Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscinece? [Hardcover]

Yu Li (Author), Guo Zhengyi (Author), Shen Zhenyu (Author), Zhang Honglin (Author), Zixin Lin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2000

Qigong (CHEE-GUNG) has swept America as the newest approach to healing and was on the rise in China until the recent Falun gong crackdowns. This 2,500-year-old form of traditional Chinese medicine claims that the human body has channels (meridians) through which flows a substance known as Qi. While internal Qigong is essentially a relaxation and meditation technique, external Qigong is an alleged form of energy radiation emitted from the fingertips of 'masters.' Practitioners of this form of Qigong claim that they can heal serious diseases such as hypertension, glaucoma, asthma, ulcers, and even cancer.This remarkable book, written by a group of Chinese scientists, discusses the nature and practice of Qigong and its various manifestations. They give special attention to the many pseudoscientific claims made for external Qigong and uncover a good deal of deception practised by charlatans in the name of medicine. Exposed are such alleged Qigong practices as: clairvoyance, telepathy, weightlessness, energy discharge, energy-impregnated language (Qigong prescriptions), and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a very enjoyable, self-containing and easy-to-read book...a resource book on modern Qigong movement in China." -- Journal of Scientific Exploration

About the Author

Lin Zixin is retired editor-in-chief of China's Science and Tachnology Daily. Yu Li works in China's Ministry of Internal Trade and is one of China's most popular debunkers of pseudoscience. Guo Zhengyi is deputy director, and Shen Zhenyu is research director of China's Popular Science Institute. Zhang Honglin is director of the Qigong research department of China's Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Zhang Tongling is professor of psychiatry at Beijing Medical University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 155 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573922323
• ISBN-13: 978-1573922326
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,818,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Critisim of Qigong with Pseudoscience method, September 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscinece? (Hardcover)

Lin Zixin et al's new book "Qigong: Chinese Medicine orPseudoscience?" is among the few Qigong books that tried to conduct some scientific exploration of the Qigong essence. If you are seriously looking for Qigong's scientific background, or planning to conduct some scientific research on Qigong and its applications, this book will definitely be helpful to avoid you from taking all Qigong as granted truth, and from simplifying the research design. >> The book consists of five chapters: 1. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Qigong, started with the glorious history of Qigong, it reveals the ancient origin of Qigong, some important methods, facts about Qigong and the benefits of Qigong practice. 2. External Qigong, it basically denies the very existence of external Qigong and criticizes some famous research on external Qigong done in the 1980s. Authors claimed the essence of Qigong is mind activities or psychological effects. 3. Itinerant Quackery, completely denied the possibility that Qigong may be used to diagnose diseases, and revealed how some street quackery used the name of "Qigong super abilities" to cheat patients. 4. The Debate on Human Extraordinary Ability vs. Qigong (Inner Kung Fu), it discloses some fake Qigong demonstrations and the reality of unsuccessful efforts to examine the human extraordinary ability, and criticizes four famous Chinese Qigongists. 5. Qigong and Ultra Deviation, it explains the major symptoms of so-called "ultra deviation" (Zhou Huo Ru Mo) in Qigong practice, why it occurs, and how to avoid it. It is not hard to see what attitude the authors possess in terms of scientific nature of Qigong. >> Unfortunately it is a cruel fact that there are much more fake Qigong masters out there than real honest Qigong masters, both in China and in the United States, and these fake Qigong masters brought more harm or disturbance than good or benefit in promoting Qigong and Qigong research. Lin Zixin's book will non-doubt help readers to identify some major quackeries of fake Qigong masters or medical Qigong practitioners who lack of knowledge of Qigong essence. >> The book was coauthored by six Chinese scholars, some of them are popular debunkers of pseudoscience, and all of them have publicly criticized the research of external Qigong in China. As one of the many academic perspectives about Qigong research, there is nothing wrong for them to state their perspectives publicly. However, the timing of its publication with some out-of-date research data make readers suspect its political motivation and possible government sponsorship. Some of the authors are supposed to be serious scientists; but the way they presented data, and the conclusions they reached based on very limited observations really lack of objectivity and scientific seriousness... END

