The Useless Tree

What She Said

    I have mentioned professor Yu Dan before.  She is a media scholar at Beijing Normal University who has published a very popular book in China about the modern applications of the Analects.  She has apparently now done some TV lectures on Chuang Tzu.  I mention her again here because, from this China Daily piece, I get the sense that she is doing precisely what I am trying to do (though I focus more on the US and she on China):

"I am not an expert in Confucian studies," Yu admitted. "I am just willing to
share with people my understanding of these centuries-old pearls of wisdom."

"Confucianism contains some feudal ideas that we should abandon nowadays. For
example, Confucius believed that ‘women and base persons are hard to please’. In
his time, women lacked foresight and used to worry about trivia in a
patriarchical society."

 Me, too.  I am not an expert on ancient Chinese philosophy but I read the old books and think about them and look for ways they can speak to us now.  And I absolutely agree that we must let go of certain elements of the old philosophies, especially the gender bias that infused them originally.

     She sums things up very well with this:

"As I see it, those philosophical, inspiring ideas and arguments about human
existence and social life should not be regarded merely as interesting quotes,
glistening with wisdom but of little use for day-to-day living. Instead, they
are simple truths that can jump the barrier of time and space and shed new light
for the future of every human being," she said.

 Yes!

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2 responses to “What She Said”

  1. nickwong Avatar
    nickwong

    also there is another voice in china from a group of doctors masters and bachlors etc. what they said? “why we’ll object to some guys like Yudan finally?”(in china)(http://www.tianya.cn/new/Publicforum/Content.asp?idWriter=0&Key=0&strItem=free&idArticle=870238&flag=1)
    it’s like funny farce? I may not like Yudan and her sayings,but this article more like the redguards’ “big criticism” in stead of a normal discussion of chinese traditional philosophy.

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  2. melektaus Avatar
    melektaus

    I really don’t think the “gender bias” practices and beliefs are essential to any Chinese classical system of thought. When they mentioned, they are often mentioned in passing, not as part of the main content of the text. Much of it is descriptive as opposed to prescriptive or even endorsing. Moreover much of the criticisms of more specifically Confucian viewpoints based on gender bias is almost always centered on a misreading of a single passage.
    Furthermore, outright false claims are often attributed to Confucian philosophers such as claiming (recent comment by one poster here attests to this) that Confucianism is responsible for foot-binding when in fact there are only two passages I know of where a (neo) Confucian philosopher even mentions the practice (and both times denouncing it or pejoratively).
    I really have to question why Chinese thought are so often seen as susceptible to this charge. What of Aristotle’s views on women as defective versions of men? what of Plato’s? Though Plato is often cited as a proponent of women’s rights, he also said many things that suggest he thought them inferior to men in general.
    The history of western philosophy is a history of gross misogyny. From Plato to Nietzsche we have the most virulent anti-female writing in history. Yet Confucianism is often cited by the western discourse with the description of sexism or gender bias.

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