Zhong 中 and Ideal Rulership in the Baoxun 保訓 (Instructions for Preservation) Text of the Tsinghua Collection of Bamboo Slip Manuscripts

摘要

Zhong 中 (variously translated as “middle,” “center,” “centrality,” “the mean,” and “equilibrium”) is an important notion in early Chinese thought. This essay offers a brief survey of the possible connotations of zhong found in the Baoxun 保訓 (Instructions for Preservation) text of the Tsinghua University’s Collection of bamboo manuscripts of the Warring States period (475-221 BCE). By making a preliminary textual analysis and philosophical interpretation of the concept of zhong in relation to ideal rulership as presented in this newly discovered ancient text it is hoped that it will shed some light on the continuing debate on the notion of zhong in early Chinese thought.