![]() ![]() It thus combines “potentiality” with “matter”. It is energy that has the capacity to become material object while remaining what it is. This meaning is then expanded to encompass all phenomena, both physical and spiritual. As a philosophical category, qi originally referred to the existence of whatever is of a nature to change. Qi is the life principle but is also the stuff of inanimate objects. To stress one at the expense of the other would be to misunderstand qi. ![]() Qi is both what really exists and what has the ability to become. The philosophical use of the term underlines the movement of qi. In popular parlance qi is applied to the air we breathe, steam, smoke, and all gaseous substances. The philosophical use of the term derives from its popular use but is nonetheless distinct. In places the material element may be to the fore, in others, what we term energy. According to this equation matter and energy are convertible. Perhaps the best translation of the Chinese word qi is provided by Einstein’s equation, e=mc2. I am reading “The Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy” by Zhang Dai-Nian (1909-2004) at the moment and the translator, Edmund Ryden does a very good job in summarizing the essential meaning of Qi even though it might have changed over time in Chinese history: We use the term “Qi” or “Chi” all the time in Feng Shui but it is a term difficult to define. ![]()
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