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The dragon symbolises the chi and the movement
of vital energy

Special thanks to Georgie for the illustration
on this page

Article: Wade-Giles or Pinyin?

HISTORY of Qi Gong (ch'i kung)

Movement and exercise have always existed in the Chinese culture. The earliest reference we have to special 'dances' for warding off illness date from the period of the legendary Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti, who reigned perhaps as early as 2700 BC. And certainly by the 6th century bc scholars had already begun to classify various methods of exercise and breathing techniques for maintaining health - some of which may be depicted in jade carvings dating from this time. Later, during what is known by historians as the Warring States Period, 480-222 bc. we find the emergence of what are called Daoyin disciplines, again special exercises for health that may, in part at least, have been derived from the much earlier era of the Yellow Emperor.

Daoyin means 'guiding and inducing' - guiding and inducing the flow of qi around the body. At the same time, special breathing techniques combined with meditation were also being introduced by the Daoist philosophers. These techniques, they claimed, were effective not only in the treatment of certain illnesses but also in the prevention of disease. It is important to understand that in those times a philosopher was also someone who meditated and probably also practised medicine. All these subjects were linked, making up what we would today term an 'holistic' approach.

From here on in, we start to find clear individual styles of qi gong emerging - such as the eighteen forms of health exercises attributed to the alchemist Ko Hung (active around 325 AD). And, towards the end of the Han Dynasty, we have the famous practitioner of oriental medicine Hua Tuo advocating special regimes of exercise, called Wu Chin Hsi, again specifically in order to boost resistance to disease. Hau Tuo taught his movements openly and they were widely disseminated, as were, much later, another set of well-known pieces from the Song dynasty (around the 12th century) called the Eight Brocades, which are thought to have been developed by an army officer to maintain the internal strength of his troops. At the same time, however, other systems were being developed in secrecy among certain families or clans, usually centred on the Imperial Court and often developed in tandem with the martial arts.

From this illustrious past, most of the styles of qi gong that we recognise today have developed and grown. The number of variations and examples of cross-fertilisations between different styles is endless. But suffice to say that the use of exercise for maintaining health and for circulating vital energy around the body is probably one of the earliest activities recorded in the history of human civilisation and has, moreover, been in continuous use for at least four and a half thousand years. Long may it continue!

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