Abstract: In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith founded his ethics on "sympathy", an approach appealing to the affective rather than the rational domain. Being so similar to that of ren in Confucism, it has been noted by scholars that Adam Smith may be under the influence of Mencius. Starting from tracing the academic links of Adam Smith, this article attempts to explore the convergence of his theory and ren of Confucism, which include: sympathy(ren), do to others as you would like others to do to you, natural human affection as moral standard, man as one should be, self-sufficient internal value, Nature, universal value, etc.

Key words: Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, ren, Confucism