Confucius/Confucianism
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Amy Chua is a Legalist Mother
Amy Chua's now infamous piece, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior," has already garnered significant blog reaction. Perhaps most poignant is this comment by Christina Lu at Quora: Drawing from personal experience, the reason why I don't feel this works is… Continue reading
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The Dao of Snowflakes
Long time no blog… Holiday distractions, and then a flurry of work, has kept me away for awhile. But now some time has opened up… First, a brief account of the holiday diversions. Christmas at home with family but then… Continue reading
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This just in: Confucius wins!
I discovered Google Books Ngram just now, which allows searches of the Google Books data base of volumes going back to 1800. So, I plugged in "Confucianism," "Taoism" (and "Daoism" to capture transliteration changes), and "Legalism" to see which gets… Continue reading
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As Chinese society becomes less Confucian, Japanese society becomes more Daoist
OK, maybe that's a rather sweeping title, but it is the idea that comes to mind when contemplating several recent articles simultaneously… First, on the China front, we have this story in the People's Daily today: "Millions of young people… Continue reading
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UPDATE: What if they gave a Confucius Peace Prize and nobody came?
Or, what if the recipient not only did not come but had not been notified that he had won?… Well, it really didn't go all that well: It was heralded as a Chinese rival to the Nobel peace prize, a… Continue reading
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The Continuning Debasement of Confucianism in China
Sorry for the blog silence of late: end of semester; grading, rehearsals for another play; the usual year-end business…. But I'm back. And yesterday this story poped up on the news wires: A Chinese group has launched its own peace… Continue reading
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The Impossibility of a Confucian Society
Reading Hanfeizi with my tutorial this week, I am reminded of the sharp differences between Confucianism and Legalism, at least in the minds of the pre-Qin proponents of each of those schools of thought. Of course, it is a supreme… Continue reading
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The Breakdown of Family Duty in China
China is becoming more like the United States, and not in good ways. I remember back in the 1990's, people like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew argued that "Asian Values," which for him were always rooted in Chinese culture, contrasted sharply… Continue reading
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Thoughts on the Stewart/Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
Yes, I attended the gigantic (200,000+ people) rally on the Washington Mall on Saturday. It was a blast. A lot of fun. Very well directed and performed, with a bit of political sincerity thrown in at the end. It would… Continue reading
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Liu Xiaobo and the weakness of political Confucianism in China
I am late to the party on the Liu Xiaobo Noble Peace Prize story. Let me first simply add my congratulations to a man who is certainly deserving of the recognition. And then let me point readers in the direction… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 