Ignorance is Bliss

Matthyssen’s monograph has an intriguing title: Ignorance is Bliss: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing. The art of not knowing is encapsulated in a pithy Chinese expression: Nande hutu (难得糊涂), which literally translates to “Hard to attain muddleheadedness”. In practice, Nande hutu entails deliberate performance of not knowing, or “playing dumb”, for one to cope with challenging cir...

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Matthyssen’s monograph has an intriguing title: Ignorance is Bliss: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing. The art of not knowing is encapsulated in a pithy Chinese expression: Nande hutu (难得糊涂), which literally translates to “Hard to attain muddleheadedness”. In practice, Nande hutu entails deliberate performance of not knowing, or “playing dumb”, for one to cope with challenging circumstances. For example, a government official might pretend not to see corruption so as to keep a distance from it. More than a survival strategy, Nande hutu also allows one to maintain moral integrity or even achieve spiritual transcendence. As simple as the notion of Nande hutu might appear to be, it requires steadfast self-cultivation in the long run and skilful self-control during social interactions. For all these reasons, Nande hutu became a maxim that for centuries inspired Chinese individuals from varied walks of life. Capturing the sheer complexity of Nande hutu, Matthyssen treats it as the entrance into a labyrinth of Chinese philosophy, politics, social relations, and a cultural history spanning from ancient times to today.

Dr. Mieke Matthyssen is a teaching and research assistant at the Department of Chinese Studies at Ghent University. Her research deals with the philosophical, psychological and socio-historical dimensions of Chinese philosophies of life related to (non-)wisdom, coping, and wellbeing. Her focus is on Chinese health strategies and indigenous psychology from the perspective of tra...

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Dr. Mieke Matthyssen is a teaching and research assistant at the Department of Chinese Studies at Ghent University. Her research deals with the philosophical, psychological and socio-historical dimensions of Chinese philosophies of life related to (non-)wisdom, coping, and wellbeing. Her focus is on Chinese health strategies and indigenous psychology from the perspective of traditional philosophy and Chinese medicine, and how these are interpreted in contemporary society.

My research now mainly deals with the philosophical, psychological and sociological dimensions of Chinese philosophies of life related to (non-)wisdom, happiness and wellbeing with a cross-disciplinary approach in linguistic anthropology and intellectual history/philosophy. My broader research interests focus on health strategies and indigenous psychology, and how they are interpreted and evaluated in contemporary society. Another research focus is embodiment and how the body is a never-ending locus of inquiry into subjective experiences, but also a locus of control and agency. My research is always rooted in a multi-method approach, taking language used in interviews and life narratives as starting point, and more recently, combining these with digital ethnography.

Introduction: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing 1
Nande Hutu 1
Chapter Synopsis—Reading Guide 5
Research Methods 7
Why This Book, and Why Read It? 9
Phrasings, Characters, Quotations and Translations 11
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Introduction: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing 1
Nande Hutu 1
Chapter Synopsis—Reading Guide 5
Research Methods 7
Why This Book, and Why Read It? 9
Phrasings, Characters, Quotations and Translations 11
Part I Hutu in Traditional Society
2 The Daoist Sage Fool and the Confucian Learned Man 17
Hutu Web of Meanings 17
Hutu and the Language of the Vague and Indistinct 19
Early Chinese Philosophy 31
The Culture of Vagueness and Not Knowing 60
3 The Art of Not Knowing: A Scholar’s Paradox 73
Feudal Society 75
Zheng Banqiao, the Eccentric 81
Tao Yuanming, the Lover of Life 103
Su Dongpo, Victim of His Own Smartness 106
The Ultimate Paradox: To Be or Not to Be Smart 109
Part II Hutu in Contemporary Society
4 The Modern Wisdom of Playing Dumb 129
From Official’s Motto to Popular Self-Improvement Market 131
Attitudes and Capacities of the Wisdom of Playing Dumb 134
Smartness-Based Classification of People 159
Modern-Day Self-Cultivation 166
5 The Wisdom of Playing Dumb in Practice 183
Hutu Pragmatism 183
Face Work 186
Playing Dumb: Some Contexts of Application 187
Politics and Officialdom 203
Outside the Hutu Orbit: Soulmates, Foreigners and the Web 213
A Strategy for a Detour to Success 218
6 The Psycho-Social Appeal of the Wisdom of Playing Dumb 233
A Disorienting Society 234
Harmonizing Wisdom 237
Hutu Coping Strategies 248
Modern Needs: Self-Achievement and Spiritual Freedom 261
Self-Transcendence and Self-Preservation 264
7 The Moral Code of Playing Dumb 279
Moral Code: What’s in a Name? 279
Critical Voices 281
Moral Guidelines 294
From Non-Action to Crazy Action, and in Between 306
Smart Hutu: Experience, Age and Effort 319
8 Conclusion: The Culture of Vagueness in Transition 335
Rehashing Ancient Wisdom 338
Merging of the Three Teachings 339
Dialectical and Holistic Thinking in Terms of Change 341
9 Postscript: Hutu at the Crossroads of Knowledge and Information 345 By Louise Sundararajan
Hutu and the Logic of Silence 345
Hutu as Two Types of Silence 348
A Chronological Overview of the Hutu Strategies 358
Hutu at the Crossroads of the Global Village 363
Index 367
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