What is Qi?

[Jill Morgyn]

An Exploration of the Concept of Qi, from both Eastern and Western Perspectives
By Jill Morgyn

“The circulating life energy that in Chinese philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things.”
-- Princeton University

“The fundamental life-force or energy.”
-- Wiktionary

“The vital energy believed to be responsible for health and disease in Traditional Chinese Medicine.”
-- Aegis.com

“The Chinese term for vital energy or life force, pronounced “chee.””
-- NaturesBridge.com

“Energy that travels throughout the body in meridians. In traditional Chinese medicine, qi is the life force that animates the body. This vital energy flows over the acupuncture meridians. It is responsible for the energetics to all organs, cells, tissues and structures in the body.”
-- The Fertility Acupuncturist.com

Qi: East
“Qi” is an essential concept in Chinese medicine and martial arts. Deeply rooted in Chinese cultural and linguistic tradition, “qi” as a concept is embedded with traditional values. An understanding of the meaning of “qi” requires an understanding of an ancient and foundational cultural Chinese worldview, which includes philosophical values, ideals and aesthetic. “Qi” arises from a way of looking at the world, an understanding of a particular kind of relationship to it wherein our human role is that of being one part of an interconnected natural system that is alive and animated with a mysterious life force (animism). This mysterious force of animation behind all things is immaterial yet detectable through sensory perception because of its dynamic quality, and its strength and vitality are most highly exemplified in Nature. In this way, the vibrant and dynamic energetic qualities of the living, animated world are myriad manifestations of Qi.

Qi: West
“Qi” remains a difficult concept to grasp fully in the West, due to the West’s difference from the Chinese in its historic and fundamental worldview. Westerners have been conditioned not to experience the world from an animistic perspective, that is, they do not consider the entire expression of material reality to be alive and animated with life force energy. From birth, Westerners are taught as part of their cultural upbringing to divide the material world into independent objects, which may or may not have a relationship to each other, and which may or may not be considered “living.” A Westerner is taught that a cat is alive whereas a mountain is not; a person is alive yet a cloud is not. For this reason, a Westerner may confuse “qi” to refer to a life force energy that occurs only in certain types of objects (people, animals and plants). In order for Westerners to more deeply understand the Chinese concept of Qi, he/she must allow a mental shift in order to perceive the world from an animistic perspective. For this reason, it may be more helpful for Westerners to use modern metaphysical or scientific language, which creates room for the concept of an intrinsic bioenergetic field underlying all materiality in the known & unknown universe, which was present within the point of infinite density prior to the Big Bang, and which was expressed outwardly during the event of the Big Bang, and is inherently manifest in relation to all materiality. This field can in fact be detected and measured through sensory devices attuned to ranges of temperature, vibration and electromagnetism.