Today is June 4, the 25 anniversary of the army crackdown that ended the student-led popular demonstrations in China and left hundreds, if not thousands, dead. If you happen to be in Taipei today, you might be interested in a talk that, though not directly, addresses the question of how to understand and evaluate June 4. David Lorenzo (National Chengchi University, Taiwan) will speak about “Conceptions of Democracy on Taiwan and the Chinese mainland”. The talk will begin at 13.30, in the Department of Philosophy, 70 Linhsi Road, Shihlin, Taipei. The talk is open to the general public.
Daily Archives: June 3, 2014
New overview of Daoism
Komjathy, Louis. 2014. Daoism: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 250 pages.
According to Lydia Kohn: A different, yet very successful approach to Daoism by topic rather than chronology or lineage, this consists of nine chapters: Tradition, Community, Identity, View, Personhood, Practice, Experience, Place, and Modernity. Highly insightful, meticulously researched, the book is extremely well written and combines a strong historical understanding with a deep involvement in contemporary practice. It opens Daoism in a new and amazing way.
New book on Early 20th Century Thought
Xiaoqun Xu, Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China: The Chenbao Fukan and the New Culture Era, 1918-1928. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014. Pp.255. ISBN 978-0-7391-8914-6.
The book analyzes aspects of intellectual life and cultural practices in the New Culture era of modern China by examining an influcential newspaper supplement published in Beijing during 1918-1928, along with other contemporary sources. It highlights a key intellectual-moral paradox in Chinese disourses between cosmopolitanism as an idealistic aspiration and nationalism as a practical imparative, both in complext relationship to indivudialism, and in constant negotiations between Chinese tradition and Western culture in the making of Chinese modernity. It argues for a re-consideration and re-appreciation of the New Culture era in modern Chinese history, as the issues treated in the book remain relevant to China and the world today.
