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TCM
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY
THE COALESCENCE OF QI AS HUMAN BEING
Qi or Chi
(pronounced chee) is a difficult concept to translate. It’s usually left
untranslated because there is no single English word that conveys all parts
of the Chinese concept. The word that comes closest is energy. Like energy
Qi is the fundamental stuff of the universe. The origins of energy and Qi
are both unknown. The origins of both are tied to their cultures’ creation
theories. The Taoist creation theory isn’t actually a theory. It’s more a
statement of fact than speculation. “From nothing came something.” The Void
versus Qi. Yin versus Yang. From Yin & Yang came the Five Elements. From the
Five Elements came the Ten Thousand Things (all things in creation).
Neither Qi nor
energy can be destroyed, only changed in their forms. Everything is composed
of Qi; our bodies, the earth, water, sound, light. The Nei Jing - The Yellow
Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (c.500BC) says “There is no place
that Qi is not.”
The Taoist
philosopher Wang Chong wrote in 50 A.D. that “Qi produces the human body
just as water becomes ice. As water freezes into ice so Qi coagulates to
form the human body. When ice melts it returns to water. When people die
they return to spirit”. Zhang Zai, a contemporary of Wang Chong, expressed a
an almost identical version of this concept. “Every birth is a condensation
of Qi, every death is a dispersal.”
Qi flows
throughout the body in currents or conduits called channels or meridians or
in Chinese; jing luo. There are fourteen main channels and these possess the
most commonly used acupuncture points. Twelve of these channels connect to a
yin or yang organ from which they derive their name.
For example, the
Wood Element yin organ is the liver. The liver channel runs from the foot up
the inside of the leg, along the center of one-half of the abdomen and goes
inside below the sixth rib. Inside it connects to the liver and the
gallbladder, goes up through the diapragm, up to the throat, then the eyes
and terminates at the vertex of the skull. There are two branches from the
liver channel. One which connects to the inside of the lips and one which
connects with the lung.
THEORY
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Yin & Yang Pt 1
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Yin & Yang Pt 2
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5 Elements
Qi
Anatomy-Physiology
| Functions
of Qi |
Organ Functions
Shen: Spirit & Mind
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Pathology Types
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Healing
Hierarchy |
