"Shang"is one of the five principal pentatonic tones in Chinese music theory.In the Li Ji,Yue Ji,and Shi Yi,it is said:"therefore,Shang refers to the legacy of Wu Di,the Shang people recognize it,and thus called Shang."The Shang people had recognized the fact that the"Shang tone"was"in the middle"among the five principal pentatonic tones,so they named this tone after their own ethnic group.This essay demonstrates the musical pattern of"Shang tone in the center"through the three-part loss and gain method,the Pythagorean intonation,and the just intonation,discusses the phenomenon of"Shang tone in the center",and explores the application of"Shang tone"and"Shang mode"in the practice of xuan gong fan diao and composition.