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Revealing the Dao of Heaven through the Dao of humans: Sincerity in The Doctrine of the Mean

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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

Abstract

In Zhongyong 中庸 (The Doctrine of the Mean), cheng 诚 (sincerity) is the “Dao of all Daos”, the “virtue of all virtues”, and thus connects the Dao of humans and that of Heaven. The Dao of humans can reveal the sincerity in the Dao of Heaven in two approaches: to contemplate on sincerity and to conduct in sincerity. Meanwhile, sincerity in the Dao of Heaven is unfolded in everything’s seeking for its own nature and destiny, thus the most fundamental approach for the Dao of humans to reveal the sincerity in the Dao of Heaven is for humans to seek for everything’s own nature and destiny.

摘要

在«中庸»的思想体系中, 诚是 “一切道之道”、“一切德之德”, 是人道与天道得以连接的枢纽。 人道显现天道之诚的方式有两种: 思诚与诚之。 但同时, 天道之诚开显在天道万物的各正性命中, 因此, 人之给出万物的各正性命的行动, 才是开显天道的根本方式。

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Correspondence to Yun Chen.

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Translated by Huang Deyuan from Qilu xuekan 齐鲁学刊 (Qilu Journal), 2008, (1): 18–23

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Chen, Y. Revealing the Dao of Heaven through the Dao of humans: Sincerity in The Doctrine of the Mean . Front. Philos. China 4, 537–551 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-009-0035-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-009-0035-0

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