A Practical English-Chinese Library of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Chinese Qigong
Guo Yi et al.
Publishing House of Shanghai College of TCM, 1990

"qigong" has a long history and diverse schools. In ancient times it got various names such as "Xingqi" (means "promoting and conducting qi"), "Fuqi" (means "taking qi"), "Tuna" (means "expiration and inspiration"), "Daoyin" (means "inducing and conducting qi"), "Anqiao" (means "massage"), "Shushu" (means "breath-counting"), "Zuochan" (means "sitting meditation"), "Shiqi" (means "living on qi"), "Jingzuo" (means "sitting still"), and "Wogong" (means "lying exercise"). As the "internal qi" of qigong and the "external qi" emitted by qigong masters are invisible and inaudible to ordinary people, qigong is commonly considered to be mysterious and profound.

A Table of Contents

1. General Survey
   1. The concept of qigong, development history
   2. The theoretical basis of qigong: qigong and yin-yang, qigong and channels and collaterals, qigong and the viscera
   3. Modern research on qigong: the influence of qigong on the neuromuscular system, the respiratory system, the digestive system, the sanguimotory system, metabolism and the endocrine system, the influence of external qi on bacteria and animals
   4. Acupoints and orifices commonly used in qigong: dantian and three passes, acupoints on the fourteen regular channels and extrachannel-points
   5. The three key elements of qigong: the regulation of body, the regulation of breathing, and the regulation of mind
   6. Principles of qigong dirigation: natural relaxation and tranquilization, association of activity and tranquility, upper void and lower repletion, interfollow of mindwill and qi, moderate training durations and degrees, concurrence of training and nourishing, proceed in order and advance step by step
   7. Time and direction of qigong dirigation
   8. The effects of qi: the practitioner's effects of qi, the qigong therapist effects of qi sensation, the patient's effects of qi sensation
   9. Points for attention in qigong dirigation
2. Maneuvers of qigong
   1. Static qigong: relaxation, inner-nourishing, roborant, heavenly circuit, heavenly circuit self-rotation, reversing yang, gathering sun essence and moon cream, six character formula
   2. Dynamic qigong: head and face, eye, nose and teeth, ear, neck and nape, shoulder and arm, sternocostal, abdomen, waist, lower limbs, regulating-heart, regulating-spleen, regulating-lung, regulating-liver, regulating-kidney, recuperating-life, iron crotch, smoothing-liver and improving-eyesight, conducting qigong to open up the ren and du channels, conducting qigong to lift and lower yin and yang, yijinjing (changing tendons), six-section brocade, eight-section brocade
3. The emission of external qi in qigong
   1. Training qi: by static qigong, by dynamic qigong, double-nine yang qigong, rubbing abdomen to strengthen qi qigong
   2. Conducting qi: Conduct qi in closing-palms oscillating-stump style, conduct qi in one-fingered-meditation style, conducting qi in the style of pushing and pulling palms facing each other, conduct qi in the style of forming a circle out of three points, conduct qi in a burst style, conduct qi in a spiral style, cold-style and hot-style conducting qi
   3. Emitting qi: hand forms, manipulations, qi patterns in the emission of qi
4. Treatment of common diseases
   1. Diseases and syndromes of the respiratory system: upper respiratory tract infection, chronic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis
   2. Diseases and syndromes of the digestive system: chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer, diarrhea, constipation, cirrhosis, gallstones, cholecystitis
   3. Diseases and syndromes of the circulatory system: primary hypertension, palpitation, rheumatic valvular heart disease
   4. Diseases and syndromes of the urogenital system: pyelonephritis, uroschesis, impotence, prospermia, seminal emission, dysmenorrhea, menoxenia, chronic pelvic inflammation
   5. Diseases and syndromes of the motor system: stiff neck, cervical spondylopathy, scapulohumeral periarthritis, arthritis
   6. Diseases and syndromes of the nervous system: sequelae of cerebrovascular accident, multiple peripheral neuritis, sciatica, facial paralysis, headache
   7. Neurosism, myopia, mastadenitis
5. Deviations in qigong dirigation