On the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong 中庸) — An English Explanation

The concept of Zhongyong (中庸), often translated as “The Doctrine of the Mean,” is not merely a teaching personally spoken by Confucius in a single text. Rather, it is a core ideal of Confucian thought, later systematized as a philosophy of the ideal human way of being.

It appears primarily in two classical sources:

1) The Main Classical Sources

① The Analects (Lúnyǔ 論語)

This is the record of Confucius’s words and actions.
Here, the term Zhongyong itself appears:

“The virtue of the Mean is supreme indeed.
Rare have been those among the people who could practice it for long.”
(Analects, Yongye Chapter)

Confucius identifies Zhongyong as the highest form of virtue, yet one that very few people are truly able to embody.

② Zhongyong (The Doctrine of the Mean)

Originally a chapter of The Book of Rites (礼記), it later became one of the Four Books of Confucianism.
Traditionally, it is attributed to Zisi (子思), Confucius’s grandson.

This text provides the most systematic exposition of the doctrine.

Its famous opening lines state:

“What Heaven bestows is called nature.
To follow this nature is called the Way.
Cultivating the Way is called teaching.”

And it continues:

“Before joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure arise, it is called Zhong (the Mean).
When they arise and all are in due measure, it is called Harmony (He).
The Mean is the great root of the world;
Harmony is the universal path through which all things flow.”

Structurally, this teaches:

• When emotions have not yet moved or tilted → this is Zhong (centeredness).
• When emotions arise yet remain perfectly proportioned → this is Harmony.
• Zhong is the root of existence.
• Harmony is the way the world functions.

2) The Core Meaning of Zhongyong

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• Not emotional denial, not emotional explosion,
• But aligning oneself with the single, most fitting point in this moment.

That “point” is never fixed.
It changes with person, place, and time.

Therefore, Zhongyong is not a static midpoint, but a highly refined, dynamic balance.

3) Relation to the Yi-Ching (易) —

In the Yi-Ching, “center” corresponds to:

• The central line of a hexagram (especially the fifth line),
• The point where Yin and Yang are properly aligned,
• The axis through which universe and Earth communicate.

When Zhongyong says:

“The Mean is the great root of the world;
Harmony is the universal path,”

it perfectly matches the Yi-Ching worldview:

• Zhong = the structural axis of the Universe,
• Harmony = the flow of phenomena through that axis.

Thus, Zhongyong is simultaneously:

• Personal ethics,
• Political philosophy, and
• Cosmology.

In summary:

• Confucius calls Zhongyong “the highest virtue” in the Analects.
• The text Zhongyong, attributed to Zisi, systematizes it.
• It unites Universe, human nature, emotion, and conduct into a single cosmic principle.

Zhongyong is not “moderation” in a casual sense.
It is a precise ethical art of aligning the human heart with the rhythm of the Universe.

-From the history with similar energy -Recent BING(丙)-WU (午) year was 60 years ago (center was Star #7 Also has power water )

🌍 The Global Climate Around 1966

Around 1966, subtle but noticeable shifts began to appear across many parts of the world.
Long-suppressed tensions and unease slowly started to surface, signaling that the postwar social framework was no longer able to contain the pressure building within it.
This was not yet a dramatic rupture, but rather an early tremor—a preliminary change in tone.

🇺🇸 In the United States, opposition to the Vietnam War expanded, and universities became centers of debate and protest.
(Reference: the film Born on the Fourth of July.)

🇪🇺 In Europe, younger generations began to question inherited authority, social hierarchies, and what had long been taken for granted.
These currents would later develop into movements such as the Prague Spring.

🌏 Across parts of Asia, within very different local contexts, internal contradictions, social unease, and structural gaps gradually came into view,
eventually unfolding into revolutions and public protest movements.

This period came to be known as the opening phase of what is often called the “hippie era”—
a time marked by student movements and broad cultural transformation.

　👤Unfortunately, I don’t remember 1966, but I remember the end of this gill more, I remember the oil shock.

I feel that I first became aware of the world during later term of this era.
After that, I feel society seemed to grow steadily better and more open.

In recent years, however, it sometimes feels as though we have returned to a kind of world I never truly knew.

Still, I choose to look ahead with hope.
Rather than turning back, I want to see 2026 as a new beginning—
a starting point for moving toward a future even better than the peaceful age in which I grew up,
for those who will carry the next era forward.

