The benevolent man loves others.

This allusion comes from Meng Zi (The Book of Mencius). The Confucian thinker, statesman and educator Mencius (c. 372-289 BC), also known as Meng Ke, talked in the book about the difference between a man of virtue and an ordinary person: The man of virtue always treats others with kindness, because he has ren (benevolence) and li (rites) in his heart.

This is a well-known saying attributed to Mencius, but the idea originally came from Confucius (551-479 BC), also known as Kong Qiu, a thinker, educator and statesman and the founder of Confucianism. The benevolent man has virtue, wisdom, courage, integrity and personal charms, and cares for others. Ren, or benevolence, is the highest moral value and greatest virtue cherished in Confucian culture. Its basic meaning is to love others. One should show filial piety to one's parents, respect one's elder brothers, and extend love and care to other family members and eventually to everyone else under heaven.

This is one of the quotations from Chinese classics cited by Xi Jinping at a teacher-student seminar in Peking University in May 2014. Since ancient times, this shrewd observation has been applied in governance, reminding the rulers to love the people as they love their own families and to extend such love to all beings under heaven.

仁者愛(ài)人

“仁者愛(ài)人”的典故，出自《孟子》?！叭收邜?ài)人”主要談?wù)摼优c普通人的分別，在于君子能夠保持心中的善端，而保持善端的關(guān)鍵，就是將“仁”和“禮”永存心中?！叭收邜?ài)人”這句話(huà)雖然出自《孟子》，但這一觀念卻是直接繼承孔子的?！叭收摺奔从腥实碌娜耍怯写笾谴笥?、德行完滿(mǎn)、關(guān)愛(ài)他人、有人格魅力的人?！叭省笔侨寮椅幕凶罡叩牡赖路懂牶途辰?，其以“愛(ài)人”為基本規(guī)定，意指“仁”從孝父母、敬兄長(zhǎng)開(kāi)始，進(jìn)而關(guān)愛(ài)家族其他成員，并擴(kuò)大至關(guān)心全天下的人。

“仁者愛(ài)人”，是2014年5月習(xí)近平在北京大學(xué)師生座談會(huì)上發(fā)表講話(huà)時(shí)引用的一句名言。在孟子提煉的思想命題下，其被應(yīng)用于治國(guó)理政，強(qiáng)調(diào)君子由親愛(ài)親人而仁愛(ài)百姓，由仁愛(ài)百姓而愛(ài)惜萬(wàn)物。