Top Scholar

Chapter 98 The Doctrine of the Mean
Fire in July.

After finishing his lecture on Mencius, Mr. Zhang began teaching the last of the Four Books—The Doctrine of the Mean.

On the podium, he spoke slowly and deliberately, using a tone completely different from when he taught Mencius:
"The Doctrine of the Mean is traditionally attributed to Zisi, the grandson of Confucius. Before the Song Dynasty, it was not a standalone book but existed as the thirty-first chapter of the Book of Rites. However, both Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi highly praised this chapter. Zhu Xi even extracted it and compiled it into the Four Books along with the Great Learning, the Analects, and Mencius, requiring Confucian scholars to study this chapter after completing the first three."

"So what is so magical about these short 3,568 characters that they have become the crowning achievement of the Four Books?"

"This is because the chapters of the Great Learning emphasize external conduct, while the Doctrine of the Mean focuses on cultivating one's mind and understanding the 'Way,' exploring how to reach the highest Confucian state of 'harmony' in practice. Therefore, one must take the first three chapters as a foundation to understand the interpretation of the 'Doctrine of the Mean' in this chapter, and then integrate it into daily speech and behavior and inner cultivation, to reach the highest realm of cultivating both inner and outer qualities..."

In short, this chapter explores abstract philosophical questions, which I've placed at the end in case your foundation isn't strong enough to understand.

This arrangement was indeed correct; the students found it very difficult to learn this passage.

Even though they had already heard their teachers teach the Four Books before and had memorized the "Commentaries on the Four Books" perfectly, they still felt completely bewildered by the metaphysical concepts and philosophical analyses within them...

For example, the very first sentence, "What Heaven ordains is called human nature," stumped even students who were already quite advanced in their studies.

Although they knew that 'destiny' concerned the Way of Heaven and 'nature' referred to one's inherent nature, they struggled to grasp the connection between the two. A student, perplexed, sought clarification:
"Sir, if one's nature is bestowed by Heaven, then why do some people do good while others do evil? Is Heaven biased?"

Many classmates nodded in agreement, clearly having encountered the same confusion.

Mr. Zhang explained: "The Mandate of Heaven is the origin of the Way, and nature is the endowment of all things. Human nature inherently contains the seeds of goodness, while evil is caused by acquired habits. This confusion between the original nature of 'the Mandate of Heaven endowing nature' and reality has led you to misunderstand the connotation of 'nature' at its root."

The students listened attentively and quickly took notes.

But as soon as the teacher left after class, they looked at each other in bewilderment and said:

"Do you understand?"

"I have a vague understanding of it."

"I know a little..."

"Then you still don't understand."

After saying that, they all turned around and looked at the guy in the last row by the window: "Hey bro, tell us about it."

Su Lu said speechlessly, "How do you know I can understand?"

"Who is Brother? If you still can't understand this with your level of understanding, we might as well go home and farm." The classmates had been together day and night for almost half a year, how could they not know that Su Luzhi was exceptionally intelligent and far surpassed his peers?
"Don't say that, I haven't fully grasped it either." Su Lu smiled modestly, and faced with the eager eyes of his adopted sons, he could only nod and say, "Then let's discuss it."

"Alright!" In a flash, all seventeen classmates surrounded him, including Lin Zhihong and Qiao Feng.

~~
In fact, Su Lu found listening to the Doctrine of the Mean quite easy. This wasn't because he was much more intelligent than his classmates, but rather because the dialectical thinking cultivated by modern education resonated deeply with the core wisdom of the Doctrine of the Mean.

For example, the Doctrine of the Mean opposes "excess" and "deficiency" and emphasizes "timeliness" and dynamically adjusting the degree according to the situation. This coincides with the thinking of "contradictory balance" and "specific analysis of specific problems" in modern dialectics.

Moreover, the social environment of later generations resonated with the Doctrine of the Mean. For example, when faced with the frequent issues of balancing work and life, and individual and collective, people naturally had a direct experience of the value of "moderation" and were more likely to understand the meaning of "achieving harmony and balance."

