Symbols of Anguish: In Search of Melancholy in China

The reception of China in the West is very often dominated by Chinese scholars like Lin Yutang who defined the Chinese people as «joyful beings» and Chinese civilization as a «civilization of joy». Nonetheless, in the history of Chinese thought since ancient times not only the expression of sadness itself but also guidelines to its expression can be found. How are we to understand this? These papers from the Bonn conference «Melancholy and Society in China» explore various aspects of this issue.