CH'I

Pinyin qi (Chinese: "breath," or "force") in Chinese philosophy, the ethereal substance of which everything is composed. Early Taoist philosophers and alchemists regarded ch'i as a vital force inhering in the breath and bodily fluids and developed techniques to alter and control the movement of ch'i within the body; their aim was to achieve physical longevity and spiritual power. Neo-Confucian philosophers of the Sung dynasty (AD 960-1279) regarded ch'i as emanating from the Great Ultimate (T'ai Chi; q.v.) by way of li, the prime ordering principle of the universe. This school, whose ideas predominate in traditional Chinese thought, held that ch'i was transformed through the yang (active) and yin (passive) modes into the Five Elements (Wu hsing; wood, metal, earth, water, and fire), which in turn formed the basic constituents of the physical universe.