About Qi, Lu Dongbin, Immortality, and Self-Cultivation

About Qi,
Lu Dongbin,
Immortality,
and Self-Cultivation
By way of introduction:
In my fascination with Chinese culture I join an
illustrious list of self-sinicized scholars, adventurers,
rulers, and merchants; from Sogdian traders to
Kublai Khan, from Robert van Gulik and John
Blofeld to Sidney Rittenberg. The list is long.
Ever since I first visited China with my family
in 1998 I continued to go back, both with my
students and by myself, as though to quench some
mysterious thirst. Also at that time started my
fascination with Chinese language, which I have
been studying without much progress, but with a
growing appreciation of its unique grammar, tones,
calligraphy, and poetry.
I approach Chinese culture like an amateur. The
Latin and French root of amateur means “for the
love of.” I love hundreds of uniquely Chinese
inventions from chopstics to silk and firecrackers but
two concepts, in my mind, are the most profound:
the concept of Qi - life energy of the universe and
the Chinese concept of immortality.
“The Tai and the Chi.”
My first visceral experiences of Qi as a vital
life force came from studying with master John
Leonard in Red Hook, the predominantly Black
and Puerto Rican ghetto neighborhood in New York
City. After I finished my MFA and got married I
was looking for a place to exercise and to have a
common activity with my new family and adopted
son. I signed up for a trial class at the local YMCA
on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn where master John
was teaching Tae Kwon Do. Master John was
an African American man with very little formal
education. But despite his illiteracy, or maybe
because of it, master John was a profound teacher
who made a lasting impression on my life.
Master John learned Tae Kwon Do from a Korean
instructor and Tae Kwan Do became his way of life.
I never knew what master John meant by “the Tai
and the Chi.” Words were not the most important
element in master John’s teaching, but he used the
expression “the Tai and the Chi” often as some
mysterious validation for our experiences in martial
arts and in the art of “Deep Breathing.”
“Everybody has a fountain of youth,” master
John would tell us. “With deep breathing you can
cure any disease or discomfort.” As master John
explained, the fountain of youth was located below
the naval. ”Take a deep breath and push your
stomach out!” urged Master John. ”Push hard and
hold it for a few seconds and then completely relax
and let the air out.” Master John’s faith in deep
breathing was boundless. Inspired by his example,
deep breathing became for us a way of healing,
meditation and prayer. Deep breathing helped my
family and me many times as we had our fair share
of life-threatening situations in hospitals and ER
rooms . “The best thing about deep breathing,”
would say master John, “is nobody needs to know
you are doing it. You can do it standing in line in
a grocery store, or any other place; it is your own
private business.” I learned from Master John that
breath carried life.
Is it Qi, Chi, or Ch’i?
Writing Chinese words with a phonetic alphabet
is a daunting task. First of all is the problem of
phonetisation of a non-phonetic language, and
then, since Chinese is a tonal language, the same
spelling but with different inflection of qī, qí, qǐ,
qì would mean different things. It seems it would
be easier to just write 气, but then only people who
know Chinese would understand that. At the present
time there are in use at least three major systems
of Romanization: Wade-Giles, Pin Yin, and Yale.
Wade-Giles is a system introduced by European
Sinologists Thomas Wade and Herbert Giles in
mid 19th century. Chinese linguists introduced in
the 1950-s PinYin, which means spell sound. Then
there is the Yale system created during World War
II for use by US military. To complicate things
further, some writers use the mixtures of all three
systems. After being sufficiently baffled by all this
complexity I’ve decided to use Pin Yin and in Pin
Yin, Qi is pronounced as “Chee”.
The etymology of Qi 气 points to a gaseous
connection. As French Sinologist L. Wieger wrote:
“Curling vapors rising from the ground and forming
clouds above.” The traditional Chinese idiogram
has the radical 米 mi (rice) added to 气; so the
etymology could be interpreted as: nourishing
steams rising from rice as it cooks. Most directly,
Qi is connected with breath.
Qi: what is it, where to get it, and how to keep it?
There are certain words that are untranslatable,
especially words that are used often and embody
the essence of a culture. Qi, also called Ki, Prana,
Rlung, Breath of Life, Force, or Energy, is a
universal concept. In Japanese a polite expression
of good wish is: “ki o tsukete kudasai,” which
means: “please take care and guard your qi.”
