Confucius' aesthetic education thought includes three aspects: kindness, self-denial and moderation. The core of Confucius' aesthetic thought is the unity of beauty and goodness, that is, the unity of lofty content and perfect form, while putting goodness in the first place.

The core of Confucius' aesthetic thought is the unity of "beauty" and "goodness", and the unity of form and content. Confucius advocated "poetry teaching", that is, combining literature and art with political morality, and taking literature and art as a means to change social politics and an important way to cultivate sentiment. Confucius believes that a perfect person should cultivate in three aspects: poetry, ceremony and music. Confucius' aesthetic thought has a great influence on later literary theories.