Doctrine of the Mean
A central Confucian text on balance and virtue.
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The Doctrine of the Mean is a Confucian text that was originally a chapter from the Liji, one of the Five Classics.[1] Its authorship is controversial, with traditional attribution to Zisi, a grandson of Confucius, first questioned by Qing dynasty scholar Cui Shu.[1] The text presents the ethical core of Confucian teachings and is rich with symbolism for perfecting oneself.[1][2]
What happened
Qing dynasty scholar Cui Shu (1740–1816) first questioned this traditional authorship.[1] The text was integrated into China's education system statewide in pre-twentieth century China.[3] Study of the Four Classics, including the Doctrine of the Mean, was a prerequisite for employment in the imperial government.[3] Mao Zedong commented on the Doctrine of the Mean, calling it an eclecticism that opposes both abolishment of exploitation and excessive exploitation.[4]
Lu Xun saw the Doctrine of the Mean as a major contributing factor to an abject ethnic stereotype in modern China.[5] Zisi, who was both a grandson of Confucius and a student of Zeng Shen, is the person to whom the treatise has traditionally been credited.[1] The three societal bonds—parent-child, husband-wife, and ruler-subject—were what the imperial government aimed to strengthen through this text.[3] A critique of the doctrine was offered by Sun Yat-sen.[6]
What the cited sources add
The Legge translation states that "What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty".[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Doctrine of the Mean" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Suh, "The Confucian doctrine of the Mean, the optimality principle, and social harmony", Society and Economy, March 2020, p. 60n1; Shen, "Dao Companion to Classical Confucian Philosophy", Springer, 2013, p. 119–121; Gray, "Varieties of Religious Invention: Founders and Their Functions in History", Oxford University Press, 2016, p. 76n50; Huang, "Why Be Moral?: Learning from the Neo-Confucian Cheng Brothers", classics.mit.edu, 2014, p. 142 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Doctrine of the Mean" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Great Digest and Unwobbling Pivot, 1951. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Doctrine of the Mean" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Doctrine of the Mean" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Doctrine of the Mean" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Xun, "Wu sheng di Zhongguo", Hua yi chu ban she, 1995 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Doctrine of the Mean" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 中央文物供應社總經銷, 1979, p. 113 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Legge, "THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN", sacred-texts.com. facts only, no text reused. sacred-texts.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Doctrine of the Mean (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Doctrine of the Mean (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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