Join John Beebe and Danielle Knafo ONLINE for "Polyamory, Kink, and the Emergence of Wonder Woman"

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Sneak Peek - The 2019 Fay Lectures, with Ann Casement

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A Note on Heidegger and C.G. Jung...

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The Fay Lectures 2018: An Interview With Shen Heyong

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Last Updated: Saturday, 06 June 2020 16:35

Written by Michael Escamilla

M.E.: What is the general state of psychology as taught in China currently?

H.S.: The general state of psychology as taught in China today, is similar to the US, but there are some differences. Psychology in China is a very interesting phenomenon, reflecting the changes and development of the society. For instance,13 years ago, there were only five departments of psychology in the mainland of China. But since then, there are 360 departments of Psychology. So this has been a fast development.

There are different curriculums of psychology, but generally, there are three main areas of psychology that are taught in China: fundamental psychology (including experimental psychology), developmental psychology, and applied psychology. Among the 355 new departments of psychology, 76% are applied psychology.

M.E.:  In the United States, behavioral and cognitive approaches to psychology are the most commonly taught. Is that similar in China?

H.S.: In the main universities, it is similar. But the mainstream of psychology today in China is cognitive psychology, or neural cognitive psychology, focused on the brain and neuroscience.

Behavioral therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy, are also quite popular in China, along with Gestalt therapy, and psychoanalysis.

M.E.: How are Jung’s theories and analytical psychology received in Chinese universities?

H.S.: In most universities in China today, Jung’s theories and analytical psychology are taught as one part of psychoanalysis, and as part of personality theory. But, in some universities, for instance, Fudan University (Shanghai), South China Normal University (Guangzhou), City University of Macao (I have set up three institutes for analytical psychology at these three universities), Jung’s theories and analytical psychology have independent courses, on an equal level with psychoanalysis. I am chair and professor of the graduate psychology program at these three universities, and there are about 100 graduate students who have gotten their Ph.D., and 200 who have gotten master degrees in analytical psychology in the last 20 years.

We have translated the 20 Volumes of Collected Works of C.G. Jung, 9 volumes of Selected Works of C.G. Jung(such as Vision Seminars, and Dream Seminars), and a lot of Jungian Books,  including the Fay lectures and books by Murray Stein and Luigi Zoja. As C.G. Jung had interest in Chinese culture, and most Jungians work with these areas of Jung’s thought, Jungian analysis and analytical psychology have been quite well received by university students and the general public in China.

M.E.: indeed, Jung had a great interest in and sympathy for Chinese philosophies such as the Tao and the I Ching. Will you speak about these areas of Chinese thought  as part of your talk?

H.S.: Sure.  Both the Tao and the I Ching are very important for the Psychology of the Heart, and at the heart of Jungian analysis, as well as Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism. C.G. Jung called himself a “follower of Tao” and a “great admirer of Ch’uang-tzu’s philosophy” (Ch’uang-tzu is a great Taoist, C.G. Jung Letters. 1973. P.559-560) and also wrote that he was  “a jealous lover of the I Ching” (C.G. Jung Letters. 1973. P. 154-155). In fact, the image and meaning of the heart, which my talk, the Psychology of the Heart,  is based on, is also seen in the I Ching, and the Tao. That is exactly the secret of the golden flower, or the “Soul flower” as C.G. Jung described in his “A Study in the Process of Individuation” (1933).  This was Jung’s first lecture at Eranos and he used four hexagrams of the I Ching, to described the meaning of the “soul flower.”

M.E.: What readings would you recommend for those coming to your talk?

H.S.: I have given two lectures at Eranos, the Round Table for East and West (1997, and 2007), with the same theme: the Psychology of the Heart. The two lectures were published by the Eranos Years Book (Psychology of the Heart and Chinese Culture Psychology, 1998; Psychology of the Heart, Oriental Perspective of Modernity of East and West, 2010). Recently, I wrote a paper in English: Why Is The Red Book “Red”? （Shen Heyong. Why Is The Red Book “Red”?- A Chinese Reader’s Reflections. Murray Stein. Ed. Jung’s Red Book For Our Time: Searching for Soul under Postmodern Conditions. Chiron Publications. 2017）. The plenary presentation I gave at the 20th IAAP (International Association of Analytical Psychology) international conference has also been translated into English: The Dao of Anima Mundi: I Ching and Jungian Analysis, the Way and the Meaning. 

