This is what Confucius (551-479BC)said of the description of love between young men and women in the poem entitled “Guan Ju” in “Ballads of Zhounan,” The Book of Songs. Later Confucian scholars regarded this as a basic requirement for poems and other literary works to advocate impartiality, peace of mind, and harmony between emotion and reason, making it a criterion for evaluating literary works. Its connotation is in accord with zhongyong (the golden mean) of Confucianism. In the more recent history, the connotation of the term has been continuously renewed to keep pace with the times.
Balanced harmony is an ideal state of human mind. When people’s emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are expressed in an unbiased way in keeping with the rites, a state of mind featuring balanced harmony is achieved. If a ruler can reach such a state of mind and exercise governance accordingly, everything in heaven and earth will be in its proper place, be orderly and in harmony with each other. This will deliver common prosperity and development for all.
This refers to a state of mind that is pure and proper with no depraved or evil thoughts. This is a well-known critique made by Confucius (551-479 BC) on The Book of Songs, a collection of more than 300 poems. In his opinion, these poems may be summarized as pure and proper in thoughts with no depravity, keeping with the beauty of balanced harmony. This concept has always been held in high respect among scholars over the years because of the important position in history The Book of Songs. It is often used to judge and enjoyed by both Confucius and critique writers and writings, although some of the poems in The Book of Songs are not fully up to the standard of “no depraved thoughts” due to their unbridled feelings and candidness.
This term refers to the mild and broad-minded manner with which the Confucian classic, The Book of Songs, edifies people. Confucian scholars during the Qin and Han dynasties believed that although some poems of The Book of Songs were satirical and remonstrative in tone, it still focused on persuading people instead of just reproving them. Most of the poems in the book were moderate in tone and meant to encourage the reader to learn to be moderate and honest. Encouraging people to be mild and gentle, sincere and broadminded is a manifestation of Confucian doctrine of the mean, and being fair and gentle is an aesthetic value, which is also a standard for literary and artistic style that stresses the need for being gentle in persuasion and for edification.
In Confucius’ (551-479 BC) time, how well one understood The Book of Songs was a sign of his social status and cultural attainment. If one did not study it, one would find it difficult to improve one’s ability to express oneself and to converse with people of high social status. Confucius’ elaboration on the relationship between studying The Book of Songs and social interaction actually expounds on the importance of literature in education.