Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities “This collection of film studies brings together the creative work of China’s most talented filmmakers as they reflect on contemporary social problems, work out in narratives and images an original analysis of what’s wrong with us (as individuals, as a society, and in cultural settings), and as they propose paths to redemption.” – Judith Farquhar, Max Palevsky Professor Emerita, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities is the first book to reflect on the power of film in representing medical and health discourse in China in both the past and the present, as well as in shaping its future. Drawing on both feature and documentary films from mainland China, the chapters each engage with the field of medicine through the visual arts. They cover themes such as the history of doctors and their concepts of disease and therapies, understanding the patient experience of illness and death, and establishing empathy and compassion in medical practice, as well as the HIV/AIDs epidemic during the 1980s and 1990s and changing attitudes towards disability. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, the contributors therefore provide different perspectives from the fields of history, psychiatry, film studies, anthropology, linguistics, public health and occupational therapy as they relate to China and people who identify as Chinese. Their combined approaches are united by a passion for improving the cross-cultural understanding of the body and ultimately healthcare itself. A key resource for educators in the Medical Humanities, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Chinese Studies and Film Studies as well as global health, medical anthropology and medical history. Vivienne Lo is Senior Lecturer and the convenor of the UCL China Centre for Health and Humanity, UK. Vivienne’s core research concerns the social and cultural origins of acupuncture, therapeutic exercise, and food and medicine. Chris Berry is Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London, UK. He researches Chinese-language cinemas and other Chinese-language screen-based media. Guo Liping is Professor of English and Vice Dean in the School of Health Humanities, Peking University, China. Her research interests include narrative medicine and medical humanities education. Routledge Advances in Asia-Pacific Studies Health Transitions and the Double Disease Burden in Asia and the Pacific Histories of Responses to Non-Communicable and Communicable Diseases Edited by Milton J. Lewis and Kerrie L. MacPherson Film Censorship in the Asia-Pacific Region Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia Compared Saw Tiong Guan Asian and Pacific Cities Development Patterns Edited by Ian Shirley and Carol Neill Eurasia’s Regional Powers Compared – China, India, Russia Edited by Shinichiro Tabata Arts and Cultural Leadership in Asia Edited by Jo Caust Asian Worlds in Latin America Stefania Paladini Social Work and Sustainability in Asia Facing the Challenges of Global Environmental Changes Edited by Alice M. L. Chong and Iris Chi Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities Edited by Vivienne Lo, Chris Berry and Guo Liping For the full list of titles visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Advances-in- Asia-Pacific-Studies/book-series/SE0453 Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities Edited by Vivienne Lo, Chris Berry and Guo Liping First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Vivienne Lo, Chris Berry and Guo Liping; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Vivienne Lo, Chris Berry and Guo Liping to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lo, Vivienne, editor. | Berry, Chris, 1959 April 28– editor. | Guo, Liping, 1969– editor. Title: Film and the Chinese medical humanities / edited by Vivienne Lo, Chris Berry and Guo Liping. Identifiers: LCCN 2019028228 (print) | LCCN 2019028229 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138580299 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429507465 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429017407 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9780429017384 (mobi) | ISBN 9780429017391 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Medicine in motion pictures. | Public health in motion pictures. | Public health—China. Classification: LCC PN1995.9.M44 F55 2020 (print) | LCC PN1995.9.M44 (ebook) | DDC 