Re: Chap 3 Violence Chemical Cocktail & Mushin

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:11:53 -0700 (PDT), shuurai11@xxxxxxxxx wrote:



According to you, at least today.

Isn't that what I've been saying all along?  

At least when you haven't been saying something else.

Through visualization training, you can learn to trigger
these bodily functions.  Even a major adrenalin and endorphine dump.

If you want to call natural processes in the body "chi" then fine;
just be aware that you are the only person using that definition.

really now? I'm the only one using chi to describe "natural processes
in the body"? How odd you should think that.

read on, oh ignorant one.

Hal



Qi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Qi (disambiguation).
Qi (Ch'i)

In traditional Chinese culture, qi (?; Pinyin qi, Wade-Giles ch'i
Jyutping hei; Japanese ki; Korean gi; pronounced IPA: [t?^(h)i] in
Standard Mandarin) is an active principle forming part of any living
thing.

It is frequently translated as "energy flow", and is often compared to
Western notions of energeia or élan vital (vitalism). The literal
translation is "air", "breath", or "gas" (compare the original meaning
of Latin spiritus "breathing").
Contents

The etymological explanation for the form of the qi logogram in the
traditional form ? is ?steam (?) rising from rice (?) as it cooks?.

The earliest way of writing qi consisted of three wavy lines, used to
represent one's breath seen on a cold day. A later version, ?,
(identical to the present-day simplified character) is a stylized
version of those same three lines. For some reason, early writers of
Chinese found it desirable to substitute for ? a cognate, character
that originally meant to feed other people in a social context such as
providing food for guests. Appropriately, that character combined the
three-line qi character with the character for the grain we call rice.
So ? plus ? formed ?, and that is the traditional character still used
today. (See the Oracle bone character, the Seal script character and
the modern "school standard" or Ka(i shu- characters in the box at the
right for three stages of the evolution of this character.)[1]
Kanji used in Japan for "ki" until 1946, when it was changed to ?.
Koreans maintain the older character in their "hanja".
Kanji used in Japan for "ki" until 1946, when it was changed to ?.
Koreans maintain the older character in their "hanja".

In the Japanese language, the Chinese character corresponding to qi
(?) is pronounced ki. The Japanese language contains over 11,442 known
usages of "ki" as a compound. As a compound, it may represent
syllables associated with the mind, the heart, feeling, the
atmosphere, and flavor.

We see parallel development in Korean language usage as Koreans have
long used Chinese characters (hanja) alongside the indigenous Korean
system (hangul). There are also some cases in which commonalities are
due to the long history of their geographical relationship.

The character for "ki" in hangul is "?", which is pronounced as 'gi'
with a hard g.

Japanese usages of note also include tenki (weather ??), genki
(healthy, doing fine ??), byouki (sick, sickness ??) and kiai (spirit
shout ?? ).

Korean compound usages of ki are also comparable including gibun
(feeling, sensation ??)(in Korean ??) and gihap (literally, "spirit
shout" ??)(??), but simply means "shout."

[edit] Definition

References to things analogous to the qi taken to be the life-process
or ?flow? of energy that sustains living beings are found in many
belief systems, especially in Asia. Philosophical conceptions of qi
date from the earliest recorded times in Chinese thinking. One of the
important early cultural heroes in Chinese mythology is Huang Di (the
Yellow Emperor). He is identified in the legends of China as the one
who first collected and formalized much of what subsequently became
known as traditional Chinese medicine.

The earliest extant book that speaks of qi is the Analects of
Confucius (composed from the notes of individual students some time
after his death in 479 B.C.) Unlike the legendary accounts mentioned
above, the Analects has a clear date in history, and most later books
(at least the ones that do not purport to be relics of the legendary
earliest rulers) can also be assigned clear dates in history.

Manfred Porkert described relations to Western universal concepts:

Within the framework of Chinese thought no notion may attain to
such a degree of abstraction from empirical data as to correspond
perfectly to one of our modern universal concepts. Nevertheless the
term qi comes as close as possible to constituting a generic
designation equivalent to our word "energy". When Chinese thinkers are
unwilling or unable to fix the quality of an energetic phenomenon, the
character qi ? inevitably flows from their brushes.[2]

Although the concept of qi has been very important within many Chinese
philosophies, over the centuries their descriptions of qi have been
varied and may seem to be in conflict with each other. Understanding
of these disputes is complicated for people who did not grow up using
the Chinese concept and its associated concepts. Until China came into
contact with Western scientific and philosophical ideas (primarily by
way of Catholic missionaries), they knew about things like stones and
lightning, but they would not have categorized them in terms of matter
and energy. Qi and li (?, li, pattern) are their fundamental
categories much as matter and energy have been fundamental categories
for people in the West. Their use of qi (lifebreath) and li (pattern,
regularity, form, order) as their primary categories leaves in
question how to account for liquids and solids, and, once the Western
idea of energy came on the scene, how to relate it to the native idea
of "qi". If Chinese and Western concepts are mixed in an attempt to
characterize some of the problems that arise with the Chinese
conceptual system, then one might ask whether qi exists as a "force"
separate from "matter", whether qi arises from "matter", or whether
"matter" arises from qi.

