Undercover investigations by a leading Chinese media outlet are underscoring the need to be vigilant as to some of the claims made by those said to be practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Beware of “just going for a massage”.
On the face of it, many massage or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) parlours appear to have great credentials. Plaques and pennants may adorn their interiors. But the tale of one highly-respected TCM practitioner in Lianyungang of our very own Jiangsu Province is a cautionary one.
Yu Xingbing was once rated as an “intangible cultural heritage inheritor” by Lianyungang City. Today he operates his “9 Generations of Single Line Meridian” TCM outlet to teach apprentices and heal the public, claiming that he can cure even terminal illnesses. Yu has also asserted in his live broadcasts that various afflictions can be cured by acupressure alone, saying, “The effect is faster than taking medicine”.
He is typical of the so-called “miracle doctors” who claim to be able to “cure cancer with one needle”, luring in customers to buy both online and offline courses costing tens of thousands of renminbi.
In mid-August 2024, Shanghai-based media outlet The Paper came to Yu’s practice in Guannan County of Lianyungang, under the pretext of being a potential customer. The reporter heard from Yu that his therapy, combined with TCM for internal use, can regulate uremia, infertility and other diseases.
Bold claims, but it is also public record that Yu himself has not obtained a medical practitioner certificate.
With the smell of cigarette smoke and sweat hanging in the air, Yu’s practice is not large, but its walls are covered by silk banners supposedly from satisfied patients. Honorary plaques such as “Famous Chinese Medicine Teacher of Chinese Medicine Meridian Therapy” and “Famous Chinese Doctor” hang from the ceiling opposite the door.
Public record has it that Yu is the fifth-generation inheritor of meridian therapy. Yu told the reporter in confidence that spending ¥30,000 to become one of his disciples is a sure win. “You don’t need a medical qualification; just a business license plus my inheritance certificate, which is recognised everywhere in the country”, he said.
Yu repeatedly emphasised that the disciple inheritance certificate issued by him is certified and protected by the State, claiming it is more valuable than other Chinese massage certificates on the market. “Whoever doesn’t learn is stupid. Spending money is buying the second half of your life”, he said.
Although Yu always claims that he can treat diseases with acupressure alone, when pressed he revealed that it is also actually necessary to take Chinese medicine orally. His specially prepared concoctions can cost an additional ¥3,000-4,000 per month.
Yu pointed to a banner on the wall. “We helped this couple give birth to a boy before”, he said. “It’s very simple to treat infertility.”
At a cost. The promise of having a child within 2 years runs to ¥50,000.
The whole practice is also skating on thin ice from a legal perspective. The Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People’s Republic of China implemented in 2011 stipulates that “the protection of traditional medicine, traditional arts and crafts, etc., shall be in accordance with other laws and administrative regulations unless otherwise provided”.
Liu Xin, a professor at the Institute of Evidential Science at the China University of Political Science & Law, pointed out that TCM must meet that stipulated by the “Physician Law” and other regulations. Hence, TCM inheritors of intangible cultural heritage should obtain the corresponding license.
Dean of the Mental Health Centre affiliated to the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiaotong University Zhao Min, and director of the Tumor Radiotherapy Diagnosis & Treatment Centre of the Shanghai Armed Police Corps Hospital Pan Mianshun, both spoke to The Paper. Each said that it is impossible for acupressure to cure various diseases or treat infertility.
Pan added the claim that opening up the body’s “qi” and its meridians can cure cancer is pseudoscience and not to be trusted.
