Abstract: The self is an important concept in the research of personality psychology and social psychology. Since the rise of cultural psychology in recent decades, many Chinese indigenous psychologists are involved in constructing a Chinese self-theory that fits the characteristics of Chinese society, history, and culture. The existing Chinese self-theories or self-models can be divided into three categories, including individualism/ collectivism oriented Chinese self-theories, differential pattern oriented Chinese self-theories, and protogenetic symbol oriented Chinese self-theories.
The individualism/ collectivism oriented Chinese self-theories inherited from the individualism/collectivism dimension in culturology, in the same line with the self-construal theory that divided the cultural self-construal into the independent self and interdependent self, which emerged from the comparison with the western "mainstream modern civilization." The most representative individualism/ collectivism oriented Chinese self-theories include the “four-part theory of Chinese self” proposed by Yang Kwo-Shu, the “dual-cultural self-theory” suggested by Hong Ying-Yi, and the “composite self-theory” proposed by Lu Luo. These theories are generally nested in the individual orientation and social orientation, and the interdependent self to construct the modern Chinese self that is now expanding into a multicultural convergence theory of the self.
The differential pattern oriented Chinese self-theories developed from Fei Xiao-Tong's differential pattern theory, which described the Chinese traditional social structure. From a psychological perspective, the differential pattern of social form is considered as internalized psychological differential pattern. That is, consistent with the premise of individual-centeredness, other people around the individuals are given different values and meanings and pulled into the concentric circles of self-identity, forming a "self-centered" form with differential order. On this basis, Yang Chung-Fang, Yang Yi-Yin, Zhai Xue-Wei, and so on, made further development. These theories lean in the direction of sociological research and focus on the extrapolation of the Chinese self in the context of ethical structures and social relations.
The protogenetic symbol oriented Chinese self-theories took a different approach and tried to construct a theory or model of the Chinese self by using typical symbols or illustrations with symbolic meanings in traditional Chinese culture. Mandala model of self proposed by Hwang Kwang-Kwo and the Taiji model of self proposed by Wang Feng-Yan et al are representative of this perspective.
The theoretical research of the Chinese self has shown following features. (1) The self theories have grown from nothing and expanded from one-way to diversified; (2) The self theories have developed from imitation to innovation; and (3)The tools to research about the self are gradually diversified, but the theory and empirical studies still need to be further combined. An understanding of the outline of the developmental process of the Chinese self-theories will help to understand the rich connotation of the Chinese self-view and lay a solid foundation for further research on the Chinese self.

Key words: self, the Chinese self, differential pattern, individualism/collectivism, self-model

摘要： 自我是人格心理学和社会心理学的重要研究主题。自文化心理学兴起以来,构建契合中国社会、历史与文化特质的自我理论,成为众多华人心理学者努力的目标。这些探讨华人自我的理论或模型可分为个体-集体、差序格局取向以及源生模型取向三类取向。厘清华人自我理论的发展轮廓和脉络,有助于多方位、立体性理解华人自我观的丰富内涵,为进一步研究华人自我奠定坚实基础。

关键词: 自我, 华人自我, 差序格局, 个人主义-集体主义, 自我模型