Latest Posts
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Black Confucians
Confucius focuses on the family: it is in the cultivation of our closest loving relationships, especially those between parents and children, that we create and expand our Humanity. In the Analects he writes more about the filial obligations… Continue reading
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Ancient Thinkers at the Party Congress
The Chinese Communist Party is holding its 17th Party Congress, a grand affair that happens every five years or so and produces a new line-up of top Party leaders and establishes a new Party line. It’s a grand… Continue reading
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Frog in a Well
A commenter, Joshua, on an earlier post was surprised to learn that the "frog in a well" story came from Chuang Tzu. Perhaps this is new to other readers out there; so, let me excerpt the relevant passage… Continue reading
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Zizek on China
When Slavoj Zizek writes an op-ed in the NYT titled, "How China Got Religion," how could I not respond? I have no trouble with most of it. He does the usual post-modern reversal thing by pointing out how… Continue reading
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Asian History Carnival
The folks over at Frog in the Well (the title refers to a Chuang Tzu story) have posted the Asian History Carnival. Lots of interesting stuff. Check it out. Continue reading
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Taoism, Libertarianism and Markets
The headquarters of libertarianism in the US, the Cato Institute, has discovered Taoism – or, at least, its vice-president, James A. Dorn has (hat tip, Western Confucian). In a short article, he latches on to the obvious libertarian… Continue reading
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Treating Adults as Children
I am finishing up a chapter for my book, a chapter on childhood and how Confucianism and Taoism would respond to the contemporary legal question of whether children should be tried as adults. And, lo and behold, yesterday… Continue reading
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More Details, Please
This headline caught my eye in The China Daily: "Ancient ideas could illuminate poverty fight." But the story that follows gives very little idea of what this might mean. It starts off well: Insights from Confucianism and Taoism… Continue reading
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Sun Tzu and “The War”
As I mentioned previously, I watched most of the PBS documentary series, "The War," which presented the US experience in WWII. One of the things that stuck me about that experience was the tenacity of the American soldiers. … Continue reading
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Confucian Thought of the Day
It’s another beautiful day here in northwestern Massachusetts: sunny, warm; yesterday’s low temperature was the usual average high temperature for that date. It’s "unseasonably" pleasant. But seasons change; they will change. And, not to be too pessimistic about… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 