() is a group of breath-control techniques that have been developed and practiced from the Warring States period (c. 475-221 BCE) to the present. Examples include Traditional Chinese medicine, Daoist meditation, breathing calisthenics, embryonic breathing, internal alchemy, internal exercises, deep-breathing exercises, and slow-motion martial art. Since the polysemous keyword can mean natural "breath; air" and/or alleged supernatural "vital breath; life force", signifies "circulating breath" in meditational contexts or "activating vital breath" in medical contexts.
Terminology
is a linguistic compound of two Chinese words: has English translation equivalents of: to march in order, as soldiers; walk forward ... to move, proceed, act; perform(ance); actor, agent; follower ... to engage in; to conduct; to effect, put into practice, implement ... pre-verbal indicator of future action, "is going to ." temporary, transient ... to leave, depart from. ... In Standard Chinese phonology, this character is usually pronounced as rising second tone above, but also can be pronounced as falling fourth tone meaning "actions, conduct, behavior, custom(ary); conditioned states, conditioned things " or second tone "walkway, road; column, line, row, e.g., of soldiers, serried mountains, written text".
has equivalents of: effluvium, vapor(ous); fumes; exhalation, breath(e). vital breath, pneuma, energizing breath, lifeforce, material force. ... vitality, energy; zest, spirit; zeal, gusto; inspiration; aspiration. power, strength; impelling force. air, aura, atmosphere; climate, weather. ... flavor; smell, scent. disposition, mood, spirit; temper(ament); mettle, fortitude. ...
In terms of Chinese character classification, was originally a pictograph of "crossroads", and is a compound ideograph with and , creating " steam rising from rice as it cooks". has an uncommon variant character () that is especially used in "magical" Daoist talismans, charms, and petitions.
The unabridged ("Comprehensive Chinese Word Dictionary"), which is lexicographically comparable to the Oxford English Dictionary, defines in three meanings: . . . .
There is no standard English translation of Chinese , as evident in: "leading the breath", "guiding the breath" "circulation of the []" "circulate vapor" "circulation of pneumas" "circulating breath" "Moving the Vapors" "circulating the " "pneuma circulation" Within this sample, is most often translated as "circulate/circulating/circulation", but owing to the polysemous meanings of it is rendered as "breath", "vapor(s)", "pneuma(s)", or transliterated as . Nathan Sivin rejected translating with the ancient Greek word ("breath; spirit, soul" or "breath of life" in Stoicism) as too narrow for the semantic range of : By 350 , when philosophy began to be systematic, meant air, breath, vapor, and other pneumatic stuff. It might be congealed or compacted in liquids or solids. Qi also referred to the balanced and ordered vitalities or energies, partly derived from the air we breathe, that cause physical changes and maintain life. These are not distinct meanings. The term is "so basic to Chinese worldviews, yet so multivalent in its meanings, spanning senses normally distinguished in the West, that a single satisfying Western language translation has so far proved elusive".
In Chinese medical terminology, parallels or colloquial , and is expanded in the phrasemes and .
is a near-synonym of . has translation equivalents of: turn round, revolve, circumvolve; rotate, gyre; … cyclic movement of the universe; turn of fortune or destiny; phase … transport, displace; move, convey; advance … make use of, ply, wield; handle, manage. … When is pronounced with a neutral tone, means "turn of events; luck, fortune, happiness".
Textual examples Methods for circulating breath are attested during the Warring States period (c. 475-221 BCE), continued during the Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), became well known during the Six Dynasties (222-589), and developed during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) periods.
Warring States period In the history of Daoist meditation, several Warring States texts allude to or describe breath-control meditations, but none directly mention . Good examples are found in the and the ("Inner Training") chapter.
One context criticizes breath exercises and "guiding and pulling" calisthenics: "Blowing and breathing, exhaling and inhaling, expelling the old and taking in the new, bear strides and bird stretches —all this is merely indicative of the desire for longevity." Another context praises "breathing from the heels: "The true man of old did not dream when he slept and did not worry when he was awake. His food was not savory, his breathing was deep. The breathing of the true man is from his heels , the breathing of the common man is from his throat ." The translator Victor Mair notes the "close affinities between the Daoist sages and the ancient Indian holy men. Yogic breath control and (postures) were common to both traditions," and suggests that "breathing from the heels" could be "a modern explanation of the 'supported headstand'".
Verse 24 summarizes Inner Training breath control, which "appears to be a meditative technique in which the adept concentrates on nothing but the Way, or some representation of it. It is to be undertaken when you are sitting in a calm and unmoving position, and it enables you to set aside the disturbances of perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and desires that normally fill your conscious mind.". Expand your heart-mind and release it . Relax your and allow it to extend . When your body is calm and unmoving, Guard the One and discard myriad disturbances. You will see profit and not be enticed by it. You will see harm and not be frightened by it. Relaxed and unwound, and yet free from selfishness, In solitude you will find joy in your own being. This is what we call "circulating the " . Your awareness and practice appear celestial . (24, tr. Komjathy 2003: n.p.). Translating "circulating the " follows commentaries that interpret this original as a variant Chinese character for , thus reading .
