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| '''Qi''' or, as spelled in ], '''ch'i''' (氣 ; in ]: |
'''Qi''' or, as spelled in ], '''ch'i''' (氣 ; in ]: ''qì''; '''ki''' in ]; '''gi''' in ]), in English very often spelled as '''chi'''. ''Qi'' is a fundamental concept of everyday ] culture, most often defined as "breath" (for example, the colloquial ] Chinese term for "weather" is ''tiān qi'', or the "breath of heaven") and, by extension, "life energy" or "spiritual energy" that is part of everything that exists. References to it or similar philosophical concepts as a type of ] energy that sustains living beings are used in many belief systems, especially in ]. | ||
| Philosophical conceptions of qi date from the earliest recorded times in Chinese thinking. One of the most important early figures in Chinese ] is ] or the Yellow Emperor. He is storied to have been the ] who collected and formalized much of what subsequently became known as ]. Most of the theories of qi as a ] for the fundamental physical properties of the universe that we are familiar with today were systematized and promulgated in the last thousand years or so by the school known as the ]s. Knowledge of the theories they espoused was eventually required by subsequent Chinese dynasties to pass their ] examinations. | Philosophical conceptions of qi date from the earliest recorded times in Chinese thinking. One of the most important early figures in Chinese ] is ] or the Yellow Emperor. He is storied to have been the ] who collected and formalized much of what subsequently became known as ]. Most of the theories of qi as a ] for the fundamental physical properties of the universe that we are familiar with today were systematized and promulgated in the last thousand years or so by the school known as the ]s. Knowledge of the theories they espoused was eventually required by subsequent Chinese dynasties to pass their ] examinations. | ||
Revision as of 02:51, 20 February 2004
Qi or, as spelled in Wade-Giles, ch'i (氣 ; in pinyin: qì; ki in Japanese; gi in Korean), in English very often spelled as chi. Qi is a fundamental concept of everyday Chinese culture, most often defined as "breath" (for example, the colloquial Mandarin Chinese term for "weather" is tiān qi, or the "breath of heaven") and, by extension, "life energy" or "spiritual energy" that is part of everything that exists. References to it or similar philosophical concepts as a type of metaphysical energy that sustains living beings are used in many belief systems, especially in Asia.
Philosophical conceptions of qi date from the earliest recorded times in Chinese thinking. One of the most important early figures in Chinese mythology is Huang Di or the Yellow Emperor. He is storied to have been the culture hero who collected and formalized much of what subsequently became known as Traditional Chinese Medicine. Most of the theories of qi as a metaphor for the fundamental physical properties of the universe that we are familiar with today were systematized and promulgated in the last thousand years or so by the school known as the Neo-Confucians. Knowledge of the theories they espoused was eventually required by subsequent Chinese dynasties to pass their civil service examinations.
Theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine assert that the body has natural patterns of metabolic energy associated with it that circulate in channels called meridians in English. Symptoms of various illnesses are seen many times as the product of disrupted or unbalanced energy movement through such channels. Traditional Chinese Medicine attempts to relieve these symptoms by balancing the flow of qi in the body using various techniques. Some of these techniques include herbal medicines, special diets, physical training regimens (qigong) and acupuncture, which uses fine metal needles inserted into the skin to reroute or balance qi.
Traditional Asian martial arts theories also discuss qi. For instance, internal systems attempt to cultivate and direct this energy during combat as well as to ensure proper health. Many other martial arts include some concept of qi in their philosophies.
The nature of qi is highly controversial. Among some TCM practitioners, qi is merely a metaphor for biological processes similar to the Western concept of the soul, and there is no need to invoke new biology, much less new physics, to account for its effects. Others argue that qi involves requires some new physics or biology. Attempts to directly connect qi with some scientific phenonomenon have been attempted since the mid-nineteenth century. The philosopher Kang Youwei argued that qi was synonomous with the later abandoned concept of lumeniferous ether. Some in the early 21st century are attempting to link the concept of qi to biophotons. As of yet, science considers these claims of qi as an independent force to be unconvincing. Claims that control of qi allows one to transcend normal physical and biological processes are widely regarded as pseudoscience by the scientific establishment.
Views of qi as an esoteric force tend to be more prominent in the West, where it is often associated with New Age spritualism. They are less prominent in China, where traditional Chinese medicine is often practiced and considered effective, but in which esoteric notions of qi are considered to contradict Marxist notions of dialectic materalism.
To date, there is no evidence that results claimed by martial arts students and patients of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners are the result of esoteric processes. Some proponents of the esoteric theories of qi maintain that, since modern scientific technologies have to this point been unable to create life out of organic chemicals in their laboratories, and that as qi is a metaphor for the energy of life itself, it is to be thereby demonstrated that the mechanisms of how the subject of such a metaphor would work so far elude the abilities of the scientific community to describe. Opponents argue that qi is merely a new form of vitalism, a theory that was largely abandoned in the early 19th century.
The concept of qi appears often in Chinese fiction, in which a stock character is that of the kung fu master who has gained control of qi, to the point that he can alter the forces of nature. Many have remarked on the similarity between the concept of qi and that of the Jedi's Force in the Star Wars movies, and suggest that George Lucas may have borrowed the concept.
See also:
Resources: ENERGY MEDICINE: The Scientific Basis, by James L. Oschman, PhD, Churchill Livingston, 2000
Qi (齊 qi2) is also the name of several states in Chinese history. See Qi (state).
Qi (旗 qi2) were Banners, the Manchu organizations.
See also QI