Fairly early on, some Chinese thinkers began to believe that there are
different fractions of qi (in the sense that different fractions can
be extracted from crude oil in a catalytic cracker), and that the
coarsest and heaviest fractions of qi form solid things such as rocks,
the earth, etc., whereas lighter fractions form liquids, and the most
ethereal fractions are the "lifebreath" that animates living
beings.[3]

Yuán qì is a notion of "innate" or "pre-natal" qi to distinguish it
from acquired qi that a person may develop of their lifetime.

[edit] Early philosophical texts

The earliest texts that speak of qi give some indications of how the
concept developed. The philosopher Mo Di (also known as Mo Zi or
"Master Mo") used the word qi to refer to noxious vapors that would in
due time arise from a corpse were it not buried at a sufficient
depth.[4] He reported that early civilized humans learned how to live
in houses to protect their qi from the moisture that had troubled them
when they lived in caves.[5] He also associated maintaining one's qi
with providing oneself adequate nutrition.[6] And, in regard to
another kind of qi he recorded how some people performed a kind of
prognostication by observing the qi (clouds) in the sky.[7]

In the "Analects of Confucius", (composed from the notes of individual
students sometime after his death in 479 B.C.), "qi" can mean
"breath",[8] and it can be combined with the Chinese word for blood
(making ??, xue-qi, blood and breath) and that concept can be used to
account for motivational characteristics. The Analects, 16:7, says:

The [morally] noble man guards himself against three things. When
he is young, his xue-qi has not yet stabilized, so he guards himself
against sexual passion. When he reaches his prime, his xue-qi is not
easily subdued, so he guards himself against combativeness. When he
reaches old age, his xue-qi is already depleted, so he guards himself
against acquisitiveness.

Meng Ke (also known as Meng Zi, Master Meng, or Mencius) described a
kind of qi that might be characterized as an individual's vital
energies. This qi was necessary to activity, and it could be
controlled by a well-integrated will power.[9] But this qi could not
adequately be characterized by English words like "lifebreath" or
"bio-plasma" because when properly nurtured it was capable of
extending beyond the human body to reach throughout the universe.[10]
This qi can be augmented by means of careful exercise of one's moral
capacities.[11] On the other hand, the qi of an individual can be
degraded by averse external forces that succeed in operating on that
individual.[12]

Not only human beings and animals were believed to have "qi". Zhuang
Zhou (also known as Zhuang Zi or Master Zhuang) indicated that wind is
the "qi" of the earth.[13] Moreover, cosmic Yin and Yang "are the
greatest of 'qi'."[14] He describes qi as "issuing forth" and creating
profound effects.[15]

Zhuang Zi gave us one of the most productive of insights into the
nature of "qi". He said "Human beings are born [because of] the
accumulation of 'qi'. When it accumulates there is life. When it
dissipates there is death.... There is one 'qi' that connects and
pervades everything in the world."[16]

Another passage traces life to intercourse between Heaven and Earth:
"The highest Yin is the most restrained. The highest Yang is the most
exuberant. The restrained comes forth from Heaven. The exuberant
issues forth from Earth. The two intertwine and penetrate forming a
harmony, and [as a result] things are born."[17]

Zhuang Zi was a contemporary of Mencius. Xun Zi followed them after
some years. At 9:69/127, Xun Zi says: "Fire and water have qi but do
not have life. Grasses and trees have life but do not have
perceptivity. Fowl and beasts have perceptivity but do not have yi
(sense of right and wrong, duty, justice). Men have qi, life,
perceptivity, and yi." This passage gives us some insight into his
idea of "qi". Chinese people at such an early time had no concept of
radiant energy. But they were aware that one can be heated by a
campfire even though the air between camper and fire is quite cold.
Clearly, something is emitted by the fire and reaches the camper. They
called it "qi". At 18:62/122, he too uses "qi" to refer to the vital
forces of the body that decline with advanced age.

