心理創傷是一種混亂的心靈或行為狀況，主要是因為精神或情感壓力，甚至是肉體遭受傷害所致。當一個突然的大災難擊垮人們時，他們可能會有各種不同的反應，包括恐慌及逃跑，猛烈及魯莽的攻擊，而當無法逃離與不能採取攻擊時，還會有人發生暫時的癱瘓症狀。我對心理創傷的研究集中於蒙古入侵事件，因為它是很特殊的心理創傷混亂經驗。在探討中國的案例時，必須著眼在超乎尋常的心理創傷經驗表達上，就如同余英時教授所談到的，在道學家和儒家傳統文化的包袱下，不允許個人表達出悲傷的情感和回憶私人的心理創傷。因此，心理創傷的聲音通常就變小了，充其量隱秘地轉移到詩當中，用隱喻的語言來表達。因此在閱讀元好間， 文天祥及鄭思南的詩時，會發現這些作品不只在表達心理的傷痛，也是一個處理痛苦情緒的方式。因為中國傳統的詩是一種強調規則與條理化的語言，如果要將心理創傷寫成詩，不僅必須熟悉音律、聲韻，還得清楚覺知到內心深處中，導致混亂的原因，以及無意義的區塊。除了這些有名的詩人外，其他經歷蒙古佔領的生還者，終究克服他們的心理創傷，透過文學的表達找到生存的目的，並且致力於維護中國文化傳統上。

　　　　　Trauma is "the disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from mental or emotion stress or physical injury." When a sudden catastrophe overwhelms people, they may react in various ways, including panic and flight, violent and reckless assaults, or temporary paralysis when fleeing and attacking are both impossible. My case study of trauma focuses on the Mongol invasion because it was an exceptionally traumatic experience of disorder. Looking at an extraordinarily traumatic experience is necessary in the Chinese case because, as Professor Yu Yingshi has remarked, Daoist and Confucian strains of traditional culture discouraged the emotional expression of personal sorrow and the remembering of personal traumas; therefore, voices of trauma were usually muted or, at best, cryptically conveyed in poetry and metaphorical language. Reading Yuan Haowen, Wen Tianxiang, and Zheng Sixiao, I explore how their poetry not only conveyed trauma but also provided a means to process their emotional anguish. Because traditional Chinese poetry is written in highly measured and regulated language, re-composing traumatic experiences into poetry required disciplined mastery and brought order and sense to what was chaotic and senseless. In addition to these famous poets, many other survivors of the Mongol conquest appear to have overcome their trauma and found purpose in life through literary expression and commitment to preserve China's cultural traditions.