In July, 26-year-old Chinese actress Xu Ting announced she had been diagnosed with lymphoma. She shared her medical results on her official Weibo account, along with a lengthy post explaining her decision to forgo chemotherapy. Xu wrote that she would instead receive traditional Chinese medical treatment as it would allow her to “enjoy every day” without the pain of chemotherapy, even though she was not sure whether it would cure her. She also said finances and a friend who had died from cancer despite receiving chemotherapy were her reasons for her decision. In the following days, Xu posted photos to Weibo showing herself receiving traditional Chinese medical treatment including cupping, acupuncture, and gua sha, which is when the skin is scraped to produce light bruising. In her post, Xu wrote that traditional Chinese medical treatment was still painful but urged others who were going through similar experiences to be strong and brave, calling them “the fortunate ones, because not everyone has the opportunity to challenge the extreme.” The photos were immediately controversial among her fans, with some being outraged by her decision. People voiced their concern and support for Xu, but urged her to receive the “standard treatment” of chemotherapy. Most urged her to receive chemotherapy first before seeking traditional Chinese medical treatment, because it takes longer for traditional Chinese medicine to take effect. Throughout July, she continued to post regular updates on her Weibo of her outings with friends and family. However, her health took a turn for the worse in August. Xu’s last post was on Aug. 18, when she was briefly hospitalized. She died on Sept. 7. Her family posted the news to her Weibo account, along with the time and date for her farewell ceremony. Xu’s death has sparked numerous opinion pieces debating the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine. Several opinion columns have been published in local papers and picked up by the People’s Daily, with some calling traditional Chinese medicine a sham. Several experts and academics have also voiced their opinions on the subject. Most fans, however, just left their condolences. Source
