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Qigong

The ancient history of qigong are identified with the segment within

Chinese society where the training is cultivated. Over time, the

concept and practice of different types of qigong acquired similar

philosophical bases. Within the last three decades, those exercises

were explained from a scientific basis. The common thread

throughout history is the increasing popularity of this system of

mindful practice, which has spread throughout China and now

across the world.

According to the traditional Chinese medical community, the

origin of qigong is commonly attributed to the legendary Yellow

Emperor and the classic Book of Internal Medicine.

Archeological evidence may suggest that the first forms of qigong

can be linked to ancient shamanic meditative practice and gymnastic

exercises. The Mawangdui Silk Texts (168 BCE) shows a series

of Tao Yin (導引) exercises that bears physical resemblance to

some of the health exercises being practiced today.[24][25]

Shamanic rituals and ideas eventually evolved and formalized into

Taoist beliefs and eventually incorporated into the field of

traditional Chinese medicine.[26][27]

In the Taoist tradition, the writings of Lǎozǐ ("Lao Tzu", ca. 400

BCE) and Zhuāngzǐ; ("Chuang Tzu", ca. 300 BCE) both describe

meditative cultivation and physical exercises to extend one's

lifespan and as means of accessing higher realms of existence.

[28][29][30][31][32] The Taoist inner alchemical cultivation

around the Song Dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝; pinyin: Sòng Cháo;

Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao; IPA: [ sʊ̂ŋ tʂʰɑ̌ʊ̯ ]) between 960

and 1279, continued those Taoist traditions.

Buddhism, originating in India and having its source in the Hindu

culture, has an extensive system of meditation and physical

cultivation similar to yoga to help the practitioner achieve

enlightenment. When Buddhism was transmitted to China,

some of those practices were assimilated and eventually modified

by the indigenous culture.[33] The resulting transformation was

the start of the Chinese Buddhist qigong tradition. Chinese

Buddhist practice reaches a climax with the emergence of Chán

(禪) Buddhism in the 7th century AD. Meditative practice was

emphasized and a series of qigong exercises known as the Yijin

Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") was attributed to

Bodhidharma. The Chinese martial arts community eventually

identify this Yijing Jing as one of the secret training methods in

Shaolin martial arts.[34]

Chinese scholars acknowledged Kǒngzǐ ("Confucius", 551–

479 BCE) and Mèngzǐ ("Mencius", 385–302 BCE) as the

 founders of the Scholar qigong tradition. In their writings, they

 alluded to the concepts of qi training as methods of moral

training.[35]