For more than two and a half years during WWII, fierce, deadly, and heroic battles took place in the western Yunnan Province (in the region called Dianxi, 滇西) in China. Besides helping to turn the tide against the Japanese Imperial Army in the Asian warfront, the events that occurred during this period are of great historical significance for two reasons. One is that by studying what happened in Dianxi, one can learn about all four major types of atrocities committed by the Japanese in Asia during WWII: (1) Massacre, (2) sex slaves, (3) germ warfare, and (4) slave labor. The other is how the Chinese, Americans, and Overseas Chinese joined forces to fight successfully to drive out the invading Japanese army.

This article is based on a personal visit to Dianxi in July 2009, as part of the 2009 Peace and Reconciliation Tour to China (also called China Study Tour) organized by the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (GA) and the New Jersey Alliance for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (NJ-ALPHA).[1]

Japan’s Invasion of Western Yunnan:

Japan’s invasion of Southeast Asia began on December 8, 1941 with its invasion of Thailand and Malaya, i.e., about the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, which in Asia was December 8, 1941. In early 1942 Japan invaded and gained control of Burma from the British colonial power. At that time, Japan already controlled all the sea ports along the east coast of China and a large part of the urban areas of China, making it extremely difficult for the Allies to provide supplies to China. However, since Japan did not control Yunnan Province, which shares a western border with Burma and other Southeast Asian countries,  the Allied Forces, in particular, the U.S., were able to transport military and other supplies to Kunming (昆明, capital of Yunnan) and there to other parts of China, either via the ground using the Burma Road[2] starting from the port of Rangoon in southern Burma or via the air by flying through the Himalayan mountain range bordering Yunnan and nearby Asian countries.

In order to shut off this critical supply route to China which greatly helped the Chinese to fight against the Japanese, in late April 1942 Japan moved their troops in Burma to invade western Yunnan, with the objective of gaining control of Kunming which is several hundred miles to the east. On the way to Kunming they first had to cross the Salween River (also known as Nujiang, 怒江 meaning Angry River in Chinese) and go through the city of Baoshan (保山), which is the heart of the Dianxi region and just to the east of the Salween River. To help soften the defense of Baoshan, the Japanese army periodically bombed Baoshan and the surrounding area in late April and early May in 1942. This is followed by a massive bombing raid on Baoshan on May 4, 1942, including using large amounts of germ warfare, in particular, bombs that can spread cholera and bubonic plague. May 4 is an important historic day in China in honor of the May 4, 1919 student movement (perhaps the world’s largest student movement ever), which was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement growing out of students protesting the Chinese government’s weak response to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, including the transfer of German concessions in Shandong Province to Japan, instead of returning its sovereignty to China. Therefore, on May 4, 1942, as on other May 4, many people in Baoshan were out commemorating the May 4 Movement when the bombing attack started around noon. In one day this bombing attack killed 10,000 people in Baoshan, and the effects of the germ warfare lasted many years, and cholera alone killed about 60,000 people in the Baoshan area, plus thousands more killed from the bubonic plague in the Baoshan area.[3] The population of Baoshan in 1942 was about 400,000.

Three Survivors’ Testimonies

During our recent trip, we interviewed three people who were survivors of the May 4, 1942 bombing and germ warfare attack. They are

• Yizhi Yuan: a 90 year old woman who was 22 on May 4, 1942
• An Xian Ma: a 75 year old man who was eight on May 4, 1942
• Jia Zhen Ma (wife of An Xian Ma): a 72 year old woman who was five on May 4, 1942

These are their stories.

Yizhi Yuan: She was an overseas Chinese living in Burma. She is Muslim. Besides Chinese, she also speaks Burmese and a little bit of English. After Japan took control of Burma, the Japanese just randomly burned and killed people. In Burma many of the overseas Chinese who could afford to do so escaped to Baoshan, Yunnan; those who could not afford to do so remained in Burma and most likely were killed. She thinks that if they had not escaped from Burma, they would have all died.

On May 4, 1942, a bomb hit the roof of her house and killed her husband, younger brother, and younger sister. (She also had another younger brother and younger sister in Burma, but she has lost contacts with them.) The bomb wounded her in several parts of her body, and her right foot was damaged. She was saved by two Americans (perhaps soldiers), who were part of a contingent of 30-40 Americans stationed in that area, perhaps to build airports. She was very happy to see us, because it was the first time she has met Americans since 1942.

The doctors wanted to amputate her foot, but she refused because she would prefer death. Subsequently a Chinese doctor treated her and saved her foot, but her right foot is permanently deformed. She was also infected with cholera, but treatment by a Burmese oriental doctor cured her.

Later she remarried, to a man whose first wife and brother and sister were also killed during the bombing attack. They have three daughters and a son, the latter we also met during our visit. Her second husband kept a daily diary starting in 1942 with detailed records of the bombing and the cholera (this diary was also shown to us). Several of his relatives also died from cholera.

Our contingent included two young college students, Sophia and her younger brother Brian, whose parents lived in Burma before moving to Taiwan. Sophia can speak a few phrases of Burmese, and Brian was born in Burma. When Sophia spoke with old Yuan in Burmese, old Yuan was overjoyed to hear Burmese, and she said it was the first time in over 60 years that she had spoken Burmese.

Old Yuan said that the Japanese right wing must understand that Japan went very far away and destroyed people’s lives and destroyed a peaceful region’s livelihood.

Survivor Yizhi Yuan	Yizhi Yuan with Sophia and Brian

To get a bigger size of each of the photos, just click on the photo.

An Xian Ma: He first noticed skin lesions, signs of bubonic plague (other signs are swollen glands), among the people in Baoshan about seven-eight days after the May 4, 1942 bombing. His sister was also infected with the plague, but his father, who was a Chinese doctor, treated his sister and she survived. Also around the same time, he saw signs of cholera infection (symptom was exhaustive diarrhea). He said that before the bombing, Baoshan had no bubonic plague, and only a few cases of cholera. But after the bombing, he saw many bodies. Many of his playmates, including the whole family of one of his playmates, died from bubonic plague. The Japanese would even ask innocent small children to supply them with rats (in exchange for a small monetary reward), and then infect the rats with the bubonic plague bacteria. They then let the rats loose to infect more Chinese.

There were so many deaths that they even ran out of coffins, resulting in bodies just being left exposed on mattresses. One day, he even saw dogs running around with human leg bones in their mouths. So many men were killed; it was up to the women to carry away the bodies. He said it was like hell.

He said that his sister met an old man who saw a bomb on the ground. The bomb was split opened, either opened upon impact or opened by itself. Then lots of flies with sticky yellow, jelly-like material on their wings flew away. These flies would carry and spread the cholera-infecting bacteria.

It seems that every year there was a reappearance of the bubonic plague, until 1952 when the Chinese government had a campaign to eradicate rats, whose fleas are the main carrier of the bubonic plague bacteria.

Before he retired, Mr. Ma was a business administrator in a government agency.

Jia Zhen Ma: Her parents’ family moved from Burma to Baoshan in 1941. Her aunt (her mother’s sister) and her aunt’s six-year-old daughter both died from bubonic plague resulting from the 1942 bombing.

After the Japanese bombed Baoshan in 1942, Baoshan’s whole social and political fabric was destroyed and was basically non-existent. People had to rely on themselves to find food, and often also shelter since so many buildings and houses were also destroyed. Survival was a difficult, daily task.

Japanese planes bombed Baoshan again several times from May to July 1942. But after three Japanese planes were shot down by General Chennault’s Flying Tigers[4] in July 1942, the Japanese planes flew away and never returned to bomb Baoshan again.

Her mother was an elementary school teacher (my notes did not record the profession of her father).  She was the only child, and she received better education as compared to other girls of that generation.  She was sent to school, and graduated from a university, and became a school teacher. Now in retirement, she still attends adult university classes in the afternoon, and practices Taiji in the morning.

She is also Muslim. In Baoshan today, there are about 3,000 Muslim minorities, and another 1,000 who believed in the Muslim religion but not considered as Muslim minorities. She said that independent of their racial background or religion, they are all nationalistic toward the Chinese government. Even though they are Muslims, their love for the Chinese motherland never diminished.

She said that we cannot forget history. Those Chinese who know about this part of history must educate other Chinese. She said that Japan should also learn from the past, and teach their young people about history. She would like good Sino-Japanese relationship and world peace.

Although she has not written her memoirs, her niece has asked her many times to do so. She has now decided to write her memoirs.

Stopping Japanese Army’s Advance and Japanese Atrocities:

As the Japanese army advanced from the west toward Baoshan, the only way that the Chinese army was able to stop the Japanese army’s advance, to not only Baoshan, but all the way to Kunming, was to blow up the Salween Bridge (also called the Huitung Bridge, 惠通桥) over the Salween River. This resulted in a stand-off, with the Japanese army on the west shore, and the Chinese army on the east shore, of the Salween River. This stand-off lasted slightly more than two years.

Although the Japanese army was not able to advance past the Salween River, they did control the western border of Yunnan and the western part of Dianxi, and thus that part of the Burma Road. Since they also control Burma, the Burma Road was no longer operational, and supplies to the Chinese army had to be flown in by the Flying Tigers via the air route over the Himalayan mountain range (also called the Camel Hump Route).

In their advance through western Yunnan and during this stand-off, the Japanese army exhibited the cruelest and most inhuman nature in carrying out various atrocities. They did not consider the Chinese as humans, and not only massacred innumerable civilians, including women and children, but used methods such as beheading, bayonet stabbing, burning down houses with people inside, boiling live people in hot water, and burying people alive. As a matter of fact, during road constructions in the 1970s in Dianxi, numerous skeletons were dug up from various mass burial spots.

Drawing based on an eyewitness account of a live burial: When a crow tried to peck at a man’s eye, the man was still alive and shook his head.

Besides raping women and young girls whenever they came across them, the Japanese army also kidnapped many girls and women from this area and other parts of China and other countries to be sex slaves housed in what they called Comfort Women Stations. These sex slaves were each raped by a dozen Japanese soldiers on a daily basis, and many died. There were several dozen such sex slave stations just in Dianxi alone.[5] To avoid the Japanese searching for females when the Japanese were in their dwellings, the Chinese got into the habit of hiding any female shoes in their dwellings.

Robbing the Chinese farmers and merchants of their holdings, including crops and livestock, was automatic. Besides raping the Chinese women, kidnapping Chinese males to do various menial tasks, including building roads and bunkers, was also automatic. Being a prisoner of war of the Japanese army was almost like a death sentence.[6] These kinds of atrocities happened on a regular basis in Dianxi, just like they happened almost everywhere else under the control of the Japanese.

Heroic Battles at Songshan:

After the Salween Bridge was destroyed by the retreating Chinese army, the Japanese army’s advance to Kunming and east Yunnan was stopped. South of the Salween Bridge is a 7,000 feet mountain peak called Songshan (松山) that could provide a strategic mountain-top view of the Dianxi area and an excellent defensive location for the Japanese troops. So the Japanese army built a vast array of bunkers and trenches on Songshan. They also built roads that could carry tanks and other military vehicles to transport troops and supplies to their Songshan fortified base. They of course drafted many Chinese to provide the free labor to build their base.

After more than a two-year stand-off on the shores of the Salween River, the Chinese Expedition Army finally mounted a counter-offensive on the night of May 11, 1944. Under the cover of darkness, 20,000 Chinese soldiers (about 10% of the 200,000-strong Chinese Expedition Army) crossed the Salween River via 12 crossings using American-supplied plastic water crafts. The counter-offensive was successful and the Japanese troops retreated, many of them retreated to their Songshan base.

On June 4, 1944, the Chinese Expedition Army received order to attack the Songshan base. Since this base was on top of a 7,000 feet mountain peak and was strongly fortified with many bunkers and trenches, it was a long, difficult, and deadly objective to achieve. Because of its strategic importance in pushing the Japanese troops out of Yunnan and regain the use of the Burma Road, this objective had to be achieved. It took three months and three days of many heroic and deadly battles to regain Songshan, at the cost of the lives of over 7,600 Chinese soldiers. About 3,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and only 10 became prisoners.

