The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

Benevolence (ren) is the characteristic attribute of personhood. The first priority
of its expression is showing affection to those closely related to us. Righteousness
(yi) means appropriateness; respecting the superior is its most important rule.
Loving others according to who they are, and respecting superiors according to
their ranks gives rise to the forms and distinctions of propriety (li) in social life.
(ch. XX.)
The above passage depicts ethical values of social life and interpersonal relations advocated
by Confucian thoughts – show love within a family unit, extend affection to other members
of the community, and respect one‘s superiors. The Chinese students‘ tendency to highly
respect those who are senior and superior in scholarship can be traced to Confucian teaching.
Confucian teaching places great emphasis on learning and learning as an essential approach
towards self-cultivation. Confucius‘ love of learning is manifested in passages of The
Analects (e.g. 1:1, 5:28). A fundamental idea of Confucian teaching and the Analects in
relation to learning is learning through reflection. The famous passage of the Analects – ‗He
who does not reflect will remain ignorant and learn nothing‘ (2:15) – clearly states the
importance of reflection in learning. Confucian teaching stresses ‗cherishing the old
knowledge, continually acquiring new knowledge‘, so one can be a teacher of others (2:11).
Reflecting upon what one has learned and continually revising and practising are ways to
learn. The indication is the emphasis of learning by reflecting on others‘ ideas but not the
sheer ‗passive reception‘ of the knowledge (Ferkins, 2006). Confucius also praised the virtue
of ‗not [being] ashamed to seek knowledge from [one‘s] inferiors‘ (5:14).
Confucian teaching also stresses learning from the past. Confucius showed a ‗religious
reverence‘ for the past, in the words of Philip Ivanhoe (1990). The past is referred to in terms
of the ancients (e.g. 7:1), the sages (e.g. 8:19), and the classics (e.g. 16:13) in the Analects.
According to Confucian teaching therefore, one acquires knowledge by studying ancient
wisdom and traditions, the classical texts through reflecting and thinking.
As a great educator in Chinese history, Confucius‘ contribution to learning and educational
theory has been well cherished and remembered by Chinese people as sayings, proverbs,
maxims, and shared values of Chinese society. Students have been warned of the danger of
learning without thinking, and encouraged to feel no shame in asking inferiors. In 1987 at the
International Symposium on Confucianism, two main attitudes appeared towards
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