Chapter 14 The development of the second section of Qi Xingshu

"Qi" is a basic concept in the theory of traditional Chinese medicine in my country. It mainly includes the "innate qi" inherent in human beings, that is, "vital qi", and the "acquired qi" obtained through diet and breathing to maintain life activities after birth. .Vitality is the foundation of human life, and full vitality means health and longevity.But after a person leaves the mother's body, his innate vitality begins a natural process of gradual decline, which must be continuously replenished with acquired energy.The so-called Xing Qi Art is a method of supplementing Yuan Qi with acquired Qi to keep it full. Its core is to adjust people's physical and mental environment to a state that is most conducive to the transformation from acquired Qi to Yuan Qi, and maintain Acquired qi is transformed into the unimpeded passage of vitality to achieve the purpose of health preservation.This is what "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals·Xianji" said: "Use the new, discard the old, the sputum (couu) will be cleared up, the essence will be renewed day by day, the evil energy will be eliminated, and it will last forever."

Although there are various techniques for promoting qi and maintaining health, there are only two key points, namely mind control and breathing exercise.Because there are many ways to control the mind, and there are many ways to breathe, there are many exercises.These exercises are generally named after the characteristics or types of the exercise. Common ones in historical records include moving qi, entraining qi, adjusting qi, persuading qi, feeding qi, practicing qi, fetal breathing, sitting quietly, meditating, sitting in meditation, and saving qi. Thinking, looking back, looking inside, keeping one, Liuzi Jue, inner alchemy and so on.From the point of view of modern qigong, they all belong to the static exercises in qigong.

Qi-promoting and health-preserving art pays great attention to the quiet state of mind during practice. Laozi and Zhuangzi advocated "keeping health with tranquility".Lao Tzu said that one must be thorough in committing to "virtuality" and concentrate on maintaining "quietness" ("Tao Te Ching Sixteen Chapters"); "Zhuangzi Zai You" also said that one must be pure and quiet, and not to labor the limbs, in order to live long. How was Qi Xingshu performed in early ancient China?It is not very clear, although "Zhuangzi Xiaoyaoyou" mentions that there are immortals who "do not eat five grains, but absorb wind and drink dew".Sima Qian also said that because Lao Tzu was good at cultivating Taoism and maintaining his life, he lived for more than 160 years, and some even said that he was more than 200 years old ("Historical Records Biography of Lao Tzu").Mencius also said "I am good at cultivating my awe-inspiring spirit", and also mentioned "preserving the night spirit".However, there is still no conclusive basis for whether these people use Qi Xing to keep in good health.The earliest historical material about Qi Xing that we know today is "Xing Qi Jade Pei Ming" in the Warring States Period.This inscription engraved on the 12-hedron columnar jade pendant has only 45 short characters, and it describes the specific method of breathing and promoting qi very concisely: "Promoting qi: store it deep, stretch it when you store it. Stretch it down, If it is down, it will be fixed. If it is fixed, it will be solid, if it is solid, it will sprout, if it is sprouting, it will grow, if it grows, it will retreat, and if it retreats, it will die. The sky is a pound [chong], and the earth is below: if you follow it, you will live, and if you go against it, you will die.” According to Guo Moruo It means that when you inhale deeply, you will have more volume, and make it stretch down, and when you stretch it down, it will be fixed and firm; then exhale, like the sprouts of grass and trees, grow upwards, and retreat in the opposite direction from the path when you go deep. , back to the top.In this way, the secrets of heaven will move upwards, and the secrets of the earth will move downwards. If you follow this life, you will live, and if you go against this life, you will die.This is the earliest description of Qigong theory that people have seen so far.

Qu Yuan (approximately 340-278 BC), a patriotic poet who lived in the state of Chu, described some qigong at that time in his famous piece "Songs of Chu·Yuanyou", which made us understand that the scholars at that time did master it. Some breathing methods.He wrote, I want to drink the clear dew of six qi thirsty drinks, gargle the morning glow and breathe the positive yang energy.Keep your spirit fresh and pure, let the essence enter the turbid air and let out the old and take in the new.Qu Yuan also mentioned the health preservation method of taking bigu: I want to drink the spring water in the flying spring and use the flowers of beautiful jade as food.My appearance is as beautiful as jade, and my spirit is pure and strong.

