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Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. Mojibake is the happenstance of incorrect unreadable characters (garbage characters shown when Computer software fails to render a text correctly according to its associated A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese (
For the artist, see Qigong (artist). Qigong ( July 26, 1912 — June 30, 2005) ( Simplified Chinese: 启功 Styled Yuanbai, alternatively
Qigong

A woman performs a Qigong routine outdoors
Traditional Chinese: 氣功
Simplified Chinese: 气功
Hanyu Pinyin: qìgōng
Literal meaning: Qi cultivation

Qigong (or ch'i kung) refers to a wide variety of traditional “cultivation” practices that involve movement and/or regulated breathing designed to be therapeutic. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use In traditional Chinese culture, qi (zh [[wikt氣 氣]] Pinyin qì, Wade-Giles ch'i Jyutping Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία) or treatment, is the attempted Remediation of a health problem usually following a Diagnosis Qigong is practiced for health maintenance purposes, as a therapeutic intervention, as a medical profession, a spiritual path and/or component of Chinese martial arts. Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese Martial arts.

The 'qi' in 'qigong' means breath or gas in Chinese, and, by extension, 'life force', 'energy' or even 'cosmic breath'. In traditional Chinese culture, qi (zh [[wikt氣 氣]] Pinyin qì, Wade-Giles ch'i Jyutping 'Gong' means work applied to a discipline or the resultant level of skill, so 'qigong' is thus 'breath work' or 'energy work'. The term was coined in the twentieth-century and its currency, Ownby suggests, speaks of a cultural desire to separate 'cultivation' from 'superstition', to secularize and preserve valuable aspects of traditional Chinese practices. [1]

Attitudes toward the scientific basis for qigong vary markedly. Most Western medical practitioners and many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the Chinese government, view qigong as a set of breathing and movement exercises, with possible benefits to health through stress reduction and exercise. Traditional Chinese medicine (also known as TCM,) includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Others see qigong in more metaphysical terms, claiming that cosmic qi can be drawn into the body and circulated through channels (aka meridians). Channel ( also known as meridian, in Traditional Chinese medicine, is the common name of Vessel ( also known as channel and Collaterals (

Contents

The rise of qigong

Montreal scholar David Ownby understands qigong as a development of post-Mao China, contending that with the end of the Cultural Revolution came an implicit admission in China that Marxist ideology was useless, and that the 'totalitarian state' wherein the party leader was 'god' was all but defunct. A spiritual crisis thus ensued. Because the 'big religions' were desecrated and banned during the Cultural Revolution, to many Chinese they no longer held the attraction they once did. [2] Qigong is said to have evolved within this historical context, as a “spiritual, slightly mystical branch of Chinese medicine. ” Ownby gives a similar account of the history of qigong in China. Qigong was promoted in post-Mao China for both practical and ideological reasons, and in this period it took on "unprecedented importance. "[1] On a practical level, it was hoped that qigong would improve the general health of the populace and thus curtail government healthcare expenditure. Ideologically, Ownby contends that many within the Communist government were 'quite taken' with the idea of qigong being a specifically 'Chinese science', a part of the PRC's "new nationalism, a frequently chauvinistic claim to cultural greatness and superpower status. "[1] Qigong was not considered religious either by the authorities or by qigong practitioners, which immensely helped its growth. Eventually the state-administered China Qigong Scientific Research Association was formed, supposed to register qigong groups and conduct 'scientific' research. [3] By the time the association was established, there were already 2000 qigong organisations and between 60 and 200 million practitioners across China. [1]

Qigong quickly became a social phenomenon of 'considerable importance'; the topic was also explored by novelists and journalists, and qigong newspapers and magazines appeared in abundance to cater for the public's interest in the subject. The original small-group, master-disciple pattern was transformed into a mass experience, with qigong 'masters' organising 'mass rallies' to demonstrate to paying customers a range of qigong specific phenomena such as trance, possession, and a variety of otherworldly states. [1] Qigong was practised widely in public parks and on university campuses. Demographics included both the 'old and suffering' as well as the 'young and curious'. [1] Ownby suggests that the profile of qigong practitioners during this period fit that of the Chinese population in general, “men and women, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, powerful and powerless, urban and rural, Party and non-Party. ”[1]

