The Useless Tree

Sam Crane

  • Zhuangzi doesn’t do debates

    He sees right through the rhetorical posturing (Hinton translation): Suppose you and I have an argument.  Suppose you win and I lose.  Does that mean you’re really right and I’m wrong?  Suppose I win and you lose.  Does that mean… Continue reading

  • Baseball Yi Jing Wisdom

    On Friday night I had the pleasure of talking with Jim Bouton, a former pitcher for the New York Yankees.  Regular readers will remember that I am a Yankees fan, a Daoist Yankees fan at that.  So, it was quite… Continue reading

  • Sudo Genki Solves Japanese-South Korean Problems

    I've got to say, I love these guys.  And, what the hell, why not make a play for better relations between Japan and South Korea with their motto (you'll see it at the very end):   Oh, and somehow I… Continue reading

  • Chinese Like Democracy

    Party ideologists in the PRC, and their apologists, argue that something like "Western-style" or"American-style" democracy cannot and should not happen in China because of the lack of historical and social and cultural grounding.  That sort of democracy is simply alien… Continue reading

  • Confucius in Church

    That's the title of a piece in The Global Times a couple of days ago, reporting on a class, held under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in which Chinese Christians read The Analects and contemplate parallels… Continue reading

  • A Vain and Flawed Confucius

    China Heritage Quarterly, a marvelous publication from Australian National University, has a special double issue on an early 20th century Chinese publication, The China Critic.  There's a lot of great stuff there.  But one piece has gotten some play on… Continue reading

  • Actually, America Must “Lead from Behind” in East Asia

    Aaron Friedberg has a piece in The Diplomat today: "America Cannot 'Lead From Behind' in East Asia."  It is a critique of what he takes to be a shift in US policy toward China, a softening of the US "pivot"… Continue reading

  • The I Ching: A Biography

    Read a good book recently: Richard J. Smith's The I Ching: A Biography.  Composed by an accomplished academic, it is written for a general audience.  Smith provides a concise and clear background to the text and how it emerged into… Continue reading

  • A Family Man

    My father-in-law died last week.  In his last few days I sat with him as he struggled to hold on to his pride as congestive heart failure brought him low.  His respirations eventually settled into a slow and steady pace,… Continue reading

  • Thinking of New York Today

        The Master said: "Only after the seasons turn cold can we truly know the resolve of pine and cypress."  (Analects 9:28)     子曰：「歲寒，然後知松柏之後彫也。」 Continue reading