Chapter 13 Chapter Seven: Ancient Health-preserving Sports

The emergence of Daoyin is also closely related to the primitive medical techniques in ancient times. "Neijing Suwen·Different Methods and Prescriptions" pointed out that in the central area of ​​ancient China, due to the flat and humid terrain and rich products, the ancestors had a mixed diet and activities Insufficient, so there are often some diseases caused by stagnation of qi.These diseases are suitable to be treated by shaking the muscles and bones and moving limb joints. Therefore, most of the Daoyin techniques come from the central region.When it comes to the specific movements of Daoyin, ancient Daoyin health experts often like to imitate the lively and interesting movements of various animals, and create Daoyin techniques for health preservation. This kind of person has been described in "Zhuangzi·Deliberately": "Blowing the breath [xu emptiness], exhaling the old and accepting the new, bears the sutras and birds stretches out, it is just for longevity. This way guides (guidance) the person, the person who maintains the shape , Peng Zushou’s favorite thing.” It means to expel the waste in the body and inhale the fresh air from the outside through the method of exhalation and exhalation, imitating a bear hanging on a tree branch and a bird stretching in the air. Foot movements, these are just to live longer, this is what Daoyin health experts like Peng Zu likes.It is said that Peng Zu's name is Qian Keng, and it is said that he lived in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Because his fiefdom was in Pengcheng, and he himself was regarded as the ancestor of the health-preserving families, he was called Peng Zu.This mythical figure is said to have lived for more than 800 years due to his profound guiding skills.This distinct bionic feature of ancient Chinese health preservation techniques is rare in other ancient civilizations.This is directly related to ancient Chinese philosophy, especially the Taoist view of returning to nature.According to the ancient sages, only when people get rid of the interference of internal and external desires and enter a completely natural state can they achieve physical and mental health. Therefore, wild animals that are perfectly integrated with nature have attracted people's attention.They found that whether it is tiger leaping, horse running, monkey play, snake walking, wild crane spreading its wings, elk running, all are natural and self-contained, without any artificiality.Imitating these animals can not only provide Daoyin with inexhaustible action materials, but also help practitioners enter the natural environment that is extremely important for fitness and health.Today, we are faced with thousands of bionic techniques in ancient Chinese health preservation and martial arts, and we cannot help but marvel at the observation, imagination and comprehension of nature of the ancestors.