Johnson writes that the early 1990s saw a 'qigong craze', with qigong being a widely accepted part of society. [4] Qigong was able to adapt itself to a scientific discourse, which allowed it to survive the suspicions of the atheist state. It was heralded as a form of physical therapy, to be supervised by doctors. Experiments were conducted which purported to show that qigong could cure chronic health problems. Claims that qigong could have some role in developing latent 'supernatural powers' also emerged, such as the ability to levitate, heal illness, telekinesis through emissions of qi, the ability to 'read via the ear', and a “host of other remarkable talents, many of which would fall under our category of extrasensory perception. ”[1]

Johnson opines that the Party was to some degree still distrustful of qigong. Qigong remained a private exercise, as opposed to formal religions which center on temples, churches and mosques. These can be run by government officials and are ensured to remain loyal to the state. Johnson's analysis here coincides with that of Chan. While qigong is focused inwardly, outside the state's control, it is performed publicly in groups: “To a government that is used to controlling all aspects of public life, this is perplexing: qigong practitioners are in public and doing something en masse, so by rights they should be formed in an organisation and this organisation should in some way be run by the government. But what they are doing together is meditating, an inner discipline that the party can't monitor. ”[5] Ownby suspects that qigong's ostensible autonomy from the state is in fact partly what contributed to its great popularity. [1] Johnson writes that the 1990s saw an 'uneasy standoff'; the 'Three Nos' policy was adopted: No Promoting, No Criticizing, No Debating.

Ownby comments that the emergence of qigong coincided at a historic moment where technology and means of communication—such as books, tapes, television and Internet—were greatly advanced, allowing such groups to become aware of their size and geographical reach. Ownby suggests that this is a paradoxical situation of a deeply rooted Chinese tradition now adapting to a modern setting.

Uses

Today millions of people in China and around the world regularly practice qigong as a health maintenance exercise. Qigong and related disciplines are still associated with the martial arts and meditation routines practiced by Taoist and Buddhist monks, professional martial artists, and their students. Once more closely guarded, in the modern era such practices have become widely available to the general public both in China and around the world.

Alternative medical systems - edit
NCCAM classifications
  1. Alternative Medical Systems
  2. Mind-Body Intervention
  3. Biologically Based Therapy
  4. Manipulative and body-based methods
  5. Energy Therapy
See also

Medical qigong treatment has been officially recognized as a standard medical technique in Chinese hospitals since 1989. Ayurveda ( Devanāgarī: आयुर्वॆद the 'science of life' is a system of Traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other Chiropractic is a Health care profession that focuses on diagnosis treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the Musculoskeletal system, with special emphasis This article has been the subject of edit wars and has been placed on probation Naturopathic medicine (also known as naturopathy, or natural medicine) is a Complementary and alternative medicine which emphasizes the body's intrinsic Osteopathy is an approach to Healthcare that emphasizes the role of the Musculoskeletal system in Health and Disease. Traditional Chinese medicine (also known as TCM,) includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. This is a glossary for terms and concepts being used in Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( CAM) an umbrella term for a large number of practices that fall The term alternative medicine, as used in the modern western world encompasses any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional Medicine. This is a glossary for terms and concepts being used in Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( CAM) an umbrella term for a large number of practices that fall It has been included in the curriculum of major universities in China. After years of debate, the Chinese government decided to officially manage qigong through government regulation in 1996 and has also listed qigong as part of their National Health Plan.

Qigong can help practitioners to learn diaphragmatic breathing, an important component of the relaxation response, which is important in combating stress. Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing or deep breathing is the act of breathing deep into your lungs by flexing your diaphragm In contrast, Taoist qigong employs the inverse breath of inhaling to the back of the thoracic cavity rather than diaphragmatic breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing or deep breathing is the act of breathing deep into your lungs by flexing your diaphragm Improper use of diaphragmatic breathing can lead to reproductive pathologies for women. Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing or deep breathing is the act of breathing deep into your lungs by flexing your diaphragm (Nan Huai-Chin, 南懷瑾（1918年——）, Meditation and the cultivation of immortality, Gu lu press, Tawain 1991 p. 59)

Yan Xin (嚴新), a doctor of both Western and Chinese medicine as well as founder of the relatively popular Yan Xin Qigong school, suggests that in order for qigong to be accepted by the modern world it must pass the test of scientific study. Without such studies, Yan maintains, qigong will be dismissed as "superstition" (see "Criticism of Qigong" chapter below). In the mid-1980s he and others began systematic study of qigong in some research institutions in China and the United States. More than 20 papers [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] have been published.

