Zhongyong and Shizhong

“Zhongyong” (中庸, the golden mean, or the doctrine of the mean) represents one of the core values of traditional Chinese culture, and is a way of living practiced by many Chinese as well. To examine the term separately, “zhong” (中) means being neutral, impartial and doing things in a medium way; “yong” (庸), means being mediocre or common. To put the two words together, the term means that doing things based on the principle of “zhong” is a common theorem.¹The general public today may consider “zhongyong (中庸)” as a negative attitude of not taking sides, not taking part in and withholding one’s opinions. So what is the essence of “zhongyong”?

To understand the term literally, the first character “zhong” (中) refers to a space in the middle position between up and down, left and right. This spatial concept is pretty close to the common sense, so it is easier to understand. The idea of “zhong” put forward in the Book of Changes (《易經》) is actually the same spatial concept, which refers to the second and fifth lines (第二、第五六爻) in a hexagram (六爻卦), emphasizing the doctrine of “zhong” in these two positions.² However, we can also understand “zhong” from the time dimension. In the classic the Doctrine of the Mean (《中庸》), when Confucius said “one should at all times follow the principle of the golden mean  (君子而時中, [時中, shizhong])”, he actually explains how a gentleman practices the doctrine of “zhong” from the perspective of time.³ As for the meaning of “shizhong”, we can get further details from the discussions between Cheng Yi (程頤, also Cheng Yichuan [程伊川], 1033-1107), the great Confucian scholar of the Song dynasty, and his disciples.

Cheng Yi told his disciples: “People of shizhong is like drinking (hot) soup in winter and drinking (cold) water in summer. If one wants to be an official then he could be; if he wants to quit then he could quit; if he wants to stay long in the official position then he could stay; if he wants to leave it soon then he could leave. These are shizhong, showing how a man of virtue at all times follows the principle of the ‘golden mean’, the supreme principle guiding people’s behavior (時中者，猶冬飲湯。夏飲水而已。可以仕則仕，可以止則止，可以久則久，可以速則速，此皆時也，未嘗不合中，故曰『君子而時中』)”^4. Here, in all these situations, Cheng Yi stresses the appropriateness, that is, whether to make the most appropriate choices at the most appropriate time. “Then, how could one seize the most appropriate time?” one of his disciples asked. Cheng Yi gave other examples. “In a hall, the middle of it is zhong. In a house, the middle of the hall is not zhong, the central room is. In a country, the central room is not zhong, the central land is. Just as in the beginning of winter, wearing a thin fur coat can be considered as zhong, however, still wearing a thin fur coat in the severe winter doesn’t serve as zhong. (試言一廳則中央為中，一家則廳中非中而堂為中，言一國則堂非中而國之中為中，推此類可見矣。且如初寒時，則薄裘為中，如在盛寒而用初寒之裘，則非中也。) ”⁵ Here, Cheng Yi first explained the concept of zhong in the view of space, which varies according to the different observing positions. Similarly, one who wears a thin fur coat in the severe winter could not dress according to the seasons and not conform to the concept of zhong. Therefore, it should be noted that “zhong” is not static and fixed. Instead, it is an ideological concept and should be dealt with in a flexible way.

Then, Cheng Yi further explained the concept via the lives of Da Yu (大禹), the first king of the Xia Dynasty (夏朝, c.2100BC-c.1600BC), and Yan Yuan (顏淵, also known as Yan Hui [顏回], 521BC-490BC or 481BC), one of the top disciples of Confucius.  Cheng commented that “When Da Yu fought against the flood, it was the right thing to pass through his own gate three times without entering while not right for him to live in a shabby street. However, when Yan Yuan lived in a chaotic time, it was right for him to live in a shabby street but not right to pass his home three times without entering. (更如三過其門不入，在禹、稷之世為中，若居陋巷，則不中矣。居陋巷，在顏子之時為中，若三過其門不入，則非中也。)”⁶ Therefore, Cheng Yi considered Da Yu’s taming flood and passing home three times without entering as “zhong” and Yan Hui’s preserving dignity in poor time and living in the poor streets as “zhong”. Instead, if they performed the opposite, then their behaviors were not right. They should have their own decisions and approaches of dealing with affairs due to their different backgrounds, experiences and encounters. In other words, different time and opportunities result in different principles of doing things. Furthermore, Cheng stressed that whether our way of doing things could meet the requirements of “zhong” or not depends on whether we act properly and timely. In this way, we can tell that “zhong” has different standards and is ever-changing in terms of different situations, occasions, and time. The key is whether we could make the best decision accordingly. To put it in today’s words, “do the right thing at the right time”, which is a wisdom for doing things.

In the end, his disciples proposed a question of ethical codes relating to the traditional gender distinction and segregation. Some said: “It is the right thing to keep distance between male and female at all time. (男女不授受之類皆然。)” Cheng Yi replied: “Sure. It is the right thing to keep distance. But in funeral occasions, it is not the case. (是也。男女不授受中也，在喪祭則不如此矣。)”⁷ The Confucian rites require that male and female have no physical touch in general circumstances, which conforms to the basic standard of “zhong”. However, this principle should be adjusted flexibly in some funeral and sacrificial occasions concerning filial piety and reflecting the normal human relations. The right way is not to avoid physical contact completely when it is necessary for men and women to have some close contacts. In doing so, the rites conform well to “shizhong” of the Confucian school, instead of being fixed and static. Therefore, “zhongyong”, the golden mean of the Confucian school asks people to make optimized decisions in certain situations and in particular time, rather than seek compromises by not taking side and withholding one’s opinions, or stay impartial in handling things.

Notes：

1.Zhu Xi once said: “zhong means impartiality and doing things in a medium way. Yong means mediocrity (中者，不偏不倚，無過不及之名。庸，平常也。)”. 見朱熹：《四書章句集註》，北京，中華書局，1983年10月版，頁18。

2.In the Book of Changes, every hexagram has two parts of upper and lower or inner and outer including three lines each, so altogether six lines. The second and the fifth lines are in the middle position.

3.Confucius said “Gentlemen follow the principle of ‘zhongyong’ while petty persons disobey it. The reason why gentlemen have the character of ‘zhongyong’ is that they do things moderately at any time and in medium ways; The reason why the petty persons disobey it is that they have no principles and do things in extreme ways (君子中庸，小人反中庸，君子之中庸也，君子而時中，小人之反中庸也，小人而無忌憚也。).” Refer to note 1.

4.見《二程集》，王孝魚點校，北京，中華書局，1981年7月，頁1153。

5.同上註，頁214。

6.同上註。

7.同上註。