Latest Posts
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It’s Official: China is a Taoist, not a Confucian, Society
Not completely: but a survey of Chinese university students, which asked them how to define "cool," suggests that their attitudes are closer to the Taoist end of the spectrum than the Confucian. Let’s start with this excerpt: …When… Continue reading
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A Taoist Mother’s Day
In the US today is Mother’s Day, a day to stop and recognize the love and work and beauty of our mothers. Although the commercialization of the day would likely repel a Taoist – it seems perfectly invented… Continue reading
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The Ancients on the Web
The new Google Trends feature provides an insight, perhaps not wholly accurate but interesting nonetheless, of what people search for on the web. You can even compare two or more terms to see which is more widely searched. … Continue reading
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Update: Gomez Goes Free
So, it turns out, as many of us suspected, there was no case against James Gomez, the Singaporean opposition politician hauled in for police questioning on flimsy charges of "criminal intimidation." He has been freed with no charges… Continue reading
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Branding Korea: Goodbye Confucius
The Marmot points us toward this article in the Korean Times: The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) held a forum yesterday in southern Seoul to collect opinions about a symbol with which… Continue reading
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Maybe That Taoist Idyll Is Not So Idyllic After All
The NYT ran this story, with a big picture, above the fold on page one today: Leaving the Wild, and Rather Liking the Change: Since time immemorial the Nukak-Makú have lived a Stone Age life, roaming across hundreds… Continue reading
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Communist China: Freer than “Republic” of Singapore?
Daniel A. Bell, an accomplished and careful political theorist, has an article in the most recent issue of Dissent, "Teaching Political Theory in Beijing." He has spent some time in Singapore and makes some interesting comparisons between the… Continue reading
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Equal Opportunity Confucianism
Confucianism, especially the Analects and Mencius, is, to my mind, most effective as a vantage point from which to assess and, if need be, criticize power holders. I know that, historically, Confucianism was co-opted by power holders to… Continue reading
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James Gomez and The Rule of Lee (not Law)
So it turns out that opposition politician James Gomez was not formally arrested but merely questioned by police. He has had his passport taken away and is not allowed to leave the country. It all sounds quite straightforward,… Continue reading
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Taoism in Everyday Life
Perhaps many of you have seen this before, but yesterday I noticed for the first time this bumper sticker – a take-off on the old "I’d rather be sailing," "I’d rather be golfing," "I’d rather be….," etc. I’d… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 