The result of 6 months' observation of an American Taoist commune, this paper examines and interprets two episodes of confrontation, involving the persistently antagonistic Chinese director of the commune and one or more members, as a way of making sense of commune culture. The paper first examines the assumptions and values with which the researcher entered the commune, and why this was an important study of intercultural communication. It then discusses the researcher's methods of observation and how his participant/observer status affected his observations. Next, the paper explains briefly the analysis of the resulting field notes to identify behavioral patterns and interpretive themes. Descriptions are then given of the director's background, the commune and its financial status, and of the most prominent commune members. Two episodes of confrontation, representative of the more than 68 observed, are then described--one involving the director and a visitor, the other involving the director, his female "second in command," and a second woman who intervened in defense of the first woman. The paper then uses the framework of organizational culture to illustrate an extrinsic (explanations/interpretations deriving from existing theory) approach for interpreting the director's aggressive communication style. This section also explores the "performance" aspect of the director's behavior. Next, the paper examines the intrinsic (explanations/interpretations emerging from the social setting) factors for interpreting the confrontations, and seven explicit reasons the director used to support his encouragement of negative expression, aggression, and confrontation among the membership. In a section of concluding remarks, the paper notes that the commune was simply part of a larger social scene, although more intense. It also notes that while the high incidence of confrontation was surprising and at odds with the quietist principles of Tao, there was no "holier than thou" atmosphere, and the "fighting to get closer" philosophy appeared to succeed. (HTH)