The Chinese character zhong (middle course) has a long history, but its written form has not changed much since it was inscribed on ancient bones and tortoise shells. In the most authoritative ancient book about Chinese characters, Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220), this character was interpreted as meaning “in or inside.” In another famous book about Chinese characters, Annotations on Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters by scholar Duan Yucai in the Qing dynasty, this character was further explained as “being different from external appearance; being impartial or unbiased; being appropriate.” Therefore, this character originally meant “within,” then it had the extended meaning of “in the heart” or “inner world.” For example, a quote from Laozi goes: “Talking too much may bring about disaster, and it’s better to stick to zhong” (Chapter 5). The character zhong used here means what one thinks. The meaning of the character zhong was further extended to mean “not partial or unbiased” or “appropriate.” Thereafter the word zhong developed from a character to indicate a location to one about values, and it had become even a bit philosophical in meaning when it was used to assess whether a person’s behavior was appropriate or not.

Confucius was not the first person to use zhong as an ethical concept. It had been used as a concept in a political and philosophical sense before him. In The Book of History, it says: “What is inside a human mind is dangerous; the inner world of a Daoist is elusive; only with one’s heart absorbed in a particular thing and never deviating from zhong (being impartial and unbiased), that is the only right approach.” The book is not believed to have been written in the Emperor Yu period of the Xia dynasty in remote ancient times, but by Confucian scholars in the Warring States period. However, that does not mean that this saying came after Confucius. There was a conversation between Emperor Yao and his successor Shun, recorded in The Analects, which might not have actually occurred, but it was likely to have been recorded in books before Confucius. The conversation goes like this: “Shun, the fate of heaven is on you, you must behave in accordance with zhong.” What was quoted above from The Book of History and the conversation recorded in The Analects are similar in meaning and are perhaps from the same source.

As far as the meaning of zhong in The Analects is concerned, Song dynasty Confucian master Zhu Xi explained: “It means not beyond what is necessary, not being inadequate.”¹ In his Correct Meaning of the Analects, Qing dynasty scholar Liu Baonan said: “Those who practice zhong in their dealings with others are learning from what Emperor Yao dictated to his successor Shun about how to behave as a monarch. The practice of zhong refers to the application of golden mean (neither go beyond nor fall short).”² As explained by both the aforementioned scholars, the Chinese character zhong refers to appropriateness in handling government affairs, not going too far and not falling short. This was the early connotation of the Chinese character zhong when it was developed from a word suggesting location to a concept about values. But it was only used in the political sphere, referring to governing policies that were not tilted to the left or right but remained in the middle way so that they were popular with the general public.

The character zhong was also used to express a different meaning before Confucius. In Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, Liu Kanggong was quoted as saying: “It is said that it was the zhong between heaven and earth that gives birth to man, so such zhong is also what has a bearing on his fate. Scholar Kong Yingda wrote to the emperor: “What is between heaven and earth is the air of zhong (impartial) and he (harmony), min is people, and when they get such air, they are given birth to.”³ It is obvious that the character zhong used here is different in meaning from the one used in The Analects, referring to the air of impartiality and harmony between heaven and earth, and is explained as something elusive on which the origin of life depends. It means people’s destiny is decided by a mysterious force between heaven and earth, so this character zhong, compared with the one used in The Analects, is more philosophic in meaning.

As mentioned above, the character zhong had two meanings when used as an ethical concept before Confucius: one referred to appropriateness in governance; the other was more philosophical, referring to something elusive between heaven and earth, or the origin of life. Both meanings developed further in the philosophy of Confucianism. Let’s first look at how the character was accepted by Confucius, who added new meaning to it.

In Confucius’ discourse, the character zhong was developed into a top ethnical standard known as zhongyong (golden mean). Confucius was quoted as saying in The Analects: “zhongyong can be said to be a top virtue, which has been lost for a long time.” In The Analects Variorum, Zhu Xi said: “Zhong means not going beyond what is necessary and not fall short of what is required either.” Zhu quoted scholars Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao as saying: “Zhong means not going to extremes while yong means remaining unchanged. Zhong is the most correct approach while yong the absolute rationale.”⁴ This is the most common interpretation of character zhong by Confucian scholars after Confucius, which basically conforms to what Confucius said about it. Confucius said in The Analects: “If one cannot hopefully have a person as companion who can stick to the middle way, one may choose to have dealings with those arrogant or impetuous people. The arrogant people tend to have an urge to improve themselves; and the impetuous ones often know where to toe the line.”

Zhu Xi said in his annotations: “Confucius originally wanted to teach those who knew about zhongyong, but it was very hard to find such people. As a result, Confucius had to educate those who are either arrogant or impetuous. The sage intended to either stimulate the good quality of them or trim their undesirable quality so that they may gradually know how to stick to the golden mean instead of just staying where they had been.”⁵

In Annotations on the Analects, Huang Kan (488–545) noted: “Zhongxing refers to what one does according to the principles of golden mean.” In Liu Baonan (1791–1855)s Correct Meaning of The Analects, Ling Mingjie was quoted as saying: “Those who follow zhongxing are those who do things in accordance with the requirements of the golden mean.”⁶ It is therefore clear that zhongxing means that if people do follow the principles of golden mean, they can always remain unbiased and impartial, while at the same time, never going too far or falling short of what is necessary. The concept zhongxing and zhongyong are quite similar in meaning, and all derived from the character zhong.

Confucius’s zhongyong (golden mean) and zhongxing (middle course between extremes) are derived from the character zhong, whose meaning changed a lot in this process. What Confucius meant is different from the political and philosophical sense of the character zhong in The Analects, and also different from the sense of ontology in Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. Instead, it had become a concept of moral philosophy, with the significance of moral principles and ethics added to it. The zhong here means that one has to behave according to the moral requirements formulated by Confucianism. The moral standard advocated by Confucius, zhongyong, is not beyond the capability of ordinary people. Qian Mu once said: “Those following the middle course between extremes are ordinary people. The golden mean is easy for them to follow. And so is the principle of the middle course. It is therefore a moral standard for common people. Instead of being the most difficult, it is the most extensive, the most common and easiest to follow, and thus most precious.”⁷ This conforms to what Confucius meant.

What needs to be analyzed is the difference between the concept of zhongyong and Greek philosopher Aristotle’s idea of the golden mean. Golden mean was considered characteristic shared by all virtues in ancient Greece. The idea of the golden mean has an important position in Aristotle’s political and moral philosophy. In his Politics, he said: “The virtue is the golden mean between two vices, the one of excess and the other deficiency.” He also said in the same book: “Neither should we forget the mean, which at the present day is lost sight of in perverted forms of government.”⁸ It is a principle for political governance. But it is not just that, it is also moral principle for individuals. Aristotle said something to the effect that now that everybody believes that temperance and the middle course between extremes are the most desirable moral character, then the best choice for the good of human life is neither to go beyond nor fall short of what is necessary. Only those in such a state of mind can be rational. Those who go beyond or fall short—too beautiful, too strong, too expensive, too rich or too ugly, too weak, too shabby and too poor—tend to not follow the guidance of reason.⁹

So Aristotle’s golden mean looks similar to Confucius’s zhong or zhongyong, and as a matter o...