Doctrine of the Mean - Part 1
Author: zmzlois
Confucius thinks there is a rare chance the world will be replenished to how it should be.
Doctrine Of The Mean — Part 1
Published in Ancient Chinese Culture
4 min read
The Doctrine of The Mean is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and an unneglectable work in Confucianism. Zhu Xi (AC 1130–1200) considered The Doctrine of The Mean “Extremely considerate and illustrated authentically. It concerns matters far beyond humankind. Thus it was thoroughly written.”
Chapter 1
命之谓性，性之谓道，修道之谓教。
道也者，不可须臾离也，可离非道也。是故君子戒慎乎其所不睹，恐惧乎其所不闻。莫见乎隐，莫显乎微。故君子慎其独也。
喜怒哀乐之未发，谓之中；发而皆中节，谓之和。中也者，天下之大本也；和也者，天下之达道也。致中和，天地位焉，万物育焉。
People’s nature is called “Xing”(Phonetical translation); if you do things by following “Xing” is called “Dao”; if you practice “Dao” and do things according to “Dao”, you will form your principles.
It is best not to abandon “Dao” for even a second — if you can abandon it, it is not “Dao”. So great people are cautious even when alone; they are respectful even when unheard, and the character is more obvious and apparent in the more hidden details. When you don’t have much emotion, you achieve “mean”, the balance; if you show your emotions appropriately, it is “harmony”. Mood swing is inevitable for everyone, but “Harmony” is a state everyone should practice. If you can be “Mean” and “Harmony” simultaneously, everything else will follow, and the world's peace originates from them.
Chapter 2
仲尼曰：“君于中庸，小人反中庸。君子之中庸也，君子而时中。小人之中庸也，小人而无忌惮也。
Confucius said, ‘Gentleman pursue mean. Mundane disobey mean. Gentlemen are great at being appropriate and not overdoing things, but mundane acts of impulsiveness and aggression and be extreme.’ Thus this book is about ‘mean’ — the quest of being appropriate.
Chapter 3
子日，“中庸其至矣乎！民鲜能久矣！”
Confucius said, ‘Being appropriate is probably the highest virtue! We have been lacking it for a long time!’
Chapter 4
子曰：“道之不行也，我知之矣，知者过之，愚者不及也。道之不明也，我知之矣：贤者过之，不肖者不及也。人莫不饮食也，鲜能知味也。”
Confucius said, ‘I finally understood why we couldn’t practice Dao. Smart people are often boastful and overdo things. Dumb people are not smart enough to understand it and execute it. It is almost like everyone needs to eat every day, but not everyone can taste the flavour.’
Chapter 5
子曰：“道其不行矣夫！”
Confucius thinks there is a rare chance the world will be replenished to how it should be.
Chapter 6
子日：“舜其大知也与！舜好问而好察迩言，隐恶而扬善，执其两端，用其中于民。其斯以为舜乎！”
Confucius said Emporer Shun has great wisdom. He was great at asking questions and analysing the underlying context of others’ words. He hides others’ evil, advertises their strength, harnesses both negative and positive ideas in his mind, and finds the most beneficial ones for his people. This is probably why he is great.
The art of balance is the art of leadership. And it requires extraordinary wisdom to do so. It is challenging to listen to both sides of advice because you will need to understand the art of balance and yourself deeply, and have rich experiences and have an astounding ability to understand things. It is also not easy to hide others’ evil doing and be open about others’ advantages. It would help if you were lenient, mentally stable and merciful. The ordinaries often speak of evils and forget about others’ benefits, not to mention have great leadership.
Wisdom alone is not enough to achieve balance; you must also be benevolent.
Chapter 7
子日：“人皆日：‘予知。’驱而纳诸罟擭陷阶之中，而莫之知辟也。人皆曰：‘予知。’择乎中庸，而不能期月守也。”
Confucius said, ‘Everyone thinks they are smart but don’t even know how to escape traps. Even if they choose to act appropriately, they can’t persist for a month.’
Being egocentric would lead people to the wrong path and doesn’t know when to stop. So it doesn’t align with the Doctrine of The Mean. On the other hand, even if you know when to stop and choose Dao as your living principle, you might go on a long way because of over-competitiveness and unfulfilled desires. So you might unconsciously diverge from Dao.
Chapter 8
子日：“回人也，择乎中庸，得一善，则拳拳服膺而弗失之矣。”
Confucius said, ‘Yan Hui (Confucius’ best student) chose to follow the Doctrine of The Mean and found it beneficial. So he keeps on following it and never loses it.’
Chapter 9
子曰，“天下国家可均也，爵禄可辞也，白刃可蹈也，中庸不可能也。”
Confucius said, ‘One can manage a nation; abandon status and money; step on spikes and swords. But the art of balance is hard to achieve.’
He puts the art of balance in the highest state. Although for us, it might not necessary to consider it in this way.
Chapter 10
子路问强。子曰：“南方之强与？北方之强与？抑而强与？宽柔以教，不报无道，南方之强也，君子居之。衽金革，死而不厌，北方之强也，而强者居之。故君子和而不流，强哉矫！中立而不倚，强哉矫！国有道，不变塞焉，强哉矫！国无道，至死不变，强哉矫！”
One of Confucius’ students Zilu is impulsive and loves martial arts. One day he asked Confucius what counts as powerful. Confucius answered, ‘ The southerners help people with benevolence and don’t come across as vengeful even when bad things happen. They are powerful in a way that they are noble. The northerners slept on weapons and armour, and they’d die for their mission. They are powerful in physical strength. I wouldn’t say either of them is powerful. The actual powerful people are kind and merciful but won’t be pushed onto trends or easily influenced by others. They can remember where they are coming from and also stay where they are. When a country’s resource is abundant and politically stable, a powerful emperor can be persistent and not indulge in sexual pleasure or capital. If a country leader can be consistent in helping citizens and hold on to his belief when a country is disrupted, that’s powerful.’
To be continued.