and Blood 
Qi and Blood in TCM are considered the essential elements of life. The study of TCM must begin with a clear understanding of these two concepts.
Qi 
After learning about the TCM organs, we began to study the anatomical locations of acupuncture points and were given practical instructions in needling. Before inflicting discomfort on others, we needled ourselves on accessible parts of the body such as the leg or foot. I found it took nerve to needle myself. With my anesthesiology background, I experimented with first numbing the skin with a local anesthetic but discovered that the sting of the local anesthetic was worse than the actual jab of the acupuncture needle.
One day our acupuncture instructor demonstrated how to insert the needle into the correct point to elicit the response called de Qi 
(attaining Qi). He told us that the endpoint was reached when the patient felt a strange, aching, full sensation. A student volunteered to be the patient, and the instructor demonstrated by inserting the needle with a quick thrust through the skin into his leg. As he probed deeper with the needle, he continually watched the volunteer’s facial expression and asked if he felt that strange sensation. As the instructor went deeper, the volunteer began nodding and said he felt a sensation like “when I hit my crazy bone at the elbow.” Then the instructor withdrew the needle and quickly covered the area with his hand to “not let the Qi escape.”
How quaint, I thought. All the instructor did was hit a peripheral nerve, causing the sensation. That is how I used to find nerves when I did nerve blocks as an anesthesiologist. The difference was that after I located the nerve in a similar manner, I injected a local anesthetic into it. Modern research has shown that acupuncture points have an increased electrical conductivity because the points are either on nerves or myoneural junctions (the location where nerves join with the muscles that they supply). So stimulating nerves or myoneural junctions by needling them is what the instructor called de Qi. This business of covering the hole where the acupuncture needle was pulled out, as if plugging up a leak in a tire, seemed silly. Did the instructor actually believe the Qi would escape, and that he could plug it up with his hand? My curiosity about the widely used TCM term Qi was aroused.
The literal meaning of Qi is “air.” When Qi is used in its literal sense, we can consider the two anatomical locations where air is present: the lungs and the gastrointestinal tract. Shortness of breath, then, is shortness of Qi 
,abdominal bloating is being swollen with Qi 
, and passing flatus is passing Qi 
.
Lowering Qi 
“Lowering Qi” is a treatment term commonly used in TCM. If we keep in mind that the literal meaning of Qi is air, we can understand this term. Conditions that require the Qi to be lowered are those in which the Qi or air seems to be going the wrong way: shortness of breath, burping, and abdominal bloating.
The ancient Chinese observed that people were normally able to breathe effortlessly. The Qi, or air, seemed to go down from the nose and mouth into the lungs. But when someone becomes short of breath, he needs to work at getting the air down into the lungs. TCM practitioners used treatments to help the patient’s Qi go down. One of my Chinese patients, who had shortness of breath with exertion when walking up hills, told me, “My upper Qi doesn’t seem to meet my lower Qi.” 
. At the time, her description seemed peculiar, but it became understandable when I studied TCM. The Chinese envisioned the air breathed in through the nose and mouth as the upper Qi, which went down to meet the air in the lung, the air they called the lower Qi.
To treat breathing difficulties in which the normal flow of air seems impeded, such as with cough, asthma, or heart failure, Chinese practitioners use herbal remedies for lowering Qi. The remedies facilitate breathing by dilating constricted bronchial tubes and blood vessels and decreasing the sensitivity of the cough reflex. Herbal prescriptions for colds and coughs usually include one or more herbs for lowering Qi, such as Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae Viride 
(green tangerine peel). Acupuncture points that work on the sympathetic system, which dilates bronchial tubes, are also used to lower Qi.
As for the gastrointestinal tract, we know that peristalsis, the synchronized motion of the gut, controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system, propels food, liquid, and air. When there is dysfunction of peristalsis, the patient experiences bloating and discomfort. Western medicine calls this problem gastrointestinal dysmotility and prescribes pro-kinetic drugs to regulate the nerves to the gut. These pro-kinetic drugs stimulate the nervous system to increase peristalsis. The Chinese ancients observed that, normally, Qi (air) should move in a downward direction during digestion. If there was a problem with gastrointestinal motility, it seemed to them that the Qi was moving up instead of down. To treat such a condition, herbs for lowering Qi, such as Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis 
and Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae 
(dried tangerine peel), which regulate peristalsis, are used. The herbal remedies are comparable to the Western pro-kinetic drugs.
