DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

中庸之道

Mandarin · pinyin zhōng yōng zhī dào

doctrine of the mean
moderation in all things

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
庸: yōng · usual, common, ordinary, mediocre
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
道: dào · path, road, street; method, way

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1–1–4 · zhong1 yong1 zhi1 dao4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

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.

中庸之道 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung1 jung4 zi1 dou6

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

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(philosophy) the doctrine of the golden mean

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack