Hello, I’m Wang Fang. Welcome to To the Unique You.

Around 1882 in Switzerland, a seven-year-old boy found a fascinating game. Sitting on a large stone, he imagined its thoughts. One moment he was the boy on the stone; the next, the stone with a boy sitting on it. Moving between the two, he wondered which one he truly was. Like Zhuangzi dreaming of the butterfly, the puzzle enchanted him.

At ten, he carved a little wooden figure. This mysterious friend became a mental refuge, and communicating with it a ritual that made him feel secure in possessing knowledge no one else could know. His strange, solitary world held stones, figures, and books—but no people. Unable to understand others or be understood, he avoided contact and interpreted the world through introspection. Perhaps the future psychologist had already begun a dialogue with the ancient psyche and, through retreat from reality, found a path for spiritual growth (Shen Heyong, 2004).

Years later, a theory as mysterious as its creator left a brilliant and singular mark on humanity’s exploration of mind. No one else defended the psyche’s independence, wholeness, and eternity with such magnificence and obscurity. Though criticized as difficult, it holds a special place for me. Its insight into spirit and concern for human destiny preserve psychology’s humanistic depth and transcendence amid today’s dominance of natural science.

I therefore dedicate these two modestly interpreted episodes to Jung and analytical psychology.

Freud is unavoidable in Jung’s life. The Interpretation of Dreams made Jung a devoted admirer; their first meeting lasted thirteen hours; soon he stood second only to Freud, the acknowledged crown prince of psychoanalysis. Yet while everyone expected his succession, Jung resigned as president of the International Psychoanalytical Association and broke with Freud—all within seven years, 1907–1914. The relationship inspires endless gossip, but to me it is simply: I love my teacher, but truth more.