<p>The present study explored how six Chinese higher vocational college teachers conceptualised the moral and ethical dimensions of literacy and how they developed students’ reading literacy in L2 classrooms. Data were collected during and after a teacher professional learning programme, employing professional learning conversation, classroom observation, and reflective practice. As a result of thematic analysis of data, moral cultivation was revealed as a key element in understanding how participants in this study conceptualised literacy. Accordingly, a holistic approach to developing reading literacy was disclosed, integrating moral cultivation into reading skills acquisition and reading character building. Particularly, a virtue orientation towards learning from the Confucian perspective was identified, which has important implications in that educational practitioners are advised to pay more attention to how moral education and cultivating people can be integrated into English language and literacy teaching. Meanwhile, educators might give full consideration to implications based on the particular sociocultural context. Finally, the limitations and future directions are provided.</p>