What is qigong?

Qigong is a kind of physical and mental exercise method with the means of regulating heart, qi and body, preventing and treating diseases, strengthening body and prolonging life, and developing potential. Self-adjustment means adjusting psychological activities, breathing movements, body posture and movements. These three tones are the basic methods of qigong exercise and the three major elements or basic norms of qigong discipline.

The original qigong has no name, and the latter part is called "dance". For example, in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, "The bones and muscles can't be contracted, so dance is used to promote them". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qigong was summarized as "guiding on stilts", such as "flaccidity, cold and heat should be guided on stilts" in Su Wenyi's Treatise on Prescriptions and Medicine, while meditation, fetal interest, moving qi, convincing, regulating qi, Sunday, Neidan, etc., which are scattered in famous works of all ages, also belong to Qigong. As for the word "Qigong", it was first seen in the Ming History by Xu Xun, a Taoist priest in the Jin Dynasty. Even the later works are the Sui and Tang Dynasties at the latest. The book Qi Jing, which appeared after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, recorded that "Qigong is wonderful, and the way of Qigong is similar ...", but its connotation is not completely in line with what we are talking about now. Qigong, which is widely used now, was gradually popularized after the establishment of Beidaihe Qigong Sanatorium in the 1950s.

Qigong is gradually formed in people's practice in production, life and medical treatment. Qigong therapy and exercise therapy are both related and different. Exercise therapy can include exercise therapy, but exercise therapy cannot replace Qigong therapy. Physical exercise is always just one of the means of qigong to adjust the heart, and breathing exercise is also for adjusting the heart. The three tones are a unified whole and must be centered on the adjustment of the heart. The combination of internal training and external training, mainly internal training. Qi in qigong refers to "internal qi" and "true qi", which has a deeper meaning. Qigong therapy has comprehensive characteristics, at least it is a combination of psychotherapy and physical therapy.

Qigong therapy includes psychotherapy, but it is different from psychotherapy. Psychotherapy generally refers to the use of language, expression, posture and attitude by doctors. Reasoning patients who are awake and proposing treatment suggestions; Or use some special induction methods to induce a hypnotic state that is somewhat similar to superficial sleep, and then give treatment suggestions to patients under hypnosis. Therefore, patients are always passive. Qigong therapy is characterized by giving full play to patients' subjective initiative. Under the guidance of doctors, patients can strengthen their self-control ability through self-exercise.

Qigong is essentially different from religion. Qigong, as a science, does not involve the purposes and teachings of various sects, but only extracts scientific connotation from the practice of believers. This is reflected in the Taoist scriptures and Buddhist scriptures, which also record a lot of information about ancient Qigong. In addition, some theories in religion are often used for reference by practitioners.

What is Qigong?

Qigong has a long history in China. The earliest written work is Shangshu. Later, Huangdi Neijing, traditional Chinese medicine and health care physicians were recorded in many classic works. "Su Wen On Ancient Innocence" says: "Those who know, the method is in Yin and Yang, and the technique is in harmony. They eat and drink regularly and don't work rashly, so they can live in harmony with God and they will live to 100 years old. " "The Doctrine of the Mean" says: "Destiny refers to nature, frankness refers to Tao, cultivation refers to teaching, Tao is also good, and it is inseparable for a moment." Laozi said: "The Tao is big, the sky is big, the land is big, and the people are big."

The so-called Tao in these classic works refers to the method of keeping in good health. Therefore, Yu Bing noted the Internal Classic: "Knowing is knowing the way to repair." Ma Zhang's note: "Such self-cultivation is the way to cultivate self-cultivation." From the heart of sixteen characters, Confucianism insists on China, Taoists on China, and Buddhism on China, emptiness and emptiness. It all starts with sincere respect for emptiness and reaches the realm of silence without smell. No modern qigong can go beyond this category. Health care is inseparable from nourishing qi, full of healthy qi, and evil spirits cannot exist. Therefore, there is a saying in Neijing that "healthy qi exists, evil cannot be done, and evil combined with its qi will be deficient". Mencius has "ambitious husband, handsome together;" Gas, full of "and" also gas, extremely strong ". Sun Simiao said, "The breath is reasonable, and all diseases are not born; Improper care leads to all diseases. " . All these show that health care must work hard on the word "qi". It can also be said that Qigong is what the ancients called Tao, with different opinions and one principle. Confucianism stresses nourishing qi, Taoism stresses refining qi, and Buddhism stresses meditation, all of which are inseparable from the word "quiet". "Quiet" is the first level of Qigong. Although the methods are different, the principle is the same. Therefore, Han Feizi said, "The Tao has no horse, so it is called' Yi Ye'. Confucius said to Zeng Shen, "My Tao is consistent. "This is what we are talking about.

