one to two, and from two to four. Finally, the baby formed. All of the baby’s health depended on the sperm and egg which were generated from the Jing of the parents. As the baby was being formed it was immersed in liquid, and it received all of its nutrition and oxygen from the mother through the umbilical cord. Notice that the umbilical cord connects at the navel, which is very close to both the Dan Tian and your body’s center of gravity. The umbilical cord is very long, and because it is hard for the mother alone to push the necessary supplies to the baby, the baby needs to help. The baby must draw the nutrients to itself with an in and out pumping motion of its abdomen.
Once you are born, you start taking in oxygen through your nose and food through your mouth. Since you no longer need the abdominal motion to pump in nutrients, it gradually stops, and, finally, you forget how to use it. In Qigong, the Lower Dan Tian (Xia Dan Tian,
According to Chinese medical and Qigong society, the Original Jing which you obtained from your parents stays in your kidneys after your birth. This Original Jing is the source of your life and growth. This Original Jing is converted continuously into Qi which moves into the Lower Dan Tian, and stays stored there in its residence for future use. The Dan Tian is located on the Conception Vessel — one of the eight Qi “reservoirs” in the body which regulate the Qi flow in the other Qi channels (this will be discussed further in Part Three). Dan Tian Qi is considered “Water Qi” (Shui Qi,
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As you may realize from the above discussion, if you wish to stay strong and healthy, you must first conserve your Original Jing. Remember that Original Jing is like the principal in your savings account in that it is an original investment which will continue to return interest as long as it is conserved. Jing can produce Qi, so if you handle this Jing carefully, you will continue to have Jing and Qi. However, if you abuse yourself with an unhealthy lifestyle, you may damage and reduce your original Jing.
In order to conserve your Jing, you must first control your sexual activity. The gonads are called the “external kidneys” (Wai Shen,
Please understand that the Chinese doctors and Qigong practitioners are not saying that in order to conserve your Jing, you must stop your sexual activity completely. As a matter of fact, they encourage the proper amount of sexual activity, believing that it will energize and activate the Jing, which makes the Jing-Qi conversion more efficient. Remember, Jing is like fuel, and Qi is like the energy generated from this fuel. The more efficiently you can convert your fuel into energy, the less you will waste.
In addition, the proper amount of sexual activity will energize the Qi so that it nourishes the Shen (spirit). This will help you stay mentally balanced, and raise your Shen. It is very important to keep your Shen raised, otherwise you will tend to get depressed and will be afraid to face life. It is very hard to define how much sex is the proper amount. It depends on the individual’s age and state of health. According to Qigong, the Jing which resides in the external kidneys (gonads) is the main source of the Qi which fills up the four major Qi vessels in the legs. These four Qi reservoirs (vessels) keep the legs strong and healthy. Therefore, if you feel that your legs are weak due to the amount of sexual activity, you have lost too much of your Jing.
The second thing you must do in order to conserve your Original Jing is to prevent your Original Qi from leaking out of your body. There are two acupuncture cavities called “Shenshu” (B-23,
Qi
Since we have already discussed Qi at the beginning of this chapter in general terms, we will now discuss Qi in the human body and in Qigong training. Before we start, we would like to point out one important thing. At this time, there is no clear explanation of the relationship between all of the circulatory systems and the Qi circulatory system. The Western world knows of the blood system, nervous system, and lymphatic system. Now, there is the Qi circulation system from China. How are, for example, the Qi and the nervous system related? If the nervous system does not match the Qi system, where does the sensing energy in the nervous system come from? How is the lymphatic system related to the Qi system? All of these questions are still waiting for study by modern scientific methods and technology. Here, we can only offer you some theoretical assumptions based on the research conducted up to now.
Chinese medical society believes that the Qi and blood are closely related. Where Qi goes, blood follows. That is why “Qi Xue” (Qi Blood,
If you look carefully, you can see that the elements of your physical body such as the organs, nerves, blood, and even every tiny cell are all like separate machines, each with their own unique function. Just like electric motors, if there is no current in them, they are dead. If you compare the routes of the blood circulatory system, the nervous system, and the lymphatic system with the course of the Qi channels, you will see that there is a great deal of correspondence. This is simply because Qi is the energy needed to keep them all alive and functioning.
Now, let us look at your entire body. Your body is composed of two major parts. The first part is your physical body, and the second is the energy supply which your body needs to function. Your body is like a factory. Inside your body are many organs, which correspond to the machines required to process the raw materials into the finished product. Some of the raw materials brought into a factory are used to create the energy with which other raw materials will be converted into finished goods. The raw materials for your body are food and air, and the finished product is life.
The Qi in your body is analogous to the electric current which the factory power plant obtains from coal or oil. The factory has many wires connecting the power plant to the machines, and other wires connecting telephones, intercoms, and computers. There are also many conveyer belts, elevators, wagons, and trucks to move material from one place to another. It is no different in your body, where there are systems of intestines, blood vessels, complex networks of nerves and Qi channels to facilitate the supply of blood, sensory information and energy to the entire body. However, unlike the digestive, circulatory, and central nervous systems — all of whose supportive vessels can be observed as material structures in the body — Qi channels are non-material and cannot be observed as physical objects. The circulatory, nervous, and Qi systems all possess similar configurations
