Abstract: The flourishing "Confucian virtue ethics" has its blind spots and prejudices. When "Confucian virtue ethics" gradually becomes the mainstream, the "ethical" tendency and the tendency of an "ethical theory" make us away from rather than close to Confucianism. A virtue ethics is not a theory of virtue, and to prove that Confucianism is a "virtue ethics," one has to show not only that virtue is an important concept, but also that it is a basic concept in Confucianism. As an ethical theory, standard virtue ethics has a "global hierarchical structure". However, Confucius' doctrine is closer to a non-standard ethical theory with a "global non-hierarchical structure". From Confucius and Mencius, we can reflect on the independence dogma of ethical theory. Furthermore, the concept of "virtue ethics", which is derived from the standard typology, is not appropriate for Confucius and Mencius's "ethics in a broad sense" or "ethical-political economy".

Key words: ethics, ethical theory, virtue ethics, Confucianism, Confucius and Mencius