The Analects of Confucius There are few who have developed themselves filially

『1-2』有子曰：「其爲人也孝弟, 而好犯上者, 鮮矣; 不好犯上, 而好作亂者, 未之有也。君子務本, 本立而道生。孝弟也者, 其爲仁之本與 」

　　[1:2] Yu Tzu said: "There are few who have developed themselves filially and fraternally who enjoy offending their superiors. Those who do not enjoy offending superiors are never troublemakers. The Superior Man concerns himself with the fundamentals. Once the fundamentals are established, the proper way (tao) appears. Are not filial piety and obedience to elders fundamental to the enactment of humaneness?"

　　[Comment] The word "humanity" in the above line is a translation of the Chinese term jen (仁), which has also been translated into English as "benevolence," "goodness," "humaneness," etc. It is a difficult concept to translate because it doesn't really refer to any specific type of virtue or positive endowment, but refers to an inner capacity possessed by all human beings to do good, as human beings should. It is what makes humans human, and not animals.

　　In the Chinese "essence-function" perception, humaneness can be understood as the innate, unmanifest source of all kinds of manifestations of virtuosity: wisdom, filial piety, reverence, courtesy, love, sincerity, etc., all of which are aspects, or functions of humaneness. Through one's efforts at practicing at the function of humaneness, one may enhance and develop one's humaneness, until one may be called a Superior Man, or even better, a "humane person." In the Analects, to be called a "humane person" by the Master is an extremely high evaluation, rarely acknowledged of any human being.