Eckhart Tolle-style? No — Zhang Defen's Four-Book Body-Mind-Spirit Series (Meeting the Unknown Self, Meeting the Self Who Gets What They Want, Living Out a Brand-New Self, Re-Encountering the Unknown Self)
Zhang DefenHunan Literature and Art Publishing House2012
No rating yet- Series
- Zhang Defen's Body-Mind-Spirit Quartet refers to four representative works by the Chinese-language body-mind-spirit author Zhang Defen, written in the form of "personal-growth novels" and released by Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House in boxed sets and revised omnibus editions. Each book has its own emphasis yet dovetails with the others, forming a path from "seeing yourself" to "creating yourself." Meeting the Unknown Self (first published in 2007) is the starting point of this path. The heroine, Ruoling, graduated from a prestigious university and holds a respectable job, yet under the dual pressure of marriage and workplace she keeps asking, "Why am I unhappy?" One winter night, she meets a wise old man in the mountains; through a series of dialogues she sorts through the layered wrappings of identity, roles, emotions, and thoughts, learns to observe the body, accept emotions, and examine beliefs, and finally reconnects with her true self. The book advances through story, turning propositions such as "Who am I?" and "Dear, there is no one else outside you" into practicable exercises. Meeting the Self Who Gets What They Want is called by the author the "rebirth and creation" volume. Through an allegorical story it tells of the protagonist Anan's journey to seek the secret of "getting what you want": first clarify what you truly want, then clear away old beliefs entrenched in the subconscious, and finally learn to wait and let go. The book includes a "30-Day Plan for Getting What You Want" and a schedule. Living Out a Brand-New Self is the "deep healing" volume. The protagonists Xingxiong and Xiangdong each fall into life's predicaments; through an experiment in raising consciousness they pass in turn through the three stages of "awakening—healing—creating": first learning to be an observer, then looking back at old wounds from childhood and the family of origin, and finally reclaiming the power projected outward. The book introduces practices such as thought turnaround, emotional healing, family constellation, and Huangting Zen. Re-Encountering the Unknown Self: Loving the Imperfections in Life leans toward prose essays, discussing how to live with one's shadow, flaws, and imperfections and to take responsibility for one's own happiness. The four books are plain in language and strong in story, suitable as an introductory reader for self-understanding and emotional management; expressions such as "energy" and "the universe" belong to the author's personal spiritual framework, which readers may take or leave as they see fit.
- ISBN
- 9787540457570
Tags
Psychology Applied Psychology Publishing HouseHeroineInner GrowthPsychological MotivationEmotional HealingSelf-AwarenessBody Mind SpiritTetralogyStorytellingSummary
If you are at a stage where you "can't say exactly what's wrong, but you're just unhappy," this series is probably the most easily absorbed entry-level reading in the Chinese-speaking world. Zhang Defen does not write growth as a sermon; instead she first creates characters: Ruoling, Xingxiong and Xiangdong in Living Out a Brand-New Self, and Anan in Meeting the Self Who Gets What They Want. Readers follow them into predicaments, encounter teachers, and complete exercises—in effect "experiencing" the principles first, then looking back at their own lives, which makes resistance much lower. The division of