Within the depth-psychology and comparative religion corpus indexed by Seba, Qi emerges primarily through Daoist cosmological and medical frameworks rather than through Western psychological categories, though its functional resonances with concepts of psychic energy—libido, pneuma, vital force—are unmistakable. The Daoist Handbook corpus, anchored by Livia Kohn’s encyclopedic scholarship, treats Qi as the foundational substrate of existence: simultaneously cosmic, somatic, and psychological. Kohn’s contributors distinguish prenatal Qi (xiantian) from postnatal Qi (houtian), orthopathic Qi from pathogenic Qi, and trace the concept’s elaboration from Han medical manuscripts through Tang longevity practices to the inner alchemy (neidan) traditions of the Song, Yuan, and Ming. A central tension runs through these texts: Qi is both a material phenomenon—measurable, as twentieth-century Qigong researchers claimed, by electromagnetic sensors—and an ontological principle that underpins consciousness, spirit (shen), and the refinement of self toward immortality. The Zhuangzi corpus gestures toward Qi’s cosmogonic functions without foregrounding the term explicitly, while the I Ching tradition employs related energetic concepts (Qian, Kun, transformation) that share Qi’s underlying logic. What makes Qi indispensable to a depth-psychological concordance is its role as the medium through which inner nature, desire, discipline, and transcendence are articulated in Chinese thought.
Human beings live in qi, and qi fills human beings. From heaven and earth to the myriad beings, all need qi to live. Whoever can guide the qi will nourish his body on the inside and protect himself against harmful influences on the outside.
This passage, citing the Baopuzi, articulates the foundational cosmological and somatic claim that Qi is the universal medium of life, navigable through disciplined practice for both internal nourishment and external protection.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000thesis
The bodily form [xing] is the residence of life; the qi fills this life while the shen controls it. If either of them loses their proper position, they will all come to harm.
Citing the Huainanzi, this passage establishes the tripartite hierarchy of form, Qi, and spirit (shen), positioning Qi as the energetic intermediary that sustains life between corporeal structure and divine consciousness.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000thesis
This new wave of popularity was accompanied by an increasingly mechanistic understanding of the body and of qi. In 1977 and 1983, research institutes in Shanghai and Beijing developed special sensors to measure the qi radiated by a Qjgong master. They found that qi resembled infrared rays, electromagnetic waves, static electricity, magnetism or the flow of tiny, subatomic particles.
This passage documents the twentieth-century materialist reinterpretation of Qi, in which modern Chinese science attempted to ground a traditionally cosmological concept in measurable physical phenomena.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000thesis
Those who eat grain eat what is square; those who eat qi eat what is round. Round is heaven; square is earth.
This cosmological formulation from a Mawangdui manuscript distinguishes alimentary Qi absorption from grain consumption, encoding Qi as a heavenly, circular principle opposed to the earthly and square nature of ordinary food.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
his understanding of the dual practice of Chan meditation and inner alchemy combines the Chan cultivation of one’s nature with the alchemist’s refinement of qi.
This passage shows how late Chosŏn inner alchemy synthesized Chan Buddhist nature-cultivation with the alchemical refinement of Qi, demonstrating Qi’s role as the medium joining somatic practice and spiritual transformation.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
primal qi examination (yuanqi ft~), hemerology (ri,ze El 1’), hexagram hemerology (limi qifen /., El -1:~’-), encounter analysis ifengdw,n ::if: ti), qi observation (wangqi “:}_ ~) and cloud-pattern analysis (yunqi ~ ~).
This catalogue of Han divinatory techniques demonstrates Qi’s extension into meteorological, calendrical, and omenological interpretation, functioning as the observable index of cosmic tendency and temporal pattern.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
the presence of the governmental office of Watcher of Qi (houqi 1~ 1.; see Bodde 1959), comprising twelve experts who worked under the Grand Astrologer.
The institutionalization of Qi-watching as a state function illustrates how Qi’s cosmological significance was sufficiently recognized in Han government to warrant dedicated bureaucratic expertise alongside stellar and meteorological observation.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
Qjgong, and longevity, 82; and neidan, 489; and Qing, 651; and Tang texts, 361; Association of, 84; in Korea, 802; rise of, xxvi, xxxii, 74, 83-85
This index entry maps Qigong—the systematized cultivation of Qi—across multiple historical periods and geographical locations, indicating the term’s pivotal organizational role in Daoist longevity practice and its modern revival.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
the Song provided the first extant example of a work dealing exclusively with health techniques for the elderly. This, Chen Zhi’s Yanglaofer,gqin shu… describes qi and gymnastic exercises.
This passage situates Qi cultivation within the Song dynasty’s emerging gerontological literature, indicating how Qi-based practices were integrated into mainstream health discourse for aging populations.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
They can still be found in folk practices, such as what is now called Qgong (see Engelhardt 1987; Despeux 1988; Miura 1989; Esposito 1995).
This passage notes the survival of Qi-based cultivation practices in Qing-era popular culture and modern Qigong, framing the transition from elite Daoist tradition to mass folk practice.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000aside