Study On The Thought Of Qi In "Huang Di Nei Jing"

"Huang Di Nei Jing" (short in "Nei Jing") is the earliest medical classic available in the history of China. It lays a solid foundation for the formation and development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (short in TCM). Although the classic is over two thousand years old, its theoretical system still guides the theoretical research and clinical practice in TCM. Among different academic thoughts in "Nei Jing", the thought of qi is one of the most prominent. Most of TCM fundamental theories are associated with the thought of qi. Researchers from TCM community have being tried to explore the qi theory from different angles. Although the results from the research reports are impressed, but the question of what is qi still remains unclear. Some expert may think in this way while the others may explain in the other way. In terms of the nature of qi, most of TCM professionals lean to the material aspect of the qi and ignore the nonmaterial aspect. This leads to repeat someone else's work and create redundancy in the TCM research. In terms of the category of qi, there is still lack of clear picture on the wholeness of the thought of qi. Sometimes the reports on the category of qi turned out to be narrowing minded and incomplete. This situation indicates that there is room for further study on the thought of qi. Then the questions wait for answer are:What is the wholeness of the thought of qi?What is the relationship between the qi theory and other TCM theories? Is there any common ground on the thought of qi thinking and scientific thinking?In order to answer above questions, one must turn back to the origin of TCM. Since TCM origins from "Nei Jing", therefore, there is a reason for studying on the thought of qi in "Nei Jing". By reviewing literatures, the author has applied the knowledge of Accent Chinese Philosophy, Chinese History, Sociology and Nature Science etc. to explore the thought of qi in "Nei Jing". Through intensive and comprehensive study, the author has come to a clear picture of the wholeness of the thought of qi, and also, found the relationship between the thought of qi and other TCM theories as well as related scientific theories. The research results indicate:1. There is no significance of distinguishing the qi theory in Accent Chinese Philosophy and the qi theory in TCMAs most of literatures suggest, "Nei Jing" was published during the middle or late stage of Western Han Dynasty. It has been said that "Nei Jing" summarized the experiences of medical practice which can be traced back to the Warrior States, Qing dynasty and Han dynasty. Based on these experiences, the authors of "Nei Jing" began to establish and develop theoretical system for TCM. Although there were lots of school of thoughts during the period regarding the nature, Daoism and Confucianism were the most popular and dominated the accent philosophy. Therefore, it has been suggested that lots of academic thoughts in "Nei Jing" were influenced by Daoism and Confucianism. Especially, the fundamental theory of TCM is based on three accent philosophical theories such as Essential Qi Theory, Yin-yang Theory and Five Phases Theory. Accent Essential Qi theory believes that essential qi is the fundamental element of the universe while essential qi theory in TCM emphasizes the material aspect of the essential qi in human beings. Both essential qi may differ in their category but they share the same nature in terms of the thought of qi. Yin-yang theory is an epistemology which accent Chinese used to perceive the nature of universe and explain the phenomena of changes in the universe. Since qi is the nature of universe, therefore, the relationship between yin-yang theory and qi theory is the former belongs to epistemology while the later belongs to ontology. Five phases theory borrows the names of five nature matters which are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Its theoretical significance is far beyond these matters. It represents five different qi systems. The five qi systems in the universe transfer their qi into human beings and become the qi of five zang. The procedure is through heaven to earth to human beings. As "Nei Jing" said:"the wing is engendered from the East, the wing engenders wood, the wood engenders sourness, the sourness engenders liver, the liver engenders tendon, and the tendon engenders heart". The qi of five zang refers to liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney in human beings. It is not five anatomical organs but five qi systems. "Nei Jing" uses five phases as a model to establish zang-fu system in human beings. Among the five phases, there is mutual engendering and restraining system. Also there is mutual overwhelming and rebellion between each phase. "Nei Jing" uses these regular rules to depict five zang system as well as the relationship between nature and human beings. The thought of qi is consistency in nature. Although the qi of five phases from universe is perceived as accent philosophical theory, the qi of five zang is perceived as real material in TCM theory, there is no significance of distinguishing