A study of Qi through the lens of Chinese culture,
Daoist cosmology, and Tai Ji practice can bring
therapeutic benefits and a greater intellectual and
somatic understanding of this important natural
phenomenon.
A common dictionary will include 10 or more
definitions of Qi. The difficulty of translating
Chinese is rooted in the Chinese language
itself. While in English the content is defined
grammatically through words that are discretely
nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs, in Chinese the
same word could be a noun, verb and adjective.
Meaning in Chinese is contextual. For example
Qi is often compared with water, but this might
mean water, or watering, or watery. This quality of
Chinese language refuses to separate object from
action, subject from object, and sees the world as
a process rather then manifestations of discrete
phenomena.
The advantage of sinicising English language
with words like Qi, is that it stimulates a new
understanding of familiar concepts, like energy,
force, or life. In my attempts to understand Qi I am
excited by the process of translation and closely
examine familiar words and their meaning. For
example Lao Tzu says in chapter 42 of Dao De
Jing:
道生一
一生二
二生三
三生 萬物
萬物負陰而抱陽
沖氣以為和
Dào gives birth to one,
one gives birth to two,
two gives birth to three,
three gives birth to ten thousand things.
As ten thousand things are stretched
between Yin and Yang,
the flow of Qi creates harmony.
I have translated the word chong 沖 as “flow,” but
the word chong means so much more. Chong is
composed of the radical for water 冫and the word
zhong 中 that means balanced or centered. In
earlier versions of Dao De Jing this verse was often
written with the word zhong. Then the translation
would be “centered Qi.” With the water radical
冫added, chong could be translated as flushing,
penetrating, submerging, permeating, and bursting.
So Qi creates harmony by flushing, penetrating,
submerging, permeating, and bursting… How
to find one English word that can carry all these
qualities?
Chinese cosmology envisioned that Qi permeates
the entire universe: all things are made of it, exist
in it, and share it. Heaven and earth, gods, humans,
animals, plants, and minerals all have Qi. Although
the quality of Qi ranges in these various forms they
are all connected through Qi. Qi is the cause and
effect of life in the universe.
Perhaps an understanding of Qi could be gained
obliquely by examining how the word Qi was used
in the past by philosophers, poets and artists.
The famous Tang philosopher, statesman, and poet
Táng Hán Yòu ( 唐韩 愈) wrote in the 8th century
about Dragons, Clouds and Qi:
lóng
xū
qì chéng yún,
龙
嘘
气 成
yún
gù
fú líng
云
固
弗 灵
Rán
云,
yú long yě 。
于 龙
也。
lóng chéng shì qì ，
然
龙
máng
yáng qióng hū xuán jiān。
茫
乘
洋
báo rì
是 气,
穷
yuè，
乎
玄 间
fú guāng jǐng， gǎn zhèn diàn，
薄 日 月， 伏
光景，
shén biàn huà
神
变 化,
shuǐ
xià tǔ,
水
下 土， 汩
yún yì
lín gǔ,
陵 谷，
líng guài yǐ zāi.
云 亦 灵
gǔ
怪 矣 哉。
感 震
电，
Dragon, Cloud, and Qi
Dragon exhales Qi, and Qi becomes cloud.
Cloud certainly is not as supernatural as dragon;
Although dragon can fly this Qi (cloud)
Through boundless ocean of dark space,
In subsiding light of weakening sun and moon,
Creating thunder and lightning,
Spiritualizing transformation,
Watering earth, Carving valleys and hills;
Cloud is also a supernatural being!
How extraordinary this is!
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Xie He, in 532 CE defined essential qualities of
good painting and art in 绘画六法, huìhuà
liùfǎ. He wrote: 气韵生动, qi yun sheng
dong, resonant qi awakens movement.
One of the most extraordinary examples of a painting
that is full of Qi - Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh
In cultivation, Qi is usually connected with two
other treasures: Jīng 精, or essence and Shén 神
that is usually translated as spirit, like spirit that
in-spires.
Lao Tzu says in chapter 10 of Dao De Jing:
concentrate your qi to be supple, become like a
child;
zhuān qì zhì róu, néng yīng ér hū
專
氣 致 柔,
能 嬰 兒乎
Most obviously Qi is connected with breath.
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Breathing connects us with cosmos and with
the world of living. Being pliable and resilient
means life, being calcified and rigid means death.
Cultivating Qi can stop and reverse aging, and help
a person to become an immortal.
Immortality:
Confronted with their own mortality, people of all
cultures struggled with the fact that death signified
an end to personal existence. Ancient Egyptians
mummified the corpses of pharaohs, concubines,
and important ministers along with cats and
domestic animals. I don’t know if ancient Egyptians
foresaw a future where genetic engineering would
be advanced enough for DNA reconstitution of
identical living organisms, but all cultures had
beliefs that extended life beyond the gates of death.
In addition to personal immortality, one could
also consider immortality of ideas and deeds, or
immortality of spirit, or immortality of the genes
carried by children of our children into a distant
future. I feel it is important to make a disclaimer
that immortality of life after death is not the same
as the life of a human being who is an immortal.
The radical idea of personal, physical immortality
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was developed by Chinese culture very early on.
From about four thousand years ago Chinese
culture developed a unique belief that the physical
process of aging could be slowed, reversed and
stopped through self-cultivation. Tis self-cultivation
included meditation, diet, physical exercise, study
of medicine, and cultivation of Qi. Chinese
history and mythology recorded stories of male
and female immortals who transcend death and are
continuing to roam the realms of the visible and
invisible universes. Although there are hundreds
of such stories and historical accounts, the most
famous stories revolve around the figures of Eight
Immortals, or Ba Xian (八仙).
Ba (八) means eight and xian (仙) is
composed of ideograms for human
(ren 人, or 亻) and mountain (shān
山) The word Xian is translated
as fairy, or immortal and could be
understood as a human being in the
mountains.
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Eight Immortals crossing the sea
Lǚ Dòngbin (呂洞賓) is one of these eight enigmatic,
jolly characters. Lu is often portrayed with a magical
sword that can serve him either as a flying device,
or a weapon in conquering demons.
In mythology a sword is traditionally a symbol of
wisdom that is discerning truth from falsehood, like
the sword of Manjushree in Buddhist mythology.
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There are many recorded stories about Lu Dongbin,
ranging from stories canonizing his noble deeds and
character, to popular stories about his supernatural
abilities and amorous encounters with prostitutes. A
story describing Lu’s love affair with White Peony
(白牡丹 bái mǔ dān) is retold in many operas and
erotic films.
One of the famous stories about Lu Dongbin
describes how he decided to give up a career as a
civil official to follow a teacher in the cultivation of
immortality. In this story, set around the year 800
CE in Tang Dynasty, Lu Dongbin was traveling to
the capital to take his imperial examinations. As
evening was approaching Lu Dongbin decided to
stop at an inn to rest his horse and to spend the
night. In the inn, another traveler, a rugged old
man, was getting ready to brew a pot of tea. The old
man invited Lu Dongbin to join him. While the old
15
man busied himself with the burner to boil water
for tea, LuDongbin dozed off for a few minutes.
He dreamed that he had successfully completed the
examinations, receiving honors from the emperor,
and an important position in the government. He also
successfully married and had children. As his fame
and fortune continued to grow so did grow slander
against him and the gossip of envious ministers. Lu
Dongbin was wrongly accused and banished into
exile; his estate was confiscated, his wife committed
suicide and his children scattered throughout the
world traveling as homeless beggars.
Lu Dongbin awoke with a start from this frightening
dream and saw the old man laughing: “ You slept
but a few minutes, yet your whole life passed in
front of you.” At this Lu Dongbin recognized that
this was not an ordinary old man. In fact the old
man was the immortal Zhōnglí Quán (鐘离權). Lu
Dongbin asked Zhonglí Quán to accept him as a
student to study the arts of self-cultivation. That is
how Lu Dongbin and Zhonglí Quán became friends
and how, later on, Lu Dongbin himself became an
immortal.
Sometimes this story is told with Zhonglí Quán
cooking Yellow Millet instead of tea. There is even
a famous opera “The Dream of Yellow Millet”
16
(Huang liang meng) inspired by this story.
