The Holistic Outlook: The Golden Mean

The idea Golden Mean was also known as "neutral," "middle," and "impartial." In today's words, it means balanced, proportionate, or moderate. The idea Golden Mean viewed that all things or actions contained two corresponding or opposite sides, and that the things or actions looked rational/irrational or perfect/imperfect if the two sides were in/out of balance. Obviously, the idea Golden Mean originally based itself on symmetry, but it included the idea Opposition at the same time.

The idea Golden Mean was firstly recorded in Canon of Yao of Book of Documents (Shang Shu): "A man is supposed to be righteous and gentle, generous and earnest, strong and humane, and austere and honest." It was also called "Nine Virtues" (Jiu De) in Gao Tao s Scheme: "A man should be generous and earnest, gentle and insightful, honest and respectful, capable and careful, calm and resolute, righteous and gentle, austere and clean, powerful and prudent, and valiant and faithful." It could be concluded that the idea Golden Mean originally related to human's virtue. It was Confucius who matured the idea. Confucius concentrated on the role the idea Golden Mean played in the cultivation of morality, namely the rationality and perfection of behavior. On the idea Golden Mean, Confucius discussed in different ways:

"Both-And" Sentence, both confirmed: The Confucius is gentle and righteous, stately and respectful, and graceful and calm. (The Analects, Shu Er)

"Not-But" Sentence, one confirmed: The poem "Crying Ospreys" sounds joyful but not indecent, sorrowful but not deplorable. (Ba Yi); the gentleman stresses harmony but not sameness; the gentleman remains poised but not arrogant. (Zi Lu)

Here "Joyful," "sorrowful," "harmony," and "poised' were moderate, while "indecent," "deplorable," "saneness," and "arrogant" were biased. Besides, Confucius dissented from what breached the idea Golden Mean: "Excess is just as bad as deficiency." (Xian Jin) The idea Golden Mean was inherited by Confucian later. For instance, in Doctrine of the Mean (Zhong Yong), it was said,

The honest man never compels himself to act decent and think right. A man who fulfills the idea Golden Mean can be a sage.

The idea Golden Mean is the foundation of a country.

Stone tablets with the inscriptions of "Mencius' Mother Stopping Weaving," "Mencius' Mother Transferring Home Three Times," and "Zi Si Writing Doctrine of the Mean" in Mencius Temple in Zoucheng, Shandong Province. It was said that Doctrine of the Mean was composed by Zi Si. Zi Si (483-402 BC), also known as Kong Ji, was the lineal grandson of Confucius and educated by Zeng Sen, an eminent student of Confucius. Confucius' doctrine was handed down from Zeng Sen to Zi Si, then from Zi Si's student to Mencius.

He masters both excess and deficiency and rules the country with Golden Mean.

The idea Golden Mean or Balance was presented in real form in the ancient Chinese medicine, especially in The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor. According to The Inner Canon of the Yellow-Emperor, human's body consisted of Tin and Yang. In general, human maintained health when Tin and Yang were balanced: "When Tin and Yang are balanced, a man presents good complexion and sanguinity. When the pulses in nine places are harmonious, a man is healthy." (Basic Questions, On Controlling the Meridian System) However, as human's life was affected by internal and external factors, Yin and Yang rose and fell and always changed. When the balance between Yin and Yang had been broken, human would take disease:

When Yang exceeds Yin, human's pulse flows quickly and human becomes dysphoric; when When Yang exceeds Yin, human's pulse flows quickly and human becomes becomes pale. (On Human's Vitality)

When Yin exceeds, Yang is impaired and human feels cold; when Yang exceeds, Yin is impaired and human feels warm. (On Yin and Yang)

Therefore, The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor provided many ways to resume Yin-Yang balance: "Make human warm when he feels cold and make human cold when he feels warm." "Contract when expansion happens and expand when contraction happens." "Supplement when human feels feeble and excrete when human feels full." (On Disease and Climate) In addition, in The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, the concepts "sufficiency" and "deficiency" were used, which allowed us to understand in a visual way the imbalance and balance of Yin and Yang: "Excrete when human feels sufficient and supplement when human feels deficient." (On Controlling the Meridian System) In short, human must maintain the balance of Yin and Yang so as to keep healthy. This was the fundamental thought in The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor and the most profound wisdom in Chinese medicine.