Editor’s note:

    In celebration of the international debut of Shenzhen-created symphony “Ode to Humanity” in Paris on Sept. 21 for the International Day of Peace, Shenzhen Daily begins a column starting today to introduce the five movements of the symphony.

    Taken from the core concepts of Confucianism, which are ren, yi, li, zhi and xin — benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and integrity — the symphony, consisting of a prelude, five movements and a coda, uses each movement to explore and interpret the spirit of ren, yi, li, zhi and xin through music.

    Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    REN (benevolence) was a moral concept for ancient Chinese that gradually became an important moral standard and philosophy concept for later societies.

    It is the Confucian virtue denoting the good feeling a virtuous human experiences when being altruistic.

    Confucius defined ren as love, saying it meant to “love others.” He warned an individual “wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, seeks also to enlarge others.”

    Another meaning of ren is “not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself,” and “ren is not far off, he who seeks it has already found it.”

    In Confucianism, ren relies heavily on the relationship between two people, but at the same time encompasses much more than that. It represents an inner drive towards an altruistic goal, while simultaneously realizing that one is connected to others, and that we each have these relationships to fall back on.

    Chinese people believe that ren is not a concept that is learnt. It is innate — everyone is born with the sense of ren. Confucius believed that the key to long-lasting integrity was to constantly think, since the world is a continually changing place.

    Ren is also the basis of Confucian political theory — the ruler is exhorted to refrain from acting inhumanely towards his subjects. He said that “a ruler lacking such a mandate need not be obeyed, but a ruler who reigns humanely and takes care of the people is to be obeyed, for the benevolence of his dominion shows that he has been mandated by heaven.”

    “Ren represents the modern Chinese idea of being ‘people-oriented,’ and not just to love others like mothers love children,” the lyricists of the symphony said. “Compared with modern Chinese values, ren is philanthropy and tolerance, accepting and understanding everything inside the universe.”

    When composing the symphony “Ode to Humanity,” the composer uses violins and cellos to interpret the deep meaning of ren. “There are some deep moments in the solemn melody in the first movement to show the spirit of sacrifice in ren,” the composer said.