<p>Limited academic attention has been paid to doctoral supervisors’ understanding of multiple supervisory goals and social-cultural factors influencing their understanding. This has inhibited the theorisation of the multiplicity of modern doctoral supervision. Drawing on theoretical perspectives synthesising the ripple-like structure of societal orders as concentric circles and the anthropocosmic idea of Confucian humanism in China, this qualitative study interviewed Chinese doctoral supervisors in two research-intensive universities to understand doctoral supervisors’ understanding of their supervisory goals. The findings first identified the ultimate supervisory goal: to cultivate <i>REN</i> through research training, which includes virtue moulding and talent developing. To realise the ultimate goal, two dimensions of supervisory goals dominate: the individual and collective. These illustrate that supervisory goals in China’s doctoral education extend beyond individual academic achievements and moral developments to include collective contributions to the family, community, and larger societal circles. However, the missing of supervisory goals in the anthropocosmic view makes the meaning of ‘<i>REN</i>’ incomplete from the holistic sense of Confucian humanism. This article first contributes to understanding supervisory goals in modern China and offers a basis for international comparison. Second, it contributes to developing theoretical tools for understanding doctoral supervision by offering a social-cultural interpretation.</p>