History
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Warlord Blogger
I just stumbled upon The Yan Xishan blog, named for famous Shanxi warlord (whose name is rendered in Wade-Giles as, Yen Hsi-shan) of the early twentieth century. The author writes in Yan’s voice – it”s great fun! He’s… Continue reading
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The South Korean Flag
Last week The Western Confucian posted a picture of the South Korean flag. He linked to an article he wrote which explicated the Taoist implications of that flag, and which called upon Koreans to "turn back to Tao." … Continue reading
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Asian History Carnival
The folks over at Frog in the Well (the title refers to a Chuang Tzu story) have posted the Asian History Carnival. Lots of interesting stuff. Check it out. Continue reading
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Sun Tzu and “The War”
As I mentioned previously, I watched most of the PBS documentary series, "The War," which presented the US experience in WWII. One of the things that stuck me about that experience was the tenacity of the American soldiers. … Continue reading
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Happy 2558th Birthday, Confucius!
They’re celebrating in China and Taiwan (though they say it is merely the 2557th birthday) and Hawaii (thanks Kim!). Below the fold is an excerpt from last year’s Useless Tree Confucian birthday post… Continue reading
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“The War” and “No End in Sight”
Last week I went and saw the film, "No End in Sight," (Youtube trailer, here) about the deceit and dissembling that produced the war in Iraq; and this week I have been watching the TV documentary, "The War," … Continue reading
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I Think They Were Smarter…
A nice post over at Granite Studio, riffing off some ideas from New Kid on the Hallway, about how we moderns might think people of the past were somehow less intelligent than us. Both historians bemoan the tendency… Continue reading
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Learning About Lin Yutang…
…that’s what I think I will have to do, after reading this piece in today’s NYT: Born in China at the end of the Qing dynasty, the son of a Presbyterian minister, Mr. Lin had a Western education… Continue reading
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Qin Shi Huangdi Was A Bad Man
It seems that a group of terra-cotta warriors are making the trip from Xian to London, to be exhibited at the British Museum. A rather breathless article in the New Stateman (hat tip, CDT) sets the stage: "The… Continue reading
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Fifty Years
In 1957 Mao turned from his Hundred Flowers campaign, during which he had encouraged the urban intelligentsia to criticize the Party openly, to the Anti-Rightist Campaign, when those same intellectuals and Party members were arrested and sent to… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 