The Useless Tree

Confucius/Confucianism

  • Romney Fails the Confucian Test

    First, let me stipulate: all politicians evade and dissemble and lie.  And that happens in all regime types: democratic and authoritarian. But within that broad reality, and focusing here on the American political experience, Mitt Romney is setting a new… Continue reading

  • Confucius in Church

    That's the title of a piece in The Global Times a couple of days ago, reporting on a class, held under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in which Chinese Christians read The Analects and contemplate parallels… Continue reading

  • A Vain and Flawed Confucius

    China Heritage Quarterly, a marvelous publication from Australian National University, has a special double issue on an early 20th century Chinese publication, The China Critic.  There's a lot of great stuff there.  But one piece has gotten some play on… Continue reading

  • The Olympics and Selective Westernization

    I think it is safe to say that the Olympics, as a concept and "movement," emerged in the modern era as a European project to universalize certain values of competition and character-building.  A Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, revived a… Continue reading

  • Mao Zedong and the PRC’s Olympic Gold Anxiety

    First of all, let me send out congratulations to all the Chinese athletes at the London Olympics.  There have been many outstanding accomplishments, gold and non-gold, for a truly great team. And much has been made about the gold rush. … Continue reading

  • Gu Kailai Proffers a Confucian Defense

     The scandalous story of Gu Kailai, wife of disgraced Chongqing boss Bo Xilai, is back in the news, with the formal announcement of charges being filed against her for intentional murder a British man.  I don't want to get swept… Continue reading

  • The Chinese Political System is not a Meritocracy

    Daniel A. Bell has a piece today in the CSM, arguing that the PRC political system is, basically, a meritocracy that holds lessons that might correct the flaws of US democracy.  Bell is a philosopher and he tends to operate… Continue reading

  • Education is a Dialogue

    Just want to give a quick shout out to Mark Edmunson for his op-ed in yesterday's NYT: "The Trouble with Online Education."  With all the recent foofaraw recently about on-line courses and MOOCs, various people at various places (most notably… Continue reading

  • A Confucian Constitution for China: Where’s the Popular Sovereignty?

    Daniel Bell and Jiang Qing have a short op-ed in today's NYT outlining what a Confucian political system for China might look like. This is a large and complex topic, and the brevity of the piece really cannot do it… Continue reading

  • The US Supreme Court does the Mencian thing

    As everyone knows by now, the US Supreme Court voted today to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA), thus allowing to stand President Obama's signature legislative action on health insurance.  In doing so, the Court also, unintentionally I suspect, ratified… Continue reading