Qì - Chi - 气 Simplified - 氣 Traditional
Possible Scientific Explanations P. 1
So what is it? I suspect it is a collection of mechanisms that work together to fuel the universe and enhance performance in natural systems.
A search through Chinese literature suggests it is many things, some related and some that may be far afield, yet related somehow.
Zhu Ming (A translator of “The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, published by the Foreign Languages Press, Beijing) wrote in his Introduction to that work that:
“The ‘essential qi’ is the source of the generation and formation of everything. The ancient Chinese philosophers regarded that the source of the cosmos was the essential qì... original qì. The qì is an invisible materialistic element that forms everything….Man is endowed with the essential qi from nature and it is called essential qì, vital qì or original qì …”
He goes on to write that qì is used in many compound words like: “true qi, ancestral qi, nutriative qì, defensive qì, liver qì, spleen qì, heart qì, etc.”
It seems to me that different but related concepts may be at work here.
The “essential qi” could be something that physicists are searching for, the fundamental or “essential” building blocks of matter for example. Molecules are made of atoms; atoms are made of particles called protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons and neutrons which are called hadrons are made of things called quarks and gluons, and physicists are searching for something even smaller… So far more than 50 subatomic particles have been identified with one theoretical particle earning itself special attention called the Higgs particle. Many physicists, if not most believe that this Higgs particle is the carrier of a field that pervades all space and interacts with all other particles.
On the other hand, it could be the “unified field force,” that Einstein was looking for and never found (whose secret may be locked in the Higgs particle!). Einstein identified four basic forces in the universe: gravitational, strong and weak intra-molecular forces and electromagnetic forces.
A particle like the neutrino, which sometimes is and sometimes is not, could have been the spark that was present at the creation of the universe, being the only thing it would have been infinitely large and small at the same time, leading to the Big Bang.
So, this kind of definition of “essential qì is just loaded fascinating questions.
“Ancestral qì on the other hand would probably have to be carried in the DNA.
“Nutritive qì “ would probably have to be carried in the right combinations of foods, and water, and could possibly include sunlight and air.
To have every subatomic particle, electron, atom, molecule, cell, and bodily system functioning properly, obviously the right DNA and environmental nutrition would be required. Thus, related systems. Related how?
According to the Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor they must be aligned with nature:
“Only sages respond to the heaven to nurture their heads, respond to the earth or nurture their legs and respond to human matters to nurture the five zang-organs. The heavenly qì flows to the lungs. The earthly qì runs to the throat. The wind qi goes to the liver. The thunder qì gets to the heart. The grain qi flows to the spleen. The rain qì rushes to the kidneys. The six channels are the rivers of the body…
“To analogize man and nature: Sweat could be named rain, gasp could be named Speedy Wind, and rage could be named Thunder. The reverse qì of a man is similar to the heavenly qì not descending and the earthly qì not ascending. So, if health care does not observe the rules of heaven and earth, mishaps will certainly occur.”
From: The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, published by the Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, (Page 19) Translated by Zhu Ming
Because I don’t unfortunately have an infinite amount of time, I can’t analyze every aspect of a quote like the above but some general observations can be made. First, obviously everything here is not to be taken literally. The writer uses analogies liberally. Secondly, the right kind of interactions between heaven and earth and qì flow through the six channels are essential for health.
A few examples, the “heavenly qì flows to the lungs.” So, here qì could be oxygen, and/or how well ones' body can absorb and circulate oxygen. Thus, the quality of one’s air might be important for good qì. Fresh mountain or ocean air tends to have more oxygen than say a crowded movie theater with poor ventilation in a big city. Also, good breathing habits, good lung and heart functioning, and sufficient iron in the blood help the body uptake and circulate oxygen better.
As for me, I love to walk, jog and sometimes run in mountains and along rivers, lakes and oceans, harmonizing earth and heaven, sweating nicely, and after truly enjoy wonderful water and fruits, not to mention a balanced meal! Following these nice events I tend to sleep well and be happy. Live in harmony with nature and generally speaking I think most people can avoid doctors. (This is one of my primary goals in life.)
(In the “Prevention: Diet and exercise sections on the menu bar above I write a lot about things help that harmonize the Ying and Yang…)
Many times I had Tai Chi and Yoga teachers tell me about Earth qì flowing up through the feet, through the body and out the top of the head.
