The Useless Tree

Mencius

  • 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

  • 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

  • Kim Jong-il, please read Mencius

    The North Korean leader should ponder this passage (as should all journalists tempted to refer to NK as somehow "Confucian"), before he makes any personnel decisions: …Let no one hold office by hereditary privilege, and let no on hold more… 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

  • 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

  • Shame

    I made something of a fool of myself Saturday.  Nothing earth-shaking; rather, it was local and relatively small in the larger scheme of things.  But I said something that I regretted and apologized for. I was, simply, ashamed. And when… Continue reading

  • Mencius: Duty is Internal

    As you have probably noticed, I am teaching Mencius this semester.  Right now I am reading a batch student papers, most of which are on Mencius (some are on the Analects).  In one paper, a student was grappling with the… Continue reading

  • Mencius on Torture

    Commenter Steve GW asks some good questions in reference to my post below on Sun Tzu's stance against torture (which is basically consequentialist): Are there, in fact, any arguments against torture in Chinese philosophy that aren't basically utilitarian? If there… Continue reading

  • Mencius on the web

    I've been distracted of late, as the drop off in posting here suggests.  A college reunion (first one I have been to in thirty years!  Yes, thirty years) took me away this weekend.  And work is getting busier, with end… Continue reading