the body, health and healing
This chapter discusses the interpretations of illness, health, and body practices in traditional Chinese culture, and their political implications in modern China. It begins with a discussion of the spiritual and nationalist dimensions of Chinese martial arts and qigong, as well as Daoist practices of longevity and immortality. It then considers religious and cosmological explanatory models for illness, such as demonic possession, karmic retribution, and yin-yang imbalances. Finally, it discusses the debates caused by the difficulties and perhaps inherent impossibility of fully removing the religious element from practices of the body such as Chinese medicine and qigong.
Article presented
A Movie Scene from Fearless (2006)
Youtube clip - A fight scene from Fearless (2006)
This is one of the fight scenes in the movie Fearless (大俠霍元甲) filmed in 2006, starring the famous actor Jet Li (李連杰). In a dramatic way, Fearless tells the story of a historical figure Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲; played by Li) in the restless time of late Qing dynasty, when China had been facing both military and political challenges from the foreign powers. The chivalrous Huo, mastering the unique martial arts of the Distracting Trace Style (迷蹤拳), had a dream of reviving the country which had been devoured by the Western powers since the 1850s. He believed that China could retrieve the old glorious past only if the people learn to strengthen their bodies, and one of the means of achieving such is practicing Chinese Kung Fu (功夫). Heading for his national dream, Huo built an alliance namely the Jingwumen (精武門) that blended in different styles and sects of martial arts.
In the above clip, Huo walks into the ring of fight, facing his rival Hercules O'Brien (played by Nathan Jones), who is far more taller and muscular than Huo. However, Huo wins the fight by his fine and exquisite martial skills, and more importantly, shows his mercy by saving the life of his adversary, giving a spiritual significance to the contest.
The death of Huo Yuanjia has been a myth, and the above scene illustrates one of the best known versions of such. In a contest, Huo representing the honor and dignity of China, faced against the fierce karate fighter Anno Tanaka of Japan. After the first round weapon fight which ended with a draw, Huo drank a cup of tea poisoned with arsenic by the Japanese consul; in a while he vomited blood excruciatingly, knowing that his life would soon be gone anyway. Weakened and vision blurred, Huo appeared to be no match for Tanaka, but he insisted on finishing the combat in his last minutes. When Tanaka was launching the last strike, Huo saw an opening to which he gave the fatal attack on his Japanese adversary; but in a show of mercy, delivered it without any force, and then collapsed to his own death. Tanaka saluting to his nobility and supreme skills, declared Huo the winner. |
Huo Yuanjia (1869-1910) is actually a real historical figure.
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Chinese are not "the sick men of east asia (東亞病夫)"
In Fearless, we can see sentiments of Chinese nationalism being subtly linked to the Body which encompasses not only martial arts as the weapon against invasion, but virtuosity that spiritually conquers enemies. Indeed, this patriotic theme is not a brand new setting appeared only in the recent films. Back in the 1970s, a series of Bruce Lee film produced in Hong Kong had also entrenched the belief of strengthening the nation by means of mastering Chinese Kung Fu.
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In a classic scene of Fist of Fury (精武門; 1972), Bruce Lee playing the role of Huo Yuanjia's disciple, namely Chen Zhen (陳真), challenged a Japanese School. Having defeated tens of his adversaries, he coerced two of the vanquished into swallowing pieces of paper, on which the insulting Chinese characters "The Sick Man of East Asia (東亞病夫)" had been written, and knowingly, "Sick Man" had been the depiction of the weakened race of Chinese in the late imperial period.
Youtube clip - A classic scene from Fist of Fury (1972)
The above fight scene from Fist of Fury is so influential that Hong Kong kung fu movies, even now, still very often follow its setting and play. In a quite exaggerating fight scene in Ip Man (2008), the Master of Wing Chun Ip Man (played by Donnie Yen) challenged ten Japanese karate fighters in a round, where he shows his furious face and defeats his rivalries by a pair of angry fists. In kung fu movies, it is often the Japanese to be beaten up, and it is often the Chinese hero to win.
Youtube clip - "I want to beat ten in a round" from Ip Man (2008)
kristofer schipper - Chinese culture is not a threat
The Body of Chinese, in some way, embodies Chinese nationalism that advocates the need of a strong body (強身 qiangshen) and self-strengthening (自強 ziqiang). And now, China enters the international relationship arena, finding its way to maintain a strong and prosperous nation. Other countries may see China as a threat to world peace and global economy -- stirring up conflicts in Asia, exporting cheap goods to the West, and forming allies with the countries in the Middle East. From the above, we see the rise of nationalism in modern history which manipulates Chinese tradition to fuel up some sort of nationalistic emotions. But is China really a threat? Kristofer Schipper does not think in this way. He predicts the future of China from an interesting macro-historical perspective. Please check his clip "Chinese Culture is not a Threat" below.
Kristofer Schipper - Chinese Culture is not a Threat
the body as the conduit of the past
The advocacy of strengthening the Body to defend the country (強身救國) does not base only on the superfluous physical fitness, but traditional wisdom from the past as well. For instance, the Kung Fu (功夫) demonstrated by Jet Li and Bruce Lee in the Youtube clips above, has been claimed as the Distracting Trace Style (迷蹤拳) developed more than eight hundred years ago in Northern Song dynasty, being well known of its fickle footwork. Standing against enemies, it is not just fist but the ancestral intelligence of Body practices that overpowers the antagonists. Besides Kung Fu, the Qigong phenomenon from the 1980s to 1990s manifested the vision of Chinese people building a strong nation by making use of gems of the tradition which deeply enrooted in religions.