Later, the syncretic text assembled under the direction of Liu An, the
Huai Nan Zi has a passage that presages most of what is given greater
detail by the Neo-Confucians:

Heaven (seen here as the ultimate source of all being) falls (duo
?, i.e., descends into proto-immanence) as the formless. Fleeting,
fluttering, penetrating, amorphous it is, and so it is called the
Supreme Luminary. The dao begins in the Void Brightening. The Void
Brightening produces the universe (yu-zhou ). The universe produces
qi. Qi has bounds. The clear, yang [qi] was ethereal and so formed
heaven. The heavy, turbid [qi] was congealed and impeded and so formed
earth. The conjunction of the clear, yang [qi] was fluid and easy. The
conjunction of the heavy, turbid [qi] was strained and difficult. So
heaven was formed first and earth was made fast later. The pervading
essence (xi-jing) of heaven and earth becomes yin and yang. The
concentrated (zhuan) essences of yin and yang become the four seasons.
The dispersed (san) essences of the four seasons become the myriad
creatures. The hot qi of yang in accumulating produces fire. The
essence (jing) of the fire-qi becomes the sun. The cold qi of yin in
accumulating produces water. The essence of the water-qi becomes the
moon. The essences produced by coitus (yin) of the sun and moon become
the stars and celestial markpoints (chen, planets).

? Huai-nan-zi, 3:1a/19

The development of the ideas of qi and of qi zhi zhi xing (????) in
Neo-Confucianism go beyond the scope of a fundamental account of
Chinese ideas about qi, but the fundamentals are contained in the
above passage.[18]

[edit] Traditional Chinese medicine

Further information: Traditional Chinese medicine and Acupuncture

Theories of traditional Chinese medicine assert that the body has
natural patterns of qi that circulate in channels called meridians in
English.[19] Symptoms of various illnesses are often believed to be
the product of disrupted, blocked, or unbalanced qi movement
(interrupted flow) through the body's meridians, as well as
deficiencies or imbalances of qi (homeostatic imbalance) in the
various Zang Fu organs.[20] Traditional Chinese medicine often seeks
to relieve these imbalances by adjusting the circulation of qi
(metabolic energy flow) in the body using a variety of therapeutic
techniques. Some of these techniques include herbal medicines, special
diets, physical training regimens (qigong, tai chi chuan, and other
martial arts training),[21] moxibustion, massage to clear blockages,
and acupuncture, which uses small diameter metal needles inserted into
the skin and underlying tissues to reroute or balance qi.[22]

It has been hypothesized that the alleged therapeutic effects of
acupuncture can be explained by endorphin-release, by relaxation or by
simple placebo effects.[23] The NIH Consensus Statement on acupuncture
in 1997 noted that concepts such as qi "are difficult to reconcile
with contemporary biomedical information but continue to play an
important role in the evaluation of patients and the formulation of
treatment in acupuncture."[24]

It is hypothesized that qi could be transmitted through the fascia
independent of any neurological activity.[25]

[edit] Scientific investigation

Science rejects the concept of "qi". It has been hypothesized that the
alleged therapeutic effects of acupuncture can be explained by
endorphin-release, by relaxation or by simple placebo effects.[23] The
NIH Consensus Statement on acupuncture in 1997 noted that concepts
such as Qi "are difficult to reconcile with contemporary biomedical
information but continue to play an important role in the evaluation
of patients and the formulation of treatment in acupuncture."[24]

[edit] Feng shui

Main article: Feng shui

The traditional Chinese art of geomancy; the placement and arrangement
of space called feng shui, is based on calculating the balance of qi,
interactions between the five elements, yin and yang and other
factors. The retention or dissipation of qi is believed to affect the
health, wealth, energy level, luck and many other aspects of the
occupants of the space. Color, shape and the physical location of each
item in a space affects the flow of qi by slowing it down, redirecting
it or accelerating it, which directly affects the energy level of the
occupants. Feng shui is said to be a form of qi divination. [26]

[edit] Martial arts

Qi is a didactic concept in many Chinese, Korean and Japanese martial
arts. Martial qigong is a feature of both internal and external
training systems in China[27] and other east Asian cultures.[28]

[edit] See also
Part of a series on
Taoism
Aum
Fundamentals

Dao (Tao) · De
Wuji · Taiji
Yin-Yang · Wu xing
Qi · Neidan
Wu wei
Texts

Daodejing (Tao Te Ching)
Zhuangzi · Liezi
Daozang
Deities

Three Pure Ones
Guan Shengdi
Eight Immortals
Yellow Emperor · Xiwangmu
Jade Emperor · Chang'e
Other deities
People

