The syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism and its impacts on Chinese educational traditions: Evidence from Zhu Xi

China’s educational heritage is rich. Yet, scholarly attention on Chinese educational traditions has mostly clustered around Confucian legacy. Few can articulate the relevance of coexisted Daoism and Buddhism to China’s classical educational values, let alone the syncretic impacts of the three philosophical teachings. This article seeks to explore the converged influences of the three teachings on Chinese educational traditions with evidence from Zhu Xi. Textual analysis has been employed to capture how he epitomized thoughts and practices from the three teachings to develop his educational philosophy and pedagogy. The findings are two-fold: the systematic cosmological-moral ontology with Buddhist and Daoist metaphysical roots redefines his educational epistemology with universal principle (li), material force (qi), human nature (xing), and heart-mind (xin) as the nucleus, reinterpreting the learning process and theories; Correspondingly, the ontological view shapes his pedagogy, namely quiet sitting (jingzuo) and mindfulness (jing). Although being a Confucian intrinsically, Zhu Xi has been profoundly influenced by the interactions of three teachings in the sphere of education. The syncretic lens further reevaluates the fundamental features of traditional Chinese educational traditions. China’s experience of synthesizing three teachings, particularly indigenizing a foreign one, could potentially contribute to hybridization of Chinese and Western intellectual traditions.