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When Zhong 忠 Does Not Mean “Loyalty”

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Abstract

One of the challenges of reading ancient Chinese philosophical texts is to recognize that certain keywords have attained significantly different senses in the more recent language, and to try to reconstruct, on the basis of contemporary documents, what these terms would have meant to classical audiences. One such term is zhong 忠, which is often mechanically translated as “loyalty.” Throughout the imperial period, and in many Eastern Zhou contexts, zhong did indeed mean something very similar to loyalty. However, simply plugging in the word “loyalty” every time one encounters zhong can lead to seriously incorrect translations, especially when dealing with texts from before the third century BCE. This article discusses a range of complex early meanings including “treating people right,” “being honest with oneself in dealing with others,” and “adjudicating a case fairly.” In addition, the relationship with zhong 中 is explored by means of a revealing Western Zhou bronze inscription.

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Correspondence to Paul R. Goldin.

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Goldin, P.R. When Zhong 忠 Does Not Mean “Loyalty”. Dao 7, 165–174 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-008-9064-y

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