Virgil
29th March 2004, 05:50 PM
BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- A Chinese doctor entered the 10th day of his planned 49-day fast in Southwest China. He was still safe and sound ¡ª but some people have raised questions.
Chen Jianmin, 50, entered a glass room in Bifengxia Valley, a mountain resort in Ya¡¯an City, Sichuan Province on March 20 and has been since living alone in the 15-sqm room, built halfway up the mountain.
Chen¡¯s daily activities included reading, writing, communicating with others through mobile phones, and sitting cross-legged. Sometimes he practiced kung fu.
Chen hoped to break the 44-day fast record set last year by American magician David Blaine. He said he would break the record with his method of ¡°bigushengong¡± or ¡°the magic of fasting,¡± which was been documented in ancient Chinese medical documents and Buddhist scriptures.
However, practicing kung fu and making phone calls were against the basic principle of ¡°bigushenggong,¡± said the Beijing News, which quoted an expert who refused to be named.
¡°Bigushenggong¡± required people to sit quietly to save energy, said the expert, who said fasted in the past.
The expert said those who practiced ¡°bigushenggong¡± usually supplemented their energy with a small nutritious pill. The expert said Chen had a lot of chances to ingest pills. For example, when Chen sat behind closed curtains he could take a pill. Or, he said, Chen could secretly swallow a pill when he received a phone call.
Chen Jianmin, 50, entered a glass room in Bifengxia Valley, a mountain resort in Ya¡¯an City, Sichuan Province on March 20 and has been since living alone in the 15-sqm room, built halfway up the mountain.
Chen¡¯s daily activities included reading, writing, communicating with others through mobile phones, and sitting cross-legged. Sometimes he practiced kung fu.
Chen hoped to break the 44-day fast record set last year by American magician David Blaine. He said he would break the record with his method of ¡°bigushengong¡± or ¡°the magic of fasting,¡± which was been documented in ancient Chinese medical documents and Buddhist scriptures.
However, practicing kung fu and making phone calls were against the basic principle of ¡°bigushenggong,¡± said the Beijing News, which quoted an expert who refused to be named.
¡°Bigushenggong¡± required people to sit quietly to save energy, said the expert, who said fasted in the past.
The expert said those who practiced ¡°bigushenggong¡± usually supplemented their energy with a small nutritious pill. The expert said Chen had a lot of chances to ingest pills. For example, when Chen sat behind closed curtains he could take a pill. Or, he said, Chen could secretly swallow a pill when he received a phone call.