《中庸》是一篇论述儒家人性修养的散文，原是《礼记》第三十一篇，相传为子思所作，是儒家学说经典论著。经北宋程颢、程颐极力尊崇，南宋朱熹作《中庸集注》，最终和《大学》、《论语》、《孟子》并称为“四书”。宋、元以后，《中庸》成为学校官定的教科书和科举考试的必读书，对中国古代教育产生了极大的影响。
《中庸·十八》 子思
子曰：“无忧者，其惟文王乎！以王季为父，以武王为子；父作之，子述之。武王缵大王、王季、文王之绪，壹戎衣而有天下，身不失天下之显名。尊为天子，富有四海之内；宗庙飨之，子孙保之。武王末受命，周公成文武之德，追王大王、王季，上祀先公以天子之礼。斯礼也，达乎诸侯大夫，及士庶人。父为大夫，子为士；葬以大夫，祭以士。父为士，子为大夫，葬以士，祭以大夫。期之丧，达乎大夫。三年之丧，达乎天子。父母之丧，无贵贱，一也。”
The Master said, "It is only King Wen of whom it can be said that he had no cause for grief! His father was King Ji, and his son was King Wu. His father laid the foundations of his dignity, and his son transmitted it. King Wu continued the enterprise of King T'ai, King Chi, and King Wen. He once buckled on his armor, and got possession of the empire. He did not lose the distinguished personal reputation which he had throughout the empire. His dignity was the royal throne. His riches were the possession of all within the four seas. He offered his sacrifices in his ancestral temple, and his descendants maintained the sacrifices to himself. It was in his old age that King Wu received the appointment to the throne, and the duke of Zhou completed the virtuous course of Wen and Wu. He carried up the title of king to T'ai and Chi, and sacrificed to all the former dukes above them with the imperial ceremonies. And this rule he extended to the princes of the empire, the great officers, the scholars, and the commonpeople. Was the father a great officer and the son a scholar, then the burial was that due to a great officer, and the sacrifice that due to a scholar. Was the father a scholar and the son a great officer, then the burial was that due to a scholar, and the sacrifice that due to a great officer. The one year's mourning was made to extend only to the great officers, but the three years' mourning extended to the emperor. In the mourning for a father or mother, he allowed no difference between the noble and the mean."
