Hvalnica pustosti. O kitajski filozofiji in estetiki pustosti

by François Jullien

Hvaljenje pustosti in dolgočasja namesto dramatičnih kompozicij in izjemnih detajlov je v nasprotju z običajnimi pričakovanji zahodnih umetnostnih sladokuscev. V pričujoči, eruditski in izjemno prodorni knjigi, se avtor postavi po robu zahodni percepciji in pustost predstavi z vidika kitajske kulture, kjer velja za centralno estetsko vrlino. Hvalnica pustosti razkriva možnosti tega, kar sicer dojemamo kot pusto "praznino", nekaj, kar nima nikakršne vrednosti in s čimer si ne moremo nikakor pomagati pri razumevanju sveta, umetnosti in življenja. Toda ko ostanemo znotraj najbolj posebne in najbolj natančne sledi, ki jo za seboj pusti čopič, razpoložljivi, zadržani, oddaljeni in "pusti" obenem, smo pripravljeni, da se vrnemo v točko, v katero je usmerjena največja pozornost. Hvalnica pustosti je kulturna študija, očrt vzhodne estetike, mala vaja iz sinologije, vzhodne filozofije in obenem prelomno delo, ki je neobhodno za razumevanje kitajske umetnosti in kulture.

Genres: Philosophy, China, Art, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Eastern Philosophy

151 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

François Jullien, né en 1951 à Embrun (Hautes-Alpes), est un philosophe, helléniste et sinologue français. Ancien élève de l’École normale supérieure et agrégé de l’université (1974), François Jullien a ensuite étudié la langue et la pensée chinoises à l'université de Pékin et à l'université de Shanghai (1975–1977). Il a été ensuite responsable de l'antenne française de sinologie à Hong-Kong (1978–1981), puis pensionnaire de la Maison franco-japonaise à Tokyo (1985–1987).
Il a été successivement président de l'Association française des études chinoises (de 1988 à 1990), directeur de l'UFR Asie orientale de l'université Paris-Diderot (1990–2000), président du Collège international de philosophie (1995–1998), professeur à l'université Paris-Diderot et directeur de l'Institut de la pensée contemporaine ainsi que du centre Marcel-Granet.

Reviews

[Jee Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found François Jullien's In Praise of Blandness last summer in the great architecture and design bookstore in Bras Basah Complex, where I brought GH to buy art supplies. I have read Jullien's The Impossible Nude years ago with a great deal of interest while I was working on the poems for The Book of the Body. In Praise of Blandness examines not just Chinese art, but also Chinese philosophy, ethics, music and poetry for a common denominator called dan, which Jullien translates as fadeur, and his English translator Paula M. Varsano translates as blandness.

In his Prologue, after acknowledging the difficulty, in fact, the undesirability, of defining blandness, Jullien describes the word thus, at the same time summarizing the movement of thought in the book:

Blandness: that phase when different flavors no longer stand in opposition to each other, but, rather, abide within plenitude. It provides access to the undifferentiated foundation of all things and so is valuable to us; its neutrality manifests the potental inherent in the Center. At this stage, the real is no longer blocked in partial and too obvious manifestations; the concrete becomes discrete, open to transformation.

The blandness of things evokes in us an inner detachment. But this quality is also a virtue, especially in our relations with others, because it guarantees authenticity. It must also lie at the root of our personality, for it alone allows us to possess all aptitudes simultaneously and to summon the appropriate one in any given situation.

On this common ground of the bland, all currents of Chinese thought--Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism--converge in harmonious accord. None of these systems conceive of it as an abstraction (for the purposes of establishing a theory) or, at the opposite extreme, as ineffable (in the service of some mystical calling). But it is precisely the bland that the arts of China reveal to us through their uncluttered spareness and allusive depths.

By taking us to the limits of the perceptible, that place where perceptions assimilate and nullify each other, the bland brings us to experience a world beyond. But this movement does not open up onto another, metaphysical world, cut off from the senses. It simply unfurls and expands this world (the only one): drained of its opacity, returned to its original virtual state, and opened up--forever--to joy.

I am drawn to the possibility, alluded to here, of experiencing the transcendent in immanence. That blandness may be the source of ceaseless unfurling, and so give off the sense of infinity within a finite moment or life. This sense is captured by the Chinese and repeated in a musical motif, as Jullien points out. In the History of the Song, the poet Tao Yuanming is described thus:

Tao Yuanming knew nothing of music, but he had at home a simple, unadorned zither without any strings. Whenever he experienced, in drinking wine, a feeling of plenitude, he touched the zither in order to express the aspiration of his heart.

Jullien comments,

The poet did not have to "trouble himself" to produce individually each note "from above the strings." The body of the instrument contains, within itself and at the same time, all possible sounds (the very image, of course, of the Dao).

Tao Yuanming and his stringless zither became a touchstone and a shorthand for later artists, writers and critics when they alluded to the quality of blandness.

