Lin Zixin - Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscinece?

This book made available by the Internet Archive.

Regulate the Mind and Adjust Thought 41

Modem Scientific Investigation into Qigong Theory 49

I External Qigong 51

Its Origins and Development 51

Tl%e Analysis of the Essence of the Effect of External Qigong Therapy 53

The Secret of Van Xin's "Lectures with Qigong" 56

The External Qigong Experiment Crossing National Boundaries 59 The experimental result showed that the physical basis

of External Qigong is not credible 60

The experiment on bacteria was not repeatable 61 The truth of the experiment on External Qigong

at Hsinghua University 62 The truth of the experimental report given by Zhang Xiangyu 65

The Recognition of the Essence of Qigong 67

3. Itinerant Quackery and Qigong 73

The Truth of Magic Tricks of Pseudo-Qigong 15

Ten Diagnoses of Diseases of "Qigong Super Abilities" 86

Using the telephone to gather information about the patient 87

Sending disciples to seek useful information 88

Adapting oneself to the circumstances 88 Taking advantage of the opportunity when

the patient is reckless 89 Stealing the beams and pillars and replacing them

with rotten timberperpetrating a fraud 90

Trying to upset the patient 91

Venting anger on the patient or visitor 92

Preparing the stage 93

Exploratory talks between a Qigong crook and patient 93

4. The Debate on Human Extraordinarf Ability

vs. Qigong (Inner Rung Fu) 97

The Shift in Emphasis 97

Qigong: The Key to Opening Human Potential 102

Qigong Miracles and Special Function 104 The effect of External Qigong on living and nonliving things

(PK phenomenon in special function terminology) 105 Remote killing or control (in special function

using the power of the mind to cut or move objects) 105 Removing wsLtch needles, curving keys, moving objects,

cutting steel bands, and performing surgical operations

using mental power 106 Mind reading (thought transfer in special function) 107 Special visual abilities acquired by practicing Qigong

(seeing supernatural beings in special function) 108 Telling the future and reliving the past

(fortune-telling in special function) 109 Summoning the wind and rain (special abilities

gained by practicing Qigong 110 Smoke emanating from hands (high-level function

in special function) 111

Four Chinese Contemporary Super-Qigongists:

Van Xin, Zhang Honghao, Zhang Xiangyu, and Zhang Baosheng 112

Reports on Defrauding by Use of Qigong (Special Function) 129

Eastern Renaissance 133

5. Qigong and Ultra-deviation 137

Ultra-deviation and Its Symptoms

Contents

What is ultra-deviation? 137

Symptoms of ultra-deviation 138

Where does the symptom "Sense of Energy" come from? 142

Not special function but hallucination 145

Wliy Does Ultra-deviation Occur? 147

What circumstances are likely to produce ultra-deviation? 147

Some concerns regarding the trainees themselves 148

Prehminary study on the mechanism of ultra-deviation 149

Must the Trainee ''Break through the Barrier" of Deviation? 151

One Should Prevent Deviation When Practicing Qigong 153

Have a psychological consultation before practicing Qigong 153

Have a clear goal for practice 154

The time of daily practice should not be overextended 154 Do not fear disease and abstain from medical care

when deviation occurs 154

The instructor should be responsible for his students 155

Preface

AS we look back at human lustory, we see tliat various peoples and nations througliout tlie world created distinctive civilizations. Some of these civihzations continued, some failed to progress, some were drowned out, while others persevered though their progress was labored on their historical path to the present day. That the Chinese nation, with an uninterrupted civiHzed culture of more than 5,000 years, could be passed down successfully to this day is worth exploring; perhaps that is why this Oriental civilization attracts so much attention in our modern scientific world of interaction and interdependence.

There are many reasons for a nation to continue and progress, rather than disappearing under the pressure of natural catastrophe and man-made calamities. One of the major prerequisites may be its health care and disease-prevention activities. The art of medical treatment

Preface

and health preservation is one significant aspect of the characteristic Chinese culture. Because cultural exchange among the peoples of the world had not been extensive, there emerged a sense of mystery surrounding Chinese culture. Apart from certain philosophical ideas, the core of this mysticism concerned the art of medical treatment and preserving people's health. In the 1970s the art of acupuncture and moxibustion swept across the globe, and the ranks of kung fu (martial arts) followers have been growing ever since. By the 1980s, the popularity of Chinese Qigong began to grow rapidly, stirring up intense excitement not only in its homeland, but also beyond China's boundaries.

The art of acupuncture and moxibustion were generally accepted by the people of the world because they could allegedly achieve predictable physiological effects. Though we do not fuUy understand its physiological mechanism, we are sure we will find the answer to this enigma through scientific investigation. But the spread of Qigong has been different from that of acupuncture and moxibustion. Over the last few years the Qigong craze has gotten out of hand, and a lot of puzzling aberrations have occurred in both its promotion and practice. Qigong thus suffers greatly due to ignorance, backwardness, pseudoscience, and antiscience. Meanwhile, due to the appearance of many implausible conclusions that resulted from either popular demonstrations or mistaken public opinions, an increasing number of people began to feel disappointed, skeptical, and befuddled.

Qigong is a part of the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. It can be practiced without the aid of drugs anywhere one likes, and, when mastered, will serve to balance one's vitaHty, supplement one's energy, stamp out disease, and promote one's health. But we must point out as well that practice without appropriate training may lead one to "lose control and bring in demoniacness," to use Chinese terminology, or to "induce psychosis," to use modern medical terminology. This is absolutely what we must avoid. In recent years, plenty of charlatans emerged throughout China. They created a lot of pubUcity for themselves, pretending to be Qigong masters by resorting to all sorts of conjuring tricks, cheating, and pseudoscience. It not only created considerable confusion within China, but also perplexed the outside world. For this reason, we invited experts in this field to write this book in an attempt to promote some thoroughgoing reform.