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C H I N E S E H E A L I N G

E X E R CI S E SThe Tradition ofDaoyin

Livia Kohn


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Chinese Healing Exercises


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© 2008 University o Hawai‘i Press

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States o America

13 12 11 10 09 08 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kohn, Livia, 1956–

Chinese healing exercises : the tradition o Daoyin / Livia Kohn.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical reerences and index.

ISBN 978-0-8248-3234-6 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8248-3269-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Dao yin. 2. Breathing exercises—Terapeutic use. 3. Hygiene, aoist. I. itle. II.

itle: radition o Daoyin.

RA781.85.K64 2008

615.8'36—dc22

2008009183

University o Hawai‘i Press books are printed on

acid-ree paper and meet the guidelines or permanence

and durability o the Council on Library Resources

Designed by University o Hawai‘i Press production staff

Printed by Te Maple-Vail Book Manuacturing Group


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v

Contents

List o Illustrations / vii

Acknowledgments / ix

Introduction / 1

1. Early Medical Manuscripts / 29

2. Officials, Hermits, and Ecstatics / 62

3. Te Exercise Classic / 98

4. Pathways to Immortality / 128

5. Modern Precursors / 162

6. Daoyin oday / 198

Conclusion / 233

Original Sources / 237

Bibliography / 245

Index / 261


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vii

List of Illustrations

Fig. 1: Map of China. 30

Fig. 2: “Look up and shout.” 38

Fig. 3: The Bear Amble. 39Fig. 4: The bamboo slips of the Stretch Book . 42

Fig. 5: A Daoist with magical powers subduing a tiger. 66

Fig. 6: A practitioner working with the qi while lying on the back. 75

Fig. 7: Purifying talismans of Highest Clarity. 91

Fig. 8: A Highest Clarity practitioner visualizing and invoking the gods. 94

Fig. 9: A portrait of Master Redpine dressed in leaves. 99

Fig. 10: A Daoist sitting up and stretching his arms. 112

Fig. 11: A Highest Clarity practitioner connecting to the Sun. 117

Fig. 12: Organs and energy channels in the body. 125

Fig. 13: Sun Simiao, the King of Medicines. 131

Fig. 14: The original text of On Preserving Life. 135

Fig. 15: Sima Chengzhen, the twelfth patriarch of Highest Clarity. 148

Fig. 16: A Daoist practicing healing exercises matching Sima

Chengzhen’s prescription. 153

Fig. 17: The Tiger Frolic. 167

Fig. 18: The seasonal exercise for the summer solstice. 169

Fig. 19: The immortal Dongfang Shuo grasping his toes. 173

Fig. 20: The First Brocade: Beating the Heavenly Drum. 182

Fig. 21: Mao Xuanhan Conquers the Dragon and Tiger. 186

Fig. 22: A sequence of Shaolin qigong. 191

Fig. 23: The Taiji diagram. 194

Fig. 24: The white hair sequence. 208

Fig. 25: Getting ready for Sunday qigong practice at a Hong Kong

Daoist Temple. 215

Fig. 26: A statue of Jigong, the mad monk. 216Fig. 27: Advertising a Daoyin retreat through the British

Taoist Association. 225


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ix

Acknowledgments

Tis work grew over many years o study and practice, both academically and in

various exercise traditions. I am indebted to many teachers, supporters, and ellow

seekers.First, I would like to thank qigong masters Roger Jahnke, Michael Winn, Karin

Sörvik, Frank Yurasek, and Paul Gallagher as well as taiji quan master Bede Bid-

lack or providing pertinent instruction in Chinese physical practices—both tradi-

tional and modern—in a large variety o media: in person, through video, on

audiotapes and CDs. Teir work over a number o years greatly increased my per-

sonal experience o the Chinese modality o physical healing and enhanced my

understanding o qigong and taiji quan in a way that books never could.

Next, I am deeply grateul to my many yoga teachers over the years, most no-tably Patricia Walden and Annie Hoffman, who provided thorough instruction in

the Iyengar method and raised my awareness o the works o B. K. S. Iyengar, an

invaluable resource or understanding the medical benefits o body bends and

stretches. I would also like to thank my teachers Yoganand Michael Carroll and

Martha Abbot, as well as other staff members o the Kripalu Center or Yoga and

Health, or the in-depth training in yogic thinking, the thorough exposition o

anatomy and physiology, and the compassionate assistance in actual practice they

provided during my yoga teacher training at Kripalu in 2002. More recently, I

would like to acknowledge Ana Forrest, yoga master extraordinaire, or her out-

standing work in transorming bodies with apparently simple moves—something

her yoga has much in common with the Daoyin practices studied in this book.

On a third level, I wish to thank John Loupos, healer and martial arts in-

structor o Cohasset, Massachusetts, or not only helping me with a bursitic

shoulder but in the process introducing me to Hanna Somatics, thereby opening

a completely new way o looking at exercise and the body that has pervaded the

work on this book. By extension, I am much indebted to the late Tomas Hanna

and his extraordinary work on the body. Not only transorming my own practice,his guidance—in his book and in numerous patiently recorded audio sessions—

has helped to create a clearer image o what needs to be done to a body to effect

relaxation and healing. His theory o the three key reflexes has been essential to


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x Acknowledgments

my understanding o why Chinese practitioners do what they do and how they

come to claim specific results or certain practices.

In a more academic and theoretical vein, I would like to thank several o my

graduate students or doing outstanding work and raising my awareness and un-

derstanding o different aspects o physical practice and healing. Stephen Jacko-

wicz, highly gifed acupuncturist and graduate o Boston University in 2003, did

outstanding work on the absorption o qi, successully applying inormation

rom medieval Daoist materials to a twentieth-century patient. His in-depth

analysis o how medieval Chinese understood the workings o the inner body

and his thorough medical and therapeutic analysis o the process o qi-absorption

have greatly influenced my interpretation o this rather advanced aspect o

Daoyin practice.

Another graduate student whose work and help were invaluable was Shawn

Arthur, who graduated rom Boston University in 2006. His dissertation is on the

dietary and asting techniques o Daoists and modern qigong practitioners, ex-

amining them both on the basis o traditional concepts and in terms o modern

physiology and pharmacology. His work on asting and the replacing o ordinary

ood and drink with qi provided me with great insights into the Chinese under-

standing o the body’s structure and the role o breathing and diet in the context

o healing exercises. Besides aiding this project with his knowledgeable expertise,Shawn has also been invaluable in assisting the actual manuscript preparation.

A third graduate student who provided knowledge and inspiration is Heidi

Nugent at the Union Institute, Ohio. She has just completed a pathbreaking dis-

sertation on breath, its understanding in different cultures, and the various ways

people use (and abuse) it to create health or sickness. As she moved along in her

in-depth study, she has greatly increased my understanding and awareness o

breathing physiology and the role it plays in traditional orms o healing.

Beyond the background practice and inormation necessary or the completiono this book, I also received enormous support and encouragement in the course o

manuscript preparation. First, in the summer o 2005, I was given the great chance

to present my findings on Chinese healing exercises to experts at the annual conven-

tion o the National Qigong Association (NQA) in Boulder, Colorado. During a

whole-day workshop on Daoyin and a two-hour seminar on Animal Forms, partici-

pants in good cheer actually perormed the exercises I had translated rom ancient

texts. In subsequent discussions, they provided extensive eedback and substantive

insights into the effects o the exercises, the connection to modern practices, and the

best terminology to use. Until then I had, in imitation o European scholars, trans-

lated the term daoyin as “gymnastics,” but workshop participants made it very clear

that in the United States the word has too much o an athletic connotation to be ap-


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Acknowledgments xi

propriate or the Chinese tradition. I have since changed my rendition to “healing

exercises,” and thus the very title o this book is due to the great help and support o

the U.S. qigong community. I am much indebted to them all.

Next, in the spring o 2006, I was kindly invited by Joseph Alter o the Univer-

sity o Pittsburgh and Geoffrey Samuels o the University o Cardiff, Wales, to speak

at the annual meeting o the International Association or the Study o raditional

Asian Medicine (IASAM), held in Austin, exas. Tis gave me an opportunity to

present my understanding o Chinese subtle body techniques in an academic set-

ting and to connect to scholars with similar interests. Both audience and ellow

panel members provided insightul comments and encouraged my work in the

wider ramework o the comparative study o body techniques—a growing field

with an increasing influence on U.S. health services. I met numerous new people

who have since become riends and would much like to thank all the IASAM

members or their good work, kindly welcome o newcomers, and generous sup-

port o all related research.

