The Daxue (Great Learning) and the Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean)

Abstract

In the historical development of classical Confucian philosophy, the two brief treatises known as Daxue 大學 (Great Learning) and Zhongyong 中庸 (Doctrine of the Mean) are among the most important milestones marking the transition of Confucian thought, from the kernels of ancient wisdom encapsulated in the early canonic writings: The Shujing 書經 (Classic of Documents), The Yijing易經 (Classic of Changes) and The Shijing 詩經 (Classic of Poetry) together with the diffuse ethical teachings set forth in the name of Confucius in the Lunyu 論語 (The Analects), toward the gradual emergence of Confucianism as a spiritually profound and intellectually complex philosophical system. In this light, their position as foundational documents in the history of classical Chinese thought parallels that of the Platonic Dialogues in transforming the diffuse concepts of the pre-Socratics into a unified mode of philosophical inquiry. Alongside the related integral arguments presented in the pre-Qin writings attributed to Mencius and Xunzi, now supplemented by a handful of independent treatises outside of the received tradition that have been rediscovered among the archaeological treasures unearthed in China in recent years (including such texts as those known under the titles: Taiyi sheng shui太一生水 (The Great One Gave Birth to Water), Xing zi ming chu性自命出 (Nature comes from Mandate), Hengxian恆先 (The Constant Precedes), and Wuxingpian五行篇 (Five Actions), these works set the terms of discourse and the modes of argumentation that gradually crystallized through the centuries from Han through Tang to form the primary discourse of the Confucian strain of early Chinese thought. Ultimately, these works came to provide the core ideas and issues of the great revival of Confucian thought, in response to the profound spiritual challenge of Buddhist philosophy, that took shape during the Northern and Southern Song periods (a movement conventionally known in contemporary Sinological writings as “Neo-Confucianism”), and continued to dominate intellectual life in China through the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, down to the end of imperial period and beyond.