In 1973, among the cultural relics unearthed from the Han Tomb No. 3 in Mawangdui, Changsha, there was also an article devoted to Qigong. Food Qi Chapter".The article mentions a kind of qi movement technique that does not eat food, but only eats Shiwei (a traditional Chinese medicine), and relies on food qi (breathing exercise). The climate conditions that are suitable for practicing and unsuitable for practicing in the four seasons.This practice method had already had considerable influence in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Zhang Liang, who made great contributions to Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, planned to follow a alchemist named Chisongzi to practice this kind of qigong without eating after he became famous ("Historical Records") ·Liuhou Family").It can be seen that Qi-promoting and health-preserving techniques were already popular in the upper class at that time.

From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is an important period for the development of qi circulation and health preservation.In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism became popular, and the purpose of Taoism was to achieve immortality and immortality.Taoism advocates "becoming immortals with the flesh", which means to transform ordinary people with mortal bodies into immortals through practice.Daoyin Qigong has become an important method and research object for their practice.Many well-educated people saw through the world of mortals, converted to Taoism, lived in the depths of famous mountains far away from the world, and wholeheartedly explored ways to live longer, and a large number of very outstanding health preservers have emerged.Therefore, although Taoism, like any other religion, is generally anti-scientific, superstitious, and even absurd, in terms of health preservation, Taoism has indeed left a lot of things worthy of careful sorting and analysis by people today. .Two important Taoist works that appeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty had a profound impact on ancient Qigong.One is the Taoist classic "Taiping Jing" written by the name Yu Ji, and the other is "Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi" by Wei Boyang. The "Taiping Jing" mentioned the practice methods of "keeping one" and "keeping thinking", which is a method of moving Qi through the mind sticking to a certain part or object in the body or outside the body; while "Zhouyi Cantongqi" proposes a Based on the theory of "Jing, Qi, Shen" in three-in-one movement, this theory played a great role in the emergence of a qigong school that had a great influence later on, "Inner Alchemy".

During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, the aforementioned Ge Hong also made great contributions to promoting Qi.He particularly emphasized and advocated the "fetal breathing method", which is a health-preserving method that gradually prolongs the time of holding breath after inhaling air to improve the level of respiratory function and visceral function.He believes that holding one's breath is to use the breath to attack, to open up the stagnant parts of the body, and to keep the flow of breath.Therefore, as long as you feel a slight discomfort, you should hold your breath to adjust.People with deep fetal breath breathing seem to have nothing, just like the unborn fetus does not breathe through the nose and mouth in the mother's womb.Ge Hong also described the steps to practice this kind of exercise; and on the aspect of keeping the mind, he introduced the method of keeping the dantian with the mind.Tao Hongjing, a health-preserving expert who appeared after Ge Hong, noticed that while inhalation is important in Qi Xingshu, the way of exhalation cannot be ignored, so he proposed six corresponding exhalation methods that should be adopted according to different diseases, namely: blowing, blowing, Hu, Xi, He, Shu, Hu, these are the six-character tactic of exhaling.Blow to get rid of heat, exhale to get rid of wind, sigh to get rid of annoyance, exhale to relieve stagnation, swallow to relieve extremes. The "Liu Zi Jue" corresponds to the internal organs one by one, and different exhalation methods are used to treat the diseases of the corresponding organs, that is, blowing the kidneys, exhaling the spleen, exhaling the gallbladder, healing the heart, exhaling the liver, and pharynx and lungs.

In the Tang Dynasty, Qi Xingshu developed rapidly, and many schools appeared.In his book, Sun Simiao mentioned qi regulating method, internal inspection method, fetal breathing method, Liuzijue and meditation method.Other qi-moving methods include swallowing qi, naughty, refining qi, entrusting qi, convincing qi, entraining qi, etc.Sima Chengzhen, another qigong master in the Tang Dynasty, also broke the tradition and boldly introduced the Buddhist theories of "gradual enlightenment", "meditation", and "stopping and contemplation" into qi-moving techniques, and systematically solved the problem of entering tranquility during practice , This is what people call "leading the Buddha into the Tao".The art of promoting qi was also very popular among the scholar-official class in the Tang Dynasty. For example, the writer Liu Zongyuan (773-819 A.D.) and the poet Bai Juyi (772-846 A.D.) were also qigong enthusiasts.Liu Zongyuan wrote to his friends to discuss the method of convincing Qi, and believed that practicing Qigong should not just be practiced according to books, it is best to be guided by a famous teacher ("Discussion on Convincing Qi Prescriptions with Li Muzhou").Bai Juyi often sat in meditation in his later years. After he entered meditation, he ignored what his wife and daughter yelled, which shows how serious he is in his practice ("Becoming a Monk at Home").

