Comments on: Being a gentleman, according to Confucius

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:01:28 +0000

Ha ha ha, my wife says the same thing about me.

I learned to have more 遠慮 from her, and I think it’s a good thing. 遠慮 I think is a sign of maturity. A person can have an adult body, but still think like a child. Does that make sense? I think Confucius is telling people to “grow up!”

P.S. Your post was treated as spam again. I apologize for the delay in replying.

By: naoko

naoko — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:08:09 +0000

Doug-san,
I have been wondering about this topic since I got a boy…in recent Japan, parents should not say to their kids like “Be a man” or “Be a lady” as it sounds ‘gender discrimination’ and we are supposed to listen to kid’s excuses enough when they make some mistakes. In my childfood, I could never excuse to my father. If I did, he got mad at me more! It was so frustrating. However, it made me reflect on my mistakes more deeply, I think. Thinking of my boy, he tends to say too much about himself, and it sounds namby-pamby to me…

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:50:14 +0000

Thanks, I’ll probably check out that one too.

By: Tornadoes28

Tornadoes28 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:29:18 +0000

Another excellent book on Confucianism and Tokugawa Japan is “Tokugawa ideology: early constructs, 1570-1680″ By Herman Ooms. I have not yet read this one and although it was published in 1989, I have heard good things about it.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:24:36 +0000

Oh, very cool. I have wondered about this too. I studied it in college somewhat (with regard to the “Mito School” and such), but like you I wasn’t familiar with Confucianism. Given it’s huge impact on Asian culture, it gets really glossed over in social studies or world-philosophy/religion courses. That’s a shame. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider myself a Confucian kind of guy, just that its impact is greatly underrated on so many cultures because it’s not a religion per se.

P.S. Added that book to my Amazon wishlist. Thanks!

By: Tornadoes28

Tornadoes28 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:19:11 +0000

Thank you for the recommendations. A couple of years a ago I read a book called “Confucianism and Tokugawa Culture”. It’s a very good book which explored the impact of Confucianism on the policies of the Tokugawa shogunate. But I was not too familiar with Confucianism at the time. I will have to read the Analects and then re-read the book. I recommend it however.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:12:49 +0000

The Analects of Confucius is pretty short, so I don’t think it would be a really big commitment on yoru part. Honestly, I think the first half is the really good, quotable half, while the second half is more disorganized and wordy. Either Prof. Muller’s translation online or Prof. Watson’s translation in book form are my favorites. I’ve read other translations that were too archaic and the Wade-Giles-style Chinese readings too clunky, so these two are preferred for me.

The think I like about Confucian teachings is that they’re generally pretty practical without getting too heavy into religion or philosophy. It’s a nice set of ethics, without clashing with one’s religious beliefs, so I like the idea of broadcasting them more and more to a Western audience who might appreciate them. I suppose I may make similar posts in the future, as I already bookmarked other quotations I liked for reference.

By: Tornadoes28

Tornadoes28 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:13:58 +0000

I love those quotations. I really need to do some reading about Confucius (but that means I have to lay down my J history books). I think it is ok to be intense about competition to a certain degree and even be disappointed when one loses but I do think that American’s get to intense often and lose their perspective. A real negative sign of American’s obsession with winning is when you hear the stories of parents going crazy at their children’s little league or soccer games, arguing, fighting, and generally making fools of themselves.