Introduction: The Chinese Art of Not Knowing

Abstract

The introduction advances the art of not knowing as a complex phenomenon deeply rooted in the Chinese culture of vagueness and ambiguity. I introduce “Ignorance is bliss” as an awkward translation of the saying-calligraphy Nande hutu 难得糊涂 by Qing scholar-official Zheng Banqiao, which describes a difficult to obtain ‘muddleheaded’ state of mind that goes beyond plain smartness. I point out that its wisdom integrates various—sometimes paradoxical—dimensions rooted in traditional society, but re-interpretated in contemporary society as the wisdom of playing dumb. All these dimensions all work as a modus operandi of the Chinese psyche on the everyday intrapersonal, interpersonal and societal level. I further briefly outline the content and structure and introduce the research method and sources.