Ignorance is Bliss: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing

✍ Scribed by Mieke Matthyssen; Jie Yang

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan / Springer
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 396
• Series: Palgrave Studies in Indigenous Psychology
• Category: Library

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword
References
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
1 Introduction: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing
Nande Hutu
Chapter Synopsis—Reading Guide
Research Methods
Why This Book, and Why Read It?
Phrasings, Characters, Quotations and Translations
References
Part I Hutu in Traditional Society
2 The Daoist Sage Fool and the Confucian Learned Man
Hutu Web of Meanings
Hutu and the Language of the Vague and Indistinct
Early Use
Etymology
Semantic Associations
Vagueness (Mohu)
Early Chinese Philosophy
Features of Early Chinese Philosophy
Pragmatism as a Result of the Socio-Historical Background
Ars Contextualis: Chaos and Order
Correlative and Dialectical Thinking in a Holistic Cosmology
Language and Its Relation to Chinese Patterns of Thinking
Chinese Epistemology
Notions of Truth
Dao in Confucianism
The Dao of Daoism
Knowledge and Wisdom the Confucian and Daoist Way
Confucian Knowledge and Wisdom
The Daoist Sage as a Moral Fool
The Culture of Vagueness and Not Knowing
References
3 The Art of Not Knowing: A Scholar’s Paradox
Feudal Society
Bureaucracy, Social Inequality and the Elite Culture
Role Modelling and Official Morality
Rule by Law
Zheng Banqiao, the Eccentric
From Artist to Official, and Back to Artist
Zheng’s Philosophy of Life
Nande Hutu’s ‘Ignorance Is Bliss’
The Story of the ‘Stupid Old Man’
The Dialectics of Being Smart and Muddleheaded
Letting Go to Obtain Peace of Mind
Tao Yuanming, the Lover of Life
Su Dongpo, Victim of His Own Smartness
The Ultimate Paradox: To Be or Not to Be Smart
Light-Hearted Social and Moral Engagement
Criticism and Self-Preservation
Contemporary Smart Scholar(-Official)s
References
Part II Hutu in Contemporary Society
4 The Modern Wisdom of Playing Dumb
From Official’s Motto to Popular Self-Improvement Market
Attitudes and Capacities of the Wisdom of Playing Dumb
The Art of Not Contending
Overcoming Hardness with Softness
The Art of Letting Go and Giving Way
The Art of Rejoicing in Fate
The Paradox of the Clear Water Without Fish
Smartness May Overreach Itself
The Propensity for the Middle Way
Disadvantage Is a Blessing
Great Wisdom Looks like Foolishness
Being Natural, Unrestrained and Carefree
Smartness-Based Classification of People
‘Minor/Major’ Smartness and Muddleheadedness
Real and Fake Muddleheadedness
Modern-Day Self-Cultivation
References
5 The Wisdom of Playing Dumb in Practice
Hutu Pragmatism
Face Work
Playing Dumb: Some Contexts of Application
Health
Love Relations and Marriage
Family Life and Kinship Relations
Student Life
Professional Life
Colleagues
Leadership Positions
Business and Business Management
Politics and Officialdom
Practical Wisdom for Successful Officials
Contented Citizens in the Harmonious Society
The Policy of the Ignorant Masses
Outside the Hutu Orbit: Soulmates, Foreigners and the Web
A Strategy for a Detour to Success
References
6 The Psycho-Social Appeal of the Wisdom of Playing Dumb
A Disorienting Society
Harmonizing Wisdom
Harmony
Intrapersonal Harmony
Elderly: Harmonizing Mind-Body
Middle-Aged
Youth
Harmonizing Interpersonal Relations
Harmonizing Society
Hutu Coping Strategies
Conflict Avoidance
Emotional Control
Rationalization
Self-Consolation
The Paradox of Active vs. Passive Coping
Modern Needs: Self-Achievement and Spiritual Freedom
Self-Transcendence and Self-Preservation
References
7 The Moral Code of Playing Dumb
Moral Code: What’s in a Name?
Critical Voices
Hutu-Ism as Wrong Ideology
Muddling Through
Self-Advancement and Self-Promotion
‘The Harmonious Society’ vs. ‘The Policy of the Ignorant Masses’
Moral Guidelines
Hutu-Morality
‘Social Conduct’ and ‘Handling Things’
‘Minor Matters’ and ‘Major Matters’
Conscience
Moral Principles
Due Proportion
From Non-Action to Crazy Action, and in Between
Justified Non-Action
Harmfulness
(Non-)Benevolent Magistrates
Crazy Upright Magistrates
Smart Hutu: Experience, Age and Effort
References
8 Conclusion: The Culture of Vagueness in Transition
Rehashing Ancient Wisdom
Merging of the Three Teachings
Dialectical and Holistic Thinking in Terms of Change
References
9 Postscript: Hutu at the Crossroads of Knowledge and Information
Hutu and the Logic of Silence
Strong Ties Versus Weak Ties Rationalities
Hutu as Two Types of Silence
Hutu as the Primordial Silence
Small Is Beautiful
Hutu as Silencing
Context of Use for Hutu as Silencing
A Chronological Overview of the Hutu Strategies
Hutu Discourse in Traditional China
Hutu Discourse in Contemporary China
Commodification of Hutu Skills
Mounting Criticisms
Morality to the Rescue
Hutu at the Crossroads of the Global Village
References
Index