Beliefs

Qigong practitioners in Brazil
Qigong practitioners in Brazil

Qigong, and its intimate relation the Chinese martial arts, are often associated with spirituality. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese Martial arts. Spirituality, in a narrow sense concerns itself with matters of the Spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and Faith, a transcendent reality Therefore, for many centuries the popular imagination has placed it in the province of the religious practitioners. This link is much stronger than with other techniques in traditional Chinese medicine. Qigong was historically practiced extensively in Taoist and Buddhist monasteries as an adjunct to martial arts training, and the claimed benefits of martial qigong practice are widely known in East Asian martial traditions and popular culture. This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat. In addition, the traditional teaching methods of most qigong schools (at least in Asia) descend from the strict teacher-disciple relationship conventions inherited in Chinese culture from Confucianism. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B

In some styles of qigong, it is taught that humanity and nature are inseparable, and any belief otherwise is held to be an artificial discrimination based on a limited, two-dimensional view of human life. Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. According to this philosophy, access to higher energy states and the subsequent health benefits said to be provided by these higher states is possible through the principle of cultivating virtue (de or te 德, see Tao Te Ching, chapters 16, 19, 28, 32, 37, and 57). The Tao Te Ching or Dao De Jing ( originally known as Laozi or Lao tzu ( is a Chinese classic Cultivating virtue could be described as a process by which one comes to realize that one was never separated from the primal, undifferentiated state of being free of artificial discrimination that is the true nature of the universe. Progress toward this goal can be made with the aid of deep relaxation (meditation), and deep relaxation is facilitated by the practice of qigong.

The debate between what can be called "naturalist" and "supernaturalist" schools of qigong theory has produced a considerable literature. Philosophical naturalism has been described in various ways In its broadest and strongest sense naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events Scholar Xu Jian analysed the intellectual debate, which involved both scientific research on qigong and the prevailing revival of nationalistic traditional beliefs and values.

“Taking 'discourse' in its contemporary sense as referring to forms of representation that generate specific cultural and historical fields of meaning, we can describe one such discourse as rational and scientific and the other as psychosomatic and metaphysical. Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field studying psychosomatic illness, now more commonly referred to as psychophysiologic illness or disorder Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Each strives to establish its own order of power and knowledge, its own 'truth' about the 'reality' of qigong, although they differ drastically in their explanation of many of its phenomena. ”[6]

At the center of the debate is whether and how qigong can bring forth “supernormal abilities” (teyi gongneng 特異功能).

“The psychosomatic discourse emphasizes the inexplicable power of qigong and relishes its occult workings, whereas the rational discourse strives to demystify many of its phenomena and to situate it strictly in the knowledge of modern science. "[6]

The Chinese government has generally tried to encourage qigong as a science and discourage religious or supernatural elements. However, the category of science in China tends to include things that are generally not considered scientific in the West, including qigong and traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (also known as TCM,) includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China.

David Aikman wrote that unlike in America, where many may believe that qigong is a socially neutral, subjective, New Age-style concept incapable of scientific proof, much of China's scientific establishment believes in the existence of Qi. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature In traditional Chinese culture, qi (zh [[wikt氣 氣]] Pinyin qì, Wade-Giles ch'i Jyutping Controlled experiments by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the late 1970s and early 1980s concluded that qi, when emitted by a qigong expert, "actually constitutes measurable infrared electromagnetic waves and causes chemical changes in static water through mental concentration. The Chinese Academy of Sciences ( CAS) ( formerly known as Academia Sinica (not to be confused with the Republic of China 's (Taiwan Academia Infrared ( IR) radiation is Electromagnetic radiation whose Wavelength is longer than that of Visible light, but shorter than that of Electromagnetic radiation takes the form of self-propagating Waves in a Vacuum or in Matter. "[7]

Theories about the cultivation of elixir (dan), "placement of the mysterious pass" (xuanguan shewei), among others, are also found in ancient Chinese texts such as The Book of Elixir (Dan Jing), Daoist Canon (Tao Zang) and Guide to Nature and Longevity (Xingming Guizhi). Dantian or Tan t'ien ( Chinese: Dāntián 丹[[wiktionary 田|田]] Japanese: Tanden 丹田 Korean: 단전 Falun Gong's teachings tap into a wide array of phenomena and cultural heritage that has been debated for ages. However, the definitions of many of the terms used differ somewhat from Buddhist and Daoist traditions. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Taoism (pronounced /ˈdaʊɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊɪzəm/ also spelled '''Daoism''') refers to a variety of related Philosophical and Religious traditions

