The Transformation of Aesthetic Ren (仁) to Moral Ren (仁): A Practical and Contextual Perspective

This paper examines the transformation of ren from the pre-Confucian, amoral description of manly beauty to the Confucian moral denotation. The investigation adopts a contextual and practical perspective to reveal the human context as a moral and practical connotation underlying the aesthetic and amoral origin of ren, which was selected and transformed to bear moral significance in Confucian thinking.