Chinese Medical Concepts in Urban China : Change and Persistence

Is Chinese medicine relevant in modern urban China? As the political system changed dramatically during the last century, do these changes influence people’s estimation of illnesses? Combining textual analysis and empirical data, the author demonstrates that different social groups of urban dwellers share different opinions on Chinese medicine.

Popular assertions proclaim a tradition of Chinese medicine spanning several thousand years. But is this really important for today’s China? Is Chinese medicine relevant for the modern, cosmopolitan urban Chinese today? And, as the political system has changed dramatically during the last century, do these changes influence people’s estimation of illnesses? Combining both a quintessential analysis of the relationship between emotions and health in different texts on Chinese medicine and empirical data consisting of quantitative and qualitative components, the author demonstrates that different social groups of urban dwellers share different opinions on Chinese medicine and its illness concepts, particularly those concepts commonly referred to as Seven Emotions. Education, age and gender are relevant categories for the evaluation of Chinese medicine, especially considering emotions such as stress or depression.