February 3, 1998

Contact: Yvonne French (202) 707-9191

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Tu Wei-Ming Discusses The Analects of Confucius

Historian, philosopher and educator Tu Wei-Ming will analyze one of the world's most influential philosophical works of social thought, the Analects of Confucius, in the second program of this season's Bradley Lecture series on "Books that Matter to Our Citizenship, Statecraft, and Public Policy." Titled "Personal Knowledge, Moral Community, and Spiritual Transformation--Reading the Confucian Analects," the lecture will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Montpelier Room, on the sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. No tickets are required.

As Harvard University Professor of Chinese history and philosophy and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Mr. Tu brings an outstanding level of expertise to the discussion of this classic work of literature. The author of numerous books on Confucian learning, humanism, and philosophy, Mr. Tu's English-language books include Neo- Confucian Thought in Action (1976), Humanity and Self- Cultivation--Essays in Confucian Thought (1980), Confucian Ethics Today (1984) and The Way, Learning, and Politics: Perspectives on the Confucian Intellectual (1988).

In addition to being a prolific author, Mr. Tu has held a number of prestigious fellowships and associations with Princeton University, the University of California at Berkeley, and universities in Beijing, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Paris. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, serves on numerous academic and organizational boards and edits and contributes to a wide variety of publications in both the United States and Asia.

The Bradley Lecture series is made possible by a grant from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee. It is a showcase for the explication of texts of great historical importance to social and political thought by eminently qualified scholars. Previous programs featured discussions on Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America by Professor Michael Kammen, Plato's Republic by Professor Martha Nussbaum, The Federalist Papers by Professor Bernard Bailyn, and Karl von Clausewitz's On War by Sir Michael Howard. Each lecturer analyzed the text, explained the circumstances of its creation, dealt with its ambiguities in treatment and historical understanding, drew out its central theses and addressed the degree to which its basic arguments remain essential today.

Prosser Gifford, Library of Congress Director of Scholarly Programs, said the lecture series "has demonstrated persuasively the value of a close reading and re-reading of texts, the interpretation and significance of which has shifted over time, so that even texts we thought we knew well gain immeasurably from a fresh explication. What could be better for a library than a demonstration of the intellectual vitality of some of its most treasured holdings?"

Expanded versions of the lectures will soon be presented as separate pamphlets in the Bradley series, so that those unable to hear the original presentation may still benefit from the insight of the lecturers.

Interpreting services (American Sign Language, Contact Signing, Oral and/or Tactile) will be provided if requested five business days in advance. Call (202) 707-6362 TTY and voice to make a specific request. For other ADA accommodations please contact the Disability Employment Program Officer at (202) 707-7544 voice.

 

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PR 98-014
2/3/98
ISSN 0731-3527