The word "Qigong" is rare in historical documents, and it was first seen in Jing Ming Jiao Zhi by Xu Xun, a Taoist priest in the Jin Dynasty. There is a chapter in Yuanhe Pian published in the late Qing Dynasty that is a supplement to Qigong, and Qigong Therapy-Specialized Treatment of Tuberculosis published by Hangzhou Xianglin Hospital 1934 clearly puts forward the concept of Qigong Therapy. In the early days of the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Mr. Liu used the word "Qigong" in his works, and later it was widely used.

The word "Qigong" has different opinions and makes sense. In recent years, it has been discussed in Cihai, Concise Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong Therapy 100 Question, 300 Questions of Qigong and China Qigong Research. After reading the above works and my personal experience, Qigong is a method of self-exercise, disease prevention and treatment, and physical and mental health. Furthermore, exercise is inseparable from the problems of purpose, content and means. Survival is the primary problem of all living things. In order to survive in nature, it is necessary to carry out struggle for existence, and the prevention and treatment of diseases is an extremely important aspect in struggle for existence. Labor production is also an important aspect. So it can be said that the basic condition for survival is physical and mental health. Body and mind are the internal organs, limbs and mental outlook of the human body, and so on. All these aspects should be exercised. The means of exercise is nothing more than exercise to strengthen the body and quietness to nourish the heart. Accordingly, I think the meaning of the word "Qigong" can be summarized as: give full play to people's subjective initiative, consciously adjust their body and mind, that is, consciousness, breathing and limbs in a unified and coordinated way, and combine static and dynamic exercises to achieve the purpose of preventing diseases and strengthening the body.

Qigong has a long history in China, and has actually become one of the most important contents of human life science. Scientifically speaking, our research is not enough, and further discussion is needed to give a scientific definition to the word "Qigong".

2. Q: How to understand the "Qi" of Qigong?

A: Qi in Qigong is different from that in nature. The "qi" that we say is consistent with the "true qi" that Chinese medicine says. What is the true qi? In Huangdi Neijing, Su Wen said that "those who are really angry can also pass the qi", and in Huangdi Neijing, he said that "those who are really angry are also affected by heaven and full of grain qi".

We believe that qi is one of the basic substances that constitute the human body and maintain human life activities, and it mainly reflects the physiological and pathological phenomena of the human body through the visceral tissues and functional activities. This "qi" runs in the body and becomes the driving force of human life. It can also act on others in vitro and become a means of treating diseases.

The ancients had long discussed the use of true qi. For example, Tao Hongjing's "Life-prolonging Record" said: "If I am tired and uneasy, I will hold my breath and attack my suffering." "I have a headache. I miss my foot enough, so I can attack it in good faith and it will disappear." Zhang Junfang's "Seven Stories of Clouds" said: "With my heart, make it suitable for the body and attack its disease, why not heal?" These two paragraphs are about the movement of qi in the body and the treatment of diseases. Regarding the influence of the outside world on others, Dongpo Zhi Lin said that "those who learn to nourish qi can be angry with others when they are full", and Daozang's Secret Tune of Fetal Interest said that "dividing qi and attacking diseases". In this case, there is no doubt that the true qi is a substance.

The true qi is a substance, which has been proved by modern people. During the period of 1977, the relevant departments in Shanghai and Beijing measured the "gas" emitted by Lin Housheng and Zhao Guang, and the results showed that the "external gas" was infrared radiation modulated by low-frequency fluctuations, and had the energy of electricity, magnetism, light, heat and infrasound. Later, there were many reports on the measurement results in various places, so I won't list them here. I think "external qi" is the manifestation of true qi.

