Category Archives: Confucius

Episode 2 of “This Is the Way”: Confucians on Shame

The second episode of This Is the Way is on shame as a moral emotion, as understood by classical Confucian philosophers (especially Confucius and Mencius, but also Xunzi). Our special guest is Jing Iris Hu (HU Jing 胡婧), author of “Shame, Vulnerability, and Change.” Key questions include the following: What are the Confucian arguments for having a sense of shame? To what extent can shame be autonomous or independent of social attitudes, and what mechanisms do the Confucian recommend for making it so independent? Do fully virtuous people need a sense of shame?
Below you will find a more detailed accounting of topics, some specific passages and books or articles mentioned in the episode, and an opportunity to “weigh in” and share your views about the topic (or about the hosts’ wild claims about the text). Continue reading →

New Book: Portraits of Confucius

Bloomsbury Academic has recently published a new book titled Portraits of Confucius: The Reception of Confucianism from 1560 to 1960, edited by Kevin DeLapp. This is a 2-volume book that presents a major collection of Western perspectives on Confucius and Confucianism, stretching from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century; the full Table of Contents is here. If you’d like to order this (expensive, if impressive) collection, you can order direct from here and if you use the code GLR 9VS you will receive a 20% discount.

Defoort & van Els, Confucius spreekt (Confucius Speaks)

Carine Defoort and Paul van Els have published Confucius spreekt (Confucius Speaks). Antwerp: Pelckmans, 2021. Paul writes:

While the book is written in Dutch, perhaps the Warp, Weft, and Way community might like to be kept abreast of relevant developments outside the English-speaking world? In any case, I made a quick English translation of the book-page on my website.

Question about education in Confucius’s time

I am posting this on behalf of a graduate student at University College London…

Dear All,

I am interested in discovering about the schooling/education that Confucius would have received, but have found great difficulty in locating readings on this. I know Confucius studied at his local village school and then went to the state capital to continue his studies. Would anybody be able to provide some information on this, and or recommend any texts (in English) on the ‘education system’, the curriculum and any fees that might have been paid in Confucius’ time, and who might have been permitted to study?

Thank you in advance for your kind consideration.

Qasir Shah

Analects 2.13

A while back, in the now-vanished Discussions section, I proposed a new idea about Analects 2.13.  Here I’m putting it back on the record.

2.13

子貢問君子。子曰:「先行其言,而後從之。」(ctext.org)

On Tzŭ Kung asking about the nobler type of man the Master said: “He first practices what he preaches and afterwards preaches according to his practice.” (Soothill)

Continue reading →