By Daisy Xiaohui Yang Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts And
DUSK WITHOUT SUNSET: ACTIVELY AGING IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE by Daisy Xiaohui Yang B.A., Wuhan Univerity, China 1998 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Daisy Xiaohui Yang It was defended on [April 21, 2006] and approved by Nicole Constable, Professor, Department of Anthropology Akiko Hashimoto, Professor, Department of Sociology Carol McAllister, Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences Dissertation Advisor: Joseph Alter, Professor, Department of Anthropology ii Copyright © by Daisy Xiaohui Yang 2006 iii DUSK WITHOUT SUNSET: ACTIVELY AGING IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE Daisy Xiaohui Yang, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2006 Drawing on theoretical perspectives in critical medical anthropology, this dissertation focuses on the intersection between Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), aging and identity in urban China. It gives special attention to elderly people’s embodied agency in assimilating, challenging, and resisting political and social discourses about getting old. In most general terms my argument is that embodied agency is expressed by participating in daily health regimens referred to as yangsheng. With its origins in ancient Chinese medical texts and health practices, but also having incorporated many modern elements, yangsheng may be understood as a system of beliefs and practices designed for self-health cultivation. In light of major anthropological theories that provide an understanding of biopower, somatization and agency my argument is two fold. First, the state discourse on healthy aging, prompted by social, economic and demographic changes, has had a tremendous effect on how the elderly think and act with reference to their physical and mental health.
[Show full text]