Doctrine of the Mean

| p = zhōngyōng | w = Chung¹ Yung¹ | mi = | bpmf = ㄓㄨㄥ   ㄩㄥ | j = Zung1jung4 | y = Jūngyùhng | ci = | poj = Tiong-iông | tl = Tiong-iông | wuu = Tzon-yon | mc = ʈjung-yong | oc-bs = * | qn = Trung Dung | chuhan = 中庸 | kanji = 中庸 | kana = ちゅうよう | romaji = Chūyō | hangul = 중용 | hanja = 中庸 | rr = Jung'yong }}

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 ''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''. Provided by Wikipedia