However, both Daoyin and Qi movement require years of hard practice, just as Ge Hong said, "It is not difficult to live long, but it is difficult to hear the way; it is not difficult to hear the way, it is also difficult to practice; Difficulties" ("Baopuzi·Jiyan").It means that longevity itself is not difficult, the difficulty lies in mastering the correct method and practicing according to the law, especially sticking to the end and not giving up halfway.Ji Kang (224-263 A.D.), a famous scholar who did a lot of research on health preservation during the Three Kingdoms period, also said that there are five difficulties in the art of health preservation, namely fame and fortune, joy and anger, sensuality, taste, and spiritual concern ("Ji Zhongsan") Collection·Answers to Difficult Health Preservation").Apparently, health preservation is a difficult task for emperors, generals, and high-ranking officials who are accustomed to being pampered. If there is some panacea that can make you live forever and become a fairy, it would be great.So since Emperor Qin Shihuang sent Xu Fu to lead 500 boys and girls across the sea to seek immortal medicine, many emperors in almost all dynasties dreamed of immortality.Later, seeing that the elixir was really hard to find, I tried to smelt the golden elixir that could become a celestial body after eating. This is alchemy, also called outer alchemy.Since the Han Dynasty, alchemy has become more and more prosperous. Many emperors and nobles summoned alchemists from the immortal family to make alchemy. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recruited many alchemists from the immortal family. Li Shaojun's so-called lie that using elixir made from cinnabar as food can prolong life and immortality.Those so-called "elixir" are often metals or minerals that the human body cannot digest, such as: gold, silver, jade, mica, quartz, etc.Some are simply fatal poisons. For example, the "elixir" that Taoist priests boasted is mercuric sulfide made from sulfur and mercury. After eating, it will cause mercury poisoning.Although this kind of health preservation based on eating golden pills for longevity has been noisy for a long time, especially in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when it flourished to the extreme, many people wrote books and talked about it, but anti-scientific things will not work after all. , the result is that people who are obsessed with obsession and take the golden elixir die unexpectedly.Tang Taizong Li Shimin, an outstanding emperor in Chinese history, and several other emperors in the Tang Dynasty such as Xianzong, Mu Zong, Wu Zong, and the famous literati Yuan Zhen all died of taking Jindan.The fact of blood makes people gradually understand that although the elixir produced in the alchemy furnace of Taishang Laojun is golden and beautiful, it is not fun to swallow, so the external alchemy gradually fell out of favor.

While Wai Danshu was declining, a qigong practice method borrowing the theory and terminology of refining Wai Danshu——Neidanshu developed vigorously from the late Tang Dynasty.In a nutshell, the meaning of Neidanshu is to treat the whole body as a smelting furnace, and use essence, qi, and spirit as raw materials that need to be smelted and processed, and practice through six steps of qigong: refining oneself, adjusting medicine, producing Medicines, herbs, furnace sealing and refining medicines "refine" the essence, qi, and spirit into one, so that they can condense in the human body, this is the inner alchemy.Once the inner alchemy is refined, one can be free from all diseases and live forever.This idea of ​​inner alchemy cultivation was first proposed by Wei Boyang in his "Book of Changes Can Tong Qi" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but at that time people were obsessed with taking Jindan, and Wei Boyang himself was also an active advocate of taking Jindan Or, his idea of ​​inner alchemy cultivation has not received enough attention.It wasn't until the outer alchemy killed a large number of lives that Taoist health preservers noticed the practice of inner alchemy. After the efforts of many health preservers after the Song Dynasty, the inner alchemy finally developed into a mature and good health value in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The advanced exercises of Taoism have thus become the mainstream of Taoist health preservation.Neidan also had a profound impact on modern Qigong.The big and small Zhoutian exercises that people often talk about today are actually developed from inner alchemy.In addition to inner alchemy, other qi-moving techniques that focus on tranquility, such as breathing, meditation, and thinking, have also developed greatly since the Song Dynasty, and have been welcomed by literati and scholars of the literati class. Qigong has become a kind of ethos.Such as Ouyang Xiu (AD 1007-1072), Cheng Hao (AD 1032-1085), Cheng Yi (AD 1033-1107), Su Shi, Lu You (AD 1125-1210), Zhu Xi (AD 1130-1200) in the Song Dynasty ), Wang Shouren (AD 1472-1528) in the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Fuzhi (AD 1619-1692) in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties were all Qigong enthusiasts.Many of them have reached a considerable level of practice and made contributions to the development of Qigong.

