When we think of 中, we usually think of "in the middle" or of the Doctrine of the Mean. The Doctrine of the Mean is a core idea of Chinese culture and Confucianism: in dealing with people and matters, lean neither way and do neither too much nor too little — in other words, be "just right". The origins of the character 中 are fascinating.
The character 中 evolved along two paths. The upper path in the picture is clear: it began as a flag in the wind, with the vertical stroke as the flagpole. Ancient armies were divided into left, central and right divisions, and the commander usually stayed with the central army; this early form of 中 may refer to the central army's flag, and it gradually came to mean "middle".
As for the lower path in the picture, it is still hard to say what it originally referred to. Some say it meant "to hit the target", others that it is the 仲 of 伯仲 (the second of brothers), so it is shown only for reference — either way, it is not the idea of a flag.
The summer holidays are almost here, and soon we will celebrate the Ghost Festival (中元節) and the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). What does 中 mean in each?
The ancients called heaven, earth and humankind the "three origins" and set up three corresponding festivals for the birthdays of the Three Officials: the Upper Origin (15th of the 1st lunar month), the Middle Origin (15th of the 7th) and the Lower Origin (15th of the 10th). The Middle Origin is the birthday of the Official of Earth, and 中 refers to his place in the middle. Legend has it that on this day he descends to the human world to examine the good and evil of the living and the departed and to grant pardons. So people hold Universal Salvation rites at this time, praying that the Official of Earth will forgive the wrongs of their ancestors and wandering spirits.
The 中 in the Mid-Autumn Festival simply means the middle day of autumn. By then the autumn harvest is over and the weather is pleasant; in ancient times people celebrated the harvest, worshipped the gods and gathered as families to admire the moon — a very important folk festival.
中 has two pronunciations: in the first tone (zhōng) it means "in the middle" or "between"; in the fourth tone (zhòng), as a verb, it means "to fit" or "to hit, to win". Don't mix them up!
🌿 Today's slow living task: choose a walk of 5–10 minutes and adjust your breathing, stride and speed until you find a natural pace that feels neither rushed nor dragging. Too fast and you miss the scenery; too slow and you stall. Only by finding the middle way that feels best right now can you go the distance.
Coming next: in July we look at 忠 (loyalty) — at last, our first phono-semantic character!
