The Confucian Podcast

Episode 8 - Don't Bury Your Children Alive

Confucianism is linked to filial piety, though not as closely as is often assumed. Yet, a key passage from the Analects shows the relationship between respect for parents and the social order.

Episode 7 - Funerals, Parties, and the Zhou Ritual System

Confucius advocated the ritualized social order developed by the Zhou Dynasty. This episode explores how that system worked and makes the connection to Benevolence and ranked systems of status in contemporary American social life. 

Episode 6 - Emile Durkheim and the Western Social Science of Ritual

Comparison of the Chinese concept of li and Western social scientists' work on ritual allows insights into what Confucius was up to. 

Episode 5 - Dogs and Quail

Continuing the exploration of ritual, this episode begins to make connections to Western social science theory.

Episode 4 - Exploring the Confucian Concept of Ritual

Whereas in Western theory, ritual is usually treated as an afterthought, Ruists appreciated the importance of ritual for social functioning. This episode makes the case that the connection between ritual and benevolence is basic to Confucian thought. 

Episode 3 - Power

A critical examination of Confucian conceptions of power

Episode 2 - Leaving the Last Cookie

Confucianism and 'learning to be human,' with reference to contemporary discourses on the self and behavioral impulses

Episode 1 - Introduction

Confucianism, the basics.