Staff profile
Biography
My doctoral research studies qi-based holistic medicine and explores its sense of body and method of treatment (e.g., Tai Chi, acupuncture), which, I show, offer alternatives to modern biomedical thinking. Qi [氣] means vital force in Chinese and has been compared to ‘atmosphere’ in Western phenomenology, but this research argues that these two are not the same. Using participant observation, interviews, diary-interviews, drawing, and autoethnographic methods to collect data on people’s experience with qi-based holistic medicine, I will show that qi is more practice-based than atmosphere. I will also show that qi enables mind-body unity and a visceral account of embodied experience through practice – as opposed to atmosphere (and its associated concept ‘affect’) which presumes a partitioned mind and body and focuses on the flows ‘between’ bodies only.
Furthermore, this research will reveal the personal as political by studying qi-based holistic medicine across cultures, namely Taiwan and Northeast England. I will explore how the body experiencing qi may be differentiated by gender, race, class, size, age, and dis/ability, as opposed to current literature of qi which usually only draws evidence from (East) Asia and overlooks the identity markers on bodies. I will also explore how these identity markers might influence the way qi is experienced and thus provide new perspectives for the philosophical discussions of qi. Cross-cultural comparison will also allow me to show that qi-based holistic medicine is evolving and globalizing, instead of statically ancient and confined to East Asia.
The intimate accounts provided by my participants across different cultures will allow me to address the bioethical concerns surrounding holistic medicine – usually about its ‘effectiveness.’ I will critique how these concerns stem from a concept of health that is shaped by modern biomedical thinking, and in turn I will propose an alternative way of thinking about the bioethics of holistic medicine.
Funded by ESRC NINE DTP
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chchyen/
Education
PhD in Human Geography, Durham University, 2023-Now
Reorienting Western Theories of Atmospheres: A Case Study of Qi-Based Holistic Medicine in Taiwan and Northern England
Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods, Durham University, 2023-2024
Master of Arts in Human Geography, University of Toronto, 2022-2023
What Is Seen and What Is Silenced: Representations of Fieldwork in Atmospheric Science
Bachelor of Science With Honors in Geography, National Taiwan University, 2018-2022
Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, National Taiwan University, 2018-2022
Research interests
- atmosphere, embodied experience, medical humanities, complementary medicine, qi