Aside from its literal meaning, Qi can have many other meanings, depending on what word is combined with it. In the Chinese language, modifiers determine the meaning of a word. As an adolescent, I went on a low carbohydrate diet to try to lose weight. When I became ill, my mother told me, “We Chinese say you need rice Qi 
to stay healthy. Maybe the reason you became ill was that you overdid it with your diet by eliminating rice, and you don’t have enough rice Qi.” At that time, I paid little attention to my mother’s words, putting them in the category of old wives’ tales. As a TCM student trying to analyze the term Qi, my mother’s words came back to me. What is meant by “rice Qi”?
Types of Qi
There are five major types of Qi in TCM: Zheng or Right Qi, Yuan or Original Qi, Organ Qi, Ying or Nutrition Qi, and Wei or Defensive Qi.
Zheng Qi 
“Zheng Qi (Right or Normal Qi),” the lecturer said “is the fountain-head of all force and energy of life.”
The Chinese character for Zheng, 
, is made up of a horizontal line above the character for stop . It means “stop when the limit has been reached.” (Wieger 1965, 266) The word Zheng is used to mean “in the correct place.” For instance, if a picture hanging on the wall is a bit tilted, the Chinese say it is “not Zheng.” If you are wearing a hat that is off kilter, you need to “push it back to Zheng.” When there are many roads to a destination, the main road is the “Zheng” road. Zheng connotes correctness and normalcy.
I looked for the Western medical equivalent of Zheng Qi and decided that it is the mechanism of the body that keeps functions normal. The best equivalent word for this is homeostasis, which describes how the body tends to keep itself in balance. The autonomic nervous system is one example. Another is the body’s feedback mechanisms that keep hormonal secretions in check. One of these feedback mechanisms involves the pituitary and thyroid glands. The pituitary gland secretes TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), which causes the thyroid gland to secrete its hormone. When the blood level of thyroid hormone is adequate, the pituitary gland senses this and shuts off TSH production until the thyroid hormone falls below a certain level. I believe that these kinds of bodily checks and balances are what the ancients had in mind when they talked about Zheng or Normal Qi. The common translation of Zheng Qi as “Righteous Qi” implies that there is a moral aspect to the term. “Right” or “Normal” are more accurate translations.
Yuan Qi 
Yuan or Original Qi is commonly believed to be Qi that people are born with, thus implying genetic makeup. TCM teaches that the quantity of Yuan Qi a person has will determine how well he recovers from an illness. Although genetics is a strong factor, the other determinant of health is environment. How well a sick patient fares depends on a composite of both factors; therefore, using genetics alone to explain Yuan Qi is inadequate.
If our genetically endowed ability to fight disease could be likened to a tank of gas, the concept might be easier to understand. Just as some vehicles have larger tanks than others, some people are born with stronger genes or a greater supply of Yuan Qi than others. If such people adopt unhealthy habits, however, they will have used up their Yuan Qi faster, similar to the way putting many miles in your car depletes the gas tank faster. At some particular time in life, when these people contract an illness, how they fare will depend on how much Yuan Qi is still left. The best Western equivalent I found for Yuan Qi is baseline function—how well someone functioned before getting sick. It is easy to understand that if a patient who smoked for years developed a respiratory infection, he would have less Yuan Qi and be less able to overcome this infection than someone contracting the same illness who had comparable genetics but who had not abused his body by smoking.
Organ Qi 
“Organ Qi,” our lecturer told us, “is what mobilizes each organ.” The simple Western definition is organ function. It has been said that a human being is made up of one long tube that propels food from one end, the mouth, to the other end, the anus. As discussed earlier, the gastrointestinal tract, a very long tube whose walls are made up of smooth muscle, functions by peristalsis, where the smooth muscles contract and relax synchronously. Hormones and the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system control this synchronous movement. These controlling forces are the Qi that “mobilizes” each organ. To treat constipation in the elderly, an effective herbal prescription consists of not only lubricating herbs but also lowering-Qi herbs such as Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis 
that stimulate peristalsis.
We are also made up of many smaller tubes, transporting secretions from one point in the body to another. Westerners call these tubes ducts. For example, the salivary ducts carry saliva from the glands to the inner lining of the mouth; oil ducts carry oil from the gland to the skin. What determines how much secretion is brought to an organ is the size of the ducts. The walls of these ducts are made of smooth muscle that can contract or relax to make the ducts smaller or larger. Just as with the smooth muscles in the gastrointestinal tract, the smooth muscles of various ducts are controlled by the autonomic nervous system and hormones. With hot weather, the sympathetic nervous system stimulates the sweat glands to produce more sweat. To accommodate bringing more sweat to the skin surface for cooling the body, the sympathetic system also dilates the sweat ducts. When we eat, hormones are secreted to stimulate salivation, and the parasympathetic nerves stimulate the saliva ducts to widen. All these mechanisms are included in the concept of Organ Qi.