Other stories tell how Lu Dongbin practiced selfcultivation in a cave with his wife. His name Lu
(呂) is an ideogram of two mouths symbolizing that
he perhaps had two mouths to feed.
It is curious to note that there is a grave attributed
to Lu Dongbin in Yongle Gong temple, which
contains the bones of a man and a woman whom
archeologists assume to be husband and wife.
Whether they are the bones of Lu Dongbin will
probably always remain a mystery.
Unruly Gods, Divinity and Society in China, Ed. Meir
Shahar and Robert P. Weller, University of Hawai’i Press, 1996 (page 95)
17
Male and female monks at morning Tai Ji practice in Ba Xian
Temple, Xian
When I was planning a visit to Xian, my friend
suggested that I visit the temple of the Eight
Immortals (八仙宫 Bā Xiān Gōng). The temple
was built on the site of the original inn where Lu
Dongbin met Zhongli Quan and had his prophetic
dream. This jewel of a temple, located not far from
the city center, became a favorite of mine and on
several other occasions I made sure to pay a visit to
the temple and to pay homage to Lu Dongbin.
During one of the visits I was able to arrange an
interview with the abbot, who turned out to be a
friendly young man with long, eloquent fingers.
18
I was so surprised by his youth that I could not
restrain myself from asking how he became an abbot
at such a young age? The temple administrator,
who arranged the interview, said that he would
like to answer my question instead of the abbot.
“The abbot,” he said “is my teacher because he is
wise. In Daoism wisdom is not a function of age.”
This answer made good sense to me because one
of the goals of Daoist self-cultivation is to reverse
age. “Daoism,” continued the administrator “is
a paradoxical religion. Studying Daoism is like
planting rice. To plant rice you need to walk
backwards in the flooded field and although you
are bending down you see the sky.”
My conversation with the abbot of Ba Xian temple
surprisingly focused on contemporary issues. The
abbot talked about the importance of opening
Daoist temples as centers of study for all people. I
was amazed at how aware and concerned the abbot
was with environmental degradation and the lack
of harmony between human values and nature.
“Daoism,” said the abbot “is founded on seeking
harmony with nature and seeking understanding
inspired by nature. Daoist understanding of
psychology and physiology could be an inspiration
in human health care.”
For me one of the most treasured attractions of Ba
19
Xian temple is the stone stele carved with the 100
word poem of Lu Dongbin on cultivation of Qi. Lu
Dongbin is a patron of poets, doctors, alchemists,
merchants and scholars. Many of his poems could
be understood as metaphorical maps for selfcultivation and for evolution of consciousness.
Lu Dongbin’s 100 Word stele in Ba Xian Temple, Xian
20
百字碑
1。养气忘言守，
2。降心为不为。
3。动静知宗祖，
4。无事更寻谁？
5。真常须应物，
6。应物要不迷。
7。不迷性自住，
8。性住气自回.
9。气回丹自结，
10。壶中配坎离。
11。阴阳生反复，
12。普化一声雷。
13。白云朝顶上，
14。甘露洒须弥。
15。自饮长生酒，
16，逍遥谁得知。
17。坐听无弦曲，
18。明通造化机。
19。都来二十句，
20。端的上天梯。
21
One Hundred Words Poem
1. Cultivate Qi, forget speech keeping,
2. Quiet heart, act effortlesly.
3. In movement and stillness know your true self,
4. There is nothing to want for; who is searching?
5. The eternal self must respond to the world,
6. When responding, don’t get attached and lost.
7. If not lost, mind dwells on itself,
8. When mind is settled, Qi returns.
9. When Qi returns, Dan Tian is reconstituted;
10. Fire and water arise in center of cauldron,
11. Yin Yang are continually reborn,
12. The mundane is transformed in one clap of thunder.
13. White cloud rises to head’s top,
14.Sweet dew sprinkles the celestial mountain.
15.Drink wine of immortality,
16.Be at leisure; who is going to care.
17. Sit and listen to string-less melody,
18.Gain understanding through Nature’s secrets.