During the early 1980s I studied geo-electric and geo-magnetic energy (there’s even a scientific journal with that name) and found that the earth's core contains a goodly amount of molten iron and has a strong north/south magnetic field. An Earth Energy (or Telluric current) cycle consists of electrons propagating in one direction for 12 hours and then back in the opposite direction during the next 12 hours, changing directions at noon and midnight precisely.
It is possible that the electrical nature of living cells stimulates resonance in a similar coherent, phased and polarized fashion as the earth energy that affects it, forming a synchronous system throughout nature and the human body. Likewise humans evolved with lunar and solar electromagnetic fields (which might be called “heavenly,” by some).
I also researched the effects of magnetic fields on biological systems and found that they act as generalized stressor effects. Certainly the sun wakes us up, darkness helps us relax (usually) and some people feel more energy during the full moon.
I also read a study in the journal called “Science” that explained how the researchers investigated electrical conductivity of the skin and found a map of points that were more conductive than others. Left on a lab table with no apparent use, another researcher walked in and asked: “What are you doing with the acupuncture map?”
This study led me to ask, “Why would nature build into animals sensitivity to electromagnetic fields?”
My answer was this: probably species that followed natural cycles of rest and activity, like night and day, and within lunar cycles, survived better than those that didn’t.
The next question became more complicated: How could acupuncture help health?
That research led to dozens of articles that suggested a variety of mechanisms, including stimulating local injury potentials, and also possibly focusing EM energy into the body.
Just recently I re-researched this and found others including:
A search through Chinese literature suggests it is many things, some related and some that may be far afield, yet related somehow.
Zhu Ming (A translator of “The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, published by the Foreign Languages Press, Beijing) wrote in his Introduction to that work that:
“The ‘essential qi’ is the source of the generation and formation of everything. The ancient Chinese philosophers regarded that the source of the cosmos was the essential qì... original qì. The qì is an invisible materialistic element that forms everything….Man is endowed with the essential qi from nature and it is called essential qì, vital qì or original qì …”
He goes on to write that qì is used in many compound words like: “true qi, ancestral qi, nutriative qì, defensive qì, liver qì, spleen qì, heart qì, etc.”
It seems to me that different but related concepts may be at work here.
The “essential qi” could be something that physicists are searching for, the fundamental or “essential” building blocks of matter for example. Molecules are made of atoms; atoms are made of particles called protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons and neutrons which are called hadrons are made of things called quarks and gluons, and physicists are searching for something even smaller… So far more than 50 subatomic particles have been identified with one theoretical particle earning itself special attention called the Higgs particle. Many physicists, if not most believe that this Higgs particle is the carrier of a field that pervades all space and interacts with all other particles.
On the other hand, it could be the “unified field force,” that Einstein was looking for and never found (whose secret may be locked in the Higgs particle!). Einstein identified four basic forces in the universe: gravitational, strong and weak intra-molecular forces and electromagnetic forces.
A particle like the neutrino, which sometimes is and sometimes is not, could have been the spark that was present at the creation of the universe, being the only thing it would have been infinitely large and small at the same time, leading to the Big Bang.
So, this kind of definition of “essential qì is just loaded fascinating questions.
“Ancestral qì on the other hand would probably have to be carried in the DNA.
“Nutritive qì “ would probably have to be carried in the right combinations of foods, and water, and could possibly include sunlight and air.
To have every subatomic particle, electron, atom, molecule, cell, and bodily system functioning properly, obviously the right DNA and environmental nutrition would be required. Thus, related systems. Related how?
According to the Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor they must be aligned with nature:
“Only sages respond to the heaven to nurture their heads, respond to the earth or nurture their legs and respond to human matters to nurture the five zang-organs. The heavenly qì flows to the lungs. The earthly qì runs to the throat. The wind qi goes to the liver. The thunder qì gets to the heart. The grain qi flows to the spleen. The rain qì rushes to the kidneys. The six channels are the rivers of the body…
“To analogize man and nature: Sweat could be named rain, gasp could be named Speedy Wind, and rage could be named Thunder. The reverse qì of a man is similar to the heavenly qì not descending and the earthly qì not ascending. So, if health care does not observe the rules of heaven and earth, mishaps will certainly occur.”
