Upon reading You Chien-kuei's The Doctor of Mind--The Therapeutic Effects of Chinese Culture, what struck me most was that this book falls very much in line with the recent publishing phenomenon involving a great number of books and periodicals on "nativization." In this review, I would like to first discuss the causes and effects of this stream of thought, on the basis of which I will review Mr. You's new release.
The prevailing trend of anti-traditionalism in Chinese academia can be traced back to the New Culture Movement which followed the May Fourth Movement at the beginning of the Republican era. Ever since Yen Fu translated Thomas Henry Huxley's Evolution and Ethics into Chinese at the end of the Ching Dynasty, the theory of evolution, the survival of the fittest being its core concept, had been widely accepted by Chinese intellectuals. After the New Culture Movement got started, many intellectuals who were concerned about their country thought that only by introducing the democracy and science of the West could they remedy China of all its dark forces. For instance, one of the leaders of the New Culture Movement, Chen Tu-hsiu, once made a statement that captured the essence of their spirit: "To uphold Mr. Democracy, we cannot but oppose Confucius' doctrines, mannerisms, virtues and old politics; to uphold Mr. Science, we cannot but oppose old arts and old religion; to uphold both Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science, we cannot but oppose our national legacies and old literature."
Figures from the May Fourth Movement, following an extremely simplistic line of thought, erected a dichotomy between democracy and science on the one hand and traditional Chinese culture on the other. Some radicals even cried out slogans such as "Down with Confucius" and "Throw the old books in the toilet." This laid the foundation for Darwinism, scientific positivism, and anti-traditionalism in modern China.
The profound influence these three "isms" have brought to modern Chinese society is beyond the scope of this review, so I will not delve into the details. But I do want to point out that their impact on Taiwan's sociology has definitely been more negative than positive. Over a period of many years, under the influence of these three ideologies, many of our own sociologists have held firmly that the theories constructed by Western sociologists contain advanced truth, while our cultural traditions are "antiques" that will disappear with time. In order to "catch up with the West," we have to go all out in learning the "latest" Western sociological theories. Our "top-ranked universities" use the latest version of original-language text books. The Chinese-language books on sociology in the market are all translations of Western theories or research results. So-called "academic research" is mostly transplanted Western theories. Researchers treat the Chinese in their local society as their subject, using Western tools and imitating the whole process in the original mode.
Psychology in Taiwan is no exception. Owing to their estrangement from traditional culture, many psychologists are often heard to openly claim that China has no psychology. Indeed, China has no psychology of a scientific nature as does the modern West. But China has a long history of literature concerning "the nature of the human heart." In fact, this literature contains abundant psychological insights. Our scholars have ignored an important fact that the Western psychology of today has been derived to a large degree from the pre-scientific psychological thinking of Western cultural traditions. Chinese psychologists not only don't understand their own cultural traditions, but also don't realize the historical background of Western psychology. They simply transplant Western psychology into the local society without digesting it. The result is like a tree without its roots, water without a source. It is not surprising that the contents are barren and dry.
In the late 1980s, some of Taiwan's academics initiated the "Nativization of Sociology" Movement, which has engendered a certain degree of response. Many people began to realize that tradition is not just a pricey object in a museum. It is actually preserved in the language we use every day. All individuals live within a certain cultural tradition ever since the moment of their birth. And while each person gradually grows up, he or she will approach and interpret tradition in his or her own language. Tradition means something different to every generation, and every generation interprets tradition based on its own circumstances. Therefore, not only will tradition not disappear; it will also persist in different manners. After realizing that, some sociologists began to want to research their cultural tradition with a more rigorous approach. In the publishing industry, there are many writers who have attempted to interpret tradition from different perspectives. You Chien-kuei's The Doctor of Mind--The Therapeutic Effects of Chinese Culture is a typical example.
We have to admit that over the past dozen years, despite all the resonant slogans of "nativization of sociology," most of the works along this line are little more than political reveilles or spiritual invocations. The scholarly works which can stand up under strict examination are still few in number. It's no surprise such a feeble academic foundation cannot support a solid mass of public readers. Only after understanding this background can we make a fair judgement of this book.
On the back cover of the book, the writer has inscribed, "When we believe that the many turmoils at the bottom of the heart of humanity come from a variety of experiences, it seems that we should re-evaluate whether the patterns of psychological therapy coming from the West are what we want. Doesn't China after all these millenia really have its own ways to pacify the mind? Do we have the chance to break forth a new paradigm for our psychological philosophy, and establish a set of theories and principles for the Chinese ways of pacifying the mind?"
This passage reveals the writer's consciousness of the problem. And this series of questions is asked rhetorically. In order to exposit his point of view, the author has found many examples from Chinese mythology, religion, Zen, philosophy and modern people's "unknotting their hearts" to explain his "Chinese ways of pacifying the mind." The writer says he has spent 12 years collecting the material in this book. His endeavors are truly admirable. To put it more clearly, the greatest characteristic of this book is the abundance of its contents. Everything in the Chinese culture that has a little to do with "pacifying the mind" can be traced in this book. And precisely because it is all-inclusive, the writer's interpretation of the many methods to pacify the mind seems rather loose. There are many points which he could have examined more deeply but which he merely touches upon, adding some judgments based on common sense. The entire work reads more like a psychologist's notepad than a published book born of rigorous thinking.
Such a statement may be a harsh criticism of the author, but he also fully understands this: "Every chapter of this book can be a starting point, a realm which is worth deeper exploration and inspection for structuring native psychology." He believes that "only after we realize that China has psychology will our psychology have the sustenance to set down roots." And in composing this book he hopes that people can realize that "China has psychology." He modestly informs us, "This book is written with the intent of inviting criticism." His wish is that "all criticisms can be amalgamated into a new direction of Chinese psychology." Says he, "I am no guru, but rather the gardener who helps the guru plant saplings. I only hope that others will nurture the young plants into a whole garden of greenery."
From this perspective, he has already achieved his aim. Upon finishing this book, the readers may very likely find that the ones who deserve criticism are not the writer but those "gurus" who dwell day in and day out in the ivory tower of academia, spreading Western theories without any self-questioning.
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Title: The Doctor of Mind--The Therapeutic Effects of Chinese Culture
Author: You Chien-kwei
Publisher: Yuan Liou Publishing Co.
Price: NT$220
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(Photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)
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Belief gives birth to faith, and faith gives birth to hope. For people with a believing personality, prayer may produce better results than psychoanalysis.(Photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)
Belief gives birth to faith, and faith gives birth to hope. For people with a believing personality, prayer may produce better results than psychoanalysis.（Photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang）