19.This poem is in 20 lines,
20.Now its up to you to climb the heaven’s ladder
22
bǎi
百
zì
字
bēi
碑
100
character
upright stone tablet
yǎng
1。养
qì
气
wàng
忘
nourish
qi
forget
jiàng xīn
2。 降
心
lower
heart
wèi
为
bù
不
act without
yán
言
shǒu
守
speech keeping
wèi
为
acting
1. Cultivate Qi, forget speech keeping,
2. Quiet heart, act effortlesly.
________________________________________
为 不 为 “act effortlessly” is a very important
concept in Chinese thinking. A common expression
无为 wú wèi, or in traditional characters 無 為
means:
without effort.
As Lao Tzu says in chapter 37:
道
常
無為, 而 無不 為
dào cháng wú wéi, ér wú bù wéi
Dao is forever without effort, yet nothing is left undone.
23
dòng
3。 动
jìng
静
zhī
知
zōng
宗
movement
stilness
know
clan
wú
4。 无
no
zǔ
祖
ancestor
shì
事
gèng
更
xún
寻
shuí
谁？
thing
more
seek
who？
3. In movement and stillness,
know your true self,
4. There is nothing to search for; who is looking?
24
zhēn cháng xū
5。 真
常
须
true
eternal
yìng
6。 应
respond
wù
物
things
must
yìng
应
wù
物，
respond
things
yào
要
want
bù mí
不 迷
not lost
5. The eternal self must respond to the world,
6. When responding,
don’t get attached and lost.
25
bù mí
7。不 迷
not
lost
xìng
8。性
nature
xìng
性
zì
自
zhù
住，
nature
self
dwells
zhù qì zì huí
住 气 自 回.
dwells
qi self returns
7. If not lost, mind will dwell on itself,
8. When mind is settled, Qi returns.
26
qì huī
9。气 回
qi returns
dān zì
jié
丹
自
结，
dan
self
bear fruit (settle)
9. When Qi returns, Dan Tian is reconstituted;
27
yīn yáng shēng fǎn
11. 阴
阳
生
反
yin
yang
pǔ
12. 普
common
born
huà
化
transform
again
fù
复，
again
yī shēng
一
声
one
sound
léi
雷
thunder
11. Yin Yang are continually reborn,
12. The mundane is transformed in one clap of
thunder.
Tai Ji diagram shows continued movement of Yin Yang as they are
renewed and transformed.
普 (pǔ) is common, or ordinary, like the expression:
普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) - common speech.
28
Light is dramatically separated from darkness in
the image of world’s transformation.
Gustave Dore’s (1866) engraving
illustrating the Story of Creation in the Bible.
29
bái
13。白
yún cháo dǐng shan
云
朝
顶
上
white cloud
gān
14。甘
lù
露
sweet dew
pilgrim
sǎ
洒
up
xū mu
须 弥。
sprinkle Me
Ru (mountain)
13. White cloud rises to head’s top,
14.Sweet dew sprinkles the holly mountain.
________________________________________
In Daoism human body is seen as a reflection of
cosmos. In the head is located the Upper Dan Tian,
where 9 mystical mountains with sacred cavities are
located. The spine is seen as ridges of mountains.
The mystical mountain, Mount Me Ru is the image
of the human body with the base in Lower Dan Tian
and top in the head in Upper Dan Tian.
30
Nei Jing Tu (Diagram of Inner Cultivation),
a drawing from the stele in Ba Xian temple, Xian
31
zì yǐn cháng shēng jiǔ
15。自 饮
长
生
酒，
self drink
long
life
wine
xiāo yáo shuí dé zhī
16，逍 遥
谁
得 知。
be free
who
know
15. Drink wine of immortality,
16. Be at leisure; who cares?
_________________________________________
逍 遥, xiāo yáo is a part of the name of the famous
first chapter of Zhuan Zi, 逍遙遊, xiāo yáo yóu,
Free and Easy Wondering.
32
zuò tīng
17。坐 听
sit listen
míng
18。明
understand
wú
无
without
tōng
通
through
xián
弦
string
qǔ
曲，
melody
zàohuà jī
造化
机。
Nature
secret
17. Sit and listen to string-less melody,
18. Gain understanding through Nature’s secrets.
_______________________________________
Many cultures speak about the silent music of the
cosmos. Legends tell us that Pythagoras could
hear the music of the spheres. People believed
that there was an intelligent design in the creation
of the world and Goethe said that “Nature, is an
open secret.”