Zhu Xi, a great philosopher and educator in the Song Dynasty, highly praised meditation and self-cultivation. He believed that "scholars sit quietly for half a day and study for half a day. If they do this for three years, they will all improve."He himself is "as if all day long, sitting upright in a room", describing it as solemn, his movements are slow and respectful, and his sitting is dignified and upright.Usually at home, I get up before dawn, and when I am tired, I close my eyes and sit quietly.If you wake up at night, "sit with a quilt [qin relative], or reach Dadan" ("Zhu Zixing").He also wrote "Admonishment of Breath Adjustment", which gave a vivid description of his experience in practicing Kungfu: "There is white on the end of the nose, I can see it, anytime, anywhere, leaning against the body. Quietly, booing, like a spring marsh fish; Inhale after moving, like a hundred insects stinging. Yinyun [yinyun because of dizziness] opens and closes, and the wonders are endless." In his later years, Zhu Xi also annotated the classic work of Qigong Neidan cultivation "Zhouyi Cantongqi".However, Zhu Xi overemphasized the importance of "quietness". Under his influence, some scholars sat withered all day long. -1704) said angrily, "There are all weak and sick scholars in the world, and they can't do one thing" ("Zhu Ziyu Class Review").Therefore, movement and stillness should be combined and not neglected. Among the many scholar-bureaucrats who were keen on Qigong practice in the Song Dynasty, Su Shi was the most prominent one.Everyone knows that Su Shi is quick-witted and has written many good poems that have been sung throughout the ages, but they don't necessarily know that he also has a solid foundation in guiding Qi.Su Shi highly praised Qigong for health preservation, especially when he suffered repeated setbacks and hardships in the ups and downs of his career, he conducted in-depth research and practice on Qigong.In the turbulent life of being displaced and relegated to the ends of the earth, Su Shi "shut down evil spirits and preserve sincerity, refine qi and nourish essence", and obtained physical comfort and peace of mind through qigong.Su Shi not only practiced very seriously, but also attached great importance to qigong theory, and wrote down every experience he had in his notes.What is even more commendable is that he communicated without prejudice with the three religions and nine streams and various figures who have studied health preservation, including alchemists who are regarded as heretics, extensively referred to various spells, and paid attention to absorbing valuable information.His notes include both fetal breath method and inner alchemy.Finally, he created a set of practice methods including self-massage and exhaling and expelling qi. Specifically speaking, his inner-viewing qi movement method is to get up after midnight every night, or sit cross-legged on the bed facing the southeast, tap the teeth 36 times, and hold them firmly (hold the third with two thumbs) Three or the fourth finger, put both hands on the waist and abdomen), hold your breath (eliminate distracting thoughts, make your heart bright, if you can't think about it, adjust your breath, make your breathing even and deep, as time goes by, it seems that you can't feel breathing), and then look inside the five internal organs , seeing white lungs, blue liver, yellow spleen, red heart, and black kidneys (in order to achieve a better effect of inner vision, he also hung a picture of the internal organs on the wall, so that he could memorize the shapes of the internal organs); then Imagine that the heart is like flames, bright and clear, descending into the dantian, wait until the belly is full of breath, and let out the breath slowly (don't let the ears hear the sound of the breath).After the in-and-out breath is well mixed, use the tongue to stir the drum in the mouth to gargle to produce body fluid, repeat the previous closed-breath vipassana, swallow the body fluid with the head down, and send it into the dantian with the air, swallowing like this three times.Then start self-massage, first use the left and right hands to rub the center of the feet and the waist below the navel to make these parts warm; then rub the eyes, face, ears, neck and back with both hands to make them extremely hot; press the bridge of the nose seven times left and right, and finally Comb your hair more than a hundred times.After finishing this