The Useless Tree

Confucius/Confucianism

  • Deng Xiaoping and Confucius

          First, let me say Happy New Year!  I was remiss over the weekend getting a post up to mark the occasion, so here is a link to my post last year wishing everyone Fu for the New Year. … Continue reading

  • Foreign Confucians

         This just in: foreign descendants of Confucius (Kong Zi) will now be counted in the official Kong family tree.  Here’s how Xinhua tells it: This is also the first time that overseas citizens and those who converted to… Continue reading

  • Finding the Chinese “Ti” in the Internet “Yong”

         The NYT today has a piece reporting on the big Chinese internet company Tencent, and one of its founders, "Pony" Ma, the power behind the giant mobile instant-messaging service, QQ.  The line that caught my attention was this:… Continue reading

  • Xun Zi (Hsun Tzu)

         Jeremiah, of Granite Studio fame, asks a question: In the past we’ve had a bit of debate in our department when it comes time to teach our 5000-years-in-9-weeks-from-Yao-to-Mao course. After Confucius, we usually discuss Mencius and Xunzi. What… Continue reading

  • Paid Family Leave: Cultivating The Root Of Humanity

        This just off the AP wire: The United States lags far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding, a new study by Harvard… Continue reading

  • Avoiding the Vacuous

        Raymond Zhou, who writes a column for China Daily, and bilingually blogs, warns us against the reinvention of the kowtow:  Winter vacation is around the corner, and a management school at Zhengzhou University has given one special assignment… Continue reading

  • Peter Singer on Ashley’s Treatment

        Peter Singer, prominent Princeton ethicist, weighs in today on the case of the parents who allowed medical interventions to limit the physical growth of their disabled daughter.  Her name is Ashley and I blogged about the case earlier,… Continue reading

  • Should A Child Who Commits A Terrible Crime Be Tried As An Adult?

       This question arises both from my own recent research (for the book I am trying to write!) and from an op-ed in today’s Boston Globe.  There was a terrible murder in an affluent suburban school.  A 16-year old, with… Continue reading

  • Hong Kong Can Be A Tough Place For A Kid

          That is, at least, what editors at People’s Daily seem to want us to believe.  This is from a story, "Don’t Be Obsessive, Parents Told," they picked up from China Daily (I couldn’t get the CD link): …the… Continue reading

  • Confucian Pragmatism

        A nice little piece in tomorrow’s Seoul Times (because today is tomorrow in Korea!), by Taru Taylor, considers the modern utility of Confucianism (hat tip: Western Confucian):  Confucianism is much misunderstood. The United Nations, for example, classifies it… Continue reading