Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China
Author: David A Palmer
Qigong—a regimen of body, breath, and mental training exercises—was one of the most widespread cultural and religious movements of late-twentieth-century urban China. The practice was promoted by senior Communist Party leaders as a uniquely Chinese healing tradition and as a harbinger of a new scientific revolution, yet the movement's mass popularity and the almost religious devotion of its followers led to its ruthless suppression.
In this absorbing and revealing book, David A. Palmer relies on a combination of historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives to describe the spread of the qigong craze and its reflection of key trends that have shaped China since 1949, including the search for a national identity and an emphasis on the absolute authority of science. Qigong offered the promise of an all-powerful technology of the body rooted in the mysteries of Chinese culture. However, after 1995 the scientific underpinnings of qigong came under attack, its leaders were denounced as charlatans, and its networks of followers, notably Falungong, were suppressed as "evil cults."
According to Palmer, the success of the movement proves that a hugely important religious dimension not only survived under the CCP but was actively fostered, if not created, by high-ranking party members. Tracing the complex relationships among the masters, officials, scientists, practitioners, and ideologues involved in qigong, Palmer opens a fascinating window on the transformation of Chinese tradition as it evolved along with the Chinese state. As he brilliantly demonstrates, the rise and collapse of the qigong movement is key tounderstanding the politics and culture of post-Mao society.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements ixAbbreviations xii
Introduction 1
The Birth of Modern Qigong, 1949-64 29
Political Networks and the Formation of the Qigong Sector 46
The Grandmasters 86
Qigong Scientism 102
Qigong Fever 136
Controversy and Crisis 158
Control and Rationalisation 183
Militant Qigong: The Emergence of Falungong 219
Falungong Challenges the CCP 241
Epilogue: The Collapse of the Qigong Movement 278
Conclusion 281
On the Sources Used for this Study 307
Bibliography 317
Index 345
Book about: The Heart That Bleeds or Molly Brown
Immortality: How Science Is Extending Your Lifespan and Changing the World
Author: Ben Bova
That arresting statement sounds as if it might come from a science fiction story. But it is astonishing, exciting fact-as explained by Dr. Ben Bova. In his distinguished career, Dr. Bova has predicted many scientific developments. Now he explores the future effects of science and technology on the human life span and discovers that one day, death will no longer be the inevitable end of life.
Dr. Bova guides readers through worldwide research into the biochemical processes that causes aging and death, and shows what scientists are discovering about stopping, perhaps even reversing them. With crystal-clear prose, Dr. Bova explains how science could maintain the youth and vigor of a fifty-year-old indefinitely and the consequences for marriage and family ties. He also offers provocative thoughts on the tumultuous societal consequences of such biomedical breakthroughs, as greatly extended life spans and virtual immortality transform institutions like Medicare, Social Security, pension plans, life insurance, even the very foundations of work and retirement. Here is a compelling, startling, understandable, and vitally important study of humankind's greatest challenge — and most tantalizing opportunity.The first immortals are already living among us. You might be one of them.
That arresting statement sounds as if it might come from a science fiction story. But it is astonishing, exciting fact-as explained by Dr. Ben Bova. In his distinguished career, Dr. Bova has predicted many scientific developments. Now he explores the future effects of science and technology on the human life span and discovers that one day, death will no longer be the inevitable end of life.
Dr.Bova guides readers through worldwide research into the biochemical processes that causes aging and death, and shows what scientists are discovering about stopping, perhaps even reversing them. With crystal-clear prose, Dr. Bova explains how science could maintain the youth and vigor of a fifty-year-old indefinitely and the consequences for marriage and family ties. He also offers provocative thoughts on the tumultuous societal consequences of such biomedical breakthroughs, as greatly extended life spans and virtual immortality transform institutions like Medicare, Social Security, pension plans, life insurance, even the very foundations of work and retirement. Here is a compelling, startling, understandable, and vitally important study of humankind's greatest challenge — and most tantalizing opportunity.
