Brief Analysis on the Exploratory Studies of External Qi in China: An Analytic Review

Scientists have long been interested in the measurement of external Qigong (Wai Qi) or the out of body biofield effect during Qigong practice, which produced a large number of literatures in Chinese in this area during the past two decades. Since many western scientists have started to express strong interest in the measurement of external Qi or biofield, and in understanding the mechanism of Qi transmission, an analytic review of what has been done on the exploratory studies of external Qi effects in China should help them to eliminate the simple repeating verification of external Qi, and to increase the efficacy of future studies. This paper briefly reviews the major studies of external Qigong in China from five different perspectives: (1) physical signal detectors; (2) chemical dynamics methods; (3) detectors using biological materials; (4) detectors using life sensor; and (5) detectors using human body. Included are discussions on the pros and cons of each detector based on the related literature and some unpublished studies. Most of the studies have confirmed the existence of external Qi, but none of them have provided a good explanation of its mechanisms. The literature seems to suggest that, from physical signal detector to human body detector, as the energy sensitivity level decreases the bio-information sensitivity level increases. The physical signal detector may be most sensitive to the weak signal of energy, but least sensitive to the assumed bio-information in the external Qi. While human body detector may not be sensitive to the physical signal, it is more receptive to the bio-information from the external Qi. Given the fact that we are unable to determine the exact mechanism of external Qi with existing equipment and knowledge, and that Qigong is mainly a self-training method or process and not an external therapy, the primary objective of research in external qi should be directed towards the understanding of the major benefits of Qigong, and helping the general public to accept the existence of such biofield effects, and benefit from this ancient therapy.