Therefore, Su Luxue, when studying the Doctrine of the Mean, did not rely on palmistry, but at least he was not as clueless as his classmates.

In his view, Zisi's so-called "mandate of heaven" refers to the fundamental laws of the universe—such as flowers blooming, people dying, spring coming and autumn going, and endless cycles. This is not something directed by anyone behind the scenes, but the natural operating principle.

Therefore, "what Heaven ordains is called nature" means that the nature of life originates from the laws of nature.

Just as people vary in height and appearance, human nature can be divided into good and evil, which is a manifestation of the impartiality and selflessness of destiny.

However, this is indeed incompatible with Mencius's theory of the inherent goodness of human nature. This is not a problem for Su Lu, because he does not believe in the inherent goodness of human nature, nor does he agree with Xunzi's theory of the inherent evil of human nature. On the contrary, he agrees with Zisi's view of the natural nature of "human nature is endowed by Heaven, regardless of good or evil".

Therefore, in his view, there are both naturally good people and naturally bad people. But most people are a mixture of good and evil, depending on which aspect they show at the time.

It was fine for him to understand it this way, but he couldn't tell his classmates that they were going to take the imperial examinations and had to uphold the "theory of the inherent goodness of human nature" without wavering. So he had to find a way to unify the views of Zisi and Mencius for them.

After a moment's thought, Su Lu slowly addressed his classmates:
“This principle can be explained by analogy with things—wheat ripens in summer and grains ripen when frost is encountered. This is not something that can be done by human power, but rather something that is inherent in their nature. This is what Zisi called ‘the mandate of heaven,’ which is the inherent duty of all things in heaven and earth. It is a natural principle, not something that is commanded by a certain sovereign.”

"Oh, I see!" the classmates exclaimed in sudden realization. "It makes perfect sense now."

"I thought Heaven's Mandate was a decree from the gods, determining wealth, fortune, and misfortune," Li Qiyu said sheepishly. "I'm used to calling him 'God' all the time."

"But if, as Brother Su says, plants have the nature of flourishing and withering, and birds and animals have the instinct to guard themselves, then how could Mencius have the theory of 'human nature is good'? Shouldn't human nature be both good and evil?" Qiao Feng indeed hit the nail on the head.

“Good question.” Su Lu smiled and said, “Because ‘nature’ is not about observing words and actions, but about the innate goodness, like plants turning towards the sun, which is inherently pure.”

“Indeed.” The students agreed wholeheartedly. “Although it is innate, plants naturally grow towards the sun, not the other way around. Just like people’s hearts tend towards goodness…” “Actually, there are also some shade-loving plants.” Su Lu added a supplement to Mencius’s theory with a smile: “But philosophy studies general laws and universality, not individual cases and particularities. Mencius’s theory of the inherent goodness of human nature is the same.”

"What a wonderful concept of 'general and specific,' 'universal and particular'!" Qiao Feng bowed and thanked him sincerely, saying, "Thank you, brother, for clearing up my long-standing doubts. It is truly better to have heard your words than to have read ten years' worth of books."

“Brother, you’re exaggerating. I’m just making a slight interpretation based on Zhu Xi’s theory of ‘one principle with many manifestations’ and Gongsun Long’s ‘a white horse is not a horse’,” Su Lu said with a smile.

"To be able to take a small step forward based on the work of our predecessors is something we can't even imagine." Qiao Feng knew more than the average student, so he was naturally more aware of Su Lu's prowess.

"Then, brother, if the inherent goodness of human nature is universal and the inherent evil is individual, why do sages often lament that people's hearts are not what they used to be and that the world is treacherous?" Lin Zhihong asked with great interest.

“Yes, yes, there are quite a few bad people in this world, we can’t just say it’s an isolated case.” The students agreed wholeheartedly and all looked at Su Lu, waiting for his explanation.

"Good question." Su Lu glanced at Lin Zhihong with a smile, thinking to himself, "I think you're making things difficult for me, Fat Tiger."

