Myopia was once racialized as an “Oriental disease.” By comparing Eastern and Western prevention, I examine differing power structures and health narratives. In China, state-mandated eye exercises merge traditional massage with mechanized discipline—acupoint stimulation and rhythmic music that embody both TCM and industrial-era efficiency. In the West, interventions like orthokeratology and visual training enforce self-monitoring through procedural norms, embedding discipline in medicalized self-care. Despite cultural differences, both systems regulate bodies via overlapping logics, turning health into social control. Juxtaposing these models exposes how “tradition” and “science” alike govern health, questioning who defines and interprets preventive practices.

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