Several of the battles involved hand-to-hand combats, including one in which the attacking Chinese soldiers ran out of ammunition. Instead of retreating which would allow the Japanese soldiers to regroup, the Chinese soldiers kept on running toward the Japanese soldiers to engage in hand-to-hand combats. Sometimes one battle would immediately follow another, so that there was no time to retrieve the bodies of those killed. By the time they were able to retrieve the bodies, the bodies already decayed so much that the bodies could no longer be recognized. In attacking two especially solidly fortified four-story bunkers, the Chinese were repeatedly pushed back. Finally, the Chinese dug two long underground tunnels to beneath these two bunkers, and used 70 boxes of TNT on one and 50 boxes of TNT on the other to blow up these two bunkers (the TNT was supplied by the U.S.). The Chinese were then able to kill or drive out the soldiers defending the two bunkers.

No American ground troop was involved in the Songshan battles, but the Flying Tigers provided some air support, and seven Flying Tiger soldiers were killed when their plane was shot down.

Having defeated the Japanese at Songshan, the Chinese Expedition Army was then able to push the Japanese troops out of Yunnan, and regain control of all of Yunnan and the China portion of the Burma Road. Because the Burma Road started in the seaport of Rangoon in southern Burma and Burma was still under the control of Japan, the Allied forces were still not able to use the Burma Road to provide supplies to China. Only when the Allied forces finished building in January 1945[7] the Ledo Road from Ledo, India to Wanting, Yunnan and connected to the China portion of the Burma Road, supplies to Kunming once again were able to be transported via the ground.

The ordinary Chinese people in Baoshan and surrounding areas played a key role in the successful counter-offensive to regain control of west Yunnan. Even though life was already extremely difficult during wartime, the ordinary Chinese people provided over many months food and shelter to feed and house the 200,000-strong Chinese Expedition Army, as well as providing many other necessary supplies, including raw material for ammunitions. They provided labor to repair damaged vehicles, roads, and airports, and help transport ammunitions and supplies to the front lines, including serving as drivers and mechanics of various vehicles, which was an important role that was taken up by a lot of overseas Chinese. Many men including young boys either joined the Chinese Expedition Army or fought alongside the Chinese Expedition Army. They also provided shelter and medical aids for the thousands of wounded.

Besides providing a lot of the drivers and mechanics, the overseas Chinese made other significant contributions. In general, the overseas Chinese who returned to China before or during WWII were relatively speaking more educated, better off financially (many were shop or business owners), and also very patriotic. Around 1938, more than 1,000 overseas Chinese returned to China to help build the Burma Road or to join the fight against the Japanese, and many died. With their business and management experience, they provided a lot of the leadership and know-how to keep a war-time economy running that could support not only the local citizens, but also the huge number of soldiers of the Chinese Expedition Army. The overseas Chinese also donated a lot of money to help the war effort or improve the country in general. For example, a Mr. Leung who was originally from Baoshan donated two-thirds of the money that were needed to rebuild the Salween Bridge in 1931. In 1937, he also donated to China several dozen heavy trucks and an airplane.  In 1941 when Japan invaded Southeast Asia, he used his automobile company to transport for free the Chinese troops and military supplies that were located outside of China back to China.

Although there was no American ground troop involved in the Songshan battles, American ground troops were involved in other counter-offensive battles (see, e.g., the next section). With or without providing ground troops, the U.S. did play a pivotal role in the whole counter-offensive to regain western Yunnan. The U.S. provided critical supplies to the Chinese Expedition Army, including the large number of plastic water crafts (that allowed the Chinese soldiers to cross the Salween River to begin the counter-offensive) and the large amount of TNT and other ammunitions (that was so crucial in destroying the fortified bunkers on Songshan). Without the U.S. Flying Tigers, the Japanese would have controlled the air. However, even though the Japanese had better and more versatile planes, they were repeatedly outfought by the Flying Tigers due to the superior air fighting skills of the Flying Tigers pilots. The Flying Tigers also transported a large amount of supplies to China. As a matter of fact, even after the Burma Road became operational again after the completion of the Ledo Road in January 1945, most of the supplies were still being flown over the Himalayas by the Flying Tigers. But the battle and transport in the air also took a heavy toll.  Five hundred U.S. planes were lost, and over 1,500 American and Chinese pilots and other airmen were killed.[8] The U.S. also led in the construction of the original Burma Road in 1937-38, and in the construction of the Ledo Road (from December 1942 to January 1945) that started in India and bypassed most of Burma and connected to the China portion of the Burma Road. Finally, General Stilwell, as the commander of the American troops in the China-Burma-India region, also provided overall strategy guidance and leadership. These American contributions are well known and recognized in China, especially in Yunnan. There are quite a few monuments and memorials in Yunnan that honor the contributions and sacrifices of the American soldiers and the Flying Tigers. As a matter of fact, in one of the hotels we stayed in at Baoshan, the hotel owner named the hotel bar the “Stilwell Bar” in honor of General Stilwell. In China, the Burma Road and the Ledo Road are known as the Stilwell Road.

A Tribute to Ordinary Chinese Soldiers and also American Soldiers:

After the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and occupied the western part of Dianxi (east of the Salween River) in May 1942, for the next two years there was a continuous war of resistance from the Chinese, with help from the American military, against the invaders and occupiers. The largest of such war of resistance in western Dianxi was a series of heroic and deadly battles to regain control of Tengchong County (腾冲县), located to the west of the Salween River and almost directly west of Baoshan. This series of battles took place from May 1944 to September 1944 and lasted 127 days. The dead toll was about 9,000 Chinese, dozens of American soldiers, and over 6,000 Japanese soldiers. To keep this article from getting even longer, I will highlight only a few points, and not elaborate on this part of the war of resistance.

• In the town of Heshun (和顺), the main town in Tengchong County, a “Dianxi War of Resistance Museum” (滇酉抗战纪念馆) was established by the local people in July 1945. This was the first non-government museum in China focusing on WWII in Dianxi. It was rebuilt in 1984, classified in 1996 as a National Historical Museum, and expanded in 2004.
• 3,346 of the killed Chinese soldiers whose identities were known are buried here, each having its own tombstone. This is the only large-scale memorial cemetery in China with individual tombstones for ordinary soldiers, and not just for their commanders. Although they know the names of many who were killed, their bodies were not always identifiable (e.g., bodies already decayed before they were retrieved). Therefore, all the bodies were cremated collectively, and one cup of collective ash was buried under each tombstone.
• Within this museum, there is also a separate memorial site with plagues for the 19 American soldiers (including Major William C. McMurrey) killed here, although their bodies had since been shipped back and reburied in the U.S.
• This museum is one of only two museums in the People’s Republic of China that has the flag and symbol of the Republic of China hanging on the walls of the museum.

For more information and photos about the “Dianxi War of Resistance Museum,” especially about Major McMurrey and other American soldiers, read the two articles in:

http://cbi-theater-6.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-6/sixtyyears/sixtyyears.html and

http://www.eng.yn.gov.cn/yunnanEnglish/146929937842962432/20050711/500389.html

Dedication of the New “Dianxi Anti-Japanese War Cemetery of Heroes”:

As discussed earlier in this article, it is clear that the success of the war of resistance against the Japanese Imperial Army in west Yunnan was due to the successful integration of the contributions of the Chinese army, the Chinese population (including the overseas Chinese), and the U.S. Army.[9] This is well recognized by the Chinese people, especially the Chinese people in Yunnan. This is why the people in Long Ling County (the county where Songshan is located) recently held the completion ceremony for the “Dianxi Anti-Japanese War Cemetery of Heroes.” This is a new war memorial to honor the Chinese soldiers, Chinese ordinary citizens, and American soldiers who died while participating in the war of resistance. Because our delegation represented both Americans and overseas Chinese, the local organizers actually chose the date of this completion ceremony to coincide with our day of visit. The head of our delegation, Dr. Pete Stanek, President of the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (GA), was also asked to speak during this ceremony.

Completion Ceremony of the new “Dianxi Anti-Japanese War Cemetery of Heroes”	Pete Stanek, President of GA, invited to speak at this ceremony. To his right is Ignatius Ding, EVP of GA, acting as translator.

English wording on the left plague explicitly mentioned Major William C. McMurrey.  Note also the American flag on the top right that was put there before the ceremony.  The right plague has the same description in Chinese.	Bilingual wording on the middle plague.

Summary:

Personally I found this ceremony and the whole visit to west Yunnan quite emotional and educational.  It is hard to understand how one group of people can be so inhumane in treating another group of people. It is also so heartening to learn how people, including ordinary people and people from different countries, can join forces and face all kinds of difficulties and sacrifices to resist successfully and drive out the invading and occupying forces. As an overseas Chinese, I especially admire the great contributions and sacrifices that the overseas Chinese made in the Dianxi war of resistance. I wish that my current generation of overseas Chinese would be more willing to make contributions and sacrifices to improving the social and political fabrics of either their adopted country – the U.S., or their country of origin – China.

[1] The 2009 China Study Tour also visited Shanghai and Nanking.

[2] More information about the Burma Road (and the Ledo Road), which is also known as the Stilwell Road (in honor of the American Army General Joseph Stilwell) is provided later in this article. Also, more information can be found in, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Road.

[3] The total number killed by the bubonic plague in the whole Dianxi region during WWII was estimated to be about 50,000.

[4] The Flying Tigers, although when it was first formed in 1941 was not an official unit of the U.S. Army, it was formally incorporated into the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942.

[5] For a more detailed discussion of sex slaves, read the article “Sex Slaves of WWII”: http://dontow.com/wordpress/2009/02/sex-slaves-of-world-war-ii/.

[6] For another account of the treatment of POWs, see the article “American POWs and the Bataan Death March”: http://dontow.com/wordpress/2009/06/american-pows-and-the-bataan-death-march/.

[7] Construction of the Ledo Road started in December 1942.

[8] The pilots and other airmen of the Flying Tigers included both Americans and Chinese, but the planes were American and the Flying Tigers was led by the American General Chennault.

[9] During WWII, the Flying Tigers, as well as the U.S. Air Force, was a unit of the U.S. Army.

Qigong in some form or another has been practiced in China for several thousands of years. It has been practiced by many, many people in China as well as in other parts of Asia. Today, there are literally millions of people practicing Qigong. Because of the large span of time and space where Qigong has been practiced, there are many, many different types of Qigong. The number of varieties of Qigong is much more than the many different varieties of Taiji and Chinese martial arts.

Qigong is used in martial arts to increase the power of a strike or the ability to withstand a strike by directing one’s Qi to the part of the body that is striking or withstanding a strike. The mind of the martial artist is involved to direct the Qi to circulate to that part of the body. Qigong as practiced by a health practitioner is used to direct the practitioner’s Qi or used his[1] Qi to help move the patient’s Qi to the area of the patient’s body where there is some illness.  Similar to the martial artist case, the mind of the health practitioner is also involved to direct the Qi to circulate to a particular part of the body.

Learning Spontaneous Qigong

This article discusses perhaps the simplest type of Qigong. It is called Zifagong (自发功), or Spontaneous Qigong. I am not an expert in Qigong or Spontaneous Qigong, but I do want to describe Spontaneous Qigong based on what I know.[2] It is actually very simple to learn Spontaneous Qigong. One should find a large, quiet place, preferably a large flat grass area, to practice. One then just stands with his feet about one shoulder width apart, with the knees slightly bent but with the upper body straight, and the hands by the sides of the body. One should keep the whole body relaxed, including shoulders, body, hands, and feet. One should also try to empty the mind, i.e., do not think about anything (although this may be very difficult to accomplish, but one should keep that in mind). The eyes should be softly closed, although they can be opened if the need arises.[3]

The reason that Spontaneous Qigong may be the simplest type of Qigong is because unlike Qigong in martial arts or Qigong by a Qigong health practitioner, it is not necessary to use the mind to direct the Qi. As a matter of fact, as previously mentioned, a Spontaneous Qigong practitioner should empty his mind. Also, Spontaneous Qigong requires only natural breathing (i.e., breathing normally without even thinking about breathing), and not more sophisticated breathing techniques such as lower abdominal breathing.[4]

Movements while Practicing Spontaneous Qigong

Then one just has to be patient to stand in that position in a relaxed way. For a beginner, one has to be patient and stand in that way for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or even longer.[5] If one can keep the body relaxed and the mind empty, then after a while one may start getting into a Qigong state and feel the body moving slightly, perhaps leaning forward slightly and then leaning backward slightly. After experiencing this slight swaying motion, be patient and keep on standing in that position. Then after a little longer, one may get into a more definite Qigong state. Then one’s body may undergo one of many different kinds of motions, such as:

• Taking a couple of steps forward or backward
• Bending forward or bending backward, including bending backward more than what one can normally do
• Walking forward and more likely walking backward
• Walking around (forward or backward) in a circle
• Running in place
• Twisting one’s body into all kinds of positions, including positions one normally doesn’t get into
• Shaking the arms
• Moving or waving the arms, including moving the arms as in the “wave hands like clouds” movement in Taiji
• Sitting down on the floor
• Lying down on the floor, including lying down and rotating horizontally on the floor

I have observed every one of the above movements in just the last two-three months of practice with a group whose average group size was around a dozen people. It is important to point out that the person is conscious of all his movements. If he is walking backward at a very rapid pace or walking around rapidly in a small circle, he could tell himself to be calm and just let nature take its course, or take some mild corrective action if there is imminent risk.

