Calligraphy and acupuncture are her specialties
Print Edition
THERE is an urban myth surrounding He Jingwei, an acupuncture doctor at the Xinzhuang Community Health Service Center. If you don’t register for an appointment before 5am, you don’t have a ghost of a chance of seeing her on any given day.
That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but there is no doubt that He is sought after. She breaks the mold of the common stereotype of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners as old men with white hair and long bonds.
He is in her 30s, with a stylish short bob and designer eyeglasses.
But it is not her appearance that makes her so popular with patients. Her skills at acupuncture treatment are known far and wide for their fast curative effects and painless needle application.
The Shanghai Commission of Health and Family Planning has named her as a “leading talent” in traditional Chinese medicine.
“The secret of traditional medicine is to treat a disease as part of an integrated problem,” she said. “When you solve the wider problem, you eradicate the disease.”
For example, many of He’s patients suffer cervical or lumbar problems. Apart from treating them with acupuncture, she prescribes herbal medicines and guidelines on what foods to eat.
“In ancient times, traditional Chinese medicine was not divided into different categories,” she said. “It really should be treated as a philosophy that requires a holistic approach to the greater picture.”
He is considered a patient and warm-hearted doctor. She had formed close bonds with many of her patients.
She was born and raised in Beijing but taught herself the Shanghai dialect in order to communicate better with older patients who are not always good at expressing themselves in Mandarin.
“A language barrier creates distance between doctor and patient,” she said. “And distance serves no good in treatment.”
He graduated from the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. Traditional medicine was not her first choice when considering a career. In high school, her primary interest was bioscience. At that time, inspired perhaps by the movie “Jurassic Park,” she dreamed of cloning dinosaurs by extracting DNA from fossils.
However, her dream of attending the School of Life Sciences at Peking University was dashed by insufficient grades in physics on the college entrance exam. She was still permitted to enroll at Peking University, but she had to choose a different major.
At that point, despite the prestige of Peking University, He decided instead to attend Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. She later earned a master’s degree at the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
In a sense, she was following in the footsteps of her father, who was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor with the People’s Liberation Army.
In fact, He’s family upbringing was steeped in traditional Chinese culture as a whole. She learned calligraphy as a child and still practices it today.
Her parents always encouraged her to strive for the best of her ability, He said. The walls of their family home were adorned with examples of her calligraphy.
“Traditional medicine and calligraphy became my lifelong pursuits,” she said. “I’ll never retire from either of them.”
He said she enjoys a relaxing lifestyle when not at work. She doesn’t stick to what many would call a strictly “healthy” diet, admitting that she is a foodie who likes to eat a wide variety of things. She appreciates taste more than the function of food.
“I don’t despite fat. People need fat,” she said. “There are fat soluble vitamins that are essential to the human body.”
Japanese cuisine is one of her favorites. Sashimi is very “scientific” from the perspective of traditional medicine, she said.
“Exquisite restaurants serve sashimi with ginger, which helps fend of the ‘coldness’ of raw fish and shrimp,” she said. “Wasabi serves as a sterilizer and also helps improve appetite.”
She said people should watch what they eat, but they don’t have to be harsh on themselves. Sometimes eating food that is considered less healthy can be comforting, as long as it is done in moderation.
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