Tseng Tzu said on another occasion, ‘Every day I examine myself on three counts,’ and of these the first is ‘In what I have undertaken on another’s behalf, have I failed to be chung?’ (I.4). Again, when asked how a subject should serve his ruler, Confucius’ answer was that he ‘should serve his ruler with chung’ (III.19). Finally, it is also said that in dealing with others one should be chung (XIII.19). In all these cases there is no doubt at all that chung means ‘doing one’s best’.6
