The Useless Tree

Current Affairs

  • Mencius in Lhasa

    There are people in the PRC, brave people, who are willing to stand up to power and present facts that run contrary to both popular perceptions (which, after all, are shaped by official media control) and political interests: A group… Continue reading

  • What Freedom in a Chinese city looks like

       …Throughout the park, banners in Chinese demanded the vindication of the students and other Beijing residents who perished during the Chinese government crackdown against the protesters. There were people of all ages, from grey-haired retirees to young children whose… Continue reading

  • Against Killing

    An Asia Times article (h/t Western Confucian) looks into the revival of Confucianism in the PRC as a possible means of distracting attention away from the killings of June 3-4.  This sounds about right to me: Others say dressing its… Continue reading

  • Daoist Gun Control

    The pro-gun lobby in the US has long circulated a slogan: "Guns don't kill people, people do."  This came to mind as I was reading one of my student's papers recently, a paper on the Daodejing. In that text there… Continue reading

  • Thoughts on the first week of June, twenty years ago…

    Mencius said: "The people are the most precious of all things.  Next come the gods of soil and grain.  The sovereign matters least. (14.14) If the CCP took that sentiment to heart, it would not be so fearful of popular… Continue reading

  • Sonia Sotomayor: Confucian Gentlewoman

    Conservative critics of Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, are irrationally fulminating about her.  One of their many gripes is that Obama stated that he sought a person who would be able to empathize with the individuals involved in particular… Continue reading

  • Uncertainty is not the problem; believing that certainty is possible is the problem

    Yesterday Daniel Gilbert argued in the NYT: "What You Don’t Know Makes You Nervous."  Here are some key grafs: So if a dearth of dollars isn’t making us miserable, then what is? No one knows. I don’t mean that no… Continue reading

  • Reverse the verdict

    As June 4th edges closer, Party authorities in China are clamping down on the internet and information.  I suspect Typepad, through which I publish this blog, will soon be blocked in China, too. But the truth will out, as this… Continue reading

  • Confucians in the New York Times

    End of semester business (papers to grade, theses to read, meetings to attend, etc.) has stolen me away from blogging of late.  I'll try to catch up as time allows (my last class meets this afternoon!).  One of the things… Continue reading

  • Yu Dan in Britain

    Yu Dan, popularizer of Confucianism in China, has hit Britain.  Her book on The Analects has been translated into English and has just come out in the UK.  Good for her.  I think, over all, she does a valuable service… Continue reading