Overview
- Explores two key Chinese concepts central to Confucianism: ‘Zhong’ (middle) and ‘Zhongyong’ (golden mean)
- Traces the evolution of Zhong and Zhongyong from the pre-Qin to the contemporary era
- Introduces the reader to key characteristics of ancient Chinese culture
Part of the book series: Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture (KCCTC)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This Key Concept pivot explores the trajectory of the semantic generation and evolution of two core concepts of ancient Chinese Confucianism, ‘Zhong’ (middle) and ‘Zhongyong’ (golden mean). In the pre-Qin period, Confucius advocated ‘middle line’ and ‘golden mean’ as the highest standards for gentlemanly behaviour and culture. In The Doctrine of the Mean the Confucian classic of the late Warring States Period, ‘middle’ obtained the ontological meaning of ‘great fundamental virtues of the world’, due to the influence of Taoism and Yinyang School. It became not only the norm of human behaviours, but also the law governing the operation of heaven and earth. Since then, idealist Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties have developed the meaning of ‘middle’ from the perspective of the relationships between heaven and man, a fundamental norm of Confucian ethics.
Reviews
“The English translation is bumpy at best. … the book apparently targets a lay audience … .” (Lukas K. Pokorny, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 48 (3), September, 2022)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Chunqing Li (Ph.D in Literature) is professor of the School of Language and Literature, Beijing Normal University, China. He is also Director and a full-time researcher of the Academic Committee of the Centre for Literary Theory Studies at Beijing Normal University, a key research base of Humanities and Social Sciences under the Chinese Ministry of Education.
Yuan Zhu is an editorial writer and columnist with China Daily. He is one of the two translators of Longman Phrasal Verbs Dictionary, one of the translators of Henry. M Paulson’s Dealing with China, translator of Emma Sky’s The Unravelling, High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Zhong and Zhongyong in Confucian Classics
Authors: Chunqing Li
Translated by: Yuan Zhu
Series Title: Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5640-1
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Singapore
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-5639-5Published: 18 September 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-5642-5Published: 19 September 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-5640-1Published: 17 September 2020
Series ISSN: 2524-8464
Series E-ISSN: 2524-8472
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 70
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations
Topics: Non-Western Philosophy, History of China, Asian Culture