There are some other related English publications, such as:

Heart and Soul in Shanghai, Psyche and the City, Tom Singer ed. Spring Publication 2010.

C.G. Jung and China, A Continued Dialogue, Psyche and Culture, Jung Journal, June, 2009,1.

The Heart of Jungian Analysis and Existential Psychology Existential Psychology: East and West, University of the Rockies Press 2009.

The I Ching’s Psychology of the Heart, Psychological Perspective, Vol 49, 2006.

Scientific Psychology within Chinese Cultural and Language Context, Physis, Vol XLIII, 2006.

I Ching and Sandplay, Journal of Sandplay Therapy, 2004, 2.

Psychology of the Heart, The Salt Journal, 2000, 3.

The Missing Women of China. The Analyst In Polis. Ed by Stefano Carta. Volume II. 2017. 

Behind the Mask of China: The Continuing Trauma of the Cultural Revolution.  The Analyst In Polis. Ed by Stefano Carta. Volume I. 2017

These papers can be found in the internet, most of them are available for free download.

M.E.: What are some new developments of Jungian psychology in China? How many analysts are there now?

H..S.: We have just had the 8th International Conference of the Analytical Psychology and Chinese Culture here last month (April 2 to 4, 2018, sponsored by IAAP), with 800 participants from all over the world. 20 years ago, when we had the first IAAP conference in China in 1998, about 100 people attended. The second conference had 200, and the third 300…… the increase in the number of the participants at the conferences reflects the development of Jungian Psychology in China.

When Thomas Kirsch, Jean Kirsch, Murray Stein and Jan Stein visited China on behalf of IAAP in 1994, the seed of Analytical psychology was planted in the mainland of China, and the continued conferences show a process that has sprouted, and is now growing, blossoming, and flourishing. The Psychology of the Heart is one of the fructifications of this development.  As part of the IAAP China conferences, the best Chinese scholars of the I Ching, Confucian thought , the Tao, Zen Buddhism, and Chinese medicine, as well as artists, writers and poets, have participated in the dialogue between the East and West, Analytical Psychology and Chinese Culture.

Now we have  six developing groups within the IAAP: at Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Shanghai, and Beijing, which officially compose the “IAAP Chinese region.” In the mainland of China, there are 6 IAAP individual members (analysts), and 76 routers (analysts in training).

Besides the academic work and professional training, our Chinese group has started a cherished project called the “Garden of the Heart & Soul.” This began 11 years ago, in 2007, providing psychological support for the development of orphans in the mainland of China. When the Sichuan earthquake happened in 2008, our team went to the earthquake zone the first week after it happened, and we have carried on this psychological support work until today,  ten years later. Similar work was carried out for survivors of the Yushu earth quake in Tibet, which occurred in 2010. Now we have 76 work stations of the Garden of the Heart & Soulacross the mainland of China, reaching to places such as Tibet, the Ürümqi of Xinjiang province, and in  Hohhot in inner Mongolia.  This project is taking Jungian psychology into the realm of public service for humanity.

M.E.: Are there any closing thoughts about your upcoming talks that you would like to share?

H.S: C.G. Jung said in his Red Book: “There is a knowledge of the heart that gives deeper insight.” (Vol. 1, chapter 2). This is similar to what the philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote: "The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing."

In the Fay lecture, The Psychology of the Heart (and the Heart of Jungian Analysis), we will share and explore the images and meaning of the Heart, as they apply to love, compassion, healing, the Self, individuation, and enlightenment. All of these terms are combined with the image of heart as it appears in Chinese character (writing). As C.G. Jung once said, the Chinese characters are readable archetypes. They convey the deep meaning, the methods, and the Way.