Tird, at the Tird International Conerence on Daoism, held on the Frauen-

insel near Munich in May 2006, I had a chance to present both on the possible ap-

plication o Daoyin or stress relie along the lines o Hanna Somatics and on the

state o the field o yangsheng or Chinese longevity studies. Again, I received helpul

comments and suggestions rom participating colleages, notably Ute Engelhardt,Catherine Despeux, and Sakade Yoshinobu. I also greatly enjoyed meeting both

scholars and practitioners who encouraged continued efforts in this area. I am very

grateul to the organizers o the conerence and the participants or providing such

a comortable orum that made stimulating discussion possible.

Last and most important, I had great help with writing the actual book. Vivi-

enne Lo, proessor at the Wellcome Center or Applied Healing in London, kindly

read parts o the manuscript, especially on the early period, and very generously

shared her printed articles and her draf translation o the Yinshu with me. Te ar-ticles raised my awareness o the role o healing exercises in the greater picture o

ancient Chinese medicine and longevity techniques, and her translation was a tre-

mendous help in clariying several obscure passages o the ancient manuscript.

Having only first met her at the IASAM conerence, I am very, very grateul indeed

or her instantaneous riendship and overarching goodwill toward my project.

By ar the most help on the actual manuscript I received rom J. Michael

Wood, qigong master and healer in Nashville, ennessee. He participated in the

workshop at the NQA meeting in Boulder and proposed many suggestions as to

the actual workings o the practices, then generously offered to read the technical

translations o exercises and provide suggestions on how they might be best in-

terpreted in terms o modern physiology and Chinese medicine. As I continued


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xii Acknowledgments

to write and revise, he presented numerous powerul suggestions on how the ex-

ercises would affect the body in therapy, chiropractic, and medical qigong. I

greatly appreciate the effort and work he invested in this project and wish to

thank him, as much as all my teachers, riends, students, and supporters, rom

the bottom o my heart.


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2 Chinese Healing Exercises

Like water, the Dao is everywhere—around us, in us, with us. It flows naturally

along its channels—in the body, in nature, in society. It is steady, fluid, easy, sof

and weak; it never pushes, fights, or controls but is powerul by merely going along.

People do not know it, but it the Dao always there, always sustaining, like a mother—

the mother o the universe, the mother o all existence, the mother o all o us. It

brings orth and nurtures; it cares and raises; it supports and moves along. What-

ever we do, whoever we are, whatever we become, it is always part o the Dao.1

Tese two metaphors o water and mother express the nature o the Chinese

universe as beneficent: soothing, protecting, generative. Both water and mother,

o course, can be threatening. Tere are overpowering mothers whom one would

not dare cross; there are mythical mothers who devour their children. And there

are floods and droughts, when water can become a lie-threatening orce. How-

ever, in most people’s experience and in their ideal understanding, water and

mother tend to be generous and supporting. Tese metaphors thus reveal a sense

o being in the world that involves eeling at home; moving with the flow in non-

action (wuwei無為); being at ease and well protected, nurtured, and supported;and having a place and a direction that is natural. Te body as the Dao is thus our

most elementary home, the root rom which we act and on which we rely at all

times and in all our endeavors.

Te natural place and direction presented in the body through the Dao isthere or everyone, but it is also different or everyone. Just as in the natural world

every species has its own habitat and specific characteristics, and each animal

within its group has its role and position, so people have their unique physical

characteristics, their special abilities and tendencies. Exploring and developing

these, they ideally find a way o being in the world that is just their own—a role

that is perect or them, a home that completely matches their personality and

abilities, a place rom which they can live a long and healthy lie and which can

become the starting point or spiritual transcendence.

Vital Energy

Te Chinese talk about people’s inherently individual yet cosmically con-

nected nature in terms o a vital energy known as qi氣. Qi is the material andtangible aspect o the Dao. It can be described as a bioenergetic potency that

causes things to live, grow, develop, and decline. People as much as the planet are

originally equipped with prenatal or primordial qi that connects them to the

greater universe, but they also work with postnatal or interactive qi, which can

1. Mother and water are both metaphors that already appear in the ancient Daode jing . For a study o the

mother image, see Chen 1974. For a discussion o both in later Daoist thought, see Kohn 1991, 131–133.


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Introduction 3

enhance or diminish their primordial energy. Qi is the basic material o all that

exists. It animates lie and urnishes the unctional power o events. Qi is the root

o the human body; its quality and movement determine human health. Qi can

be discussed in terms o quantity, since having more means stronger metabolic

unction. Tis, however, does not mean that health is a by-product o storing

large quantities o qi. Rather, there is a normal or healthy amount o qi in every

person and every aspect o nature, and health maniests in its overall balance and

harmony, in the moderation and smoothness o flow.2

Just as the Dao is compared to water, the flow o qi is envisioned as a complex

system o waterways both in nature and in the human body. In the latter, the “Ocean

o Qi” is in the abdomen; rivers o qi flow through the upper torso, arms, and legs;

springs o qi sprout at the wrists and ankles; and wells o qi are ound in the fingers

and toes. In both nature and the body, even a small spot in this structure can thus

influence the whole, so that overall balance and smoothness are the general goal.

Seen in its most general terms, human lie is the accumulation o qi; death is its

dispersal. Afer receiving a core potential o primordial and prenatal qi at birth,

people throughout lie need to sustain it. Tey do so by drawing postnatal qi into

the body rom air and ood, as well as rom other people through sexual, emotional,

and social interaction. But they also lose qi through breathing bad air, living in pol-

luted areas, overburdening or diminishing their bodies with ood and drink, orgetting involved in negative emotions and excessive sexual or social interaction.

Health and long lie come through working with qi to the best o one’s ability, at-

taining a state o perect balance, utmost harmony, and complete sel-ulfillment.

Rather than the mere absence o symptoms and ailments, health in this vi-

sion is thus a undamental alignment with the Dao as it maniests in one’s per-

sonal physical and psychological characteristics and as it opens paths to higher

sel-realization and spiritual unolding. It means the presence o a strong vital

energy and o a smooth, harmonious, and active qi-flow that moves in a steadyalteration o yin and yang, two aspects o the continuous flow o creation: the ris-

ing and alling, growing and declining, warming and cooling, beginning and

ending, expanding and contracting movements that pervade all lie and nature.

Yin and yang continuously alternate and change rom one into the other. Tey do

so in a steady rhythm o rising and alling, visible in nature in the rising and set-

ting o the sun, the warming and cooling o the seasons, the growth and decline

o living beings.

2. Tere are many works that discuss qi and its nature, mostly in Chinese medicine. Examples include

Porkert 1974, Reid 1989, Johnson 2000, Kaptchuk 2000. For a more detailed outline o the Chinese

energy and body system, see Kohn 2005. Te latter orms the basis o the ollowing presentation.


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Phases and Energy Channels

Tis flow o qi in undulating waves is urther systematized into a system o the

so-called five phases (wuxing 五行

), which are in turn symbolized by five material

objects: minor yang is symbolized by wood; major yang, fire; yin-yang, earth;

minor yin, metal; and major yin, water. Tese five continue to produce each other

in a harmonious cycle in the order presented here. Qi that flows in this order and in

the right amount is known as zhengqi 正氣 or “proper qi.” In addition to personalhealth, this is also maniest by harmony in nature, defined as regular weather pat-

terns and the absence o disasters, and as health in society, the peaceul coexistence

among amilies, clans, villages, and states. Tis harmony on all levels, the cosmic

presence o a steady and pleasant flow o qi, is what the Chinese call the state o

Great Peace (taiping太平), a state venerated by Conucians and Daoists alike.Te opposite o zhengqi is xieqi邪氣 or “wayward qi,” qi that has lost the har-

monious pattern o flow and no longer supports the dynamic orces o change. Xieqi

is disorderly and dysunctional, and creates change that violates the normal order.

When it becomes dominant, the qi-flow can turn upon itsel and deplete the body’s

resources. Tus, any sick person, decimated orest, or intrusive construction no lon-

ger operates as part o a universal system and is not in tune with the basic lie orce.

Whether proper or wayward, qi flows through and animates all the different

systems o the human body, which are not classified according to skeletal, mus-cular, or hormonal, but in terms o yin organs that store qi and center the body’s

unctioning; yang organs that move qi and take care o digestion and respiration;

body fluids that moisturize the body including the lymph and sweat glands;

building blocks that make the body come together; senses that connect it to the

outside world; emotions that characterize negative reactions to the world; and

virtues that enhance positive attitudes.

Te ull inner-body correspondence system is shown in table 1. Te same sys-

tem o the five phases also connects the body to the outside world, to the seasons,directions, colors, and other aspects o nature, creating a complex network o ener-

getic pathways that work closely together and are intimately interconnected.

