improper, do nothing improper." Confucius also defined in the following way: "wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others." Confucius also said, " is not far off; he who seeks it has already found it." is close to man and never leaves him. Interpretation of the Chinese character The single logogram for is a composite of two distinct common hanzi, 人 (man, a man, a person) and 二 (two), with 人 assuming its common form inside another character, to which various interpretations have been assigned. Internally can mean "to look up" or "to aspire to higher principles or ideals" and, externally one often hears that means "how two people should treat one another". While such folk etymologies are common in discussions of Chinese characters, they are often misleading. In the case of —usually translated as "benevolence" or "humaneness"—humaneness is human-ness, the essence of being human. For Confucius, the interaction of a completely dependent infant and caring parent is the most emotionally charged human interaction, "To love a thing means wanting it to live...". The Way of humaneness is human interaction and, through shared experience, knowing one's family. "Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said it is loving people. Fan Chi asked about wisdom. The Master said it is knowing people." In other words, human love and interaction is the source of humaneness, the source of the human self.