CHEN Bao-xing and Garé LeCOMPTE

A medical worker at a neighborhood clinic applies acupuncture to the leg of a local resident. PHOTO BY JOAN LEBOLD COHEN.
Traditional Chinese medicine focuses on the body as a whole, and involves six main principles: the theory of yin–yang, the five elements, viscera, qi (life force), blood and body fluids, and the theory of the channels and collaterals. The principles of traditional Chinese medicine, though often intertwined