Within the body, moreover, the organs are the key storage and transorma-

TABLE 1. INNER -BODY CORRESPONDENCE SYSTEM

Phase Yin organ Yang organ Body fluid Building block Sense Emotion Virtue

wood liver gallbladder tears joints vision anger benevolence

fire heart small intestine sweat blood vessels touch agitation proprietyearth spleen stomach oral mucus muscles taste worry honesty

metal lungs large intestine nasal mucus skin smell sadness righteousness

water kidneys bladder saliva bones hearing fear wisdom


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Introduction 5

tion centers o qi. Tey connect to the extremities through a network o energy

channels called meridians. Tere are twelve main meridians that run on both

sides o the body. Tey include ten channels centered on the five yin and five yang

organs, plus two added or symmetry: the riple Heater (yang), a digestive organ

that combines the qi rom ood and rom air and transports it to the heart; and

the pericardium (yin), a supplementary organ to the heart.

Tere are also eight extraordinary vessels that run along only one line in the

body. Tey are considered primary and more elemental than the twelve matching

channels, carrying a deeper blueprint o the human being and connecting us

more intimately to the cosmic course. Tey include our lines that run along the

arms and legs, supporting the basic yin and yang structure o the body, plus two

that create a cross inside the torso: the Belt Vessel (daimai帶脈), which encirclesthe waist horizontally, and the Penetrating Vessel (chongmai沖脈), which runs

vertically straight through our center rom the head to the pelvic floor. Te re-

maining two extraordinary vessels are the Governing Vessel (dumai督脈; yang)and the Conception Vessel (renmai 任脈; yin), which run along the back andront o the torso, both originating near the base o the spine and ending around

the mouth. Tey orm an essential energy circuit along the torso and are used

both in medical and meditative body cultivation.

Organs and, through them, the qi-flow o the body are accessed throughpoints along the channels where the energy line comes closest to the surace o

the body, the so-called acupuncture points. Each channel has a certain number

o points, the longest being the Bladder meridian, which runs through several

parallel l ines along the back o the body. Te points are stimulated with needles

in acupuncture, with the burning o mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) in moxibus-

tion or cautery, and with the fingers in acupressure and Anmo massage. Te

overall qi-flow in the channels, moreover, is subject to the action o the longevity

techniques: it can be regulated with ood and herbs in dietary techniques, withrespiration in controlled breathing practice, with body movements in healing ex-

ercises, and with the mind in meditation.

Te Mind

Te mind in this system is another aspect o qi, albeit one that vibrates at a

much subtler level. As a result, medical and Daoist texts do not show a separation o

mental rom bodily symptoms but take both as indications o disharmony. Accord-

ing to them, the word “mind” (xin

心) has two meanings: it is a general term or all

the various aspects o consciousness and mental activity, in which sense it is close to

spirit (shen 神); and it is also a more specific term or the evaluation o the world interms o good and bad, likes and dislikes, based on sensory stimuli, emotions, and


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classificatory schemes. In both orms it is closely linked with the inner organ o the

heart, also called xin, and represents different aspects o consciousness—one evalu-

ative and critical, essential or day-to-day survival in the ordinary world, the other

flowing smoothly and open to all stimuli, the maniestation o the Dao within.

In a more subtle analysis, moreover, the mind, as outlined in the medical

classic Huangdi neijing黄帝内經 (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic), divides intofive different orms, associated with the five inner organs:

Blood is stored in the liver—the residence o the spirit soul.

Constructive energy is stored in the spleen—the residence o the intention.

Te pulse is stored in the heart—the residence o the spirit.

Qi is stored in the lungs—the residence o the material soul.

Essence is stored in the kidneys—the residence o the will. (Huangdi neijing suwen,

ch. 2)

Each inner organ, thereore, has its own particular body fluid or orm o qi and

also its specific mental or psychological energy. Tey each transorm and mutate

into one another, according to the cycle o the five phases (Ishida 1989, 59). As waves

o the various energetic fluids move around the body, so the different aspects o the

mind flow along all its parts, creating an integrated network o consciousness.3Te body-mind in Chinese culture, thereore, is an integrated energetic organ-

ism that consists o dynamic flows o qi at various levels o subtlety and is repre-

sented metaphorically as a system o waterways and undulating channels. Te body

is a microcosm o the universe: it reflects the landscape o the planet and is the

home o celestial entities and starry palaces. Whatever we do in our bodies is ac-

cordingly never isolated rom the rest o the world, and the world is part o who we

are. Cultivating the body thus creates strong lie in the person, harmony in society,

and great potential or spiritual unolding. As much as taking care o the body em-powers the sel, it also enhances the universal Dao—to the point where some Daoist

thinkers see body cultivation as the oremost condition or ruling the empire.4

Longevity

Te body being originally part o the Dao, the Chinese claim that it should be

healthy and strong and unction perectly to the completion o the natural human

3. For more on Chinese body-mind concepts, see Chiu 1986, Ishida 1989. For a comparison o early

Chinese medical thought with that o ancient Greece, see Kuriyama 1999.

4. Te most important thinker in this context is Heshang gong, an early Han-dynasty commentator

to the Daode jing . See Chan 1991.


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Chinese society, they were soon integrated into religious and specifically Daoist

regimens and have remained an important part o Chinese lie. Longevity tech-

niques work through liestyle modification in many different ways: diet, herbal

remedies, sexual hygiene, deep breathing, physical movements, and mental puri-

fication. Tey are used in various dimensions: to heal people rom diseases, to

help them maintain health and recover youth, and to assist them in attaining

transcendent, spiritual states o immortality.

Levels of Practice

Although the domain o different kinds o practitioners—physicians, lon-

gevity masters, and Daoist masters—in traditional Chinese understanding, heal-

ing, longevity, and immortality were three stages along the same continuum o

the qi-household o the human body. People’s body-mind consists o qi, which

unctions through the continuous interchange o inborn primordial and prenatal

qi, which connects the person to the cosmos, with earthly or postnatal qi, which

is taken in through breath, ood, and human interaction. Te terms o this inter-

change are thus that primordial qi is lost as and when earthly qi is insufficient,

and earthly qi becomes superfluous as and when primordial qi is complete (as in

the case o the embryo in the womb).

As people interact with the world on the basis o passions and desires, sensoryor sexual exchanges, and intellectual distinctions, they activate their essence and

begin to lose their primordial qi. Once they have lost a certain amount, they de-

cline, experience sickness, and eventually die. Healing, then, is the recovery o es-

sence and replenishing o qi with medical means such as drugs, herbs, acupuncture,

massage, and so on, rom a level o severe deficiency to a more harmonious state.

Longevity comes in as and when people have become aware o their situation

and decide to heal themselves. Attaining a basic state o good health, they pro-

ceed to increase their primordial qi to and even above the level they had at birth.o do so, they ollow specific diets, supplement their ood with herbs and miner-

als, and undertake breath control, healing exercises, sel-massages, sexual hy-

giene, and meditation. Tese practices not only ensure that people attain their

natural lie expectancy but also lead to increased old age and vigor.

Immortality raises the practices to a yet higher level. o attain it, people have

to transorm all their qi into primordial qi and proceed to increasingly refine it to

ever subtler levels. Tis finer qi will eventually turn into pure spirit, with which

practitioners increasingly identiy to become transcendent spirit-people or im-

mortals (xian仙). Te practice that leads there involves intensive meditation andtrance training as well as more radical orms o diet, healing exercises, and the

mental guiding o qi. In contrast to health and long lie, where the body’s system


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Introduction 9

remains undamentally unchanged and is perected in its original nature, im-

mortality means the overcoming o the natural tendencies o the body and its

transormation into a different kind o energetic constellation. Te result is a by-

passing o death—since the end o the body has no effect on the continuation o

the spirit-person—the attainment o magical powers, and residence in the para-

dises o Penglai蓬萊 or Kunlun 崑崙.Practitioners on all three levels, moreover, make use o the same practices

but with slight differences. For example, diets on the medical and health levels

involve abstention rom heavy oods such as meat and at, as well as rom strong

substances such as alcohol, garlic, and onions. Instead, practitioners are encour-

aged to eat small portions o light oods. As their qi increases, they will need less

and less ood, until—in immortality practice—all main staples can be cut out

and ood is replaced by the conscious intake o qi through breath. Tis technique

is cal led “avoiding grain” (bigu 辟穀) and is still undertaken today.Similarly, healing exercises as first depicted in Han-dynasty manuscripts serve

to stretch and loosen muscles, stimulate the circulation, and aid the smooth flow o

qi in the body. Tey are never strenuous, but change in nature as people proceed

rom the longevity level to the immortality level, becoming more cosmic in pattern,

more counterintuitive, and more internally ocused. Similarly, breathing or health

and long lie involves inhaling all the way to the diaphragm, which expands uponinhalation. Breathing or immortality, on the other hand, is called “reversed breath-

ing,” and uses the diaphragm the opposite way, contracting it on inhalation. Te

breath may even become imperceptible and be stopped or extended periods, al-

lowing the person to become one with the purer energies within.

