Latest Posts
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Crying for Confucianism Lost: “Heaven’s Lunch”
Chinasmack reports on a sweet little video making the rounds of the Chinese intertubes. “Heaven’s Lunch” is a reflection on filial piety, on children taking care of their parents before it’s too late. It is visually well designed and has… Continue reading
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A Daoist Moment in Chekhov
Last week we were down in New York City and, among other activities, we took in a performance of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the Classic Stage Company. It was a marvelous night. Our friend, Jessica Hecht, was riveting as Olga,… Continue reading
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Tiger Mom: China Update
Last month I blogged on Amy Chua's audacious web introduction of her Tiger Mother persona, which I argued is more Legalist than it is "Chinese." Well, she succeeded in pumping up her book sales, maximizing the profit for her fifteen… Continue reading
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The Dao of Blanche DuBois
I'm in another play. This time it's a campus production at Williams. The cast is all students, except for me, the lone older guy. We are doing A Streetcar Named Desire and Omar Sangare is our estimable director. This is,… Continue reading
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High-Tech Daoism
This story reports on religious Daoism, which is really not my specialty, but I'm not thrilled by this turn of events: Over the Lunar New Year weekend Vivian Choi made her annual visit to Wong Tai Sin, one of Hong… Continue reading
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Making Too Much of Political Confucianism?
Over at Global Voices, Andy Yee has a nice little round-up of stories and blog posts in the aftermath of the unveiling of the new Confucius statue near Tiananmen Square. Some of the pieces are a bit old, but the… Continue reading
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If there has to be a law, it’s not Confucian
China appears ready to legislate filial duty: Adult children of elderly parents will be required to visit their parents regularly and must care for their spiritual needs and cannot neglect or isolate them, according to a draft amendment of China’s… Continue reading
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Philosophy as a Way of Life
Philosophy was featured on the cover of this past Sunday's NYT Book Review: two pieces on new philosophy books. I was particularly taken with one, Sarah Bakewell's review of Jame Miller's new book: Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche. Bakewell… Continue reading
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Confucius is not in Times Square
A giant, multiple screen video ad went up in Times Square last night, the latest attempt by the PRC government to build up its soft power in the US. The reviews are in… and they're not good. The basic… Continue reading
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Sociality
Reading David Brooks is irritating. And his essay in The New Yorker is no exception. He makes some great points about the weakness of our assumptions of individuality, but then he goes and embeds them in a silly pop-sociology discourse… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 