3. Hermann Hesse and the Concept of Yin and Yang (1)

How Hermann Hesse's writing echoes the yin-yang idea of opposites that complete each other, seen through a Korean saju lens.

Did you know that the core philosophy behind Hermann Hesse's literature is the concept of yin and yang?

With an Indologist grandfather and missionary parents in India, Hesse grew up surrounded by Eastern scriptures and art.

It was no coincidence that he became deeply fascinated by Eastern philosophies like the I Ching, Buddhism, and Taoism.

After suffering from severe depression during World War I, Hesse received psychotherapy from J.B. Lang, a student of Carl Jung, and became deeply absorbed in Jung's analytical psychology.

Carl Jung was a Western scholar who deeply studied the I Ching and actively used it in psychotherapy. He even wrote the preface for its German translation by his friend, Richard Wilhelm.

The decisive moment for Hesse's deep dive into the I Ching was discovering this exact translation by Richard Wilhelm.

The core question Hesse explored throughout his literary life was how to integrate the extremes within ourselves, like good and evil, reason and instinct, mind and body.

While traditional Western thought tried to strictly separate these opposites and suppress one side, Hesse found the answer in yin and yang. The I Ching offered a solution to his lifelong dilemma of uniting two conflicting inner worlds.

While traditional Western thought tried to strictly separate these opposites and suppress one side, Hesse found the answer in yin and yang. The I Ching offered a solution to his lifelong dilemma of uniting two conflicting inner worlds.

Growing up in a strict world that split good and evil, Hesse felt trapped, and found the answer in the balance of yin and yang. This idea appears in his famous books, including the god Abraxas in Demian and the story of Siddhartha. Hesse studied Eastern philosophies all his life, and they became the heart of his entire world.

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4. Hermann Hesse and the Concept of Yin and Yang (2)