Dao-tong道統, or Confucian orthodoxy, is an important Confucian concept, which means the system of the Confucian values. Book Yao-yue 尧曰 of the Analects conveys the basic ideas of Confucian orthodoxy by narrating the dictum of Emperor Yao and Shun. Mencius set up himself as the successor of Confucius, saying that each five hundred years, a king will flourish.五百年必有王者興。孟子·公孫丑章句下.

Then Han Yu in Tang Dynasty, who set himself up as the successor of Mencius created the system of Confucianism theory in his essay, Seeking the way 原道，by imitating the system of Buddhism theory, to protest against the influential Buddhism, which can be seen as a preclude of the rising of Daoxue 道學 in the coming Song Dynasty.

However, Zhu Xi, a Confucianist in Song Dynasty cast aside Han's theory and established his own, which was accepted by rulers afterwards.

Dao -tong ,which also literally means that the system of way, is relative to Zhi-tong 治統, literally the system of rule. In the extremely ancient times, they were combined into one by the great emperors like Yao, Shun, etc. therefore the country could enjoy lasting peace and prosperity. As it declined, Confucius and Mencius had to separate the Dao-tong from the Zhi-tong and take the responsibility of Dao-tong.

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