Criticisms of qigong

Much of the criticism of qigong involves its claimed method of operation. Both traditional Chinese and Western medicine practitioners have little argument with the notion that qigong can improve and in many cases maintain health by encouraging movement, increasing range of motion, and improving joint flexibility and resilience. Health is a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity In Physics, motion means a constant change in the location of a body When it is asserted that qigong derives its benefits from qi acting as a kind of "biological plasma" that cannot be detected by current scientific instruments, many biologists and physicists react skeptically and declare qi as pseudoscientific. A biologist is a Scientist devoted to and producing results in Biology through the study of Organisms Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the

Association of qigong with practices involving spirit possession have added to establishment criticism. Spirit possession is a concept of Paranormal, Supernatural and/or Superstitious belief in which spirits, gods, daemons Some experts in China have warned against practices involving the claimed evocation of demons, and practices involving the worship of gods during qigong practice.

Many proponents of qigong claim that they can directly detect and manipulate qi. Others, including some traditional Chinese practitioners, believe that qi can be viewed as a metaphor for certain biological processes, and the effectiveness of qigong can also be explained in terms of concepts more familiar to Western medicine such as stress management or neurology. Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects Stress management encompasses techniques intended to equip a person with effective coping mechanisms for dealing with psychological stress, with stress defined as a person's

Controversies within qigong

In the 1980s and 1990s, the increasing popularity of qigong and related practices led to the establishment of many groups and methods in China and elsewhere that have been viewed in a critical light by more traditional qigong practitioners as well as by skeptical outside observers. In their view, a large number of people started studying qigong under inadequate supervision, indeed, perhaps the majority of people today who study qigong work from books or video tapes and DVDs without supervision by a teacher. This laxness can lead to several problems, according to those who view themselves as representative of orthodox schools. Most traditional training takes many years of practice under the supervision of someone who has also learned over years, someone who can guide and prevent the student from taking an unbalanced approach to qigong practice. The orthodox practitioners warn that improperly supervised practice can cause unbalanced circulation of inner energies that can eventually lead to unbalanced effects on the various systems of the body, both mental and physical.

Stories of unguided practitioners or inexpertly guided students developing chronic mental and physical health problems as a result of such training are not uncommon. [8] The term "Qi Gong-Induced Psychosis" was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, of the American Psychiatric Association in the late 1990s[9], and is described as a culturally bound disorder with painful psychosomatic symptoms. Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' ( DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA is the main Professional organization of Psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the [10] Dr. Arthur Kleinman and Dr. Sing Lee from Harvard Medical School, researchers on various psychiatric topics in China, suggest that in international psychiatry this illness would be recognized as “…a specific type of brief reactive psychosis or as the precipitation of an underlying mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder. Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn Post traumatic stress disorder It is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to ”[11]

Lee and Kleinman both claim to have had experience with patients suffering from the condition. "Many kinds of qigong share certain similarities, such as the attainment of a trance state, patterned bodily posture or movement…, the practice of which could induce mental illnesses in some of its practitioners. "

Qigong and the People's Republic of China

While some historians have suggested that in the early days of rule by the People's Republic of China there was a drive to promote the Traditional Chinese Medicine aspects of qigong to a quasi-religious status (and therefore deviate from standard communist government policy on religion),[12] the PRC has most recently attempted to reposition the definition of qigong to a traditional Chinese sport involving "deep breathing exercises" rather than anything to do with qi as energy. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Traditional Chinese medicine (also known as TCM,) includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based In traditional Chinese culture, qi (zh [[wikt氣 氣]] Pinyin qì, Wade-Giles ch'i Jyutping [13] Xinhua News Agency articles have also attempted to explain the healing 'qi emissions' of qigong masters as a type of hypnotherapy or placebo effect. Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in Hypnosis. Placebo is a substance or procedure a patient accepts as medicine or therapy but which has no specific therapeutic activity [13] This attitude to qigong may be related to Falun Gong and Zhong Gong, which practice their own form of qigong which they claim to be for spiritual development. Falun Gong ( or Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice founded in China by Li Hongzhi （李洪志） in 1992 Zhong Gong (中功 is a spiritual movement based founded in 1987 by Zhang Hongbao. In the process of cracking down on the practice, The PRC government created a set of rules for qigong groups practicing in the country. [14]

