So far, there is no direct literature about the origin of Qigong. At present, the research on the origin of Qigong is based on the mutual evidence of several indirect documents. Mainly:
According to ancient records, Shangshu, the earliest history book in China, recorded that there was a flood in the Central Plains of China during the Tang Yao period more than 4,000 years ago. Historical records and Mencius have similar accounts. Another historical book, Lu Chunqiu Ancient Music, records that,
Because it is rainy and humid, people are prone to stagnation of qi and blood, or pain in the whole body and joints, so dance is used to promote blood circulation and replenish blood to treat diseases. Two thousand years ago, the classic medical book "Huangdi Neijing Su Wen Yi Fang Yi Zhi" said that the terrain in the Central Plains is flat and humid, and people are prone to osteoarthropathy such as cold limbs, joint swelling and pain, limb weakness and weakness, so they should be treated with acupressure stilts, so the acupressure stilts came from the Central Plains. This shows that the "dance" which once had the function of "propaganda" in Tang Yao has developed into "walking on stilts" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
It is recorded in the theory of changing essence and qi in Neijing. "The ancients lived between animals, moved to avoid the cold, and lived in the shade for the summer. There is no admiration fatigue inside, and there is no official shelf outside. In this desolate world, evil cannot go deep. " In the Neolithic Age, our ancestors had a hard life, living in the unpredictable nature where wild animals infested, and relying on exercise to strengthen metabolism and increase heat to avoid the cold; Find a cool place to rest quietly, reduce metabolism, reduce heat production and avoid high temperature in summer; The heart is not disturbed by the seven emotions, and the appearance is not washed by fame and fortune; This is a simple society, people have a quiet, happy and indifferent mentality, so diseases and evil invasion will not go deep into the human body. This is a description of primitive qigong health care. Qigong is still divided into two categories: dynamic and static, which are in the same strain as the ancient people's dynamic and static health preservation.
According to 1975 archaeological discovery, painted pottery pots and other cultural relics from Majiayao culture period were unearthed in Liuwan Platform 3, Ledu District, Qinghai Province. On the painted pottery jar, there is a painted floating portrait with eyes slightly closed, mouth nearly round, slightly leaning forward, abdomen bulging, hands open, placed on both sides of abdomen, knees slightly bent, feet apart, slightly wider than shoulders, which is an acrobatic image of standing pile breathing. According to relevant experts' research, this cultural relic has a history of more than 5,000 years, and the acrobatic portrait is just a gesture of the ancients. More interestingly, the portrait is a man's head and a woman's body, that is, a man's upper body and a woman's lower body. Although this is a kind of reproductive worship of the ancients, the integration of men and women embodies the theoretical thought of reconciling Yin and Yang and integrating Yin and Yang. This strongly shows that China Qigong has a history of at least 5,000 years. 1957, a Neolithic tomb was also excavated in Shangsunjiazhai, Datong County, Qinghai Province. Among them, there is a painted pottery basin with dancing patterns, on which black dancing figures are painted. The whole painting has prominent characters and vivid expressions. There are three groups of five people, hand in hand, facing the same person and wearing ornaments. According to textual research, it also belongs to Majiayao culture. From the initial imitation of animals to guidance, it is called bionic qigong, such as five-bird play and six-bird play.
It is said that Qigong originated from the self-care of primitive people. In addition to ancient books and unearthed cultural relics, ancient medical books and doctors also attached great importance to qigong therapy. Judging from the use of Qigong by Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, martial arts, arts and other schools, although they have different purposes, they all play the role of Qigong in fitness and health preservation, which is related to Qigong's instinctive self-care.
China Qigong has experienced a long period of primitive germination. With the improvement of social productive forces and the development of culture, alchemy entered the academic hall during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which was embodied in the theory of a hundred schools of thought contending.
It is recorded in Su Wen's "The Theory of Ancient Naivety": "I heard that there were real people in ancient times, holding heaven and earth, grasping yin and yang, breathing essence, keeping god independently and keeping the same muscles, so they could live a long life in heaven and earth without end." "Virtual evil is a thief wind. When you avoid it, you are cold and empty. The true spirit follows, and the spirit stays inside. You are always sick. "
Zhuangzi in the Coffin tells the story that the Yellow Emperor asked Guang for a way to keep in good health: the Yellow Emperor visited Guang and Guang rudely told him to go back to fast for three months and then come back; Emperor Huang did so. Seeing that he was so pious, he summarized the secret of qigong health preservation as follows: "I am so reserved, I am so ignorant, I don't listen, I am calm, and I am self-righteous." It must be quiet and clear, and you can live forever without hardship and shaking your essence. "
The representative of Confucianism is Confucius, who is the earliest educator and thinker in history. In Confucian classics, The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, The Doctrine of the Mean and University, so-called Confucian thoughts are put forward, such as "learning things", "honesty", "honesty", "self-cultivation", "governing the country" and "leveling the world".
