The Useless Tree

Sam Crane

  • Remembering the Great Leap Forward

    Any assertion that China is a Confucian culture and society, or has maintained some sort of essential continuity with an older, traditional form of Confucianism, has to deal with the horrors of the mid-twentieth century, the Great Leap Forward and… Continue reading

  • Scientific Uncertainty

    Science is not as certain as some of us may think: that is the message of an article in last week's New Yorker, by Jonah Lehrer: "The Truth Wears Off: Is there something wrong with the scientific method?" (sub. required). … Continue reading

  • As Chinese society becomes less Confucian, Japanese society becomes more Daoist

    OK, maybe that's a rather sweeping title, but it is the idea that comes to mind when contemplating several recent articles simultaneously… First, on the China front, we have this story in the People's Daily today: "Millions of young people… Continue reading

  • The Daodejing at church

    Yesterday I spoke at a local church.  They have a special service on the day nearest the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize, and they asked me to come and speak about Liu Xiaobo.  I summarized his life's work, mentioning… Continue reading

  • Chinese Philosophy as Kung Fu (Gongfu)

    A nice essay in the NYT today by Peimin Ni, on "Kung Fu for Philosophers." It is, essentially, a brief contrast of the philosophic sensibilities of ancient China versus those of the West.  He uses Kung Fu as a metaphor… Continue reading

  • UPDATE: What if they gave a Confucius Peace Prize and nobody came?

    Or, what if the recipient not only did not come but had not been notified that he had won?… Well, it really didn't go all that well: It was heralded as a Chinese rival to the Nobel peace prize, a… Continue reading

  • The Continuning Debasement of Confucianism in China

    Sorry for the blog silence of late: end of semester; grading, rehearsals for another play; the usual year-end business….  But I'm back.  And yesterday this story poped up on the news wires: A Chinese group has launched its own peace… Continue reading

  • A Taoist Thanksgiving

    For the past five years I have posted these thoughts at this time of year, and so… Happy Thanksgiving: It is a perfect Thanksgiving morning here [2005] in Northwestern Massachusetts: a light snow, about 2 inches on the ground; a… Continue reading

  • The Wu Wei of Facebook

    Andrew Sullivan dug up this quote from a long NYT story on young people and the distractions of electronic social networking and other technological gizmos: “I know I can read a book, but then I’m up and checking Facebook. Facebook… Continue reading

  • Humanity in Shanghai

    A demonstration of benevolence and good will in Shanghai yesterday: the tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of people who came out to mourn those killed in a horrific building fire last week.  Adam Minter, of Shanghai Scrap, captures the spontaneous… Continue reading