The Golden Mean · Internal Reference¶
Original texts by Guide Xuefeng, for deep study
I. The Worthy Walk the Golden Mean — Core Text¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Revelations · "The Worthy Walk the Golden Mean"
A great tree that provides shade was spared the woodcutter's axe because it was "without talent." A hen that could lay eggs was spared the knife because it was "talented." From this, Confucius told his disciples: be somewhere between the talented and the untalented.
What does it mean to occupy that middle ground? Is there an even deeper principle at work?
[Xuefeng recounts his own experience going abroad: possessing many skills — translator, machinist, accountant, trade specialist — a colleague warned him: say abroad you only know how to translate. Show all your skills and you'll be worked to exhaustion, and people will resent you.] Ancient wisdom says: "In chaotic times, too much talent is the root of disaster." It is not good to be too talented, nor to be without talent at all — talent and non-talent, adjust to the moment.
Talent and non-talent led me to understand the Golden Mean. The Golden Mean has long been criticized: isn't it unprincipled, opportunistic, slippery? One is one; two is two. What is this "one and a half"? Love is love; hate is hate. Why occupy this middle ground? I used to dismiss it — I thought it unworthy of a real man.
But as my experience deepened and I went through the warmth and cold of human relationships, I finally understood: the Golden Mean is the quality of a worthy person. It is a manifestation of the Tao. Without broad learning, one cannot understand its principle.
Facing the poor and the rich, leaders and the people, intellectuals and rough workers, religion and political parties, men and women, government and the underworld, Chinese and foreigners, old and young, the conservative and the innovative, suppression and resistance, violence and cooperation — in all these oppositions I can only stand in the middle, unable to take sides. The sun shines equally on the good and the wicked. Clear water nourishes the earth and humanity without distinction. I, Xuefeng, wish to emulate the way the Tao moves: only follow the natural course, follow the Tao.
In short: there are no fixed conclusions. Nothing in human affairs remains the same. Our minds must always remain in a state of clarity, unknowing, non-clinging, and the Golden Mean — acting according to circumstances, flowing with conditions. When the world is at peace and the people are in harmony, a sage should remain quiet, still for a thousand years, allowing everything to proceed naturally. When chaos reigns and living beings suffer, the sage should act decisively, managing ten thousand things in a single day, leading all back into order.
To become a worthy person, walk the Golden Mean. The slightest bias, and one becomes a scoundrel.
II. Chanyuan Celestials Walk the Golden Mean in Worldly Society¶
Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Chapter · "The Development Direction of Lifechanyuan and the Path for Chanyuan Celestials"
In worldly society, Chanyuan Celestials are law-abiding citizens — ordinary, common people. Chanyuan Celestials do not resist worldly society, do not oppose governments or ruling parties. In worldly society, Chanyuan Celestials are soft, incapable, foolish — and amid all the opposition and competition of worldly forces, Chanyuan Celestials hold to the middle without partiality, walking only the Golden Mean. Chanyuan Celestials do not become sacrifices for politics or religion.
III. The Golden Mean and Not Taking Extremes¶
Xuefeng Corpus · Friendship Chapter · "Remembering My Friend Guo Guoting from Afar"
It is a pity that although our goals are the same, the paths we walk differ. I walk the Golden Mean; you walk the path of extremes.
Xuefeng Corpus · Warning Chapter · "Impressions on Returning to China"
This is a relatively good era: the Golden Mean, not going to extremes, inheriting what is good, continually advancing, innovating, and moving toward civilization — it is an era worth cherishing.
Keeping to the Golden Mean, not going to extremes, is a fine path and bearing for a person to cultivate.
IV. The Golden Mean in the Context of Confucian Ethics¶
Xuefeng Corpus · Essays · "Eight Pieces of Advice for Atheists (Part V)"
The Confucian moral system takes "benevolence and righteousness" as its core, with "the Five Relationships (ruler and subject, father and son, brothers, husband and wife, friends) and the Four Virtues (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom)" and "the Golden Mean" as the main content of its moral value system.