The amount of time it takes an individual to get into a Qigong state varies with the individual. It may take more than one practice, and sometimes one may not reach a Qigong state at all. In the latter case, it may be that the person did not relax enough, or his mind was thinking of too many things, or he wasn’t patient enough to keep standing in that position, or for one reason or another, he is the type of person who doesn’t get into a Qigong state easily.

Usually after a few minutes or many minutes of being into a definite Qigong state, the person will get out of this definite Qigong state.[6] Then several additional minutes of standing could get the person back into another definite Qigong state, and the movement may be the same or not the same as the movement during the previous definite Qigong state.

Interpretation of Spontaneous Qigong Movements

The main objective of practicing Spontaneous Qigong is to improve one’s health. We have heard testimonies from people we know and local to our area who report on the health benefits that they have obtained from practicing Spontaneous Qigong, including healing tennis elbows, back pains, and depression.

How do we interpret or explain the Spontaneous Qigong movements? With our current knowledge, we (or more appropriately to say “I”) don’t really have a full explanation. However, we can make certain observations. First of all, the movements occur not because the practitioners purposely want them to occur, because the Qigong movements have happened to many people, including people who were skeptical about Spontaneous Qigong. The Spontaneous Qigong movements may be unusual or difficult to perform normally. For example, a person may be able to bend over backward to a much larger extent than he is normally capable of (a friend of mine has observed one of his students bending over backward with his head touching the ground, a feat far from feasible for that person under normal circumstances). There may be some unexplained force involved in some of these movements. For example, the hands may move upward against gravity even though the person is not purposely trying to move his hands upward.

From a TCM perspective, the Spontaneous Qigong practitioner may have some Qi blockage in some part of his body. When he is practicing Spontaneous Qigong and gets into a Qigong state, his body will automatically send his Qi to the location of the blockage. The various bodily movements reflect the body trying to break the blockage or get the Qi around the blockage. When one blockage has been cleared, then new bodily movements may reflect another blockage, in the same or different neighborhood of the other blockage.

For an otherwise healthy person with no serious problem, he may still undergo movements while practicing Spontaneous Qigong, although the movements may be gentler, e.g., his hands moving slowly in a circular motion as in the Taiji movement “wave hands like clouds.” The movements may help him with better circulation of Qi and give him even better health.

With our present knowledge, we (again perhaps more appropriately to say “I”) don’t really know how do we get into a Qigong state, what causes the Qi to circulate, what causes the movements, where do the various forces come from (e.g., causing the movements to go against gravity).

Some Precautions in Practicing Spontaneous Qigong

As we discussed earlier, a practitioner may undergo various kinds of movements, a movement that may lead the practitioner to bump into objects or may cause him to fall down. That is why it is recommended that Spontaneous Qigong should be practiced in a large, flat, grass area, which can decrease the probability of bumping into something and the probability of getting hurt when falling down. It is also recommended that a practitioner practices with a group under the guidance of an experienced Spontaneous Qigong practitioner. The latter can keep an eye on anyone who is about to run into a tree or another person, who may be moving too fast, who may walk away from the practice area. The experienced observer can talk to the person and suggest that he moves in another direction, or slows down, or moves back into the practice area. Even though the practitioner is fully aware of his movements and on his own can take corrective action as necessary, it is still good to have someone else observing and providing some advice when it is appropriate. Only when one has experience practicing Spontaneous Qigong and has a pretty good idea of and control of his movements, then it might be ok for the person to practice indoor and on his own.

There are certain types of people for whom Spontaneous Qigong is not recommended. These include:

• People who cannot risk falling down, e.g., people with thin or fragile bones such as osteoporosis
• People who can bleed easily and have trouble stopping bleeding
• People who have serious mental illness or are likely to inherit mental illness
• People whose overall health is very weak

Another important precaution is that at the end of each Spontaneous Qigong practice, one must cool down or wrap up (收功) properly. This is not the usual warm/cool down after a strenuous exercise. The purpose of properly cooling down is to ensure that the practitioner has terminated the Qigong state.[7] With proper cool down, terminating the Qigong state can always be successfully done. However, inexperienced practitioners may not cool down properly, perhaps trying to save time and take a short cut, or perhaps not having been properly instructed on the importance and techniques of cool down. If not cooling down properly, it may be possible that afterward, the person may go into a Qigong state and undergo some Qigong movements. Those who don’t understand Spontaneous Qigong may attribute such happenings to something intrinsic to Spontaneous Qigong, instead of attributing it to not properly performing Spontaneous Qigong, in particular, not properly cooling down. It is such misunderstandings that sometimes people have negative impressions (including the concern of 走火入魔 in Chinese) of or shy away from Spontaneous Qigong.

Summary

Spontaneous Qigong is one type, perhaps the simplest type, of Qigong. It is very easy to practice and to experience a Qigong state. One needs to relax the body and empty the mind, and have patience in standing still for many minutes. The reason for practicing Spontaneous Qigong is because it can have all kinds of health benefits. However, if one is experiencing illness or have some physical problem, one should also consult a doctor to seek medical advice and treatments.

Before practicing Spontaneous Qigong, one should be properly instructed on the theory, techniques, expectations, and precautions associated with Spontaneous Qigong. In particular, the instructions should include the importance of relaxing the body, emptying the mind, the bodily movements that might result, and the techniques of cooling down properly at the end of every Spontaneous Qigong practice. Until one is experienced and knows one’s response when in a Qigong state, one should always practice under the guidance of an experienced Spontaneous Qigong practitioner.

Qigong, including Spontaneous Qigong, is an ancient Chinese art. It has many benefits, in martial arts and in health. However, sometimes it may be used by people with other ulterior motives to become a cult or to push certain political agenda. One should not lump all Qigong together, but differentiate the good from the bad.

Spontaneous Qigong has existed for a long time. During the last 15 years, it has been popularized, especially by Dr. S. Z. Lin, a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the National Central University in Taiwan. He has written several books on Spontaneous Qigong. Unfortunately, all his books at this point are in Chinese.

[1] For simplicity, we will use the term his to mean his/her, and the term he to mean he/she.

[2] I want to thank Mr. Y.-L. Yen, who introduced me to Spontaneous Qigong, for his review and comments on an earlier version of this article.

[3] As discussed later, if when one is in a Qigong state and one is walking quickly forward or backward (especially backward), then one should at least partially open his eyes to avoid hitting some object/person, or falling down. Note: If one is rotating quickly in circular motion, then it is better to keep the eyes closed, otherwise, one may become dizzy.

[4] For a discussion of the different types of breathing, see “Breathing and Taijiquan”: http://dontow.com/wordpress/2007/02/breathing-and-taijiquan/.

[5] For experienced Spontaneous Qigong practitioners, one could get into a Qigong state after 5-10 minutes, or perhaps even as quickly as after two-to-three minutes.

[6] This does not necessarily mean that the person is no longer in a Qigong state. It may only mean that the person is in a milder Qigong state, or in a transitional period between one definite Qigong state and another definite Qigong state.

[7] It is possible that while practicing Spontaneous Qigong, the body will automatically undergo a cool down process. Then it is not necessary to do additional cool down. However, doing additional cool down does no harm. Therefore, I recommend that new Spontaneous Qigong practitioners always perform a cool down process at the end of each practice.

Qiu Jin was born in 1875 in Fujian Province in China, and grew up in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. As a child of a fairly well-off family, she was very well educated, much more than other girls of her time. She was very good in literature and writing, both prose and poetry. Unlike most other girls, she was also very much interested in the outdoor and physical activities, such as riding horses and martial arts. Although her feet were bound[1] starting from about five years old as was the norm at that time for Chinese girls from reasonably well-off families, she was quite good in martial arts and other physical activities, an indication of her determination, commitment, and drive. Later as she grew older and started advocating equality for women, she stopped binding her feet.

In the latter part of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, the Chinese government was extremely weak, with imperialist powers carving up parts of China, and the Chinese were often treated by the foreign powers as second-class citizens in their own country. There was strong anger among the Chinese people at their weak Qing Dynasty government and at the naked aggression of the foreign powers. This resulted in the establishment of revolutionary groups with the objective of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and replacing it with a modern republic form of government. That was the political atmosphere in which Qiu Jin grew up.

In 1896 at the age of 21, through an arranged marriage by her parents, Qiu Jin married a wealthy, but conventional man. She gave birth to two children, one boy and one girl, and lived a genteel life. But Qiu Jin was not content with being just a mother and house lady. She found the traditional role for women not satisfying and too suffocating. Her interest in new ideas, social and political changes, and in the outside world appealed to her greatly. This longing became even greater when in 1903 her family moved to Beijing which provided many more opportunities for Qiu Jin to meet the wives of government officials and other like-minded women who shared her concerns. She became fearful for China’s future unless China underwent great changes. Finally in 1904, she decided to leave her husband and her children. She pawned her jewelry to help finance her trip to Japan to study, as Japan at that time was considered relatively speaking far more open and modern than China. Although there might not have been much, if any, love between her and her husband, it must have been difficult for Qiu Jin as a mother to leave her two young children. While in Japan, she advocated women’s rights including equal education, abolition of bind feet, and arranged marriages. She wrote extensively about such topics, including publishing her own newsletters. She was a prolific writer, leaving behind vast amount of prose and poetry. While in Japan, she also met Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the most prominent Chinese revolutionary group and who ultimately led the successful overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China in 1911.

Qiu Jin returned to China in 1906. She continued to write many articles. Together with one of her like-minded female friends, Xu Zihua, she founded “Chinese Women’s Journal,” a radical women’s journal in Shanghai, again advocating women’s rights. She encouraged women to get educated and be trained in various professions so that they could gain financial independence. She encouraged women to resist oppression by their families, society, and the government, including the practice of binding feet and arranged marriages. She thought that fighting for women’s rights was a key to solving China’s problems. She also taught at a girls’ school, the Xunxi Girls’ School in Nanxun, northern Zhejiang Province, which was headed by Xu Zihua.

Qiu Jin soon realized that social changes as advocated by her were not going to happen without political changes to China’s central government. Thus she left the Xunxi Girls’ School and taught and also became the principal at the Datung School, in Shaoxing, Zhejiing, which was founded by her male cousin Xu Xilin and other members of the Restoration Society. The Restoration Society was one of the larger revolutionary armed movements whose membership grew to 50,000 people.  One cell of the Restoration Society was led by her cousin Xu Xilin. On the surface, the Datung School was a school, but it was a front for a base for military training of revolutionaries. Qiu Jin also wanted to recruit more female students to the Datung School and more female members to the Restoration Society.