✨ Happy New Year ✨Bing -Wu year (丙午)🔥🐎💧

This series, which began in 2023, has now entered its fourth year.
Since I first started posting monthly fortune  in the summer of 2022, the number of readers has grown three to four times.
Thank you very much.

What did we see through the door that opened in 2023?
And now, 2026 has arrived—the year when great flowers are ready to bloom across that once-untouched land.
(If you also read the annual forecasts from 2023 to 2025, they will provide helpful context.)

🐇 2023 – The Door Opens

In 2023, the Year of Rabbit, a door was opened.
People found themselves standing on a wild, thorn-covered land, called to begin cultivating it.

🐉 2024 – Breaking the Shell

In 2024, the Year of Dragon, it was as if a hard shell were broken open.
We received the forward-driving power to clear the land and prepare the conditions for something to sprout.

🐍 2025 – Buds Appear

In 2025, the Year of Snake, the thorns were cleared away.
The ground became visible, yet stones still lay scattered everywhere.
It was a year in which, through twists and turns, small shoots emerged and buds began to form.

🐎 2026 – Blooming Time

2026, the Year of Horse, is the time when those buds are ready to bloom into large, open flowers.

We have already received many stories from people whose buds appeared in 2025.
We, too, have formed our own buds.

So now, the question becomes:
How do we help those buds unfold into full blossoms?

🌌 Universe, Earth, and Humanity in 2026

Universe is like a blazing sun.
The Earth is exposed to that heat.
And in between stand human beings, carrying the power of cool water.

In 2026, the energies of the Universe, the Earth, and Humanity move in completely opposite directions.

What do you think about that?

It is possible for human power to calm the intense forces of the Universe and the Earth.
And it is also possible to be overwhelmed by their scorching energy—to shrink back and evaporate.

This is the nature of 2026.

In this series, we will share an interpretation of the year 2026 through Nine Star Fengshui and the Yi-Ching.

It will be a tricky year.
So in 2026, in order for your great flower to bloom—
so that it does not wither,
so that it does not burn—
please raise your fortune through auspicious, conscious actions.

When major events occur, we will deliver timely analyses from Nine Star fengshui and messages from the Yi-Ching.

📚 Series Structure

• Part 1: The characteristics of the energies of the Universe, Earth, and Humanity in 2026
• Supplement: The history of 1966, the previous Year of BING(丙)−Horse(午) year. 
• Part 2: Key points and advice for how to live through 2026
• Part 3: What is the Confucian teaching of Zhongyong?

As we enter 2026, we will share the Confucian philosophy of Zhongyong  on part 3. 
We believe it teaches what kind of inner stance is essential for human beings who stand between the powers of the Universe and the Earth.

Please be sure to read it together with this series.

This is a time when calmness with passion becomes the key.
It is a teaching that helps you keep your inner axis from wavering.

To every reader who is here—
so that each person, without exception, may bloom
with their one and only great flower in this world—
We will continue to send these messages throughout this year.

🌟 2026 Yearly  Fortune (2/4/26–2/3/27)

Part 1

The Characteristics of Universe, Earth, and Human Energies

What Kind of Year Is 2026?

☀️ Universe’s Energy — Bing (丙), the Power of Fire(star#9 power)

🪐In classical Chinese calendrical and cosmological traditions, the year of Bing (丙) carries a very clear and distinctive character.

Bing is the third of the Ten Heavenly Stems (十干),
and in the Five Elements system it corresponds to Yang Fire.

In traditional texts, Bing is often described in terms such as:

• Bing = “brightness”
• Bing = “that which becomes visible”
• Bing = “the fire that illuminates,” “the fire that burns away what covers”

For example, in calendrical and metaphysical writings from the Han dynasty onward, we find expressions such as:

丙者，明也。
万物至此而显。

“Bing means clarity.
At this stage, all things reveal their form.”

In another traditional framework, the Ten Stems are read as a process of growth:

• Jia (甲): a sprout begins to stir beneath the ground
• Yi (乙): the sprout bends and pushes upward
• Bing (丙): it emerges above the ground, receives light, and becomes visible
• Ding (丁): it takes shape and begins to stabilize

From this perspective, a Bing year is inherently associated with:

• what was hidden coming into view
• what has been forming becoming a “visible presence”
• receiving light, attention, and recognition
• heat, illumination, manifestation, stepping onto the stage

In essence, a Bing year is traditionally understood as the moment when
what has been growing quietly within finally appears in the open,
allowing its true nature and value to be seen.

