Here is a link to my paper “Impartiality in the Ancient Root: Two Concepts of Xiàotì.“
(This paper is a correction and improvement of parts of a paper I posted on June 12, 2025.)
Abstract:
Category Archives: Analects
Blind Spots: On the Authority of Scholarly Consensus on the Analects
Here is a link to my paper “Blind Spots: On the Authority of Scholarly Consensus on the Analects.”
Abbreviated preface:
Episode 23 of “This Is the Way”: Confucianism on the Assessment of Character
In this episode, Justin and Richard discuss how historical Confucian philosophers have proposed to recognize people of good moral character (virtue). How, exactly, did they think that we could tell the real virtues apart from the phony ones? And what did the historical Confucians think about the use of written examination essays to “test” for virtue? Continue reading →
Episode 22 of “This Is the Way”: The Good Life in the Analects
What sort of vision of the good life does Confucius recommend? In this episode, we explore one of the most intriguing passages in the Analects (11.26), where Confucius asks four disciples about their deepest aspirations. Three students offer increasingly modest political goals—from Zilu’s grand vision of governing a besieged state to Zihua’s humble wish to serve as a minor functionary in ritual ceremonies. But a fourth student, the musical Zengxi, describes something completely different: a spring day spent with friends and younger students, bathing in the Yi River, enjoying the breeze at the Rain Dance Altar, and returning home singing.
Continue reading →
A Speculation on the History of tì 弟/悌
At this link is a downloadable long paper defending a speculation on the history of tì 弟/悌.
Edward O. Shaughnessy has convinced me in personal communication that the part of this paper about the Odes is at least inadequately argued—or, as he would say, wrong. I have now posted an improved version of some of the rest of the paper (click here), focusing on xiàotì in the Analects and the Mencius. –BH, 5/25/2026
四海为学 Collaborative Learning Project events this week
The 四海为学 Collaborative Learning Project will host three events this week:
- On April 24th at 8:00am Beijing time, we will host a book discussion of Professor Karen Thornber’s Gender Justice and Contemporary Asian Literatures,
Details and the Zoom link can be found on our event page: https://www.sihaiweixue.org/karen-thornber-book-discussion - On April 24th at 8:00pm Beijing time, we will host a lecture by Professor Erin Cline, titled “Reframing Women in the Analects”
Details and the Zoom link can be found on our event page: https://www.sihaiweixue.org/erin-cline-lecture - On April 26th at 9:00am Beijing time, we will host a lecture by Professor Tzeki Hon, titled “The Philosophy of Change in the Yijing”
Details and the Zoom link can be found on our event page: https://www.sihaiweixue.org/tzeki-hon-lecture
Episode 15 of “This Is the Way”: Ritual in the Analects
It is indisputable that ritual is at the heart of Confucianism—buy why? In this episode we examine Analects 3.17 in which Confucius seems keen to defend a ritual sacrifice of a lamb which his student regards as excessive. We discuss this passage in light of Richard Wollheim’s paper, “The Sheep and the Ceremony” which offers a deep and illuminating exploration of this passage and the value of ritual more broadly. We examine questions about the possibility of seeing ritual as intrinsically valuable or constitutive of a good human life, and offer some suggestions about why the Confucians may have been right to place such significant weight on ritual practice. Continue reading →
Episode 13 of “This Is the Way”: Family Before State
Confucianism is well known for prioritizing familial responsibilities and love over other competing demands such as public interest or duties to the state. In this episode we explore two of the best known passages from early Confucianism that some modern scholars believe makes Confucianism morally problematic. The first passage we discuss is the “Upright Gong” passage, Analects 13.18, which has Confucius advocating mutual “covering up” of crimes by fathers and sons. The second passage is Mengzi 7A35, in which Mengzi is asked what the sage king Shun would have done if his father had committed murder. Mengzi’s answer, briefly stated, is that Shun would have given up his throne and would have fled with his father to care for him for the rest of his life.
Through these passages we explore questions about justice, consequentialist ethics, and the nature of moral dilemmas (and Confucian ways of handling them). Continue reading →
Episode 8 of “This Is the Way”: The Golden Rule
Across different religious and moral traditions we often find some version of the Golden Rule. In this episode we explore the Golden Rule as formulated in the Analects and explore questions such as how fundamental it is to the Confucian ethical framework, how it is supposed to work in actual practice, and how it connects with issues about self-centeredness. We also examine how it might apply differently to ordinary people and sages, focusing on Analects 15.24 and Analects 6.30. Continue reading →
Episode 6 of “This Is the Way”: Partiality and Justice
Episode 6 of This Is the Way is on Tao Jiang’s book. We don’t cover every one of the fascinating issues raised in the 516 pages of Professor Jiang’s volume, but we do cover some of the core topics, including (1) tensions between impartialist justice and partialist humaneness, and (2) Zhuangzi and freedom. A short description follows, with the usual supporting materials. Continue reading →
