In many factories, mines, enterprises, and rural areas of Yuncheng, Shanxi, there are stories circulating about Ma Gong's extraordinary ability to determine well locations by observing the sky. What's even more remarkable is that Ma Gong, whose real name is Ma Baozhen, has no professional background in hydrogeology. Instead, he is an agricultural engineer with the Yuncheng City Forestry Bureau.
Typically, when searching for groundwater, people rely on geological and geomorphological features, vegetation cover, animal habitats, etc., to locate water sources. However, Ma Baozhen can accurately determine the water level and report on the distribution of water layers and yield within just ten minutes. He does this without using any instruments, relying solely on observing the refraction of light in the sky.
Ma Baozhen says that "determining well positions by observing the sky" is scientifically grounded. Different amounts of water stored in the strata result in varying amounts of evaporated water vapor, which in turn produces different colors under the refraction of sunlight. It is based on these subtle differences, combined with relevant positioning methods, that he can precisely determine the location for drilling wells.
Starting from the 1960s, under the guidance of his father, Ma Hongru (a former engineer at the Yuncheng Salt Chemical Bureau), Ma Baozhen traveled over 200,000 kilometers, determining the locations of more than 3,000 wells with a success rate of 99%. They were hailed by the public as having "divine eyes for observing the sky." After his father's passing, Ma Baozhen continued his father's work. Over nearly three decades, he has independently determined the locations of more than 1,000 wells for over 33 counties (cities) across three provinces—Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan—for more than a dozen administrative units, 28 factories and mines, and 456 administrative villages.
Ma Baozhen's "sky observation for well location" represents a new technology. As early as February 1995, relevant personnel conducted a search through the National Chinese Academy of Sciences Electronic Intelligence Institute and found that there was no information available domestically or internationally regarding this technique.