Ren and Li
In the Analects there is divided opinion regarding the relative priority of ren
and li. Conversations associated with the disciples Ziyou and Zixia usually
emphasise the greater signifi cance of li while those involving Zengzi, Zizhang
and Yanhui show a greater commitment to ren (Schwartz 1985: 130–4). This
disagreement was later characterised as the ‘nei-wai’ (inner-outer) debate. Nei
captures the essence of the concept ren; it refers to the internal, perhaps innate,
moral sense of humanity. By contrast, wai captures the spirit of li, the
externally imposed, socially constructed norms which guide and in some
ways limit the inner self. This debate approximates the nature-nurture question
within the western tradition and its implications for moral cultivation.
Which is more fundamental to the Confucian programme, natural (inner)
moral inclination or its (outer) cultivation? Analects 6:18 makes it clear that
both basic disposition (zhi) and refi nement (wen) are necessary. Confucius
here wittily rejects overemphasis on either: