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中庸

Mandarin · pinyin zhōng yōng#

golden mean (Confucianism)
(literary) (of person) mediocre
ordinary

Mandarin · pinyin Zhōng yōng#

the Doctrine of the Mean, one of the Four Books 四書 Sì shū

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Characters in this entry

中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
庸: yōng · usual, common, ordinary, mediocre

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · zhong1 yong1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung1 jung4

Cantonese word readings for 中庸. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

name

the Doctrine of the Mean (one of the Four Books (四書／四书 (Sìshū)) of Confucianism)

noun

moderation; neutrality; middle way; middle path; golden mean

adj

moderate (of virtuousness and ability)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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