The Useless Tree

Current Affairs

  • Confucianism and Abortion

         The Western Confucian has a series of links reporting on the practice of abortion in South Korea.  It seems that it is widely accepted by both men and women and commonly performed, even though it is restricted, by… Continue reading

  • Confucianism in the Service of Unfreedom

         Kevin Smith, aka The Weifang Radish, emails with a link to an article by  Edward Friedman, "Living Without Freedom in China."  Kevin is particularly interested in how The Useless Tree might respond to this passage: The only way… Continue reading

  • George Bush, Taoist

       Even though I have done so before, I can’t bring myself to refer to Bush as a Taoist Sage.  But he is taking what I believe is the Taoist position of stem cells, with his announcement that he will… Continue reading

  • Dereliction of Duty

        Everyone is talking about the horrible revelations of slave labor in the brick kilns of Shanxi province.   Truly depressing.  Hundreds of people, many children, held against their will, in squalid conditions, and forced to work forging bricks.  Dickensian,… Continue reading

  • A Taoist in all but name?

         I noticed this book review in today’s NYT (hat tip: Richard).   Kang Zhengguo’s memoir is titled, Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China.  The review describes him thusly: Dreamy, lazy, romantic, stubborn and impulsive, Mr. Kang spelled trouble… Continue reading

  • Confucianism is not Nationalism

        There are so many misuses of Confucianism!  Here is a fairly common one, projecting an image of modern Chinese nationalism back to Confucius.  It is taken from a Washington Post story today: "China Pushes Public To Mind Its… Continue reading

  • Repeat after me: A Father is more than a sperm-producing machine…

            One of the dangers of having a blog, and writing 5-6 days a week, is repetition.  You just cannot help but repeat yourself once in a while.  Well, when I saw this headline in today’s NYT, I… Continue reading

  • Losing the Past

         Nothing demonstrates the shallowness of the revival of Confucianism in China as the destruction of the country’s physical cultural heritage: China’s rapid urbanization has devastated the country’s architectural and cultural heritage sites, state news organizations reported Monday.    … Continue reading

  • The Cost of Insincerity

        Confucius often tells us to stand by our words, to make sure that our actions fulfill our words. The Master said: "If you’re grave and thoughtful, people look to you with the veneration due a noble.  And if… Continue reading

  • Confucius on the Web

         Just noticed this short article in Xinhua about the launch of a web site by the Chinese Confucius Foundation, the organization that oversees the Sage’s family site in Qufu, and which tries to centralize and manage all things… Continue reading