Knowra Qi Qi Qi is a vital substance or dynamic force in Chinese thought, medicine, and cosmology, understood as animating and permeating living bodies and the natural world.
Yin and yang : A framework of complementary, interdependent forces used to describe change and relation in Chinese thought. Qi is described as gathering and transforming through the interplay of these complementary forces.
Meridian (Chinese medicine) : A channel in traditional Chinese medicine through which qi is said to circulate in the body. Meridians map the routes along which medical theories describe qi as flowing.
Huangdi Neijing : A foundational Chinese medical compilation, formed from texts spanning the late Warring States period through the early imperial era. It gives systematic accounts of qi in bodily function, illness, and treatment.
Prana : A life-breath or vital principle in Indian religious and philosophical traditions. Both are vital principles, but their meanings and theoretical settings differ.
Five Phases : A Chinese framework linking wood, fire, earth, metal, and water through cycles of generation and control. The phases classify qi’s transformations and relations in cosmology and medicine.
Acupuncture : A practice that stimulates specific body sites, often by inserting thin needles, to treat symptoms or influence health. Needling is traditionally used to affect qi at points along meridians.
Zhuangzi : A foundational Daoist text, composed in layers during the late Warring States period and later. Its account of life and transformation connects qi with cosmic change.
Pneuma : A Greek term for breath or spirit, used in ancient philosophy and medicine. Ancient Greek accounts also used a pervasive vital principle, without sharing qi’s full framework.
Jing : A vital essence in Chinese traditions, associated especially with bodily constitution, development, and reproduction. Jing is distinguished from qi while interacting with it in accounts of bodily vitality.
Qigong : A family of practices combining movement, posture, breathing, and attention in Chinese traditions. Qigong cultivates and regulates qi through coordinated bodily practice.
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