Tag Archives: Confucius

2023: Mao and Confucius Meet Marx

Posted on 10/16/2023 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Did Mao in the end think he was going to meet Marx?  Seems so. He was a unique mix of materialism and revolutionary idealism, immense power and great paranoia. Just like in the old saying “Just because you are paranoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature 文学, Media 媒体, Politics 政治, Religion, Tibet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

2023: ChatGPT3.5 Classical Chinese Translation Corrected

Posted on 09/30/2023 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Exploring the capabilities of ChatGPT3.5 for Chinese translation has been fun. As always with machine translations the quality of the output depends on the complexity of the text: narrative usually comes out much better than moral arguments. As I was … Continue reading →

Posted in History 历史, Literature 文学 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

2023 Party Core Reading: Xi on Chinese Modernization

Posted on 07/05/2023 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

If you missed the study sessions offered by your local Party branch, this core reading from the tongue of  the Party, People’s Daily, can help you catch up. See the CV of article author Huang Yibing below for more recommended reading. … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideology 思想, Politics 政治 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2023: Digital Articles Disappearing? Learn from the Emperors — Write in Stone

Posted on 06/04/2023 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

With all the digital documents and databases that we use these days, I wonder about how easy it is to alter or erase old documents. Sometimes on Chinese databases you might run (or don’t run into, but did before!) into … Continue reading →

Posted in History 历史, Law 法律, Literature 文学, Science, Technology and Academic 科技学术 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2012-22: PRC Scholars Criticize PRC Education (and More)

Posted on 05/11/2023 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Four articles on the Qian Xusen Question : “None of the students cultivated over the years has had academic achievements comparable to those of the scholars cultivated in the Republic of China. Why do our schools always fail to produce … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideology 思想, Philosophy 哲学, Politics 政治, Science, Technology and Academic 科技学术 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

1000 BCE：Book of Poetry #12: The Magpie’s Nest

Posted on 06/26/2022 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

How times have changed! When I started studying Chinese, in the last days of the Mao Dynasty (Mao’s son Mao Anying was killed during the Korean War supposedly when, against advice, he left shelter to go out and cook egg … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature 文学 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

1928: Qian Mu on Confucius and the Status of His Doctrine

Posted on 05/20/2022 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Qian Mu (錢穆 aka Ch’ien Mu) was one of the top Chinese classical scholars of the 20th Century. Here an introduction to Confucius Qian Mu gave to students in Suzhou in 1928. We see in his presentation how he locates … Continue reading →

Posted in History 历史, Literature 文学, Philosophy 哲学 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

520 BCE: Ancient Chinese on the Roots of Democracy in China

Posted on 01/15/2022 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Translation of a passage from the Spring and Autumn Annals. The word I translate as school can also mean the village meeting place; it probably served both purposes. I started with the translation into modern Chinese with notes and commentary … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature 文学, Politics 政治 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Yu Ying-shih on The ‘Gentleman’ and the Confucian Ideal

Posted on 11/04/2021 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Lately I have been reading the Analects Confucius with two friends who also worked in China and read Chinese. We have been working through the original text assisted by the translation and commentaries of Annping Chin and myriad Chinese language … Continue reading →

Posted in History 历史, Ideology 思想, Literature 文学, Philosophy 哲学 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Alleged PRC Defector Chairs Counterintelligence Conference in Beijing!

Posted on 06/18/2021 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Well, it must be said that the Party is very forgiving. If press reports in Chinese language media based outside Mainland China and a few media outlets in the West are to be believed, PRC Vice Minister for State Security … Continue reading →

Posted in Intelligence, Media 媒体, National Security 安全, Politics 政治 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment