Psi research in China connects parapsychology with somatic science, qigong, traditional Chinese thought and speculative physical theory. This article surveys historical claims, experiments, training of blind children, earthquake prediction proposals, Chinese parapsychology organisations and theories about a ‘thought field’ and body-mind-spirit worlds.
- Chinese somatic science includes exceptional functions of the human body and qigong, with claims involving ESP, psychokinesis and healing effects.
- Training projects have reported blind children identifying colours, figures, words and numbers by touch, nose or ear, and performing PK tasks.
- Yi-Fang Chang proposes theoretical models including a fifth ‘thought field’ interaction and three-dimensional body-mind-spirit worlds.
Contents
History and Experimental Research
Psychic phenomena have been accepted in Chinese culture from earliest times to the present day. In Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and traditional Chinese medicine, the development of psychic faculties by practitioners in meditative practice is taken as a given.
Stories of psychic occurrences in many forms are found in the Records of the Grand Historian, or Shǐjì (史記), a history of all the dynasties of ancient China from earliest times that was compiled around 100 BC. Wu Ding (1271–1213 BC), for example, was a notable king of the early Shang dynasty who, wishing always to be wise, engaged Fu Shuo as his prime minister because he had found Fu Shuo’s telepathic ability an invaluable aid in guiding his decisions.
In the Western Zhou dynasty, King Wen of Zhou (1231–1135 BC), another enlightened leader who established the I Ching as the enduring manual of divination with its 64 hexagrams, had an outstanding prime minister, Jiang Ziya, known as the ‘master of strategy’, who was said to be able to both read minds and divine the future.
Parapsychology in China and somatic science includes many of the same phenomena, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK). Somatic science chiefly includes ‘exceptional functions of the human body’ (EFHB) and the traditional practice of qigong. Chinese scientists have carried out hundreds of experiments on ‘knowing words by ear’ and have studied other special abilities. Leping Zha introduced modern parapsychology in the People’s Republic of China and has provided a brief historical account of the three phases of China’s modern somatic science movement from 1979 to 2001.1Zha & McConnell (1991); Zha (2001).
The Institute of Somatic Science at Yunnan University, founded in 1980, has conducted a series of experiments on paranormal phenomena. These included experiments in which a clock was reportedly advanced or set back paranormally by PK; measurements of the mechanical effects led the investigators to argue that the effects could not have been produced by electromagnetic force or by any other known force.2Institute of Somatic Science of Yunnan University (1981); Zhu et al. (1983). Other reported work tested paranormal effects with a laser Raman-shift instrument and with a light-sensitive semiconductor psi bio-ray detector designed to measure the process of somatic singular functions.3Luo et al. (1989, 1994); Zhu & Luo (1995). Somatic singular function and qigong have also been applied to seed germination and crop growth, and reportedly to the treatment of illnesses. Theoretical research has also been discussed.4Chang (1988); Chang & Luo (1997).
Experiments With Blind Children
During the summers of 2012-2015, the Training Group on the Potential of Blind Children (Southern China Branch of the International Chinese Parapsychology Association), trained blind children in Kunming. Since 2014, similar training has been carried out in other regions of China. In 2016 the group joined a programme in Beijing, organised by Lady Tang Kai-Ting of Taiwan, that also trained blind children. Using a method that combined scientific memory training with traditional Chinese qigong and special methods, the researchers reported that after a period of training some children could distinguish colours by touch, nose or ear, and could even recognise simple figures and numbers. The researchers also reported that some blind children seemed to enter a shared ‘virtual space’, displayed ESP, and that objects were moved by PK. One blind child showed a particularly strong special function: he could reportedly recognise the colour and number of 45 cards in one minute. According to the researchers, he also seemed to act as a hub, using telepathy to help other children.5Chang et al. (2016).
Children reportedly used PK to fold strips of paper and break match rods or strips of paper in sealed containers. Some children were also reported to repair broken matches or paper strips partially, and even to somehow write a few tiny words, the Chinese phrase ‘Mother, I love you’, and a figure of ‘love’ on a match rod in a sealed container (figure 1).
Figure 1. Tiny words, ‘Mother, I love you’ in Chinese, and a figure of ‘love’ on a match rod.
In light of this and other research, Yi-Fang Chang proposed a neuroplasticity hypothesis.6Chang (2013). In this view, continuously induced and excited neural excitable cells grow new synapses and dendrites; the tactile, auditory and olfactory systems may join the visual system, forming a new neural network and eventually achieving a transformation between vision and other sensations. Chang has suggested possible tests of the hypothesis. He connects it with classical neuroplasticity, recurrences or loops in the brain, general neural circuits in modern neurobiology, brain plasticity, synaptic plasticity and long-term potentiation. In modern neurobiology, sensory substitution is known in such forms as vision substitution by touch and by the tongue, and Chang relates these possibilities to synaesthesia.7Chang (2016).
