François Jullien's 'La grande image n'a pas de forme' explores Chinese painting philosophy

François Jullien's new book 'La grande image n'a pas de forme - ou du non-objet par la peinture' (Éditions du Seuil, collection 'L'ordre philosophique') continues his two-decade interrogation of Chinese thought, now focusing on painting. The work examines how Chinese painting tradition approaches the 'non-object'—what is too vague, diffuse, and evanescent to be fixed or represented. Jullien positions this as a 'de-ontology,' challenging Western metaphysical categories. The book moves fluidly between philosophical argument and poetic evocation, citing classical texts: 'The great image has no form.' Jullien argues that Chinese painting reflects an aesthetic of the transient, where presence and absence interpenetrate, and the goal is not mimetic representation but resonance with the world. He suggests that modern Western painting's turn toward de-figuration and indeterminacy echoes classical Chinese intuitions. The essay invites readers to reconsider key concepts of Western art history—such as subject-object opposition and representation—by contrasting them with Chinese thought. Jullien's broader project of 'passing through China' aims to 'unearth buried possibilities' and gain critical distance from one's own culture. The book is addressed to specialists but offers general readers insights into how Chinese painting and philosophy can reframe Western aesthetic assumptions.