It is too easy to accuse Jullien of treating Chinese culture as a mere foil for the West. That in differentiating Chinese thought so sharply from Western philosophy he is distorting the Chinese tradition. Jullien's has at least two defences, I think. One, he displays a genuine love of authentic Chinese artefacts. In Praise of Blandness reproduces the paintings and calligraphy alongside quotations from primary written texts for the reader's appreciation. Two, he is alert to the distinctions made by the Chinese themselves between different schools of art. So he quotes Su Dongpo's "Postface to the Poetry of Huang Zisi," in which Su contrasts the great Tang poets Li Bo and Du Fu with the earlier poets of the Wei and Jin Dynasties:

By virtue of the brilliance of their talent, they surpass all other generations and excel over all poets past and present. But at the same time, that air of having risen above the world of dust, which we find [earlier] in the poetry of the Wei and Jin, is ever so slightly lost.

Jullien comments suggestively,

... the most accomplished work of art is not necessarily the most effective; indeed by virtue of its very perfection it is found lacking. If the calligraphy of the great masters of the Tang is the most accomplished, it must nevertheless surrender its supreme position, at least from a certain point of view, to that of the preceding period, a period that was profoundly simple, whose characters appeared on the page as most spare and scant, as if they had simply been left there, abandoned by the brush, rather than as the fruit of concentrated attention, of the focused practice of an art. Far from seeking to impose their dynamic rhythm on us, far from actively demonstrating qualities of consistency and vitality, they seem to have lost a bit of their density, to already be somewhat less than fully present, as if on the verge of taking their leave.... These written characters are transitory vestiges of an inspirtation come from somewhere else, which animates them from afar and of which they preserve a certain nostalgia: these written lines are perceived only as traces, and so exude an air of renunciation hat surrounds calligraphy with a halo of indistinctness and solitude.

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of us who chose the field of philosophy and were born millennials, we are very familiar with the term and often the concept of the aesthetic. In the case of the young philosopher it is known that we are often swamped in Kant. The issue is of coarse that many of us are looking for traditions outside of the Western/ European lens. Let’s be honest constant discussions of the sublime, and rampant misogyny get pretty boring.

Francois Jullien offers us respite in this arena. While I too was skeptical of having a French man explain a several; thousand year old tradition and aesthetic I was please to find out that most of his work was based upon relaying translations. The word “Blandness,” is basically the least bad translation of the Chinese concept of ‘dan’ pronounced more like Dah-n. This aesthetic tradition is of simplicity or “blandness” I suppose. A combination of inspirations from the primary religions of China: Chen Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, all things related to dan are constructed in order to leave a lasting effect for future contributions.

Frankly this is a hard concept to grasp for those of us who grew up in our very linear, fast paced, definition based society. This book made me reconsider how I do pretty much everything, and how simplicity itself leaves room for an undefined beauty. Introspection in the void can cause some inner disquiet of course but as someone who has an affinity for Zen Buddhism and an adoration of Roman Stoicism, it is the inner reflection and forgiveness of myself that I look for.

The author of this book did very well describing a notion that is fluid and unable to pin down. If you enjoy aesthetics, or philosophy and need a breath of fresh air, put down your Socrates, try this on for size.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy the book, but as advised at the prolog, if you know Asia and China well, many of the things Jullien shares are well known. This said, I enjoyed several chapters very much and discovered many new things to explore. Also, this book is much easier to read and follow than Silent Transformations.

If anything, I felt this book is an in-between to his amazing Silent Transformations that came out later. If you like this one, you need to read the later.

[Duong]

Difficile de lire ce livre quand autour de moi le monde s'agite avec tous les problèmes de l'ordre sociétal ou politique en 2022. La fadeur nous conduira-t-elle à la défaitisme, à l'indifférence ? La simplicité, la délicatesse et autres, ce livre mérite d'être relu quand mon cœur se serait apaisé.

[Hash Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to a different way of evaluating and appreciating the world around you.

[Erhardt Graeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But the insipidity of traditional China, as represented by the limpidity of water (the basis for all flavors), is neither mere understatement nor affected (or complicated) blandness. Rather, it constitutes a transformation - a convention - the 'beyond' of which is already contained within, leading consciousness to the roof of the real, to the center from which the process of things flows. It is the way of deepening (toward the simple, the natural, the essential), of detachment (from the particular, the individual, the contingent). this transcendence does not open onto another world, but is lived as immanence itself; viewed from this perspective, the two terms finally cease being opposites, Blandness is this experience of transcendence reconciled with nature 0 and divested of faith."

[Patrice-loup Rifaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'avais lu "éloge de la fadeur" à sa sortie en 1991 - je travaillais alors avec Alain Peyrefitte et il m'avait fait découvrir ce livre. Je me souviens du grand plaisir intellectuel que j'avais eu à l'époque et le sentiment exaltant qu'au travers de cet "éloge de la fadeur", Julien m'entrouvrait une petite porte d'accès à la mentalité chinoise !
Treize ans plus tard, la relecture me déçoit un peu : une propension au jargon universitaire, des tics d'écriture, retiennent mon enthousiasme.
Et cependant : cet essai reste magistral et j'en recommande la lecture.

[Martin Bromirski · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this last year never added it...

I wanted to read his more recent The Great Image Has No Form (or something like that) but can't find a free or affordable copy... but I was able to buy this. There was one chapter on a landscape painter who painted the same painting over and over... that was good.