Qi – the very important energy. The word ‘Qi’, or ‘chi’ is a phrase increasingly bandied around by all manner of people, but often with no understanding of its real significance. Defining Qi is very difficult – it’s a concept entirely foreign to Western thought.
Chinese reference
Referred to in ancient China as Dragon’s Breath, it can’t be seen or measured, but it is present in all things. It is both energy or matter (the Chinese do not tend to differentiate between both ) and it contains and defines all life and all inanimate objects in the world. Chi has been known as’vital energy’ but it’s significantly more than that. The Chinese word ‘Qi’ literally translates as ‘energy’ or ‘breath’.
In the body it is thought to flow through channels called’meridians’ in a similar way to blood flowing through the veins. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes the blockage or incorrect movement of Qi throughout the body as the reason for physical and mental disorder, and internal arts like meditation goal to increase the quantity of Qi within the body.
Good to know
A person’s Qi can be experienced after instruction in the internal arts, and its own power and strength in a master is undoubtable. Those with powerful Qi have a healthy and youthful appearance, a strong immune system and are full of energy. However, poor diet and hectic modern lifestyles take their toll, and many people suffer terrible health, fatigue, constant sleeplessness and depression because of depletion of our vital energy, or disruption of its normal circulation and function.
Qi can be manifest in the world around us, it’s the life force of the natural world and Qi is strong in which you will find clear streams, rolling hills and abundant vegetation. The Chinese art of geomancy, called ‘Feng Shui’ is increasingly popular throughout the Western world – its practitioners want to promote a healthy and fortune enhancing flow of Qi through their houses by means of ancient formulae.
Final note
There are numerous interpretations of the idea of’chi’ by Westerners who are trying to integrate Eastern and Western methodology. Believing the Chinese notions to be unscientific, they try to match the concept into the biomedical frame, equating Qi with electromagnetic energy and meridians with nerves, as an example. Such theories can lead to interesting new discoveries but the effort is faulty – that the ancient Chinese world view isn’t one that can be scrutinised and understood by our logical scientific means of thinking. Qi is an inclusive, holistic concept which describes connections between matters as much as the character of something.
