Daoist-inspired Healing in Daily Life: Lü Dongbin and the Multifaceted Roles of Chinese Barbers

This paper examines the role of Chinese barbers in the 19th and 20th centuries, utilizing recent Daoist scholarship together with the contemporaneous observations of Western physicians and travelers. Its impetus emerges from Dr. John Dudgeon’s depictions of Chinese health practices as rooted in Daoism as well as connected to the healing role of barbers. Other Western observers who did not share Dr. Dudgeon’s positive opinions and were critical of Chinese hygiene also contribute information on the importance of the roles of Chinese barbers.

The paper further examines the barber’s role in light of Paul Katz’s descriptions of popular interpretations of the immortal Lü Dongbin. As the patron deity of barbers he is represented as one who touches the lives of the poor and heals the sick. Western observers describe Chinese barbers as providing both haircuts and health services to promote circulation through the stimulation of energy (qi 氣) flow. Thus they made affordable health care available to locals who often did not have access to Western medicine.