Han Jingsheng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He began his studies at the age of nine, inheriting his family's art and learning from his father Han Qiao, fourth-generation transmitter of single-finger Zen tuina, and his mother Wang Qun; he is a fifth-generation transmitter of single-finger Zen tuina. Within the regional tradition and school record of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods in Zhuhai, Guangdong: Yizhichan Tuina is one of the traditional academic schools and therapeutic methods of traditional Chinese medical Tuina. It is transmitted in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, and also has important branches in Shanghai, Yangzhou (Jiangsu Province) and Urumqi (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region). The name of Yizhichan Tuina derives from the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism: it applies a single finger to reach through to the source of illness and uses stillness to control movement, essentially one with the meditative discipline cultivated by Chan practitioners. The Yizhichan Tuina seen today is the branch among the various Tuina lineages since the late Qing and early Republican period that combines medicine and Chan most closely. Its intellectual lineage can be traced back to the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) and the daoyin anqiao (guiding-pulling and pressing) methods attributed to Bodhidharma. During the Republican era, the Cihai dictionary included Yizhichan Tuina as the only Tuina school, testifying to its considerable influence at the time. In modern times, Zhu Chunting founded a Tuina specialty within the Huangqiang lineage of Jiading, Shanghai; only afterward did branches in Shanghai, Yangzhou, Urumqi and elsewhere pass it down separately, and the Zhuhai branch is one of them.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1957 in Beijing. He uses traditional tuina methods to treat intractable conditions such as headache, insomnia, facial paralysis, and stroke; the approach is characterized by replenishing the qi of the dantian, harmonizing the functions of the zang-fu organs, and strengthening the body, and is well received by patients. Over the years, building on his own dantian theory, he created dantian spinal therapy and applied it clinically, and established a single-finger Zen tuina TCM clinic in Zhuhai. He has compiled monographs including Yi Zhi Ding Chan (One Finger, Settled Zen) and published numerous academic papers, held several study and training classes, taken on more than one hundred apprentices, and continues to practise TCM tuina clinically. Within the documented technical tradition of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods in Zhuhai, Guangdong: Yizhichan Tuina incorporates the Chan essence of “pointing with one finger to reveal the dharma and realize Buddhahood,” taking the Chan doctrine of “illuminating the mind and seeing one's true nature” as its tenet. The concepts of xing (nature), jue (awareness) and zheng (realization), together with meditative practice, constitute the xinfa (mind method) — the core of Yizhichan academic thought. Xinfa runs through the understanding of life and disease, diagnosis, treatment, Tuina exercises, Tuina manipulations, rehabilitation and health preservation, and has formed a unified system of mind method integrating Chan, medicine, method, prescription and technique. Its main contents include “meditation (chanding), self-awareness (jueji), awareness of others (jueta), treatment principles, Tuina exercises, and Tuina manipulations.” Meditation aims at realizing one's true nature; Yizhichan Tuina applies it to Tuina, regarding it as the basic skill for study and practice. Self-awareness takes one's own living body as the object of observation and understanding, thereby gaining an intuitive perception and knowledge of the living human body and disease. Awareness of others is the method of replicating in oneself the sensations and condition of another person; it is the diagnostic skill of Yizhichan Tuina. Treatment principles refer to the method by which Yizhichan Tuina determines therapeutic principles and approaches. Tuina exercises are conditioning methods aimed at improving the practitioner's physical qualities, mastering the basic principles of human movement, and raising manipulative skill and clinical efficacy. Tuina manipulations are the means by which Yizhichan Tuina treats disease; the commonly used manipulations number twelve, including tui (pushing), na (grasping), an (pressing), mo (rubbing), nian (holding-twisting), gun (rolling), chao (scooping), cuo (rubbing with both palms), chan (twining), rou (kneading), yao (rocking) and dou (shaking). Yizhichan Tuina integrates mind method, exercise method, manipulation technique, and pattern differentiation and treatment into one, producing manipulations characterized by unity of body and mind, holistic mobilization, responsive movement, smooth flowing motion, close fit to the condition, and direct action on the site of disease. Yizhichan Tuina combines Chan thought with traditional Chinese medical theory and clinical technique, inherits the traditional Chinese medical approach to understanding life and disease, and embodies the creativity of Chinese medicine culture. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Meditative stilling": Settling breath and attention before any movement of the thumb — regarded as basic training, not ritual. "Awareness of the self": Using one's own living body as the subject, learning to feel flow and obstruction directly. "Awareness of the other": Transferring one's own sensations to the patient in order to locate the illness — the diagnostic discipline of the method. "The training routines": Exercises that build the practitioner's own strength and knowledge of human movement, compulsory rather than optional.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods (Single-Finger Zen Tuina), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Han Jingsheng · National Representative Bearer Archive