Sexual techniques, too, are used on all levels, first with a partner, later celi-

bately and within the practitioner. In all cases, sexual stimulation is experienced,

but then the rising qi o arousal (essence) is reverted upward along the spine with

the help o meditation and massage instead o being lost through ejaculation ormenstruation. Tis is called “reverting essence to nourish the brain” (huanjing

bunao還精補腦) and is supposed to have strong lie-extending effects. In moretechnical Daoist practice o later centuries, it might even lead to the gestation o

an immortal embryo.5

In all cases, the same understanding o the undamentally energetic nature

o the human body-mind pervades all three levels and the same practices are

used in various orms, depending on whether the goal is health, extended longev-

ity, or complete transcendence o this world.

5. On Daoist diet, see Reid 1989, Arthur 2006. On breathing and exercises, see Berk 1986; on sexual

practices, see Wile 1992, Chu 1993.


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Te radition

Te various longevity techniques thus orm an essential aspect o Chinese

culture. Described in a variety o Han-dynasty manuscripts as well as many later

texts, in both religious and medical collections, they occupy a middle ground

between healing and immortality and can be useully applied on either level.

Tey can be described as the culmination o healing and the oundation o im-

mortality; they are the ultimate path to perect health and the entryway to Daoist

perection. Placed between two completely different dimensions yet connected to

both, they represent a separate tradition that originally developed as part o pre-

ventive and antiaging medicine but were soon adopted by Daoists, who ound the

practices helpul to open themselves to the higher powers.

Tus, the earliest traces o a more internalized awareness o energies, an im-

portant eature o Chinese medicine, appears first in longevity texts (Lo 2000,

22). Te first metaphorical nomenclature or parts o the body, essential in Daoist

practice, is ound in Han-dynasty long-lie materials on sexual massage (Lo

2001b, 36). Yet despite its importance historically and in modern lie, the longev-

ity tradition neither orms part o mainstream Chinese medicine nor is it origi-

nally or even essentially Daoist.

Placed at the intersection o fields, the longevity tradition has rarely been the

subject o specialized studies. Only a ew dedicated scholars, such as Sakade Yoshi-nobu, Catherine Despeux, Ute Engelhardt, and Vivienne Lo, have contributed sig-

nificantly to its understanding, and there are only two edited volumes in English

that deal specifically with it (Kohn 1989c, 2006a). It has so ar remained largely

unrecognized or the powerul impact it had on many aspects o Chinese culture.

It is a major purpose o this book, thereore, to present a preliminary his-

tory o the longevity tradition as seen through the lens o healing exercises.

Tis history serves two purposes: raising academic awareness o the tradition

and thereby encouraging urther orays into this field, and providing practitio-ners with a documented history that provides depth and cultural context to

their practice. Te ollowing chapters accordingly present the worldview and

practice o healing exercises in a chronological survey, beginning with medical

manuscripts rom the second century ...; moving on through the ourth

century, when the practices were first integrated into Daoist practice, and the

ang dynasty, when they ormed an important step in the ormal attainment o

immortality; to late imperial and modern China, when patterns emerged that

are stil l prevalent today. In al l cases the book places the exercises into the social

context o the different periods, asking who their practitioners were and what

kind o liestyle they sought to realize.

Beore we embark on the detailed history, however, let us briefly look at the


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Introduction 11

nature and background o Chinese healing exercises and examine comparative

systems that aid in our better understanding o their workings.

Healing Exercises

Chinese healing exercises are traditionally called Daoyin導引.6 According to theWeb site o the Chinese Olympic Committee, this indicates “a orm o calisthenic

exercise that combines breathing with body movements mimicking animals. Dao

means to regulate qi or vital energy by guiding its flow in the body. Yin means to

limber up the body and limbs through physical movement” (“Daoyin: An An-

cient Way o Preserving Lie”; http://en.olypmpic.cn).

Indeed, the term dao essentially means “to guide” or “to direct,” and appears

originally in a political and cultural context in the sense o “leading” the people

in a certain direction. Te character consists o two parts, the word Dao 道 or“way,” which is ofen also used in the sense o “to guide,” and the word cun 寸 or“inch,” which indicates a small distance. Guiding the qi in a concrete, physical

way means thus that one makes a conscious effort to establish harmony with the

Dao in the body, realizing the inherent polarity o yin and yang and aligning

onesel with the cosmos (Ikai 2003, 34).

Te second word o the compound is yin. It originally means “to draw a bow”and indicates the pulling and activating o strength and inner tension as well as

the opening o a space between the bow and the string. Ofen short or daoyin, it

can stand or breathing and exercises in general and be used as a generic term or

“nourishing lie.” Yin may mean to limber up muscles, release joints, or stretch

limbs (Ikai 2003, 33). Te earliest manuscripts on healing exercises consistently

use yin in a general sense or daoyin, meaning the practice o exercises.

More technically, the texts apply the term yin in conjunction with a pain or a

problem, meaning “to pull out [the pain]” or “to release,” as or example in “re-leasing blockages” or “releasing yin.” Tis reflects the idea that one can pull the qi

out rom an ailing part and move it either to or rom a specific area in the body.

Stretching, another classical translation o yin, is one way o doing this. In this

sense the term is applied most commonly when used as a supplement to descrip-

tive or anciul names, such as Eight Extraordinary Vessels Stretch or iger

Stretch. In addition, yin may also indicate the stimulation o a certain meridian

6. A common English translation or Daoyin traditionally has been “gymnastics” (Kohn 2005, 177),a term that matches words used in French and German. However, while the term in these languages

indicates a general physical workout that can range rom highly acrobatic to very mild, in English

“gymnastics” tends to invoke images o superior eats and Olympic training. o avoid this image,

daoyin in this work has been rendered “healing exercises.”


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or yin-yang aspect o the body and the enhancement o qi in certain places.

ranslation o yin accordingly varies among “healing exercises,” “stretch,” “stim-

ulate,” “release,” and “relieve” (Engelhardt 2001, 217).

aken together, Daoyin is a physical exercise practice that purports to drive

all evil out o the body. As the seventh-century medical handbook Zhubing yuan-

hou lun諸病源候論 (Origins and Symptoms o Medical Disorders)7 says: “Tepractice consists o drawing together in one’s body all the bad, the pathogenic,

and the malevolent orms o qi. Ten one ollows them, pulls them in, and guides

them to leave orever. Tis is why it is called Daoyin” (22.1512; Despeux 1989,

239).

Te Practice

More specifically, Daoyin involves gentle movements o the body in all kinds

o different positions together with deep breathing and the ocused mental guid-

ing o qi around the channels. Te oldest sources, manuscripts rom the early

Han dynasty (ca. 200 ...), tend to describe a large range o standing moves

with only ew seated and lying poses. Afer that, the most common posture or

Daoyin is kneeling with heels tucked under the buttocks. Tis was the proper and

most ormal way o sitting in ancient China, where chairs were only gradually

introduced rom Central Asia under the influence o Buddhism (see FitzGerald1965, Holzman 1967).

In addition to the cross-legged way o sitting on the floor, Buddhism also

brought the first seating urniture, a olding chair or camp stool, known initial ly

as the barbarian chair (huchuang胡床; Kieschnick 2003, 231). It was soon super-seded by the corded chair (shengchuang繩床), a flat, low meditation chair with asimple back that allowed the legs to stretch. However, the Chinese were so used to

being on the floor that they resisted having their legs hang down and used it as a

platorm or cross-legged sitting (Kieschnick 2003, 237). Chairs in our sense witha proper back only appeared in China rom the tenth century onward and did not

get used in healing exercises until very recently.

Other basic poses include squatting and sitting with legs straight out or-

ward or spread an-shaped out to the side. Tese postures were considered quite

rude in traditional China and were associated with demons and exorcism (Kie-

schnick 2003, 225; Harper 1985b, 467). Teir use in healing exercises, aside rom

opening the hips and strengthening the legs, shows the intentional separation

7. Te text was compiled upon imperial command by Chao Yuanang et al. and dates to 610. It is the

first Chinese medical text to include longevity methods or various diseases, which are classified

according to symptoms. See Ding 1993, Despeux and Obringer 1997.


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Introduction 13

rom common social norms and patterns and is indicative o the thrust toward

sel-realization. Less requently applied poses are lying on one’s back, side, or

belly, although various orms o meditative qi-guiding are executed in this posi-

tion, including an entire group o practices called “sleep exercises.”

Te ull range o postures is as ollows (Ding 1993, 7):

Sit or kneel (zhengzuo 正坐, Sit on buttocks or kneel with either heels or bigduanzuo端坐, pingzuo 平坐) toes touching.

Squat ( ju 距, dun蹲, kua跨) Crouch down on flat eet with knees outward and thighs wide, buttocks not touching the ground.

Wide seat ( ji箕) Crouch or sit with legs spread wide, like awinnowing basket.

Cross-legged ( juzuo距坐) Sit with knees bent and slightly raised, thighsand buttocks touching the floor.

Lotus posture ( jiafuzuo跏趺坐, Sit cross-legged, with eet on opposite thigh, panxi zuo盤膝坐) buttocks on the floor; can be executed hal or ull.

Lie down ( yanwo偃臥, Lie flat on back using a mat or bed or support.zhengwo正臥)

Lie on the side (zewo側臥) Lie on one side with arms and knees either bentor straight.

Belly down ( fuwo伏臥, Lie flat on the stomach, head turned to one side. fuwo覆臥)

Standing (zhanli站立) Stand up straight, eet flat on the floor, or maybelean against a wall or support.

all kneel ( gui跪) Kneel with the tops o eet, thighs, and kneestouching the floor, but the torso lifed up.

Barbarian kneel (hugui胡跪) Kneel as in tall kneel, but with the right knee

touching the floor and the lef knee upright.Dignified kneel (weizuo危坐) Kneel with one knee touching the floor, buttocks

on right thigh, the other knee upright, spread

open rom the hips.

Lofy pose ( junzuo峻坐) Wide-angled kneel, with thighs stretched to thesides.8

8. A urther description is ound in the ang dynasty: “I you sit in the lotus posture when it is cold, you

will warm up but then your legs will go to sleep. Sit lofy by opening the thighs into a character ba posi-

tion [wide apart]. Tis will drive out the cold and alleviate the five kinds o piles” (Ishinpô 27).


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Ancient races

Chinese healing exercises are very old, and reerences to physical sel-culti-

vation and breathing go back as ar as the third century ..., when the ancient

Daoist text Zhuangzi 莊子 (Book o Master Zhuang) has the ollowing:

o huff and puff, exhale and inhale, blow out the old and draw in the new, do the

“bear-hang” and the “bird-stretch,” interested only in long lie—such are the tastes

o the practitioners o Daoyin, the nurturers o the body, Grandather Peng’s ripe-

old-agers. (ch. 15; Graham 1986, 265)

While showing that the practices existed at the time, the text seems cynical about

mere physical efforts toward sel-perection. On the other hand, it takes breath-

ing exercises very seriously:

Te perected o old slept without dreaming and woke without worrying. Tey ate

without delighting in the taste and breathed very deep. In act, the perected breathe

all the way to their heels, unlike ordinary olk who breathe only as ar as their throats.

Bent and burdened, they gasp out words as i they were retching. Involved deeply

with passions and desires, their connection with heaven is shallow indeed. (ch. 6;

Watson 1968, 77–78)

Te image here is that one who works with these methods has the mind set com-

pletely on the Dao and allows the cosmic energy to flow reely all the way to the

heels. He or she has gone beyond passions and desires and is liberated rom the

concerns and worries o ordinary lie. Physical bends and stretches pave the way

or the internal openness required or such advanced stages.

As or specific practice instructions, the earliest known reerence to healing

exercises is an inscription on a dodecagonal jade block o the Zhou dynasty thatdates rom the ourth century ... Te original unction o the block remains

uncertain (Chen 1982), but the inscription in orty-five characters has been stud-

ied by several scholars (Wilhelm 1948; Engelhardt 1996, 19; Li 1993, 320–323). It

reads as ollows:

o guide the qi, allow it to enter deeply [by inhaling] and collect it [in the mouth]. As

it collects, it will expand. Once expanded, it will sink down.

When it sinks down, it comes to rest. Afer it has come to rest, it becomes stable.

When the qi is stable, it begins to sprout. From sprouting, it begins to grow. As

it grows, it can be pulled back upwards. When it is pulled upwards, it reaches the

crown o the head.


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Introduction 15

It then touches above at the crown o the head and below at the base o the spine.

Who practices like this will attain long lie. Who goes against this will die. (Harper

1998, 126)

Tis describes a undamental qi practice commonly undertaken as part o

Daoyin rom the middle ages onward. People inhale deeply, allow the breath to

enter both the chest and the mouth, and in the latter mix it with saliva, another

potent orm o qi in the body. Moving the tongue around the mouth, they gather

the saliva and gain a sense o ullness, then swallow, allowing the qi to sink. Tey

eel it moving deep into the abdomen, where they let it settle in the central area o

gravity, known in Chinese medicine as the Ocean o Qi and in Daoism as the cin-

nabar or elixir field (dantian 丹田). Tere the qi rests and becomes stable.As adepts repeat this practice, the qi accumulates and becomes stronger.

Eventually it does not remain in the lower abdomen but begins to spread through

the body or, as the text says, it “sprouts.” Once this is elt, adepts can consciously

guide it upward—a technique that usually involves pushing it down to the pelvic

floor and then moving it gradually up along the spine, both in close coordination

with deep breathing. Not only like the modern qigong and inner alchemical prac-

tice o the Microcosmic Orbit (xiao zhoutian 小周天), this is also the pattern o

circulation recommended in the early medical manuscript Maifa 脈法 (VesselModels) and has a counterpart in breath cultivation verses ound in the manu-

scripts Shiwen十問 (en Questions) and He yinyang 和陰陽 (Harmonizing Yinand Yang) (Harper 1998, 125). Yet another text describes a related practice called

the Buttock Pull, a tightening o the pelvic muscles and the perineum:

Rise at dawn, sit upright, straighten the spine, and open the buttocks. Suck in the

anus and press it down. Tis is cultivating qi. When eating and drinking, to relax the

buttocks, straighten the spine, suck in the anus, and let the qi pass through. Tis ismoving the fluid. (Harper 1998, 430)

Moving all the way up the back, the energy eventually reaches the top o the head.

When the entire passage between the head and the pelvic floor is opened, the

Penetrating Vessel is activated, the first energy line in the human embryo, the

central channel to connect people to the Dao. With this pervading line open, long

lie can be attained and one can reach or transcendence.

Classical Patterns

Both the emphasis on breathing and the conscious guiding o qi, ofen ex-

panded into visualization, play an important part in the entire tradition o


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Daoyin. Tey tend to be combined with specific orms o body movements and

stretches that range rom simple, repetitive moves, such as lifing and lowering

the toes, through semiacrobatic eats, such as hanging head down rom a rope, to

complex integrated sequences that take the body through various postures and

open, lengthen, and vitalize all different parts: muscles and joints, tendons and

channels.

A typical Daoyin session should be undertaken during the early morning

hours, when the yang-qi o the Sun is on the rise; practitioners should find a quiet,

secluded, warm, and clean space where they can be undisturbed or the duration;

they should relieve themselves and loosen any restrictive clothing. Ten they

begin with mental concentration and deep breathing, allowing body and mind to

calm and be ready or the practice. Initial ormalities may also include the invo-

cation o protective deities or the ormal chanting o invocations.

As in Daoist ritual, many Daoyin sessions involve clicking the teeth and

beating the heavenly drum (snapping fingers against the back o the head while

placing the palms over the ears) to stimulate internal vibrations and connect to

the subtler levels o qi. Ofen sel-massages o the ace, eyes, and ears accompany

the practice, stimulating the qi-flow in these areas; and many times a practice

called Dry Wash (today known as Marrow Washing) is recommended; this in-

volves passing the hands over the entire body along the lines o the energy chan-nels, again to stimulate and balance the flow o qi.

Te specific needs o the practitioner determine which practices are then

chosen. Numerous simple techniques can improve specific areas o the body; they

relieve pains, relax tensions, and open qi blockages. Many easy sets warm up and

energize the body, moving all the different joints rom eet to head, without o-

cusing on specific symptoms or areas o the body. A number o set sequences

serve to increase qi-flow and enhance health and long lie. Other practices are

more internally ocused: using very little body movement, they emphasize hold-ing the breath or guiding the qi through the different regions o the body, in some

cases visualized in a wide spectrum o colors and as splendid palaces and pas-

sageways. Sessions can last rom ten or twenty minutes to an hour or more, in-

volving also meditations and ecstatic communications with the gods.