both.2. There are differences in terms of concept and pattern of deficiency and excess.The concept of deficiency or excess is related to lack of qi or too much qi. The pattern of deficiency or excess is not only deemed with the healthy qi verse pathogenic qi, but also decided by the state of interaction between healthy qi and pathogenic qi.The words of "deficiency" and "excess" appear in "Nei Jing" frequently. As "Nei Jing" said:"No enough qi refers to deficiency while too much qi refers to excess". "Nei Jing" refers no enough healthy qi to deficiency; too much pathogenic qi to excess. The manifestations of no enough healthy qi or too much pathogenic qi can be observed during clinical practice. The pattern of deficiency or excess is rendered through collecting clinical information and differentiation process. The pattern of deficiency or excess is connected to the pathogenesis. It reflects the nature of a disorder. Recognizing the concept of deficiency or excess can help for making a TCM diagnosis, while distinguishing the pattern of deficiency or excess can help for the selection of treatment principle. The pattern of deficiency or excess is not only deemed with the healthy qi verse pathogenic qi, but also decided by the state of interaction between healthy qi and pathogenic qi. 3. A disorder of cold/heat is associated with qi. There are different disorders in terms of cold/heat. Some belong to obvious cold/heat while others belong to latent cold/heat. There are also conscious cold/heat and unconscious cold/heat in terms of difference."Nei Jing" believes a person who has high fever due to catching a wing-cold pathogen is related to "deficiency in yin qi and exuberance in yang qi"; a person who feels cold is related to "exuberance in kidney qi" or "debilitation in Taiyang qi". A person who does not catch external cold pathogen nor over consume cold food but feels cold, this is due to "lack of yang qi or too much yin qi". No matter which kind of disorders in cold/heat, all are related to qi. Whether a disorder is obvious cold/heat or latent cold/heat, it is up to body temperature. Whether a disorder is conscious cold/heat or unconscious cold/heat, it is up to the feeling of a person.4. There is space/time concept and functional structure in the thought of qi"Nei Jing" uses the change of kidney qi associated with time to explain the physiological changes of grow, development and reproduction in human beings. The changes of kidney qi as time goes by are irreversible. The changes of other category qi appear to be reversible such as the qi changes along with seasonal cycle or daily cycle. Following the change of solar yang qi, the five universe qi transforms into cold, hot, dryness, dampness and wing. The transformation of these five universe qi leads to engendering, growing, harvesting and storing cycle. This cycle is happening in universal space. Similarly, the transformation of five zang qi is happening in triple energizers. Therefore the triple energizers provide space for qi transformation in human beings. The five zang systems also provide space for the four movement of qi such as upward, downward, outward and inward. Exterior and interior are concepts of space/time which are used to descript the progress and development of a disease. The concept of space/time in the thought of qi is also applied to acupuncture technique in "Nei Jing".5. The qi spectrum covers mind and matter phenomena. The thought of qi thinking in some what is similar to quantum scientific thinking but it would not fit into nature science field. The characteristic of the thought of qi in "Nei Jing" is blending the philosophy and nature science in accent time. From the thought of qi point of view, all life in the universe is made of qi. There are different layers of qi hierarchy in qi spectrum. From scientific point of view, all life comes from light. The nature of light is electromagnetic wave. The light spectrum is made of different frequent of light waves. The concept of "qi, blood, humor and liquid" in TCM basic theory belongs to a narrow layers of qi hierarchy in the qi spectrum just like the visible light belongs to a narrow frequent band of light waves. In the thought of qi, depending on the condition, qi can be cohesive or disperse. In the quantum science, matter can be particle or wave. At this point, both share some similarity. The qi of universe transfers to the qi of human beings through energy; the qi of society transfers to the qi of human beings through information. In human body, the essential qi is the qi in storage condition; blood qi is the qi in transporting condition; spirit qi is the qi in functional condition. The qi in storage condition is expressed in quantity way; the qi in transporting condition is expressed through velocity and direction; the qi in functional condition is expressed through appearances. When discussing scientific issue regarding TCM, one must refer to which field of sciences. According to K. Popper's Falsification Principle, TCM does not fit into nature science field. This does not mean TCM is unscientific. TCM can be well fit into other field of sciences such as social science, human behavior science.