In the past two or three decades,there has been renewed interest in returning to the teachings of Confucius.I say that it is renewed because during the transition period between the Tang and Song dynasties,from the eighth to the eleventh century,some thinkers had already called attention to the project of recovering various aspects of Confucian philosophy and political culture that were present in ancient times.This new interest seems to arise from the questions that Chinese and non-Chinese are now facing concerning the moral and intellectual foundation of contemporary China.