As the ideological pillar of modern Japan's imperial system, the Imperial Rescript on Education was profoundly imprinted on Japan's modern education. But, in fact, multiple alternative proposals for developing modern education were put forth in the mid-Meiji period. One such proposal was the ethics ("rinri") education promoted by the then Minister of Education Mori Arinori, whose conception of moral education was best embodied in the two textbooks handpicked by himself for the subject of "rinri: Rinrisho," which was compiled by his team, and "Fushi Dotokugaku," which was abridged and translated from German educator Friedrich Wilhelm Fricke's work. These two texts drew criticism because they dismantled the traditional "loyalty and filial piety" framework, and such criticism reveals the logical gap between them and the Rescript. Mori's conception of ethics education as represented by these two textbooks provides valuable intellectual resources for us to visualise new possibilities for moral education.