This theoretical study aims to examine and compare various educational influences within a German humanistic framework. Guo-Wei Wang, who was influenced by works of Kant, Schiller, Schopenhauer and Paulsen, claimed that the aim of education was to become an entire person. Later, Yuan-Pei Cai also adopted German Neo-Humanism specifically from the works of Paulsen and Humboldt. In addition, Carsun Chang (also known as Zhang, Jun-Mai) consciously reviewed the developments and changes of the European trend of thought since the 19th century. He identified that the dominating nature of his time was irrationalism, whereby the power of science was under suspicion. Though some of their thoughts about education contrasted one another, this study highlights similarities among the three educationalists: First, all three were undoubtedly influenced by German Neo- Humanism or the idea of irrationalism. Second, theyadvocated the relative autonomy of educational ideals and practice. Third, they emphasized the value of aesthetic education to varying degrees. Lastly, a critical orientation of educational research could be found by connecting their thoughts to their philosophies about education. The research results about German humanistic sciences in connection with the critical educational sciences demonstrates the changes German educational sciences had on the Chinese-speaking world.