More than 1,200 people practice qigong in Baofeng county, Henan, as the annual Qigong Communication and Exhibition of Thousand Villages opens in 2014.
With roots in Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, Qigong has a long and rich history:
“The earliest beginnings of qigong are hidden within the mists of antiquity. The first type of this practice probably emerged naturally in the simple fields of ancient China. Slow-paced farmers, deeply attuned to the rhythms of nature, observed ways in which life was nurtured in plants and animals, and then, by a sort of entrainment, imitated those principles.
The documented history of what we know as qigong goes back approximately 2,500 years, but Chinese archaeologists and historians have found references to qigong-like techniques from at least 5,000 years ago. Through the centuries, Qigong has had continuous evolutionary development and many names. The name “qigong” wasn’t in general use until the twentieth century. The most commonly used early name was dao-yin, which can be interpreted as “leading and guiding the energy.”
The earliest known qigong-like movements were animal dances, perhaps first performed to counteract the effects of a cold and damp climate. Ancient Chinese shamans, often wearing a bearskin with four golden eyes on the head, would dance through a village to drive out pestilence and demons. A parade of villagers, wearing masks of various animals, would follow. These animal-posture dances have been found depicted in rock art throughout China. Also, archaeologists discovered a coffin containing a well-preserved, now-famous silk panel with captions as well as pictures.
About 1122 B.C., The Book of Change (I Ching) first recorded the concept of qi or vital energy. Studying the relationship of three powers—heaven, earth, and man—was an early step in the development of qigong. Around 450 B.C., Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, described breathing techniques in his book Tao Te Ching, recommending that the breath be collected and allowed to descend in the body. Interest in breath and life force (qi) was heightened during this period and became one of the roots of Chinese Medicine, along with the concepts of yin and yang and the five elements.
Historical references indicate that qigong-like practices were common in royal and aristocratic households from ancient times. Huang Ti (The Yellow Emperor) is considered the originator of many health and longevity practices linked to qigong. His discourses were recorded in a text called The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, which first appeared in writing about 300 B.C. and is still considered the bible of Chinese medicine.
Beginning about 200 B.C. and extending to about 500 A.D., Buddhism and yoga meditation techniques that had been practiced in India for thousands of years were brought into China and absorbed into the Chinese culture. These techniques, along with Taoist internal alchemy, brought a new era to qi gong, which began to be practiced at a deeper, internal-functioning level. However, these teachings were kept secret for religious purposes and passed down to only a few specially chosen disciples in each generation. For hundreds of years, they were never taught to laymen.
Although there is archeological evidence that dao-yin was sometimes coupled with military drills at an earlier time, it was around 500 A.D. that a Buddhist monk, Bodhidarma, came from India to the Shao Lin Temple in China (where he was called Ta Mo). He is credited with unifying the spiritual and martial branches of qigong, by teaching ailing sedentary monks to strengthen their bodies through movements, while also teaching martial artists how to softly empower their fighting through internal and spiritual practices. After his death, qigong-like training for martial arts continued to develop as it became evident that much advantage could be gained through these methods. These, too, were kept secret so that enemies couldn’t use them to also gain advantage.
The secrecy around qigong teachings led to thousands of different styles. Each family or village, each religious or martial-arts group, in different areas of that large country, developed their practices separately, for their own particular purposes, and passed them down only selectively within their own lineage.
For the general population, qigong was within traditional Chinese medicine, where many of the famous physicians were also qigong masters. Qigong was their treatment of choice, and if that practice wasn’t enough to restore balance, the physician prescribed an herbal formula and/or acupuncture. Advanced masters sometimes used “emitted” qi as a strong boost for the patient’s energy field.
A huge cultural change occurred after the fall of the Ch’ing Dynasty when Cultural Revolution leaders attempted to modernize the society and reorder it according to Communist principles. Ancient practices like Taoism and Chinese Medicine were questioned and devalued as archaic. Anything that was remotely connected with religion was politically taboo. Qigong practitioners were careful to avoid government scrutiny, because anyone involved in the prohibited pursuits would likely be put in jail. For this reason, the flourishing development of qigong came to a temporary standstill.