Mencius advocated "cultivating my noble spirit".
In Zhuangzi, we described "Xin Zhai" and "Sit Forgetting" in detail in the form of a dialogue between Confucius and Yan Hui. For example, in Zhuangzi's World, Confucius said, "If you have the will, you don't have to listen with your ears. You have to listen with your heart. Listening stops at the ear, and the heart stops at the symbol. Those who are angry are also empty and wait for things, and those who are empty are also empty. " Yan Hui talked to Confucius about the experience of forgetting to sit, saying, "It is called forgetting to sit when you become a posture that is smart, knowing from the shape, and being the same person." Sitting and forgetting is the early meditation, so Guo Moruo pointed out in Sitting and Forgetting Kung Fu: "Sitting and Forgetting Kung Fu can be traced back to Yan Hui, ... Yan Hui's theory of sitting and forgetting, which is even the beginning of China's sitting and forgetting."
"Guanzi" also believes that "you can keep one and abandon all disasters."
Yu Ming in the Warring States Period, also known as Qi Ming Yu Pei, Qi Ming Yu Ming and Qi Ming, is a cultural relic from the end of the 5th century BC to the beginning of the 4th century BC, and is now in the Tianjin Museum. This is a precious physical object that reflects the history of Qigong, and it is also the earliest physical object that completely describes Qigong exercise so far. Forty-five inscriptions are engraved on this hollow dodecahedron jade ornament. Wen said: "The moving qi is deep, but it is preserved. It will stretch when stored. When you stretch it, you will fall. When you descend, you will be fixed. It is really cute, cute is long, long is retreating, and retreating into the sky. The sky is above and the earth is below. Shun is life, and reverse is death. " At present, although there are different opinions about what qigong skill is described in the inscription, it shows that qigong skill did reach a quite high level during the Warring States period.
Hua Tuo, on the other hand, based on the idea that "running water does not rot, and six animals move in Huainanzi", combined with his own clinical experience, created a set of moving skills, saying: "I have a five-bird play, one of which is a tiger, the other is a deer, the third is a bear, the fourth is an ape and the fifth is a bird. Can "get rid of diseases, benefit the hoof and foot, and be a guide. If you are unhappy, play the role of a bird and sweat happily. Because you are covered in powder, your body is light and you want to eat. "
1973 among the funerary objects unearthed from No.3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, there are several precious qigong cultural relics, such as guide maps, bird bones eating qi, and health-preserving prescriptions, which reflect the development of qigong at that time.
The Guide Map is a colorful silk painting with various postures of men and women, which was incomplete when unearthed. There are 44 existing pictures, arranged in four rows, with many inscriptions, but only 28 can be identified. According to textual research, the owner of the tomb was the son of Li Cang, then prime minister of Changsha, and was buried in 168 BC. The whole picture is 50 cm high and about 100 cm long. It turns out that both the general name and the author have no preface and postscript. Now it is named after excavation, depending on the content.
"Quegu Shi Qi Pian" is a monograph mainly describing the practice method of eating qi (that is, breathing exercise), and it is also the first book devoted to the study of Quegu in history. There are only 26 lines in the book, engraved on a bamboo tube, and the methods and indications of eating grains and gas are clearly discussed. In addition, the book also tells how to master the characteristics that the climate in different seasons and four seasons is not suitable for eating gas, which embodies the concrete application of the holistic view of TCM health care in Qigong exercise.
Health-preserving prescription is devoted to the principles and methods of health-preserving, especially qigong health-preserving. The method of treating qi described in Ten Questions is that "inhalation must be deep and long, new qi is easy to keep, old qi is easy to stay, and new qi is easy to live." Those who are good at qi make qi stagnation dissipate at night, and new qi gathers to unblock the nine orifices, which actually enriches the five internal organs and six internal organs. " It emphasizes the role of breathing exercises in getting rid of the old and absorbing the new. The four points for attention in treating qi discussed in this paper are complementary to those in Quegu Chiqi. "Avoid eating gas: avoid turbid yang in spring, avoid soup in summer, avoid frost and fog in autumn, and avoid hiding in the east."
