Reinterpreting Qi in the 21st Century
Item
Title
Reinterpreting Qi in the 21st Century
Description
EJOM (2009), Mayor, David.
Abstract
Chinese medicine is pluralistic and qiitself is likewise dynamic and multidimensional. Our understanding ofqiand the ‘body-mind’ it enlivens is partly based in felt bodily experience, especially of the breath, and warmth. This is very different from the ‘structural corpus’, the body as conceived and analysed in thought. All thinking has been construed as based in a limited number of metaphors. One in particular, the ‘core metaphor’ ofqiflow in health and its disturbance in illness, is not unique to Chinese medicine but has parallels in many cultures and is used to underpin most forms of complementary therapy. A short history is presented of western reinterpretations of this metaphor, showing how these have changed with the current worldview. The importance of maintaining the metaphor in the face of a rationalising and reductive approach to acupuncture is emphasised. However, both ‘subtle’ and ‘gross’ anatomy have their place: ‘Throughout the universe, there is noqiwithoutli, norliwithoutqi’.
Alternative Title
EJOM
Creator
Date
Date Created
2/28/2015
Language
English
Subject
Type
Journal Article
issn
1351-6647
issue
2
volume
6