Chinese Traditional Culture and College Students’ Mental Health Education: Goals, Content, and Actions

Abstract

Traditional Chinese culture is a rich source of resources for mental health education. At its core, it emphasises the achievement of physical and mental harmony through the principle of GeWu ZhiZhi, the unity of knowledge and action through ChengYi ZhengXin, and, through KeJi XiuShen, the coordinated development of the relationship with one’s inner self and with the external world.
These concepts represent key components of mental health education, including an introspective view of the self, a life-long pursuit of self-improvement, an emphasis on harmony and solidarity in interpersonal relations, a dialectical harmony in thought, and a value system integrating family and nation. This paper proposes practical approaches for integrating traditional Chinese culture into mental health education for college students. These include compiling a database of mental health education resources based on traditional Chinese culture and incorporating this culture into student activities, the campus environment, and a new model of group counselling.