Respect for teachers is a globally recognized educational issue. Compared with Western "equality-based" respect, the traditional Confucian "respect for teachers" is a kind of "hierarchical" or "reverential" respect. In the past, respect for teachers was an unquestioned ethical value in Confucian cultural contexts, and was considered beneficial for students. However, respect for teachers has been criticized as a symbol of authority and detrimental to learning and teacher-student relationships nowadays. To resolve the "controversy regarding respect for teachers," we used the conceptual framework of respect for teachers to investigate the predictive effects of respect-for-teachers' dual dimensions on teacher-student relationship and students' academic engagement. In Study 1, a scale for respect-for-teachers was developed. Two factors, reverence for teachers (RFT) and fear of teachers (FOT) were obtained, through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Study 1 (a cross-sectional design) also shows that RFT is positively associated with good teacher-student relationships and students' academic engagement, while FOT is negatively associated these outcomes. Study 2 (a two-wave longitudinal design) reveals that controlling for social desirability, RFT at time 1 has a positive relationship with good teacher-student relationships and academic engagement at time 2, while FOT at time 1 has a negative relationship with good teacher-student relationships and academic engagement at time 2. Overall, this paper provides a solution to the "controversy regarding respect for teachers," that is, whether respect for teachers is beneficial or harmful depends on its dimensions. This paper also contributes to a broader understanding of the concept of "respect" and offers insights into educational issues within East Asia and across different cultures.