REN: The Ancient Chinese Art of Finding Peace and Fulfilment

A beautiful look at the Ancient Chinese philosophy of Rén and how it can help us with our hectic modern lives. The Chinese character Rén combines the word for 'person' and the number 'two', representing human connection. In the teachings of ancient philosopher Confucius, Rén is the study of our relationship with those around us. This practical, beautiful and remarkable book explains the various facets and explores how it applies to everything from our relationship with ourselves, people in our lives, to how we relate to society and the wider world and how we can connect better with family, friends and colleagues and become helpful members of society and find fulfilment in ideas of community, justice, morality and compassion. It looks at roles of being independent, mindful empathy, doing something new, loyalty and trust, thoughtful criticisms, respect, multiple roles, appreciating calm and better understanding ourselves through the people around us. There are activities like smiling at strangers, changing habits and along the way useful quotations to ponder such as from The Analects: 'The learned is ashamed when their words overshadow their actions.' Easy to dip into, beautifully designed and presented, line art. 256pp.