Welcome
This blog explores my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile among other things. I like to share information and help make the Internet a better place.
Thanks for reading.
Category Archives: Confucius
Taboo in the Heian Period of Japan
Recently, while reading reading the Gossamer Years, I found the book contained a thorough explanation of the notion of “taboo” and “purification” in the Heian Court in Japan. I wanted to share this with others. Aristocrats and the Heian Court … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Confucius, Literature, Shinto, Taoism, Zelazny
2 Comments
Happy Seollal, Korea 2013
Hi All, While Japan celebrates the new year (oshōgatsu お正月) on January 1st every year, the Korean New Year or seollal (설날)1 follows the Chinese Lunar Calendar and this year Seollal falls on January 9th in 2013. Correction: February 9th … Continue reading
Posted in Confucius, Family, Korea, Travel
3 Comments
Getting Older, Some Confucian Advice
I am in my 30′s now, but I know I am getting older, so I sometimes think about how to avoid some of the problems of getting older. By this, I mean how to avoid both health problems, but also … Continue reading
More Good Advice for Studying
Here’s more advice from Xunzi, which is a follow-up to my last post. I was surprised to see how popular that one was. Anyhow, this is from section 2: A thoroughbred can travel a thousand li in one day, yet … Continue reading
Good Advice for Study
After finishing the book on Han Feizi, I started reading the book written by the famous Confucian scholar Xunzi (荀子, 312–230 BC), particularly the Burton Watson translation. Xunzi is pronounced like “shoon-tsih” by the way.1 Like all Confucian scholars, he … Continue reading
Posted in Confucius, Japanese, Korean, Language, Literature
4 Comments
Han Feizi: Total Bastard
Lately, besides my usual projects (blog, plus Korean studies), I’ve been reading a famous Chinese book called the Han Feizi (Burton Watson’s excellent translation). Han Feizi (韓非子, 280–233 BC) was the foremost thinker in the Legalism school of Chinese thought … Continue reading
Posted in China, Confucius, Literature, Philosophy, Politics
Leave a comment
A Brief History of Confucianism in Korea
Not too long ago I posted and article about Neo-Confucianism in Edo Period Japan (1600-1868). Very exciting stuff, I assure you. This article is to balance things out with a look at the same time period in Korea and how … Continue reading
Posted in Confucius, Korea, Religion
2 Comments
One is Enough
Recently, my wife and I were talking about a certain famous pop singer. We agreed that this person sings really great, but wasn’t very attractive, then my wife said in Japanese: 天は二物与えず Ten wa nibutsu ataezu Basically this means “Heaven … Continue reading
Posted in Confucius, Japanese, Language
4 Comments
Is There More Than This?
Lately, I’ve been thinking about a quote from Roger Zelazny’s Isle of the Dead:1 Even if they had been real gods, what did it matter? What was it to me? Here I was still, right where I was born a … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Confucius, Literature, Religion, Shinto, Zelazny
3 Comments
A Brief History of Confucianism in Edo-Period Japan
I spent part of last year reading a fascinating collection of essays under the title of Confucianism and Tokugawa Culture by Peter Nosco and other contributors. The book and the essays examine the Edo Period, the Tokugawa Shogunate, and how … Continue reading