From: The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, published by the Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, (Page 19) Translated by Zhu Ming
Because I don’t unfortunately have an infinite amount of time, I can’t analyze every aspect of a quote like the above but some general observations can be made. First, obviously everything here is not to be taken literally. The writer uses analogies liberally. Secondly, the right kind of interactions between heaven and earth and qì flow through the six channels are essential for health.
A few examples, the “heavenly qì flows to the lungs.” So, here qì could be oxygen, and/or how well ones' body can absorb and circulate oxygen. Thus, the quality of one’s air might be important for good qì. Fresh mountain or ocean air tends to have more oxygen than say a crowded movie theater with poor ventilation in a big city. Also, good breathing habits, good lung and heart functioning, and sufficient iron in the blood help the body uptake and circulate oxygen better.
As for me, I love to walk, jog and sometimes run in mountains and along rivers, lakes and oceans, harmonizing earth and heaven, sweating nicely, and after truly enjoy wonderful water and fruits, not to mention a balanced meal! Following these nice events I tend to sleep well and be happy. Live in harmony with nature and generally speaking I think most people can avoid doctors. (This is one of my primary goals in life.)
(In the “Prevention: Diet and exercise sections on the menu bar above I write a lot about things help that harmonize the Ying and Yang…)
Many times I had Tai Chi and Yoga teachers tell me about Earth qì flowing up through the feet, through the body and out the top of the head.
During the early 1980s I studied geo-electric and geo-magnetic energy (there’s even a scientific journal with that name) and found that the earth's core contains a goodly amount of molten iron and has a strong north/south magnetic field. An Earth Energy (or Telluric current) cycle consists of electrons propagating in one direction for 12 hours and then back in the opposite direction during the next 12 hours, changing directions at noon and midnight precisely.
It is possible that the electrical nature of living cells stimulates resonance in a similar coherent, phased and polarized fashion as the earth energy that affects it, forming a synchronous system throughout nature and the human body. Likewise humans evolved with lunar and solar electromagnetic fields (which might be called “heavenly,” by some).
I also researched the effects of magnetic fields on biological systems and found that they act as generalized stressor effects. Certainly the sun wakes us up, darkness helps us relax (usually) and some people feel more energy during the full moon.
I also read a study in the journal called “Science” that explained how the researchers investigated electrical conductivity of the skin and found a map of points that were more conductive than others. Left on a lab table with no apparent use, another researcher walked in and asked: “What are you doing with the acupuncture map?”
This study led me to ask, “Why would nature build into animals sensitivity to electromagnetic fields?”
My answer was this: probably species that followed natural cycles of rest and activity, like night and day, and within lunar cycles, survived better than those that didn’t.
The next question became more complicated: How could acupuncture help health?
That research led to dozens of articles that suggested a variety of mechanisms, including stimulating local injury potentials, and also possibly focusing EM energy into the body.
Just recently I re-researched this and found others including:
Scientific Reviews of Acupuncture
“Evaluation of Applied Kinesiology meridian techniques by means of surface electromyography (sEMG): demonstration of the regulatory influence of antique acupuncture points”
http://www.cmjournal.org/content/4/1/9
“Decoding an Ancient Therapy” - Published in Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704841304575137872667749264.html
Wikipedia did (as usual) an amazing of reviewing the supporters and critics of acupuncture in a relatively balanced manner. The references are excellent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accupuncture
ACUPUNCTURE EDUCATION
http://www.nuhs.edu/admissions/acupuncture/ (USA)
JOURNALS
http://www.springer.com/medicine/complementary+%26+alternative+medicine/journal/11726
http://www.cmjournal.org/content/4/1/9
“Decoding an Ancient Therapy” - Published in Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704841304575137872667749264.html
Wikipedia did (as usual) an amazing of reviewing the supporters and critics of acupuncture in a relatively balanced manner. The references are excellent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accupuncture
ACUPUNCTURE EDUCATION
http://www.nuhs.edu/admissions/acupuncture/ (USA)
JOURNALS
http://www.springer.com/medicine/complementary+%26+alternative+medicine/journal/11726