LNELecture Notes in Education, Arts, Management and Social Science3083-10912705-053XBio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/LNE.v4i6.15554ArticleCheng and Teaching: The Ontology of the Way of Teachers in Zhou Dunyi’s Philosophy and Its Moral Education Implications for Contemporary College Studentshttps://artdesignp.com/journal/LNE/4/6/10.26689/LNE.v4i6.15554WangHongjuan,YuJun2026462026-06-26As the founder of Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, Zhou Dunyi’s thought on Cheng inherits from The Doctrine of the Mean and the Commentaries on the Yi, and inspires Cheng, Zhu, Lu, and Wang, achieving a coherence from “cosmology” to “moral theory.” He elevated Cheng to the philosophical height of unifying the cosmic noumenon and the source of morality, establishing the metaphysical foundation of the Confucian learning of inner sagehood and marking the starting point of the ontological construction of Neo-Confucianism. Taking Cheng as the cosmic noumenon and moral source, he further grounded “teaching” on Cheng, thereby providing ontological support for the way of teachers. Teachers are not transporters of knowledge but witnesses and transmitters of Cheng. The essence of education lies not in instilling norms but in awakening the Cheng inherent in students. This thought of “establishing teaching on Cheng” has important theoretical reference and practical implications for solving the problems of disconnection between knowledge and action and nihilism of belief commonly existing in the moral education of contemporary college students.Ontology of the way of teachers,Moral education,Cheng,Teaching

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