Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life

This highly original work shows how the ancient principles of Confucianism and Daoism can be applied to the manifold social problems facing contemporary America. Drawing on the wisdom of China’s great traditions of humaneness, duty, integrity and non–action, the author links the ideas of Confucian and Daoist thinkers with a range of issues that trace the arc of human life. Beginning with the controversies over abortion, in vitro fertilization, and stem cell research, Crane shows how Chinese philosophy can enhance our understanding of the problems of human experience, adapting them to American mores on childhood, parenting, marriage, politics and public service, and death. Along the way, he considers what Confucius and Zhuangzi, among others, might have to say about matters absent from the ancient Chinese political agenda, such as gay marriage and assisted suicide. This revealing commentary on contemporary American life offers a fresh perspective on the nation’s familiar political debates, introduces classical Chinese texts to a new readership, and shows today’s Chinese citizens how their traditions are perceived across the Pacific dateline.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Key Concepts of Confucianism and Daoism 13 2 Birth 37 3 Childhood 65 4 Work 93 5 Marriage and Family 109 6 Public and Political Life 133 7 End of Life 169 Index 195

Sam Crane is Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Williams College, USA. Conversant in Mandarin, which he began learning while researching his doctoral thesis in the 1980s, he first visited China in 1983, and is a former faculty member of the John Hopkins academic campus in Nanjing. Author of The Political Economy of China’s Special Economic Zones (1990), The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy (1991), and the highly personal Aidan’s Way: The Story of a Boy’s Life and a Father’s Journey (2003), about life with his profoundly disabled son, Crane has long been fascinated by ancient Chinese philosophy, particularly the classical texts of the pre–imperial era.