🪐Bing is “visible fire.”
It is the sun, the public stage, declaration, the power to step outward.

What had remained inside
is pushed outward.

What was hidden comes into the open.
What could not be spoken is spoken.
“What we want to try” turns into action.

Yet this fire does not “wait until you are ready.”

People often find themselves

• not yet fully prepared,
• not yet confident,

yet placed in situations
where they must step forward.

This is a year in which:

① Fire is ignited
② Things come into the open
③ Expression and action are demanded

🔥 Earth’s Energy — Wu (午), the Power of Fire(star #9 power)

🌏In ancient Chinese calendrical thought, Wu (午) is described as the point at which yang energy reaches its peak.

午者，陽之極也。
万物至此而盛。

“is where yang reaches its extreme.
At this stage, all things flourish at their height.”

午为正中，日之所至也。

“Wu stands at the true center,
the point where the sun reaches its highest place.”

These expressions show that Wu does not signify a beginning,
but rather a moment when what has already been growing

• fully opens,
• reaches its greatest vitality,
• and appears in the world in its complete form.

If Bing (丙) is the fire that begins to appear,
Wu is the fire that fills the world.

In the words of the ancients, Wu is—
the moment when all things arrive at their full flourishing.

🐎Wu is the point where fire reaches its extreme.

Heat accumulates, reaches its limit,
and creates a state in which “you cannot remain still.”

It is a year in which
even the land itself seems to radiate heat.

If you remain still, you are burned.
If you move, you are tested.

This is a year in which:

① Situations reach a critical point
② Procrastination becomes impossible
③ Decisions are forced

Words such as

“someday”
“eventually”

no longer work.

The world demands “now.”

🌊 Human Energy — Star #1 (Center on Compass board), the Power of Water

Star #1 is the star of water, darkness, and beginnings.

It signifies:

• a place where nothing is yet visible
• the very first drop
  (the beginning of a single drop that will one day become a great river)
• a “starting point” where no one can be relied upon

While the Universe and the Earth accelerate in blazing intensity,
the human center is very quiet, unstable, and lonely.

Here lies the essential contradiction of 2026.

The world accelerates.
Yet the human heart begins in darkness.

People become more sensitive.

① Anxiety at the starting point
② The feeling that “only I am alone”
③ The fear of moving without a map

Star #1 symbolizes:

• Water (ice, vapor)
• The pit, falling in
• Darkness (governing 11 p.m. – 1 a.m.)
• Winter
• Underground water
• Hardship
• Loneliness
• Illness
• Humanity
• The very beginning of all things
  (the start of a world unlike before)
• Womb and birth
  (in the human life cycle)
• The invisible world
• “A state that has not yet taken form”

Each month, one star occupies the northern position—the home of Star #1.
Each time, rather than focusing only on “the hole,” “the cold winter,” or “lowest fortune,”
we emphasize this:

The moment of beginning—
that a single drop will one day become a great river.

We previously said, “Look to Star #8 to understand social conditions.”
That Star #8 in 2025 carried the power of Anken—
troubles arising from unseen places.

In 2024, Star #8 was in the northern Kannyu term .

Now that same Star #8 enters a time when it is bathed in the morning sun—
a time when something begins.

It is dawn.

Star #1 begins to activate anxiety about the future.

Yet the future is not necessarily hopeless.

If people hold the expectation
that a better, new order can be built,
that a better future may be seen,
then the world itself begins to change.

Every star carries both auspicious and inauspicious effects.

Turning your attention toward the auspicious side
allows you to receive the year’s and month’s beneficial currents.

The future can be changed
by the direction of our hearts.

2026 is a year in which humanity stands at the center.

So that each person may receive
the power of “the very beginning,”
please direct your gaze there.

Live with the awareness
that you are under the influence of this energy:

“A single drop will one day become a great river.”

 We think Society will likely remain in a transitional, unsettled phase
in the first half of the year.

Yet in the latter half,
we believe we will begin to see the signs
of a new order starting to take shape.