Literature is the vehicle of ideas.
In the mid-Tang Dynasty (618-907), Han Yu (768-824), a writer and philosopher, and some others, as leaders of the movement advocating the prose style of the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-AD 220) dynasties, proposed that the purpose of writings should conform to and promote the classics of the ancient sages.
Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073), a neo-Confucian philosopher of the Song Dynasty, expounded the principle of literature serving as a vehicle of ideas. He concluded that literature is like a vehicle while ideas are like goods loaded on it, and that literature is a means and a vehicle to convey Confucian ideas. This theory emphasized the social role of literature and stressed that writers should know what they are writing about to ensure that their works convey correct ideas.
Addressing the opening of the International Conference Commemorating the 2,565th Anniversary of Confucius' Birth and the Fifth Congress of the International Confucian Association, held in September 2014, Xi Jinping pointed out: Literature is the vehicle of ideas, and it has the function of educating people. Contemporary China is a continuation and development of historical China, and contemporary Chinese thought and culture represent the inheritance and upgrading of traditional Chinese thought and culture. To understand China and the Chinese people of today, one has to understand their cultural roots and the cultural soil that has nurtured the Chinese nation.
文以载道
中唐时期古文运动的领袖韩愈等人提出“文以明道”的观点，认为文章主旨应合乎并发扬圣人的经典。宋代理学家周敦颐进一步发展为“文以载道”，提出文学像“车”，“道”即是车上运载的货物，文学是用以传播儒家之“道”的手段和工具。这一观念强调文学的社会功用，指明文学作品应该言之有物、有正确的思想内容。
2014年9月，习近平在纪念孔子诞辰2565周年国际学术研讨会暨国际儒学联合会第五届会员大会开幕会上指出，文以载道、文以化人，当代中国是历史中国的延续和发展，当代中国思想文化也是中国传统思想文化的传承和升华，要认识今天的中国、今天的中国人，就要深入了解中国的文化血脉，准确把握滋养中国人的文化土壤。