Psychology, as an independent modern science, was formally established in the second half of the 19th century, generally after the German scholar Wilhelm Wu

DT) was marked by the founding of the Psychology Laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879. However, the study of human psychological phenomena began very early on by ancient scholars.

Wundt

When the ancient Greek philosopher Plato explained beauty in the chapter "Drinking", he believed that human beauty arises from the memory of the first beautiful form in childhood, as well as the expansion, association, and penetration of this memory. He also believed that this kind of memory was the awakening of an idea inherent in the soul, because the soul forgot the idea of beauty as it attached to the body. Plato's statement has already touched on the depth of human psychological phenomena, and it is an important foundation for the psychology of art. In connection with this, his theory that the artist's creation comes from inspiration and a kind of abnormal ecstasy is also an important contribution to the study of art psychology.

Plato

Aristotle, another ancient Greek philosopher, studied the human psyche even more deeply. Much of his On the Soul deals with the human psyche, and the "edification" (katha) he proposes in his Poetics

SIS) doctrine, which has reached directly to the psychological mystery of the viewer in the experience of the tragedy. This psychological mystery can only be attained through "fear and pity", which is both profound and miraculous, so that generations of scholars have delved into it endlessly

The original meaning of "sis" is also widely discussed. Some say "purify", some say "cleansing", some say "catharsis", and some say "psychological balance", causing some scholars to prefer to use transliteration, such as the so-called "katasis" in Chinese.

The pre-Qin princes of China, who lived at about the same time as these ancient Greek philosophers, also fully studied the psychological phenomena of man. A considerable part of Confucian political ethics is based on the judgment of people's psychological conventions. From this point onwards, later Confucian scholars studied the "heart" and "human heart" more and more carefully.

The best expression of the research results of ancient Chinese psychology is the Book of Soldiers. Almost all of those subtle tactics of war were established through psychological analysis of both the enemy and the enemy. The so-called art of war is, to a large extent, a psychological fighting method. They are admired by the world, proving that the authors of the art of war have repeatedly tried and tested the psychological analysis of both sides of the war, and thus the existence of psychological laws.

Judging from the research of Eastern and Western scholars more than 2,000 years ago, psychological research can be divided into two types: academic research and applied research. This beginning far corresponds to the two major categories of theoretical psychology and applied psychology in modern psychology.

Whether it is academic research or applied research, as long as ancient scholars penetrate the tentacles of research into human psychology, they are all upgrading at the level of ordinary thinking.

Why is it said that touching the human psyche is a kind of thinking upgrade? This is because—

First, all kinds of knowledge in the world can easily become their own logic, but they often cut off the most fundamental primitive logic - human logic. All kinds of knowledge correspond to all kinds of careers, although they can be displayed very grandly, in fact, they are all determined by people's perception, memory, emotions, temperament, character, and will, that is, they are controlled by people's mental activities. Scholars who can see this have at least broken through the external logic of all kinds of learning and penetrated into the most real source of power.

Second, the idea that human mental activity is the most real source of power for all kinds of learning in the world confirms a great fact: there are commonalities in mental activity between people. Regardless of region, occupation, gender, age, nobility, or inferiority, they are all the same in psychological analysis. This is a confirmation of the unified nature of human beings, and its significance is far beyond the scope of psychology.

Thirdly, while confirming the commonality of human psychological activities, it also confirms the stability of this commonality. Nowhere is this more evident than in the art of war, which has been read by both sides from generation to generation, and has been followed by generations even if they have already known the know-how, showing that each other has come to believe that there is a psychological law that is difficult to change. Psychology dares to show the mysteries of the heart to the world, precisely because of the confirmation of a law, that is, the recognition of a kind of human nature.

Fourth, the recognition of the common nature of mental activity of people in different directions and at different times immediately gives the authenticity of all kinds of knowledge that has entered the level of psychoanalysis "for everyone to experience", so that they can be controlled in the profound way. Once human civilization matures, it is easy to embark on a dead end of addiction to drilling, and it is also easy to fall into another dead end because of showing off intelligence. The intervention of psychoanalysis is, at least partially, a mechanism of examination and activation for scholarship.

To summarize the above four items, the theoretical significance of psychological research is the recognition of human nature. This nature directs the human spirit and behavior in a regular way, and is therefore a natural nature.

Respecting and finding the natural nature of the human heart is the starting point of psychology.