“Measuring Human Relations: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Reading of the Lunyu”

In Chinese literature the locus classicus of what in the West has been called "The Golden Rule" is traditionally considered a passage from the Lunyu (Analects) in which Zigong, one of Confucius' favourite disciples, asks his Master for a principle that can guide man's behaviour. In the sentence "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others", the Master defined shu, a character variably translated as 'reciprocity', 'empathy', 'consideration of others' or ' do unto others as you would have others do unto you'. Shu is one of the mostly debated and controversial assetions of Conufucian ethics, not only because of the alleged analogy with the biblical "golden rule", but also because of its semantic richness, as we discover from reading the Analects and other writings. However, shu alone does not fully express the Chinese notion of concern and love for others. Shu, zhong and ren are concepts which concur to define our perception of the Chinese golden rule in Confucian thought.