On the Origin of Ren 仁: A Practice of Human Sacrifice and Martyrdom in Early Chinese History
“仁”字探源：“仁”系中國早期歷史人祭與殉道的一種習俗
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Author: Gang Xu 徐罡
Date of Original Release: 2018-04-10 Site of Original Release: http://er4a2.net/bsc2019041003.html |
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ABSTRACT. Ren仁 is the founding pillar of Confucianism. In spite of its popularity in Chinese culture, the notion has only been grossly, and vaguely as well, defined as a virtue of benevolence and altruism. The concept remains to be specified in terms of its denotation, connotation and semantic evolution. In this communication, the author analyzes an early remark by Confucius, examines the earliest Chinese characters for Ren from archaeological discoveries in the past decades, and reviews the literature that has been rediscovered by scholars in the field. He concludes
that Ren originally denotes a practice of sacrifice and martyrdom where a man of respectable social standing sacrificed himself to defend the societal |
expectations or code of honor, often in a time of social crisis, to honor the heaven and the earth. His finding also posits a link between Confucianism and Christianity in the early evolution of humanity. While Jesus made the final sacrifice once-for-all and called an end to the savage human sacrifice in the West, Confucius redefined the early notion of Ren to a vicarious experience of empathy and rejected the expectation of insignificant sacrifice in politics and civil services in China.
KEYWORDS. Ren仁, Confucianism, 克己復禮, DongYi 東夷, martyrdom, human sacrifice, Bushido, Christianity, humanity |
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On the Origin of Ren仁: A Practice of Human Sacrifice and Martyrdom in Early Chinese History
“仁”字探源：“仁”系中國早期歷史人祭與殉道的一種習俗 作者：徐罡 摘要：“仁”是儒學的核心支柱概念。儘管其在中國文化中眾所周知，“仁”的概念僅僅泛泛且模糊地被定義為善良與無私的美德，其內涵、外延及字義演化尚待明確說明。在本文中，作者分析了孔子的早期論述，研究了最近幾十年考古發現的最早“仁”字，並且回顧了該領域學者重新發現的一些文獻，得出結論：“仁”原指人祭與殉道的一種習俗，即一個有令人尊敬的社會地位的人，往往在社會出現危機時，為了捍衛社會期望及榮譽準則而犧牲自己，以敬天祭地。作者在儒學與基督教在人道主義的早期演化中也提出了一個共同點：在西方，耶穌為眾人一次性作出犧牲、叫停了野蠻的人祭；在中國，孔子將“仁”的早期概念重新定義為替入式體會別人感受的經歷，暨英文的 “empathy”，拒絕了在政治及文官體制中讓別人作出無意義生命犧牲的期望。 關鍵詞：Confucius孔子, Confucianism儒學, Ren仁, 克己復禮, DongYi 東夷, martyrdom殉道, human sacrifice 人祭, Bushido武士道, Christianity基督教, humanity人道 |
On the Origin of Ren仁: A Practice of Human Sacrifice and Martyrdom in Early Chinese History
“仁”字探源：“仁”系中国早期历史人祭与殉道的一种习俗 作者：徐罡 摘要：“仁”是儒学的核心支柱概念。尽管其在中国文化中众所周知，“仁”的概念仅仅泛泛且模糊地被定义为善良与无私的美德，其内涵、外延及字义演化尚待明确说明。在本文中，作者分析了孔子的早期论述，研究了最近几十年考古发现的最早“仁”字，并且回顾了该领域学者重新发现的一些文献，得出结论：“仁”原指人祭与殉道的一种习俗，即一个有令人尊敬的社会地位的人，往往在社会出现危机时，为了捍卫社会期望及荣誉准则而牺牲自己，以敬天祭地。作者在儒学与基督教在人道主义的早期演化中也提出了一个共同点：在西方，耶稣为众人一次性作出牺牲、叫停了野蛮的人祭；在中国，孔子将“仁”的早期概念重新定义为替入式体会别人感受的经历，暨英文的 “empathy”，拒绝了在政治及文官体制中让别人作出无意义生命牺牲的期望。 关键词：Confucius孔子, Confucianism儒学, Ren仁, 克己復禮, DongYi 東夷, martyrdom殉道, human sacrifice 人祭, Bushido武士道, Christianity基督教, humanity人道 |
