What is the golden mean? ~ explain it in detail ~ thank you

What does the "golden mean" mean? Since we can read and write, everyone is "moderate", that is, impartial, that is, riding a wall at both ends in our hearts. Huang Si never doubted this. So that in the eyes of Confucius, the moral character that only a gentleman can possess has almost become synonymous with "a villain riding a wall" in the hearts of modern people. However, with the popularity of Chinese studies in recent years, I have to read some Confucian classics in order to participate in some debates and talk about my own experience. When I read The Doctrine of the Mean, I couldn't help but have some doubts about this proverb. Cheng Zi said at the beginning of The Doctrine of the Mean: Zi Chengzi said: "It is not easy to be impartial, and it is not easy to be mediocre. The doctrine of the mean is the right way in the world, and the mediocrity is the theorem in the world. " This article is Confucius' teaching of mind and nature, and Zisi was afraid that he would be poor if he went on like this, so he wrote it in a book to teach Mencius. His book starts with a theory, with scattered things in the middle, and finally combines them into a theory. "If you put it in six, the volume will be hidden." It tastes endless, and it's all practical. A good reader plays with a rope and gains something, which will benefit him for life and be endless. "Impartiality is mediocrity", which is probably the classic explanation of the word "golden mean". However, it is difficult for me to find traces of "riding a wall" from here. The so-called "meanness" is easy to understand. The key is mediocrity. Once the word "cheap" is broken, "cheap" is not difficult to understand. Riding on the wall means that the mind is uncertain at both ends, and some people say that it is not easy to be mediocre. What does this mean? What can be called "mediocrity" is the insistence on fundamental principles. According to his explanation, the so-called golden mean is to unswervingly adhere to the principle (Tao) and not make any compromises or changes-where does this mean "sitting on the sidelines"? Later generations' misunderstanding of the "golden mean" is not out of thin air. According to the full text of The Doctrine of the Mean, the remarks of Confucius and his later disciples are probably the source of misunderstanding. For example, Confucius said: I know what I can't do, the knower can't do it, the fool can't do it; I know it's unknown, the sage has passed, and there is no evil. Here, the concepts of "excessive" and "insufficient" are put forward, which is the earliest source of the idiom "excessive is not enough". If you can't get through, you can't get through. If you can't pass, then "it's better to stay in the middle." If you stay impartial in the middle, isn't it a bit of a "fence-sitter" suspicion? This aroused my second suspicion: many contents of the golden mean were added by later generations. According to ancient records, today's Five Confucian Classics (the ancient Six Classics and the later lost Book of Music), including The Book of Rites, existed before Confucius, and The Doctrine of the Mean was originally a chapter in the Book of Rites. It was not until the Song Dynasty that the rulers separated it from the Book of Rites-that is, the Doctrine of the Mean existed. The problem comes out: since the doctrine of the mean existed before Confucius, it is obvious that the great paragraphs of Confucius in the present doctrine of the mean were added by later Confucianism, which means that the doctrine of the mean is mixed with water. Therefore, we can conclude that according to the comments of Zhu and others, the present Doctrine of the Mean is definitely not the Doctrine of the Mean in the Book of Rites before Confucius. Many scholars have studied the fallacies in The Doctrine of the Mean, but there is controversy about which is true or false. There is no doubt about adulteration. We don't take part in those arguments, but can we simplify it? Since the doctrine of the mean existed before Confucius, we don't need to make textual research. We just deleted all the comments and notes of Confucius and his successors, and the rest can almost be regarded as the original work of the Doctrine of the Mean! In this way, we can find that the so-called "golden mean" is the principle of "harmony between man and nature", and advocate that gentlemen should stick to the "avenue" of nature and love by everyone, constantly learn to be close to this "avenue" and be strict with themselves. Even when a person is alone, he will stick to the "avenue" and "unshakable" as in public, so the doctrine of the mean begins with a clear meaning. In ancient times, people had a mysterious worship of nature because they didn't understand it. They regard heaven, that is, the changing laws of nature, as the only "avenue" that human beings must abide by, and these principles cannot be expressed in words. However, in the practice of daily life, human beings find that they must be consistent with nature in order to have a good life. You arbitrarily amplify people's strength, overreaching, and acting against heaven, instead of "Tao is natural." It's just that Confucius magnified the idea of respecting heaven infinitely, and finally made an emperor to represent heaven and the son of heaven. Respect for heaven has become respect for emperor, and emperor represents heaven, which has become the first of the three cardinal guides of Confucianism, completely deviating from the true nature of the philosophy of "harmony between man and nature" and becoming an excuse for the feudal ruling class to suppress human liberation. So how to explain the "golden mean"? In the second paragraph of the Doctrine of the Mean, there are a few words for reference: the joys and sorrows are not sent, which means that they are in the middle; All the hair is in the middle section, called and. If you are in the middle, you are the biggest in the world; He who is harmonious achieves the way of the world. Neutrality, the position of heaven, the education of all things. In other words, people's joys and sorrows are not shown, but they are called "bells" in their hearts; It is displayed, but it is in line with heaven, called "harmony"; "China" is the foundation of the world and "harmony" is a universal truth. Only when harmony is different, and heaven and earth keep their places, can everything develop and grow. It should be noted that man and nature are discussed side by side here. There are people in nature, and there are people in nature. The truth it says is useful to people and nature, so it begins with people's joys and sorrows, and finally comes down to nature, which should be "neutralization" and "harmony" When people are in harmony, they will live in harmony with nature, so that the world will be peaceful; Only when heaven and earth are in harmony with nature can everything grow and develop normally. Look up "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" "Chinese, inside also." Later it spread to the heart. "Deep and generous" in Historical Records refers to inner tolerance and kindness. "I haven't read it yet", and this "middle" means "inside"-isn't it in my heart if I haven't read it yet? Therefore, the original interpretation of "Zhong" in The Mean is closer to that in Shuo Wen Jie Zi. Let's look at "Yong", "explaining words by writing" and "Yong, Yong also, from Yong to Geng", which later extended to ordinary and universal meaning, that is, "reaching the Tao" in the golden mean-universal truth. Therefore, the so-called golden mean is more accurate than impartiality, and it is always consistent with the universal truth in the heart. In this sense, the doctrine of the mean is actually to "serve China", a trip to the main road, the world is public, man and nature are in harmony, the Tao is natural, and the people who manage the country are "harmonious" and "neutral" and don't mess around-isn't this the fundamental truth of "serving China"? Cheng Zi said that the doctrine of the mean is the "mental method" of Confucianism. I think this is the focus of the doctrine of the mean and the "heart sutra" of inner cultivation, so as to be consistent with "reaching the Tao". This is why Confucianism attaches importance to it. As for their interpretation of "reaching the Tao" as three cardinal principles and five permanents, it is another matter to abandon the simple dialectical thought of the ancients that heaven and man are one. References: