The Doctrine of the Mean (中庸)
- Chinese title
- 中庸
- Author
- attributed to Zisi
- Translation
- James Legge (1861) — The Doctrine of the Mean, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861); romanization modernized on Wikisource
- Chinese text
- Chinese text from the Wikisource bilingual edition
- Contents
- 39 passages
- Status
- Public domain
Contents
| Passage | Opening words |
|---|---|
| Passage 1 | What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty; the |
| Passage 2 | Zhong-ni said, "The superior man embodies the course of the Mean; the mean man acts contrary to the course of |
| Passage 3 | The Master said, "Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean! Rare have they long been among the peo |
| Passage 4 | The Master said, "I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not walked in: The knowing go beyond it, and t |
| Passage 5 | The Master said, "Alas! How is the path of the Mean untrodden!" |
| Passage 6 | The Master said, "There was Shun: He indeed was greatly wise! Shun loved to question others, and to study thei |
| Passage 7 | The Master said "Men all say, 'We are wise'; but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall |
| Passage 8 | The Master said "This was the manner of Hui: he made choice of the Mean, and whenever he got hold of what was |
| Passage 9 | The Master said, "The kingdom, its states, and its families, may be perfectly ruled; dignities and emoluments |
| Passage 10 | Zi-lu asked about energy. The Master said, "Do you mean the energy of the South, the energy of the North, or t |
| Passage 11 | The Master said, "To live in obscurity, and yet practice wonders, in order to be mentioned with honor in futur |
| Passage 12 | The way which the superior man pursues, reaches wide and far, and yet is secret. Common men and women, however |
| Passage 13 | The Master said "The path is not far from man. When men try to pursue a course, which is far from the common i |
| Passage 14 | The superior man does what is proper to the station in which he is; he does not desire to go beyond this. In a |
| Passage 15 | The Master said, "In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the ce |
| Passage 16 | The Master said, "How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them! We look for them, |
| Passage 17 | The Master said, "How greatly filial was Shun! His virtue was that of a sage; his dignity was the throne; his |
| Passage 18 | The Master said, "It is only King Wen of whom it can be said that he had no cause for grief! His father was Ki |
| Passage 19 | The Master said, "How far-extending was the filial piety of King Wu and the duke of Zhou! Now filial piety is |
| Passage 20 | The Duke Ai asked about government. The Master said, "The government of Wen and Wu is displayed in the records |
| Passage 21 | The Master said, "To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge. To practice with vigor is to be near to m |
| Passage 22 | "In all things success depends on previous preparation, and without such previous preparation there is sure to |
| Passage 23 | When we have intelligence resulting from sincerity, this condition is to be ascribed to nature; when we have s |
| Passage 24 | Next to the above is he who cultivates to the utmost the shoots of goodness in him. From those he can attain t |
| Passage 25 | It is characteristic of the most entire sincerity to be able to foreknow. When a nation or family is about to |
| Passage 26 | Sincerity is that whereby self-completion is effected, and its way is that by which man must direct himself. S |
| Passage 27 | The way of Heaven and Earth may be completely declared in one sentence. They are without any doubleness, and s |
| Passage 28 | How great is the path proper to the Sage! Like overflowing water, it sends forth and nourishes all things, and |
| Passage 29 | The Master said, Let a man who is ignorant be fond of using his own judgment; let a man without rank be fond o |
| Passage 30 | The Master said, "I may describe the ceremonies of the Xia dynasty, but Qi cannot sufficiently attest my words |
| Passage 31 | Zhong-ni handed down the doctrines of Yao and Shun, as if they had been his ancestors, and elegantly displayed |
| Passage 32 | It is only he, possessed of all sagely qualities that can exist under heaven, who shows himself quick in appre |
| Passage 33 | It is only the individual possessed of the most entire sincerity that can exist under Heaven, who can adjust t |
| Passage 34 | It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Over her embroidered robe she puts a plain single garment," intimating a di |
| Passage 35 | It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Although the fish sink and lie at the bottom, it is still quite clearly see |
| Passage 36 | It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Looked at in your apartment, be there free from shame as being exposed to t |
| Passage 37 | It is said in the Book of Poetry, "In silence is the offering presented, and the spirit approached to; there i |
| Passage 38 | It is said in the Book of Poetry, "What needs no display is virtue. All the princes imitate it." Therefore, th |
| Passage 39 | It is said in the Book of Poetry, "I regard with pleasure your brilliant virtue, making no great display of it |
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.