33
zuò tīng
wú
xián
qǔ
17。坐 听
无
弦
曲，
sit listen without string melody
míng
18。明
understand
tōng
通
through
zàohuà
jī
造化
机。
Nature
secret
17. Sit and listen to string-less melody,
18. Gain understanding through Nature’s secrets.
34
dōu
19。都
all
lái
来
èr shí
二十
come
twenty
duān dì shàng tiān
20。端 的
上
天
after all
up
heaven
jù
句，
sentences
ti
梯
ladder
19. This poem is in 20 sentences,
20. Then go up on heaven’s ladder.
35
Mark Chagall’s litograph of Jacob’s dream
ascending a ladder to heaven.
Many cultures have stories about a ladder that
connects heaven and earth. When I talked with my
friend Arthur about Lu Dongbin’s poem he said that
the poem could be understood as a conversation at
a drinking party. As if Lu Dongbin says: “I told you
about my self cultivation practice in a poem of 20
lines. Now it is your turn to tell us how are you
going to ascend the ladder to heaven.”
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Yin Yang Pas De Deux
Pas de deux is a French expression that means a
dance for two. Often the expression “Yin Yang”
is written: “Yin and Yang.” The particle “and”
implies that there is a Yin and there is a Yang, like
there are good things and there are bad things. But
this is a distortion of the Yin Yang principle. In
the traditional story Fu Xi 庖牺, the legendary
Chinese cultural hero, invented Yin Yang principle
by observing the ways of Heaven and Earth. Fu Xi
observed that a hill was partially illuminated by
the sun and partially in shade. Fu Xi conceived Yin
Yang as two sides of the same hill. When I told
this story to 4th grade students in a lesson about
Chinese culture, the nine-year-old Patrick wrote a
poem about Yin Yang:
37
Yin Yang Poem
In the darkness of cosmos
there are planets of light.
On the planet there is a mountain,
One side light, one side dark,
One whole mountain.
On the mountain there is a tree,
One side light, one side dark,
One whole tree.
On the tree there is a bird,
One side light, one side dark,
One whole bird.
Inside the bird, there is darkness,
In the darkness, there are planets of light.
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Yin Yang principle is one of the most important
concepts in Chinese culture. My teacher, master
Xu asks his students: “When we sit in the classroom, what is Yin and what is Yang?” “ With coffee
in my cup, what is Yin and what is Yang?” Some
say that in the Dao De Jing verse quoted on page 7 of this booklet “two” symbolize Yin Yang and the
line from this verse: “two give birth to three” could
be understood that Qi is born from the interaction
of Yin Yang’s pas de deux.
The concept of Yin Yang was conceived by Fu Xi
about 5000 years ago. Fu Xi also invented Ba Gua,
the system that explains universal changes and
transforamtions of Qi.
39
To understand qualities and transformation of Qi it
is important also to study 五行, wǔxíng, commonly called 5 elements, but more accurately translated
as the system of 5 phases.
A study of Qi would also involve a study of Feng
Shui, 风 水 or in traditional characters, 風 水.
It is said that water, shuǐ 水 absorbs and collects Qi
and wind, fēng 風, disperses Qi.
Specific exercises that foster a healthy renewal of
Qi are usually called qì gong 氣功, or “Qi work”
A common expression says:
意 到, 气 到, yì dào, qì dào，this could be
translated as: “Qi follows Intention.”
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Everything has Qi.
Chinese culture is a culture of Qi. Qi defines Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), philosophy, religion, cosmology, and all arts, including martial
practice, environmental design, Feng Shui, calligraphy, and divination. Everything has Qi. I am
reminded about a conversation I had with a traditional leader of the Skokomish people. He said to
me: “Hirsh, we believe that everything has hwei:
rocks, trees, clouds, people, all have hwei.” Daoist
spirituality is alike in this way to Native American
spirituality that sees the world as animated, living,
transforming, spiritual being.
I want to conclude my brief exploration of Qi with
an ancient character for qi that etymologically expresses Qi as a fire that does not burn; an expression in Daosit liturgi says:
dào qì cháng cún
May the Dao of Qi Continue Forever!
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This Qi booklet was composed
by Hirsh Diamant in Summer of 2008
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