Asian Humankind Symbol

The ancient pictographic character for a human or for humankind is virtually the same in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Okinawan, Miyakoan, and many other east Asian languages.

In Chinese, pictographic characters of the alphabet are called “hanzi.” In Japanese they are called “kanji.” They are called “hanja” in Korean, and “Han Nom” in Vietnamese.

In Mandarin, this humankind character is called “ren.” In Japanese, it’s called “hito,” “nin,” or “jin,” depending on how it is used.

We love the exquisite simplicity of this primeval character, its universality, and the visual truth it conveys that all of us everywhere, men and women alike, share far more than what separates us. We are One People, and the “ren” or “hito” character expresses that elemental truth beautifully and powerfully.