IN PRAISE OF BLANDNESS

Already translated into six languages, Francois Jullien's In Praise ofBlandness has become a classic. Appearing for the first time in English, thisgroundbreaking work of philosophy, anthropology, aesthetics, and sinology is certainto stir readers to think and experience what may at first seem impossible: therichness of a bland sound, a bland meaning, a bland painting, a bland poem. Inpresenting the value of blandness through as many concrete examples and originaltexts as possible, Jullien allows the undifferentiated foundation of all things --blandness itself -- to appear. After completing this book, readers will reevaluatethose familiar Western lines of thought where blandness is associated with a lack --the undesirable absence of particular, defining qualities.Jullien traces the elusiveappearance and crucial value of blandness from its beginnings in the Daoist andConfucian traditions to its integration into literary and visual aesthetics in thelate-medieval period and beyond. Gradually developing into a positive quality inChinese aesthetic and ethical traditions, the bland comprises the harmonious andunnameable union of all potential values, embodying a reality whose very essence ischange and providing an infinite opening into the breadth of human expression andtaste.More than just a cultural history, In Praise of Blandness invites those bothfamiliar and unfamiliar with Chinese culture to explore the resonances of the blandin literary, philosophical, and religious texts and to witness how all currents ofChinese thought -- Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism -- converge in harmoniousaccord.