The history of Chinese Qigong can be roughly divided into four periods. This fusion brought Qigong practice and meditation into the second period, the religious era of Qigong. When it was discovered that Qigong could be used for martial purposes. After 1911, towards the end of the Ching dynasty, Qigong training was mixed with practices from India, Japan and other countries, which is said to be the fourth period of Qigong.<\/span><\/p>\n The practice of Qigong was long carried out in secret, both the religious and martial techniques, and were taught from master to carefully chosen disciples. <\/span><\/p>\n The exponential growth of Qigong came about in 1945 after the People’s Republic of China was established, when Mao Zedong recognized that conventional medicine was too expensive and insufficient to keep the entire Chinese population healthy. Numerous techniques have been created and we can see them flourishing all over the world.<\/span><\/p>\n In the West, the knowledge is now beginning to spread, with great results, because the practices of Qigong, due to their efficiency, meet a prominent need of Westerners, which is to improve their health and especially the prevention of illnesses of all kinds. <\/span><\/p>\n Qigong categories<\/b><\/p>\n There are 4 schools or categories that were created by different types of people: schoolchildren, doctors, martial artists and monks.<\/span><\/p>\n The majority of Chinese philosophy focuses on the study of human nature, feelings and spirit, as highlighted by Chinese scholars.<\/span><\/p>\n For them, physical life was not considered as important as spiritual life. The scholars believed that the greatest illnesses were caused by emotional and spiritual imbalances. Buddhists sought spiritual independence and the supreme stage of Enlightenment.<\/span><\/p>\n Buddhist monks, especially the Tibetans, were able to achieve the highest levels of meditation, which no other style in China could.<\/span><\/p>\n Although these two groups emphasized spiritual meditation, they also used the physical exercises left by Bodhidharma Da Mo. <\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand <\/span>Chinese doctors<\/b> believed that although spiritual meditation was important, physical cultivation was even more critical for maintaining health and healing; and that it was more difficult to teach lay people silent meditation as it was very complicated to understand and practice.<\/span><\/p>\n Thus the Qigong created by doctors emphasized health and physical healing using many body exercises. School of Scholars <\/b>The scholarly school was formed by the followers of Confucius.<\/span>The Confucians advocated loyalty, filial piety, humanity, gentleness, sincerity, justice, harmony and peace. <\/span>Humanity and human feelings are the main subjects of their studies.<\/span>The contribution to Qigong of these schools of scholars emphasizes the maintenance of health and the prevention of illness.<\/span>They believed that many illnesses are caused by mental and emotional excesses.<\/span><\/p>\n When a person’s mind is not calm, balanced and at peace, the organs will not function normally, for example; depression can cause ulcers and indigestion. Scholars have realized that in order to avoid illness we must learn to balance and relax our thoughts and emotions. Medical School <\/b><\/p>\n In ancient Chinese society, most emperors respected scholars and followed their philosophies.<\/span><\/p>\n Doctors, on the other hand, were not looked upon favorably, because their diagnoses were made by touching the patient’s body, which was considered characteristic of the lower classes of society. <\/span><\/p>\n Although the doctors developed a profound medical science, they were despised by the upper classes of Chinese society, yet they continued to work and study and quietly taught the results of their research to future generations. <\/span><\/p>\n Doctors believed that just practicing silent sitting meditation to regulate the body and mind wasn’t enough to heal the body; they believed that increasing the circulation of energy (qi) would always require physical movement. <\/span><\/p>\n They learned through their practices that people who exercised their bodies got sick less often and were more resilient. Some of these movements are similar to the movements of some animals. Of course, for an animal to survive in the jungle, it must have an instinct for how to protect its body and part of this instinct is related to maintaining its qi. <\/span><\/p>\n Humans have lost most of these instincts because they have separated from nature.<\/span><\/p>\n After long investigations, Chinese doctors found movements that could help cure particular illnesses and also discovered that the cause of many ailments was a lack and imbalance of qi, which, after a long time, ended up affecting the physical organs. <\/span><\/p>\n When the qi is too positive (yang) or too negative (yin) in a specific energy channel of an organ, the physical organ begins to suffer. Thus, the doctors’ school emphasizes moving meditation exercises (Qigong).<\/span><\/p>\n Its main objective is to maintain health and cure diseases. <\/span><\/p>\n Qigong exercises are a part of Chinese medical science along with herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage. <\/span><\/p>\n School of Martial Artists<\/b><\/p>\n Martial Chinese Qigong began to be developed at the Shao Lin Monastery during the Liang Dynasty (502 – 557 AD) after Bodhidharma Da Mo taught the exercises in the Treatise on the Renewal of Muscles and Tendons.<\/span><\/p>\n Da Mo was a Buddhist who achieved enlightenment but renounced it in order to dedicate himself to helping others achieve enlightenment, hence his nickname bodhidharma.