The Roots of Qi

Donald Mainfort
Skeptical Briefs Volume 10.1, March 2000

According to ancient Chinese medicine dating back at least 3,000 years,

illnesses were viewed as an imbalance of qi, or vital energy, in the body. Qi was
believed to exist everywhere in the universe-a life force such as that referred to
in pre-scientific Western medicine as lan vital. Vitalism is the belief in an
invisible, intangible, unique form of energy that is supposedly responsible for all
of the activities of a living organism. The vital force in Chinese traditional
medicine is called qi, the concept upon which acupuncture is based. The
word qi means air in English. In traditional Chinese medicine, qi travels
throughout the body by way of fourteen channels called meridians. Insertion of
needles into points along these channels is supposed to adjust the positive
(yang), or negative (yin) aspects of the qi, so as to maintain a balance, or
harmony. Herbs, massage, eating different types of food, and other methods are
also alleged to have an effect on this balance. Qigong is said to allow
practitioners to direct the alleged effects of qi just by using their
minds. Qigong doctors
claim
to
channel
their
own qiinto
a
patients qi network, thereby correcting blockages and reestablishing harmony
(much as in acupuncture), but without the needles. The term gong
refers here to method, or skill. It is the same gong that is used in gongfu (kung
fu) and the now-popular falungong. Hammagong is a martial arts method that
involves squatting and hopping about like a toad (hamma)! The appearance of
the words qi andgong combined together first in 1955, when a therapist at the
Hebei Department of Health and Sanitation named Liu Guizhen established a
rest clinic for central government officials in Beijing, many of whom were too
tired and weak for physical exercise. Liu published an influential qigong treatise
in 1957: Qigong Practices.
Although the term qigong is a relatively new invention, the idea of qi as the
basis for the Chinese concept of health comes from ancient times-long before
the advent of modern science. The earliest known record of the term qi occurs
in the book Liji, prior to the Spring and Autumn period, between three and four
thousand years ago. At that time there was no modern physiology or
biochemistry, nor was there understanding about nutrition or the healing
mechanisms of the body. The existence of cells, blood circulation, neurology and
hormones were also unknown. Because dissection of the human body was
culturally discouraged, very little anatomical information was available. The

only opportunity for anatomy lessons came after battles (or executions, where
beheading was the preferred method).
Professor Yuan Zhong of Beijing Union Medical University, a member of the
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is a specialist in Chinese medical history
focusing on medical philosophy. He explains that after the fall of the ax, blood
quickly leaves the body and ancient observers assumed that this liquid came
from the body cavity, not from the curious, seemingly empty tubes that they
later were able to see after the blood had drained away. We now know that these
other vessels are the carotid arteries and jugular veins, which transport blood.
Ancient observers guessed that because these tubes appeared empty and
deflated, that some form of air or special gas must inflate them, hence the
name qi (air). They believed that our bodies were inflated and nourished by this
special air and that the arteries and veins were simply part of the respiratory
system. According to the ancient medical text Ling Shu Jing Shui, this is where
the idea of qi began. Pulse diagnosis appeared in China during the early
Warring States period (about 2,500 years ago). At that time, doctors believed
that what they were feeling were pulses of air (qi), not blood. Later, when closer
observations revealed residual blood inside veins (trapped there by the bicuspid
valves), the theory of qi was modified to state that veins carried blood and
arteries carried air. As early as the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) the famous
anatomist Wang Qingren held to the mistaken belief that arteries carried air,
not blood. Prior to the time of Wang Qingren, dissection was never done. To his
credit, Wang lobbied strongly for less stringent regulations against dissection,
saying that healing without knowledge of internal organs was like a blind man
walking in the dark.
As in most major religions, the breath of life concept and air hold a special
significance. When a person stops breathing, they die. If respiration is difficult,
there is an obvious health problem. According to ancient medical beliefs (not
only in China), the breath was said to be the soul of the individual, born withyet separate from-the body and that it would leave the body prior to death. In
late 1973, a collection of medical treatises on silk banners and bamboo slips
were excavated from the Ma Wang Dui site near Changsha, Hunan. The Han
and Chin Dynasty (300 b.c.-3 a.d.) treatises (the earliest surviving medical
works in China) from tomb number three frequently mentionqi as both a
method of explaining and treating disease. One special variety of qi
mentioned frequently is that of jing qi of heaven, which grew out of the
ancient worship of sexual reproduction. It was believed that conception
occurred as a result of contact with heavenly gas, or jing qi vital energy and that
in order to increase ones health and maintain optimum energy, frequent
exposure to this special condition was necessary. This led to the Art of
Coitus where the males semen was credited with magical life-giving properties,

a concrete manifestation of the qi of heaven. Journey to the West, one of the

four most significant pieces of Chinese literature, begins with a stone near the
shore of the ocean being exposed to the vital qi of heaven when suddenly Sun
Wukong, the Monkey King sprang valiantly from the rock.

