This article examines how Hong Kong secondary school teachers define caring and the strategies they adopt for behaviour management. The influence of Taoism, emerging as a theme from the data, was prominent, as its principles were incorporated into the teachers' knowledge of caring. The findings illuminate the influence of Taoism in local schools. Implications for the promotion of culturally responsive programmes of caring are drawn. [Copyright of British Educational Research Journal is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01411920903018158]