In the Qin and Han Dynasties, Daoyin had a great development, and there appeared more health-preserving exercises that imitated animals. In the book "Huainanzi" written by Liu An in the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to "Xiong Jing and Niao Shen", it also mentioned mallards. [fu clothing] bath, ape 躩 [juejue], 鸱 [chi eating] vision, tiger Gu". What was Daoyin 2,000 years ago? People today can only imagine based on the written records in history books. In 1973, a precious silk painting "Daoyin Picture" (Figure 4) was discovered in the Mawangdui Western Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha, which made us see the real image of ancient Daoyin for the first time. There are 44 A person who is doing all kinds of Daoyin movements are all painted in colored brushwork. There are men and women, old and young, who practice Daoyin, there are scholar-bureaucrats in long gowns, short clothes, and even shirtless poor people. Han, this shows that Daoyin already had a very broad mass base at that time and was loved by all walks of life. The body movements in the picture can be divided into three types: limb movement, breathing movement and instrument movement. From the side of each Daoyin posture Judging from the written text, most of the movements are designed to treat certain diseases, such as chest distress, deafness, knee pain, chest pain, and plague, etc. There are also some movements for strengthening the body. It is designed to promote the circulation of qi and blood and prevent diseases, such as "Yin and Yang with a stick", "Yanghu", etc. It is worth noting that nearly half of the movements are derived from imitating the movements of wild animals, such as "Harrier's back ", "Long Deng", "Murning the Monkey", etc., which shows that the important feature of ancient Chinese sports bionics has a new development in the Han Dynasty. The lack of connection between various actions in this guide map shows that the Daoyin did not form a coherent routine in the Western Han Dynasty. Why was there only this kind of single-position Daoyin at that time? There may be two reasons. One is that Daoyin itself is not mature enough to form a routine; the other is that Daoyin at that time It is an important medical method. Each maneuver is designed for a specific disease. To treat a disease, you only need to practice one maneuver repeatedly. There is no need to combine them.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Hua Tuo (?—208 A.D.) created the "Wu Qin Xi" which was a major event in ancient Chinese Daoyin.Hua Tuo lived in the period when Wei, Shu, and Wu were at the top of the trio. He was a famous doctor with excellent medical skills and proficient in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, acupuncture and moxibustion. He refused to be an official when the imperial court invited him, but he was busy working among the people for many years. , Traveled to many places in Anhui, Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu to relieve the pain of the common people.He often cures diseases with his hands, so he is regarded as a miracle doctor by people.Cao Cao had a headache that had not healed for many years. Hua Tuo could relieve the pain with only two or three strokes of small silver needles. Cao Cao wanted to keep Hua Tuo by his side and listen to it at any time.But Hua Tuo was unwilling to be a doctor who only served Cao Cao, and was killed in the end.Hua Tuo is not only a doctor, but also a great Daoyin health preserver. He emphasizes the importance of exercise for health and believes that the human body should exercise regularly.Only by exercising can the food we eat be digested, the blood circulate, and we will not get sick.This is like the shaft of a door, because it is always moving, it will not rot.On the basis of summarizing previous Daoyin techniques, Hua Tuo compiled a set of Daoyin routines for self-care by imitating the expressions of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird—"Five Birds" (Figure 5).When doing Wu Qin Xi, the practitioners sometimes look like a tiger poised to pounce, sometimes imitate a deer running and looking back, bears lying down and rolling, apes climbing branches and hanging themselves, and birds spreading their wings to fly.These movements are rigid and soft, sick and slow, and the whole body participates in the exercise, which has a good exercise effect.Hua Tuo told his disciple Wu Pu that Wuqinxi can not only cure diseases, but also make people's hands and feet strong.When you are not feeling well, get up and do one of them, sweat a little, and then put some powder on your body, you will feel light and have an appetite.Wu Pu listened to his words and practiced Wuqinxi seriously. When he was over 90 years old, his eyes were not dazzled, his ears were not deaf, and his teeth did not fall out ("Book of the Later Han · Biography of Alchemists · Hua Tuo Biography").From Mawangdui's "Daoyin Tu", a single technique that treats a disease with one technique, to Wuqinxi, which improves the functional level of the entire human body, is a major change in the history of development of guidance.Hua Tuo pioneered the direction of Daoyin routines, which not only increased the amount of exercise in practice, but also increased people's interest in doing exercises, and integrated disease prevention, physical fitness and health preservation, which also had a positive effect on the development of Wushu routines later. certain influence.It is a pity that Hua Tuo's set of Wu Qin Xi was lost later.Hundreds of years later, Tao Hongjing (456-536 A.D.), a famous doctor in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, compiled a written explanation about Wuqinxi in his "Nurturing Nature and Prolonging Life" - "Wuqinxijue", which was compiled by later generations.The emergence of Wuqinxi marks that ancient Chinese Daoyin has entered a stage of routine development.

Ge Hong (284-364 A.D.), a health preserving master during the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, was also a figure who made outstanding contributions to ancient Daoyin and the entire health preservation technique.Ge Hong is knowledgeable and has studied literature, history, philosophy, biology, geography, and astronomy, especially in medicine and health preservation.Ge Hong is not only a scholar, but also good at martial arts. Not only is he good at archery, but he is also good at using single sword and double halberd.Although Ge Hong tried his best to advocate taking the elixir of immortality, which caused great harm to health preservation, but as a scholar, he also comprehensively analyzed and summarized the previous health preservation experience, and put forward some influential health preservation theories and methods. method, promoted the development of health preservation techniques, especially his book "Baopuzi", which had a profound influence on future generations.Before Ge Hong, health-preserving experts had a deep sectarian view, and they all believed that their health-preserving skills were the best in the world, and various schools such as Daoyin, promoting qi, nourishing the mind, and taking food were mutually exclusive. , put forward the opinion of "combined cultivation of all skills", which means breaking the narrow views of the sect, and combining various schools of health preservation, such as nourishing the mind, guiding, promoting qi, taking food, etc., to comprehensively apply and comprehensively maintain health.Ge Hong himself did exactly this. He emphasized taking elixirs, practicing Qi, and also attached great importance to Daoyin. Jing, Guiyan, Yanfei, Shequ, Yuanju, Rabbit Jing, etc. It is advocated to practice in the morning and night ("Baopuzi·Jiyan"), and also records the exercises of self-care massage, such as: tapping teeth, Rinse the throat, rub the eyes, massage the ears, rub the face, etc. It is believed that these actions can strengthen the teeth, keep the hearing and vision intact, and make the face radiant ("Baopuzi Nei Pian").Thanks to Ge Hong's efforts, various methods of ancient health preservation began to learn from each other and gradually merged.More and more methods such as circulation of qi and massage have been introduced in Daoyin, and people pay more and more attention to practicing various health preservation techniques in order to achieve the effect of comprehensive exercise.

After Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing compiled the "Guoyin Sutra" in his "Cultivating Nature and Prolonging Life", and preserved many valuable Daoyin materials before the Sui and Tang Dynasties.It mentioned that the set of Daoyin performed in the early morning included movements such as crouching, squatting, stamping feet, crossing hands, stretching feet, ironing eyes, scratching eyes, rubbing face, and taking a dry bath. Beginning in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, it became a social custom for the scholar-official class to practice Daoyin Xingqi. Wang Xizhi (321-379 A.D.), a famous calligrapher and respected as the "sage of grass", practiced a kind of "goose palm opera". The Daoyin technique imitates the movements of geese such as paddling, walking, spreading wings, and foraging for food. This practice has greatly enhanced his arm strength.In addition, he practiced static exercises with confidence.With this kind of kung fu, Wang Xizhi can write characters like a flying dragon and a phoenix, reaching extremely high attainments.It is said that his pen is strong, and the words he writes not only penetrate the back of the paper, but also penetrate three points.Everyone knows that Wang Xizhi's superb calligraphy comes from his hard work, but they don't know that without Daoyin Qixing, it would be difficult for his calligraphy to reach this level of proficiency.

The Sui and Tang dynasties were the heyday of ancient Chinese society. They were magnificent and magnanimous, and they absorbed various schools of knowledge. At this time, the health preservation techniques of various schools gradually gathered together to form a broad and profound system.During this period, medical Daoyin reached an unprecedented level of prosperity. Chao Yuanfang’s medical book "On the Origin and Symptoms of Various Diseases" of the Sui Dynasty listed more than 260 qigong regimens.There are more than 300 guiding methods recorded in "Waitai Miyao" written by Tang Dynasty medical scientist Wang Tao.Special mention should be made here of Sun Simiao (miao second) (581-682 A.D.), a medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty who was proficient in health preservation.Sun Simiao did not seek fame and fortune all his life, and successively rejected the invitations of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty and Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty to invite him to be an official. He practiced medicine among the people for more than 80 years, and did a lot of research. A series of works such as "Emergency Prescriptions for Thousand Gold", "Thousand Gold Wing Prescriptions" and "Pillow Recipe" contain a large number of health-preserving contents that guide Qi circulation. Cited massage methods, such as Tianzhu massage, Laozi massage and so on.Sun Simiao was weak and sickly when he was a child, but he lived to the age of 102 by relying on his superb health preservation skills.

