Doctrine of the Mean

Doctrine of the Mean
"Doctrine of the Mean" in seal script (top) and modern (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese	中庸
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin zhōngyōng Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ   ㄩㄥ Wade–Giles Chung1 Yung1 IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.jʊ́ŋ] Wu Romanization Tzon-yon Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jūngyùhng Jyutping Zung1jung4 IPA [tsoŋ˥.joŋ˩] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiong-iông Tâi-lô Tiong-iông Middle Chinese Middle Chinese ʈjung-yong Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *truŋ loŋ
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Trung Dung
Chữ Hán	中庸
Korean name
Hangul	중용
Hanja	中庸
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Jung'yong
Japanese name
Kanji	中庸
Kana	ちゅうよう
Transcriptions Romanization Chūyō

The Doctrine of the Mean or Zhongyong is one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy and a central doctrine of Confucianism. The text is attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), the only grandson of Confucius (Kong Zi). It was originally a chapter in the Classic of Rites.

The phrase "doctrine of the mean" occurs in Book VI, verse 29 of the Analects of Confucius, which states:

The Master [Confucius] said, The virtue embodied in the doctrine of the Mean is of the highest order. But it has long been rare among people

— Analects, 6:29 (Burton Watson tr.)

The Analects never expands on what this term means, but Zisi's text, The Doctrine of the Mean, explores its meaning in detail, as well as how to apply it to one's life. The application of Confucian metaphysics to politics and virtue ethics. The text was adopted into the canon of the Neo-Confucian movement, as compiled by Zhu Xi.

While Burton Watson translated Zhōngyōng as Doctrine of the Mean, other English-language translators have rendered it differently. James Legge called it Constant Mean, Pierre Ryckmans (aka Simon Leys) used Middle Way, while Arthur Waley chose Middle Use. Ezra Pound's translations include Unswerving Pivot and Unwobbling Pivot. Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall titled their 2001 translation Focusing the Familiar.