Ancient Chinese ideas of moral education could be said to have five main dimensions – philosophical foundations, content, principles, methods and evaluation – which are described in this paper. An analysis of the fundamental features of Confucian thinking on moral education shows that it took the idea that human beings have a good and kind nature as its logical starting point. It built a system of ethical norms, based on the idea that an individual's feelings come from the inner mind, combined with external rites. Its methods of moral education are diverse, with an emphasis on learning from exemplars, environmental conditions and practice, as well as the cultivation of moral responsibility and social commitment. Its quintessential ideas were ‘virtue lies in practice’ and ‘life is moral education’. The paper concludes by arguing that Confucian thinking on moral education has ongoing value for research and practice in contemporary moral education.

The aim of this investigation is to develop a three-dimensional filial piety scale and explore its psychometric properties. Two studies are conducted based on Wang’s three-dimensional filial piety model. Study 1 consists of a review of the current literature, in-depth interviews, and feedback from the target group and experts. An initial 36-item scale using a bipolar Likert 6-point rating scale is developed. Then exploratory factor analysis is conducted on working adults (n = 617) to explore the dimensions and final items, and a 15-item scale with three factors is obtained. Study 2 confirms the factor structure of the new three-factor scale obtained from Study 1 using a confirmatory factor analysis with sample 1 (n = 585). Next, the criterion validity is tested with sample 2 (n = 248) and test–retest reliability with sample 3 (n = 67). The results support the model on which this scale is based and show three dimensions of filial piety, namely the balance of interests, good affection, and family role norms. As a valid, reliable scale, the three-dimensional filial piety scale can therefore be used in the Chinese context to measure filial piety for working adults of different genders and ages and in different cohabitation situations.

This paper describes the development and method of validation of the Chinese Modesty Scale (CMS). Based on Wang’s dualistic model for value and instrumental modesty, our study employed a review of the literature, in-depth interviews, open-ended investigations, and feedback from experts. An initial 14-item scale for analyzing the issue of “Chinese modesty” was developed. Then we explored the dimensions and final items of this CMS using item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with sample 1 (n = 406). After that, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to replicate the factor structure obtained through EFA with a refined, independent, 12-item scale (n = 662). Results confirmed the dualistic model (for value and instrumental modesty) on which this scale was based. That is, we found that there are two kinds of “Chinese modesty”: value modesty and instrumental modesty. As a valid, reliable scale, the CMS can therefore be used to measure the “Chinese modesty” of/in different age groups.

Based on the construction of the “Taiji Model of Confucian Self” that aims to explain self-structure, the progression of self-cultivation and the dominion of person-making in the context of Chinese Confucian culture, according to the ideas of Taoism and Buddhism, the present study develops the “Taiji Model of Taoist Self” and the “Taiji Model of Buddhist Self” and identifies four realms of Taoist self-cultivation and five realms of Buddhist self-cultivation. In light of the Taiji Model of Taoist Self, self-structure can be divided into the soft self (the Yin part) and the hard self (the Yang part). The Taiji Model of Taoist Self splits the process of self-cultivation into four realms: suren (vulgarian), xianren (solon), shengren (saint), and zhenren (immortal). The Taiji Model of Buddhist Self splits self-structure into the dusty self (the Yin part) and the pure self (the Yang part) and divides the process of self-cultivation into five realms: Humans and Heaven, Arhat, Pratyekabuddha, Bodhisattva, and Buddha.