[12] A new rationalist intellectual movement, Han learning, gained influence during the Qing dynasty and began a thorough criticism of the Kongzi Jiayu and other purportedly authentic ancient works.

[13] A large number of scholars, including Sun Zhizu (孫志祖), Fan Jiaxiang (范家相), Yao Jiheng (姚際恒), Cui Shu (崔述), Pi Xirui (皮錫瑞), Wang Pinzhen (王聘珍), and Ding Yan, all reached the same verdict that the Jiayu was a forgery.

[4] In the 20th century, Gu Jiegang, the leading force of the highly influential Doubting Antiquity School, reaffirmed the Qing scholars' conclusion that the Kongzi Jiayu was a forgery by Wang Su, and called it "worthless" for the study of Confucius.

Due to the controversy surrounding the Kongzi Jiayu, and the fact that much of its content was known from other ancient texts, early Western sinologists did not pay much attention to the work.

[3] A few, however, including James Legge, Alfred Forke, and Richard Wilhelm, believed the Jiayu to be authentic, despite the forgery verdict reached by Chinese scholars.

[14] Robert Paul Kramers translated the first ten sections of the Kongzi Jiayu into English, published in 1950 under the title K'ung Tzu Chia Yü: The School Sayings of Confucius.

A wooden board found in the tomb contains the table of contents of Ru Jia Zhe Yan, which is also very similar to the received text of the Kongzi Jiayu.