Confucianism has been followed by Chinese people for more than two thousand years.
儒家思想已经被中国人追随了两千多年。
To help people understand how to behave towards others, Confucianism teaches the Five Constants. These are ren, yi, li, zhi and xin. They are general virtues around the world. The most important two are ren and li.
为了帮助人们理解如何对待他人，儒家教导人们“五常”：仁义礼智信。它们是全世界的通用美德。最重要的两项是仁和礼。
Ren is the feeling of care and love we should have for others. Confucius explained ren could best be understood as loving others. He is famous for teaching people “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others”. It is quite similar to what is known in the West as the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated).
仁是一种我们应该对他人有关爱的感觉。孔子解释说，仁的最好理解是爱他人。他以教导人们“己所不欲，勿施于人”而闻名。这与西方所谓的黄金法则（希望别人怎样对待你就怎样对待别人）非常相似。
While the meaning of ren is easy to understand, li is a little harder to express. It can be thought of as duty or even respect. Generally, li is the way we should connect with people in our everyday life. In Confucian writings, discussions about li include the proper way to drink tea and how to remember ancestors. While ren is mostly about our opinions and feelings, li is about how we express our opinions and feelings towards others and towards the world around us.
虽然“仁”的意思很容易理解，但“礼”的意思有点难以表达。这可以被认为是责任，甚至是尊重。一般来说，礼是我们日常生活中与人联系的方式。在儒家著作中，关于礼的讨论包括喝茶的正确方式和如何缅怀祖先。仁主要是关于我们的观点和感受，而礼则是关于我们如何表达我们对他人和周围世界的观点和感觉。
Perhaps the most well-known Confucian virtue is xiao. This is the duty children have to their parents. Xiao means loving, respecting, obeying and taking care of one’s parents in their old age. In Confucianism, xiao is important for a harmonious society: Without it, the whole world would fall into a mess.
最著名的儒家美德也许是孝，这是孩子们对父母的责任。孝的意思是爱父母、尊重父母、顺从父母、照顾父母。在儒家思想中，孝对于和谐社会很重要：没有它，整个世界将陷入一片混乱。
