The Path

Discussed in the interview, this book draws on early Chinese philosophy to challenge Western ideas about identity and choice. It argues that the self is fluid, developing through everyday actions and relationships. Drawing on thinkers like Confucius, Mencius, and Laozi, it presents rituals as simple ways to break habits, build relationships, and explore new ways of being, showing the path is not a destination but something you create moment by moment.

The book grew out of Puett’s Harvard course on classical Chinese ethical and political theory, one of the most popular undergraduate courses at the university. Its full title: The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life.

Michael Puett is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology at Harvard, and the guest of Conversations ep. 1. Christine Gross-Loh is a journalist and author with a PhD in East Asian history from Harvard.