Category: Pre-Han
Mixing water with water
Here is a dialogue (from the Zuozhuan) I used in class this week. The Duke declares “It is Ju alone who is in harmony with me.” Yanzi replied, “Ju is in f...
Bad sons
Over at A Ku Indeed Chris asks about Mencius 4A28, in which Mencius commends Shun for transforming his father. He (Shun) considered that if one could not get t...
I may never have to teach again
As the Chinese movie industry gears up for a biopic on Confucius I get closer and closer to my goal of never having to do any work. Soon I will be able to just...
Management by Hard Liquor
A description of the administrative methods of the Han Dynasty chancellor Cao Shen Day and night he drank strong liquor. Everyone from the aristocratic high off...
You are nimble in warfare!
Two Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, both dating from around 850 B.C. and describing the war against the Xianyun1 It was the ninth month, first auspiciousness,...
Meet the meat
Foreigners have two contradictory images of “Chinese men”. One is the effeminate scholar with long fingernails and the other is the kung fu dude. Th...
The origins of World Beat (Lu Buwei on music)
I’ve been talking about rites and music in Xunzi. To sort of finish off I want to look at some stuff from Lu Buwei. For those of you who don’t know ...
Contra Hip-Hop (Xunzi on Music)
As I discussed last time, Xunzi clearly saw ritual as important, but important in very different way from his predecessors. Yes, a gentleman should perform ritu...