What is Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) (中庸)?
The Zhongyong (中庸, Doctrine of the Mean) is a Confucian text preserved as chapter 31 of the Book of Rites and later canonized as one of the Four Books. It explores centrality, harmony, sincerity, and the cultivation of fitting responses rather than compromise or mediocrity.
Centrality is the great root of the world; harmony is its universal path.
— Zhongyong, Chapter 1 (traditional translation)
Key Takeaways
- Zhongyong (中庸) is the fourth of the Four Books, and the Song-dynasty scholar Zhu Xi (1130–1200) gave it a canonical place in his Collected Commentaries on the Four Books.
- Its opening chapter begins with the line "What Heaven has conferred is called the nature" (天命之谓性), grounding the doctrine in a view of human nature.
- Chinese: 中庸 (Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong)).
Understanding Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong)
The Zhongyong originated as a chapter of the Book of Rites (Liji) and was later grouped with the Analects, the Mencius, and the Great Learning as the Four Books, the canon promoted by the Song-dynasty scholar Zhu Xi (1130–1200). Its first chapter opens with the claim that "what Heaven has conferred is called the nature" (天命之谓性), presenting human nature as a given that can be cultivated toward the fitting mean. Throughout, the text treats moderation as a dynamic, situation-sensitive ideal — the point of balance between excess and deficiency — rather than a habit of safe compromise, and it repeatedly ties this to sincerity (cheng) as the foundation of a cultivated life.
Further Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) in Confucianism?
In Confucianism, the Zhongyong (中庸, Doctrine of the Mean) is a text that began as a chapter of the Book of Rites and was later canonized by Zhu Xi (1130–1200) as one of the Four Books, the foundation of Song-dynasty Neo-Confucian study.
What does 中庸 mean?
The two characters 中 (zhōng, "centrality") and 庸 (yōng, often rendered "constant" or "ordinary") together name the ideal of finding the fitting, situation-appropriate mean rather than a fixed halfway point.
Why is Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) important?
The Zhongyong matters because it supplied Confucianism with a systematic account of how the individual cultivates a fitting, balanced response to life, and its elevation to the Four Books by Zhu Xi shaped Neo-Confucian education in China for centuries.
Also Known As
Chinese: 中庸. Zhōngyōng, Doctrine of the Mean, 中庸