The Useless Tree

Confucius/Confucianism

  • Culture, Tradition, Politics

        Ian Buruma has a piece in yesterday’s Guardian: "Culture is no excuse for China denying its people democracy."  It is short, so cannot delve very deeply into the various facets of this topic.  But he does make some… Continue reading

  • Dust Off Your A. N. Whitehead

    UPDATED: see below…. The new semester is upon us!  Posting has fallen off a bit because I am working on my syllabuses (syllabi?) for my classes (one on Chinese politics and a tutorial on ancient Chinese philosophy).  But I will… Continue reading

  • Walking the Dogs with Confucius and Chuang Tzu

         When I am around my dogs – two beagle-mutts, Rudy and Larry – I am more Confucian than Taoist.    I was reminded of this again today when my wife and I took them both for a walk. … Continue reading

  • Preparing to Teach “Confucius”

       Alan, over at Frog in a Well, has a post up about teaching Confucius.  He raises an interesting question: …It has long been accepted that at least some bits of Analects are much later than Confucius, and that some… Continue reading

  • Confucian China? Not So Much

        While I have been distracted with Taiwan politics, Chris Panza, over at A Ku Indeed!, has been keeping up with the "China is not really Confucian" news.  I agree. Continue reading

  • Confucius and Chiang Kai-shek

        So what would a modern Confucian have to say about the wild re-decoration of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taibei, which I blogged about here?     At first blush, it would seem that filling the Hall… Continue reading

  • Dragon Mountain and the Selective Confucianism of Late Ming China

        I just finished reading Jonathan Spence’s most recent book, Return to Dragon Mountain and want to note down a few ideas it brought to mind.      A few years ago I so much enjoyed Spence’s God’s Chinese… Continue reading

  • Confucian Schools

        This has become a fairly routine story in the past couple of years: schools in China that teach "Confucianism" to young children.  I use the scare quotes here because it is not clear to me exactly what kind… Continue reading

  • Birthleave for Fathers

        Ingrid Robeyns over at Crooked Timber posts today on the debate in the Netherlands over granting paid leave to fathers so that they can participate in the care of their new born children.  She provides several grounds in… Continue reading

  • Consumption

        Jared Diamond has an insightful op-ed in the NYT today.  He makes a point that is at once obvious yet still in need of a wide hearing: the developed world, and especially the US, enjoy a level of… Continue reading