Author Biography:
Ben Bova has been a presence in science fiction for more than four decades. He is a past president of the Science Fiction Writers of America and the former editor of Analog. The recipient of the Hugo and other awards, he has written dozens of novels, including Mars, Voyagers, and Death Dream-as well as Moonrise and Moonwar, the firsts two books of his acclaimed Moonbase Saga. He lives in Florida with his wife, Barbara Bova.
Publishers Weekly
The quest for human immortality is ongoing in science labs around the world, and the possibility is now closer to science fact than fiction, claims Bova, who as a veteran and prolific author of science books (Space Travel, etc.) and SF (Moonwar, etc.) might know. Bova admits that few scientists would agree with that claim but that scientists "are usually not the best predictors of their own futures." Again Bova lives up to his reputation of writing straightforward, understandable prose to explain recent scientific advances. We are entering the fourth era of medicine, he observes, one in which science is working on solving the riddle of aging. He leads readers through a tautological compendium of the mechanics of cellular life and death. Why do certain bacteria and cancer cells apparently live forever, when those trillions that make up the human body are subject to senescence and death? Is aging caused by entropy, the genetic damage that accumulates daily until our genes are unable to repair themselves? Or is it a by-product of the progressive shortening of the telomeres that cap each chromosome? Bova subscribes to the telomeric explanation, believing that the issue may be resolved by selectively injecting telomerase analogs into certain types of cells to prohibit them from aging. Over the decades, many of Bova's scientific predictions have come true: the space race of the 1960s, solar-powered satellites, virtual reality, the discovery of water ice on the moon and even electronic book publishing. The promise of immortality based on scientific advancement is his most ambitious prophecy and, judging from the passion he bestows on it in this routine book about an outlandish subject, his most ardent hope. (Aug.)
Library Journal
Bova, a renowned science journalist and sf writer, predicts that increased longevity will eventually lead to immortality. He speculates that medical advances achieved over the next ten to 20 years will likely allow human beings to live long past the age of 100. In a clear and nontechnical style, he explains basic scientific concepts such as the aging process, the genetic code, gene therapy, cloning, and molecular engineering. He also considers the social and political consequences of increased longevity. In previous writings, Bova predicted the space race of the 1960s, solar-powered satellites, virtual reality, and electronic book publishing, so it's a safe bet that he's on to something here. Highly recommended for popular science collections in public and college libraries.--Bruce Slutsky, New Jersey Inst. of Technology Lib., Newark
Kirkus Reviews
While ostensibly about the coming conquest by science of aging and death, this is actually a lively overview of the exciting work being done in biomedical research today. Prolific science-fiction writer Bova, who has some 90 futuristic books to his credit, bases his claim that some people alive today will achieve immortality on his belief that genetic research is progressing so rapidly that within the next 50 years the key to aging, which lies within the body's cells, will inevitably be unlocked. Taking the reader inside the cell to explain current theories about aging and death, Bova, who is singularly adept at interpreting scientific concepts for nonscientists, gives a short and snappy biology lesson on genes, DNA, and cells. For those wanting more information, back-of-the-book essays on bacteria, DNA, and the genetic code expand on the coverage in the main text. Bova then discusses the use of gene therapy for treating diabetes, sickle-cell anemia, cytic fibrosis, Downþs syndrome, and cancer and predicts its techniques will become the tool for extending human life once the human genome has been mapped and all the genes involved in aging identified. While acknowledging that the conquest of death may take a while, he predicts that within a scant five years gene therapy will enable organ regeneration to begin to replace organ transplantation. Bova's knack for clarifying the complex works well when the subject is science. Less engaging is his offhand analysis of the enormous political, social, economic, and moral changes that greatly enhanced life spans or even human immortality could create. Even though the immortality thesis may not be persuasive, the review of microbiology,especially genetic research, is engrossing.