When flow is obstructed, it is often because the secretions have become too thick to pass through the ducts. Such is the case with a salivary duct stone. Sometimes, if a person becomes dehydrated, the saliva becomes thick to the point that it forms a solid stone, blocking further salivary flow. This can occur in the elderly, whose mucous secretions may be diminished because of age, and this dryness is further exacerbated by medications causing dry mouth.
A patient in her fifties once told me that she had pain in her cheek area where the saliva gland is located ever since her recent gallbladder surgery. With my background in anesthesiology, I figured that her salivary duct most likely became obstructed from dehydration caused by several factors around the time of surgery. To facilitate intubation of the trachea (inserting a tube in the trachea that is connected to anesthetic gases), anesthesia patients are usually premedicated with drying agents. Post-operatively, they may receive medications to control pain and nausea, which may further dry them. I advised my patient to increase liquids and apply heat to the area, and the pain resolved. When the Chinese talk about Organ Qi flowing, I believe this system of transporting fluid in ducts is what they mean.
A Chinese aphorism describes movement through these ducts: “Blocked results in pain 
; unblocked results in no pain 
.” This truism can be applied to conditions as varied as angina and the pain of kidney stones.
Ying Qi 
“Ying or Nutrition Qi is derived from food and drink, springs from the Spleen and Stomach coming from the Central Burner. Its main function is to generate blood and nourishment.”
This clearly must be food metabolism. Perhaps this is what my mother meant by “rice Qi.” TCM views the Spleen as the main organ of digestion and absorption, the Stomach as the conduit for the passage of food, and the Central Burner as the location where all these functions reside. With new research findings, Western medicine is discovering that this system is far more complex than what we once thought.
Wei Qi 
About Wei or Defensive Qi, the lecturer said, “It springs from the Stomach and Spleen, goes through the Upper Burner, travels between the muscle and skin, and also enters all organ cavities. It defends against outside evil.”
Wei Qi undoubtedly is the body’s immune system. The components of the immune system can be divided into two categories: white blood cells and proteins (called immunoglobulins). The Chinese attributed the source of Wei Qi to the Stomach and Spleen. These two TCM organs are responsible for digestion. Normal digestion of food is needed to make proteins for immunoglobulins.
Another component of the immune system, white blood cells, are made in several different sites: the bone marrow, the lymph nodes, and the thymus gland. I believe the TCM concept of Spleen, rather than representing one organ, actually includes these various sources of the white blood cell components of the immune system.
Our complex immune system can be likened to a military operation. Both immunoglobulins and white blood cells fit into a strategic system of defending the body against outside invaders. Rather like border patrols, white blood cells and immunoglobulins are stationed at the body’s points of entry: the skin and the mucous membranes of the mouth, anus, and genitourinary tract. Others travel in the blood stream like reconnaissance troops, looking for the presence of invaders that might have already entered the body. When a foreign invasion is detected, white blood cells send messages to the brain, which in turn directs the bone marrow, lymph nodes, and thymus gland to increase production of fighting white blood cells. The blood then carries the fighter white blood cells to the body site being invaded. Meanwhile, an arms race is occurring: the white blood cells made in the bone marrow are designing immunoglobulins, which can specifically identify invaders, capture and destroy them, and avoid collateral damage. Transport for all these components is by way of the circulation. But remember that at the inception of TCM teachings, the circulatory system was not known. The ancients thought that Wei Qi traveled between the muscle and skin. How this concept originated is discussed in chapter 4.
Meaning of Qi
After listening to all the varied descriptions of Qi, I began trying to explore its overarching meaning. The popular Western notion of Qi is that it is a mystical, elusive entity having to do with a life force or energy, understood only by the Chinese and incomprehensible to the Westerner. Since I am a native Chinese speaker familiar with all the varied usages of Qi in common parlance, I was unwilling to buy into this Western notion. My overriding impression while studying TCM was that at the time the system was formulated, the ancients knew less, not more, than we do now.