Falungong 法輪功
Falungong (法輪功), which some may call it as a millenarian movement, is an apt example showing how Body practices in the modern days are linked to the traditions. Being a Qigong (氣功) sect, its symbol includes both Buddhist Swastika (卍) and Daosit Taiji (太極). Li Hongzhi, the inventor of Falungong, claims that his style not only heals the Body of practitioners, but transcends one's metaphysical universe to the upper level.
Being forbade by the Chinese government in the late 1990s, the sect has turned against the state and is now actively involved in anti-communist campaigns in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Falungong members has been condemning the Party's brutality in persecuting their peers in mainland, and claims that the heavily corrupted establishment will soon collapse. Recently in Hong Kong, the group has been holding mass parades that protest against C.Y. Leung (梁振英), the chief executive of HKSAR government. |
The Falungong symbol
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And yet, Falungong has been introduced to westerners as a Chinese cultivation practice that improves health and mind. It claims that the practice can simultaneously cultivate the mind and body, and hence, improve your immunity naturally. In the clip below, the practitioners mention: "And I came to the practice for spiritual reason, but I immediately stop getting sick"; "I could have very little sleep and I will feel awaken"; "Falundafa just provided me with an inner peace that I just feel like whatever happens around me, I'm fine."
Youtube clip - An introduction to Falungong (uploaded 2013 by Falun info)
secularizing the body
A qigong magazine in 1993
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Although some of the qigong sects, like Falungong, proclaimed their authenticity in the their ways of practicing qigong, which consisted of a plethora of Chinese religious symbols, some might go scientific instead. Discourses on qigong in the beginning of 1990s had focused on the healing effects of the practice. Magazines in the popular milieu advocated that qigong should be known as a kind of medical science which should surpass that of the West. Some from the officialdom supported the trend of analyzing qigong in a scientific way, so that China could have its own style of health care technologies.
Along with this, people began examining the properties of Chinese herbal medicines by segregating chemical components from the herbs, and started making pills that were claimed to have functions equivalent to taking herbs. These research tendencies in both Chinese herbal medicines and qigong apparently dismissed the religious roots of the traditions, replacing them by scientific theories. |
Qigong Science in the West
The West has taken up the notion of Chinese qigong as "science".The "Supreme Science Qigong Center" in the U.S. is a good example (watch the youtube clip below), in which you can find western people describing qigong with scientific terms, such as "electromagnet", "energy", "electricity", and "vibrating".If you browse their website, you can find "products" of DVDs and books that teach you the way of food healing and qigong. And the website describes its qigong technique as a practice that "successfully helped veterans and drug addicted patients find a better natural high."
Screenshots - Jeff Primackof Supreme Science Qigong Center demonstrates qigong
Youtube clip: Promotion of Supreme Science Qigong Center in the U.S. (uploaded 2010)
Supreme Science Qigong Center, website link: http://qirevolution.com/
And Qigong still heals
And so, qigong had once been treated as a secular gymnastic practice, in contemporary China, to be distinguished from traditions of Daosit alchemist and Buddhist meditation. However, this did not stop charismatic qigong masters from healing seriously diseased patients. The Youtube clip below shows how a Taiwan qigong group cures a paralysed old man. The woman seems to have transmitted energies to the old patient without any physical contact. And the sick man can eventually walk and move again.
Youtube clip: A Taiwan qigong group cures an old man paralysed by his illness
healing and illness
Diagram - the correlation of organs with the five elements
What causes illness in the body of Chinese? Is it virus, bacteria, or some kind of pathogen? Indeed, these are western concepts. Chinese tradition has an entirely different mindset in treating one's body. Illness can be caused by ghost, god, bad karma, demons, bad fengshui, and yin-yang imbalance. The body represents a small universe of Chinese cosmology, where qi has to be balanced and the five elements have to be arranged in order. The five elements are linked with five organs, heart (fire), liver (wood), spleen (earth), lungs (metal), kidneys (water). Health problems are mostly related to the imbalance of energies in the body, and in order to restore the balance, you can take herbs, get acupuncture, or practice qigong.
In 2006, BBC released a series of documentary of "alternative therapies" which inspired a round of discussion on acupuncture in Britain. It's presenter Kathy Sykes, a physicist and professor of science, introduced the programme by saying: "In a groundbreaking experiment I will discover something truly astonishing about acupuncture." And she summarized the experiment results: "Acupuncture was having a real effect on the brain and it was doing something completely unexpected." In the West, Chinese medicine has been seen as an alternative way of therapy that can work on where conventional medicine does not work. However, the concepts of "qi", "five elements", "yin and yang" may be difficult for westerns to accept. The innate differences between the body of Chinese and science of the west are the root of controversies, and the debate will likely continue, not only on Chinese medicine, but also on other health practices of Chinese.
Youtube clip - BBC Documentary: The Science of Acupuncture (2006) - presented by Kathy Sykes