Through the Side Door

As I read other Taoist blogs, I often see reference made to Confucius, Mencius, and a variety of Chinese dynasties. To be perfectly honest, this is all greek to me! I know very little about asian culture or history. While I have at least heard of Confucius -- who hasn't? -- I know little of his writings or thought.

Like many westerners who've been drawn to Taoism in recent years, I sort of came in through a side door. I was searching for a religion, belief system or philosophy that made sense to me and, when I just happened to stumble upon Taoism, that sealed the deal.

So, while I'm slowly (very slowly) trying to work my way through Spinoza's The Ethics, I am concurrently reading a small book, Confucius (Past Masters) by Raymond Dawson. It's a scant 108 pages, but it will provide me with a working knowledge of who this fellow was and why he was such a giant in Chinese thought.

In reading the first chapter, I've discovered that, like Lao Tzu, no one really knows that much about Confucius. Also, like the Christian bible, the major work about his life, "Analects of Confucius", was written years after his death which means it's very difficult to know what he actually said/thought and what was added by these later authors.

To my way of thinking, if a person doesn't get caught up in the authenticity of authorship debate, it's really immaterial if what is attributed to Confucius, Lao Tzu or even Jesus is necessarily accurate. It shouldn't be about the life or words of one person; it's about the thought and philosophy behind the texts.

The other thing that jumps out at me is the piss poor job western education has wrought in terms of asian culture and history. From almost first grade on, children are inundated with information about Europe and the USA. Even a poor student understands a bare thumbnail sketch of European history -- kings, queens, wars, the Magna Carta, etc. But asian history generally isn't covered in the main courses and, in a great many schools, it's not even available as an elective!

In fact, this black hole goes far beyond a dearth of information about Japan and China. African history tends to be ignored too. Same goes for India and South America. US-educated students have a very parochial view of the world around them. Is it any wonder that students from other nations frequently are more equipped to compete in an international climate?