Zhang Baosheng

Zhang Baosheng (; 1960 – 3 August 2018) was a so-called Qigong grandmaster during the peak of Qigongs popularity, "Qigong fever," in China. Baosheng claimed supernatural abilities developed through it, including but not limited to: x-ray vision, pyrokinesis, spoon bending, healing and the ability to pass objects through other non-permeable objects using telekinesis.

Biography According to Zhang's official biography, Superman, he was born in 1960 in Anhui to very poor parents and was given away at a young age to a couple in Benxi, Liaoning. His adopted father was the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of the Xihu district of Benxi, and his mother was an artist. They both died around the year 2000. He graduated junior high school and took occupation as a miner. Tang Yu's claims attained credence because of the communist government's confirmation of his abilities. Yu was described by The Sichuan Daily, an official Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspaper, as, "a child who could allegedly read Chinese characters with his ears." Ye gave him a special passport allowing him access to important places, ordered him paid well, and given good living conditions.

Zhang was further exposed in various Taiwanese news publication through the 1990s, some dubbing him a "low-level magician." Indeed many of his tricks can be explained through illusionist techniques. His supposed healings often resulted in a fluid or blob of some form appearing in his hand which he would claim he removed from the body. Before one treatment in 1990, he took a long shower in the hotel room. Afterwards, he removed pus from a patient's lesion. Curiously, after Zhang left it was observed that a new piece of soap had scratches on it, and it was theorized the pus was water and soap. Other skills that he was famous for such as spoon-bending, smoke from the fingers, and rejoining torn cards have long been exposed as common trickery. The rest of his abilities were explainable through sleight of hand and because each time he performed he left the room unattended often. He claimed this was due to Qigong Rejuvenation and body regulation. In 1998, all testing with the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering of COSTIND ceased after 16 years, yet he was still allowed a place in the Space Research Centre.

Qigong became associated with the Falun Gong. When the Chinese government started their persecution of the Falun Gong in 1999, they associated with Zhang even less, and he then tried to remain out of the public eye. He was still very rich, well respected among the powerful of China, and his services were still in demand. His last public appearance was in 2002 at the farewell ceremony of Wu Shaozu, who at one point ran the day-to-day of China's military-industrial research budget and approved research on Zhang. General Wu was forced to relinquish his post as head of the National Sports Commission due to the Falun Gong persecution.

Zhang died in the early morning of August 3, 2018 in Beijing. His cause of death was a heart attack at age 58. In his later years, he lived unhappily in seclusion with a small circle.

In popular culture In the Hong Kong film franchise God of Gamblers, the minor protagonist Cheung Po-Sing bearing a reference to Zhang is similarly reputed for allegedly possessing supernatural powers and is similarly recruited by the Chinese police for investigations. It is eventually revealed, that Cheung Po-Sing's ability has never been real, and the deceptive myth has been elaborately started by the protagonist in order to trick the antagonist into relying on a nonexistent supernatural power for cheating in a high-stakes poker game. The movie was released at the peak of hype surrounding Zhang's alleged supernatural abilities. Nine films have been made in the franchise with several spin-offs too.