漢學與理學的對立是既有關於清代「漢宋之爭」研究關注的焦點。事實上，「漢宋之爭」在思想史上的內涵並不止於此，它同時也是清代漢學自身內部「窮經」與「進德」、「考據」與「義理」之間緊張狀態的反映。隨著清代漢學逐漸出現「為知識而知識」趨向，不免與儒學本身重道德、重致用的性格相違背。漢學畢竟還是一種儒學，受到自身內在的限制，不能允許欠缺義理的求知傾向無限制膨脹。既難以抑止考據的興趣、又必須限制這種興趣的發展，以防止它同德行、義理等層面分裂脫節，清代漢學（家）始終處在這種內在的緊張之中。這即是所謂「漢宋之爭」在思想史上更深層次的含義。清季以降，一整套西方學術分科體系逐漸流行於中國，表現為「漢宋之爭」的儒學內部各層次的分裂之勢與西方學科體系相互支援，在清季民初以後導致了儒學最終的解體，儒學內部的「漢宋之爭」也藉此而消歇。在這條學術變化理路中，清代儒學的「漢宋之爭」就好像是提前為中國學術由傳統進入現代做了一番準備，清代學術思想似乎顯示出某種「近代性」的趨向。然而清學是否具有「近代性」？學界的既有研究尚不足以回答此問題，因此對清學冠以「近代性」一類評價時似宜謹慎。

The opposition between Han Learning 漢學 and Song Learning 宋學has long been the focal point of research on the ”Han-Song debate” 漢宋之爭 of Qing dynasty literati. In fact, in Qing intellectual history, the meaning of the “Han-Song debate” was not limited to these two schools as such. It was also a reflection of the tensions between classical study 窮經 and virtue 進德, and between textual study 考據 and principle 義理, issues which were internal to the Han Learning school of the Qing. With the development of the trend to “pursue knowledge for knowledge’s sake,” Han Learning ran counter to the Confucian learning that stressed personal moral cultivation and practical ordering of the world. Nonetheless, Han Learning was squarely within the domain of Confucian learning and thereby governed by its own internal limitations. It could not admit to any theoretical knowledge independent of “principle.” The Han Learning scholars of the Qing thus faced a tension that was internal to their school, while they strongly pursued textual studies, at the same time they had to limit this interest to make sure it did not lead away from virtue and principle. This is precisely the deeper significance of the “Han-Song debate” in Qing intellectual history. Since the late Qing, following the West, China began to adopt a new taxonomical scheme re-defining and re-categorizing knowledge. The tendency to separate different layers of Confucian learning, which led to the interpretation of a “Han-Song debate,” had supported and been supported by the Western academic taxonomical scheme. Thenceforth, this new condition helped to bring about the collapse of Confucian learning and, therefore, the end of the “Han-Song debate.” In this sense, the “Han-Song debate” may have helped give the Chinese academy means for its transformation from traditional into modern. Perhaps Qing thought was already displaying a tendency toward its “modern nature.” However, it is too early to reach this conclusion, and for now we should be cautious in positing that the Qing thought contained a “modern nature.”