791.43/653—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028228 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028229 ISBN: 978-1-138-58029-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-50746-5 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of figures viii List of contributors x Introduction 1 VIVIENNE LO, CHRIS BERRY AND GUO LIPING PART 1 Cross-cultural histories of the body and its care 9 1 Dead or alive? martial arts and the forensic gaze 11 VIVIENNE LO 2 How to be a good Maoist doctor: An Ode to the Silver Needle under a Shadowless Lamp (1974) 35 LEON ANTONIO ROCHA 3 Self-care, Yangsheng, and mutual aid in Zhang Yang’s Shower (1999) 54 MICHAEL J. CLARK 4 Sentiments like water: unsettling pathologies of homosexual and sadomasochistic desire 66 DEREK HIRD PART 2 Film and the public sphere 81 5 The fever with no name: genre-blending responses to the HIV-tainted blood scandal in 1990s China 83 MARTA HANSON vi Contents 6 Fortune Teller: the visible and the invisible 107 LILI LAI 7 Longing for the Rain: journeys into the dislocated female body of urban China 115 VIVIENNE LO AND NASHUYUAN SERENITY WANG WITH CHEN JIAHE, GE YUNJIAO, LI WEIJIA, LIU HANWEN, GEORGE YAO, YANG QIHUA, YANG XINGYUE, YANG YI, ZHOU DANGWEI PART 3 Improving the education and training of health professionals 133 8 The gigantic black citadel: Design of Death and medical humanities pedagogy in China 135 GUO LIPING 9 Blind Massage: sense and sensuality 146 CHRIS BERRY 10 Cinemeducation and disability: an undergraduate special study module for medical students in China 157 DANIEL VUILLERMIN PART 4 Transforming self-health care in the digital age 175 11 Raising awareness about anti-microbial resistance: a nationwide video and arts competition for Chinese university students using social media 177 THERESE HESKETH, ZHOU XUDONG AND WANG XIAOMIN 12 Queer Comrades: digital video documentary and LGBTQ health activism in China 188 HONGWEI BAO 13 Recovering from mental illness and suicidal behaviour in a culturally diverse context: the use of digital storytelling in cross-cultural medical humanities and mental health 205 ERMINIA COLUCCI AND SUSAN MCDONOUGH Contents vii 14 Food-related Yangsheng short videos among the retired population in Shanghai 226 XINYUAN WANG AND VIVIENNE LO Glossary of Chinese Films 242 Index 244 Figures 1.1 Donnie Yen as Liu Jinxi in Wuxia (2011) 14 1.2 (a) and (b) Tang Long’s new identity 15 1.3 Xu Baijiu examining the corpse of one of the villains 18 1.4 The Canon of Eighty-One Problems – originally edited by Li Jiong 1269 21 1.5 Tansūqnāma-i Īlkhān dar funūn-i ʿulūm-i Khatā’ī compiled by Rashid al Din 1313 22 1.6 Xiyuan lu xiangyi, commentary by Xu Lian (1787–1862) 24 1.7 (a) and (b) Medicine Bottles and the Forensic Gaze. Depp and Takeshi get to the bottom of things . 29 2.1 A medium close-up that establishes the heroine of Silver Needle, Dr Li Zhihua 40 2.2 and 2.3 Dr Li gazes at a propaganda poster of Norman Bethune. We hear Dr Li’s thoughts in a voice-over; she quotes directly from Mao 42 2.4 Dr Li sacrifices herself through self-experimentation 45 2.5 Dr Li, supported by other junior doctors, delivers a long speech against Dr Luo, in the climactic conflict between the two that resembles a ‘struggle session’ 46 2.6 A long lateral tracking shot as Dr Li and Dr Luo walk in front of ‘Big Character Posters’ 47 2.7 and 2.8 Old Yang holds the eponymous ‘silver needle’ and thanks Chairman Mao; Dr Li looks into the camera 49 7.1 The emptiness of Fang Lei’s mood merges with the cityscape 116 7.2 Fang Lei, now robed in black, watches her spectral lover riding towards her like a romantic hero dressed in white 118 7.3 Driving with Fang Lei and her friend to the fortune teller 125 11.1 King Bac: Fudan University 184 11.2 Hand Painting: Nanjing Medical University 184 11.3 Paperman History: Kunming Medical University 185 12.1 Queer Comrades talk show hosts, Xiaogang, Eva and Stijn, 2009 196 13.1 Postcard for the final DVD 211 13.2 Kim’s fish-gifts 215 Figures ix 13.3 Filmmaker and Kim editing her digital story 216 14.1 Screenshot of recipe for tonic soup 232 14.2 Screenshot of one-minute short video on the benefits ofsiwu decoction 233 14.3 Screenshot of short video illustrating the preparation of siwu decoction 233 14.4 Screenshot of a one-and-half-minute long video clip about the prohibition against eating onion and honey 235 14.5 Screenshot of the WeChat conversation log between Ms Zhu and her friend who sent her the short videos of food prohibitions.