The Restoration Society was planning on a nationwide armed uprising around the latter part of July 1907. However, information about their plan was leaked, so in early July 1907 Xu Xilin moved up the armed actions of his cell by assassinating the governor of Anhui Province. Although the assassination was successful, it was basically a suicide act because Xu and his collaborators were vastly outnumbered by the governor’s troops. Xu was arrested and subsequently executed. Xu’s connection to Qiu Jin was somehow discovered. Upon hearing the pending arrival of soldiers to her school to arrest her, she told her colleagues to leave, but she decided to stay behind. Knowing perfectly well that she will be killed, she probably thought that every great cause has its martyrs, and her death might generate more attention and support for women’s rights and overthrowing the Qing Dynasty. She was arrested, and tortured to try to obtain more secrets of the revolutionary group, but she did not succumb to the torture. Two days later on July 15, 1907 she was beheaded at the age of 32.

Qiu Jin’s death, that a woman was willing to sacrifice herself, did generate widespread publicity. She became a symbol of the new women: educated, independent, and active in public affairs. Qiu Jin was immortalized as a modern revolutionary heroine as well as a feminist. After the Qing Dynasty was overthrown under the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Dr. Sun in 1912 presided over a formal funeral for Qiu Jin in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, recognizing her as the first woman martyr of the revolution and a symbol of women’s independence. Later a statue and a museum dedicated to her were also located there.

New Film about Qiu Jin:

A new, full-length documentary-drama on Qiu Jin has just been released. The film is titled “Autumn Gem,” and is produced by a talented young couple from California:  Rae Chang and Adam Tow. Believing that the story of Qiu Jin should be more widely known, they dedicated one and a half years of their lives doing the research (including original research in China and interviewing some of Qiu Jin’s relatives), writing the screen play, recruiting the actresses/actors and a project team, directing the filming, and editing the film. They used more than $60,000 of their own money to finance the film, while at the same time Rae quit her professional job.  This is definitely a project of passion. “Autumn Gem” is also under the sponsorship of the San Francisco Film Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Click on the above picture to get a larger-size view of this film’s poster. More information about “Autumn Gem,” as well as a trailer of the film, can be found in: http://autumn-gem.com/.

Main Actresses:

The main actress in the role of Qiu Jin is Li Jing. Li Jing (from the above website) is a former professional athlete for the China National Wushu Team and trained under Wu Bin, the coach of Jet Li. She has twenty years of martial arts experience and expertise in a variety of styles and weapons, as well as special skills in fight choreography and wire work. She achieved Junior and Senior China National Champion titles over thirty times and was ranked one of the top six female Wushu athletes in China. She has worked as a stunt actor for several film, television, and commercial projects in Hollywood, including Rush Hour 3, The Fast and the Furious 3, Twins Effect, Desperate Housewives, and All My Children.

The person playing the role of the young Qiu Jin is Melissa Chin. Melissa started to learn Chinese Martial Arts (Wushu) when she was four-and-a-half years old. She won the Gold medal at 2005, 2006 and 2007 UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament. She was the 2007 All around Champion at the Overseas Chinese American Athletic Tournament Wushu Competition, as well as the Gold medal at the 2007 11th World Cup International Martial Arts Championship in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Melissa is now an 11 year old, 6th grader GATE Honor Roll student at Fremont Chadbourne Elementary School in California.

New Jersey Screening of “Autumn Gem”:

In October 2009 Rae Chang and Adam Tow will tour the Midwest and the Northeast on a screening tour of their film. They will screen the film in more than a dozen locations (most are at universities). The most convenient location for people in NJ is the screening on Saturday, 10/17/09, 8:00-10:00 PM, at the NJ Chinese Community Center at 17 Schoolhouse Road, Somerset, NJ 08873 (732-271-9000). Rae and Adam will also give a short presentation on their experiences in making this film. Admission to this event is $10. Advance tickets will be available for purchase around mid-September.

I hope that you will come to enjoy a fine and meaningful film, and at the same time support this young film-making couple.

For full disclosure, I want to mention that Adam Tow is my nephew.

[1] Bind feet was a symbol of wealth, indicating that the girl/woman did not have to work to make a living. But the process starts at about five years old with the breaking of the bones in the foot and tightly binding the different parts of the foot together. This creates excruciating pains, and the process takes about 10-15 years, with the objective of limiting the size of the foot to no more than three inches long.

Some Basic Population Statistics during the First Two Decades of the PRC

The population of China was about 450 million in 1949 (although it is not clear how accurate is this number), and over 1.3 billion today, or tripling in the last 60 years. However, the growth rate has not been constant over that period. Due to a weak Chinese government, imperialism, war, and turmoil in China during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, China’s population was pretty stagnant during that period. However, things started to change significantly after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. When the first census was taken in modern China in 1953, its population was already 583 million. This rapid increase of almost 30% in four years (although there is some uncertainty on the population of China in 1949) was due to the much lower death rate together with the much higher birth rate after the end of WWII and China’s civil war. In the 1964 census, the population was 695 million, or an increase of almost 20% over the previous 11 years. This was still a large increase, however partially due to the tragic famine of the Great Leap Forward of 1958-1961, this increase was no where as much as the increase during the first few years of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. During the next five years 1964-1969, there was another large increase to about 800 million, or about another 15% increase.

Traditional Factors Driving China’s Population Growth

There were several reasons in traditional Chinese culture resulting in a large number of children. Confucianism believed that many children mean much happiness, and early children means early happiness. Farmers in rural areas needed more hands to work the fields. Keep in mind that even as late as 30 years ago, about 80% of Chinese lived in the rural areas. In traditional Chinese culture, older parents lived with their adult sons and the sons take care of the older parents, while daughters moved away to live with their husbands’ families. This meant that the Chinese wanted more sons (and therefore also more children) as insurance for support when they got old. This was especially important in rural China where there was no pension and no social welfare system to support the older retired farmers, and this is essentially still the case in rural China today.

In addition, Chairman Mao Zedong was in power until near his death in 1976, and Mao not only did not believe in birth control, he encouraged and urged the Chinese people to have lots of children. When Mao died in September 1976, the population of China was about 930 million, which means that the population of China had doubled during the 27 years of 1949-1976. This was one of many mistakes made by Mao.

China’s Population Control Policy

The above factors led to a very rapid increase in China’s population during the first quarter century of the PRC. This, however, does not mean that there was no population policy or campaign whatsoever to limit population growth in China during that period. As a matter of fact, population policies and campaigns had been ongoing in China since the 1950s. Without these policies and campaigns, the population of China would have increased even faster during that period, as evident by the fact that the rate of population growth was already slowing during the latter part of that period.

Nevertheless, the pace of population growth was still very large, and if that rapid pace of increase would continue for the next quarter century or more, China’s population would be so large that it would be impossible to provide enough food and other necessities for everyone, and definitely would not allow the country to raise China’s standard of living significantly. This would lead to massive economic, social, and political problems.

Thus starting in the early 1970s even while Mao was still alive, China was already pushing for fewer children on a voluntary basis. In 1976, around the time of Mao’s death, the cornerstone of China’s birth control program was put into effect: the “Later, Longer, Fewer” policy. This policy encourages couples to get married later, wait longer to have children, and have fewer children. In 1979, this policy got more specific and more stringent and became the “one-child policy” (or 计划生育政策 in Chinese, which means the “policy of birth planning”). Basically it restricts married couples to have only one child, although allowing many exemptions as discussed next.

Many exemptions were provided, or later added. There are also a lot of provincial or regional variations, as implementation and enforcement are done at the provincial or regional levels. Here are several examples of exemptions:

• In accordance with the PRC’s affirmative action policies towards ethnic minorities, all non-Han ethnic groups are subjected to different rules and are usually allowed to have two children in urban areas, and three or four in rural areas.
• Han Chinese living in rural areas are also often permitted to have two children, or if the first child is a girl, then a second child is permitted.
• “Only child” parents are permitted to have two children to account for the fact that such parents do not have siblings to help out or help to support them when they get old.
• A second child is permitted under cases of “practical difficulties,” e.g., when the father is a disabled serviceman.
• If the first child is severely disabled or has deceased, then a second child is permitted.
• Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, in Sichuan a second child is permitted if the first child was lost in the earthquake.
• Taking all the exemptions into account, China estimates that only approximately 36% of China’s population is currently subject to the one-child restriction.

There are economic dis-incentives for violating the “policy of birth planning.” These dis-incentives include paying a one-time fine, needing to pay tuition for the second child to attend schools, denying health and other social welfare benefits for the second child. The amounts of the dis-incentives are decided by the appropriate provincial or regional authority. Besides economic dis-incentives, coerced or forced abortions or sterilizations may also be imposed, with also variations depending on the province or region. It is the coerced or forced abortions or sterilizations that have caused a lot of objections and controversies regarding human rights both within and outside of China.

Since the introduction of the one-child policy, the fertility rate in China has fallen from about three births per woman in 1980 to below 1.8 births in 2008. Note that the 1980 fertility rate of 3 was already reduced sharply from almost 6 births per woman in 1970 and as high as 7.5 births per woman around 1963. Note that the current Chinese fertility rate of below 1.8 is lower than the fertility rate of 2.05 in the U.S., 1.89 in France, or 1.82 in the United Kingdom.

Factors to Consider and Potential Problems

Formulating a good population control policy for China is extremely complex, and need to factor in many considerations. These include:

• Are there too many mouths to feed in relation to the productivity and wealth of the country?
• Will a large population lead to excessive unemployment?
• Are there or will there be enough productive workers to support industrialization and modernization of China if we curb the population growth too much?
• How seriously will the environment be affected by the large population and industrialization and modernization?
• Are there or will there be too many older and retired people who rely on pensions or government social welfare programs to sustain their livelihood?
• Are there or will there be enough productive workers to generate enough income for the government to support the older and retired people?
• Can some sort of pension or social welfare program be provided to support the people living in the rural areas, with the rural population still representing about 50% of China’s population?
• How to provide variations and flexibility that can accommodate various differences, such as differences with respect to racial minorities?
• How to respect individuals’ human rights and people’s desires to make their own decisions?
• What kinds of economic dis-incentives should be offered to persuade people to follow the population control policy without using more drastic measures such as coerced or forced abortions or sterilizations?
• How should we look upon the issue of population quality? By allowing rural farmers to have more children than the urban residents with higher education and technological skills, are we lowering the overall population quality and make the country less competitive in the modern world of globalization? Or how do we close the gap in educational opportunities between the rural and urban areas?
• How can we end up with approximately equal numbers of boys and girls?

Note that some of the above considerations are on opposite ends of a spectrum. For example, the second and third bullets are opposite end results depending on the population control policy adopted.

Having the one-child policy in existence for 30 years has definitely slowed down the rate of population growth in China. During the last 30 years since the adoption of the one-child policy, China’s population has only grown from approximately 975 millions in 1979 to approximately today’s 1330 millions, or an increase of approximately 36%, as compared to an increase of approximately 100% during the first 27 years of the PRC.

Although controlling China’s huge population growth is a major achievement, the one-child policy has brought about or will bring about several important problems. Among the more obvious ones are:

• With improved economy and healthcare, China during the first 31 years of the PRC has already almost doubled the life span of its citizens from 35 years in 1949 to 68 years in 1980. With people living longer and with fewer births due to the one-child policy, the percentage of older people is increasing rapidly. The percentage of people in China who are over 65 was 7% in 2004, and is projected to increase to 14% in 27 years in 2031. Although increasing the average age of the population is normal as a country undergoes industrialization and modernization due to increased efficiency and the need for fewer workers per task, the rate of increase is occurring much faster in China. For example, such an increase would have taken many European countries 85-115 years.[1] China is the first nation to have to cope with a population that is getting older before it becomes rich. The elderly population is expected to mushroom before the economy and society have the capability to deal with the problem.
  An ever increasingly aged population would result in an increasingly larger financial burden on the state to provide pension and social welfare benefits to their senior citizens, while at the same time the number of productive workers is not increasing correspondingly due to the dropping birth rate. This means that the problem will get worse and worse. As an illustration, according to China’s 2000 census, there were 69 million aged 0-4 years old, which is only half of the number aged 10-14 years old.
• As China becomes more industrialized and modernized and becomes an even more important economic player in the globalized world, it will need more and more educated and highly skilled workers and managers to fuel its economic engine. As China expands economically and if its birth rate remains low, China may not have a large enough workforce. If this causes the economy to stagnate and reduces the income of the productive workforce, then it will compound the just-discussed problem of an aging population because their financial support comes at least partially from the income of the productive workforce.
• For the reasons that we discussed earlier in this article with respect to China’s traditional customs, the Chinese favor baby boys over baby girls. This leads to a larger number of boys over girls, due to various actions, such as giving up a girl for adoption, abortion, or even infanticide. The ratio at birth of boys to girls in China was 108.5 in 1982, 110.9 in 1987, 115.6 in 1995, and 116.9 in 2000. This is already resulting in difficulty for young men to find marriage partners, and could lead to various social problems, including psychological problems, sex crimes, as well as other crimes such as run-away brides.[2] These social problems could then lead to economic and political problems.
• Because of the coerced and forced abortions and sterilizations that are often used, the one-child policy has generated a lot of criticisms both from within China and outside of China. This contributes to social and political unrest among the Chinese citizens, and generates international criticisms from outside of China and therefore could weaken China’s reputation and political influence. This policy could also lead to bribes, another undesirable result.
• Many people, although not all, believe that a single child has a higher probability of resulting in a more spoiled and self-centered child. Would this give rise to more social problems as these children become adults?

