Civilization within the Heart: The Image and Meaning of ‘Civilization’ and ‘Culture’ in Chinese Characters

‘Civilization in Transition’ was the theme of the JAP conference in 2021, and also the reality we are facing today, especially amidst the pandemic of COVID-19. From an oriental perspective, within the context of Psychology of the Heart, the author presents his thoughts in this paper, ‘Civilization within the heart: the image and meaning of “civilization” and “culture” in Chinese characters’. The meaning of the heart is at the core of Chinese culture, as well as Chinese philosophy and psychology. Most of the basic psychological terms in Chinese characters are formed originally with the images of the heart; even the Chinese character for ‘culture’ and ‘civilization’. C.G. Jung learned Chinese characters, and named them with I Ching symbols as readable archetypes. Today in world affairs we are confronted with highly turbulent and uncertain conditions that threaten any sense of coherent meaning, both personally and collectively. Jung's insights gained from the I Ching and his reflections on analytical psychology are still inspiring us. The images and meaning of the hexagrams which C. G. Jung used: ‘Ting’ (The Cauldron), ‘Bi’ (Grace), and ‘Chin’ (Progress), are the main threads of this paper and presentation, ‘Civilization within the Heart’, responding to the theme ‘Civilization in Transition’.