<\/span><\/p>\n Da Mo traveled from India to China to teach Buddhism and its meditation techniques. Upon arriving at the Shaolin temple, Da Mo realized that the monks were in rather poor physical condition.<\/span><\/p>\n It was for this reason that Da Mo taught Qigong techniques to the Shaolin monks. By practicing these exercises regularly, the Shaolin monks became stronger and regained their physical health, which enabled them to develop the Shaolin martial art (now known worldwide) to defend themselves against temple looters.<\/span><\/p>\n Many martial arts practitioners use Qigong to increase the power of their martial techniques.<\/span><\/p>\n Thus began martial qigong.<\/span><\/p>\n Religious School <\/b><\/p>\n Qigong is considered a science, but there is a group of people who use qigong techniques to achieve enlightenment, or union with the universe. <\/span><\/p>\n Religious Qigong, despite being the highest of all categories, has always been kept secret, and it was only in this century that it began to be revealed to the laity.<\/span><\/p>\n In China, religious Qigong includes Taoists and Buddhists, and its main purpose is to train for Enlightenment.<\/span><\/p>\n Practitioners of religious Qigong believe that all human suffering is caused by emotions and desires and train to strengthen their internal Qi, to nourish the spirit and thus reach higher stages of consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n Qigong in the modern era<\/b><\/p>\n Qigong is currently practiced by thousands of people around the world and there are several scientific studies that prove its effectiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n In 1980, the first operation was performed exclusively under anesthesia using Qigong.<\/span><\/p>\n There are several hospitals dedicated to recovering from operations, illnesses and accidents through qigong, and qigong institutes are popping up all over the world to spread the knowledge and teach the practice of energy mastery and cultivation.<\/span><\/p>\n This ancient practice, which is still little known in the Western world, is the embodiment of thousands of years of knowledge and one of the most profound and mysterious philosophies the world has ever known, Taoism.<\/span><\/p>\n Qigong teaches the practitioner to reconcile their inner world with the outer world, creating more harmony between the two, it’s what you might call “the middle way”.<\/span><\/p>\n In the words of Carl Jung:<\/span><\/p>\n “Because the things of the inner world influence us all the more powerfully because we are unconscious of them, it is essential for anyone wishing to make progress in self-knowledge to objectify the effects of the anima and then try to understand what contents lie behind these effects.
\nWe know little about the first period, which is thought to have begun when the I Ching – Book of Changes, was introduced around 2500 BC, and lasted until the Han dynasty 206 BC, when Buddhism and its meditation methods were imported from India. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis period lasted until the Liang dynasty 502-557 AD. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis marked the beginning of the third period, that of Martial Qigong.
\nDifferent styles of martial Qigong were created based on the theories and principles of Buddhism and Taoist Qigong.
\nThis period lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nIt was in this way that the powerful Chinese legacy, traditional Chinese medicine, and with it Qigong, was rescued. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nFor this reason, most silent meditations specialized in cultivating the spirit and were developed by Buddhist monks and scholars.
\nHowever, these two groups pursued different goals. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThey used meditation to regulate the mind and spirit and thus achieve good health. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThey relied heavily on acupuncture and medicinal herbs to adjust the qi (vital energy) that became irregular due to illness. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnger causes the liver to malfunction.
\nSadness causes stagnation in the lungs.
\nFear can disrupt the normal functioning of the kidneys and bladder. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis is called regulating the mind. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThey also realized that specific body movements could increase the circulation of Qi in specific organs. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nIf the circulation of qi is not corrected, the organ will become sick and eventually degenerate. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nHe passed through the emperor’s palace and ended up visiting and staying at the Shaolin Temple until the end of his life. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nThey are still practiced today and are known by the names: “Muscle\/Tendon Changing Classic” and “Marrow\/Brain Washing Classic”. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nIn this way, the person adapts and protects themselves against the invisible.
\nNo adaptation can work without concessions from both worlds.
\nThe claims of the inner and outer worlds, or rather the conflicts between them, are followed by what is possible and what is necessary.
\nUnfortunately, our Western mind, lacking all culture in this respect, has never come up with a concept, not even a name, for the <\/span>the union of opposites by the middle way<\/b>the most fundamental item of inner experience, which could be like the Chinese concept of the Tao.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>