Were there no Zhu Xi, Confucius would not have had such a far-reaching impact on the Chinese people. The great sinologist Chien Mu wrote that Confucius may have been the fount of Confucian culture, but Zhu Xi was the pivotal figure who carried the tradition forward. He refined Confucian thought, and gave people a deeper understanding of Confucius.
沒有朱熹，孔子對中國人的影響不會那麼深遠，國學大師錢穆曾經指出，孔子是儒家文化的源頭，朱子是承先啟後的中間點，他發揮儒學新精神，使孔子思想更細密，也使後人對孔子的理解更深。