The Useless Tree

Current Affairs

  • Tao and The Market

        Over at Danwei, Dror Poleg notices a resonance between Taoism and classical free market economics, with a deft change of one word in this passage from the Tao Te Ching:   The Market abides in non-action, yet nothing… Continue reading

  • Hunger for Learning

         Maybe this is what Confucius had in mind: American scientists: hunger makes people learn better printResize A new scientific study finds that hunger can enhance people’s learning and memory performance and make people more intelligent. According to the… Continue reading

  • Neoconservatives: Little Men Stuck in Doctrines

         I imagine the article by Francis Fukuyama, "After Neoconservatism," from yesterday’s NYT will be the talk of the internet today (the Duck notieced it).  Let me add a couple of quick comments, loosely based on an ancient Chinese… Continue reading

  • This is not what Confucius had in mind

         I have discussed Confucius’s attention to naming things – how honest identification of a thing allows for action – several times on this blog.  But when I saw this story in today’s China Daily, I had to say… Continue reading

  • Change

         Peter Hessler has a nice piece, "Hutong Karma," in the February 13 issue of the New Yorker, which, unfortunately, is not posted on their website.  He describes the little lane, or hutong, where he lives in Beijing and… Continue reading

  • In Yielding There Is Completion

        As some of you may know, that is one of my favorite passages from the Tao Te Ching (#22): In yielding there is completion; in bent is straight; in hollow is full…     And it came immediately… Continue reading

  • Naming Liberalism

        A curious commentary popped up in China Daily today.  It is a translation of a piece that ran in a Chinese magazine, Caijing, by a veteran journalist, Huangfu Ping, entitled, "The Reform of China Must Not Waiver."  One… Continue reading

  • Can the Sage Smile?

        Seems that the China Confucius Foundation, whoever they are, has decided to create the definitive portrait of Confucius:  The research and assessment work for the official portrait of Confucius, sponsored by the China Confucius Foundation, has been under… Continue reading

  • Against Valentine’s Day

        I think I have always been against Valentine’s Day: so obviously constructed to play upon our romantic insecurities to sell cards and flowers.  And when I see stories like this one, from today’s China Daily, I am only… Continue reading

  • Snow!

               I am a bit off my posting schedule because this weekend I took what I thought would be a one-night trip to New York City with my daughter to see a show.  And we ran… Continue reading