Fortunately, revolutionary leaders fairly soon realized that it was wise to continue Chinese medicine, and thus, under that umbrella, qigong was also lifted from the ban. Qigong masters were set free, and often the very authorities who had put them in jail started wanting their services. Some even commanded well known qigong masters to come and heal them of their ailments, in what amounted to something like a “house arrest.”
In 1985, the government approved formation of the China Qigong Science Association. Since then hundreds of controlled scientific studies of qigong have been carried out, all showing positive benefits of the practice.”
- “A Brief History of Qigong”, by Lee Holden and LeAnn Meyer
A glimpse into Taoism
The central concept in Taoism is that of Tao, the way. The Taoist saw nature as an ever-dynamic, intrinsically undifferentiated void, a “vast and timeless ocean of spotless purity upon which, through the interplay of dark and light, a myriad illusions play like ever-changing cloud formations or restless waves . . . ” (Blofeld 1979:1)
The Tao…difficult to comprehend but easy to “feel”
“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.”
“Taoism is an approach to life and the man behind this approach to life was a contemporary of Confucius called Lao Tse, born around 600 BCE. When asked to explain his approach to life he produced one of the shortest and most revered texts in the history of religion or philosophy, called the Tao Te Ching or “Book of the Way”. Its most important ideas were ‘balance and ‘complementarity’. Lao Tse saw that in nature everything had its complementary opposite. He called these opposites Yang and Yin. Every Yin had its Yang, every Yang its Yin. To make the distinction clear, Taoists drew a circle divided by a curve into two equal parts, one white and the other black. Each distinctive half contains a dot of its opposite, a black dot in the white half and a white dot in the black half. It advises us to find ourselves in the other: the white in the black, the black in the white, the feminine in the masculine, the masculine in the feminine, the friend in the enemy, the enemy in the friend; my religion in yours and yours in mine. It’s not unlike Confucius telling us to imagine ourselves in the place of the other. But Lao Tse puts a joyful spin to it. The world is an orchestra of hundreds of different instruments working together to make beautiful music. Balance, timing and harmony': these are the marks of the Tao.”
- From “A Little History of Religion”, by Richard Holloway
The yin-yang symbol is one of the most enduring symbols of the world. Although the symbol is often used to denote Taoism and as an icon of the Chinese culture, it is universal.
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““Be totally empty,
embrace the tranquility of peace.
Watch the workings of all creation,
observe how endings become beginnings.”
All creatures in the universe
return to the point where they began.
Returning to the source is tranquility
meaning submitting to what is and what is to be.””
“We mold clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.”
“Tao is in everything you do, from cutting wood to carrying water.”
Closing Prayer
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
- Lao Tse
Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion and mercy.
Most who recognize her name consider Kuan Yin a celestial bodhisattva in the later Buddhist pantheon, and perhaps even its muse. Some consider her an immortal in the Taoist traditions. She responds to many name: Tara, Chenrize, Mother Mary, the angelic Bernice, Krishna and generically (and even genetically) as the Beloved. The essence that reveals our undifferentiated Oneness, which is the unconditioned mind, is not other than unconditional love.
- “Becoming Kuan Yin - The Evolution of Compassion”, by Stephen Levine
Prayer of the Lotus Nectar
Beloved Kuan Yin, help me realize the connection to myself and to Life that I need to be able to live my highest vibrational life, where I am well, replenished, joyful and connected to the endless flow of divine energy and life force in our Universe. Please bring me clear guidance about how to best cultivate chi now, how to be open to receive the Nectar of the Lotus, the life force and love of the Divine Mother, for my highest good, so be it. Om Mani Padme Hum.
“Om Mani Padme Hum”
This is a powerful heart opening mantra.
It means ’the opening of the jewel in the lotus,’ or ‘may the heart awaken with divine compassion and may I know myself to be an awakened being of light’.