Abstract: The “Neo-ritual Education” is a theoretical construction at the forefront of contemporary Confucian philosophy that targets to respond to the simplistic rejection of Confucianism since the New Culture Movement, thus building a modern Confucian ethical and political indoctrination theory system. Its basic connotation can be summarized as follows: to make Li (rites) on the basis of Qing (human nature), and take Li (rites) to educate and restrain the civilians. The so-called “Li” refers to the established social norms and their systems; the so-called “Qing” refers not only to “human nature” but also to “real context”, i.e., universally acknowledged human nature and the real context or the lifestyle to which human nature is adapted. This theoretical construction, though it has not yet been fully developed in the doctrine, has a deep philosophical foundation that embraces “Qing-Li Philosophy” or “Qing-Li Confucianism”. It is presented as a multi-level foundation relationship, namely: emotional existentialism → emotional ontology → emotional ethics → Neo-ritual Education. One of the most original ideas of the Neo-ritual Education is the intrinsic correlation between the historical form of Ritual Education and that of the social subjects, thus revealing that the modern Neo-ritual Education features with the “self-education” of the citizens.

Key words: Neo-ritual Education, philosophical basis, Qing-Li Confucianism, Qing-Li Philosophy