Supposed telekinetic qigong healer can't dispel skepticism

Self-proclaimed "qigong master" Wang Lin lived a luxurious life away from the public eye for two decades, but pictures of him receiving celebrities at his home in east China's Jiangxi Province have changed that.

Since the photos popped up online earlier this month, video clips of Wang resurrecting beheaded snakes, recovering paper from ashes and shredding steel with his bare hands have circulated online.

Alongside these outrageous feats, stories of him curing people of illnesses in exchange for large sums of money have also surfaced.

Wide media coverage of his so-called "supernatural powers," his unprecedented popularity among the elite and his fortune have drawn skepticism from social science professors, people devoted to discrediting pseudoscientific claims and the general public.

They are asking: Does he really possess supernatural powers? Did he accumulate his wealth through legal means? Has he been carrying out illegal medical practices?

　　SUPERPOWER OR SUPER TRICK?

Wang Lin told the daily Beijing News in a July 22 interview that he had once been assessed by a team of 17 Japanese scientists for seven straight days and nights.

He also said that U.S. intelligence agencies offered him 70 green cards to try to persuade him to emigrate, but he turned them down because of his attachment to his hometown.

When Sima Nan, an online celebrity famous for debunking pseudoscientific claims, questioned Wang about whether the "miracles" achieved through his qigong mastery were simply magic tricks, Wang became offended and said he could kill Sima with his fingers from just a few meters away.

In his self-published book "Chinese People," Wang claimed he could use thought to transport materials, which is the highest level of qigong practice.

Qigong, which combines breathing, physical exercise and mental training methods based on Chinese philosophy, is practiced by people from China and around the world for the purposes of strengthening the body, maintaining health, meditating and training in martial arts.

Wang told the Beijing News that he has cured many patients, including former President of Indonesia Suharto.@ However, doubts have been cast by a skeptical public, who believe he's simply doing magic tricks, not harnessing telekinetic powers.

"He knew some tricks for summoning cigarettes and wine from thin air, but that was only magic," a man who worked with him on a farm in Yifeng County for more than ten years said.

"I never heard of him being able to cure disease," said the man who declined to be named.

According to the person in charge of the farm, Wang served prison terms in the 1970s for sexual harassment.

Wang refused to respond to the claim.

Zhou Xiaozheng, a social science professor with Renmin University of China, said similar tricks are common in magic shows at home and abroad.