Health Qigong

In 2001 the Chinese Government showed great interest in regulating the Qigong movement. The State Sport General Administration of China founded the Chinese Health Qigong Association, as a mass-organization to popularize, spread and research Health Qigong in cooperation with the Peking Sport University. In 2003 the organization presented the newly developed four Health Qigong Exercises on the base of excellent traditional Qigong, including

to fit the people's needs of promoting their health and body, and to develop traditional Chinese national culture further. The Yì Jīn Jīng (易筋經 Wade-Giles: I Chin Ching; literally "Muscle/Tendon Change Classic" is a Qìgōng manual most notable as the source The Six Healing Sounds or Liu Zi Jue is one of the common forms of Chinese Qigong, and involves the coordination of movement and breathing patterns with The Baduanjin ( is one of the most common forms of Chinese Qigong used as exercise The Chinese Health Qigong Association is a member of the All-China Sports Federation.

During the process of developing the exercises, strictly scientific research methods have been followed. Primary experiments took place under supervision of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Modern Medicine, Psychology, Athletic Science and other related subjects. The Four Health Qigong Exercises can be seen as the essences from the related Qigong in various schools, inherited and developed traditional Chinese national culture.

The new Health Qigong represented by the Chinese Health QiGong Association is breaking with the old tradition of family-styles and close teacher-student relation. It is hoped that the new standardisation is supporting the international spread of Qigong in the western hemisphere.

Starting in September 2004 the "Health Qigong Magazine" became the association magazine of the CHQA. It is the only national health qigong publication in China; edtited through China Sports Press.

After the successful 1st International Health Qigong Demonstration and Exchange in 2005 the CHQA organized in August 2007 the 2nd International Health Qigong Demonstration and Exchange in Peking including an international competition and the first Duan examination on Health Qigong.

At the same time there was organized the 2007 International Symposium on Health Qigong Science where all important scientific studies have been made available to the public.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ownby, David, "A History for Falun Gong: Popular Religion and the Chinese State Since the Ming Dynasty", Nova Religio, Vol. ,pp. 223-243
  2. ^ Johnson, Ian. Wild Grass: three stories of change in modern China. Pantheon books. 2004
  3. ^ p 210
  4. ^ p 208
  5. ^ p 209
  6. ^ a b Xu Jian, "Body, Discourse and the Cultural Politics of Contemporary Chinese Qigong", The Journal of Asian Studies 58 (4 November 1999
  7. ^ The Hindu culture refers to this as Prana, the Japanese culture uses the character ki, and the Hawaiian culture calls it mana. The Journal of Asian Studies (JAS is a quarterly journal published by the Association for Asian Studies (AAS a scholarly non-profit organization which brings together the Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Prana (प्राण) is the Sanskrit for " Breath " (from the root prā "to fill" cognate to Latin plenus "full" Mana is the concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people animals and inanimate objects David Aikman, American Spectator, March 2000, Vol. 33, Issue 2
  8. ^ Windoe, R. K. , Martins, R. K. & McNeil, D. W. (2006). Anxiety disorders in ethnic minorities. In Y. Jackson (Ed. ), Encyclopedia of multicultural psychology (pp. 45-51). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
  9. ^ DSM-IV General Information: Appendix I, Outline for Cultural Formulation and Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes)
  10. ^ Anthony Spaeth, Master Li's Brave New Age, TIME ASIA, May 10, 1999, Vol. 153 No. 18
  11. ^ Sing Lee, MB, BS, and Arthur Kleinman, MD, “Psychiatry in its Political and Professional Contexts: A Response to Robin Munro”, J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, 30:120–5, 2002, p 122
  12. ^ Columbia University information
  13. ^ a b Xinhua News Agency article
  14. ^ Cesnur.org

See also

References

External links

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ( CSI) formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal ( CSICOP) is a Bill Moyers (born June 5, 1934, as William Donald "Billy Don" Moyers) is an American Journalist and public commentator

Dictionary

qigong

-noun

  1. A Chinese system of breathing control, physical exercise and meditation.
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