Qigong ‘masters’ struggle to survive (3)

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Qigong ‘masters’ struggle to survive (3)

(Global Times) 08:27, August 20, 2013

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"In Western countries, there are also some who try to coax money by deceiving people in the name of qigong. But they would never gain solid long-term support. People have a basic immune system against fraud," Li Shudong said.

After media reports, Taoist Li Yi quit his post as deputy head of the Chinese Taoist Association and retreated from public life.

Facing wide controversies, Wang Lin fled to Hong Kong. To defend his innocence, he opened a Tencent Weibo account on July 30. In a long blog post, he argued that he never claimed to have "supernatural powers" and seldom used qigong to treat diseases.

"Treating a patient would greatly undermine my vigor and strength. Actually, I don't earn money from this," he said, explaining his wealth mainly came from his business investments in real estate.

"I firmly support the Chinese Communist Party, I love my country and I love my hometown," another post read.

However, many people have actually expressed gratitude toward Wang. Wang stated that in the past two decades he has spent 3 million yuan on average each year in donations to around 5,000 poor families in Luxi.

"He truly made donations here. He earned money from corrupt officials and rich celebrities and shared part of it with the poor. No matter where he used tricks or was a fraudster, he is a Samaritan in my eyes," the local resident named Zhang told the Global Times.

Real qigong

Li Shudong believes that the fake masters will have little influence on individual beliefs in qigong. But he does not rule out worries that some people will cast the entire practice into doubt.

"Qigong is scientific, not supernatural. In a narrow sense, qigong movements can enhance fitness and health. It's true that it can relieve physiological problems through psychological techniques," Li said, adding that the number of non-Chinese qigong practitioners is increasing.

Twenty years ago when he arrived in the US, qigong movements were scarcely seen in parks and the practitioners were nearly all Chinese. But now, foreigners are seen practicing qigong in many parks in major cities.

Chen Xinmei echoed this opinion.

"As the government-led promotion for normal qigong, as well as the deeper sense of Chinese culture growing in foreign countries, I'm convinced that more and more people in the world will recognize qigong and benefit from it," Chen said.

In order to regulate the study and practice of qigong, the Health Qigong Management Center, affiliated to the General Administration of Sport of China, was established in 2001.

According to statistics from the center, the health qigong centers reached 15,000 across the country and regular practitioners totaled more than 1.5 million by the end of last year.