In Changsha, the bronze mirror of "immortals drinking Yuquan" in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty was also unearthed. In addition to the four gods (Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu), immortals and auspicious beasts, there are three inscriptions: "Fang is in a beautiful place, which is really a coincidence. There are immortals in the world who are thirsty for Yuquan and jujube." Fang Fang was an official who made imperial vessels for the emperor at that time. The bronze mirror used by the Yellow Emperor is engraved with the method of practicing valley by the immortal family, which shows the degree of qigong development at that time. This is consistent with the method of swallowing body fluid in the acupuncture theory of Neijing Suwen Legacy.
Starting from the concept of "Qi" in China's classical culture, let's talk about the connotation of Qigong. To understand this, we need to start with our views on the movement of human life.
As we all know, the fundamental difference between man and ordinary animals lies in his unique mental activity-conscious activity. Therefore, human life is the unity of spirit and body. In this regard, the ancients had many incisive expositions. For example, "The Original Training of Huainan Zidao" said: "Those who are shaped are born; Angry people are full of life; Heaven, the system of life is also. " Form here refers to the body, while God is a concrete substance, and people's consciousness and spiritual activities are the embodiment of their functions. This passage tells us that people's mental and physical activities are nourished and maintained by the flowing qi in the human body; The gasification process at all levels is not only based on form, but also controlled by spirit and will.
According to the above-mentioned holistic view of human life, which is based on the trinity of form, qi and spirit, people can strengthen the control of spirit and mind on the body and the operation of qi in the body through active exercise of spirit and mind, thus stimulating and strengthening the internal functions of the human body and achieving a high degree of harmony between body and mind. This method was collectively called "self-cultivation" by the ancients.
The pre-Qin philosophers had different views on social issues, but they all attached great importance to self-cultivation. Guan called this method of self-cultivation "mental method" and "internal strength"; Zhuangzi thinks that there is a difference between "the way of vegetarianism" and "the art of shaping". Mencius advocated "conception" and "nourishing qi", saying that "I am good at cultivating my noble spirit"; Xunzi believes that human nature is evil, so he advocates "the art of treating qi and nourishing heart"; Health-preserving physicians and doctors have prescriptions for "guiding", "promoting qi", "eating qi" and "keeping in good health". The inscription on the cultural relics of the Warring States period and the jade carving of Qi are the methods of Qi. Among the cultural relics unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, there are guide maps, magpie bones, food and health prescriptions, etc. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Dan Dao, which aimed at longevity, became popular, which was different from Inner Dan and Outer Dan. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced and Taoism was founded. When this method of self-cultivation is combined with religious practice, the names are even more varied. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, martial artists have said that they have internal skills.
The word "Qigong" first appeared in Xu Xun's Lingjianzi in the Jin Dynasty, but it didn't become a term until Yun Qi's Qijue in the Song Dynasty. In the secrets of Shaolin Boxing in the late Qing Dynasty, there is a chapter called "Qigong Interpretation", which points out that "Qigong has two theories: one is to nourish qi and the other is to practice qi", but the word Qigong has not been widely used. It was not until 1950s that Liu's book "Practice of Qigong Therapy" came out that Qigong, as a treatment method of traditional medicine, was popularized.
There is a historical evolution from the "self-cultivation" of pre-Qin philosophers to the popular "Qigong" today. Great progress has been made in both content and form, but they are essentially the same. Accordingly, the Wushu Sports Management Center of the State General Administration of Sport sorts out the connotation of "Qigong" in the Fitness Qigong Training Course (Trial) written by experts who have certain attainments in Qigong theory, research and practice in China as follows:
Qigong is a holistic view of human life based on the traditional culture of China. It is a skill to improve one's health, develop one's potential and achieve a high degree of physical and mental harmony by adjusting one's heart, breathing and body movements.
The above definition of Qigong shows that the theoretical basis of Qigong is the holistic view of human life in China traditional culture; It is concluded that the * * nature of qigong exercises of various schools throughout the ages is "regulating heart, regulating breath and regulating body"; It is pointed out that the basic function of Qigong is to improve body and mind and develop people's inner potential.
It should be pointed out that Qigong is not only an effective way to strengthen one's own life movement, but also an important way for human beings to understand the world and the laws of one's own life movement.