CHRONOLOGY OF RECENT INTEREST IN EXCEPTIONAL FUNCTIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00792R000400300011-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 5, 1998
• Sequence Number: 11
• Content Type: LIST

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XI
Chronology of Recent Interest in
Exceptional Functions of the Human
Body in the People's Republic of
China
1978 First scientific research conducted on exceptional functions
of the human body (EFHB) with Tang Yu.
1979 (March 11) Article in Sichuan Daily about a 12-year old
boy, Tang Yu, being able to "read" with his ears touches
off widespread interest.
1979 (May) Article in People's Daily criticized the Sichuan
Daily report as unscientific.
1979 (September) A major Chinese science journal, Ziran Zazhi
[Nature Journal], carried a report on "nonvisual" pattern
recognition" in which popular accounts of exceptional human
body function were confirmed.
1980 An unofficial preliminary organization entitled the Chinese
Human Body Science Association (Preparatory Committee)
was set up under the auspices of Nature Journal.
1980 (February) Ziran Zazhi [Nature Journal] and the Chinese
Human Body Science Association held a parapsychology
conference in Shanghai with participants from over 20
research institutes and universities.
1981 A news film on EFIj "Do You Believe?," was produced
by the Central News el and Documentary Studio and was
shown on TV and in many theaters. This resulted in
hundreds of children claiming they had psi ability. This in
turn led to the formation of over 100 centers to study these
abilities with the cooperation of at least 100 formally
trained scholars.
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40 Parapsychology in the Soviet Union
1981 (May) A second conference on parapsychology organized by
the Chinese Human Body Science Association was held in
Chongqing. This led to publication of a series of papers in
Ziran Zazhi.
1981 (October) The State Science Commission set up a special
group to study exceptional human body function.
1981 (October) Organized by Dr. Stanley Krippner of Saybrook
Institute, a group of American and Canadian scientists,
physicians, and educators visited the People's Republic of
China and attended 5 formal technical meetings.
1981 In order to accommodate the many papers submitted to
Nature Journal, a monthly newletter, the EFHB Bulletin,
was initiated by Nature Jounal.
1981 China Encyclopedia Almanac uses the term "extraordinary
functions of the human body."*
1981 (October 30) Summary statement issued by the Committee
for the Study of Exceptional Human Functions who had
visited the PRC earlier in the month.
1982 (February 24) Chinese Academy of Sciences sponsored a
public hearing 'in Beijing attended by 4,000 scholars, in
which the cases reported were analyzed and most of them
considered to be unfounded. They called for "fair but
strictly controlled" tests to lead to a final judgment. This
disapproval of psi research was widely published in the two
most important government-authorized media, Xinghua
News Agency and the People's Daily.
1982 (February 25) People's Daily presented the view that no
solid evidence for the paranormal had been put forth.
1982 (April) A joint trial was arranged by the Party's Na-
tional Committee of Science at Beijing Teacher's College.
Proponents of both sides attended. The results were mostly
negative, with the exception of those of Q'ZM\(Zhang
Baosheng).
* The entire article has been translated into English and is
printed in Section IIC.
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Chronology (Parapsychology in China) 405
1982 (May 13) Both sides of the debate appealed to the Party.
The decision was announced by Hu Yaobang, the Party's
Gereral Secretary. Exceptional functions of the human body
was rejected as an approved subject of scientific research,
but a minority group of scientists was to be allowed to
continue their research and report it in an internally circu-
lated publication for the consideration of interested scien-
tists. The media were requested not to publish on the
topic. Formal university research and government funding
was halted.
1982 (August) An invited speech was given by two Chinese
scientists, Chen Hsin and Mei Lei, at the joint convention
of the Parapsychological Association and the Society for
Psychical Research held at Cambridge University.
1983 A series of PK experiments with the subject Zhang
Baosheng (Z) were conducted by 19 researchers led by Prof.
Lin Shuhuang of the physics department of Beijing
Teacher's College. The results were reported in EFHB
Research.
1984 Zhang Baosheng became a full-time subject of the
military-run psi research team at what was called the 507
Institute, or the Institute of Space Medico-Engineering
(ISME) in Beijing. Thus, psi research at ISME was official
and funded.
1985 In an interview with Paul Dong in the March, 1985 issue
of Psi Research, Larissa Vilenskaya asked if Chinese psi
research was continuing. He replied that the government
ordered the scientists not to refer publicly to their work.
The research continues but is published only in special
journals for internal use only.
1985 (August) At the 1985 convention of the Parapsychological
Association, H.E. Puthoff of SRI International reported an
attempt to repeat some experiments reported by researchers
from the People's Republic of China at the 1982 convention
of the Parapsychological Association. The repetition was
partially successful, although smaller in magnitude than the
Chinese results.
1985 (August) A PRC-made film on qigong was presented
during a workshop on the "Status of Psi Research in the
People's Republic of China" at the 28th Annual Convention
of the Parapsychological Association in Medford, MA,
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406 Parapsychology in the Soviet Union
August 12 1985. The panel is described in Psi Research,
1985 (Sep/Dec), 4(3/4), p 126-_129.Y
A ) n ~1-o s 4 a r i 'N 1
1985 (September 5) Guangzhou University intta ed first qigong
course i^ lggb f G -TI-c c o..r
1985 (September 14-26) A delegation of Chinese doctors who
study the therapeutic effects of )4igong met with American
physicians at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center and
Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA. -111_
v~~lf n kJ E rt
1985 (September 17-21) A national qigong conference was held
in Xian.
1985 (December) The China Qigong Science Association gained
government approval.
1986 Interest in qigong expanded after several highly successful
demonstrations were highly publicized.
1987 The ISME team produced a film about PK in which
Zhang Baosheng served as subject. It showed a marked
medical pill passing through glass. Military support of psi
research was indicated when this film was awarded a
"Scientific Research Achievement Prize" of the second class
by the Spacefight Department.
1987 Dr. Qian Zue3en was named chair of the Chinese Science
and Technology Association, which coordinates Chinese
scientific research. He strongly supported qigong research.
1987 (Late) In a directive, the Educational Department for the
first time listed qigong training courses in Chinese univer-
sities. Qigong treatment clinics were set up and -hospitals
expanded qigong departments. The Party informally
changed its earlier ruling, giving private instructions over a
period of time to some of the Party's senior leaders. Many
of the leaders themselves were convinced by qigong.
1988 (October) An International Qigong Science Convention was
held in Beijing. A total of 142 papers from six countries in
Asia were given.
1988 (November) The World Academic Society of Medical
Qigong was formed, with members from over 20 countries.
1988 (November) A Second National Conference of the Chinese
1-n
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Chronology (Parapsychology in China) 407
Society of Somatic Science was held in Beijing.
1989 (September) A second International Qigong Convention,
together with the First National Old People's Qigong Study
Convention, was held in Xian in Shanxi Province. Over
600 papers were presented.
1990 Lin Shuhuang of Beijing Teacher's College was promoted
to head of the College's Scientific Research Coordinating
Office. He established the Comprehensive Technology In-
stitute, which has the official support of the Chinese Na-
tional Science Foundation, enabling him to conduct official
psi (somatic science) research.
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