儒學「誠」範疇有一個漫長、曲折的成長過程。「誠」始于先秦孟、荀與「中庸」，如「中庸」之「誠」既是「盡己之性」的內聖動源，更是「盡人之性」「盡物之性」的外王理論前提。「天地位，萬物育」、「參贊化育」為其天人之際的表述。宋代初期，周敦頤、張載、程顥（明道）、程頤（伊川）已做紹述，唯程伊川作了轉向，南宋朱熹（晦庵）屢上奏折、掬誠進諫以「正心誠意」。義理方向則主要繼承程伊川「仁、性；愛、情」，發展為「心統性、情」、「靜養，動察；敬貫動、靜」。並且註解「孟子」、「中庸」、「大學」「誠」範疇，與其格物致知、居敬窮理相發明。然而朱熹對「誠」的體知實有啟於今日，蓋今日社會風氣喪失「互信」、人與人際瀰漫「猜忌」，宜取效朱熹的「誠」學之成德之教、積極恢復「誠信」以救「利益」之短視。

There was a discursive development of the ‘Sincerity’ (誠) since Conficianism during pre-Chin. Including Mencius, Hsun-Tze, and “Chung-Yung” (中庸), there were different interpretations on ‘sincerity’. In “Chung Yung”, it was exclaimed that ‘sincerity’ had an effect not only exhausted the nature of human-being, but also the nature of materials. That means that ‘sincerity’ has both meaning in ontological and cosmological fields. After one thousand years, during dynasty of North Sung, there were a revial on metaphysics, there arouse 4 philosophers: Chou Tuen-Yih, Chang-Tzei, Cheng- Hau and Cheng -Yih. Neo-Confucianism has a prevailing idea that there were two approaches of understanding on ‘sincerity’, that's a priori or post priori principles respectively-called Lu-Wang or Chang-Chu school. In this view, Chu-Hsi's theory of ‘Nature is Principle’ (性即理) was labeled a sign having less vigor in moral intensity than ‘Mind is principle’ (心即理) of Lu-Wang (陸、王). In this article, the author present two scholar propositions. One of them is the Chu-Hsi's body-knowledge (體知) about ‘sincerity’ which was somewhat equivalent to Lu-Wang's approach of understanding on mind. The other one is a new observation onto ‘Nature is principle’ (「性即理」), in which we may find the positive contribution of Chu-Hsi. The author want readers pay more attention to see the enduring practice pervading Emperors ‘correcting mind and increasing sincerity’. Furthermore, in our times is ‘sincerity’ a drug to cure the decease of overwhelming conceit?