Unexplored Continents & the Ignorance Explosion

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness..." 1 Cor. 3:19

"Create Something From Nothing" "无中生有 Wuzhong Shengyou"

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." Benjamin Disraeli

In China, "Making something from nothing" refers to someone making groundless claims or accusations, but like most of China's thousands of four-word sayings, it also has much deeper meaning. Wuzhong Shengyou refers to an ancient army strategy of making a move so blatantly false that the enemy ignores it--and then the false move, or apparent weakness, is transformed into a real move, or strength (少阴太阴太阳).

Straw Soldiers In 755 A.D., the Chinese hero Zhang Xun used this strategy to defend his city besieged by rebel Linghu Chao's much larger force. When short of food, Zhang Xun heard that Chao had ships of supplies on the north. Zhang Xun fortified his south walls, which drew the suspicious enemy to the south as well, and then he sent a small but brave band to capture supplies from the ships to the north. A few days later, Zhang Xun replenished his dwindling supply of arrows by lowering a thousand straw scarecrows down the city walls by night. The enemy peppered the scarecrows with ten thousand arrows, after which Zhang Xun hauled the straw soldiers back up the walls. The very next night, the rebels laughed when they saw another 500 dark figures being lowered down the walls. But these were real soldiers, who slaughtered hundreds of rebels. The rebels eventually realized they were no match for Zhang Xun's wit and withdrew, and though Zhang Xun was murdered two years later, his strategies helped insure the survival of the great Tang Empire, and Zhang is revered today for his courage and wit.

Foolish Wisdom Paul wrote, "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight." 1 Cor.3:18, 19 NIV. In reality, it is often foolish in man's sight as well, for those with the least wisdom often have the most to say.

Unexplored Continents Someone said that people who visit China for a week return home to write a book about it. Those who stay a month write only an article. Those who stay a few years in China are hesitant to write even a paragraph. It was the same a century ago...

Back in 1919, Mary Ninde Gamewell quoted Dr. Arthur H. Smith as saying that the only two classes of people who claimed to really "know China" were "newspaper reporters and globetrotters." Smith wrote, "As for myself, I am continually discovering a continental area still unexplored.” When Smith wrote that he was still discovering the "unexplored continent" of China, he had already been in China over 45 years, and written several books!

The reporters and globetrotters are still writing about China today. During my 20 years in China, many reporters and tourists passing through Xiamen have interviewed me, snapped a few photos, and then returned home to write articles, and even books, based on a a very superficial understanding of China (and some have quoted me as saying things I'd never even heard of, much less said). Of course, I can understand their excitement at writing about China. After my first couple years here, I wanted to write a China book as well, but twenty years on, my thousands of pages of notes serve only to remind me of how little I really know about this still unexplored continent.

The longer I am in China, the less I am sure of what I really understand about China, but the same goes for America as well. Two decades in China has allowed me to see my home country in a very different light--not simply as better, or worse, but as more complex than the distilled America I had grown up with. In fact, not just America and China but life in general is an unexplored continent, but my new found ignorance is an asset, for as Sunzi said in his "Art of War," "Know yourself!" (Zhiji). Now that I know I'm just crossing the frontier, rather than sitting comfortably in the capital, I tread more carefully--especially as over the years I accumulate more so-called knowledge.

The Ignorance Explosion. Our knowledge explosion has been paralleled by a wisdom implosion as we have allowed a little knowledge to inflate our fragile egos. Scientists find a bone fragment or discover a light pulsing in space and immediately publish about the origins of life and our destiny in the universe. Oil prices fall because Michael Jackson moves to the Middle East and economists pontificate upon the causes of global economic woes (though always in hindsight; with the future, they're no more accurate than the weatherman). Even Christians gain some insight and then establish an entire denomination or ministry around one verse or passage of the Bible--the Sixth Day Adventists, the Church of Ladder Day Saints, the Church of the Holy Laughers, or the Church of No Pianos in Worship. (A Chinese sect proudly requires all women to have braided pigtails; wearers of ponytails, I take it, will go straight to Hades).

Data Vs. Wisdom Accumulation of data, whether secular or spiritual, does not necessarily result in wisdom. My computer has over 160gb of data but it is not wise. The data is there, but the self-awareness and ability to use it wisely is not (though it does seem to exhibit some form of infernal life at times, devouring data and descending into the void without warning). To simply equate data and knowledge with wisdom is to "make something from nothing." Paul wrote of such "experts" that they are "always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7).

Wisdom of Fools While knowledge is not necessarily wisdom, whoever said "ignorance is bliss" led a sheltered life. As Enrico Fermi wrote, "Ignorance is never better than knowledge." But we also need wisdom to not just guide our use of knowledge but to also continually remind us of how much we do not know--that on a cosmic scale even the wisest is still just crossing the frontier of unexplored continents of life and soul. Benjamin Disraeli wrote, "To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge."

Making Something of Nothing. Much true wisdom seems contrary to knowledge. Christ taught that children, not adults, are wise. He taught that the smallest seed could become the greatest tree. He taught that to receive we should first give. He taught that to lead, we should first serve. His insights were not the fruit of accumulated knowledge but of wisdom and insight into basic principles of life that work, regardless of our religious beliefs. Christ did not teach how to be religious but how to live, for in the end it is our lives, not our rituals, that are true worship. But when we worship in this way, then our Father can "make something from nothing," and guide us in our explorations of undreamed of continents.

Reference: Gamewell, Mary Ninde, “New Life Currents in China,” Interchurch Press, New York, 1919. p.3

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