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an opinion from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, December 6, 2009

By 

Narizdura La Carretera (El Lay, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscinece? (Hardcover)

The credentials of the authors lend tremendous credibility: Lin Zixin, a former editor-in-chief of China's Science and Technology; Yu Li, a popular debunker of pseudoscience with the Chinese Ministry of Internal Trade; Guo Zhengyi, deputy director and Shen Zhenyu, research director of China's Popular Science Institute; Zhang Honglin, director of the Qigong research department of China's Academy of Traditional Medicine; and Zhang Tongling, professor of psychiatry at Beijing Medical University. The book comes with an introduction about the important place that Qigong held in the evolution of Chinese civilization and in the psyche of Chinese society. A brief history of Qigong and its relation to traditional Chinese medicine is followed by the author's definition of Qigong and its practice. To prepare the readers for the subsequent debate on quackery and Qigong, the authors detail how Qigong is practiced with 30 pages of text and 23 illustrations. The authors maintain that all Qigong practices can be summarized into three principles: regulating the body by practicing form; regulating breath to cultivate "Qi" or energy; and regulating the mind by practicing concentration. As such, the authors believe that the effect of Qigong is personal, and the essential nature of Qigong is a course of adjusting mental and psychological activity. All other claims of Qigong are either a misrepresentation of the facts or complete
quackery. The goal of the book is to expose the falsehood of the pseudo-Qigong and quackery.

There are numerous self-proclaimed masters of special types of Qigong who can break tombstones with their head (Tough Qigong), eat burning charcoal, stand on balloons (Light Qigong or weightlessness), etc. Some of these performances resemble those of magicians or "psychics" in the West. Reading how these tricks are exposed one by one is quite an enlightening and entertaining experience. The authors' experiments and discussion on External Qigong typifies the care they took in conducting the tests. External Qigong refers to the fact that some Qigong masters claim that they can treat patients with what is claimed to be Qi emitted by the master. The authors' explanation of such effects is psychological suggestion. They demonstrated this by severing lines of
communication by blindfolding the patient to prevent him from seeing when Qigong is performed. When this is done, the effect of External Qigong disappears.

They also showed that therapeutic effects similar to those of Qigong can be achieved by psychological suggestion.
The authors are obviously very knowledgeable in Qigong, traditional Chinese medicine and related subjects such as human extraordinary abilities. In general, the authors take an objective stand towards the subject of investigation.

Good experimental design and reproducibility are emphasized in their evaluation of the evidence. Numerous experiments supporting the presence of External Qigong are scrutinized and dismissed based on either a poor experimental design, a lack of control or a lack of reproducibility.

The book has a fairly extensive coverage on the change of Qigong from a mental/psychological exercise to a special human ability phenomenon in China since the 1970s. It is suggested that the research and debate of Qigong
parallel those of psychic investigations in the West. The readers can glimpse the attitudes of Chinese society towards the special function aspect of Qigong through the brief biography of four super-Qigongists in recent years. In this respect, the book may serve as a resource book on the modern Qigong movement in China. A small weakness of the book is that it lacks complete information on some of the literature cited therein.

Lee Yui
MS 8391, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
1 Dr. Yu is a naturalized US citizen and a Ph.D. research chemist in the Analytical Chemistry Division
of NIST. He is a native of China.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Typical PRC Propaganda, May 10, 2006

By 

Phillip Starr "Author, "Making Of A Butte... (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscinece? (Hardcover)

This book is an obvious attempt by governmental authorities in the PRC to "poo-poo" the whole notion of chi. Certainly, there are charlatans everywhere and China has more than its share of them but the "experiments" conducted alleged "scientists" leave me wondering about the credibility of the entire book.
All in all, the book is a terrible disappointment and a waste of time. I'd much rather read some serious research data conducted by qualified scientists-