Category Archives: Sinology
Bibliography of Essential Readings on Chinese Philosophy
Essential Readings on Chinese Philosophy Compiled by Bryan W. Van Norden (version of August 5, 2015) This list represents one opinion on the essential translations and secondary readings in English on Chinese philosophy. This is not a comprehensive list, and … Continue reading
The Bone that Changed China
The Famen Buddhist Temple (in what is now Shaanxi Province, in the People’s Republic of China) has been an important center for Buddhism since it was built near the end of the Six Dynasties period (220-581 CE). The temple is … Continue reading
Zhuangzi and Peirce on Truth and Rationality
If Western readers are familiar with any Taoist text, it is probably the Classic of the Way and Virtue, attributed to Laozi. (Ronald Reagan even cited it in a State of the Union Address.) However, cognoscenti are aware that the Zhuangzi … Continue reading
The Changes
(This post was originally published November 29, 2014.) It is now less than one week before my stay as a visiting scholar at Wuhan University ends. As I sit in an absolutely charming cafe decorated in European style, the walls … Continue reading
China Rising…?
At the beginning of December, I ended a semester as a Visiting Scholar in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University in China. (Wuhan University is officially ranked as one of the top 10 universities in China overall, and its School … Continue reading
Comments on Hansen, A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought, Chapter 2
Summary and Comments on Hansen, “The Context of Chinese Philosophy,” Chapter 2 of A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought B.W.V.N. 11 June 2014 I was invited to attend and present at a conference on Daoism and paradox at CUNY in … Continue reading
Chinese Philosophy Rankings of the Philosophical Gourmet Report
Because I am on the Advisory Board for the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PRG), I received an inquiry about the potential impact of its Chinese philosophy rankings on the field of Chinese philosophy. I thought I would share my reply in case … Continue reading
Reflections on Chungking Express
Following are some reflections on Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express (1994), which I recently screened to my students. This is not really a review, but rather something that one might enjoy reading after watching the film. (Warning: There are SPOILERS … Continue reading
On the Historical Composition and Dating of Texts
I very much enjoyed and learned from the Northeast Conference on Chinese Thought, which was held at Wesleyan earlier this month. This conference was much larger and more expertly organized than the first one at Vassar (where five of us … Continue reading
Vassar in Chinese
While designing my new business cards, I discovered an interesting tidbit: there is no standard Chinese name for Vassar. I went with 瓦薩 Wǎsà because it seems to be the most common one on the web. However, I have also … Continue reading