“ The concept of Qi has occupied Chinese philosophers throughout history. From the beginning of Chinese civilization to our modern times. The character for Qi indicates that it is something that is both material and immaterial”
Chinese language consist of characters which can give different meanings when it is translated to a different language.
气 : this character means: vapour, gas or a steam
“米” while this character means : rice (uncooked rice), millet.
The word Qi consists of these two characters which gives the two meanings together. It has been not easy to give the exact definition of the word Qi in English language while modern day understanding of Qi gave the word multiple meanings like; vital force, energy, matter or moving power.
In our universe, we can see many forms of Qi. It is in the continues of coming together (forms) and the disperse of energy (Qi) in an infinite manifestation of life from water, minerals, rocks, mountains, plants and trees to animals and the human being.
In Chinese philosophy Heaven and Earth symbolizes another manifestation of Qi, as the density of Earth and the purity of Heaven reflect the two aspects of it. While the human being is considered a result of the interaction between Heaven and Earth, as the form is part of Earth and the mental- spiritual aspect of the human mind and soul is part of Heaven.
In Chinese Medicine, the human body consists of different forms of Qi.
Each organ has:
A dense matter which consist of the fabric of the organ
A specific action or a role in physiology
A spiritual aspect or a role in consciousness
An energy pathway or direction
When we talk about Liver Qi or Spleen Qi we are talking about the energy of that organ, the performance of it on the day when we take the pulse. Also the overall energy of the channel associated with that organ.
As the Stomach fabric is different than the Spleen and its action is to digest food while the Spleen help in spreading all the nutrients from the food to our limbs and muscles, the Stomach channel pathways or energy goes downward while the Spleen channel pathway goes upwards.
The Liver energy spreads like a tree and Lung energy controls all movement of Qi in the body.
| Nutritive Qi (Gu Qi) | stomach and spleen | Middle part of the body |
| Defensive Qi (Wei Qi) | Circulate around the body | To protect, like our immune system. |
| Gathering Qi (Zong Qi) | Lung and Heart | Upper part of the body |
| Original Qi (Yuan Qi) | Kidneys | Lower part of the body |
Rudi's Therapies 