仁 rén — humaneness · English

仁

rén

humaneness

At a glance · 仁

Listen

Audio is synthesized in your browser: Mandarin for the character and Shuowen text, native voices for every translation. No downloads.

Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

「仁」从人从二，金文象二人相亲，孔子以爱人释之。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

「仁」本义为爱人、仁慈，儒家核心德行。

Structure

从人、从二，会意字，二人相耦相亲，本为仁爱人。

At a glance

Pinyinrén

Radical亻

Strokes4

UnicodeU+4EC1

Character type会意

Theme德行

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English humaneness humaneness, benevolence, kindness

Français bienveillance Bienveillance, humanité. «仁慈隐恻» : la bonté et la pitié.

Español benevolencia Benevolencia, humanidad. «仁慈隐恻»: la bondad y la piedad.

العربية إحسان إحسان، إنسانية. «仁慈隐恻»: اللطف والرحمة.

Русский гуманность Гуманность, человеколюбие. «仁慈隐恻»: доброта и сострадание.

Common words

仁慈rén cíbenevolent
仁爱rén àikind

◉ Listen