“The past is what happened, history is what is written about it.” This favorite quote from James Carter, Professor of modern Chinese history, has weighty implications for society and governance broadly. It also arises in less flashy, if not less important, venues. The questions raised are the same no matter the context. What is the past? Who gets to document this past in our histories for today and tomorrow? Spring Dawn over the Elixir Terrace, Lu Guang, 1369, Metropolitan Mu

David Hockney passed away last week one month shy of 89 years old. In 2023 a friend of mine wrote an article about Mr. Hockney, inspiration, and what he meant to her. What raced through my mind was “I know Hockney. He went to China a long time ago.” His book on visiting China in 1981 was on my bookshelf a few years before I first went there in 1986. Inspiration here takes on a new possibility in hindsight. In memory of this renowned artist, below is the article I wrote at the

Turning the corner and coming face-to-face with a jade burial suit for the first time, even one behind glass, with the hum of the museum crowd in the air, stopped me cold. Its solemnity was almost overwhelming. 2,000+ years old from China’s Han Dynasty. An Imperial extravagance from shortly after the end of the 100 Schools of Thought Period when the foundations of the Chinese society we know today were coalescing. As I get ready to return to China next week, today’s issue sp

“ I will faithfully fulfill my responsibilities bestowed by the Constitution, with the nation’s needs as my mission and the people’s interests my yardstick. ” 1 China today is a reinvigorated successor to its “ Hundred Schools of Thought ” ancestors. Though China defies easy labeling, the melded legacy of the early Confucians and Legalists courses through Chinese society. We see this in statements such as that of Chinese leader Xi Jinping above and his overseeing of strict ru

“‘ The tendency of human nature to do good is like that of water to flow downward .’” 1 This 2,300-year-old statement by Mencius, second only to Confucius in the Confucian pantheon, would have been relatable, yet not, to Daoists Laozi and Zhuangzi who believed that the Way of nature is balanced. This distinction is representative of the freewheeling philosophical “Hundred Schools of Thought” discourse for hearts and minds that blossomed in the Chinese heartland during the hal

(photo by Glenn Carstons Peters, www.unsplash.com ) My mentor often asks me if I have an outline of topics mapped out for future Substack posts. My answer is the same every time. No. There are many good reasons to do so, but it does not come easy for me. So, where do my writing ideas come from? What is my inspiration? I read a lot and something always hits me and sends me down a new path. This past weekend (before a blizzard knocked me back to the stone ages for several days)

Who am I? How should I act? Why? These questions keep coming to mind lately. Maybe because I have now entered my seventh decade of life. So, I am stepping aside for a moment from the onslaught of daily news fraught with unrelenting disquiet. Pondering briefly the self in culture and belief on the long and winding road of life. What of the individual in the Confucian and Buddhist traditions of China? Landscape painting with poem alluding to virtuous and lowly men, by Gong Xian

China is a place where the past walks beside the present, receding but never disappearing. Three artifacts that reflect this are dragon screens, pagodas, and city walls. They are not simply physical structures. They form an architecture of Chinese authority, belief, protection, and thus identity. They are symbols that explain a worldview. Dragon Screens Datong Nine Dragon Screen ( www.westchinatour.com ) Dragons are powerful creatures in China. Unlike Western tradition, Chine

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 3, Issue 22 Thinking about China. And America. Even when I am not. In today’s issue, a...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 3, Issue 19 Today is the last day of 2024. As we prepare to turn the page on a new...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 3, Issue 16 This American Thanksgiving week, I am returning in prose to Bhutan (I...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 3, Issue 14 Hiking was on the itinerary in Bhutan. I enjoy hiking because it makes the...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Newsletter Vol. 3, Issue 13 This new series journeys to Bhutan, a small, Buddhist country in...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 3, Issue 1 The Chinese (aka Lunar) New Year arrives this weekend on February 10, 2024....

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 2, Issue 38 Chapel Vestibule, Fronteira Palace The Portuguese fell in love with...

Continuing with the Buddhist theme I wrote about last week, the following is an excerpt from my visit to the world's largest stupa in...

I stepped outside my front door at 5:45 a.m. this morning, January 1, 2023. Above me hundreds of stars, including the Big Dipper directly...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 2, Issue 13 The 2022 final curtain is approaching. It has been a momentous year in...

Peace (kier-in-sight-WjMNw7dOBB0-unsplash) Humans talk a good game about peace, while exhibiting millennia-long, historical traditions of...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 2, Issue 4 Merit has been a central concern in China since before the more than...