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Journalling in the Currents of Yin and Yang: Adrift in the Chinese Academic Job Market

ABSTRACT Stress in academia comes in many forms, including, among other things, rejection. Of the many types of rejection that we face most regularly, job rejection is one of the most devastating. Over time, I have turned to journalling to help persevere in the face of the fear and frustration of failure. This self-preservation strategy draws upon the theory of Yijing (The Classic of Changes), an old Chinese philosophy that explains the laws of interactions between individuals and the universe—specifically, when and how to respond to opportunities and failures in the real world. To test how well Yijing has helped me to cope with career setbacks, this article draws on the core values of the philosophy to examine the trajectory of my personal growth from 2018 to 2020. The article also shows how autoethnography and journalling have helped me to navigate my way out of my career crisis. Three questions emerged from my personal experience: (1) How is Yijing able to help me reflect upon the ups and downs of an academic career? (2) How can self-reflection through journalling orient us through the precarious stages of our academic life? (3) In what ways might the knowledge of Yijing expand our intellectual and personal perspectives?