Conference Report

The First National Conference

on
The Bigu Manifestation, Health Effects and
Scientific Research of Yan Xin Qigong

Sponsored by

• The Pennsylvania State University

Science, Technology and Society Program
• University of Arizona
Program in Integrative Medicine
• Friends of Health
Washington, D.C.
• Traditional Acupuncture Institute
Columbia, Maryland
• International Yan Xin Qigong Association
Scientific Research & Health Departments

June 23-25, 2000

University Park, Pennsylvania
 Conference Report

The First National Conference on the Bigu Manifestation,

Health Effects and Scientific Research of Yan Xin Qigong

Rustum Roy, Conference Chair

Yi Fang, Conference Coordinator
Materials Research Lab, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

From June 23 to June 25, 2000, over 500

enthusiastic scientists and scholars descended
on the picturesque campus of The Pennsylvania
State University for a unique scientific
conference on qigong health practices and the
bigu phenomenon. The Conference was
sponsored by the STS (Science, Technology
and Society) Program of Penn State, the
University of Arizona Program in Integrative
Medicine, Friends of Health (an organization
championing the cause of all integrative
medicine), etc. The Conference is considered a
historical event in world qigong scientific
research development as it was the first of its
kind for the new millennium in which the
Western scientific community systematically
introduced the “bigu” phenomenon of Yan Xin
Qigong to the public. The Conference was also
viewed as the launching of a scientific discourse
between Eastern and Western philosophical and
scientific systems that will add significantly to
human health and world peace.
Prof. Roy opens the Bigu Conference
Great Group, Great Setting:
Audience at the Bigu Conference
Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice for
body-mind development and healing with
several thousand years of written history. Some
startling benefits in the realm of healing of
cancer, managing difficult pregnancies, stress-
related diseases and so on, were reported.
Experiments on the effects of “qi” (chi) by the
grand master Yan Xin (a kind of combination of
Michael Jordan and Albert Einstein in talents),
directly measured from chemical and physical
reactions in leading universities, were as new as
the report by Roentgen 100 years ago when he
discovered X-rays. The most intriguing, first
time ever, public presentation was the
extraordinary phenomenon called “bigu”
(without food). Many of the Yan Xin Qigong
practitioners find themselves in this state—
where they do not need to eat solid food at all
for days, weeks, months or even years. The
Conference had over 100 attendees who had
experienced this state while maintaining more
than normal active professional lives in U.S.
corporate and academic research centers. A

1
dozen persons were present who had not eaten
solid food for 5-10 years. Large groups of
scientists, doctors, both Chinese and Western,
reported on their own experiences with bigu.
The Conference attracted many senior
scientists who commented on the relationship to
current scientific paradigms: Prof. Rustum Roy,
the organizer of the Conference, founding
director of Penn State’s Materials Research
Laboratory and a member of the National
Academies of the U.S., Sweden, Japan, India,
and Russia; Prof. Hans-Peter Duerr, past
director of the Max-Planck Institute of
Theoretical Physics in Munich (Albert Einstein
was its first director), successor and colleague
of Werner Heisenburg (a father of quantum
mechanics); Prof. Della M. Roy, materials
scientist, member of the National Academy of
Engineering; Prof. Larry Brown, member of the
National Academy of Sciences; Prof. Jerry
Worlf, Harvard Medical School; Prof. Joie
Jones, professor of radiology, University of
California at Irvine; and Dr. Johanne Boisvert,
program manager of Quebec’s Agriculture
Department, Canada. The majority of the
attendees had advanced degrees in science and
technology, including over 150 PhD’s.
Yan Xin Qigong belongs to a traditional
Chinese comprehensive and scientific discipline
newly formed and awaiting substantive
exploration. The “bigu” phenomenon, which
occurs among certain qigong practitioners,
entails the cessation of eating solid food for
periods of weeks to months and even years
while maintaining a normal daily life . During
bigu, people also experience increased energy,
Western representatives with bigu experiences
2
Prof. Duerr presents at the Bigu Conference
mental clarity, physical well-being and strength.
About 50 scientific reports were presented,
including individual bigu case reports,
experimental studies of bigu at the cell level,
qigong health effects, effects of qigong on
physical, chemical and life science as well as
industrial applications of qigong. People from
all walks of life reported their bigu experience,
including a dozen each of the U.S. medical
doctors and university professors. Families
with young children were among the most
intriguing and attractive subjects in this bigu
state. Extensive research, including continuous
24 hrs/day TV monitoring at a major U.S.
university, provided more evidence on the
special nature of this state. One of the findings
presented at this conference was the blood
chemistry research that showed the chemical
difference and metabolic response that
differentiated the bigu state from fasting. To
hint at what could be happening, Prof. Roy used
the analogy of a very efficient car like the new
Toyota, which can run about 80 miles to the
gallon instead of only 15 or 20 miles per gallon.
The bigu state is a mind-body “balanced” state
which needs only 250-300 calories or even less
instead of the usual 2000 calories to run the
human engine for a day.
A large number of reports presented the
effects of qi-emission measured directly on the
most sophisticated scientific instrumentation. In
1999, in the international journal “ Materials
 Research Innovations” published in Germany, a
paper reported on some of these results obtained
by Xin
(Yan Dr. etYan XinRes.
al., Mat. andInnovat
collaborating scientists
(1999) 2:349-359)
from leading universities. The results indicated
that the external qi of qigong effects changes in
the structure and properties of certain materials
from water to lithium niobate. A whole series
of papers described the biological and health
effects of qigong practice, and with qi-
embedded powders. Remarkable healing at the
personal level, and effects at the cellular level
were reported. The implication of these claims
can no longer be avoided.
This Conference attracted a tremendous
amount of attention from well-established
scientists in the West. Many scientists realized
that Yan Xin Qigong may bring a prospective
future to various disciplines of science,
especially life sciences, and deserves more in-
depth research. Dr. Yi Fang, the Conference
Coordinator, called bigu a super-efficient state
of the human body analogous to the super-
A family that has been in bigu for years
conducting phenomenon in materials science.
He considered bigu a special, yet natural,
process of the human body for self-purification,
healing, and optimizing towards an advanced,
highly healthy life state with a harmony of the
mind, body and spirit; individual and society;
and human and nature. “The significance of
bigu and related Yan Xin Qigong phenomena in
health, environment, medicine, science,
especially life science and related technology,
for the whole world in the future cannot be
overestimated. Although, scientific exploration
of the related mechanisms requires tremendous
efforts”, said Dr. Fang.
The Conference was a landmark event as a
call to the science and medicine communities to
study carefully the value of bigu and qigong to
the U.S. and world society.
For further information about the Conference
and the proceedings, please check the Web site
http://www.clubs.psu.edu/yanxinqigong/
A group of professors with bigu experiences