This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
This Is The Way is a podcast on Chinese philosophy, exploring philosophical themes by reflecting on significant Chinese texts and through interviews with scholars of Chinese thought. We aim to offer discussions that are informative and accessible to a broad audience.
Please email us at: ChinesePhilosophyPodcast@gmail.com and follow us on X @ChinesePhilPod
This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
Episode 37: Confucius as Ritual Prodigy
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In this episode, we are joined by Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Eliaser Chair of International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading scholar of early Chinese thought. Our conversation draws on his new book, Confucius: A New Tradition (Reaktion Books, 2026), and its striking portrayal of Confucius as a “ritual prodigy.” Through several passages from Book 10 of the Analects, we explore what ritual expertise involves, whether moral and practical wisdom can be innate, and how seemingly minor details of dress and conduct express or instantiate important social and ethical values. We also discuss Confucius’s participation in an exorcism ritual, changing interpretations of ghosts and spirits, and the famous story of Confucius's reaction to the burning of his horse stables. Along the way, we consider how successive biographies and commentaries have continually reconstructed Confucius to address new philosophical and historical concerns.
Want to skip to the episode's primary philosophical issue? Go to
- 10:21 Preface to today's topic
- 12:34 Part II -- Confucius as a ritual prodigy
Many thanks toThe Global Philosophy of Religion Project and The Hong Kong Ethics Lab for sponsoring this podcast series.
Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.
We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉) for her expert editing and sound engineering.