The Life‐giving Force of “ Ren ” and Dai Zhen’s Conception of Desire

Abstract This article examines the vitalistic meaning of “ ren ” (仁) with its focus of discussion on the 18th century Confucian thinker Dai Zhen’s (戴震 1724–1777) reading of the concept. I argue that Dai Zhen, in both continuation with and departure from the Neo‐Confucian thought on the vitalism of ren provides a unique interpretation of this key Confucian notion in terms of the creative creativity of shengsheng (生生) and thereby throws a fresh light on the age‐old subject of human desire.