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Although Confucianism gains vitality from continuous interpretation, theo-
retically, it cannot exist exclusively in books and, more importantly, it should be
practiced in life: offering guidance on how to cultivate oneself physically and
mentally; how to regulate family affairs; how to carry out good governance and
ensure peace for all under Heaven (修齐治平).
The way to understand classical Confucianism lies in correction, rather than
6
argumentation, which is the way to understand modern scholarship. In other
words, if we seek to revive Confucianism in the modern academic system, we
are posed with the dilemma of possessing its knowledge, but not its learning;
possessing its books, but not its people.
The gradual separation of “learning” and “moral cultivation” in the modern
academic system reflects the progress of academic concepts in Confucianism
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research, but it becomes problematic when considered in the context of Confucian
revival. Confucian revival needs not just books, but also people, or at the very least,
a certain number of Confucian scholars who might serve as the proponents of its
revival. These scholars would work to attain the heights of Confucian morality and
classical ideology; they would not pen articles or monographs on it, but instead,
would exert moral demands upon themselves, to correct their own thoughts and
actions—not those of others.
The “heat” that propels specialist researchers of Confucius can only become
the “heat” that fires up research into Confucianism. In the new millennium, when
people call for a Confucianism revival, there is a strong impetus from political
Confucianism, yet concurrently, a relative decline of heart-mind Confucianism. In
addition to the influence of classical Confucianism’s ambition to govern the state
well and ensure peace for all under Heaven, the idea that contemporary political
Confucianism—which is devoid of classical Confucianism’s need for moral culti-
vation— should use words and logic to construct better arguments, should also be

6 The requirement for self-cultivation has been handed down among Confucian scholars for a
long time. Throughout history, many Confucians engaged in such practice. For example,
“Whenever Yichuan (伊川) (Cheng Yi 程颐) saw people sitting quietly, he sighed at their good
learning” (Huang, 1986, p. 646); Wang Yangming (王阳明) commented on learning: “When
instructing others to study, one should not stick to one method mechanically. When some people
first begin to learn, they are uncertain and unpredictable. They are mostly thinking about their
desires, so they should be taught to sit quietly for a time and free themselves from distracting
thoughts. After doing this for a long time, when their minds are a little more settled, they can be
taught to self-examine, discipline and reform themselves” (Wang, 2015, p. 20).
7 For the contradictory impact of the academic tradition of “integrating learning and moral
cultivation” on modern scholarship, especially on Confucianism, see Lin Qing (林青) and Yang
Lina (杨丽娜) (2019).