Chinese Philosophy and Contemporary Aesthetics

← viii | ix →

Figures

← x | xi →

Acknowledgments

This book is an outgrowth of an unforgettable exhibition held five years ago in Beijing. As curator, I found myself deeply moved by the dialogue between painters over white and blankness, and the unique experiences created by the works of such artists as Qiu Shihua, Liu Guofu and Chen Guangwu.

For the publication of this book, I thank my translator Jeff Crosby for his dedicated and precise translation work. Our collaboration over the years has given us both a better understanding of contemporary art and the art of China. I would also like to thank Liu Yehua, editor at China Renmin University Press, for her great effort to make this book a reality.

Special gratitude goes to my friend Fabian Heubel, who has long been a close partner in philosophical discussion. Our dialogue on everything from contemporary interpretations of Zhuangzi to the contemporary transformation of Chinese traditional art has carried on for many years. This book would not have been possible without his support and affirmation. Thanks also to Dr. Dimitra Amarantidou who carefully edited this text to make it more comprehensible!

Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to my wife Jian Yankuan. Her steadfast love and support over the years have brought me the peace I need to think and write. I dedicate this book to her. ← xi | xii →

← xii | 1 →

1

Introduction: Infra-White—An Impossible Beginning

To begin with blankness implies the impossibility of beginning.

To begin with blankness demands the yielding of philosophy itself: to yield an empty remnant space, to yield itself.

To begin with blankness is the retreat of philosophy from itself, the yielding of its sovereignty to allow blankness to take control.

There is empty-white.

When blankness takes control, blankness is not blankness, but “empty white,” the emptying and blankening of, a mere perception of “empty” and “white,” the “empty” completely empty, devoid of anything, and the “white” completely blank, as if there is nothing, yet as if there is everything. This perception implies the beginning of aesthetics.