Understanding the New by Keeping Past Teachings Alive: Introduction to the Festschrift

Confucius once remarked that "one may be venerated as a teacher if one is good at grasping thoroughly what is the new by keeping past teachings alive".1It is appropriate for us to quote this famous saying at the start of the Festschrift in honor of Chung-ying Cheng, who was commonly perceived as one of the modern new Confucian masters.As the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Philosophy (JCP) (since 1973) for more than 51 years, Cheng made a significant contribution to our perception of, and understanding about,