Confucius/Confucianism
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Thought for the Opening of the Olympic Games
The Master said: "The noble-minded never contend.� It's true that archery is a kind of contention.� But even then, they bow and yield to each other when stepping up to the range.� And when the step down, they toast each… Continue reading
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Shadowlands and Redemption
We watched the movie, Shadowlands, last night. It is based on the life of C.S. Lewis and his late-in-life love and marriage to Joy Gresham. It is a tragedy. He discovers her, or she him; she challenges him fundamentally to… Continue reading
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Keeping the Confucian-Mencian Spirit Alive
The people who are best at continuing the finest traditions of Confucianism in the PRC today are those brave enough to stand up and speak truth to power. People like Chen Guangcheng. We all should learn from such people and… Continue reading
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Analects Wordle
It’s mid July and about to rain. I’m home alone with the dogs, between tasks. So why not another wordle? Here’s the Legge translation of the Analects, unedited (click on picture to enlarge): Continue reading
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Modernization and Family Breakdown in Korea
A couple of days ago I received an email from a blogger at Korea Dispatch, calling my attention to a post, “Korean families in crisis.” It is a sad, and all too common, saga, made the worse by the… Continue reading
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The Value of Human Life
Here’s something that both Taoists and Confucians can agree upon: it is foolhardy, and perhaps stupid, to attempt to determine a monetary value of a human life. This comes to mind today because of this news story: WASHINGTON (AP) —… Continue reading
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Summer School
One of the reasons I have gotten behind in blogging is my work with a summer program here at Williams. I am the director of Summer Humanities and Social Sciences, which brings 18 in-coming first year students to campus for… Continue reading
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Confucian Innovation
An interesting profile in today's NYT of John Kao, a renaissance man of sorts who now focuses his thinking and working of issues of innovation and entrepreneurship. One thing that caught my eye was how moving between two cultures provided… Continue reading
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Doing Well v. Doing Good
An article in the NYT today looks into the question of the purpose of higher education. Is it simply a matter of producing individuals who will go out into the business world and amass large personal fortunes, or should there… Continue reading
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Young and Restless in China
Two nights ago I watched a great documentary on PBS, "Young and Restless in China." The website for the program is really quite good. It is possible to watch the whole thing on line, or to just select 10… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 