“Conversations about Confucius” talk by Taras Ivchenko
Taras Ivchenko, Director of the Confucius Institute at the Russian State University of Humanities, the Doctor of Philology, delivered a talk at the “Great Chinese Calligraphy and Painting” exhibition on September 21 at 3:00 PM. In his “Conversations about Confucius” Ivchenko gave an overview of the philosopher’s training approach: lead by example and actions, rather than talk, and cultivate the urge to find root cause of anything. He also spoke about Confucius’ method to pick students, aiming only for those who demonstrated true interest, and structure of the process based on the individual knowledge level. Ivchenko emphasized that the centrepiece of Confucius’s practice was the middle ground between individual and guided work, motion and still, word and silence, word and doing, knowledge and ignorance. After the talk the speaker was asked numerous questions regarding Confucius himself, and his practice.