Latest Posts
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How can you govern by killing?
A bit of blog silence the last few days. I have been busy trying to write a paper and following the disastrous Massachusetts Senate election. For the past twenty years, I have lived in Massachusetts and this has got to… Continue reading
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Ovid, Daoist Sage
I am stepping beyond my competence here (how else do we learn?), but today I heard a passage from Ovid and it struck me. It was from the Metamorphoses (in this version, Book 15, section 176): "Since I am launched… Continue reading
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Martin Luther King, Confucian Gentleman
Here are some thoughts from MLK on his birthday, with Haiti in mind: An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. … Make… Continue reading
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Haiti needs our Humanity
Confucius knows what to do: …As for Humanity: if you want to make a stand, help others make a stand, and if you want to reach your goal, help others reach their goal. Consider yourself and treat others accordingly: this… Continue reading
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Disability and Disease
I haven't blogged about disability in a long time but Michael Berube's post over at Crooked Timber has brought me back to it. He presses back against those who have an overly simplified expectation of "cures" for disabilities. A key… Continue reading
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Google and The Power of the Internet in China
I have been meaning to blog about Guobin Yang's book, The Power of the Internet in China, (which I used in my class on Chinese politics) and yesterday's news of Google's travails with Chinese hackers makes this a good moment… Continue reading
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Another Confucius Movie Trailer
Manyul beat me to it, but below is the newest trailer for the upcoming Confucius movie. It would seem that the brief scene of the elderly man with white hair is Laozi… In other Confucius movie news: here is a… Continue reading
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Han Nationalism and Confucianism
I been a bit remiss in not linking earlier to this interesting post over at The China Beat: "Sheep in Wolves' Clothing? The Book the Han Nationalists Love to Hate. James Leibold, a historian from La Trobe University, offers an… Continue reading
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Back up in China
It seems that this blog is once more accessible in the PRC. The recent disruptions in the Great Firewall appear to have resulted in a new opening. I assume this is true for all Typepad blogs. But it would be… Continue reading
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The Tao of Avatar – and why this sort of movie cannot be made in the PRC at this point in time…
We saw Avatar last night (I know, I've been on a movie kick of late…). It was visually stunning. The story was unremarkable: a melodramatic morality tale (the good guy wins in the end!). But it did have a couple… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 