I again tried to imagine what it was like back when these TCM ideas were formed. Little was known about human anatomy or physiology. It was 2,500 years before Andreas Vesalius accurately described human anatomy and William Harvey described the circulatory system. The ancients knew of neither the nervous system nor the circulatory system. As the Greeks did with their mythology, the Chinese devised ways to explain phenomena. Whereas the Greeks used their mythical gods, the Chinese, living in an agrarian society, used what they saw in nature.
The Chinese character for Qi is made up of a rice (
) and a vapor (
) radical. For the Chinese, rice is a staple, essential for life, comparable to bread in the West. Vapor exists but cannot be sensed. Let us recall that the literal meaning of Qi is air. We cannot see, smell, hear, or feel the air we breathe, but we know it exists; and without it, we cannot function. My conclusion is that Qi is a general term that the Chinese used to explain phenomena they did not understand. An entity’s Qi is simply that essential element it possesses that makes it function. Some may interpret it as “force” or “energy,” which are plausible synonyms. I think that in the same way the Chinese arbitrarily assigned to organs such as the Liver, Spleen, and Kidney certain bodily functions, so too they assigned to Qi the cause of many phenomena, usually of a dynamic nature, whose mechanisms they didn’t understand. A parallel might be the Greeks attributing thunder and lightning to the god Zeus, or the sky being held aloft by the god Atlas.
Qi as the Nervous System
Going back to the general principle in TCM that Qi must move in an unobstructed manner for proper health, I considered what physiologic phenomena involved motion. Motion occurs in the nervous system, via electrical impulses. In Western medicine, there are two nervous systems, the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. The central nervous system originates in the brain and extends down the spinal cord from which nerves emanate. The brain sends messages to the muscles by way of the nerves, like a telemessaging system. The central nervous system controls all voluntary movement such as walking and talking. The autonomic nervous system telemessages to our internal organs and blood vessels but can bypass the brain, making the system faster. A metaphor for computer users might be that the autonomic nervous system is like broadband. This system controls automatic functions like heartbeat, breathing, and movement of the intestines.
Neither nervous system was known when TCM teachings were written. In fact, the ancient Chinese described the brain as the “sea of marrow,” connected to the spinal cord. Their observation that both the brain and spinal cord are encased by bone undoubtedly led them to associate the nervous system with “marrow.” The actual function of the nervous system with its intricate messaging circuitry was attributed to Qi.
Qi as the Cardiovascular System
In TCM terms, Qi and Blood are often used together. I used to think that Qi represented the oxygen carried in the blood. Yet I knew the name for oxygen was not just Qi but Yang Qi 
. As I probed further, it appeared that when Blood and Qi were used together, Qi represented the cardiovascular system.
The lecturer said, “Blood is intimately related to Qi. Blood and Qi are always used together. Blood is Yin and Qi is Yang. Qi is the general of the blood. Blood is the mother of Qi. Qi holds the blood and moves it. Qi, however, needs nourishment of blood.”
In Western medicine, we know that it is the cardiovascular system, consisting of the heart and blood vessels that holds and moves the blood. Although early writings indicate that the ancients knew that blood flowed continuously in a circle (Lyons 1987, 127), they lacked a complete understanding of how the cardiovascular system functioned. I imagined the Chinese ancients observing blood spurting out when livestock were slaughtered or when soldiers were wounded in battle and thinking, “Something must be moving this blood, and something must be containing it in the normal state. It must be Qi.”
Furthermore, the nourishment of blood required by Qi must be oxygen and nutrients carried by the blood. This description fits the coronary circulation like a glove. The heart, while functioning to hold and move blood for the entire body, depends on the coronary circulation for oxygen, glucose, and other vital nutrients to supply its own muscle. When a heart attack occurs, one of the coronary arteries feeding an area of the heart is obstructed. Deprived of the oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients normally fed to it, the muscle in that particular area of the heart dies. This scenario supports the TCM teaching that “Qi (the heart) needs the nourishment (oxygen, glucose and other nutrients) of Blood.” It is a tribute to the Chinese ancients’ keen observation that they saw the interrelationship of the cardiovascular system that they called Qi and the blood that is carried within it.
