The Useless Tree

Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern Life

Latest Posts

  • What He Said…

         Thanks to Frog in a Well, I had the pleasure of discovering Yu Ying-shih’s acceptance speech for the "Nobel prize for historians."  In it, he emphasizes the recognition of universal humanity in ancient Chinese thought: If history is… Continue reading

  • A Confucian Christmas

         Last year I wrote about A Taoist Christmas.  I like that post and re-wrote it for a submission to China Daily, which I think was not published by Christmas in China.   But I want to pick up on… Continue reading

  • Caring for Children, Caring for Elders

         Yesterday was just too busy to blog: a long meeting at work to decide on a new hire (we did!); lots of grading (the bane of many academic lives right now); and some time sitting around the Albany,… Continue reading

  • Mencius on Shenzhen

         In an earlier academic life, before Aidan turned me toward philosophy, I studied and wrote about China’s Special Economic Zones, of which Shenzhen is the largest and most important.  My work focused on the origins and early development… Continue reading

  • More on Sperm Donors and Fathers

         A good piece in Sunday’s WaPo opens a new perspective on the complex of ethical issues surrounding sperm donors: the point of view of the children so conceived.   Katrina Clark is one such person and she does a… Continue reading

  • Letting Go

         A haunting story in yesterday’s Modern Love column in the NYT.  Katherine Friedman recounts an airplane mishap – a scary plunge, the oxygen masks come down, a crash seems imminent – that suddenly reverses, leaving her and her… Continue reading

  • Confucian Family Policy

         This sounds like a good idea (from yesterday’s NYT): In an effort to correct dysfunctional foster care systems, a growing number of child welfare agencies around the country are reaching outside their ranks to involve troubled families and… Continue reading

  • WWPD? (What Would Pavel Do?)

        Following up on my last post, just below, I just found this China Daily story that suggests the collectivist/spiritualist (Korchagin?) tendency among Chinese youth may not be as strong as the Party pollsters had hoped: Students look down… Continue reading

  • Pavel Who?

         I came across an odd little commentary in People’s Daily this morning, which got me to thinking about the continuing transformation of "Chinese culture," and my own ignorance of Chinese popular culture.     I will be brutally… Continue reading

  • Knowing the Enemy

        George Packer has a good article in this week’s New Yorker (alas not on-line), "Knowing the Enemy."  He considers the "anthropology of insurgency" in Iraq, focusing on an Australian military intellectual, David Kilcullen, currently working for the US… Continue reading

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