Introduction

I am honoured to participate in this inaugural issue of the Journal of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in China. The goal of the book review section is to review a wide range of books relevant to psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in China. We hope also to include books about social forces and contemporary life China in order to better understand the cultural context that western psychoanalytic therapists enter and which impacts on Chinese patients and our Chinese colleagues. We will also include reports and reviews of conferences and even reviews of films relevant to China.

Our first book review section accomplishes many of these goals. I feel fortunate to have such distinguished reviewers. Dr Alf Gerlach, a psychoanalyst and social science PhD with extensive experience in training therapists in China, reviews a book from the social sciences, by Professor Shi-xu of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Discourse studies, that is relevant to the interaction of western and Chinese cultures. Dr Almatea Usuelli is a careful student of the philosopher and Sinologist, Francois Jullien, and is the translator of Jullien's book on psychoanalysis and Chinese thought into Italian. Dr Usuelli reviews Christopher Bollas's book on psychoanalysis and Chinese thought and includes some dialogue with Jullien's similar ideas. From the USA, Dr Caroline Sehon reviews a book about contemporary life in China by Evan Osnos, a writer and reporter for the New Yorker in China and a long-time observer of life and politics in China. From China, Professor Yuan Qi reviews the collection of papers, Psychoanalysis in China, edited by David Scharff and Svere Varvin. Yuan Qi is a literature professor in China who has published a book about Shakespeare and Freud. Finally, Xing Xiaochun, a psychotherapist in China, reviews an international conference on Fairbairn and object relations theory.

I invite our readers and colleagues to submit reviews of books, conferences, and even films which they find interest