Potential Resolutions

The above problems associated with China’s one-child policy are so complex that I of course do not claim to be able to offer a solution that can solve all these problems. I do want to offer several general guidelines that could serve as the foundation on which a solution could possibly be built.

• A large-scale and long-term educational campaign that emphasizes the equality of boys and girls, including that daughters, and not just sons, can also take care of and support older parents. Such an educational campaign is going to take many decades to accomplish, because of the long-standing Chinese tradition favoring boys over girls. So one must have faith and patience to carry out this campaign.
• The current retirement age in China is 60 for men and 55 for women (and 50 for lower-level women workers). The reason for such a low retirement age is to open more jobs and keep the unemployment rate from reaching high level. As China’s economy continues to expand and improve and with a low birth rate for several decades, increasing the retirement age may be workable in the foreseeable future, and can help to solve several problems: (1) provide a larger productive workforce to fuel the expanding economic engine, (2) increase the time where the workforce can save and contribute to their pensions, and (3) reduce the time that older people need to rely on their personal savings, pension, and social welfare programs to sustain themselves. Therefore, it may be time to increase the retirement age to 65, for both men and women to be consistent with achieving male-female equality discussed in the previous paragraph.
• Concrete steps must be taken to reduce the reliance of older parents on the financial support from their grown children. That means that personal savings, pensions, and government social welfare programs must be more or less sufficient to sustain retirees. China’s current pension system may already be in the red, and it may be difficult economically to increase the pension in any significant way without making major changes. Nevertheless, something must be done in this area, especially in providing some sort of pension or social welfare programs for the rural population, perhaps by redistributing some of the income that goes to the emerging class of very wealthy people. In addition, perhaps a system that encourages personal savings, something like the 401K plan, can be implemented as China’s economy continues to expand, improve, and the average personal income rises. Depending on the Chinese tax policy, incentives might need to be introduced to encourage people to participate in a 401K-like plan. Achieving more or less financial independence from grown children will be a necessary ingredient to control China’s population growth, although it is an extremely difficult and expensive task to achieve. It is especially difficult and expensive to achieve in the rural areas (where currently about 50% of the Chinese population reside), but it is where this is needed the most. This objective will also take many decades to achieve, and relies on the one hand a continuing expanding Chinese economy, and on the other hand on reducing the gap between the very rich and the very poor.
• The current fertility rate of under 1.8 and the one-child policy should not be sustained. Instead, one should target the fertility rate to be around 2.0 or even slightly above 2.0 to avoid a rapidly aging population and other undesirable consequences of the one-child policy. The target should be two children per family.
• Rely on education and economic dis-incentives, and not coercion and forced abortions and sterilizations, to keep couples from having more than two children. One may question whether such a program can be successful without coercion and forced abortions and sterilizations. Actually there is already historical data that indicates that it could be successful. From 1970 to 1979 before the one-child policy was adopted and before coercion and forced abortions and sterilizations, the total fertility rate had already fallen from 5.9 to 2.9, and it probably would have continued to fall (although at a slightly lower rate) under the voluntary “Later, Longer, and Fewer” policy.

Summary

In order for China, being the most populous country in the world, to develop into a rich, industrialized and modernized country, it is crucial that it adopts a good population control policy that can slow down the rapid growth of its population. However, it is not easy to formulate and implement a good policy, because a non-ideal policy could easily give rise to a plethora of undesirable problems. Although China’s one-child policy has achieved the objective of controlling rapid population growth, it has given rise to several undesirable problems, such as a rapidly aging population, an excess of boys over girls, the inability of the productive workforce to support the large older population, and whether there is enough productive workforce to sustain a growing world-class economy. We offer several general guidelines that could serve as the foundation on which a solution could possibly be built. Note that a good solution will require many decades of commitment to achieve, and will rely crucially on a continuing healthy and growing Chinese economy.

[1] See Kevin Kinsella, “Demographic Dimensions of Global Aging,” Journal of Family Issues 21, no. 5 (Jul. 2000); 541-58.

[2] See the article “It’s Cold Cash, Not Cold Feet, Motivating Runaway Brides in China”: .

In this article we selected 10 basic self defense applications of Qin Na. In particular, we have selected the following applications:

1. Wrist Attack: Breaking Wrist Hold
   1. Opposite Side Hold
   2. Same Side Hold
2. Police” Hold 1
3. “Police” Hold 2
4. “Police” Hold 3
5. Take Down 1
6. Take Down 2
7. Countering Grabbing by Twisting Neck
   1. Breaking Grab Around Waist
   2. Breaking Grab Around Leg
8. Countering Leg Kick
   1. Pushing Leg Back
   2. Twisting Foot
9. Defending Against Straight Knife Attack
10. Defending Against Overhead Knife Strike

In the following, we will denote the two people in the illustration by A (in black) and B (in white). Person B uses Qin Na techniques to defend against As hold or attack and immobilize A. If you click on each photo, then you will get a large screen-size photo.

I. Wrist Attack: Breaking Wrist Hold

A. Opposite Side Hold

1. A holds B’s right wrist with his right hand		2. B presses his left hand down on top of A’s right hand
3. B rotates clockwise his right hand from below A’s right hand to above A’s right hand and grabs A’s right wrist and rotates it in a clockwise direction and at the same time rotates his waist and body also in a clockwise direction		4. This should create great pain in A’s right wrist and cause him to drop to ground

B. Same Side Hold

1. A holds B’s right wrist with his left hand		2. B presses his left hand down on top of A’s right hand
3. B rotates counter-clockwise his right hand from below A’s right hand to above A’s right hand and grabs A’s right wrist and rotates it in a counter-clockwise direction and at the same time rotates his waist and body also in a counter-clockwise direction		4. This should create great pain in A’s right wrist and cause him to drop to ground

II. “Police” Hold 1

1. A tries to punch B with his left hand		2. B grabs A’s left wrist from the outside with his left hand and puts his right hand just above A’s left elbow, and rotates A’s left arm counter-clockwise
3. B raises and puts A’s left hand on top of B’s upper right arm, sort of locking A’s left arm		4. B puts both hands on A’s left shoulder pressing down and slightly rotating it counter-clockwise, causing A to drop to the floor	Note: The photographer took this photo from a different angle from the previous photo.

III. “Police” Hold 2

1. A tries to punch B with his right hand		2. B uses both hands to pull A’s right hand forward and downward	See previous photo for the beginning part of this movement.
3. B steps forward and turns himself 180º, while simultaneously grabbing A’s right hand with his right hand and bending it backward. Optional: B can also use his right foot to trip or sweep A’s right leg back		4. B uses his left hand to push A’s head toward ground, and simultaneously puts A’s right hand to top of A’s back. Optional: B uses his left hand to grab A’s left hand and also puts it on top of A’s back	Note: The photographer took the above two photos from a different angle from the photo in Box 3.

IV: “Police” Hold 3

1. A tries to punch B with his right fist		2. B steps to his left and deflects A’s right fist with his right hand, and immediately turns 180º so B is now facing the same direction as A
3. B uses his right hand to grab A’s right hand/fist and bend A’s right hand back toward his body, and simultaneously slips his left hand under A’s right hand and grab A’s right hand/fist. This locks A’s right elbow just below B’s left shoulder		4. B uses his left hand or uses both hands to squeeze A’s right hand/fist, causing great pain on A’s right wrist

V. Take Down 1

1. A tries to punch or swing at B with his right hand		2. B blocks A’s punch/swing with his left hand from the inside, and uses his left hand to grab A’s right hand and pull it forward and then up above A’s head
3. B puts his right hand on back of A’s neck and pushes A’s head down		4. Simultaneously B raises his right knee to strike at A’s groin or chest or head

VI: Take Down 2

1. A tries to punch B with his right fist		2. B deflects A’s right hand from the inside with his left hand, and steps forward toward A with his left foot
3. B continues to push A’s right hand toward A’s back. Note: In Step #2, B could also step forward with his right foot if his left foot is already far in front		4. Simultaneously B uses his right hand to chop at A’s neck. Optional: B also brings his right leg forward and swings backward to sweep A’s right foot off the ground

VII: Countering Grab by Twisting Neck

A: Breaking Grab Around Waist

1. A lunges and grabs B’s body around the waist with A’s head on B’s right (left) side

2. B puts both hands around A’s head with left (right) hand on top and right (left) hand on bottom, and twists A’s neck counter-clockwise (clockwise), causing great pain for A, including possibly breaking A’s neck if the twisting force is strong enough

Warning: One has to be very careful practicing this technique, because serious injury can occur when twisting someone’s neck.

B. Breaking Grab Around Leg

1. A lunges and grabs one of B’s legs with A’s head on B’s right (left) side

2. B puts both hands around A’s head with left (right) hand on top and right (left) hand on bottom, and twists A’s neck counter-clockwise (clockwise), causing great pain for A, including possibly breaking A’s neck if the twisting force is strong enough

Warning: One has to be very careful practicing this technique, because serious injury can occur when twisting someone’s neck.

VIII: Countering Leg Kick

A. Pushing Leg Back

1. A tries to kick B with his right leg		2. B lowers both hands and then grabs and raises A’s right leg
3. B continues to raise A’s right leg to chest high and then pushes A’s right leg straight back, causing A to fall backward

B. Twisting Foot

1. A tries to kick B with right leg		2. B lowers both hands and then grabs and raises A’s right leg, and also pulls A’s right leg slightly back
3. B puts one hand near top of A’s right toes and puts the other hand on the bottom of B’s right heel, and then rotate A’s right foot clockwise, causing A to lose his balance

IX. Defending Against Straight Knife Attack

1. A tries to stab B with a knife in his right hand		2. B uses his left hand to hold and deflect A’s right arm to B’s right	See previous photo
3. Almost simultaneously B uses his right hand to grab A’s right hand and push it up to B’s left and also rotate it counter-clockwise		4. This should cause great pain in A’s right wrist and probably also cause A to drop knife

X. Defending Against Overhead Knife Strike

1. With knife in his right hand, A tries to hit B on the head or upper body with an overhead knife strike. B steps forward with his left foot and uses his right hand to intercept and grab A’s right hand.		2. B pulls A’s right hand slightly back toward B, and then up and around in a counter-clockwise direction.
3. Simultaneously B brings his right leg forward and then sweeps A’s right leg back toward B, and then uses both hands to turn A’s body counter-clockwise		4. This should cause A to fall backward. Note: In Step #2, B could also step forward with his right foot if his left foot is already far in front

I would like to thank Henry Hom for taking the photos and Eric Tow for being my demonstration partner. I also want to thank Master Wang Feng-Ming for teaching me the Qin Na techniques, but any inaccuracies are mine.

While we are remembering the history of WWII, it is important to point out another significant event that occurred shortly after the single largest defeat in United States military history, the 99-day Battle for Bataan in the Philippines that ended on April 9, 1942.  This resulted in the surrender of more than 76,000 American and Filipino troops under American command.  However, the end of the Battle of Bataan marked the beginning of one of the cruelest episodes in the history of modern warfare, the little known Bataan Death March.  It is important to know what happened in the aftermath of this battle to the heroic soldiers who fought, and then died or survived this battle and subsequent imprisonment, including many shipped to Japan’s massive biological/chemical weapons factory in Northeast China.  Also, as we will discuss later in this article, a significant remembrance of this event occurred recently during its 67th year anniversary.

