Abstract: From the late 19^th century to early 20^th century, Chinese intellectuals initiated the construction of a modern nation-state. CAI Yuan-pei and his utopian novel New Year's Dream were the important beginning of the dialogue between modern Confucianism and socialism. The national imagination of Confucian intellectuals has undergone a profound transformation, particularly in the combination of utopian socialism and Confucian utopia of "great harmony", and the communication between the concept of revolution in the West and that in the learning of gongyang. Through the deep dialogue between Chinese and Western ideas of utopia, Chinese intellectuals shaped a kind of oriental aesthetics of humanism, which showed the power of constructing human subjectivity and utopian ideals. It contained the unique contribution of Confucianism and Chinese intellectuals to socialism.

Key words: CAI Yuan-pei, New Year's Dream, socialism, transformation of Confucianism