What is the principle of Qigong?

Qigong is a kind of physical and mental exercise method with the means of adjusting breathing, physical activity and consciousness (breath adjustment, body adjustment and inner adjustment), aiming at strengthening the body, preventing and treating diseases, strengthening the body, prolonging life and developing potential.

Qi is a common concept in China's philosophy, Taoism, Chinese medicine and China Qigong. Thinkers in China during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period abstracted the concept of qi, making it the basic element of all things in the world, with the characteristics of flowing like gas. It is believed that the life energy or power possessed by human beings and all living things is also called qi, and everything in the universe is the result of the change of qi operation. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that qi is the first line of defense of human body, which gathers in the body to protect viscera, but flows out on the skin surface to prevent the invasion of foreign pathogens from causing diseases.

The meridian system of traditional Chinese medicine is an important theoretical basis of Qigong. Meridian theory is the only unique theory invented by China in world medicine. It plays a role in preventing and treating diseases by regulating the qi of meridians rather than relying on drugs. According to the meridian theory, the qi of human viscera can be perfused through meridians, and the corresponding parts can be found on the body surface. These parts are not isolated from the body surface, but communicate with the qi of internal organs. The exterior is mostly a depression between limbs, muscles or bones. Because the internal and external qi are functionally interlinked and mainly located in pores, it is called "acupoints". The network structure between acupoints is composed of meridians and their subsidiary parts, which is connected with the qi of internal organs and formed regularly and coherently. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that qi is the first line of defense of human body, which gathers in the body to protect viscera, but flows out on the skin surface to prevent the invasion of foreign pathogens from causing diseases.