The herb Fructus Citri Sarcodactylis 
, commonly called Buddha’s Hand, whose flower has the appearance of a hand, has the effect of relaxing smooth muscle. The walls of both the intestinal tract and blood vessels are made of smooth muscles. The smooth-muscle-relaxing property of this herb serves to relieve intestinal spasm and dilate blood vessels. In Chinese herbology, it is classified as a lowering-Qi herb. Similar to the way Western medicine uses vasodilators to open blood vessels in order to lessen the work of a failing heart, this herb can be used when there is lung congestion from heart failure. My teacher, Dr. Lai, used to warn, “Be careful when you use this herb; too much of it can break the Qi, and the patient will get light-headed and faint.” I used to puzzle over his warning. What was meant by “breaking the Qi” to cause fainting? I then discovered that if I substituted the word “circulation” for Qi, it made sense. A high dose of this herb can dilate blood vessels excessively and in turn lower the blood pressure. If the blood pressure becomes too low, there will be inadequate blood flow to the head, thus causing the patient to feel light-headed and faint.
There is a symptom complex in TCM called Qi deserting with the Blood 
, resulting from major blood loss. Its features include “bright white complexion, a rapid pulse that is forceless, … lowered blood pressure, and cold sweating” (Wiseman 1996, 151). Any Western physician would recognize this description as hemorrhagic shock. TCM explains that both the Qi and the Blood have deserted the patient. It is quite evident that Qi here refers to the circulation.
Blood 
.
The TCM concept of blood is the same as the Western one, except the ancient Chinese believed that it comes from ingested food and liquid that somehow gets transformed by the lung and “construction Qi” to turn it red in color. They believed that bleeding was caused by blood flowing in the wrong direction, and the Spleen managed or directed the blood to flow in the correct direction. TCM divided diseases of Blood into three categories: Bleeding 
, Blood Deficiency 
, and Blood Stasis and Ecchymosis 
.
Bleeding
The term for bleeding is the same in both TCM and Western medicine. Bleeding is considered by both East and West to be a serious condition requiring treatment. There are hemostatic 
herbs used to treat bleeding. In fact, TCM practitioners recognized that certain hemostatic herbs were more effective than others in treating certain kinds of bleeding (Bensky 1993, 355–381). For nosebleeds, Chinese practitioners used Rhizoma Imperatae Cylindricae 
; for bloody sputum and bloody vomitus, Rhizoma Bletillae Striatae 
; for bloody stools, Flos Sophorae Japonicae Immaturus 
; for bloody urine, Pollen Typhae 
; for uterine bleeding, Folium Artemisiae 
; and for wounds, Radix Pseudoginseng 
. In fact, Radix Pseudoginseng is included in a well-known trauma formula called Yunnan Bai Yao. Chinese soldiers used to carry a supply when going into combat.
Blood Deficiency
The term “Blood Deficiency” is similar to the Western term “anemia,” but there is a distinction. Blood Deficiency means a decrease in the total blood volume, consisting of red blood cells and plasma (the liquid portion of the circulating blood), whereas anemia is a laboratory diagnosis made by measuring the concentration of red blood cells relative to the plasma. Conceivably, a patient could be Blood Deficient from the TCM perspective and yet not meet the laboratory criterion for anemia from the Western perspective. This is true of many women who lose blood every month. Their blood loss may not be of a magnitude that is measurable as anemia. Their blood vessels have adjusted to the smaller blood volume by constricting. Using TCM diagnosis, however, they are Blood Deficient. Many have cold hands and feet and are intolerant of cold weather. Because of these changes, TCM would further categorize them as being in a Cold state (see chapter 5). The West subcategorizes anemia into types and causes, and treats accordingly. The East is less specific, but its herbal pharmacopoeia includes several tonifying (building) blood herbs such as Rhizoma Polygonati 
, Radix Polygoni Multiflori Thunb 
, Angelica Sinensis 
, and Fructus Lycii Chinensis 
(also known as goji berries).
Blood Stasis and Ecchymosis
Regarding the concept of Blood Stasis and Ecchymosis, Eastern and Western medical views differ. While Western practitioners view thrombosis (abnormal clotting in blood vessels, such as leg veins, coronary arteries, or cerebral arteries) as a serious condition, they do not regard ecchymosis (bruising) from trauma as a condition requiring much intervention. For the early stage of bruising, Western practitioners use icing to constrict blood vessels and thereby stem bleeding. Thereafter, they merely allow the body’s normal circulation to gradually absorb the bruised blood from the tissues.
