chi

Chi/Qi in Chinese medicine is the vital force through which the natural organisation of life or tao becomes apparent.

The Chinese character for chi alludes to an essential life potency, a dynamic force, whether it causes the movement of sub-atomic particles, keeps our blood flowing or maintains our posture in the face of gravity. Chi can be stored, increased, depleted, or transferred, but always manages to sustain a creative tension between two basic opposing qualities, called yin and yang. Substance and energy are thus two ends of the same spectrum linked together by the flow of chi. This flow can be divided into five different functional densities, namely organ chi (se), meridian chi (shou), nutritive chi (xiang), protective chi (xing) and ancestral chi (shi). In the body chi travels through specific meridians or channels where its flow can be consciously detected and influenced. Each meridian is related to a specific organ system and associated with a specific quality of chi. Chinese health and healing systems such as acupuncture and tai chi are based upon methods that improve the flow of chi in the body.