"Master" or "Doctor" Hong?

By XING YUHAO

WHEN publications of a similar content involve different publishers, copyright lawsuits generally ensue. This is not, however, the case for Hong Zhaoguang, whose lecture notes on health have been collated and published under titles such as Getting Aboard the Health Express, Make Health Your Companion, and Advice on Health, by various publishers. Within three months of publication, Getting Aboard the Health Express sold a million copies, and remains a bestseller. Dr. Hong is, therefore, a hot publishing item. Publications and hand-scripted versions of his lectures are said to number 70 or so, and the benevolent doctor, now in his sixties, is happy to meet the requirements of any publisher that approaches him.

Hong Zhaoguang is an accomplished cardiovascular doctor at Beijing's Anzhen Hospital. On a regular ward round 10 years ago he realized the extent to which the health advice that he casually dispensed on his rounds was appreciated by his patients. Since then, giving lectures on health has become a part of his work. So far more than 600,000 people have benefited from his lectures, and more still from the videos and books based on them.

Dr. Hong's talks encompass advice on the kind of lifestyle that best suits human biological traits; prevention and treatment of high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis; rational diet and physical exercise; and psychological adjustment. Their emphasis is on disease prevention through a practical regimen easily incorporated into daily life. Dr. Hong uses few medical terms, instead peppering his lectures with easy-to-remember rhymes and simple catchwords. For example, he summarizes a healthy diet in the colors red, yellow, green, white and black. Within this theory, 50-100g red wine or a tomato a day inhibits coronary heart disease; yellow vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes replenish vitamins; green tea and green vegetables prevent cancer and reduce arteriosclerosis; oat flour or oatmeal reduce cholesterin, relieve constipation and prevent diabetes; and 5-10g of black agaric a day adjusts blood viscosity.

The content of Hong Zhaoguang's lectures stems from China's social, economic and medical development over the past two decades, when health concerns switched from acute to cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. More people realize that not being sick does not necessarily indicate the best of health, and pursue a generally healthier lifestyle. Information and recommended programs available on the mass media are often off-puttingly complex, requiring too much research. Dr. Hong's simple style is, therefore, a majority favorite. His lectures are particularly valued by that high proportion of society on the threshold of old age.

To the Chinese, the ideal life is one where man and nature harmonize. The ease of mind that results is the basis for a good life and longevity. But actual modern life exerts a more pervasive state of stress and anxiety. Dr. Hong's lectures relieve and diffuse this angst, acting as a kind of psychological massage.

His lectures have, however, been misinterpreted and consequently quoted out of context in such statements as: "According to Hong Zhaoguang, the normal human life span is 120 years." This dramatic assertion has led many to believe that Dr. Hong and his lectures are the key to longevity.

Dr. Hong talks about disease prevention and treatment mostly from the perspectives of diet, physical exercise, and psychological self-adjustment, probably because he considers them as principles easily put into practice. Many, however, take and exaggerate the role the actual body plays in fighting disease, to the extent that they believe disease prevention and treatment may be achieved through cultivation of one's own will power. Dr. Hong is quoted as saying, "The best physical exercise is walking, the best medicine is time, the best state of mind is serenity, and the best doctor oneself."

Dr. Hong's lectures are consequently taken by some as gospel, and his health handbook regarded as a health bible. A small number of people refer to him as master of rhyme, but to the many Dr. Hong is the great master of health. In the Chinese language the term great master applies to supernatural beings. Hong Zhaoguang's repeated protest that he would rather be addressed as Dr. Hong is dismissed as modesty.

This is not to say that Dr. Hong's lectures are misleading. The excessive confidence and trust placed in the resilience of the body and strength of will when fighting disease is an inherent, deep-rooted Chinese concept. It reflects to a certain extent the lack of understanding of medicine in general, whereby it is often regarded as mystical rather than scientific.

The medical service has long been a matter of great public concern, but attention is too much on cost, doctors' and nurses' bedside manners, and surgical accidents rather than on public health information exchange, and warning and coordination systems. The American TV series ER shown on CCTV a few years ago sparked off a certain amount of discussion on the public health system, but little else. SARS has re-opened the whole issue and rekindled an all-round reexamination of China's public health. At the end of the SARS nightmare, therefore, people might begin to accept Hong Zhaoguang's lectures simply as a doctor's advice, rather than the sacred gospel of a great master.

XING YUHAO is a reporter with Guangming Daily.