Qi is a fundamental concept of everyday Chinese culture, most
often defined as "air" or "breath" (for example,
the colloquial Mandarin Chinese term for "weather" is
tiān qi, or the "breath of heaven") and, by extension,
"life force" or "spiritual energy" that is part
of everything that exists. References to qi 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 important early figures in
Chinese mythology is Huang Di or the Yellow Emperor. He is often
considered a culture hero who collected and formalized much of what
subsequently became known as traditional Chinese medicine. Although
the concept of qi has been very important within all Chinese philosophies,
their descriptions of qi have been varied and conflicting.
The etymological meaning of the qi ideogram in its traditional
form qi is "qi steam rising from rice as it cooks" (source:
Wenlin dictionary), which could be interpreted as the indicating
the link between matter and the energy it develops. Matter and energy
are said merely to be different states of the same fundamental substance.
One significant difference has been the question of whether qi
exists as a force separate from matter, if qi arises from matter,
or if matter arises from qi. Some Buddhists and Taoists have tended
toward the second belief, with some Buddhists in particular tending
to believe that matter is an illusion.
By contrast, the Neo-Confucians criticized the notion that qi exists
separate from matter, and viewed qi as arising from the properties
of matter. 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 Neo-Confucians. Knowledge of the theories they espoused
was eventually required by subsequent Chinese dynasties to pass
their civil service examinations.
Qi in traditional Chinese medicine
Theories of traditional Chinese medicine assert that the body has
natural patterns of qi associated with it that circulate in channels
called meridians in English. Symptoms of various illnesses are often
seen as the product of disrupted or unbalanced qi movement through
such channels (including blockages), or imbalances of qi, in the
various Zang Fu organs. Traditional Chinese Medicine seeks to relieve
these imbalances by adjusting the flow of qi in the body using a
variety of therapeutic techniques. Some of these techniques include
herbal medicines, special diets, physical training regimens (qigong),
massages to clear blockages, and acupuncture, which uses fine metal
needles inserted into the skin to reroute or balance qi. Traditional
Asian martial arts also discuss qi. For instance, internal systems
attempt to cultivate and direct qi 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, and the old controversy
among Chinese philosophy as to the nature of qi still exists. 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 some new physics or biology.
Attempts to directly connect qi with some scientific phenonomena
have been attempted since the mid-nineteenth century. The philosopher
Kang Youwei believed that qi was synonymous with the later abandoned
concept of lumeniferous ether. In the early 21st century, attempts
have been made to link the concept of qi to biophotons or inner
biological energy flow. 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.
There is also controversy between different groups which claim
to work with qi for various purposes. Views of qi as an esoteric
force tend to be more prominent in the West, where it has sometimes
been associated with New Age spritualism. These views 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 materialism.
Many traditional martial arts schools also eschew a supernatural
approach to the issue, identifying "external qi" or "internal
qi" as representative of the varying leverage principles used
to improve the efficacy of a well trained, healthier than normal
body with a given work load.
Some complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches not
only assume its existence but believe that the purported subtle
energy running through and surrounding the body can be manipulated
so as to cultivate increased physical, psychological and spiritual
health. Acupuncture along with other practices of traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM), ayurveda and many other traditional disciplines
worldwide provide examples of similar beliefs. Properly funded,
conducted and repeated empirical research is necessary to determine
if the success rate of these CAM approaches is due to
the existence of subtle energy,
the placebo effect, and/or
various other factors.
Skeptically minded followers of the scientific method have to assume
the possibility that the results claimed by martial arts students
and patients of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners can be
explained without invoking esoteric or supernatural processes. In
answer, most proponents of the effects of the cultivation 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 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. This
character has entered Western consciousness through the martial
arts film. Many have also remarked on the similarity between the
concept of qi and that of the fictional Jedi's Force in the Star
Wars movies, and have suggested that George Lucas may have borrowed
the concept. There are qigong masters who claim to be able to manipulate
their students from a distance with qi.
Romanization
Qì is the pinyin romanisation of what is sometimes transliterated,
using the older Wade-Giles romanisation, as ch'i (and frequently
mis-spelled as chi). The Japanese form is ki while the Korean form
is gi.
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