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Confucius Lives Next Door : What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West by T. R. Reid

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Reviews of Confucius Lives Next Door : What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West by T. R. Reid

                     Amazon.com
                     Despite setbacks, the economic "miracles" achieved by many Asian
                     countries in the latter 20th century have been impressive. This entertaining
                     and thoughtful book invites the reader to consider East Asia's other
                     miracle: its dramatically low rates of crime, divorce, drug abuse, and
                     other social ills. T .R. Reid, an NPR commentator and former Tokyo
                     bureau chief for the Washington Post, lived in Japan for five years, and
                     he draws on this experience to show how the countries of East Asia have
                     built modern industrial societies characterized by the safest streets, the
                     best schools, and the most stable families in the world.

                     Reid credits Asia's success to the ethical values of Chinese philosopher
                     Confucius, born in 551 B.C., who taught the value of harmony and the
                     importance of treating others decently. This is not a new perception--Lee
                     Kuan Yew of Singapore and others have rather heavy-handedly invoked
                     it to claim moral superiority over the West--but the author's vivid
                     anecdotes strengthen its relevance. Public messages constantly remind
                     Asian citizens of their responsibilities to society. To enhance a sense of
                     belonging, civic ceremonies encourage individuals' allegiance to a greater
                     good; across Japan, for example, April 1 is Nyu-Sha-Shiki day, when
                     corporations officially welcome new employees, most of whom remain
                     loyal to their company for life. Citing Malaysia's ideas of a "reverse Peace
                     Corps," Reid sees a case for Asians coming to teach the West in the
                     same way that Westerners have evangelized in Asia for over four
                     centuries. --John Stevenson

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                     From Kirkus Reviews , February 1, 1999
                     A readable if superficial analysis of the moral basis of east Asian society.
                     Over the course of a generation, the nations of east Asia have become, to
                     varying degrees, prosperous industrial societies. And a social miracle has
                     accompanied the economic miracle, notes Reid (former Tokyo bureau
                     chief for the Washington Post), namely, social stability. Nations such as
                     Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all enjoy extremely low crime rates.
                     Divorce is rare. Public education is superb; economic equality is more a
                     fact than a goal. These societies work, and in comparison, ours doesn't.
                     Why? Reid holds east Asian values responsible. For the regions people
                     generally adhere to the tenets of Confucianism, and Confucianism
                     preaches social harmony as an end in itself. Thus, to break or disregard
                     social mores brings shame upon the self, one's family, and one's society.
                     Reid writes knowingly about Confucian thought and shows, through
                     sharply drawn anecdotes, how harmony is pursued and practiced on a
                     daily basis in east Asia. Yet he doesnt find Confucian moral values to
                     differ all that much from those of the West and its Judeo-Christian
                     tradition. The main difference, for Reid, lies in the fact that east Asian
                     societies will go to extraordinary lengths to instill moral values in every
                     member (and this, he claims, Americans dont do, although they should).
                     There are flaws in his logic, however. The author never questions, for
                     instance, the psychic cost of socially mandated conformity, nor does he
                     discuss the often highly unequal status of women in east Asia. And he
                     doesnt consider how differing social policies, rather than simply differing
                     emphases on values, may account for east Asia's success. Reid presents
                     an interesting thesis but doesnt quite convince. (Author tour) --
                     Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description of Confucius Lives Next Door : What Living in the East Teaches Us
                            About Living in the West by T. R. Reid

                     Those who've heard T. R. Reid's weekly commentary on National Public
                     Radio or read his far-flung reporting in National Geographic or The
                     Washington Post know him to be trenchant, funny, and cutting-edge, but
                     also erudite and deeply grounded in whatever subject he's discussing. In
                     Confucius Lives Next Door he brings all these attributes to the fore as
                     he examines why Japan, China, Taiwan, and other East Asian countries
                     enjoy the low crime rates, stable families, excellent education, and civil
                     harmony that remain so elusive in the West. Reid, who has spent
                     twenty-five years studying Asia and was for five years The Washington
                     Post's Tokyo bureau chief, uses his family's experience
                     overseas--including mishaps and misapprehensions--to look at Asia's
                     "social miracle" and its origin in the ethical values outlined by the Chinese
                     sage Confucius 2,500 years ago.
 
                     When Reid, his wife, and their three children moved from America to
                     Japan, the family quickly became accustomed to the surface differences
                     between the two countries. In Japan, streets don't have names, pizza
                     comes with seaweed sprinkled on top, and businesswomen in designer
                     suits and Ferragamo shoes go home to small concrete houses whose
                     washing machines are outdoors because there's no room inside. But over
                     time Reid came to appreciate the deep cultural differences, helped largely
                     by his courtly white-haired neighbor Mr. Matsuda, who personified
                     ancient Confucian values that are still dominant in Japan. Respect,
                     responsibility, hard work--these and other principles are evident in Reid's
                     witty, perfectly captured portraits, from that of the school his young
                     daughters attend, in which the students maintain order and scrub the
                     floors, to his depiction of the corporate ceremony that welcomes new
                     employees and reinforces group unity. And Reid also examines the
                     drawbacks of living in such a society, such as the ostracism of those who
                     don't fit in and the acceptance of routine political bribery.
 
                     Much Western ink has been spilled trying to figure out the East, but few
                     journalists approach the subject with T. R. Reid's familiarity and insight.
                     Not until we understand the differences between Eastern and Western
                     perceptions of what constitutes success and personal happiness will we
                     be able to engage successfully, politically and economically, with those
                     whose moral center is governed by Confucian doctrine. Fascinating and
                     immensely readable, Confucius Lives Next Door prods us to think about
                     what lessons we might profitably take from the "Asian Way"--and what
                     parts of it we want to avoid.

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                    From the Back Cover of Confucius Lives Next Door : What Living in the East Teaches Us
                            About Living in the West by T. R. Reid

                     "T. R. Reid approaches Asia with humor, humanity, and humility--the
                     result is a wise and delightful book. In Reid's hands, the values of the East
                     are made stunningly 'scrutable,' and more--Confucian civility becomes a
                     useful lens through which we can view the vagaries of our own
                     culture."
                     --Joe Klein, author of Primary Colors

                     "Like Tocqueville, who demythologized American culture to a wondering
                     Europe a century and a half ago, T. R. Reid has brought a penetrating
                     eye and an engaging pen to de-enigma-tize modern Japanese society.
                     Confucius Lives Next Door establishes Reid as the preeminent cultural
                     journalist of our times."
                     --Congressman James A. Leach

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                     About the Author of Confucius Lives Next Door : What Living in the East Teaches Us
                            About Living in the West, T. R. Reid

                     Through his reporting for The Washington Post , his syndicated weekly
                     column, and his lighthearted commentary from around the world for
                     National Public Radio, T. R. Reid has become one of America's
                     best-known foreign correspondents.
 
                     Reid majored in Latin and Greek at Princeton University. As a naval
                     officer during the Vietnam War, he began to recognize the richness of
                     East Asia's cultural tradition. He moved to Kumamoto, Japan, in 1973,
                     sparking a love affair with Asia that has never flagged. In 1977, he joined
                     The Washington Post, where he has worked as a political reporter and
                     foreign correspondent.
 
                     T. R. Reid has written five books in English and two in Japanese. He has
                     made documentary films for various television networks.

 


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