From the Ethics of “Identity” to “Acceptance”: Investigating the Chinese Literary Classics spread through Malaysia

Chinese literary classics have long spread to Malaysia, becoming a source of wisdom for early immigrants to Malaysia and Malaysian Chinese in their lifelong learning. Using ethical literary criticism, I propose that ethics constitute the essence of literature to explain that Chinese literary classics based on ethical value were spread and accepted by Malaysian Chinese. The process of accepting these literary classics is actually the process of the ethics of “identity” to “acceptance.” My investigation can be divided into three parts: the ethical ties between China and Malaysia; an analysis of the issue of transformation and choice of the Malaysia Chinese identity; and the movement from the ethics of “identity” to “acceptance” based on inheritance, innovation, and development, thereby reviving the ethical value system characterized by the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in Malaysia.