Pig in a poke while the English expression refers to the appearance of the trick. This taught many scammed people the phrase "Caveat Emptor", or "buyer beware" as translated from Latin. In the past, it was common for small farmers to put a pig in a cloth sack to bring it to market for sale. A "poke" is a sack or bag. It has a French origin as "poque" and, like several other French words, its diminutive is formed by adding "-ette" or "-et" — hence "pocket" began life with the meaning "small bag". "Poke" is still in use in several English-speaking places, including
Doctrine of the Mean described as the ["unswerving pivot" = Ezra Pound] 'unwobbling pivot' or "zhongyong". "Zhong" means bent neither one way or another, and "yong" represents unchanging. In James Legge's translation of the text, the goal of the mean is to maintain balance and harmony from directing the mind to a state of constant equilibrium. The person who follows the mean is on a path of duty and must never leave it. A superior person is cautious, a gentle teacher and shows no contempt for his or her inferiors. S/he always does what is natural according to her or his status in the