Yin, Yang and the Chinese Body: A Complete Guide·Part B of 5
The Material of the System
氣 (qì) is usually translated "energy". It is a bad translation and it creates half a lifetime of misunderstandings.
5. Qi: what they really mean
氣 (qì) is usually translated “energy”. It is a bad translation and it creates half a lifetime of misunderstandings.
The character depicts steam rising from boiling rice. That is: the subtle that comes out of the gross. The active that comes out of the inert.
Better renderings: function, active tendency, what makes something work.
In Chinese thought, qi is not “something that circulates inside a body”. Qi is what both the body and everything else are made of, at different degrees of condensation. Dense qi = matter. Rarefied qi = movement, heat, thought. There is no matter/energy split in this model — there is a spectrum of condensation.
How to take it practically: when the practice says “send the qi there”, functionally it means “direct your attention and let the body respond”. And something does happen — vasodilation, muscle-tone change, breath shift. You do not have to believe metaphysics for the method to work.
6. The Three Treasures: Jing, Qi, Shen
三寶 (sān bǎo) — the three levels of condensation of the same thing.
精 (jīng) — Essence
The densest. The “capital” of the organism. Two kinds:
- Pre-natal (先天): what you inherited from your parents. Finite. Spent as you live. Sets your constitutional endurance.
- Post-natal (後天): what you produce from food and breath. Renewable. Can protect the pre-natal so it is not spent.
Seated in the Kidneys. Related to growth, reproduction, ageing, bones, brain.
氣 (qì) — Function
The intermediate. Movement, heat, metabolism, defence.
神 (shén) — Spirit / Consciousness
The subtlest. Awareness, clarity, presence. Housed in the Heart. Shows in the eyes — which is why the old teacher looks you in the eye before he asks you anything.
The chain
煉精化氣 → 煉氣化神 → 煉神還虛
“Refine Jing into Qi → Qi into Shen → Shen back into the Void.”
This is the whole of internal alchemy in a single line: movement from the dense toward the subtle. And the reverse reading explains illness: when you spend too much shen (anxiety, over-stimulation), you draw on qi; when you exhaust qi, you draw on jing — and jing is not easily replenished.
7. The kinds of Qi
Not all qi is the same. Four names you will meet:
| Name | Source | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 元氣 Yuan Qi (Original) | From the pre-natal Jing, in the Kidneys | The fundamental motive force. Activates all the rest. Circulates via the Triple Burner |
| 宗氣 Zong Qi (Gathering) | Air (Lung) + food (Spleen), gathered in the chest | Moves breath and heart. Gives power to the voice |
| 營氣 Ying Qi (Nutritive) | From food | Circulates within the meridians. Nourishes. Yin relative to Wei |
| 衛氣 Wei Qi (Defensive) | From food, “cruder” | Circulates outside the meridians, at the surface. Regulates pores, temperature, defence. Yang relative to Ying |
Wei Qi is the reason the tradition says “do not stay sweating in a draught” — the surface defence is held to be open when the pores are open.