The Bataan Death March

The Japanese attack on the Philippines started shortly after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  This three-month-plus battle that culminated in the Battle at Bataan helped delay Japan taking control of a key location in the Pacific.  The American soldiers involved were the first American soldiers engaged in fighting the ground war in WWII.  But unfortunately they were ill prepared by our military for that battle.  They were armed with outdated and inadequate equipment and were cut off from their food supplies.  So slowly the soldiers became weak and sick in that insect-infested Bataan peninsula, and finally starved.  They slowly gave up ground, and finally had no choice but to surrender.  Little did they know what was waiting for them.

The approximate 76,000 American and Filipino soldiers who surrendered were already enduring exhaustion, starvation, and sickness.  The nearest Japanese prison camp was at Camp O’Donnell, which was more than 60 miles away (could be longer depending on the starting point).  Either not having enough transport vehicles or not willing to use their scarce transport vehicles, the Japanese forced the prisoners of war (POWs) to do the 60-plus mile march on foot to Camp O’Donnell (with a short railroad car ride sandwiched in the march on foot).  Thus began the Bataan Death March.

Normally a 60-plus mile march by soldiers is not extraordinary.  However, these POWs experienced unimaginable inhumane treatment at the hands of the Japanese soldiers, thus this march earning the name the “Bataan Death March.”  The Bataan Death March was not a single march of 76,000 POWs, but a series of marches by subgroups of the POWs.  The series of marches spanned several weeks, with each march lasting almost a week.

Before the march began, the POWs were already extremely weak with exhaustion and starvation, and many were injured or sick.  During the march, the POWs were not given any food, except for a rice ball or two during the whole march (not per day).  They were also not given any water, even though there was plenty of fresh ground water nearby.  Any POW who tried to get water from these fresh water sources were shot or bayonet to death on the spot.  The POWs had no choice but to gather whatever water they found in the water puddles along the trail, even though these water puddles were usually dirty and infected.  They were given little rest, and anyone who stopped on his own or was not able to continue was killed on the spot, including those who were sick or injured.  Furthermore, anyone who showed any sign of belligerent behavior or just disrespect was also killed on the spot.  A common method of killing was beheading.

Of the 76,000 POWs who participated in the Bataan Death March, about 25-30% never reached Camp O’Donnell (including the small percentage who were able to escape).  After months of malnutrition and starvation, by the time the survivors reached Camp O’Donnell, many were only a skeleton of their former selves, with weight loss of up to 50%.  The additional deaths after reaching Camp O’Donnell from delayed effects of the march or subsequent atrocities will never be known, but definitely many.

Aftermaths of the Bataan Death March

Many of these POWs would remain in Camp O’Donnell or other prison camps for more than three years until Japan was defeated and surrendered in August 1945.  Many others were put on unmarked “hell ships” which transported them to Unit 731 in Northeast China, Japan’s infamous massive biological and chemical weapons factory in Manchuria, where they would become human guinea pigs for Japan’s experimentation and development of new biological and chemical weapons.  Many of these ships sank in their journey.  Those who perished in this way were perhaps the lucky ones, because some of the POWs who made it to Unit 731 suffered through vivisections or autopsy operations while still alive.  For more information about Unit 731, see the article “Japan’s Biological and Chemical Warfare in China during WWII” (http://www.dontow.com/Pol_Soc_Commentary.html).

These American POWs suffered twice:  First as prisoners, and then as civilians after returning home.  They weren’t welcomed home as heroes who helped won the war.  They received poor treatment from the Veterans Administration, without adequate counseling or medical care.  Furthermore, many of the ones who ended up and survived Unit 731 had to sign nondisclosure agreements barring them from speaking about their experiences, because the U.S. government granted immunity to many key Japanese scientists and doctors of Unit 731 in exchange for their state-of-the-art data and expertise on biological and chemical weapons.  Our government did not want this immunity agreement to become public knowledge, and it remained a well-kept secret for 35 years until an investigative journalist published in 1980 classified documents about this decision-making process.

The evil Japanese scientists and doctors who performed those horrible inhumane acts established successful careers and lived affluent lives after the war.  Our American POW heroes live their remaining years with horrible memories, with little gratitude from their government for their sufferings, and with many enduring serious injuries that lasted their lifetime.  For an excellent article on the Bataan Death March and its aftermath, see Lee Brandenburg’s 5/24/09 article in www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_12440271.  Referring to the survivors of the Bataan Death March, Brandenburg ended his article with the statement “They may have come home, but in a sense they never completely escaped the trauma.”

For the last 64 years, there has been an annual convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.  (Corregidor was another key battle in the Philippines that occurred shortly after the fall of Bataan; it too eventually fell to the Japanese on May 6, 1942.)   This year’s convention was held in San Antonio 5/26-30/09.  Because there are only 73 survivors from the battles at Bataan and Corregidor and they are very advanced in age, this would be the last convention and the group will disband after 6/30/09.  It will be replaced by a new group of its descendants “Descendants Group, an Auxilliary of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.”

At the last day of the convention on 5/30/09, Japan’s ambassador to the U.S., Ichiro Fujisaki, at the last minute decided to come to the convention and delivered Japan’s first in-person apology on this atrocity.  He said “Today, I would like to convey to you the position of the government of Japan on this issue.  …  We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula, in Corregidor Island in the Philippines and other places.  Ladies and gentlemen, taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deepest condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the war, and after the war, and their family members.”  About half, but only half, of the 400-500 attendees gave the Japanese ambassador a standing ovation.

Even though this apology is many decades late, it was a step in the right direction.  We hope that the Japanese government would officially apologize for other atrocities the Japanese military committed during WWII.

Even today in just one small village of Caojie, near Jinhua in the province of Zhejiang in China, there are hundreds of victims of biological warfare still suffering from painful wounds originated more than 60 years ago when their village was decimated in 1942 by Japan with glanders, anthrax, and other biological weapon agents. Ruan Shufeng, shown below with his wife, is one such victim who suffers with a festering, open, ulcerous and extremely painful wound in his right leg, That is why Caojie and several other similar villages are called “rotten leg villages”

Unprecedented Scale of Biological/Chemical Warfare

The biological weapon attack in Zhejiang province is just one of many thousands of biological and chemical warfare attacks by the Japanese army in many parts of China during the Sino-Japanese War of 1931-1945. These included places in the provinces of Hunan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Kwangtung, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang.

The largest Japanese biological/chemical warfare laboratory was in Ping Fan, a small village near the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, known as Unit 731. Unit 731 was a gigantic complex covering six square kilometers and consisted of more than 150 buildings, with living quarters and amenities for up to 3,000 Japanese staff members, 300-500 of whom were medical doctors and scientists. The complex contained various factories. It had 4,500 containers for raising fleas, six giant cauldrons to produce various chemicals, and around 1,800 containers to produce biological agents. Approximately 30 kg of bubonic plague bacteria could be produced there in several days. Especially in the area of biological weapons, Unit 731 could be considered to be the largest such laboratory ever in the world. Not only that it was state of the art, it significantly extended the state of the art, partially because the Japanese had no reluctance at all to experiment with live patients, including doing autopsies while the victims were still alive.

An example of biological (or germ) warfare occurred on October 4, 1940 when a Japanese airplane dropped plague-infected fleas (causing bubonic and other plagues) over Quzhou, a small town in western Zhejiang Province. The first victims died within a few days, and more than 2,000 people in Quzhou died within one year from this plague. In addition, in September 1941 a railway worker brought the plague from Quzhou to the city of Yiwu (about 90 miles east of Quzhou), and within a year, more than 1,000 people in the Yiwu region died from this plague. Another example of germ warfare was a series of anthrax and glanders attacks starting in 1942 on many villages in the Jinhua area of Zhejiang Province (including the one mentioned at the beginning of this article), when at least 6,000 of the 30,000 inhabitants of Jinhua were infected by bacteria caused by biological weapons, and at least 3,000 of them died soon after the infection while suffering extremely painful and miserable lives before they died. Below is a photo of the legs of a victim of the glanders attack.

As to chemical warfare, such as using poisonous gases, it has been estimated that during the 14 years of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan used poisonous gases more than 2,000 times in 77 counties of 14 provinces in direct violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol on prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, which Japan had also signed. These attacks killed tens of thousands of Chinese, including many civilians.

Furthermore, when WWII came to a close, Japan abandoned a myriad of chemical weapons in China (as many as hundreds of thousands of poison gas weapons) by burying them underground or dumping them in rivers. Many have started to leak and led to civilian deaths and injuries. The United Nations’ Chemical Weapons Convention, which came into force in 1997, requires Japan to retrieve and dispose of these weapons. Major efforts for the toxic cleanup have been negotiated by the Chinese and Japanese governments. The Japanese consulting company Pacific Consultants International (PCI) won the exclusive contract from the Japanese government to retrieve these weapons, but unfortunately this company apparently resorted to fraudulent means to milk the contract. The former president and four others of PCI were arrested in May 2008 on suspicion of fraud. According to the contract, all the remaining poisonous shells and canisters were supposed to have been recovered and disposed of by spring 2007. After spending nearly 50 billion yen (or about U.S. $500 million), only 40,000 shells had been retrieved, and the completion deadline has been extended to 2012 (from the May 16, 2008 article “Chemical Weapons” in The Asahi Shimbun). Therefore, this continues to pose a major, serious health hazard for the Chinese population.

Why?

The use of biological and chemical weapons, as well as the commitment of other horrific atrocities by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War was driven by the lust of the Japanese imperial empire to expand and colonize. Apparently achieving that objective overrode normal moral principles and humanitarian concerns. Facing China with its large population, one way of leveling the playing field was to reduce the population of China via weapons of mass destruction. To help its soldiers and citizens not to hold back on such destruction, on the one hand it relied on the modern bushido code of unquestioned loyalty to their emperor, who was considered to be divine within their then State Shinto religion. On the other hand it adopted a superiority complex in the sense that the Japanese was a superior race, and the Chinese and other Asians were inferior, like animals. So in spite of being a signer of the Geneva Protocol of 1925 that prohibits the use of poisonous gases, Japan ignored the Geneva Protocol and extensively used poisonous gases, as well as other chemical and biological weapons, in its war in China.

Denial by Japanese Government

There are overwhelming evidences of the existence and use of biological weapons in China by the Japanese. These evidences include eyewitness/survivor accounts, investigations and findings by many Japanese researchers and Japanese civilian delegations, testimonies of former UN weapons inspectors, diaries of Japanese soldiers, and many other Japanese documents in the Japanese government’s possession. In spite of this large quantity of evidence, the Japanese government still on many occasions claims that “We do not have sufficient documentary evidence for the biological attacks in China.” This is plainly wrong and similar to the denials by the Japanese government on other atrocities committed by the Japanese during WWII, such as the Nanking Massacre, sex slaves (or euphemistically called “comfort women” by the Japanese), and slave labor.

The U.S. government is fully aware of the use of biological and chemical weapons in China by the Japanese during WWII. We mention two documents to illustrate this point. One was a top-secret report on bacteriological warfare dated July 17, 1947 for the chief of staff of the Far Eastern Commission that was compiled by Brigadier General Charles Willoughby, head of the “G2” intelligence unit of the US-led postwar occupation forces in Japan. The second was a July 22, 1947 letter from the same Brigadier General Willoughby to Major General S. J. Chamberlin, director of intelligence of the US War Department General Staff. These documents mentioned the need for continued use of confidential funds without restrictions to obtain such intelligence, and that the information so procured and the data on human experiments may prove invaluable and will have the greatest value in future development of the US biological weapons program. Brigadier General Willoughby also wrote that the information obtained by the Japanese was only obtainable through the skillful, psychological approach of top-flight pathologists involved in Unit 731 experiments.

