The Gua Sha Treatment

The Gua Sha Treatment
The Gua Sha Treatment
Directed by	Zheng Xiaolong
Written by	Mark Byers
Produced by	Mark Byers; Zhou Puxiong; Paul Yen (associate producer);
Starring	Tony Leung Ka-Fai; Dennis Zhu; Zhu Xu; Jiang Wenli;
Music by	Ye Xiaogang
Release date	2001;
Running time	105 min.
Country	China
Language	English / Mandarin

The Gua Sha Treatment (Chinese: 刮痧; pinyin: guā shā) is a Chinese movie directed by Zheng Xiaolong released in 2001 starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Zhu Xu, and Jiang Wenli. It is a story about cultural conflicts experienced by a Chinese family in the United States. Misunderstanding caused by traditional Chinese medicine threatens to separate a family - will this family overcome conflict between eastern and Western cultures?

Plot

Grandfather Xu (Zhu Xu) comes from China to visit the family of his son, Datong Xu (Tony Leung), a video game designer, in St. Louis. Datong has lived in the U.S. for eight years, and while receiving an award for work, remarks that he loves the United States and fulfilling his American Dream. Meanwhile, Grandfather notices his grandson has a slight fever and being unable to read English labels of medicine, gives him, Dennis Xu (Dennis Zhu), a Gua Sha treatment instead. Social workers, however, mistake the traditional Chinese medical treatment for child abuse due to the obvious marks left on Dennis' back. The life of the family is sent into turmoil when Dennis is taken away by the child protection agency. In court, the prosecution includes Datong's inclusion of a Chinese legendary character Sun Wukong (Chinese traditional: 孫悟空; simplified: 孙悟空) in his design of a violent video game. The prosecution implies that since Datong includes violence in his game, he values it.

A furious Datong insists that the prosecution does not understand the cultural value of Sun Wukong^[1]^[2] and that the icon's inclusion does not mean he abuses his son. He insists that what he does in his job does not relate to how he runs his home. Meanwhile, Grandfather Xu leaves America because he finds that the living environment is really not suitable for him, as he does not want to live in a place where a simple, harmless treatment like Gua Sha, which is so common in China, is treated as child abuse. Furthermore, he cannot converse in English. Datong's friend and lawyer, John Quinlan (Hollis Houston), tries Gua Sha and proves that the treatment leaves painful-looking marks that are not actually painful or harmful at all. Finally, Datong is able to return home and the family is reunited. This movie's story is meant to demonstrate the difference between western and Chinese culture.

Cast

Tony Leung Ka-Fai as Xu Datong
Jiang Wenli as Jian Ning
Zhu Xu as Old Grandfather

Real Life Cases

In 2014, a Spanish-Chinese mother was arrested on suspicion of child abuse, after her son’s teacher noticed severe red bruising on the child’s neck due to gua sha.