Latest Posts
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The Middle East War: What Would Sun Tzu Do?
Israel’s attack on Lebanon, and the Hezbollah action that provoked it, pose strategic questions. I want to focus on Israel for the moment, since its very forceful – disproportionate – response is, to my mind, the most significant… Continue reading
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Humility
Mencius said: "When you speak of the virtues another lacks, think of the trials you may yet endure." (144). Continue reading
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Ghosts and Taoists and Confucians
A fun story in today’s LA Times about ghosts and Chinese culture. It turns out that the best place to study the relationship of spirits and Chinese-ness is Taiwan: In Taiwan, ghosts are rarely a laughing matter. On… Continue reading
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Bad News
Yet more sad stories in the news these days: havoc in Iraq; war in the Middle East; tsunami in Indonesia; fires in California. Any silver lining in all of these dark clouds? The Tao Te Ching, in its… Continue reading
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Modern Love: Ritual and Invention
Today, Alison Luterman, describes the wedding of two gay men, which, given its non-traditional nature, drew upon a variety of traditions: But I didn’t have a lot of time to gawk at the family members because I was… Continue reading
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The Chickens Come Home to Roost
This story ran on the Xinhua wire yesterday (hat tip: China Digital Times): KFC Sullies Chinese Classic BEIJING, July 15 — Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is under fire, for its latest video advertisement depicting an old Taoist surrounded… Continue reading
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Writing Weekly for China Daily
I mentioned a few days ago a new opportunity that has come my way through this blog. Today, I can say that I have been asked to be a weekly columnist for China Daily’s, "Beijing Weekend" section. An… Continue reading
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Lost Comments
Typepad crashed yesterday and took down with it a couple of comments. I was sad to see today that nickwong’s (I hope that is the right name, I am going on memory) beautiful contribution of the original Chinese… Continue reading
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More Un-Confucianism from Singapore’s Ruling Party
Not so long ago, when Big Daddy Lee called himself "Senior Minister" instead of "Minister Mentor" (or whatever), back when Mini-Lee was still sitting behind Seat Warmer Goh, PAP leaders used to say that they were "Confucian gentlemen,"… Continue reading
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Anachronistic
A friend sent me this story, from The Shanghai Daily: Ancient education surfaces in city Yan Zhen 2006-07-12 A GROUP of parents have opened a controversial institute in suburban Shanghai that is modeled on the education system of… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 