Recognizing the breakthrough knowledge and techniques of the Japanese in the area of biological weapons and the moral constraints in the U.S., the U.S. government realized that it could not duplicate the human experiments of the Japanese and also wanted to keep that kind of knowledge from the Russians. So the US cut a deal with many Japanese officers and scientists: Immunity from prosecution for war crimes in return for their experimental data and knowledge

Probably because of the U.S.’s close alliance with Japan and the U.S.’s hostile attitude toward Communist China, the U.S. has not done very much to press Japan to own up to its responsibility. And because for at least the first 20-30 years of its existence, the People’s Republic of China wanted recognition by the world as the legitimate representative of China in the U.N., the Chinese government was also reluctant to press Japan on owning up to its responsibility for the atrocities Japan committed in China.

Movement to Seek Justice

When neither the Japanese government nor the U.S. seemed prepared to admit to either the crimes or the cover-up, in 1995 a small group of appalled Japanese reached out to the Chinese, and formed an unusual alliance. They were determined to use the system to change the system, and decided a lawsuit was the best way. However, without the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses, they would not be able to build a case. So a Japanese delegation planned to visit Chongshan in Zhejiang Province to gather evidence from survivors and eyewitnesses.

Wang Xuan, a Chinese woman who was working in Japan at that time, read in the Japan Times about this plan and lawsuit. Since she was originally from that area and is fluent in Japanese and the local Chinese dialect, she volunteered to be the bridge between the Japanese and the Chinese. Her contributions have been invaluable. She convinced the at-first reluctant villagers to provide evidence and testified, she collected detailed evidence, she held political rallies and organized conferences, she lobbied officials of both governments, and forged international links between academics in Asia and the U.S. Finally on August 27, 2002, the Tokyo District Court admitted for the first time that the Japanese army had used biological warfare in China during WWII. However, the court threw out a compensation claim (about 10 million yens, or about $100K U.S. for each victim) from 180 people who lost relatives due to the actions of Unit 731. The Tokyo High Court and the Japan Supreme Court threw out the appeal, respectively, on July 19, 2005 and May 9, 2007.

Summary

In spite of the unprecedented scale of Japan’s development and use of biological and chemical weapons in China and their horrific effects, people in the West know very little about this part of WWII history.

In March 2009, under the leadership of the previously mentioned Wang Xuan, a Society of Victims of Japanese Germ Warfare was established in the city of Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, and was approved by the Yiwu municipal civil administration. The purpose of the society is to make sure that this part of history is not forgotten, and to provide a support system for the victims, including possibly filing additional lawsuits in Japan.

It is important to keep in mind the following two quotes:

• “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – Great American/Spanish philosopher George Satayana
• “All that is needed for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – 18th century Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke

I want to end this article with another quote, from Ying-Ying Chang, mother of Iris Chang, the award-winning author of the best seller The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. The quote is from her ending statement in her article “Reflections on the Nanking Massacre after 70 years of Denial” published in the Spring 2008 issue of “The Harvard Asia Pacific Review.” It said “I wrote this article with Maya Angelou’s words in mind, ‘History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.’”

Even though TCM practitioners and internal martial artists speak about Qi frequently and they certainly believe that they can feel the presence of Qi in their body and guide the Qi through their body, they still cannot provide a clear-cut definition of Qi that can be understood by someone who is not an expert in that field. I also cannot provide a clear-cut definition, but for the purpose of this article, I will define Qi as an energy, some sort of bioelectrical energy that exists in the human body (mostly inside, but also near the exterior of the body). The term “Qigong” refers to the practice that increases the Qi and its circulation within the body.[1] The fact that a clear-cut definition of Qigong cannot be provided is one of the reasons for the importance of the proposed research discussed in this article. One of the results of such research is a better definition of Qigong that non-experts can understand.

The essence of Qigong is that there is something called Qi that can exist in one’s body and this Qi can circulate within the body. The circulation could be actively controlled and directed by the practitioner, or once the practitioner gets into a Qigong state (more on this later) the circulation could be automatic (but the practitioner could still end it by getting out of the Qigong state). It is also possible that a Qigong master can induce Qi and Qi circulation in another person by applying his/her own Qi on this person; this is what is usually involved in Qigong healing. Because Qigong has been around for at least a couple of thousands of years and has been practiced by millions of people all over the world, there are many different types of Qigong and many different effects or claimed effects of Qigong. In this article, we will be concerned only with Qigong in relation to health and martial arts. We will not be concerned with the religious aspects of Qigong as claimed by some people.

How does one get into a state that allows one to feel the presence of Qi and get the Qi to circulate, i.e., how does one get into a Qigong state? Because of its long history and the large number of practitioners as previously mentioned, there could be many different methods. In general, a common denominator is that the person needs to relax his[2] body and mind. That is why it is often said that the person needs to be in a meditative mode. Then there are at least two general approaches: One is a more pro-active approach, and the other is a more spontaneous approach.

In the more pro-active approach, which requires significantly more persistent practice, the practitioner could stand upright in a relaxed manner, with knees slightly bent. Both hands could be in front of the body as if holding a big beach ball, or one hand is up and in front of the body with the palm upright and facing away from the body, while the other hand is lower and slightly to the side of the abdomen with the palm facing the ground. At the same time, the practitioner should consciously visualize where to direct the Qi, e.g., to both hands when holding a beach ball, or to the outstretched hand when only one hand is extended outward, or to the Dantien, which is the physical center of gravity of a person’s body, located in the abdomen (about three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel). Initially a non-expert would most likely feel nothing special, nevertheless, he should continue to do this practice, including the visualization. After standing in that stance for 30 minutes or more with each practice and after sustained practice of weeks or even months, the practitioner may get into a Qigong state by starting to feel a tingling sensation in his hands including a pulsation at the center of the palm as though the heart is beating in the palm, and then perhaps even a Qi force that moves his arms in circular motions.

In the more spontaneous approach, the practitioner would stand upright in a relaxed manner, with knees slightly bent, and the hands loosely hanging by the side of the body. Stand in that position for 30 minutes or more. In the spontaneous approach, the practitioner would usually get into a Qigong stage much earlier, perhaps even during the first time trying this. Different people could behave differently in a Qigong state. For example, some may have his arms moving in a circular motion, initially in small circles, then gradually in bigger circles, and then into smaller circles again until the Qigong state ends. Some may start walking, either forward or backward. Some may sway their body back and forth, to the front and then to the back, or to the left and then to the right. Some may start rotating around the vertical axis of their body. Some may even lie on the floor and start moving their body in circles. Even though this is spontaneous, the practitioner is aware of the movements and can stop the movements if he so desires.

The more pro-active approach can be used for martial arts or health improvement purposes, while the more spontaneous approach is used for only health improvement purposes because the Qi is not consciously directed and controlled.

Proposed Research Project

For the many people in this world who practice Qigong on a regular basis, Qi is as real to them as their breath, their heartbeat, their conscious mind. They can feel the Qi in their body. They can guide the Qi to circulate to different parts of their body. They can feel sensations in their body, e.g., tingling sensations in their fingers, when they are practicing Qigong. The issue then is that there must be experimentally measurable manifestations of Qi. Can we devise experiments, either with existent scientific or medical measuring devices or with new or modified measuring devices, to detect differences in various measurements between an average person in a non-Qigong state and a Qigong expert in a Qigong state?

There are probably many different methods and many different manifestations of Qigong that can produce meaningful measurements from the perspective of science or medicine. Below we identify several methods and measurements. The purpose of such a list is for illustration purposes only, and not to limit our imagination and creativity to conduct this research.

• If Qi is some sort of bioelectrical energy in the body and in the neighborhood of the body, then perhaps the electromagnetic field in the neighborhood (e.g., near the fingers) of a Qigong expert in a Qigong state should be significantly stronger than that of an average person.
• Are there differences in the heart’s electrical activities as measured by electrocardiograms (ECGs) between a Qigong expert in a Qigong state and an average person?
• Are there differences in the electrical activities of the brain as measured by electroencephalograms (EEGs) between a Qigong expert in a Qigong state and an average person? In the more-proactive Qigong approach, the mind is used to direct the Qi. Are the EEG measurements different when the mind is consciously involved?
• Besides electromagnetic fields, does Qigong emit or change the emission level for other types of energy fields, e.g., acoustic field?
• In Qigong and especially in many exercises in internal martial arts, one always stresses that the Qi should be directed to and stored in the Dantien. The Dantien is below the diaphragm, the partitioned membrane that separates the cavity of the chest from that of the abdomen. Even though the word Qi in Chinese is the same word as air, air or oxygen goes to the lungs but cannot go the abdomen cavity. So what is the Qi that is going to the Dantien in the abdomen cavity? Are there physical measurements that can be measured directly or indirectly in the abdomen cavity that show the manifestations of Qi?
• Both TCM and internal martial arts talk about channels or meridians in the body in which Qi flows and vessels or reservoirs in the body in which Qi is stored. How are these Qi channels related to blood vessels which carry oxygen and other ingredients to various parts of our body? How are these Qi vessels related to our bodily organs? Are there measurements that can support the existence of these Qi channels and vessels?
• In medical diagnosis, fluorescent dyes are often used in a patient to observe differences inside a body between a normal person and a patient with an ailment. By using fluorescent dyes, are there differences inside the body that can be observed between a Qigong expert in a Qigong state and an average person?
• Practicing Qigong is supposed to increase one’s internal power (known as Neigong) for an internal martial artist. In his book The Essence of Taiji Qigong: The Internal Foundation of Taijiquan, Dr. Jwing-Ming Yang, a well-known teacher and author of books on Taijiquan and martial arts, said that the theory behind increasing striking power is actually very simple. He said that the average person generally uses his muscles at under 40% maximum efficiency, and the martial artist can use the mind to lead the Qi to the muscles to energize them to a higher level, thus increasing the martial artist’s fighting effectiveness. Similarly, leading Qi to the skin and muscles can enable them to better resist a blow without injury. If this is the case, then Qi must be manifested in some physically meaningful measurements in the body.
• TCM emphasizes that illnesses are often associated with Qi blockages. If we can figure out a way to detect Qi or detect the causal effects due to the presence of Qi or Qi circulation, then we can detect Qi blockages and can check on the correlation of Qi blockages and illnesses.
• While in a Qigong state, if a person’s arms are automatically moving in a circular motion, then part of the time, the arms are being lifted up against gravity. What is the origin of that force, and how does Qi or Qi circulation generate that force?

As previously mentioned, these examples are only for illustration purpose.

Seeking Collaborative Researchers

We are seeking interested parties, especially scientists and medical researchers, to collaborate on such a research program. It can be a win-win collaboration. We can provide knowledge and expertise on Qigong and internal martial arts, including access to world-class Qigong and internal martial artists. Our research partners can provide knowledge and expertise on scientific and medical research and measurement techniques. Such a collaboration can result in the following benefits:

• Provide a better understanding of Qi in terms of modern scientific and medical terminology
• Create a broader base to utilize the health benefits of Qigong
• Create a broader base to utilize the martial arts benefits of Qigong
• Push the frontier of research and make a significant contribution to scientific and medical knowledge in this important field that bridges the East and West

Of course, such research programs are not necessarily new, especially in China. However, it is still in an early stage of investigation, and much more research is needed in this fertile field.

If you are interested or know of people who may be interested, please contact Don Tow.

[1] For a discussion of Qi and a comparison of external and internal martial arts, see my earlier article “Brief Comparison of External and Internal Martial Arts.”

For a discussion of Taiji Qigong, see my earlier article “The Essence of Taijiquan – Part 2: Perspective from Taiji Qigong.”.

[2] For simpler reading, we use the word “his” to mean “his or her.”

The life expectancy of the residents of the YHC’s nursing homes after admission is 7 years, while the provincial average of nursing homes for Ontario, Canada is 2.5 years.  Another way of presenting this is that in 2007, 15.8% of YHC’s nursing home residents passed away, as compared to Ontario’s average of 40%.  This is even more impressive when considering that the new residents at YHC are on the average more frail and require about 9% more care than the Ontario average because of the longer waiting time for admission.  The YHC has the longest waiting list, with all 805 beds occupied and a waiting list of over 2,000 people, and the projected waiting time for a standard bed in their Scarborough centers is about six years.  The skin ulcer rate is 3%, while the provincial average is 30%.  The use of restraints by residents is 1.2%, while the provincial average is 18.3%.  The fall rate of residents is 8.9%, while the provincial average is 12.5%.

