Qigong Fever (Book Review) D. Palmer
This is an 'must read' for any Western practitioner of qigong and yangshenggong practices!
The author is a social scientist who does a great job in delineating the many intricacies of qigong today in China along with the "businessification" and multilevel marketing practices associated with its spread. Much of the discourse sadly deals with qigong leaving its spiritual base and becoming a party unto itself, reminiscent of Communist Party organizational politics.
The author goes into some detail with Falungong and Zhonggong with its respectives leaders (Li Hongzhi and Zhang Hongbao) and they make out like megalomaniacs seeking to usurp CCP power and authority!
The first few chapters starts out righlly enough detailing the main purpose of modern qigong, which was to make the society strong, retain its cultural heritage and getting rid of superstitious and false claims associated with spirit nourishing practices!
There is also mentio of Liu Guizhen, who through guidance and some classical works, managed to cure himself using an actual method and one of the few who jump started the sane approach to practice. Another was Jiang Weiqiao and Wang Juemin, proponents, who were cured by qigong and wanted see its low tech benefits incorporated into health care.
The term 'qigong fever' has similarities to revival meeting and snake charming events and it strikingly reminiscent of a Southern Baptist or Pentecostal laying on off hands! This time qigong is the main event and all sort of circus tricks being incorporated like rubbing hands together and causing fire to materialize, waving one's hands causing people to fall into a hypnotic spell, etc.
Keep in mind that both Falungong and Zhonggong had benefit since they were lauded in their formative years as showing some health rewards for its practitioners but once they imagined themselves more powerful than the CCP or encouraged civil disobedience, and leaders framing themselves as Buddhas or otherwise, their status went down hill from there and the rest continues to be history!
