Qigong

Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice believed to invigorate the body and bring health and well-being. It is based upon the belief in the existence of qi, also called ki or ch'i, the universal energy that undergirds the cosmos. The practice of qigong is related to acupuncture, the ancient form of medicine also based upon the flow of energy through the body. Acupuncture has mapped a series of channels or meridians that exist as part of the subtle anatomy of the body. If these meridians are blocked, the qi cannot flow freely, and ill health results.

Qigong has been practiced for millenia in China and has been exported to surrounding countries. It is intimately associated with Taoism, though it also freely mixes with Buddhism. Through the centuries, the practice was kept from the general public and its secrets passed orally from teacher to master, and through various families. Very few books were written prior to the 1950s and those were closely guarded in private monastic libraries. The changes accompanying the Chinese Revolution of 1948 forced qigong into the open.

Maoist leaders moved against the monasteries and forebade many traditional practices. Within China, the secret qigong texts were largely destroyed or confiscated and buried in government libraries. However, a few qigong masters left China and some texts were smuggled out of the country. Over the next decades, these masters resurfaced and began to teach qi-gong openly. Also, the first Western books on the practice were published. In the meantime, China went through a generation of intensive change, culminating in the Cultural Revolution, that attempted to cut the people's ties with a large part of their religious and cultural heritage, and to eradicate what were seen as non-Chinese and particularly Western intrusions. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution, under Deng Xiao Peng, a reevaluation of the tradition began and limited reemergence of various practices was encouraged and allowed.

The recovery of Chinese medicine in general led to the encouragement of qigong practice and hundreds of qigong groups appeared. The government also encouraged the formation of a national association of qigong groups which most joined, and as the benefits were documented, further encouragement of the practice came forth. Qigong was included, for example, in the training of fighter pilots, as it appeared to improve their reflexes. In the 1980s, a number of studies attempting to provide modern scientific underpinnings to the practices of qigong, especially documenting the existence of qi, were initiated. Qigong practitioners became guinea pigs for such research, which was similar to research done on spiritual healing in the West.