Explainer | What is Zen slap therapy? Tradition-based China remedy claims to relieve stress, release negative energy, some smell a scam
- Practitioners say patient pain heals so slaps must be hard and loud
- Popularity grows as hashtag for treatment attracts 11.6 million views online
A new therapy derived from traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, known as chan pai, or “Zen slap” in English, is being used to reduce growing levels of stress in China.
Such is the popularity of the treatment on the mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu, the hashtag #zenslaptherapy has attracted 11.6 million views.
Despite being expensive – at least 600 yuan (US$83) for an hour in first-tier cities – people are paying for the service in which therapists heavily slap acupoints.
Acupoints are specific points on the body where an acupuncture needle may be inserted.
The belief is that it helps drain meridians, or energy channels, removing negative energy from the body.
The Post looks into its origins and present day uses.
Zen slap therapy
This is said to be a vigorous version of tui na, a form of massage in TCM that applies pressure to acupoints to unblock meridians and promote qi, or energy and circulation.
A person who has been receiving Zen slap therapy since 2021, surnamed Wu, told Chinese magazine New Weekly that effective slaps should be loud, strong, and even cause pain.
Practitioners believe that pain leads to healing, and when the receiver no longer feels pain, it means all the “dampness” in their body has been eliminated.
TCM believes dampness is the cause of fatigue and illness.
History
It is thought the remedy was invented a few years ago by self-taught TCM therapy practitioner, Ding Yuren.
In 2015, the therapy, officially called TCM Natural Impact Therapy, was recognised as an intangible cultural heritage of Tai’an city, in eastern China’s Shandong province, where Ding is from.
The therapy also attracted several celebrity fans, including renowned Chinese actress Zhou Xun, and Victoria’s Secret model Ming Xi.
Zhou once said on a television show that the therapy was so mind-blowing that when the therapist slapped a certain spot on her back, she suddenly thought of her grandmother, who had passed away the year before, and cried her eyes out.
She said the therapy helped her face her grief for the first time.
Sooth or scam?
Some people genuinely believe in the effectiveness of Zen slapping.
On Xiaohongshu, one person wrote: “The depression I have had my entire life was released 10 minutes into the therapy”.
Another person said it was like meditation, helping to remove all her negative energy and become calmer.
But Wu said she sometimes wonders if Zen slap is a scam.
She recalled having therapy in Beijing and the therapist’s hands were moist the whole time she was slapping Wu’s back and limbs.
She told her it was because her hands were “catching the dampness” she was releasing.
Wu also saw ads online that promised to teach people Zen slapping in just one week.
“I wondered if I had paid hundreds of yuan per session for people who had only studied the technique for a week,” Wu said.