Whatever the case, Daoyin serves to increase practitioners’ internal aware-

ness o health and enhances their urge or balance and harmony, making it easy

and even essential to practice an overall moderation that pervades all aspects o

lie and includes the various other longevity techniques. Te practice activates

the energy flow in the deep extraordinary vessels and deepens the sel-conscious

knowledge o how one’s being in the body influences both one’s internal well-be-

ing and the level o tension or ease one brings into the amily and into the world.


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Introduction 19

practice to modern lie.11 Most important among them is B. K. S. Iyengar. Born in

1918 in a small village in Karnataka, he suffered rom various severe illnesses and

malnutrition in his youth and, afer the death o his ather, went first to live with an

uncle, then, at age fifeen, with the sister o . Krishnamacharya, the leader o a

yoga school in Mysore. Tere he trained with much difficulty but persevered and

gained health and flexibility. In 1937, he was asked to teach yoga in a school in

Pune, where he had to overcome more difficulties, both social and physical.

He gradually became an expert, especially in the medical application o the

practice, and his ame spread beyond India when in 1952 he met the violinist Yehudi

Menuhin, who arranged or him to teach in other countries. In 1966, he published

Light on Yoga, which became an instant classic. Patterned in title and structure on

the Hathayoga pradīpikā, it sets the tone or much o modern practice—detailing

the exact perormance o postures, the breathing patterns associated with them, and

the medical and psychological benefits o practice. In 1975 he succeeded in estab-

lishing his own school in Pune, which has since become the major training center

or Iyengar practitioners. He retired rom active teaching in 1984 but still continues

to run medical workshops and supervise the education o uture teachers. His

daughter, Geeta Iyengar, has become the de acto leader o the school.

For our purposes, Iyengar’s work is particularly helpul in that it explains

how certain poses and moves in Daoyin affect the body and why they are benefi-cial or practitioners’ health. It is an important comparative resource or the study

o Chinese healing exercises and provides insights into the comparative evalua-

tion o the practices.

Movement Terapies

Another important comparative perspective, complete with neurophysio-

logical explanations, is ound in modern movement therapies that were devel-

oped to counteract the stress response, a ubiquitous hazard to health in modernsocieties. Tese therapies serve to loosen tight muscles and create an increased

awareness o the inner unction o the body as a living organism.

One example is Feldenkrais Terapy, developed by Israeli physicist Moshe

Feldenkrais (1904–1984). A student o Asian martial arts, he injured his knee in

an accident in 1936 and was told he would never walk again without a limp. He

11. As a result o this development, yoga practices today are available in three major types: medita-

tive and restul with mostly seated and reclining poses (Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Acu-Yoga);moderately strenuous with poses in all body postures and a strong emphasis on alignment and

holding (Iyengar, Kripalu, Forrest, Viniyoga); and serious workouts undertaken in a flow o poses

(vinyasa), working all major muscle groups in the body (Ashtanga, Bikram, Baptiste, Power Yoga).

For an overview o the various schools o yoga, see McCall 2007, 102–114.


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reused to listen to medical advice and cured himsel by consciously noting what

helped and by giving appropriate exercise and rest to his body, learning new ways

o movement and the importance o close awareness in the process. As a result, he

developed a new system o body integration, documented in his book Body and

Mature Behavior (1949; see also Feldenkrais 1972).

In his wake, Tomas Hanna (1928–1990), a philosophy proessor turned healer,

created Hanna Somatics, a system o easy bends and stretches that relieves core mus-

cles most likely to be stiff in modern people (Knaster 1989, 47–48). His starting point

is to see people as conscious, sel-regulating beings whose bodies are not outside

them but are perceived and regulated rom within. He calls this kind o body by the

Greek word “soma” and defines it as a constantly flowing array o sensing and ac-

tions that occur in the experience o each o us. In contrast to the act that everyone

is equipped with a soma, people today suffer rom proprioceptive illiteracy: they

ocus only on the external world and take the body out o the sel (Hanna 1988).

His key concept to describe this proprioceptive illiteracy is “sensory-motor

amnesia” (SMA), which means that people through years o stress-induced mus-

cular contractions have orgotten how it eels to be relaxed (Hanna 1990, 7). Te

ability to control a certain muscle group is surrendered to subcortical reflexes

and becomes automatic in the worst possible way. As a result, people live with

chronically contracted muscles at 10, 30, or even 60 percent. Tese muscles be-come sore and painul, tense with constant exertion, and too strong or their own

good. Tey cause clumsiness, represent a continuous energy drain, and create

postural distortions such as scoliosis (sideward spinal leaning), swayback, hunch-

back, or flat back (with protruding belly).

Physicians, aced with an epidemic o lower back pain, headaches, muscle

tension, and heart disease, have no good explanation and no cure. Tey prescribe

painkillers and other symptomatic remedies—at worst suggesting surgery to re-

place joints—calling the syndrome “regional muscular illness” and putting itdown to the “natural” effects o aging (Hanna 1990, 8).

Hanna, then, distinguishes three major reflexes that tend to lead to sensory-

motor amnesia:

Te Red Light Reflex, also known as the Startle Reflex. A stress response, it works through

abdominal contraction and shallow breathing. It says “Stop!” and halts all body activity.

Te Green Light Reflex, also called the Landau Reflex. An arousal response, it

activates the lower back muscles. It says “Go!” and sets the body up or action.

Te rauma Reflex. A reaction o cringing and pain avoidance, it affects the sides

and the waist. Ofen originally caused by an accident or operation, it says “No!” to pain

and causes the body to remain in a twisted, tense state (Hanna 1988; 1990, 8).


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Introduction 21

o alleviate the effects o these reflexes, Hanna Somatics works with simple

bends, stretches, and twists that change the way the brain processes movement and

that in many cases are similar to Daoyin moves. Disagreeing with the popular prac-

tice o intense stretches, Hanna finds that actively stretching a chronically tight mus-

cle only makes it tighten urther. He thus encourages conscious contraction in

combination with slow, deep breathing; a deep, conscious awareness; and a very, very

slow release—thus teaching the muscle that it can actually let go. Te key to all this is,

as he says, “our sensory-motor ability to control ourselves. I can contract here, I can

release here. As I relax those muscles, what do I eel? I eel a flowing movement right

down my body. I am creating that ability to relax and I open up” (Knaster 1989, 53).

Beyond the relie o back pain and various ailments, the ultimate goal o Han-

na’s system—not unlike the Chinese tendency to expand health practices into lon-

gevity and immortality—is the reedom, independence, and autonomy o the

individual as described in his book Bodies in Revolt (1970). He sees body cultivation

as a major way or people to become totally autonomous—sel-determining, sel-

balancing, sel-healing, sel-regulating, sel-correcting—not only physically but psy-

chologically and in lie in general. He also says—again in agreement with traditional

Chinese practitioners—that aging is a myth; in act, his most basic series o audio

cassettes is called “Te Myth o Aging.” For him, the typical signs o aging are noth-

ing but the effect o long-term muscular tension, orced immobility, and the result-ing sensory-motor amnesia and proprioceptive illiteracy. Tey are learned responses

and they can be unlearned, and he himsel has brought about some amazing “cures”

just by teaching people to be in their bodies more effectively. His work on the deeper

understanding o the production and effects o stress in the body and the impor-

tance o becoming sel-determining through internal awareness thus brings another

comparative explanation to our understanding o Daoyin.

Theoretical Perspectives

Beyond contemporary practices that bear a distinct similarity to Daoyin and

serve to place its methods into a comparative context, there are also several areas

in which modern concepts and scientific analysis help one to see the practice in a

more actual and relevant context. I will ocus here on three: the modern under-

standing o breathing and its importance or health and well-being; the new ad-

vances in physics, biology, and other natural sciences that have led to the

establishment o a new branch o science called energy medicine; and the use o

simple exercises and sel-massages as well as tapping protocols based on acu-

puncture channels in the emerging field o energy psychology.


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Breathing

Breathing is a key unction in the maintenance o the body, and it is also

closely correlated with the mind. ypically, any tension, mental or physical, re-

sults in a short and shallow breath; any relaxation tends to make it longer and

deeper—and vice versa: i one intentionally breathes shallowly, one gets tenser

and more nervous; i one consciously breathes more deeply and slows the respira-

tion down, one becomes more relaxed.