Besides the Warring States-era received texts that mention breath circulation techniques, the earliest direct evidence is a Chinese jade artifact known as the or . This 45-character rhymed explanation entitled was inscribed on a dodecagonal block of jade, tentatively identified as either a knob for a staff or a pendant for hanging from a belt. While the dating is uncertain, estimates range from approximately middle 6th century BCE to early 3rd century BCE. This lapidary text combines nine trisyllabic phrases describing the stages of breath circulation with four explanatory phrases. The jade inscription says:
Han dynasty Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE) historical, medical, and philosophical texts mention circulating breath.
The (Records of the Grand Historian), compiled by Sima Tan and his son Sima Qian from the late 2nd century BCE to early 1st century CE, says turtles and tortoises are able to practice and . Chapter 128 , which Chu Shaosun (, c. 104-30 BCE) appended with a text on sacred tortoises used in plastromancy, claims that the longevity of tortoises results from breath circulation and calisthenics: "An old man in south used a tortoise as a leg for his bed, and died after more than ten years. When his bed was removed, the tortoise was still alive. Tortoises are able to practice breath circulation and calisthenics .
Ge Hong's 4th-century (below) quotes 128 with a different version of this tortoise-bed legend , with young rather than old men. When the men living between the Yangtze and the Huai are young, they place their beds on tortoises, and their families do not remove the beds until those boys have died of old age." Thus, these animals have lived at least fifty or sixty years, and, given that they can dispense this long with food or drink and still not die, it shows that they are far different from common creatures. Why should we doubt that they can last a thousand years? Isn't there good reason for the Genii Classics to suggest we imitate the breathing of the tortoise? Another interpretation is putting a tortoise into, rather than on a bed. "It is allegedly common in the area of the Yangtse and the Huai to put a tortoise into the bed in childhood; when people die of old age, the tortoise is still alive. This context repeatedly mentions cranes and tortoises (Chinese exemplars of longevity) using calisthenics without . For instance, "Knowing the great age attained by tortoises and cranes, he imitates their calisthenics so as to augment his own life span"; "Therefore, God's Men merely ask us to study the method by which these animals extend their years through calisthenics and to model ourselves on their eschewing of starches through the consumption of breath"; "the tortoise and the crane have a special understanding of calisthenics and diet".
The c. 2nd-century to 1st-century BCE (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) uses five times in the and three in the sections. For instances, the section says, The force of the pulse flows into the arteries () and the force of the arteries ascends into the lungs; the lungs send it into all the pulses (), which then transport its essence to the skin and the body hair. The entire vascular system unites with the secretions and passes the force of life on to a storehouse , which stores the energy and vitality and intelligence. These are then transmitted to the four (parts of the body), and the vital forces of the viscera are restored to their order. And (, Treatise on the Region of the Great Tin and on the Region of the 'Sunlight') says, The Great Yin of the foot means (relates to) the three Yin. Its communication by way of the stomach is subject to the spleen and is connected with the throat; thus it is the great Yin which causes the communication to the three parts of Yin . … The five viscera and the six hollow organs are like an ocean (a reservoir ). They also serve to transport vigor to the three regions of Yang . The viscera and the hollow organs, in reliance upon their direct communication, receive vigor from the region of the 'sunlight'. Thus they cause the stomach to transport its fluid secretions.
The c. 139 BCE is a Chinese collection of essays that blends Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, especially including yin and yang and Wuxing (Five Phases/Agents) theories. In particular, the are important to the because they provide a conceptual bridge among the cosmic, physiological, and cognitive realms. In medical theory, each of the Five Orbs was correlated with one of the Five Phases of and was understood to be responsible for the generation and circulation of its particular form of throughout the mind-body system." does not occur in this eclectic text but the "Originating in the Way" chapter describes circulating blood and : "The mind is the master of the Five Orbs. It regulates and directs the Four Limbs and circulates the blood and vital energy , gallops through the realms of accepting and rejecting, and enters and exits through the gateways and doorways of the hundreds of endeavors.; cf.
The c. 1st-century CE text, which is traditionally attributed to Ban Gu (32–92 CE), frequently mentions the (Five Elements or Five Phases). occurs in The Five Elements section explaining the in : "What is meant by the 'Five Elements' ? Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The word is used to bring out the meaning that with Heaven the fluids have been 'put into motion' ." occurs in the "Instinct and Emotion" section: "Why are there five Instincts and six Emotions ? Man by nature lives by containing the fluids of the Six Pitch-pipes and the Five Elements . Therefore, he has in the Five Reservoirs and the Six Storehouses , through which the Instincts and Emotions go in and out."
Six dynasties