Dr. Lin Wei of the University of Waterloo in Canada said in the book Modern Interpretation of Basic Theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine: "Internal qi is the field of life, which plays the role of strength or energy in living beings. If the concept of field is regarded as one of the most useful concepts in physical science, then the concept of qi in life science must be understood in this way. " This statement makes sense.

In a word, I think the "Qi" mentioned by Qigong is a substance that needs further study. It should be said that when we practice Qigong, we consciously enhance this substance.

3. Q: How to classify qi in human body?

A: As far as its source is concerned, human qi can be divided into congenital qi and acquired qi. Congenital qi comes from parents and is hidden in the kidney, that is, the qi of true yin and true yang in the kidney; Acquired qi comes from diet and natural clear qi, and is transformed into ancestral qi, nourishing qi and defending qi through the functions of spleen, lung and heart. Because of the different distribution of qi in human body, its performance and function also have their own characteristics. Therefore, the names of qi are different, including vitality, ancestral qi, nourishing qi, defending qi, and qi of viscera and meridians.

4. Q: What are the functions of primordial qi, ancestral qi, nourishing qi and defending qi in the human body?

A: The primordial energy is also called "primordial energy". It is born of essence and innate, so the ancients said that destiny is called sex. In Ma Shu's notes, sex is qi, and "jing yuan" is metaplasia, so it is called vitality. The function of primordial qi is manifold. It runs through the meridians of the whole human body, and the five internal organs are stimulated by vitality, thus exerting their respective functions and maintaining the normal growth, development and activities of the human body. The generation of qi in the five zang-organs and six fu-organs all comes from vitality. Therefore, if the vitality is sufficient, the viscera function will be strong and the body will be healthy. If congenital deficiency, or long-term illness and damage the vitality, the body will be weak, but also prone to other diseases. Therefore, medical scientists regard the cultivation of vitality as the foundation of treating diseases.

"Zongqi" is a combination of oxygen inhaled by nature and subtle Shui Gu produced by digestion of spleen and stomach. Formed in the lungs and gathered in the chest, it helps the lungs to breathe, connect the heart and nourish the blood. Therefore, the strength of breathing, the operation of blood gas and the activity ability of limbs are all related to the clan spirit. Deficiency of ancestral qi will cause pathological changes of blood stasis.

Qi Ying is a delicate substance transferred from the spleen and stomach to the lungs. It enters the vein, becomes part of the blood, and runs around with the blood. Its function is not only to produce blood, but also to nourish the whole body.

"Wei Qi" is produced by the yang in the kidney, which comes from the lower jiao, nourishes in the middle jiao and rises in the upper jiao. When Wei Qi plays its role, it must rely on the spleen and stomach of the middle energizer to produce the essence of Shui Gu. Wei Qi, like Qi Ying, is a native of Shui Gu. Clear qi is the camp, turbid qi is the defense, the camp is in the pulse, and the defense is outside the pulse. Although defending qi acts outside the pulse, it is applied to the whole body, internal organs and external fur, which has the effect of warming and defending. It is a part of Yang Qi, which can open and close pores and resist external evil. Therefore, "Neijing Lingshu Benzang Chapter" says: "Those who defend qi, so warm the meat, make up the skin, fatten it, and manage the opening and closing." Stephy is prone to sweating and catching cold.

5. Q: What is the rise and fall of Qi? What is its function?

A: "Promoting Qi" refers to the movement change of Qi, which is manifested in the functional activities of viscera and the process of material changes in the body.

The heart and lungs are located in the upper coke, which should be healthy; Liver and kidney are located in the lower jiao, and the lower jiao should rise; The spleen and stomach are located in the middle jiao, which is the hub of lifting. Generally speaking, lung qi decreases, liver qi increases, and * * * maintains the up-and-down relationship between qi and blood and the smoothness of qi-flowing. The heart belongs to yang, ranking first in the world, and the nature belongs to fire; Kidney belongs to yin, ranking lower, and its nature belongs to water. Heart yang will cool kidney water, and kidney yin will nourish the heart, so as to control heart fire, fire and water, and "heart and kidney intersect" The spleen qi dominates the ascending, the stomach qi dominates the descending, and the ascending and descending are coordinated. * * * is responsible for the digestion and absorption of diet and the subtle transmission of Shui Gu. Only in this way can the human body maintain normal physiological activities and adapt to changes in the external environment at any time. If the fluctuation of qi is unbalanced, the imbalance of yin and yang, and the physiological activities are disturbed, resulting in dysfunction, diseases will occur. Once the rise and fall of qi stops, it means that life activities stop.

