The Chinese government has been promoting such classical qigong exercises since the late 1950s. The People's Sports Press under the General Administration of Sports had published Tiyu Duanlian Fangfa Congshu, a book series on methods for physical exercise, between 1957-77.

These books were reprinted several times, with popular titles including Ba Duan Jin, Yi Jin Jing, Wu Qin Xi (five-animal frolics), Health Massage, Medical Massage and Simplified Tai Ji Quan. Each of these had reportedly sold at least 2 million copies as of 1978 when Chinese people began looking to sports from abroad and paying less attention to local, traditional sports.