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 33 In China, alcohol isn’t just alcohol. It’s a key that unlocks...

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 6 Longzihu Park in Zhengzhou (photo by Nie Donghan,...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 3, Issue 4 I recently wrote about U.S.-China connections in Gilded Age America. Today I...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 2, Issue 32 China is the land of the “Three Teachings” – Confucianism, Daoism, and...

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...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and Americal, Vol. 2, Issue 27 Today’s Encounters with Asia in the Hudson River Valley (Part 2) visits a...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 2, Issue 23 Torrance, California is a short drive south of Los Angeles. As you cruise...

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America, Vol. 2, Issue 17 My Chinese professor once told me that if I did not expect anything (as I...

The Mid-Autumn Festival was this past weekend. This is a time for families to reunite, to give thanks for the Fall harvest, and to...

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

I Zoomed into an academic symposium this past weekend exploring connections that can and do bind different peoples and societies...

Buddhism, though not native to China, has become synonymous with much of Chinese culture and history since its introduction from India in...