Does Qi Really Exist?

Qi exists, and has been interpreted and debated for over two thousand years to this very day.

“Hide one’s qi,” by Confucius; “devote oneself to qi,” by Lao zi; “enliven your spirit with qi,” by Mao zi; and “the accumulation of qi is life, its scatter is death,” by Zhuang Zu are among famous quotes regarding qi.

It is clear that these historical figures were aware of the existence of qi. Since qi cannot be seen and is hard to understand, there are many interpretations. Every interpretation grasps a part of qi, but a dominant theory has not risen since a physical verification of qi is currently impossible and it is difficult to understand everything about qi.

Examples of interpretations of qigong include, Kou Tei Dai Kei, the completion of qi medicine, that qi is the source of everything (Period of the later Han dynasty), that heaven is the cumulus of qi (Warring States Period), or the claim which associated qi with the two poles made by the Polar Charts (North Song Period).