Confucius' Doctrine of the Mean is a Philosophy Opposed to Social Change

Abstract

The doctrine of the mean was an important part of the thought of Confucius and the Confucian school. The bourgeois careerist, conspirator, counterrevolutionary double-dealer, renegade and traitor Lin Piao and his sworn follower Ch'en Po-ta, like those of the reactionary exploiting classes in history, wildly preached the doctrine of the mean. They said: The doctrine of the mean was "rational," "dialectical thinking" and "one of our nation's great virtues." They also said: Confucius' doctrine of the mean "exercised a great influence" on "the later development of the dialectical philosophy in our country" and "this was a very big merit for Confucius in the history of Chinese philosophy," and so forth.