Qi…what?
What is Qi? Do you remember how your physic teacher told you that everything is made of atoms? Well, according to Chinese, everything is made of Qi. What is though somewhat confusing at first, is that there are many types of Qi or better said, the Qi has a different name according to its location, property or function.
Thus, we have a Yangqi and a Yinqi, Yin and Yang theory being one of the basic concepts of TCM and Chinese philosophy. But we also have a Prenatal Qi and a Postnatal Qi, as well as an Original Qi, a Gathering Qi. Each of the Yin and Yang organs have their own Qi: Spleen-Qi, Liver-Qi, Kidney-Qi and so on. Between our skin and muscles, we have a Guardian Qi, while the Qi which nourishes our organs, tissues and the like is called Nutritive Qi.
And when some types of Qi mix together, we have the Blood or the Organic Liquids.
To me understanding this was the first hurdle, as those who are familiar with TCM give the concept for granted and throw Qi-words at you without too much explaining (I cannot guarantee I won’t be doing that too!).
I’d like to give a short explanation, to help navigating my future Qi posts 😊. Note that there might be some variation in the names depending on the language.
Yangqi: immaterial, cannot be seen or touched (e.g. the air we breathe)
Yinqi: material, can be seen and touched (e.g. a table)
Essence (Jing): the Qi we inherit from our parents (willingly or not!). We could say that it is the energetic genes which are passed to us at conception.
Prenatal Qi or prenatal Essence: it is the Essence which nourishes the embryo and at puberty it transforms into Kidney Essence.
Postnatal Qi: it is a general term to indicate the Food-Qi (Guqi), which is the Qi extracted from the food and liquids we ingest. It is basically our fuel. Here is an important point: what you get in, you get out. Thus…trash in, trash out. Just to say that our diet is one of the keys to our health.
Original Qi (Yuanqi): it is basically the Essence converted into a form compatible with our “operating system”. Using a car analogy, the Essence is like a battery, which needs to have some critical components such a stable chemical composition, before it can be used.
You might thing about the Essence as something raw, which needs to be cooked for use. By the way, the Chinese character for Jing (精) includes that for rice: 米. You body would not respond well if you ingest uncooked rice. The Yuanqi is stored in the Kidneys.
Food-Qi and Gathering Qi (Guqi and Zhongqi): the two mixed together give the fuel, which makes your body functioning. The Gathering Qi is the Guqi mixed with the air we breathe.
True Qi: adding some Yuanqi (Original Qi) to the Gathering Qi, you have two other types of Qi, the most refined ones, which circulate in our body: Nutritive Qi (Yingqi) and Guardian Qi (Weiqi).
Nutritive Qi (Yingqi): the pure Qi which nourish the organs, tissues, muscles, etc.
Guardian Qi (Weiqi): the protective Qi which is basically our energetic immune system. When this is strong, we are less affected by external pathogens, thus catching colds less frequently for example.
Organ-Qi: the specific Qi each organ has, such as Spleen-Qi, Liver-Qi, Kidney Qi. The Organ-Qi has two aspects, a Yin aspect and a Yang aspect. Thus, you can have Kidney Yinqi or Kidney Yangqi, for example.
The Qi of each organ flows in a specific direction, thus if we talk about Stomach-Qi for example, we know that it flows downwards; when we speak about pathological Stomach-Qi, it means that the Qi is flowing upwards instead of downwards. This is called also a Rebellious Qi: a poetic way to express for example acid reflux!
Confusing? I thought so too at the beginning, but here is the very very short version:
You get Qi from your parents:
=> if you are lucky, the quality/quantity of your battery is so good, that you can live a long life even if your credo is sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.
=> if your battery is low from the start, you may want to pay more attention to the quality and quantity of your fuel, as each time you drive your car with an empty tank, the battery goes down a notch. When the battery is empty, the game is over.
Now, according to TCM we cannot recharge the battery (the Prenatal Essence), but we can avoid using it by positively affecting its quality and quantity: this means choosing the right fuel and a lifestyle suited to our constitution and environment. A direct way to influence one´s essence it through qigong 😊, taijiquan, or breathing exercises.
All clear?
You are welcome to post any questions in the comments.
If you use any of these Chinese terms, pls do check their pronunciation in google translate. I am horrified every time I hear someone in my TCM class, including the teachers, not being able to pronounce correctly. I don’t expect TCM practitioner to speak Chinese. But just like western medicine and anatomy have their own technical vocabulary, so does TCM. Being able to pronounce the few Chinese terms should belong to the skills of a TCM doctor, in my opinion.
Disclaimer: everything I write about TCM is to share some knowledge and to raise awareness but please be aware that it is an oversimplification for the sake of communication, and it is not meant as a cure. If you have any health issue you want to solve with TCM, please consult a TCM practitioner. While most qigong exercises are harmless no matter the health issue, some food recipes or treatment I will mention, might have the opposite effect if you do not have the syndrome I write about. Thus, please take my TCM posts with a grain of salt and do not rush to do things without consulting a TCM doctor.