The Chinese, on the other hand, view ecchymosis (bruising) to be just as serious as thrombosis, requiring the treatment called mobilizing Qi and Blood. After blunt trauma, if the volume of blood leaked into the tissue is large, instead of ecchymosis, we call the accumulation of blood a hematoma. Sometimes Western practitioners will evacuate very large hematomas with syringe and needle. If hematomas are left alone, scarring can occur, transforming the hematomas into hard masses. In some cases, these scarred-over hematomas can be mistaken for malignant tumors. A case comes to mind of a woman patient who had hit her chest against a steering wheel in an automobile accident. Months had passed, and she had forgotten about the accident. A physician happened to examine her, found a firm mass in her breast and thought she might have breast cancer. It was not until the tests for breast cancer returned negative that she remembered the accidental trauma to her breast. The ancients may have observed how bruises could change into hard masses, a rather alarming phenomenon, and concluded that ecchymosis required intervention. They felt that pooled blood anywhere blocked normal circulation. They believed that tumors were from internal blood stasis or ecchymosis. They also believed, but erroneously, that heavy menstrual bleeding with clots was caused by internal blood stasis, and the clots obstructed normal menstrual flow. In addition to bruising, sprains and strains also fall under the category of ecchymosis. The treatment principle of mobilizing Qi and blood arose from this belief system that all Blood stasis conditions required aggressive treatment, a principle that is distinctly Chinese.
Mobilizing Qi and Blood 
to treat Blood Stasis 
Two key herbal components are involved in mobilizing Qi and Blood formulas. One component, moves Qi 
. Herbs in this category include Radix Ligustici Wallichi 
Rhizoma Corydalis 
, and Radix Salviae Miltorrhizae 
. If we interpret Qi to mean circulation, their mode of moving Qi becomes apparent. These herbs improve circulation by dilating blood vessels. Improved blood flow accelerates the normal process of absorbing blood from tissues. The other component consists of herbs for dispersing Blood 
, such as Semen Persicae 
Achyranthis Bidentatae 
, and Flos Catharmi 
Radix Pseudoginseng 
also falls into this category. Its medicinal action seems to be bimodal. In higher doses, it is used topically to stem bleeding, but in lower doses, it is widely used to disperse blood. These herbs hasten healing by breaking up clotted blood, facilitating its absorption. They may work on platelets or on breaking up fibrin, and are worthy of further study. The closest Western counterpart of these herbs is antiplatelet drugs. We can regard them as being beneficial in treating thromboses.
To treat traumatic ecchymoses, the Chinese routinely use mobilizing Qi and Blood herbal formulas in the form of liniments 
. Many also contain Myrrha 
recorded in the Bible as one of the precious gifts from the three Magi to the Christ child. Most Chinese families keep a bottle of herbal liniment at home as part of their first aid supply. Various liniments are commercially available, usually named after the practitioners who concocted them with their special secret combinations of herbs. Some Chinese Americans say that the American Indians actually have the best liniments, made up of Native American herbs. I became a believer in liniment use when I once caught my finger on the hinge of a folding table while closing it. My finger instantly became black and blue and began to swell. I quickly applied some liniment to my finger in the form of a poultice, and in a matter of half an hour, the swelling and discoloration disappeared.
It became clear that my interpretation of Qi differed from that of mainstream Western thinking. I wondered if I could find a kindred spirit, someone whose thoughts about Qi concurred with mine. I sought out my friend and colleague Adeline Yen Mah, a retired physician who devotes her time to writing. She grew up in Shanghai and understood Chinese culture. She was just finishing Watching the Tree, her book on Chinese philosophy, which had a chapter on Qi. I asked her for a copy of that chapter, in which she writes, “Matter and energy are part of a single continuum known as the ‘the quantum field.’ The ancient Chinese concept of Qi then may be the modern equivalent of this quantum field, which is constantly creating and disintegrating matter at the same time” (2000, 103).
It was not in this complex explanation that I found affirmation of my own explanation of Qi but in the anecdote that followed. Mah wrote that when she was a child in Shanghai, her grandfather listened to news on a shortwave radio every evening at about seven. The news was broadcast live from the BBC in London, where it was twelve o’clock noon. Mah asked her grandfather how far away London was. He told her it was thousands of miles away, halfway around the world. When she asked, “How can their voices travel so far, so fast?” his answer was, “This is due to the magical Qi of the English. When you grow up, you must learn from them” (2000, 104). In the same way that the ancient Chinese attributed the functions of the yet undiscovered mysterious nervous system and circulatory system to Qi, Mah’s grandfather attributed the mystery of radio waves to Qi. Qi, rather than being the elusive, enigmatic energy flowing through our body, as Westerners ardently believe, is simply a term used by generations of Chinese to refer to the mechanisms behind phenomena that they did not fully understand.
“No time for your health today will result in no health for your time tomorrow.”