This article examines the "back to tradition" movement in Chinese schools and its political nature. It focuses on the launch of the "education in Chinese traditional virtues" project in the 1980s and various new developments at the present time, which continue a revival of Confucianism in Chinese society and education. The paper looks into the domestic and international background of the movement, the political nature of the Confucian tradition, and the government's support for the movement. The essay explores a resurgence of Confucianism in Chinese schools through moral education and the larger political purpose it serves. The article reveals how a popular grass roots education movement reflects particular social and political needs during changing times and how pedagogical functions of an education initiative become entangled with, and even overshadowed by, political demands within a politically centralised system.