Breathing is closely connected with the autonomic nervous system, which

has two branches: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. Te sympathetic

nervous system is the energizing part. It puts people into a state o readiness to

meet challenges or danger, causing nerve endings to emit neurotransmitters that

stimulate the adrenal glands to secrete powerul hormones (adrenaline) that in-

crease the heartbeat and the rate o breathing. Tey also influence our digestion,

speeding up the metabolic unction through increased acid secretion in the stom-

ach. Te parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, activates neu-

rotransmitters such as acetylcholine that lower the pulse and breathing rate. Its

responses are comort, relaxation, and sleep. Any relaxation method will stimu-

late the parasympathetic nervous system and thus slow down the breath.12

I the sympathetic nervous system is “on,” the parasympathetic is “off,” and

vice versa. Both, moreover, are linked closely with the endocrine system, whichmanages the hormones that control growth, activity levels, and sexuality. It se-

cretes hormones known as endorphins and encephalins, which modulate reac-

tions to stress and pain, affect moods and appetite, and support abilities o

learning and memory. Te more one is in the parasympathetic mode, the better

the endocrine system can do its work. Te same holds also true or the immune

system. Failure to relax it efficiently thus causes many stress-related ailments.

Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system in reaction to a perceived

threat. Te emphasis here is on “perceived.” Originally built into the organism asthe “flight or fight” response, this reaction put the body on high alert when prim-

itive man was conronted with a lie-threatening situation. It enabled him to

marshal all the body’s powers into one ocus, to become stronger than usual,

more alert, and with higher endurance. Running or his lie, he was using every

part o the nervous system, increasing the orce and the rate o the heart, looking

with pupils wide open, and quieting the bladder and the digestive system.

oday, people react to ordinary problems as i they were lie threatening. Te

12. For an accessible description o the human nervous system, see Nathan 1969. Modern scientific

studies and evaluations o breathing are ound in Fried 1999, Miller 2000. For breathing methods

and their effects within the system o yoga, see Yasudian and Haich 1965, Loehr and Migdow 1986,

Farhi 1996, Khalsa and Stauth 2001.


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Energy Medicine

Another modern field that helps our understanding o Daoyin is the emerging

trend toward energy medicine. Recent research in biology, physiology, and physics

has opened up many new ways o looking at body unctions and healing. Tese

branches o science are beginning to create a language that will eventually allow

Western science to integrate Chinese concepts, demystiy the phenomenon and ex-

periences o qi, and make Asian perspectives more widely accessible to the general

public.

Te most important new concepts emerging rom this research are measurable

biomagnetic fields and bioelectricity. Biomagnetic fields are human energy centers

that vibrate at different requencies, storing and giving off energies not unlike the inner

organs in the Chinese system. Teir energetic output or vibrations can be measured,

and it has been shown that the heart and the brain continuously pulse at extremely low

requencies (ELF). It has also become clear through controlled measurements that bio-

magnetic fields are unbounded so that, or example, the field o the heart vibrates be-

yond the body and extends infinitely into space, veriying the Chinese conviction that

people and the universe interact continuously on an energetic level.13

Similarly, bioelectricity maniests in energy currents that crisscross the human

body and are similar to the meridians o acupuncture. Separate rom and, in evolu-

tionary terms, more ancient than the nervous system, these currents work throughthe so-called cytoskeleton, a complex net o connective tissue that is a continuous

and dynamic molecular webwork. Also known as the “living matrix,” this web-

work contains so-called integrins or transmembrane linking molecules that have

no boundaries but are intricately interconnected. When touching the skin or in-

serting an acupuncture needle, the integrins make contact with all parts o the

body through the matrix webwork. Given this evidence, wholeness, which sees “the

body as an integrated, coordinated, successul system” and accepts that “no parts

or properties are uncorrelated but all are demonstrably linked” (Oschman 2000,49, citing E. F. Adolph), is becoming an accepted concept.

Te body as a living matrix is simultaneously a mechanical, vibrational, ener-

getic, electronic, photonic, and inormational network. It consists o a complex,

linked pattern o pathways and molecules that orms a tensegrity system. A term

taken originally rom architecture, where it is used in the structural description o

domes, tents, sailing vessels, and cranes, “tensegrity” indicates a continuous ten-

sional network (tendons) connected by a set o discontinuous elements (struts),

which can also be ruitully applied to the description o the wholeness o the body:

13. Te most important works in this context are Becker and Sheldon 1985; Gerber 1988; Seem 1987,

1989; arg and Katra 1999. A good summary o recent findings appears in Oschman 2000.


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Introduction 25

Te body as a whole, and the spine in particular, can useully be described as tenseg-

rity systems. In the body, bones act as discontinuous compression elements and the

muscles, tendons and ligaments act as a continuous tensional system. ogether the

bones and tensional elements permit the body to change shape, move about, and lif

objects. (Oschman 2000, 153)

Similarly, rom the perspective o quantum physics, the body is constantly

vibrating and orms part o a universal pattern. Te muscles and flesh are made

o highly ordered, crystalline material consisting o tiny atoms vibrating in

groups along coiled molecules. Te patterns are constant, rapid, and orderly.

When subjected to the influence o a magnet or a needle, the field is modified and

the whole pattern changes. Te same also holds true or bones, which consist o vibrating patterns and changing energy fields—dissolving into the nothingness

o pure oscillation when observed closely under the microscope.

Te mind, too, is essentially the same as the body. Tere is no separation o

consciousness rom physical existence. Both are energy fields; they just vibrate at

different speeds: 1022 Hz or the atomic nucleus, 1015 or the atom itsel, 109 or

molecules, and 103 or cells. Sensations in the body accordingly do not come rom

specific sense organs but arise through the fluctuation o different vibratory

fields—all o which are immediately linked with consciousness in a nonlocal wayand, in act, are consciousness.14

Mental and emotional states thus orm part o the larger picture o the body, so

that intention becomes a kind o directed vibration that can have a disturbing or

enhancing effect on health. Mental attitudes give rise to specific patterns o energy

so that magnetic activity in the nervous system o the individual can spread through

his or her body into the energy fields and bodies o others. Tis understanding can

account or the efficacy o therapeutic touch and distant energy healing, during

which the practitioner goes into a meditative state o mind and directs healingthoughts toward the patient. Measuring experiments have shown that we all emit

energies through our bodies and into our auras; the field emanating rom the hands

o a skilled practitioner, moreover, is very strong, sometimes reaching a million

times the strength o the normal brain field. It can, moreover, contain inrared ra-

diation, creating heat and spreading light as part o the healing effort.

Te vision o the body as an energetic network and o the mind as a key actor

in body energetics, a key concept in Chinese medicine and at the root o all Daoyin

practices, is not as alien to Westerners as one might think at first. Without specifi-

14. On quantum physics and its take on the mind, see Zohar and Marshall 1994, Nadeau and Kaa-

tos 1999, arg and Katra 1999, Varela, Tompson, and Rosch 1991.


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patients remeasure the eeling, then repeat the technique—ofen with a slightly

modified affirmation (“Even though I still have a remnant o ——”)—until it goes

down to zero. Not only are urgent issues immediately relieved with this method,

but even long-standing issues are resolved with persistent tapping.

Te technique in this orm is not obviously documented in traditional Chinese

texts, but there is a Daoist method practiced today that involves tapping the three

cinnabar fields and the third eye while chanting an incantation to the powers o

chaos underlying all creation.16 Tere are also multiple qigong tapping routines that

help recover health and stabilize energy (Johnson 2000, 703–707). Within Daoyin,

moreover, time and again practitioners are asked to “drum” ( gu鼓) certain areas othe body, most commonly the chest or abdomen, while holding the breath, thereby

releasing stale or wayward qi, the traditional way o reerring to past trauma, un-

wanted emotional baggage, and physical obstructions. Sel-massages that involve

tapping energy channels on arms and legs as well as around eyes and ears, more-

over, are very common and considered essential to healing, long lie, and the devel-

opment o the subtle energy body necessary or transcendence.

Daoyin, thereore, while ancient in its origins and deeply embedded in a tra-

ditional Chinese culture, in both concepts and practice has relevant counterparts

in modern Western science and psychology, has much to offer in terms o stress

reduction, and can be best understood in comparison with yoga and contempo-rary movement therapies. Its ull power, however, can be appreciated only by un-

derstanding just how it has changed and unolded over the centuries.

16. I received this method through personal transmission rom J. Michael Wood, who obtained it

rom Robert Peng, a high-ranking Daoist qigong master, at the National Qigong Association meet-

ing in 2005.


