Collective Unconscious And Light

Carl Gustav Jung, the founder of analytical psychology and once as a sincere observer of the psychoanalysis school, was influenced deeply by Sigmund Freud. However, because of their different understandings on the theory of libido, unconscious and dream, etc., they finally broke up with each other. Just when Jung's thought was in dilemma, he received the Germen version of Taiyi jinhua zongzhi from Richard Wilhelm. This book contributed much to the development of Jung's thought; it served not only the strongest proof to his theory of collective unconscious, but also example to his chief archetype (the self), so that he gained historical foundation of his theory in the western world. Through the analysis of the theory of collective unconscious and the philosophical thoughts of Taiyi jinhua zongzhi, this paper compares the essential categories, namely, collective unconscious and light, in order to find a new way to communicating Chinese culture with Western culture.Firstly, Jung's theory of collective unconscious. From Jung's research of human soul, we know that collective unconscious is a spiritual substance, and it is the origin of both conscious and material world, and is also eternal and universal psychological structure a priori. It is a gradual course for the proposition and completion of this theory, which is comprised of three phases: (1) primitive image coming from Jung's experience of curing mental illness. Primitive image, which reminds people some ancient myths, legends and fairy tales, is special image that has no connection with experiences a posteriori; (2) collective unconscious which as spiritual substance gives birth to these images. Collective unconscious is the storage room of human ancestors' experiences, and it is an objective and universal psychological structure common in people. But collective unconscious is psychological structure a priori of soul, which belongs to transcendent realm, so it can not be recognized by individual conscious, either bears some influences on experiences a posteriori. Thus, the open space between structure a priori and experiences a posteriori becomes a problem which Jung has to do with; (3) archetype as agent connecting a priori and a posteriori. Archetype is individual species from the storage room of human ancestors' experiences and belongs to collective unconscious realm, but it can show itself by primitive image, and then have some influences on experiences a posteriori. Meanwhile, primitive image, as the showing form of archetype, contains the element of both archetype and experience a posteriori. Thus, the logic framework of Jung's collective unconscious is completed: from collective unconscious to archetype to primitive image, structure a priori is shown by experiences a posteriori; from primitive image to archetype to collective unconscious, spiritual substance is verified by reversed logical reasoning. From this logical framework, we could know that archetype is critical, and he pays more attention to the shadow, the persona, the anima and animus, and the self, which are main archetypes.Secondly, Taiyi jinhua zongzhi and its philosophical thoughts. Taiyi jinhua zongzhi, including thirteen chapters, is one of classics of the inner alchemy from Long Men Sect of Quan Zhen Taoism. It narrates pellucid the method to reach immortal. Like any other religions in the world, Quan Zhen Taoism treats light as a substance, and Taiyi jinhua zongzhi inherits and develops just this thought. So the light in this book is not the common light we know, but the light as substance. By analyzing the meanings of light as substance, effort and realm, we conclude that Taiyi jinhua zongzhi inherits the Quan Zhen's early thought that light is the substance, integrating the ontology, the effort theory and the theory of realm into one metaphysical system of light.Thirdly, taking Jung's commentary to Taiyi jinhua zongzhi into consideration, this paper makes a comparison from the aspect of substance. (1) Influenced by theoretical philosophy from Plato, Jung logically demonstrates the existence of collective unconscious, and thus makes collective unconscious theoretical substance. But in Taiyi jinhua zongzhi light as substance belongs to realm, and this substance puts more emphasis on its significance for individual existence and the realm that individual person can reach in feeling light. (2) Jung exposes collective unconscious by his exposition of primitive image, and in Taiyi jinhua zongzhi, there are also many categories that have something to do with light, which means that no matter Jung or Taiyi jinhua zongzhi they explain their essential category by other categories. Therefore, we could know collective unconscious and light much deeper by the comparison of the anima,animus and the hun po, conscious and shi shen, the self and yang shen, etc.. (3) Collective unconscious, which appears as a state of pre-conscious without discrimination, is a kind of deep unconscious. But the yuan shen state shown by light is a realm of qing ming, which is a state of neither pure chaos nor pure wake, but a state priori to and higher than these two states. This state preserves a feeling of concentration and calmness without no clear intention to know something, namely, no objects or knowing activity. (4) Jung proposes two ways to know collective unconscious: logical reasoning and feeling. Although the latter can not go without logical reasoning, it is so different and has something in common with Chinese ming si effort, so we compare it with hui guang effort in Taiyi jinhua zongzhi. For Jung, there are three ways of feeling: word-association tests, interpretation of Dreams and active imagination, of which active imagination is his independent creation and is the most efficient way to know collective unconscious. So in this part, we mostly compare it with hui guang effort.