Eye Exercises #

2024, Single-Channel Video, Color, Sound, 5:50 minutes.

Chinese eye exercises, a kind of massage around periocular acupoints, originated and imbued with theories of traditional Chinese medicine. Since 1963, the Chinese government has endorsed these exercises in the belief that they protect vision and may prevent myopia in children. They have become a community ritual and a living habit of students in primary and middle school in China for half a century.

Some studies showed that about 90% of Chinese children didn’t perform these exercises correctly although they did them every day. Most Chinese children couldn’t find the exact periocular acupoints and didn’t have accurate pressure and manipulation skills for the exercises.