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Chapter 1919장

Zhongyong (The Doctrine of the Mean) 中庸 · Ascribed to Zisi · A text carried in the Book of Rites · 1 passages · 171 Chinese characters · reading time 0.7 min

Zhongyong (The Doctrine of the Mean) It begins: "What Heaven decrees is called the nature. Following the nature is called the way. Cultivating the way is called teaching." Of the Four Books it is the one that reaches furthest. The first half gathers the words of Confucius to say why the mean is so hard — all under heaven can be governed evenly, rank and pay can be declined, a bare blade can be trodden on, and still the mean cannot be done. The second half turns on truth alone, saying that truth is the way of Heaven and making oneself true is the way of man, and it goes at last to standing third beside Heaven and earth. The saying "where another is able in one try, I make it a hundred; where another is able in ten, I make it a thousand" comes from here too.

子曰：「武王、周公，其達孝矣乎。夫孝者，善繼人之志，善述人之事者也。春秋，脩其祖廟，陳其宗器，設其裳衣，薦其時食。宗廟之禮，所以序昭穆也。序爵，所以辨貴賤也。序事，所以辨賢也。旅酬下爲上，所以達賤也。燕毛所以序齒也。踐其位，行其禮，奏其樂，敬其所尊，愛其所親，事死如事生，事亡如事存，孝之至也。郊社之禮，所以事上帝也。宗廟之禮，所以祀乎其先也。明乎郊社之禮，禘嘗之義，治國其如示諸掌乎。」

Confucius said,

"How thoroughly filial were King Wu and the Duke of Zhou. To be filial is to carry on another's aims well and to hand down another's work well.

In spring and autumn they repaired the temples of their forefathers, set out the vessels of the ancestral temple, spread out the robes, and offered the food of the season.

The rites of the ancestral temple are how the zhaomu (昭穆) order of seating the generations is set. Ranking by office is how noble and base are told apart. Ranking by duty is how the worthy are told apart. When the cup goes round and those below offer to those above, that is how it reaches the lowly. Seating by the color of the hair at the feast is how the order of years is set.

They trod in their places, performed their rites, played their music, honored those they had honored, loved those they had held dear, served the dead as they served the living, served the gone as they served the present. This is the utmost of filial devotion.

The jiaoshe (郊社) rites to heaven and earth are how the Lord on High is served. The rites of the ancestral temple are how the forefathers are given sacrifice. If a man is clear about the rites of jiaoshe and the meaning of the dichang (禘嘗) seasonal sacrifices, governing a state will be like looking at his own palm."

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