Fortunately, Su Lu was a child who grew up studying dialectics, and after a moment's thought, he said:

"It is not the seedling's fault that it grows in barren soil, is covered by weeds, and is damaged by insects and ants. Ordinary people are born with good roots, but are later corrupted by bad habits, which is due to their circumstances. Mencius said, 'Human nature is inherently good,' which means that everyone has a seed of goodness in their heart. Doing evil is due to being tainted by a bad environment later, not because they are born that way."

As he spoke, he smiled at Lin Zhihong and said, "The sage lamented that 'the world is going downhill and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be,' which means that such an environment makes it impossible for people to be good people."

"I have learned a great deal." Lin Zhihong bowed deeply and said, "Brother, you truly have a profound understanding and your eloquence is impeccable!"

“The latter isn’t a good word,” Su Lu couldn’t help but laugh.

"It's nothing, it was I who deliberately made things difficult for you first," Lin Zhihong said frankly, and the two laughed at each other.

With Su Lu's explanation, the classmates finally understood what they had learned that day and thanked him profusely.

~~
The same was true for the following lessons. Some of them could understand 70-80% of what the teacher said, while others could only understand half. They relied entirely on Su Lu's after-get out of class tutoring to prevent them from becoming more and more confused as they learned.

Fortunately, the Doctrine of the Mean is only 3,500 characters long, so Su Lu, this free teaching assistant, won't have to be in this position for too long...

Mr. Zhang was initially puzzled as to why this year's students were so exceptionally bright. He was amazed that they could understand his lectures on the *Doctrine of the Mean*. It's worth noting that there were parts he himself didn't fully grasp…

This is quite normal. It doesn't mean he's unlearned or incompetent. The abstract reasoning and profound meaning of the Doctrine of the Mean cannot be fully understood simply by being familiar with Zhu Xi's commentaries or immersing oneself in the subject for many years.

It has a similar meaning to "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao".

So he found it strange. Were all these disciples geniuses? The teacher couldn't quite explain things, but they could understand them?
However, he soon discovered the reason: Su Lu was giving them extra tutoring after class.

Watching his students gather around his star pupil, listening to him explain the content of his lessons, Mr. Zhang felt both pleased and ashamed...

~~
This was Mr. Zhang's special tutoring time during lunch break.

Su Lu entered the preparation room and found that Mr. Zhang had prepared a chair for him.

"Sit down," Mr. Zhang gestured.

“Before the teacher, the disciple should stand at attention and listen to instruction,” Su Lu hurriedly replied.

“Just sit down, do you expect me to stand with you?” Zhang Yanqiu said.

"Yes." Su Lu had no choice but to sit down, and asked in confusion, "What is the matter, sir?"

"I want to learn from you, so of course I can't be rude," Zhang Yanqiu said seriously.

"Sir, you flatter me. Please examine me," Su Lu said hastily.

“I’m not joking. Among the scholars I’ve met, very few can explain the Doctrine of the Mean clearly, and even then, they can only justify their own interpretations, which are not convincing.” Zhang Yanqiu shook his head and said, “Even the headmaster, if you asked him to explain it from beginning to end, there would definitely be parts that he couldn’t explain clearly.”

“That’s normal. That’s how profound meanings are.” Su Lu nodded understandingly and said, “The master can only lead you in; you still have to figure it out yourself.”

“But I asked a few classmates, and you were able to explain the parts I taught very clearly.” Zhang Yanqiu said in a deep voice, “I asked them to repeat what you explained. It is neither from Zhu Xi’s commentary nor Zheng Xuan’s commentary, nor even from any ancient philosopher’s writings. It is more like your own understanding.”

"..." Su Lu thought to himself that it actually came from ancient sages, only those who hadn't been born yet. But he couldn't explain it clearly, so he could only vaguely say, "It was just a discussion among classmates, whatever came to mind, it doesn't count."

“That’s even more terrifying.” Zhang Yanqiu was dumbfounded. He stood up, cupped his hands, and said, “My good disciple must teach me.”

P.S. My internet connection just went down. What a hassle to fix it! I used my phone's hotspot to post these two chapters first. The next two chapters will be posted shortly, I haven't finished checking them yet…

(End of this chapter)