Practicing Qigong can promote the qi of human body to be in a state of coordination and balance, restore normal physiological functions and eliminate diseases.

6. Q: What is "worldly desires"?

A: "Seven emotions". It refers to the modality expression of seven different psychological activities: joy, anger, worry, thinking, sadness, fear and surprise. Usually it is a normal physiological state, but if the seven emotions are too intense, it will hurt the internal organs and cause diseases. "All diseases are caused by qi", "Anger hurts the liver", "Joy hurts the spleen", "Sorrow over the lungs" and "Fear hurts the kidney". Seven-emotion impulse damages the normal operation of qi and produces pathological changes.

Six prostitutes. Wind, cold, heat, humidity, dryness and fire are six kinds of climate, which are called six qi under normal circumstances. If the climate is abnormal and makes people sick, it is called "six evils", which is the pathogenic factor of exogenous diseases, such as wind chill, cold, sweat steam and heatstroke.

7. Q: What is latent gas?

A: Hiding qi is also called hiding evil. "Neijing" said: "Winter cold is painful, and spring is hot; Cold in spring, heat in summer, malaria in autumn; Autumn is wet and winter is coughing. " This is due to the feeling of the evil of six evils, which lurks in the human body and appears after a certain period of time. Generally, in spring and summer, when the yang is released, it will attack because of the touch of external evil, and some will attack automatically by latent qi without being touched by external evil. In a word, the latent and appearance of latent qi are mainly caused by the weakness of vital qi in the body.

8. Q: What is evil?

A: Chinese medicine theory holds that "healthy qi exists, and evil cannot be done;" When evil is combined, its qi will be weak. " We're talking about pathogenic factors. Why do people get sick? Diseases are caused by the invasion of evil spirits. People live in nature, because of exogenous six evils, internal seven emotions, improper diet, excessive fatigue, phlegm and blood stasis, impaired essence, abnormal viscera function and abnormal movement track of qi, people will get sick. The purpose of practicing qigong is to adjust yin and yang, cultivate healthy qi, strengthen the body resistance and eliminate evil spirits, and achieve the actual effect of eliminating diseases and fitness.

9. Q: What is the basic content of Qigong exercise?

A: The content of Qigong exercise, in short, is to enhance the true qi in the body through certain means. This point has been expounded in How to Understand the Qi of Qigong. Physiologically speaking, it is nothing more than physical and mental exercise. Heart mainly refers to people's consciousness and emotion. Psychology and physiology are interrelated and mutually restricted. It is universally acknowledged that worldly desires have an influence on everyone. Chinese medicine talks about five poisons and seven injuries, and also talks about the influence of emotions on people's health. As the saying goes, "Laugh for ten years and be young" and "Worry for a while and grow old" has some truth. Therefore, physical exercise should include the exercise of consciousness and emotion, that is, moral cultivation. Now advocating five stresses, four beauties and three loves is only one aspect of exercise. The body is our body. The human body is divided into several systems, several parts, and various systems. Each part is dominated by the central nervous system of the brain, nourished by inhaled air and food, and implicated by its own natural activities and sports (including labor). The basic content of qigong exercise can not be separated from the "three tones" in ancient and modern times, that is, regulating the heart, regulating the qi (or regulating the breath) and regulating the body. Self-regulation refers to the regulation of the central nervous system of the brain, which requires you to get excited immediately if you want to work, and to relax and restrain quickly if you want to rest. Regulating qi refers to adjusting the function of "gasification" in traditional Chinese medicine. Figuratively speaking, it is to adjust breathing, that is, to expel the old and absorb the new, thus strengthening the gasification in the body. Regulating the body refers to regulating activities inside and outside the body. These "three tones" are three factors affecting people's physical and mental health. Therefore, the content of qigong exercise is "three tones". Through the adjustment of these three aspects, the true qi of the human body can be filled and run normally in the twelve meridians and the eight strange meridians, which has been proved by practice. Of course, there are still many problems that need to be discussed and scientifically demonstrated.