Earthquake Prediction
Chang proposes that earthquake prediction would benefit from combining three approaches: modern scientific instruments, useful scientific theories such as his magnitude-period formula for earthquakes, and paranormal methods. He has argued that the accuracy of scientific earthquake prediction would increase if these approaches were used together in a network.8Chang (2004); Chang (2017).
From the Gutenberg-Richter formula and nonlinear hydrodynamics, Chang derived the following magnitude-period formula of earthquake prediction:
T = 10^{-b(M0 – M)}T0.
Let the periodic scale be T0 = 250 years for a large earthquake of magnitude M0 = 7. Then quantitative calculations can be made. For example, when b = 0.86868, the periods are T = 33.83, 4.579 and 0.6197 years for M = 6, 5 and 4 respectively. Chang argues that T = 33.83 years agrees with earthquake periods in California. In the California region, he gives two series:
California earthquake series, b = 0.86868
| Year | 1852 | 1883 | 1918 | 1952 | 1986 |
| Magnitude | 6.5 | 6 | 6.8 | 7.7 | 6.1 |
| Year | 1857 | 1890 | 1922 | 1954 | 1986 |
| Magnitude | 7.9 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.1 |
If b = 1.70, the period is T = 4.988 years for M = 6. Chang states that this corresponds to the following earthquakes in California:
California earthquake series, b = 1.70
| Year | 1918 | 1922 | 1926 | 1932 | 1937 | 1942 | 1947 | 1952 | 1956 |
| Magnitude | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 6 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 6 |
| Year | 1962 | 1966 | 1971 | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | 1991 | 1994 | 1999 |
| Magnitude | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.9 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 7.6 |
In this simplified, calculable theory, once the scale is determined the period T corresponding to magnitude M depends only on b. In 2004, Chang used the magnitude-period formula to derive approximate California earthquake dates of 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. He noted that earthquakes of M = 6.5, M = 6.9 and M = 6 occurred on 23 December 2003, 3 August 2009 and 24 August 2014 respectively. Taking the period T = 33, he suggested that an earthquake in 2019 would be more probable.9Chang (2004); Chang (2017).
In 2019, two larger earthquakes occurred in California, on 4 July (M = 6.4) and 5 July (M = 7.1). John H. Reed, president of the World Institute for Scientific Exploration, wrote to Chang: ‘I was very impressed with your prediction of the earthquake that occurred in July in California. This certainly shows how powerful your earthquake prediction model is.’10Personal communication, 12 September 2019. Chang argues that this shows that earthquakes may be predicted initially and calculated simply.
Theories and Working Hypotheses
Chinese traditional culture includes Buddhism, Taoism, Yi, qigong and traditional Chinese medicine. Through their practices, people have been reported to experience paranormal phenomena. Research on near-death experiences is not common in China, but Buddhism has dealt with the question of the transition from life to death in profound depth. In Yunnan, many national cultures include ghosts and communication between humans and ghosts. In Chinese mysterious culture, divination and Yi may involve precognition.
Based on many experiments, quantum theory and the theoretical principles of modern science, Chang has proposed a simple model involving a thought field.11Chang (1988); Chang (2003). He describes it as a field emitted when a living being has an idea or thought. He assumes that the energy of this field is directly proportional to frequency, giving the basic formula E = Hν, where ν is frequency and H is an undetermined coefficient. The thought field is characterised by many different factors. Its frequencies can be strong or weak, and orderly or disorderly. From these distinctions, Chang derives four basic functional states.
At present, physics recognises four interactions: gravitational and electromagnetic fields, whose action distances are infinite and are therefore long-range forces, and strong and weak fields, whose action distances are very finite and are therefore short-range forces. Chang has argued that new research suggests that the thought field, or the entangled state related to quantum nonlocality, is probably a new fifth, middle-range interaction. Its action distance is neither infinite nor very short, and its strength is also intermediate. Figure 2, with the thought field in the middle shows the interactions.
Figure 2. Relations among the five interactions.
International Chinese Parapsychology Association and Practitioners
Professor Albert So of City University of Hong Kong, Wing-Lai Lam of Hong Kong and Professor Yi-Fang Chang of Yunnan University have re-established the International Chinese Parapsychology Association in Hong Kong. Its members are distributed through several provinces: Qin Hong, Yang Quan and Zhang Wen-Hua in Yunnan; Gong Zhe-bing in Hubei; Yin Daming in Jiangsu; Guo Decai in Hebei; and other experts, including Shao Linxiang.
