The Unconscious: Western and Daoist Perspectives

In her 2010 bestseller The Shaking Woman, American writer Siri Hustvedt describes the years in which she experienced uncontrolled convulsions, and her endeavour to understand them by making conscious some experiences using Western psychotherapy. She goes back to Sigmund Freud’s concept of the unconscious in his classic Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and the concept of “Id,” introduced by Georg Groddeck (1866-1956). Daoist sources also deal with the subject of the unconscious, such as Zhuangzi’s “butterfly dream” and his parable of the “dark pearl.” The 4th-century alchemis Ge Hong, author of the Baopuzi, similarly emphasizes the “mystery” (xuan). They and others focus on the idea of self-cultivation, which can be understood as early psychotherapeutical concepts. In this context, calisthenics for cultivation of the vital force (qi) are important for the promotion of a harmonious condition of body and mind. Bodily exercise has recently begun to be considered more seriously in West-ern psychotherapy as well. Learning from each other seems to be called for.