仁

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

仁 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 人一一 (OMM), four-corner 2121₀, composition ⿰亻二)

Derived characters

• 𣲚, 𣏴, 𭸹, 𥄰, 𫴮, 𠣒, 芢, 𬿎, 𦓍, 𡛉, 佞

Descendants

• に (Hiragana character derived from Man'yōgana)
• ニ (Katakana character derived from Man'yōgana)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 91, character 7
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 349
• Dae Jaweon: page 193, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 107, character 1
• Unihan data for U+4EC1

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 仁
Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Bronze inscriptions b12242 Small seal script s05656 Transcribed ancient scripts L31211 L31212 L31213 L31214 L31215 L31216 L31217 L31218 L04651 L04652 L04653 L04654 L04655
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njin) : phonetic 人 (OC *njin) + semantic 二.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/k-niŋ (“heart; brain; mind”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Cognate with Tangkhul Naga ning (“mind”), Manipuri ꯄꯨꯛꯅꯤꯡ (pookneeng, “heart; mind”), Kinnauri (stiŋ, “heart”), Garo taning (“brain”), Ngochang Achang nhaiqlom (“heart”), Bisu นืงบา (nɨŋba, “heart”). Possibly related to Tibetan ཉིང (nying, “pith, essence”) (Schuessler, 2007).

For a parallel semantic development, compare Tibetan སྙིང་རྗེ (snying rje, “compassion; kindness; mercy”), from Tibetan སྙིང (snying, “heart; mind”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

仁

1. compassionate; humane

   仁慈  ―  réncí  ―  benevolent

   • 子曰：「唯仁者能好人，能惡人。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「唯仁者能好人，能恶人。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐyuē: “Wéi rénzhě néng hào rén, néng wù rén.”

     The Master said, "It is only the (truly) virtuous man, who can love, or who can hate, others."

   • 無傷也，是乃仁術也，見牛未見羊也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     无伤也，是乃仁术也，见牛未见羊也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wúshāng yě, shì nǎi rénshù yě, jiàn niú wèi jiàn yáng yě.

     'There is no harm in their saying so,' said Mencius. 'Your conduct was an artifice of benevolence. You saw the ox, and had not seen the sheep.

2. humaneness; benevolence; kindness

   殺身成仁／杀身成仁  ―  shāshēnchéngrén  ―  to die for a righteous cause

   • 樊遲問仁。子曰：「愛人。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     樊迟问仁。子曰：「爱人。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Fán Chí wèn rén. Zǐyuē: “Àirén.”

     Fan Chi asked about benevolence. The Master said, "It is to love all men."

3. (literary) person of virtue

   • 弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     弟子入则孝，出则弟，谨而信，泛爱众，而亲仁。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Dìzǐ rù zé xiào, chū zé tì, jǐn ér xìn, fàn ài zhòng, ér qīn rén.

     A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good.

4. kernel

   白芝麻仁  ―  bái zhīmá rén  ―  white sesame seeds

Compounds

References

• “仁”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. benevolence

Readings

• Go-on: に (ni, Jōyō ^†); にん (nin)
• Kan-on: じん (jin, Jōyō)
• Nanori: きみ (kimi); く (ku); さと (sato); しのぶ (shinobu); じ (ji); と (to); のり (nori); ひと (hito); ひとし (hitoshi); ひろ (hiro); ひろし (hiroshi); まこと (makoto); まさ (masa); まさし (masashi); やす (yasu); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

Proper noun

仁(ひとし) or 仁(じん) or 仁(まさし) • (Hitoshi or Jin or Masashi) 

1. a male given name

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 仁 (MC nyin).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

仁

Wikisource

仁 (eumhun 어질 인 (eojil in))

1. Hanja form^? of 인 (“benevolence”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

仁: Hán Nôm readings: nhân, nhơn

1. benevolence

References

• Nom Foundation