ABSTRACT
Three incredible Oriental ideographs are shaking China and the world: Zhang-Hong-Bao! Zhang Hongbao, a man tormented by illness. Zhang Hongbao, a man with a brilliant official career. Zhang Hongbao, a man of mystery and enigmas. Zhang Hongbao, a man with unlimited magical powers. Is he a man, or a god? Where did he come from, and where is he going? The power of his thought and concentration, the power of his wisdom and the power of his spirit, the power of his magical technique, his powers of communication and of spiritual transformation … Has he obtained them from a famous Master? From the Heavenly Way? From a god? Who knows? Do you? Do I? Does he? A heavenly phenomenon? An earthly phenomenon? A human phenomenon? The Universe. The Universe. The Universe. Transformation. Transformation. Transformation. A quest begun during his illness, his eyes opened during his search, a complete and total awakening to all that exists in the universe, he realizes his mission to bring good to the people of the three worlds,1 and to save humans and all beings. There is no Law in the world. … Total enlightenment is the Law. Here, then, is Zhang Hongbao. In the darkness, sitting on the ground, he becomes a god. He unites in the palm of his hand all the functions and magical powers transmitted and documented in written and oral history, including the magical techniques of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, therapy, martial arts, popular [magic], as well as Indian Yoga and Western Christianity”
Ji 1990: 66-67
The best-selling The Great Qigong Master Comes out of the Mountain, a book on the paranormal feats, healings and scientific discoveries of Zhang Hongbao (1954-2006), was one of dozens of hagiographical publications on contemporary qigong miracle makers, usually written by hired journalists, which flooded China’s bookstalls in the early 1990s. Through these books, as well as sensational newspaper reports and television documentaries, the purportedly state-controlled mass media played a pivotal role in fanning a nationwide craze for the paranormal phenomena linked to the practice of qigong. “Qigong fever” (qigong re) may be
considered to be the most widespread expression of urban religiosity in post-Mao China, from 1979, when qigong was officially legitimated, to 1999, when the crackdown on Falungong led to the disbanding of most popular qigong groups. Although it is impossible to determine the exact number of qigong practitioners during this period, it is safe to say that at least one in five urban Chinese had direct exposure to the movement at some time or another, either by practicing qigong exercises, attending healing activities, or reading qigong-related literature. This popular movement reached its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when mass qi-emission lectures held in sports stadiums drew audiences in the thousands, while millions congregated every morning to practice qigong in urban parks and public spaces.
