Listen to this articleqīnqīn 亲亲
Affection for One’s Kin
爱亲人，尤其是爱父母。“亲亲”既指一种自然的情感，同时也指这种情感在言行上的表现。儒家主张，应将对父母、对亲人的亲爱之情，推及他人，使之成为仁德的基础。但是，过度的“亲亲”，会导致行事上的偏私。因此，儒家提出了以“义”克服“亲亲”可能存在的局限。
This term refers to love for one’s kin and particularly for one’s parents. It is a natural affection, and it also refers to the way in which such feeling is expressed. Confucianism holds that such a love should also be extended to others so that it will foster public virtue. Excessive affection for one’s kin, however, can lead to favoritism in one’s conduct. So righteousness is proposed by Confucianism as a means to curb excessive love for one’s kin.
引例 Citations：
◎亲亲，仁也；敬长，义也。无他，达之天下也。（《孟子·尽心上》）
（亲爱父母，是仁；尊敬兄长，是义。行善没有其他要求，就是将亲亲、敬长推之于天下之人。）
To love one’s parents is benevolent; to hold one’s elder brothers in reverence is righteous. Fostering virtue requires nothing but extending one’s love for his kin to all the people in the world. (Mencius)
◎仁者人也，亲亲为大；义者宜也，尊贤为大。亲亲之杀（shài），尊贤之等，礼所生也。（《礼记·中庸》）
（仁是人天生的本性，以亲亲为最重要的表现；义是行事合宜，以尊贤为最重要的表现。亲亲要有亲疏远近的不同，尊贤也要有差等，因此就产生了礼。）
Benevolence is the nature of man, which finds expression in one’s love for his kin. Righteousness means doing the right thing on right occasions, which finds expression in one’s respect for virtuous and visionary people. Love for one’s kin and others should be extended in order of closeness of different relations, and the same should apply to respect to the virtuous and visionary people. This gives rise to rites. (The Book of Rites)
