I first encountered HuaXue-EnXue (华学恩学) while searching for a practical way to connect classical Confucian wisdom with modern business, leadership, and daily life. What I found was not merely a course of study, but a living system of self-cultivation rooted in the traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.

From 2024 to 2026, I had the privilege of attending several lectures by Master Xiao XianHua (肖先华), founder of HuaXue-EnXue. During the session, he shared a simple yet profound principle:

Live with poetic grace (诗情画意) and conduct oneself according to the spirit of ritual and harmony (礼乐).

What struck me most was that he was not speaking about philosophy as an abstract subject. He was speaking about how to live, how to lead, how to build families, organizations, and communities with greater character, balance, and meaning.

Master Xiao XianHua, a descendant of the distinguished Xiao family lineage associated with Xiao He (萧何), the renowned Han Dynasty statesman, has developed HuaXue-EnXue into a modern educational system that translates classical Chinese wisdom into practical guidance for contemporary life.

At its core, HuaXue-EnXue seeks to answer a question that also lies at the heart of RuDao:

How can ancient wisdom remain relevant in a rapidly changing modern world?

Its teaching framework -- "One Dao, Two Roots, Three Hearts, Four Refrainings, Five Questions, Six Harmonies, Seven Essentials, Eight Discernments, Nine Emptinesses, Ten Virtues, and Twenty Methods" -- provides a structured path for personal cultivation, family harmony, leadership development, and ethical entrepreneurship.

As I studied this framework, I was struck by how naturally it resonated with the principles of RuDao (儒道). Both emphasize character before success, virtue before power, and self-cultivation before leadership. Both seek to transform Confucian wisdom from a subject of study into a way of life.

In many respects, HuaXue-EnXue provides a practical cultivation system, while RuDao extends those principles into entrepreneurship, leadership, co-opetition, and Digital Civilization.

Together, they illustrate a timeless idea:

Education is not merely about acquiring knowledge.
It is about cultivating character, wisdom, and the ability to live with purpose.

Key mottos, principles, and concepts HuaXue by Professor Xiao XianHua within his lectures and volunteer training guidelines include:

1. The Core Pillar Core Values: three central attitudes:

"With a heart of gratitude, a heart of respect, and a heart for the public good. " "以感恩心,以恭敬心,以天下为公心"

Prof Xiao instills an active attitude of selflessness and humility:

"Only show gratitude, never complain; only show respect, never be arrogant, and let go of the ego. "

"只感恩,不抱怨;只恭敬,不傲慢,不我执。"

"Treat people well, only give gratitude, and do not hold grievances. "

"对人好,只感恩不抱怨。"

"Stand high upon the mountain peak, but walk deeply along the ocean floor - meaning to maintain noble aspirations while executing with absolute humility. "

"高高山顶立,低低海底行。"

"Only when your heart is dedicated to the public good can true success be achieved. "

"天下为公,才能成功。"

Dr. Tong Yan Kai ( Tang EnJia湯恩佳博士 香港孔教学院院长 世界儒商联合会会长), former industrialist and President of the Confucian Academy ( ConfucianAcademy.com ) in Hong Kong, is one of the most important modern advocates for RuShang ethics. His famous definition distinguishes the RuShang from ordinary merchants: "The greatest difference between a RuShang and an ordinary merchant is that the RuShang attaches great importance to business morality and refuses wealth obtained through unrighteous means."

Dr. Tong advocates the Confucian Ten Virtues (十德): rén 仁,yì 义,lǐ 礼,zhì 智,xìn 信,xiào 孝,tì 悌,zhōng 忠,lián 廉,chǐ 耻. This ten-virtue framework forms the direct foundation for the modern Eight Virtues of the RuShang (儒商八德). Dr. Tong stresses that wealth is not an end in itself. He holds the principle of shēng cái yǒu dào 生财有道 (create wealth in the proper way), and adopts Confucius's maxim "Wealth and honour obtained unrighteously are to me like floating clouds" as his personal motto.

For Dr. Tong, the RuShang pursues profit, but profit must serve benevolent purposes. This idea of yǐ cái fā shēn 以财发身 - using wealth to cultivate moral character aligns perfectly with the RuDao thesis: Confucian virtue forms the unchanging substance (体,tǐ) of enterprise, while adaptive business strategy constitutes the function (用,yòng). Dr. Tong describes this model as "The Analects plus the abacus", combining Confucian moral cultivation with practical commercial operation.

