The Useless Tree

Confucius/Confucianism

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Precious: A Confucian Nightmare

    The holidays were busy for me (thus the fall off in blogging).  Lots of people at our house; a trip to the city; various and sundry nights out.  I saw a couple of movies, and will see a few more… Continue reading

  • Suing Confucius (the movie)

    Just saw this brief item in the Global Times.  Let me re-post it in full and respond below: Confucius in court A descendant of Confucius has threatened to take the producers of a biopic of the ancient sage to court,… Continue reading

  • Ann-Ping Chin on Confucius

    Just found this video talk by Ann-Ping Chin, author of The Authentic Confucius.  The clip below is a ten minute portion of the hour long talk (linked above) but it gives some sense of her approach. http://fora.tv/embedded_player Continue reading

  • Confucius in Congress

    The US House of Representatives filed a resolution (H. Res. 784) on September 29 honoring the 2,560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius. I'm really not sure of the politics here, but it would seem, to me, that this has… Continue reading

  • Confucianism between the Philosophers and the Psychologists

    David Brooks has a thought-provoking piece today, and the thoughts it provokes in me are about Confucianism.  It is a continuation of another of his recent articles, and is related to this review in the New York Review of Books. … Continue reading

  • Fathers as Teachers

    In the WaPo today, Patrick Welsh, a teacher in Alexandria VA, pens an interesting op-ed: "Making the Grade Isn't about Race.  It's about Parents." He takes on the question of the racial gap in US high school test scores, but… Continue reading