labor among the four is also clear: Meeting the Unknown Self addresses "who am I, why am I unhappy"; Living Out a Brand-New Self deals with old wounds and emotions; Meeting the Self Who Gets What They Want discusses resetting goals and beliefs; and Re-Encountering the Unknown Self settles into daily life, learning to live with an imperfect self. Read in this order, the thread runs through. It need not be treated as a psychology textbook. "Energy vibration" and "placing orders with the universe" are the author's personal ways of speaking; what is truly usable are those very concrete actions: talking with the body, recording emotions, doing thought-turnaround work, writing a 30-day practice chart. Picking these up is more worthwhile than agonizing over terminology. For twenty years it has stayed on bestseller lists, and it is precisely this "readability" that has kept it there.Editor's review
如果你正处在「说不清哪里不对，但就是不快乐」的阶段，这套书大概是中文世界里最容易被读进去的一类入口书。张德芬没有把成长写成训诫，而是先造一个人物：若菱、《活出全新的自己》里的幸雄和向东、《遇见心想事成的自己》里的阿南。读者跟着他们掉进困境、撞见老师、做完练习，等于把道理先「经历」了一遍，再回头看自己的日子，抵触感会小很多。 四部的分工也清楚：《遇见未知的自己》解决「我是谁、我为什么不快乐」，《活出全新的自己》处理旧伤与情绪，《遇见心想事成的自己》谈目标与信念的重设，《重遇未知的自己》则落到日常，学会和不完美的自己同住。按这个顺序读，脉络是通的。 它不必被当成心理学教材。书中的「能量振动」「向宇宙下订单」是作者个人的表述方式，真正可用的部分，是那些很具体的动作：与身体对话、记录情绪、做转念作业、写30天实践表。把这些捡起来，比纠结术语划算。二十年来它一直摆在畅销榜上，靠的也正是这份「读得下去」。Who it's for
A good fit for
- 总觉得自己不快乐、却说不清原因的城市职场人
- 刚开始接触身心灵、个人成长类读物、希望先读故事再读理论的读者
- 容易情绪内耗、习惯自我批判，想学习觉察与接纳的人
- 心理咨询、教练、教师等希望补充通俗自助读物的从业者
Not a good fit for
- 期待严格实证心理学、循证疗法或学术研究的读者
- 反感「能量」「宇宙」「吸引力法则」等表述、难以接受灵修框架的人
- 正处在重度抑郁、焦虑或创伤急性期，需要专业医疗介入的读者
Reading tips
- 建议按《遇见未知的自己》→《活出全新的自己》→《遇见心想事成的自己》→《重遇未知的自己》的顺序读，脉络最顺。
- 每读完一章先停一停，把书里的练习（觉察身体、记录情绪、转念作业）当天做一遍，比连读四本更有用。
- 把「能量」「宇宙」当作作者的语言而非结论，只取可操作的部分：观照、接纳、放下、重设信念。
- 套装版本较多，含修订版与增补篇目；按 ISBN 确认你所购版本，避免重复购买同一部书。
About the publisher
Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1985Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.
FAQ
「四部曲」和常说的「身心灵三部曲」是一回事吗？
不完全相同。三部曲通常指《遇见未知的自己》《遇见心想事成的自己》《活出全新的自己》；「四部曲」再加上《重遇未知的自己：爱上生命中的不完美》。市面套装常把四本合印，有的还并入《舍得让你爱的人受苦》，购买时以 ISBN 和书目为准。没有心理学基础，能读得懂吗？
可以。四本书都以故事或随笔写成，术语很少，作者会在情节里解释概念。真正的门槛不在理解，而在是否愿意照着练习去做。书中「心想事成」「向宇宙下订单」靠谱吗？
这属于作者的个人灵修框架，并非心理学共识。其中较站得住脚的部分是：明确目标、清理限制性信念、调节情绪状态、行动后学会放下；「宇宙回应频率」之类的说法宜当作比喻。这套书适合送给情绪低落的朋友吗？
如果是日常压力、自我怀疑，送书是温和的陪伴。但若对方已出现持续失眠、兴趣丧失、自伤念头等情况，应优先建议寻求精神科或心理咨询的专业帮助，书不能替代治疗。四本必须全买吗？可以先读一本吗？
可以。只想入门，先读《遇见未知的自己》一本即可；如果读完想继续做情绪与旧伤层面的功课，再补《活出全新的自己》。This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Zhang Defen Author · Chinese · 1962Zhang Defen, born in Taiwan in November 1962, is a well-known Chinese-language author in the field of spiritual growth. She graduated from the Department of Business Administration at National Taiwan University and later earned an MBA from UCLA in the United States. Her academic and professional background gives her writing a perspective that combines rationality with practical experience. Her 2007 book Meeting the Unknown Self became a bestselling classic, and she is also known for works such as Meeting the Self Who Gets What They Want and Living Out a Brand-New Self. Her books explore inner growth and self-understanding through accessible storytelling and have influenced a wide readership. In 2015 she founded Zhang Defen Space to continue promoting ideas of spiritual growth. It should be noted that the library's holdings on this author are limited, with only one work recorded and categorized under "exams," which differs from common understanding; the representative work listed, Dynamic Web Page Design (2nd Edition), differs from the spiritual-growth writing direction described above, and public information is limited, so further elaboration based on the library records is not possible at this time.