Dr. Tong said: "To be a RuShang is to uphold commercial morality and reject ill-gotten gains. Wealth acquired rightly is a means to carry out benevolent works. Wealth exists to cultivate one's moral character: we use wealth to develop benevolence."

"儒商就是要重视商业道德,不取不义之财,生财要取之有道,仁者生财是用来发展仁的事业,仁是儒家思想的核心,财是实现仁的事业的手段,故曰 以财发身"。

Source: Dr. Tong's Lecture at Sichuan University 四川大学 2005

Keywords of Dr. Tong: yǐ cái fā shēn 以财发身,righteous wealth, benevolence as purpose, wealth as instrument.

The Core Thought System of HuaXue-EnXue

HuaXue-EnXue carries on the orthodox current of Chinese culture, summarizing and developing Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Its core mission:

"To build, for the Chinese nation and indeed for all humanity, a system of thought and value by which to stand and live between heaven and earth. HuaXue-EnXue is the distillation of the finest elements of the world's cultures and religions - the village Way, village learning, and village rules of the global village; the family Way, family learning, and family rules of humanity's common earthly home."

The core system and its correspondence to this book:

The Core Ideas Explained

(1) Awaken to the Dao; root yourself; connect to the root.

"Devoutly awaken to the Dao; go deep in one discipline and take root - root in loyalty and filial piety fulfilled together; find the root of Chinese culture, the root of one's life and career. Solve the relation of Dao and technique from the root upward. Much past training only studied technique; now strive for the Dao. Only by learning, awakening, clarifying, and walking the Dao can technique finally be handled rightly, and can life and work return to their proper orbit."

RuShang reading: the inner-sage foundation - awaken to the Dao first, study technique second; cultivate the self first, manage the enterprise second.

(2) Before doing, learn to be human.

Professor Xiao stresses: "Before doing, learn to be human. Face life with a healthy mindset; find the root of Chinese culture and of one's life and career... Learn and carry forward the finest of Chinese culture; revive national education and national culture."

RuShang reading: the RuShang's core logic - self-cultivation as the root, enterprise management as the branch.

(3) Only reverence; no arrogance; no ego-attachment.

"Only reverence - no arrogance, no ego-attachment. Serve others; do not cling; do not overstep your station; do not promise lightly; do not take advantage; do not covet others' money or goods; feel neither aggrieved nor wounded."

RuShang reading: the RuShang's stance toward partners - humble, sincere, never overstepping, never grasping.

(4) Filial piety first among a hundred virtues.

"Filial piety is foremost of the hundred virtues. Be grateful to parents; seek their grace at the wellspring of life; teaching filial piety is the golden key that solves all problems. One must first achieve filial piety... Be grateful to every person who appears in your life; be good to people; only gratitude, no complaining; only reverence."

RuShang reading: the starting point of nation-and-society feeling - filial piety is the wellspring of gratitude, and gratitude the starting point of trust.

(5) Return to the scholar-merchant's devotion to family and nation.

"HuaXue-EnXue is devoted to carrying forward the finest of Chinese culture, bridging Chinese and Western management wisdom, transmitting the mission of enduring foundations, and returning to the scholar-merchant's devotion to family and nation - reconnecting to the living source of five thousand years of Huaxia culture... cultivating people of resolve who can love and serve the country and give their strength to the nation's rejuvenation and the sustained, healthy development of its economy."

RuShang reading: the ultimate mission - scholar and merchant as one; accountability to family and nation.

Principal Zhang Haibiao's Scholar-Merchant Theory 士商理论

At the ninth anniversary celebration of International HuaXue-EnXue (2020), themed "Cultivate deeply for nine years with goodwill; sprint for ten years to gain enlightenment," HuaXue family members from Italy, Spain, the United States, France, Australia, China, and beyond joined - nearly a thousand participants. Zhang Haibiao (Bill Zhang), head of the International HuaXue-EnXue Business School, has dedicated himself to bringing HuaXue-EnXue into business education.

The Business School's Scholar-Merchant Theory (ShiShangLiLun 士商理论) is precisely the modern expression of "RuShang and RuJiang": scholar-spirit, merchant-competence (ShiHunShangCai 士魂商才); Inner Sage, Outer King. It fuses the moral cultivation of the Confucian scholar with the commercial competence of the modern merchant - in full accord with this book's framework of "RuShang as Inner Sage, RuJiang as Outer King."

How HuaXue-EnXue Connects to This Book