Laozi · Zhuangzi
Zhang Daoling · Zhang Jiao
Ge Hong · Chen Tuan
Wang Chongyang
Schools

Five Pecks of Rice
Yellow Turbans
Shangqing · Lingbao
Quanzhen · Zhengyi
Xuanxue
Sacred sites

Grotto-heavens
v ? d ? e

* Qigong "qi cultivation"
* Tao Yin
* Vitalism
* Energy (esotericism)
* Traditional Chinese medicine
o Dantian
o Tui na
* Taoism
* Chinese folk religion
* Chinese martial arts
o Iron Shirt
o Iron Palm

[edit] References

1. ^ See p. 804f of Gao Shufan's "Xing, Yin, Yi Zonghe Da Zidian",
Zhong Zheng Shuju, Taipei, 1984
2. ^ Porkert, Manfred (1974). The Theoretical Foundations of
Chinese Medicine: Systems of Correspondence. MIT Press. ISBN
0262160587.
3. ^ Definitions and brief historical notes on such concepts can be
found in Wei Zhengtong's "Zhong Guo Zhexue Cidian", Da Lin Publishing
Company, Taipei, 1977.
4. ^ Mo Zi, chapter 25, 84/86ths of the way through
5. ^ Mo Zi, 21:17/19
6. ^ Mo Zi, 21:5/19 and 6:22/40
7. ^ Mo Zi, 68:7/23 and 70:98/139
8. ^ Analects, 10:3
9. ^ Mencius, 2A:2
10. ^ Mencius, 2A:2
11. ^ Mencius, 2A:2
12. ^ Mencius, 6A:8
13. ^ Zhuang Zi, 2:4/96
14. ^ Zhuang Zi, 25:67/82
15. ^ Zhuang Zi, 23:5/79
16. ^ Zhuang Zi, 22:11/84
17. ^ Zhuang Zi, 21:7/70
18. ^ A much more complete account is available in "Explorations of
Chinese Metaphysical Concepts", Patrick Edwin Moran, 1983.
19. ^ Denis Lawson-Wood and Joyce Lawson-Wood, Acupuncture Handbook,
Health Science Press, 1964, pp. 4, 133.
20. ^ Lawson-Wood, p. 4 and throughout the book.
21. ^ Wu, Kung-tsao (1980, 2006). Wu Family T'ai Chi Ch'uan (?????).
Chien-ch?uan T?ai-chi Ch?uan Association. ISBN 0-9780499-0-X.
22. ^ Lawson-Wood, p. 78f.
23. ^ a b Hsu DT (1996). "Acupuncture. A review.". Reg Anesth. 21
(4): 361?70.
24. ^ a b "Acupuncture: National Institutes of Health Consensus
Development Conference Statement". National Institutes of Health
(November 1997). Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
25. ^ Kimura M., Tohya K., Kuroiwa K., Oda H., Gorawski E.C., Hua
Z.X., Toda S., Ohnishi M., Noguchi E., ?Electron microscopical and
immunohistochemical studies on the induction of 'qi' employing
needling manipulation?, Am J Chin Med. 1992;20(1):25-35.
26. ^ Stephen L. Field. 1998. [Qimancy: The Art and Science of
Fengshui. http://www.fengshuigate.com/qimancy.html].
27. ^ Wile, Douglas (1995). Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the Late
Ch'ing Dynasty (Chinese Philosophy and Culture). State University of
New York Press. ISBN 978-0791426548.
28. ^ Bishop, Mark (1989). Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and
Secret Techniques. A&C Black, London. ISBN 0713656662.

[edit] Further reading

* James L., PhD. Oschman. Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis of
Bioenergy Therapies. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. ISBN
0443062617.
* Wright, Thomas; Eisenberg, David (1995). Encounters with Qi:
exploring Chinese medicine. New York: Norton. ISBN 0393312135.
* Porkert, Manfred (1974). The theoretical foundations of Chinese
medicine: systems of correspondence. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. ISBN
0-262-16058-7.
* Soo, Chee (1984). The Chinese art of T?ai Chi Ch?uan.
Wellingborough: Aquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-387-7.
* Yan, X; Lu F et al. (2002). "Certain physical manifestation and
effects of external Qi of yan xin life science technology" (pdf).
Journal of Scientific Exploration 16 (3): 381?411. Retrieved on
2008-02-11.

[edit] External links
Look up Qi in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Article by Bing YeYoung "A Philosophical and Cultural
Interpretation of Qi"
* The Skeptics Dictionary
.

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