新儒家係從民國新文化運動以嚟全盤西化嘅思潮所產生出嚟嘅思想，佢對近代中國嘅影響力非常大。係由一批學者堅信中國傳統文化對中國仍然有價值，認為中國本土固有嘅儒家文化同人文思想存在住一種永恆嘅價值，佢哋希望發展中國文化同社會現代化嘅一個學術思想流派。1921年學衡社嘅成立同埋1922年學衡雜誌嘅創刊，以純學術嘅形式融化新知昌明中國文化的精粹，同時亦都引發咗新儒家哲學思辨嘅興起。新儒家之所以為「新」，就好似方東美所講：“將儒家作為思想嘅祖宗，融合埋中西哲學，去建立新儒學”。牟宗三就講：「凡係願意用平正嘅心懷，承認人類理性嘅價值，以抵抗一切非理性嘅嘢（包括哲學思想、觀念系統、主義學說、政經活動……），佢就係儒家，呢個就係新儒家。」當代新儒家嘅共通點就係一方面對儒、道、釋三家做一個新嘅詮釋，另一方面就將西方哲學思想融會喺中國傳統智慧入面，從而肯定中國傳統哲學亦都可以發展出民主同埋科學現代思想，嘗試去完成中西哲學會通嘅工作，所以佢同就噉肯定傳統嘅保守國粹學派，即係以康有為為首嘅孔教運動路線係完全唔同。更正統嘅新儒家就認為唔需要用其他文化學說體系嘅角度去改變儒家，只需要喺儒家本身嘅體系入面去搵番普世性嘅道理去發展新時代嘅儒學。同時，唔同文化嘅體系亦都可以喺其他文化體系入面去吸取番有益嘅成分去補充。
Neo-Confucianism is an idea that has arisen from the trend of total westernization since the New Culture Movement of the Republic of China, and it has had a great influence on modern China. This is a school of thought by a group of scholars who firmly believe that traditional Chinese culture is still valuable to China, that there is an eternal value in China's inherent Confucian culture and humanistic thought, and that they hope to develop Chinese culture and social modernization. The establishment of the Xueheng Society in 1921 and the founding of the Xueheng magazine in 1922 melted the essence of Xinzhi Changming Chinese culture in a purely academic form, and also triggered the rise of Neo-Confucian philosophical speculation. The reason why Neo-Confucianism is "new" is just like what Fang Dongmei said: Yan took Confucianism as the ancestor of thought, integrated Chinese and Western philosophies, and established Neo-Confucianism. Mou Zongsan said: "Anyone who is willing to recognize the value of human reason with a fair mind in order to resist all irrational things (including philosophical thoughts, conceptual systems, doctrines, political and economic activities...... He is Confucianism, and this is Neo-Confucianism. The common denominator of contemporary Neo-Confucianism is that on the one hand, it makes a new interpretation of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and on the other hand, it integrates Western philosophical thought into traditional Chinese wisdom, so as to determine that traditional Chinese philosophy can also develop democratic and scientific modern thought, and try to complete the work of integrating Chinese and Western philosophy. The more orthodox Neo-Confucianism believes that there is no need to change Confucianism from the perspective of other cultural doctrine systems, but only needs to find universal truths in the Confucian system itself to develop Confucianism in the new era. At the same time, the systems of different cultures can also be supplemented by the beneficial elements of other cultural systems.