Brazil Waxing Aroused

concepts of Qi (first part)

It is a key concept in Chinese culture that is sometimes difficult to grasp for a Western mind. Represented by the Chinese character Qi / 气 ( 气 in simplified characters), this is often translated into French by the word energy since she was introduced to us by George Soulie de Morant, a great translator and a pioneer of Chinese medicine in France. Number of sinologists prefer to translate this concept by the word breath , which better represents the idea of the Chinese character, but make no explanation ...

If one refers to the etymology of the character, things get complicated and then reveal all the richness and complexity of Chinese Language:

According Catherine Despeux (in "Treatise on alchemy and Taoist physiology," The two oceans, Paris, 1979):

" According Shuowen (NDT: Shuowen Jiezi, one of the first dictionary dating from the 1st century AD, giving a detailed explanation of each character), this term refers to the vapors that rise. It can be noted four different spellings of this notion. The first element consists of steam ( 气) with, below, fire ( 火) . It lies in the inclusion Zhou Traffic of breath, published and studied by Guo Moruo. The second ( 炁) is an old classic, made up of negation and down the fire. From the Song Dynasty, this graph is used to designate the breath of heaven breath anterior versus posterior of the sky, written using the current spelling of the word. The third graph consists solely of element vapor ell e was primarily used in the calligraphic style Lishu. The last spelling and most common element is formed with steam rice below the element ( 气) . It is the breath in its feeding function ... "

There is very little mention of pre Mier character described here by Ms. Despeux which seems, however, be the oldest representation of the concept of Qi. Registration Zhou which she speaks here refers to the numerous inscriptions on tortoise shells and shoulder blades of sheep-era Western Zhou (11th-7th century BC) whose Guo Moruo had conducted a comprehensive study. This character resembles the character Qi in use today ( 气) , but the steam, instead of rice, is fire.

Representation graph under the Zhou Qi (air and fire)

This "Qi" is not without mentioning the second character he mentioned in the text, if we consider a common confusion made in its interpretation: It is explained here that this character is composed of the element fire below (灬) and negation (无) while the element contained in the upper part of the character (旡) is not the negation but, according to Leon Wieger, the opposite element (欠) which represents the action of yawning, exhaling loudly. This Qi is often used to express the "Pre-Heaven Qi (xiantianqi) and is probably what gave meaning to the explanation of" qi without fire "(negation of fire) because the fire is the component representing the conscious mind that does not exist before our birth. This character refers, in fact, is to inspire (旡), is activated by conscious thought (灬, fire): This is the first breath, the newborn, which initializes all human life.

At these different characters representing the concept of Qi raised by Ms. Despeux, we can add an extra character 既 (pronounced Ji). The latter two components, a seed (seed, potential life) to the right and new inspiration on the left.

Ji, in its old spelling

Apparently, under these different spellings that the concept of Qi is absolutely inseparable from the cosmogony Traditional Chinese, born under the Zhou and conveyed to this day by Taoism. An especially important concept for understanding the meaning of "breath" is the relationship he has with water and fire (the mind and body, yin and yang) which represents a sort of liaison "harmonious" . This connection is expressed in the Taoist alchemy, by the association Jing - Qi - Shen (gas - blowing - mind) and represented by the elements water - wind - fire.

continued ...