厚黑学是不能聊的，可是刚才写那篇《聊聊人情社会》已经说了改天聊聊厚黑学，那就只能硬着头皮说几句了。
为什么不能聊呢？我记得李宗吾在他的《厚黑学》这本书开篇就讲了厚黑学的几个段位。初学者逢人就说厚黑学，张口闭口都是李宗吾如何如何。年轻人喜欢显摆，不经世事。那么厚黑学的高手是如何表现的呢？你问他厚黑学是什么，他回答说不知道。你问他李宗吾是谁，他也不知道。其实他回到家里睡觉前，从枕头底下翻出李宗吾的《厚黑学》偷偷研究。前面那位年轻人顶多就是“厚如城墙黑如锅底“，厚黑都是明摆着的。而那位老奸巨猾的厚黑高手，却是“厚而无形黑又亮”。
所以我还要不要接着聊下去呢？其实话到这里，我已经不是高手了。只能说我没资格讨论这个问题，更不擅长玩厚黑学，我只是明明白白的厚道而已，哈哈。
“Thick Black Theory” (厚黑学) is something people say shouldn’t be discussed—but since I mentioned it in the previous piece on Human Sentiment Society, I guess I have to say a few words, however cautiously.
Why shouldn’t it be discussed? I remember that in the opening of his book Thick Black Theory, Li Zongwu categorized practitioners into several levels. Beginners talk about it all the time—always quoting Li Zongwu, flaunting their shallow understanding. It’s typical of young people who want to show off but lack real-life experience.
So how does a true master of Thick Black Theory behave? If you ask him what it is, he’ll say, “I don’t know.” Ask him who Li Zongwu is, and he’ll say he’s never heard of him. But at night, before bed, he secretly pulls Thick Black Theory out from under his pillow and studies it carefully. The young man may be “thick as a city wall and black as the bottom of a pot”—his scheming is written all over his face. But the cunning master? He is “thick yet invisible, black yet radiant.”
So should I continue talking about it? Truthfully, by saying this much, I’ve already disqualified myself from being a master. I can only say I’m not good at discussing such things—much less playing the Thick Black game. I just try to be plainly decent, that’s all. Ha!
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