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 to understanding the politics and culture of post-Mao society.

"This work will become one of the most noted and discussed scholarly works in our field and will further establish its author as one of modern China's foremost cultural critics."--Howard Goldblatt, editor of Worlds Apart

In engaging, accessible language, Fang provides a unique insiders look at the fundamental issues faced by China and the West. By exploring key situations and conflicts embroiled in economic, political, and cultural relations, he discusses Chinas rapid acceleration onto the world stage.

This volume brings together selected articles published in University World News (UWN) and International Higher Education (IHE) between 2011 and 2016. Researchers, policy makers, and practitioners alike further the development of higher education as a field of study through public and ongoing conversations. It is news, analysis, and commentary publications like UWN and IHE that facilitate this dialogue and keep pace with the most up-to-date developments in the field. Together, the articles included in this volume—alongside the section introductions—offer a rich and relevant picture of the dynamic state of higher education globally. While both publications are freely available online, this book provides a thematically coherent selection of articles, offering an accessible and analytic perspective on the pressing concerns of contemporary higher education.

The gripping true story of treasure hunting and terrible tragedy encountered by divers exploring the world's most dangerous sunken shipwreck.

Book on Chinese cinema and literature

The book focuses on the iodine deficiency, endemic fluorosis, endemic arsenic poisoning, Kashin-Beck disease and Keshan disease which are five kinds of national key endemic diseases, a total of six chapters, comprehensively systematically introduces the information of five kinds of endemic diseases, including the epidemic characteristics, clinical manifestation, diagnosis standards, and the current control situation, preventive strategy, working experience, and successful control cases, etc. Endemic disease is confined to certain areas, of which there are dozens in Chinese inland, in which there are eight types been listed in the national key control endemic diseases. Endemic diseases are serious in China, and have wide distribution, weight illness and a large threatened population. China has made great achievements on the endemic diseases prevention and control, and also has accumulated rich experiences of the prevention and treatment, summed up some complete and effective preventive strategy, which based on the characteristics of endemic diseases epidemic and prevention work. Dr. Dianjun Sun is the Director of Center for Endemic Disease Control,Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin, China. He is also a professor of Harbin Medical University, China.