Besides the statistics, during the tour I also saw certain characteristics that make the YHC stand out among nursing homes.  The first thing that impressed me was the cleanliness of every room and every floor of the place, and they didn’t do anything special before our visit, because we were not a VIP tour group.   All the rooms were well lit, the halls were wide, the air was clean and fresh, and the rooms were spacious.  More importantly, I saw the serenity and happiness on the faces of the residents.  Such characteristics just reflect and support the numerical statistics quoted earlier.

How Was YHC Started?

The Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, formerly called the Chinese Community Nursing Home for Greater Toronto, came about when Dr. Joseph Wong witnessed the lack of emotional support and difficulty in communicating for Chinese seniors within mainstream medical facilities. So in 1987, Dr. Wong, spearheading the cause, gathered a group of 30 Chinese Canadian friends who shared his vision of building a nursing home to care for parents and grandparents with respect and dignity in their last years.  Out of that vision and seven years of dedication, commitment, and hard work, Dr. Wong and his collaborators were able to mobilize thousands of others at the grassroots level to contribute time and money, and in October 1994 realized their dream by opening a nursing home which turned out to be the first of four (and counting) Yee Hong Centres for Geriatric Care.   They were able to generate an attitude adopted at the grassroots level that they must give back to the community and that no challenge is too great to overcome.

The YHC has repeatedly received the highest praise from the Canadian government.  For example, in 1999 the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation praised YHC for providing “stellar care” to elderly members of the Chinese population, and found YHC to be so perfect that “no recommendations have been made herein,” which is an amazing ringing endorsement from a national body that scrutinizes and gives accreditation to health facilities all over Canada.  Since 1997, the Ontario Long Term Care Association has thrice selected YHC as the Grand Prize winner in their Occupational Health and Safety Week Competition.  The Canadian Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is always referring delegates and media to YHC as the shining example and the model of continuum of care for seniors. The May 31, 1999 issue of Time Magazine in its “Special Report:  Canada 2005” had an article about YHC together with a full page of pictorial coverage.

Expansion of YHC

In ten years’ time, the YHC has expanded from one nursing home to four nursing homes in the Greater Toronto area with 805 beds.  Besides nursing homes, the YHC has also enlarged its scope by providing 308 life lease housing units (housing units with some support services) and 131 private condominiums, so that seniors can go from independent living to assisted living and then to nursing home as they age and require more health-care assistance.  YHC has also extended its services to non-Chinese seniors, particularly those from the South Asian, Filipino and Japanese communities, while attuning to the cultural values and traditions of those ethnic groups.  YHC has added a full program of community-based services serving their residents as well as non-residents.

Many of these community-based services are not funded by the government, and rely solely or mostly on their own fundraising.  Even many basic nursing home services are only partially funded by the government.  As a result, in order for YHC to continue to provide top-quality care and to expand in size and in services, it has required large and continuous fundraising, and a large number of volunteers.  During the roughly 20 years of existence starting from the seed of a vision, Dr. Joseph Wong and his many collaborators and their army of volunteers have raised about $200 million.  Their largest regular single fund raising event is their annual Dragon Ball, which in 2008 raised a net proceed of $900,000.

Not only there is a long waiting list to move into one of YHC’s nursing home beds or housing units, almost unprecedented there is also a waiting list of volunteers to contribute their services to YHC!

Why was YHC so successful?  I think that there are several reasons:

• There was and still is a need for language and cultural attuned nursing homes in the Toronto area
• The YHC nursing homes were planned with top quality care in mind from the very beginning and so executed at every stage of implementation
• Someone had the vision, courage, and long-term dedication to initiate and lead a series of ambitious projects
• The leaders were able to mobilize thousands of volunteers at the grassroots level to adopt the attitude that they must give back to the community and that no challenge is too great to overcome
• Besides benefiting from residing in the YHC, many residents also became volunteers to help others
• There was synergy between private and government organizations and between the East culture and the West culture

Ongoing Challenges Faced by YHC

• Yee Hong Centres’ exemplary service and continuum of care are under serious challenges due to increasing financial constraints.  There are several contributing factors:
• The gap between government funding and nursing home costs is widening.  The annual operating cost increased by 6% while government funding only increased by about 3%
• Government cutbacks in hospitals, e.g., elimination of special wards for dementia patients, have resulted in more frail seniors and those with dementia and mental illness being sent into nursing homes
• With an increasing aging population, the number of seniors who require services like those provided by YHC continues to increase
• As with other long-term care centers in Ontario, the number of residents with behavioral problems is on the rise and therefore requires more resources to manage them
• A number of YHC’s much-needed community programs are not funded by the government and rely completely on donation dollars
• By its very nature of providing care that is attuned to the language and cultural needs of its residents, YHC requires specialized skills that are not required in other nursing homes, e.g., YHC is experiencing increasing difficulties in recruiting Chinese speaking nursing staff, social workers, and dieticians.

To sustain their current level of care, YHC needs to raise a net of $2.5 million every year.  Due to the increasingly competitive fundraising environment and the economic downturn, this is difficult to achieve, and YHC has not met its fundraising target for the past three years.  That was why they had to reduce or eliminate certain services, an example of the latter is their in-home Cancer and Palliative Care Service.  A long-term solution would probably need to rely on an overhaul of the whole healthcare industry on a national level.

Power of One

The Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care is definitely a great success story.  Such a great success of course was due to the contributions of many people.  However, if it weren’t for the vision, passion, dedication, commitment, and hard work of one person, Dr. Joseph Wong, spanning more than two decades, there would not be the Yee Hong Centre success story.

In June 1998 on the occasion of receiving the Max Beberman Award from her high school in Urbana, Illinois, Iris Chang, the award-winning author of the best seller book The Rape of Nanking:  The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II said in her acceptance speech to the high school graduates, “Please believe in THE POWER OF ONE. One person can make an enormous difference in the world. One person — actually, one idea— can start a war, or end one, or subvert an entire power structure. One discovery can cure a disease or spawn new technology to benefit or annihilate the human race. You as ONE individual can change millions of lives. Think big. Do not limit your vision and do not ever compromise your dreams or ideals….”

The impact of Dr. Joseph Wong for providing geriatric care in Toronto and beyond is a shining example of “THE POWER OF ONE.”

More information about the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care can be found at: http://www.yeehong.com/.

Most of these women and girls were kidnapped from their families and shipped to all over the Japanese empire to become sex slaves, and many died or were never united with their families again. Sometimes, these women and girls were tricked to become sex slaves when they thought they were being recruited for other jobs. As sex slaves, they were raped on a daily basis by as many as a dozen or more Japanese soldiers, while being poorly fed and living in extremely harsh conditions. In addition, sometimes they also had to perform other menial tasks during other parts of the day, all without compensation.

How terrifying were their experiences can be seen from the following remarks by Kim Koon-ja of Korea when she recalled her days as a Japanese sex slave and said that her ordeal was “so painful I tried to kill myself. I choked myself, but got caught and was so badly beaten that it was worse than death itself. There wasn’t a day that passed without tears. My last wish is for the Japanese people to apologize and make compensations.”[3]

Unfortunately to this day, the Japanese government still has not formally and officially acknowledged these atrocities and has not apologized to the victims. On the contrary, on many occasions various top-level Japanese leaders (including their prime minister), have tried to discredit the claims of the victims and eyewitnesses by making remarks such as that sex slaves were invented by people who want to criticize Japan or that these women were willingly hired by private contractors as prostitutes and were paid handsomely for their services. This is in spite of the fact that documents have been discovered within Japan’s Defense Agency (now called the Ministry of Defense) proving that state officials were directly involved in setting up sex slaves. The Japanese government has tried to rewrite history related to sex slaves, as well as other atrocities, such as the Nanking Massacre, committed by the Japanese army during WWII (See http://dontow.com/wordpress/2007/04/nanking-massacre-reporting-an-eyewitness-account/ for an eyewitness account of the Nanking Massacre.). Most Japanese youths today don’t know anything about sex slaves, the Nanking Massacre, or other atrocities committed by their country during WWII because the history textbooks they used in their schools have been revised with respect to that part of history. The Japanese government’s actions (or inactions) are in sharp contrast to those of the German government who has officially apologized and provided reparation for those who were persecuted by the German government during WWII.

Because of the social stigma in Asian countries associated with sex slaves, even though they were forced to do so and were not even compensated, these former sex slaves for many years basically kept their experiences to themselves. As a matter of fact, they were often looked down upon even by their own families, thus compounding their sufferings. However, with the passage of time, rising feminism and gender equality, and changing social attitudes, some of these women began to speak out and even participated in public demonstrations. These demonstrations began in Korea in 1992, and since July 1994 have become a weekly Wednesday event in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Korea. In spite of their advancing age, many former sex slaves participate in these demonstrations demanding an official apology and reparation from the Japanese government. Currently only a few hundred of these former sex slaves are still alive, and in a few more years they may no longer exist.

It is important to point out that there are brave and courageous Japanese people who have stood up and criticized their government for their handling of issues related to the atrocities committed by the Japanese government during WWII. Japanese organizations have been set up whose purpose is to right the injustices perpetuated by the Japanese government during and after WWII. One such organization is the “Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace” (WAM) established in 2005 to be the repository of records and materials related to the so-called “comfort women” issue that were collected by the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery that was held in 2000. Another such organization is the “Center for Research and Documentation on Japan’s War Responsibility” (JWRC) that was established in 1993 dedicated to fulfilling Japan’s responsibility to Asians victimized by Japan during WWII. Furthermore, many Japanese lawyers and eyewitnesses have provided help to the Chinese victims of the Nanking Massacre who had filed lawsuits against the Japanese government.

It is heartening to see that a little more than a year ago the governments of several countries have passed resolutions condemning the actions of the Japanese military associated with sex slaves and called on the Japanese government to officially acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility for these actions. These governments include the U.S., Canada, Netherlands, and the European Parliament. For more details about these resolutions, read the article “Reflections on Atrocities in Asia During WWII.”

In spite of such political pressures being applied to Japan, the Japanese government still has not responded positively to these pressures. Maybe we should take a cue from some of the signs shown during the weekly demonstrations in Korea urging people to boycott Japanese products until the Japanese government acknowledges and apologizes for the atrocities the Japanese military committed during WWII. Perhaps if enough people around the world boycott buying Japanese products, such as Japanese cars, the combination of economic pressures and political pressures may persuade the Japanese government to change their position.

Additional information on the sex slaves issue of WWII can also be found in the CBS video “Open Wounds,” CBS Sunday Morning News, 3/18/07: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YMUjvtt7Gg.

On Monday, 4/27/09, 7:30-9:30 PM at the Student Life Center, there will be a program at Brookdale Community College (BCC) in Lincroft, NJ on “Violence Against Women: Sex Slaves in Asia during WWII.” The program is sponsored by BCC’s “Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Center,” BCC’s “Center for WWII Studies & Conflict Resolution,” and the “New Jersey Alliance for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in Asia.”

The speakers will be Rosemarie Wilkinson, Adjunct Professor at Kean University and Social Studies Teacher at Raritan High School in Hazlet, and Frances Flannery, Social Studies and English Teacher at South Plainfield High School in South Plainfield. They will speak on “Sex Slaves – Almost Forgotten History of WWII.” Two short videos on sex slaves, one historical and one recent, will also be shown.

Admission is free to BCC students and staff and members of the three sponsoring organizations, $5 for other students, and $10 for others.

[1] In this article, the WWII period refers to the extended period of 1931-1945, the years bracketing the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Sino-Japanese War, and World War II.

[2] These are the most recent estimates based on more than 15 years of investigation by the world’s foremost expert on the comfort women issue, Professor Zhi Liang Su (and his team), who is the Director of the Comfort Women Research Institute at the Shanghai Normal University in Shanghai, China. Earlier corresponding numbers from the United Nations were 200,000 comfort women, with the majority being Koreans. Professor Su is currently working on having the more recent estimates to be adopted by the U.N.

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQEY6e9d0_0&feature=PlayList&p=861B3E4F42A03DF4&index=0