Chang has provided an overview of several well-known Chinese masters with special abilities. These include Sun Chulin, who is said to be able to drill through coins by PK and to cause cooked peanuts or beans to sprout. Dai Shuzeng, who has undergone extensive Buddhist practice, and his ‘fragrant hand’ is said to inspire admiration. Jin Xia is reported to be able to absorb different material objects with her body. Her abilities are now mainly applied to the treatment of illnesses, and she is sometimes said to be able to see the causes of disease.12Chang (2020).
Conferences and Publications
The conference ‘Chinese Traditional Culture and Research of Parapsychology’ was held in Kunming on 23-24 October 2011. After the conference, the book Chinese Traditional Culture and Research of Parapsychology was published.13Chang et al. (2012). It was the first academic research book on parapsychology published in the People’s Republic of China. The book attempts to combine Chinese traditional culture and modern science from a new point of view. The book, which served as the proceedings of the conference, includes 31 articles. The first article, ‘String Theory, Universal Mind, and the Paranormal’, was written by Brian D. Josephson, 1973 Nobel laureate in physics and professor at the University of Cambridge. The book was sent to famous libraries around the world and was reviewed in NeuroQuantology and the World Institute for Scientific Exploration Journal.14Chang (2012); Anon. (2016).
Based on scientific experiments of external qigong, Shao Linxiang, professor at Zhejiang Normal University, proposed concrete projects and feasible methods. He also reported that external qigong could directly kill in vitro cultured cancer cells and inhibit in vivo tumour growth. Qigong practitioners, he argued, can affect water, which can inhibit bacterial proliferation, induce apoptosis in cancer cells and promote the growth of normal cells.
Chang has discussed various psychic abilities, including the Buddhist Six Sense-Organs Interoperation. He proposed that methods of parapsychological research in China belong to three broad systems: modern science, traditional culture and religions. Various parapsychology studies, he argues, suggest the possible existence of a new interaction, high-dimensional space-time or new body-mind-spirit many-worlds.15Chang (2012).
Chang argued that the metaphysical aspects of scientific studies are closely related to the origin and development of various religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam. He proposed that Chan-Ding in Buddhism is a body-mind synergetics, and discussed the thermodynamics of the thought field and parapsychology in relation to possible entropy decrease. According to phase transformation and catastrophe theory, he argued that a ‘soul’ after death must exist.
The Second Conference on ‘Chinese Traditional Culture and Research of Parapsychology’ was held in Kunming on 19-21 November 2016, under the auspices of the International Chinese Parapsychology Association. Chang has reviewed the conference proceedings.16Chang (2018). The conference logo, shown in figure 3, combines a tai-ji diagram from Chinese traditional culture with the psi sign coloured green to represent life.
Figure 3. Badge combining the tai-ji figure in Chinese traditional culture with the psi sign.
This symbol shows that the work is rooted in classical Chinese culture while responding to the development of the modern world. The tai-ji diagram represents a complementary principle and was also used by Niels Bohr, one of the best-known leaders of quantum mechanics; psi is also the symbol for a wave function in quantum theory.
Body-Mind-Spirit Worlds
After many years of investigating psychic phenomena, Chang proposed three-dimensional body-mind-spirit worlds in human society (figure 4). He argued that this model is implied by many Chinese and ancient world phenomena, various religions, magical causality, strange phenomena in homicide cases, haunted houses around the world and reincarnation.17Chang (2021); Chang (2024).
Figure 4. Three-dimensional body-mind-spirit space.
In this model, the ordinary world is a body, or matter, world accompanied by rights and wealth. Its largest figures are emperors and rich people; B = 0 denotes an ordinary civilian; below B < 0 are the poor and the ‘untouchable’.
The second dimension is the mind, or conscious world, associated with morality and reputation. M > 0 denotes good people, the highest of whom are sages; M = 0 denotes a mortal with animal nature; below M < 0 are gangsters, criminals and liars. In Chinese traditional culture, Yang and Yin correspond to body and mind.
The third dimension is the spirit, or gods, world. S > 0 denotes gods of different levels; S < 0 denotes demons and ghosts of different levels; and S = 0 denotes atheism. It also corresponds to the highest heaven and the lowest hell. Chang describes this as outer space and a new space: uncontrollable and difficult to study, although related to human-nature induction. The difficulty, he says, is that its frequency seems to be variable, corresponding to the quantum uncertainty principle.
The three dimensions can be entangled with one another, especially where mind and spirit mutually affect each other. Chang argues that this result can produce strange effects such as poltergeist phenomena and can even cause great damage to the body-matter world. He suggests that the combination of large matter-bodies and huge negative thoughts formed some of the great tyrants in history.
Yi-Fang Chang
Works Cited
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