Newspaper & Media Report

An Interview With Master Qin and Her Qinway to Health and Enlightenment

Qigong, an ancient healing art handed down over generations after generations, has become increasingly popular in China since the 1980s. Many people have benefited from Qigong, yet sometimes there are also reports of harmful effects when it's not done properly. At one time I myself was intoxicated by this exciting renaissance of Qigong in modern era, but probably due to the subtlety of the Qigong I practiced, or my limited understanding, I haven't got the essence of Qigong so far. Although I am convinced that Qigong must be a treasured heritage of my homeland, I regret that I'm still an outsider. Occasionally some reports about pseudo Qigong make me constantly oscillate between conviction and suspicion.

After I came to America, I went to several Qigong grandmasters' presentations and seminars. Although I did witness some people move around spontaneously when Qigong masters transferred the "Qi"(vital energy), I still had no response and my opinion toward Qigong remained the same.

A few months ago, I heard that a new version of Qigong -- Qin Way to Health and Rejuvenation (Qinway Qigong) -- is very popular in the San Francisco bay area. Originally I only viewed it as a new style of Qigong adding to the already numerous existing Qigong styles and did not pay much attention. But recently, when I was chatting with a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctor, he mentioned that he himself and other TCM doctors attended Qigong Master Qin's Qigong classes and they all benefited enormously. His comment aroused my curiosity, which prompted me to get a first-hand information about this Qigong.

When I first saw the founder of Qinway Qigong, Master Qin, I was really surprised. In my mind, a Qigong Grandmaster must be an old gentleman with "gray hair and the face of a boy". Never would my wildest imagination connect Master Qin with a spirited lady in her thirties. I started my interview directly by asking the origin of her Qigong. She said that in her hometown in Zhejiang Province, China, Qigong was very popular. Her maternal grandmother's meditation was somewhat famous in the area. She learned meditation and standing on post and other methods from her grandmother when she was very young. Her hometown, Hangzhou, is not far from one of the four most famous Buddhist mountains in China -- Nanhai Putuo Mountain, where Qin met her mentor abbess Huikong and was genuinely instructed by her.

For years Qigong Master Qin visited many renowned mountains and temples and learned earnestly from some highly qualified hermits. In Zhejiang University, Qin majored in Chinese philosophy, which aided greatly in her exploration of the Qigong legacy of China. After decades of diligently learning and experimentation, Qigong Master Qin achieved high energy level and finally designed a new system of modernized Qigong. She showed me pictures of some renowned Qigong masters discussing the art with her. She further told me that besides these world famous Qigong masters, there are still other Qigong giants not known by the outside world. Researches into the secrets of Qigong (human science) are as limitless as researches into the secrets of the universe.

Next our topics turned to Qinway Qigong. Modern people are often anxious to benefit from Qigong in a short time, Qinway Qigong was designed to meet this demand as a set of simple and highly effective exercises. New practitioners can instantaneously open up their energy channels to the universe, and therefore activate subtle Qi reactions in the body, especially human detoxification or removing toxins out of the body. In June 1996, Master Qin taught openly at Beijing University, Tsinghua University, Academy of Science etc. in Beijing, all of which resulted in spectacular healing effects. She was hailed by the former chairman of the Chinese Qigong Research Association, Mr. Zhenhuan Zhang, as "little heavenly master Zhang". Widely recognized as a foremost Qigong practitioner and innovator, Master Qin was invited to give a presentation and lead a workshop at the Second World Congress on Qigong at San Francisco late in 1997. Her successful presentation and workshop gave her the honor of "Distinguished Faculty" and she was soon designated by the Immigration Services as "an alien with extraordinary ability" to stay in the United States.

Then we watched a video tape recording her recent "Energized-fasting Qigong Retreats" in the San Francisco bay area. In the tape, I saw Qigong Master Qin take out a steel spoon and let her students try to twist it into spiral. The steel spoon, impossible to bend even by strong young men, became very soft in Qigong Master Qin's hands. It's just by using this kind of invisible energy that Master Qin opens up energy channels for her students and make energized-fasting feasible for anyone even with no Qigong training before. I saw some students described enthusiastically how they fasted for two days with no feeling of hunger, and how they celebrated in removing toxins out of their bodies through discharging accumulated tarry stool, urination, perspiration, gasification etc. Based on these fundamental detoxifying processes (internal cleansing), weight loss of about 10 pounds in just a few days, and significant effects of beautification and rejuvenation are all sensible reality. What impressed me most was an old man at his 60s, who energetically proclaimed that he had been fasting continuously for 10 days and even the volume of his voice was not in the least decreased. He further claimed that although he had learned quite a few versions of Qigong before, and did have some feeling of the "Qi", only at this Qigong class his hypertension was healed and he lost more than 10 pounds and felt completely renewed.

When I asked how could Qinway Qigong achieve such impressive effects, Master Qin told me straightforwardly that it is all about energy infusion and human detoxification. She stressed the importance of energy infusion, because human detoxification can not be fully implemented without enough vital energy. On the other hand, cultivating "Qi" without effective methods to remove toxins out of the body is labor in vain. To be sure, human detoxification is an essential part of any effective healing process. Therefore, the size of Master Qin's energized-fasting Qigong retreats are limited and very small in order to make sure that everyone in the class is instructed individually according to his or her own reactions at different times in the process of human detoxification and energy infusion. Master Qin confidently told me that so far the Qigong retreats are almost 100% effective for their participants, even those with chronic or difficult diseases including cancer.

In order to let more people benefit from Qinway Qigong, Master Qin gives free introducing seminars and consultations from time to time. After this interview, I couldn't help the feeling that many things are beyond our imagination in this immense world. But we must always keep ourselves open and be willing to try out new things. Actually there is nothing mythical about the healing power of Qigong, and I genuinely hope that Qigong can bring health and peace to more and more people. If you want to have more information about Master Qin and her Qinway Grandmaster Foundation, please e-mail 930@qinway.org.