Various Traditional Chinese Medicine ingredients: snakes, sea horses, bracket fungi (called mystical plant in China)
and deer antler.

In addition to the concept of jing qi, the Ma Wang Dui tombs tell us that qi has
other qualities and that it can be produced by fire. A cold person is said to be
lacking in qi and vice-versa. We are also told in one of the texts, titled Ten
Questions, that qi has the ability to move. This idea is consistent with the
current popular view of qi. Four important functions of qi were also mentioned:
the development of strength, resistance to disease and evil spirits, and the
maintenance of good health and longevity. The idea that qi can be obtained
from the environment led to the practice, still seen today, of consuming the sex
organs of various animals, such as foxes and birds. The kidneys of mice, the
pollen from flowers, and alcohol were also thought to contain highly potent
forms of qi. Any sort of pungent plant or root was said to contain qi. One has
merely to pass within fifty yards of a traditional Chinese hospital to recognize
the characteristic reek of the medicines produced there. Some substances may
have been selected because they happen to look similar to other things.
Ginseng, for example is said to resemble a fetus. The consumption of placental
after-birth is still a common practice in the Chinese countryside. The idea was
that the active medical ingredient in all of these substances was qi. Ancient
tribal dances that were practiced in an effort to rid the body of evil spirits by
filling it with qi led to the Dao Ying Su, a method of movement designed to
cultivate qi and to celebrate the act of coitus and the reproductive organs. These

are the early Chinese traditional medical beliefs from which modern versions
developed, as evidenced by the surviving texts.
Professor Yuan points to a parallel and interrelated development of the qi of
traditional medicine, described above, and of qi used as an interpretation of, or
an attempt to reconcile with, the more recent philosophy of Daoism. The Daoist
philosopher Laozi is said to have been born around 604 b.c. After his death, a
movement developed which deified Laozi and created a new religion. A cast of
new Daoist gods appeared and astrology, divination, alchemy, breath control
and levitation were practiced by a variety of cults. The most notable group, the
Celestial Masters (still active today) was established in 142 a.d., when their
leader, Zhang Daoling, reported that he had received "revelations from Laozis
spirit. The fusing of these ideas with those of the older medical interpretation
of qi resulted in the Huang Di Nei Jing (emperors internal scripture), the
universally recognized foundation of modern traditional Chinese medicine.
Both ancient qigong wizards and modern masters draw from primitive
traditions of nature worship. Historically, the Chinese people have been closely
tied to the land, with agriculture being the major source of sustenance. Life in
China has been greatly influenced by the harsh and unpredictable forces of
nature, which inspire fear and despair. Ancient wizards offered some hope of
intervention into the affairs of the gods of nature. There were many methods
used to convince people of this, but the primary concern was to create a sense of
mystery and awe. A second was to employ tricks and methods of deception to
gain peoples confidence. Modern wizards claim that they have inherited their
methods from the ancients, but that they have surpassed them. All of these
allegedly new innovations are actually just variations of previous methods. Socalled qigong information tea (or water), is really just another form of the
ancient longevity pill. The modern "scientific information on qigong is
transmitted socially, not academically. Very few of the wizards are ever medical
authorities. They are frequently unlicensed, unprofessional, and they all claim
to possess unlimited power that can cure any and all diseases. Although
claiming to be scientific, they shun genuine scientific scrutiny. Their theories
contain confusing and mystical concepts and they commonly cite lack of faith
on the part of their patients as a way of excusing their failures. Belief in the
supernatural creates great confusion that causes theology to become mistaken
for science.

References

Yuan, Z. 1991. The Ancient Chinese Exploration of Vital Energy Effect

on the Formation of Qi Theory in the Huang Di Nei Jing.
Heilongjiang: Chinese Medical University of Heilongjiang Press.

Yuan, Z. 1997. Wizardry, Wizard Religion, Wizard Doctors. Beijing:

Chinese Association of Science Press.

Zhang, L., Z.X. Wu. 1992. Answers to Questions About Qigong.

Shanghai: Shanghai Education Publishing House.

Donald Mainfort
Donald Mainfort, who has lectured, taught English, and traveled extensively in
China, now writes from Minneapolis.