set, lie down and sleep until dawn again. (Volume 12 of "The Complete Works of Dongpo").Su Shi's self-compiled exercises have good effects on curing diseases and keeping fit. He himself commented that although it is simple, it is very practical. It will be effective after 10 to 20 days of practice. It feels hot under the navel, and the legs and feet are light, which is a hundred times better than taking medicine. , As time goes by, it seems to have the feeling of becoming a fairy and attaining the Tao ("Shang Zhang Andao Health Preserving Jue Theory"). In Su Shi's narration of his own practice, we can see that he has a certain choice of time and location for practice, which has a certain basis.The traditional Chinese Qi Xing art emphasizes the unity and coordination between human beings and the external environment, that is, nature, so as to collect the Qi of nature. Therefore, it attaches great importance to the choice of practice environment.There are four seasons of cold, heat, dryness and humidity in nature, just like the four seasons of nature mentioned in the "Internal Classics", which is the basis for determining life and death. If you violate its law of change, you will encounter disasters. If you get sick, this is called Taoism ("Nei Jing·Four Air Conditioning God").Therefore, practitioners must also carefully observe the changes in nature, which vary from place to place, and practice at the right time. According to the changes of the Qi of heaven and earth, "Neijing·Four Qi Regulatory Spirit" makes a clear explanation of people's daily life in the four seasons of the year. Ancient health-preserving theory divides a day and night into twelve hours, namely Zi (23-1), Chou (1-3), Yin (3-5), Mao (5-7), Chen (7-9), Si ( 9-11), Wu (11-13), Wei (13-15), Shen (15-17), You (17-19), Xu (19-21), Hai (21-23).Among them, there are six Yang hours from midnight to before noon.At this time, everything in the world is "angry".Practicing at this time can benefit you.And from noon to before midnight, there are six yin hours, when the natural world is in "dead energy", and practicing exercises is useless ("Baopu Zi Nei Pian·Shi Zhi").Sun Simiao also emphasized that the time to circulate qi should be in the second half of the night and before noon, when qi is generated.Xue Daoguang, a Taoist priest during Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, believed that the time when the yin and yang qi intersect between the heaven and the earth is the best time to practice kung fu.The intersection of yin and yang is at Haizi (21:00-1:00) in a day, Huishuo in January, and winter solstice in a year ("Dan Sui Song"). In ancient Chinese society, many women were very keen on practicing Qigong.The silk painting "Daoyin Tu" of the Western Han Dynasty by Mawangdui scholars in Changsha has vivid images of women practicing Daoyin Gong in the Han Dynasty.Women have also made outstanding contributions to the development of Qigong, among which there are two most influential.One was Wei Huacun (215-334 A.D.) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, also known as Mrs. Wei.Wei Huacun was born in Rencheng, Shandong (now Weishan County, Shandong), the daughter of Jin Situ Wei Shu. Since she was a child, she has read the books of various schools of thought, especially love Taoism, and studied Lao and Zhuang.She often takes Humasan, Fuling pills and other qi-invigorating medicines, and practices breathing and nourishing qi.Because she devotes all her mind to practicing kungfu and keeping in good health, and is indifferent to worldly things.After her two sons grew up, Wei Huacun studied under Qingxu Zhenren Wang Bao, and was awarded 31 volumes including the Taoist classic "Taishang Baowen".She also learned the "Huang Ting Nei Jing Jing" from her teacher Jing Lin.Later, Wei Huacun transferred this Taoist masterpiece to his disciples Yang Xi, Xu Mu and others. She was posthumously named the first generation patriarch of Maoshan sect of Taoism, and made outstanding contributions to Taoist health cultivation. The other is Sun Buer (AD 1119-1182), one of the Seven Truths of the Northern School of Quanzhen Taoism, a Taoist nun in the Jin Dynasty.Sun Buer is a native of Ninghai, Shandong. He abandoned his family and devoted himself to practicing for seven years. With his own practice, he opened the way for the inner alchemy of women's Qigong. Since then, the Taoist practice of Qigong for women— "Nv Dan" began to spread widely.