Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China is a 2007 book by David A. Palmer, published by Columbia University Press. It is about the "Qigong fever" in the late 20th century in China.
Patricia M. Thornton of the University of Oxford described it as "the first serious English-language history" of that topic.[1]
YouTube Encyclopedic
-
1/3Views:1 6006 860479
-
China's Religious Landscape: Models of Religious Pluralism (David Palmer)
-
The Religious Question in Modern China
-
Yupeng Jiao: Chinese Martial Arts Ritual Groups in the Mid-Twentieth Century
Transcription
Background
David Palmer studied at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and published a French language thesis, Fièvre du qigong, in 2005. He adapted it into this book, which was published in English. Georges Favraud described the final book as "condensed" in the American style relative to the thesis but that Palmer "steps back to clarify and extend his earlier arguments."[2]
Contents
Benjamin Penny wrote that the book is "Broadly chronological in structure".[3]
The first chapter shows the rise of qigong in China in the period 1949-1964.[2] The second describes how Qigong regained prominence after 1978. The role of "grandmasters" in the qigong movement is chronicled in the third chapter.[3] The political role in "qigong fever" is covered in those second and third chapters. The fourth chapter shows the technological dimension of "qigong fever".
The fifth describes how qigong, during the "qigong fever" period, incorporated elements of Chinese culture.[2] The fifth chapter includes information on Yan Xin, Zhang Hongbao, and Zhang Xianyu.[3] Chee-Han Lim of the Australian National University states that the chapter had a "broad picture of the qigong movement" but that "Unfortunately[...]Palmer does not really manage to capture the "feverishness"" as he did not have enough room in the book.[4]
The sixth describes how the qigong movement responded to people criticizing it,[4] and how the Chinese central government made efforts to manage the qigong movements. The Zhong Gong and Zangmi Gong,[2] along with commercialization and the structures of qigong groups in general, are described in the seventh.[3] Falun Gong is described in the eight and ninth. The tenth contextualizes modern gigong with the history of belief in China.[2] The tenth includes some hypotheses.[4]
Reception
Lim wrote that the book "is an excellent addition" to its field,[5] and he added that chapters 1 and 2 "are a must-read" for people learning about qigong for the first time.[6]
Favraud praised the book for "original and profound insights".[2]
Thornton described it as a "excellent volume".[7]
Penny wrote that "Qigong Fever should be required reading for students of China’s modern cultural scene" because the work reveals the genesis of the Falun Gong.[8]
Notes
References
- Favraud, Georges (2009). Translated by Jonathan Hall. "David A. Palmer, Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China / La Fièvre du Quigong: guérison, religion, et politique en Chine, 1949-1999: New York, Columbia University Press, 2007, 356 pp. / Paris, Editions de l'EHESS, 2005, 512 pp". China Perspectives. 2009 (4). doi:10.4000/chinaperspectives.4949. - PDF
- Lim, Chee-Han (2008). "Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China . David A. Palmer". The China Journal. Canberra, A.C.T. 59: 181–183. doi:10.1086/tcj.59.20066405.
- Penny, Benjamin (2008). "Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China. David A. Palmer. London: Hurst and Company, 2007. xii + 356 pp. £25.00. ISBN 1-85065-841-2". The China Quarterly. London. 193: 186–187. doi:10.1017/S0305741008000246. S2CID 154494286.
- Thornton, Patricia (May 2010). "Review: Book Reviews Reviewed Work: Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China. by David A. Palmer". History of Religions. The University of Chicago Press. 49 (4): 426–427. doi:10.1086/655386. JSTOR 10.1086/655386. S2CID 162300465.
Further reading
- Sources about the thesis
- "La fièvre du " Qigong ": Guérison, religion et politique en Chine, 1949-1999". - School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS)
- Reviews
- Ownby, David (2005). "David A. Palmer, La Fièvre du Qigong. Guérison, religion et politique en Chine, 1949-1999, 2005 [compte-rendu]". Études chinoises (in French). 24: 558–562.
- "La "fièvre du qigong". Guérison, religion et politique en Chine contemporaine[note critique]". Annuaires de l'École pratique des hautes études (in French). 110: 511–514. 2001.
External links
- Qigong Fever - Columbia University Press
- Palmer, David A. (2013) [2007]. Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-14066-9. - Hosted at the Internet Archive
| Main topics |  | |
|---|---|---|
| TCM and philosophy | ||
| Traditional practices | ||
| Qigong forms and styles | ||
| Qigong masters |
| |
| Spiritual movements and politics | ||
| Related topics | ||
 | This article about a China-related book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This page was last edited on 18 February 2024, at 22:40