The Useless Tree

Sam Crane

  • This Day…

    ..twenty one years ago..  The PRC government tries to eradicate the memory but recollection cannot be stopped.  Here is a cartoon that ran in the Guangzhou newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily on June 1st, which was recognized as "Children's Day", an… Continue reading

  • Embracing the Useless

    It's that time of year again. College and high school graduations come around and people start to wonder: "what use is all of this education?"  The question is especially piquant for the newly unemployed college graduates, the English majors who… Continue reading

  • Torture is Un-Confucian

    Over at Frog in a Well, K.M. Lawson has a great post on the recently announced guidelines in the PRC that will exclude from trial evidence gained through torture.  He provides some historical background and a brief comparison with Japan. … Continue reading

  • Confucius: Soft Power Symbol or Historical Failure?

    An article in The National a couple of days ago repeats the "look, China is trying to gain soft power through Confucius Institutes" story.  How many times do we have to go through this?  Little has changed in the past… Continue reading

  • Fate

    Just let your mind wander along in the drift of things.  Trust yourself to what is beyond you – let it be the nurturing center.  Then you've made it.  In the midst of all this, is there really any response? … Continue reading

  • Mick Jagger channels Zhuangzi

    Maybe it's just me, but when I saw this Jagger quote I though of Zhuangzi: "We were young, good-looking and stupid," he told the audience. "Now we're just stupid." (h/t: Sullivan) Continue reading

  • Materialism in Chinese Society

    Another week goes by and still I have not caught up with blogging… Oh well, all I can do to rectify the situation is: blog… Last wee Kai Pan, over at china/divide put up a short post entitled: "Is Chinese… Continue reading

  • The Limits of Confucian Revival in China

    On Saturday the WaPo (hat tip CDT) ran a conventional restatement of the Confucian revival in China story.  Not much new reported beyond the usual observations that people, including businessmen, are embracing revised Confucian rituals.  Yet when this story is… Continue reading

  • Obama is reading Sun Tzu, not the Tao Te Ching

    I'm emerging from the end of semester craziness.  My teaching is done for the semester (save one meeting with an independent study group this afternoon – always a pleasant meeting of minds) and the big pile of grading will not… Continue reading

  • More Ersatz Chinese Proverbs

    Sorry for the lack of posing.  As academics know, it's "that" time of year: one pile of papers has been graded just in time for an influx of forty more; meetings with students about theses and independent studies crowd the… Continue reading