ABSTRACT
Another concept closely related to harmony in Confucianism is zhong https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315886619/950eb53f-7775-4dc4-bc93-54d6bcfcb6de/content/fig71_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>, usually rendered in English as “centrality” or “equilibrium.” If music is the prototype of harmony and ritual propriety, the vehicle through which harmony is achieved in the individual, society, and beyond, then zhong is the guiding philosophical principle and foundation through which harmony is to be defined and realized. Without a pre-set order like the Platonic Forms or Pythagorean Numbers, Confucian harmony is anchored around zhong so it does not become a series of unprincipled compromises. At the same time, zhong is positioned contextually and can only be determined with consideration of harmony. In this sense, harmony and zhong form a hermeneutical circle in which the two mutually interpret and illuminate each other. In this chapter, I examine the concept of zhong and its relation to harmony. I first investigate the proper meaning of zhong, and then I present how the concept is connected to harmony in three important Confucian classics: the Book of Changes (Yijing), the Zhongyong, and the Book of History (Shangshu), with emphasis on the metaphysical, the strategic, and the ethical and social dimensions respectively.
