Philosophy and Religion

An explanation of the "three sacrificial rituals" in Ruism (Confucianism) to indicate further the practicability of Ru philosophy. A more refined version of this article has been published at APA Newsletter on Asian and Asian-American  Philosophers and Philosophies, Vol. 17, No.2, 2018 Spring.

Political theology is for Dorothee Soelle a theological hermeneutics, which emphasizes that the truth of a theological statement consists in its answerability to concrete situations in human history and in its transformative effect in praxis. With this idea, political mysticism is, on the one hand, Soelle’s historical research concerning the political dimension of Christian mysticisms, and on the other hand, Soelle’s presentation of her idiosyncratic version of mysticism, a modern mystical journey, that reacts against the institutional injustice and individual powerlessness that are inherent in the current political and economic order of global capitalism. Inspired by other mystic thinkers such as Simon Weil and Rudolf Otto, Soelle’s po-litical mysticism could possibly be improved to become more adaptable and func-tional in contemporary society. (Published in the Studies of Spirituality, Vol. 26, 2016)

A complete Ru (Confucian) style of exegesis on Hexagram Meng of the Book of Change to explain the Ru philosophy of education. Part of this paper has been published in Chapter 7, "Confucianism Reconsidered: Insights for American and Chinese Education in the 21st Century," edited by Xiufeng Liu and Wen Ma. New York: State University of New York Press, 2018 (June): pp.131-150.

An explanatory and exploratory interpretation of the quintessential Ru (Confucian) metaphysical idea of "Sheng Sheng (Birth Birth)" in the Book of Change. A more extensive version of the paper is found at my Master Thesis "Confucian Sacred Canopy in Yijing" submitted in Spring of 2014, Boston University. A more refined version of this paper has been published at the English issue of "Zhouyi Studies (周易研究)" in Vol. 9, no.1 (June 2018), 35-55.

Ru Meditation: Gao Panlong(1562-1626 C.E) is an annotated translation of the major works of Gao Panlong on Ruist (Confucian) quiet-sitting. Its major themes include poetic descriptions of the meditative experience, practical guidelines, philosophical reflections, and biographical accounts. The translation not only aims to facilitate an understanding of Gao Panlong's thoughts on quiet-sitting but, more importantly, it also hopes to serve as a practical guide for meditation in the Ruist manner. (The book has been published at Spring 2018, and can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Ru-Meditation-Panlong-1562-1626-C/dp/0999614029/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531146846&sr=8-1&keywords=ru+meditation. or https://the-ru-store.com/products/ru-meditation-gao-panlong.)

A Chinese translation of  Maria Rosa Antognazza, "Leibniz An Intellectual Biography," Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. The book is published by the Press of Renmin University of China, 2015. A digital link can be found at https://book.douban.com/subject/26368926/.

A detailed explanation and critique of Descartes' Mechanical Philosophy from the perspectives of physics and metaphysics. This is my first academic monograph, which derives from my first dissertation (2009) as a PhD of Philosophy at Nankai University, China. In order to write the dissertation, I once visited and did research in the Center of Cartesian Studies at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) in Paris from 2007-8. The book was published in Chinese by the Press of China Social Sciences at 2012.

A historical and philosophical comparison on the rising of Neo-Confucianism and the process of China's modernization from 1840-1978. I argue that the future of the re-instiuttuionalization of Ruism (Confucianism) needs to embrace, in a certain degree, the principle of separation of church and state, while retaining its unique understanding and practice of education and politics. This paper was written many years ago, and has not yet been published. However, I still sincerely believe what I am arguing is in the right direction, even if the current situation of Western liberalism is under challenges in many fronts . Welcome for comments and thoughts!

I present my understanding of my doctoral advisor Prof. Robert Neville's work on comparative theology and the Christian-Ru (Confucian) dialogue in Prof. Neville's retirement party at School of Theology of Boston University, on April 19th. The event's video can be watched at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV0zP5rBeaE.

A syllabus on Introduction to Philosophy including both Western and non-Western (Asian) materials. I am exploring 1) how to present philosophy as an integrative perspective of human knowledge and a holistic way of human life and 2) how to have students think, act and try to cultivate themselves during the course of philosophy education.

The first English syllabus with the title of "Ruism." I am exploring ways of teaching the Asian Ru (Confucian) tradition in an integrative method to cover (1) its historical development, (2) its spread in East Asia and interaction with Western cultures, (3) its multi-dimensional approach to education: intelligence, emotions, will, body, and (4) its multi-dimensional content and import: philosophical, religious, spiritual, political, ethical, sociological. For this purpose, I design methods of test slightly different from traditional ones, including an oral examination in mid-term, weekly journal entry on moral self-cultivation and improvement, bodily demonstration of Ru spirituality, etc.

I add a significant section of "non-Western philosophy" to my intro to philo syllabus in 2019 Spring. Now the structure of the syllabus is also clearer: the beginning of Western philosophy, the beginning of non-Western philosophies (mainly Indian and Chinese), philosophy of science (natural science), hermeneutics (humanities), political philosophy (social science) and philosophy of religion (non-secular knowledge). Apart from critical thinking, cultural competence and inter-disciplinary perspective are the central skills that this course aims to nurture.

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