Richard Wilhelm: The Transformation of a German Psyche in China

C. G. Jung’s the Red Book ended with his receipt of Richard Wilhelm’s translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower, for which Jung wrote a long commentary. With Jung’s encouragement, Cary Baynes translated Wilhelm’s German version of The I Ching into English, which then became an international best-seller. Wilhelm’s translations of these Chinese classics went beyond the sinological circle and stimulated communication between the East and the West. For Jung, “fate seems to have apportioned to us (Wilhelm and Jung) the role of two piers which support the bridge between East and West.” Zhou Dangwei’s talk will give a brief overview of Wilhelm’s life and work in China from 1899 to 1924 and show how Wilhelm went from being a German Protestant missionary to a “spiritual mediator” between the East and the West.