After the Tang Dynasty, due to the development of medicine, the theory and medical level of TCM reached unprecedented heights. Although Daoyin still plays a role in treating diseases, its status in medicine has been greatly reduced compared with before.This situation prompts Daoyin health-preserving techniques to be more actively developed in the direction of disease prevention, fitness and health care, self-cultivation, and longevity.Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, Daoyin exercises for health care have developed very rapidly. Beginning in the Song Dynasty, the ancient Chinese Daoyin technique has changed from being too cumbersome and difficult to learn and master, and developed into a concise and complete set, which is simple and easy to practice.The new Daoyin regimen does not take much time to master, and the daily practice time is also very short, which shows that people have deepened their understanding of Daoyin and have the ability to delete those content that is useless or of little use.The guidance is from complex to simple, and it is easy to popularize and promote in the society.Three kinds of Daoyin techniques with great influence appeared in the Song Dynasty.One is a set of "December Sitting Exercises" created by Chen Tuan (Tuan Tuan) in the early Song Dynasty. There are 24 postures in total, and they are practiced according to the 24 solar terms in a year; The "Small Labor Technique" created is a fitness method based on massage.Pu Qianguan believes that to maintain health, physical activity is needed, but the amount of exercise should be small and should not make people exhausted. "Lao" refers to physical activity, so it is called "small labor technique".This theory of using small amounts of exercise for fitness has been clearly discussed as early as in the "Nei Jing Su Wen". Huatuo's Wu Qin Xi in the Eastern Han Dynasty also adhered to this theory. Regular exercise is necessary, but not excessive.This view of fitness has been inherited for thousands of years and has become an important criterion of Chinese health preservation.This set of "small labor techniques" includes simple gymnastics and massage of the head and face, limbs and torso. The widely spread "Baduanjin". Who created "Ba Duan Jin" is not recorded in history books. In fact, it has gone through a long process of development and absorbed the essence of various Daoyin and Qi Xing techniques. "Baduanjin" embodies the hard work of countless ancient health-preserving experts. It has been spread among the people since the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it has been continuously improved in the process of spreading. It was not gradually finalized until the end of the Qing Dynasty. "Baduanjin" is simple in action and has routines that are easy to remember. There are many versions of the "Ba Duan Jin" routine, among which the most widely spread is: "Hold the sky with both hands to manage the triple burner, open the bow left and right like shooting a vulture, adjust the spleen and stomach with one hand, look back after five labors and seven injuries, shake your head and tail to get rid of the fire, All diseases on the back are eliminated, fists are gathered to increase strength, and hands are clasped to strengthen the kidneys and waist." Although this set of Daoyin technique is only composed of eight consecutive movements, it is quite comprehensive in physical exercise, and it is combined with the circulation of qi. At the same time, in this way, the whole body can be practiced from top to bottom, inside and outside. It is really less but more refined. Therefore, it is very appropriate for people to name this set of fitness exercises with colorful brocades.

The innovation of printing in the Song Dynasty provided convenience for publishing a large number of books. Therefore, starting from the Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people sorted out and analyzed a large number of ancient health-preserving materials. Another big step forward.A series of works that appeared in the Ming and Qing Dynasties raised the ancient Daoyin health preservation with a history of thousands of years to a new level. "Shou Shi Bao Yuan", Hu Wenhuan's "Shou Yang Series", Luo Hongxian's "Wan Shou Xian Shu" and Qing Dynasty's "Shou Shi Fax", "Nei Gong Tu Shuo" and so on.

Guidance and massage of simple body movements were rare in the Ming Dynasty.Daoyin pays more and more attention to the combination of body movement, massage and qi movement. For example, in the "Wu Qin Xi" recorded in "Yimen Guangdo·Chi Feng Sui" written by Zhou Lvjing in the Ming Dynasty, not only the technique has changed, but also increased. Qi requirements.The "Twelve Postures of Yi Jin Jing" created by Bodhidharma in the Ming Dynasty also reflected this trend. This group of 12 movements consists of unarmed guided exercises that closely combine breath regulation and qi training with physical activities. Practicing outside and inside, the effect of strengthening the body is remarkable.However, there is an important difference between the Yi Jin Jing and the previous Daoyin technique. The previous Daoyin technique is basically a health care method for the purpose of curing and preventing diseases, while the Yi Jin Jing has the distinctive characteristics of strengthening the body. Strong skills, strong and powerful movements, are closely related to martial arts.Therefore, most people who practice Shaolin boxing take the Yi Jin Jing as their basic skills, and through practicing the Yi Jin Jing, they can "enhance the energy and strengthen the bones and membranes".This trend of closer integration of internal and external exercises directly led to the appearance of Tai Chi, which became popular all over the world, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.Taijiquan is an example of the perfect combination of internal strength and martial arts movements.It not only has the characteristics of guidance, but also has the effect of qigong, and also maintains and strengthens the function of martial arts fighting.It can be said that Tai Chi is also a crystallization of the development of ancient Chinese health preservation techniques for thousands of years.