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29

Chapter One

Early Medical Manuscripts

Te earliest systematic and detailed inormation on Chinese healing

exercises comes rom ancient medical manuscripts that were excavated over the

last twenty years and date or the most part rom the early Han dynasty (late secondcentury ...). Te manuscripts include both technical medical texts and materials

on longevity techniques. Medical texts deal mainly with the structure o the chan-

nels and the healing o diseases with herbal and magical recipes. Works on longev-

ity techniques discuss ways o preventing disease and attaining long lie through

qi-cultivation. Tey present breathing techniques, dietary recommendations, sex-

ual practices, and healing exercises as well as advice on the execution o daily ac-

tivities such as sleep, hygiene, and grooming (Engelhardt 2000, 85).

All these texts are essentially part o the medical tradition. Tey were not in

any major way related to Daoist philosophical speculation or the cult o immortal-

ity. As Donald Harper points out, “[Te manuscript] texts describe a kind o base-

line macrobiotic hygiene or the elite that ocuses on care o the body, not on the

more philosophical and mystical programs o the ‘Neiye’內業 (Inner Cultivation)chapter o the Guanzi 管子, Zhuangzi莊子, or Laozi 老子 [Daode jing]. Te texts’goal o long lie is not identical to the xian仙-cult goal o immortality and tran-scendence” (1998, 114). Exercises in this context are, thereore, very much a health

practice that is not meant to lead to higher states or religious cultivation.

What, then, are the major medical manuscripts? Where were they ound? Whatwas their overall social context? What do they tell us about the social situation o

healing exercises in Han China? What kinds o ailments do they discuss? What pos-

tures o the body do they describe? And how can the exercises in the manuscript be

understood? o answer these questions, let us first look at the texts themselves.

The Manuscripts

Te most important and best-documented find o medical manuscripts, writtenon silk, bamboo, and strips o wood, was discovered in December 1973 in tomb 3

at Mawangdui 馬王堆 near Changsha 長沙 in the province o Hunan 湖南 insouth-central China (figure 1).


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In the Han dynasty, this region was part o the ancient southern kingdom o

Chu 楚, where eudal lords stil l ruled over their own small enclaves in semi-inde-pendence. Te tombs at Mawangdui accordingly belonged to members o a local

eudal amily—the Marquis o Dai, his wie, and his son.

All three tombs consisted o a vertical pit about 17 meters (55 f.) deep, with awooden burial chamber at the bottom. Te burial chamber had a central area to

hold three internested coffins plus our surrounding storage areas or burial goods

(Harper 1998, 14). Undisturbed, the three tombs contained a veritable treasure

Fig. 1: Map of China


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Early Medical Manuscripts 31

trove, which included not only oodstuffs, garments, and miniature servants and

companions, but also the amous Mawangdui banner rom tomb 1. A -shaped,

rectangular piece o colorully illustrated silk, it covered the inner coffin and

showed the move o the tomb’s inhabitant toward the celestial realm, presided over

by the Sun and the Moon together with various deities (Loewe 1979, 10).

Tis tomb held the body o the local ruler’s wie, the Marchioness o Dai, a lady o

about fify years o age. Although her tomb was excavated first, she was in act the last

o the three to die—in 168 ... omb 2 was the last resting place o the marquis him-

sel, a man by the name o Li Cang利蒼, who served as chancellor o the Chu king-dom in Changsha. He was installed as marquis in 193 and died in 186, his tomb

thereore being the oldest. omb 3 housed the son, a younger man o about thirty who,

like his mother, was buried in 168. It is not clear which o the marquis’s children he

was. Some think he was the oldest, Li Xi 利豨, who succeeded him as lord; othersthink he was a younger son who pursued a military career, as possibly indicated by the

various weapons and other military insignia ound in the tomb (Harper 1998, 14).

His tomb contained the manuscripts in a rectangular lacquer box with a

roo-shaped lid, 60 centimeters long, 30 centimeters wide, and 20 centimeters

high (2 f. by 1 f. by 8 in.), ound in a storage area east o the coffin. Most manu-

scripts appeared on silk sheets, but some were also written on slips o bamboo or

flat sticks o wood. In general, bamboo and wood were less expensive and easierto work with, since scribes could erase any errors with a sharp carving knie. Silk

was more precious and demanded higher skill, as technicians had to blot out any

mistakes they made. On the other hand, silk was much easier to handle, old, and

store. Also, it preserved the contents better, because wood or bamboo slips would

over time come out o their astenings and be mixed up (Harper 1998, 18).1

Te total number o manuscripts ound at Mawangdui is thirty, covering

orty-five separate texts (Harper 1998, 17). Tis means that some pieces o silk or

bundles o bamboo slips contained more than one text. Tis grouping in somecases gives an indication o how certain techniques or ideas were possibly related.

Many o the texts are nonmedical, and discuss various aspects o traditional Chi-

nese thought. Te best-known among them are two versions o Laozi’s Daode jing

道德經 (Book o the Dao and Its Virtue), which closely resemble the standard,transmitted version we are amiliar with and thus establish the presence o this

classic in the early second century ... (trl. Henricks 1989). Te texts are writ-

ten in both Han clerical and traditional seal script, the latter—according to tradi-

1. A classic example o mixed-up bamboo tablets ound in tombs is the so-called Bamboo Laozi, an

early version o the Daode jing discovered in combination with various other works at Guodian, also

in Hunan. For a study and translation, see Allan and Williams 2000, Henricks 2000.


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tional historiography—being the dominant orm o Chinese writing beore the

script reorm under the first emperor o Qin in 214. Using the scripts as a basis,

Donald Harper dates some o the manuscripts to the third century ... and

others a bit later (Harper 1982, 2:15; 1998, 4). Recent research, as or example the

study on the development o Chinese writing by Imre Galambos (2006), suggests,

however, that all kinds o different scripts were still being used well into the Han

dynasty, so we cannot be certain o the texts’ date on this basis.

Fifeen texts are specifically medical manuscripts on qi-channels and ways o

preserving health. For the most part, they deal with technical questions, such as the

diagnosis o disorders and the use o moxibustion or cautery—the burning o dried

mugwort or Artemisia vulgaris—on points o the major channels (Lo 2001a, 65).

Five texts among them, one included in two editions, clearly represent an early stage

o the channel and diagnostic system as it became dominant later and was standard-

ized in the central medical classic, Huangdi neijing. Tree contain herbal and magi-

cal recipes; one specializes in childbirth (Engelhardt 1998; Harper 1998, 22–30).

Longevity practice is the key subject in six texts. wo deal almost solely with

sexual cultivation, discussing the best times or and requency o sexual inter-

course as well as herbal remedies or impotence and weakness. Tey are the He

yinyang 和陰陽 (Harmonizing Yin and Yang; trl. Harper 1998, 412–422) and theTianxia zhidao tan 天下至道談 (Discussion o the Perect Way in All underHeaven; trl. Harper 1998, 425–438). wo others touch on sexual techniques but

or the most part provide inormation on how to improve health through breath-

ing techniques, dietetics, and drugs (Stein 1999, 50–65). Tey are the Yangsheng

fang 養生方 (Recipes or Nourishing Lie; trl. Harper 1998, 328–362) and theShiwen 十問 (en Questions; trl. Harper 1998, 385–411).

Te last two ocus on breathing and exercises. Te Quegu shiqi 卻轂食氣(Eliminating Grains and Absorbing Qi; trl. Harper 1998, 305–309) covers ways o

asting by means o breathing exercises. Te text repeatedly contrasts “those who eatqi” with “those who eat grain” and explains this in cosmological terms. Essential

among them or the study o healing exercises, finally, is the Daoyin tu 導引圖 (Ex-ercise Chart; trl. Harper 1998, 310–327). It contains orty-our color illustrations o

human figures perorming therapeutic exercises together with brie captions that in

some cases resemble names known rom earlier literature, such as the Bear Amble

and Bird Stretch.

Texts and Tombs

How would the son o a local ruler come to possess a treasure trove o philosophi-

cal and medical texts? How did texts circulate and come to be copied in ancient


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Early Medical Manuscripts 33

China? In general, texts were not common at the time, and illiteracy was the

norm. Only institutions or people o means—governments, aristocrats, local rul-

ers—could afford the luxury o having materials committed to writing, hiring a

proessional scribe and procuring the expensive necessary materials. Written

texts, moreover, were regarded with awe, since they could transmit knowledge

without personal contact and were in themselves carriers o power. Tey could

also potentially all into the wrong hands, and their owners protected them ac-

cordingly, either stashing them away saely in a treasury or transmitting them

only in conjunction with various reliability tests, pledges o valuables, and seri-

ous vows o trust—not unlike the blood covenants o antiquity, sworn to establish

fighting alliances (Harper 1998, 63; Lewis 1990, 44).

Aristocrats with an interest in medicine and philosophy thus collected rele-

vant materials. Some searched out already written works and had them tran-

scribed; others invited knowledge

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