It's been more than a week since I last posted.  I've been inundated with papers to grade: the college teachers' lament!  It also snowed two days ago.  The shovel came out and I pushed the driveway clear.  It's cold now. … Continue reading

The Afghanistan decision is disappointing.  I agree with my friend Marc Lynch that it is hard to see how continued US occupation and assault will bring about a good outcome there.  What is needed in Afghanistan is state-building, and that… Continue reading

Back in 2005, when this blog was only a few months old, I wrote a post, "A Taoist Thanksgiving," which I have returned to over the years.  It places my son, Aidan, who died three and a half years ago,… Continue reading

I  have been remiss in noting here the inauguration of the new group blog, Warp, Weft, and Way.  It is a transformation of Manyul Im's Chinese philosophy blog into a group effort. I think it is safe to say that… Continue reading

Some articles in the Chinese press bring several images of Confucianism to mind.  These may be mutually contradictory but i will not attempt any sort of ultimate reconciliation.  If there is a moral to be drawn here, it might be… Continue reading

I just received a message from CC Huang, directing me to a blog post she wrote about Wang Meng's book on the Daodejing.  This is a revelation for me (it made my day!) because I did not know Wang had… Continue reading

Just found this map (via Languagehat via Roland.  It is important to note that the different "dialects," the different colored areas on the map, are really different language groups.  The variations within the green area are better referred to as… Continue reading

An op-ed in the NYT last week, by Zhang Weiwei, links China's successes of the past 30 years to various strands of tradition, Confucianism included.  On the face of it, this is yet another example of how the PRC is… Continue reading

A person just came to this site from a Google search of the question: "Was Mencius Married?"  Just a week or so ago I was thinking the same question.  I know of no reliable reference to a wife or, tellingly,… Continue reading

As per my earlier post comparing Iran in 2009 and China in 1989, today's reports of Supreme Leader Khamenei's speech denouncing the dissenters has a eerie resonance.  It seems rather similar to the April 26, 1989 editorial in People's Daily… Continue reading