Zhongyi (traditional Chinese medicine) psychology, zhongyi cosmetology, and heart (xin) - cultivation in China

This thesis critically explores how zhongyi (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioners apply "zhongyi psychology"—a new sub-discipline using traditional Chinese medical theories to treat physical and mental health issues—to address widespread appearance anxiety and increasing demand for beautification, especially among young urban women in China. More specifically, zhongyi practitioners use ideas and practices from Huangdi Neijing, one of the earliest Chinese medical classics, to balance patients' hearts/xin—the ground of cognition, emotion, virtue, and bodily sensation— and challenge the dominant beauty ideals that favour fair skin, slimness, and youthfulness in China today. Based on six months of ethnographic research with 20 zhongyi practitioners in the city of Shenyang, Northeast China, I demonstrate that zhongyi psychology's xin-centered mode of care enables practitioners to perform holistic labour or xin-centered affective and aesthetic labour. They consider their patient's social and personal contexts to identify the underlying reasons for appearance anxiety, and offer personalized treatments. My research shows that the xin-centered approach to care alleviates patients' appearance anxiety by promoting appreciation for diverse beauty ideals and fostering their self-acceptance and self-esteem.