道家棄絕聖智，儒家推崇聖智，在《論語》中，仁、聖、智恆與政教、事功結合，至郭店出土楚簡〈六德〉中，仍保留這樣的特質與義涵，卻同時轉向家庭與政治倫理之規範，成為三親、五倫的內涵要求。至子思學派起，強調「德」由「心」啟，由「中」發「思」、「中心之憂」、「心」體自覺，仁、智、聖遂可以抽離事功而為精微之存在，凸顯其獨立之價值，循向內聖一路，至孟子而建立起儒家形上學體系。郭店與馬王堆簡帛〈五行〉經文和馬王堆帛書〈德聖〉所顯現之成德過程，及〈中庸〉由「誠」、「明」以通「天」之聖、智論述，清楚顯示了這種蛻變的情況。從〈六德〉與〈五行〉、〈德聖〉中聖、智兩德的義涵偏倚，已略可看出此後孟、荀兩脈儒學發展的源頭歧異。

Daoists refused to regard holiness (聖 sheng) and wisdom (智 zhi) as virtues; Confucians, however, held them in high esteem. In The Confucian Analects 論語, benevolence (仁 ren), holiness and wisdom are always inseparable from politics, culture, and practical matters. These Confucian virtues still retained these distinctive qualities and connotations by the bamboo-slip text The Six Virtues (六德 Liude), excavated at Guodian 郭店, was written. However, at the same time the text shows that these virtues had also begun to be applied to the spheres of family and political ethics, forming implied requirements for the three kinships and five ethical relationships.Following the rise of Zisi's 子思 school, the new emphases were on virtue (德 de) unlocked by the mind (心 xin), the thinking (思 si) springing from within (中 zhong), the worries of the mind (中心之憂 zhongxin zhi you), and the selfawareness of the mind. Thus benevolence, wisdom and holiness, detached from practical matters, now came to possess a profound existence their own right, highlighting their independent value. These Confucian virtues thus developed towards an 'inner holiness,' which eventually resulted in the establishment of a Confucian metaphysical system by the time of Mencius. The process of establishing virtue as described in The Five Elements (五行 Wuxing), a text excavated both at Guodian and Mawangdui 馬王堆, and The Holiness of Virtue (德聖 Desheng), a text written on silk and unearthed at Mawangdui, and the discourse in The Golden Mean (中庸 Zhongyong) on holiness and wisdom, in which Heaven (天 tian) can be understood by means of sincerity (誠 cheng) and clarity (明 ming), all clearly reveal such a transformation.By examining the different implied interpretations of the virtues of holiness and wisdom in the Six Virtues, Five Elements and Holiness of Virtues, we can roughly discern the different sources from which sprung the two Confucian schools of Mencius and Xunzi 荀子.