Foundations: Qi

Qi is recognised by its functions

氣 qì

In clinic you don't look for qi: you look for its functions failing. Each failing function leaves a different sign, and that is the way in.

Fatigue, weak voice

driving function

Cold, pallor

warming function

Prolapse, bruising

holding function

Match the failure to the function.

There is not one qi, there are several with a job

Saying «low qi» points nowhere. What gets treated is a specific qi with a specific task, and each one fails with its own signs.

Original qi

the inherited reserve, from the Kidney

Gathering qi

drives breathing and the heartbeat

Nutritive qi

runs in the channels and nourishes

Defensive qi

circulates outside and guards the surface

Common mistake: Tonifying «qi» in general when what fails is only the defence of the surface.

Catches a cold every month, sweats at the slightest effort and always has a cold nose. Which qi is short?

1. Original qi
2. Defensive qi
3. Nutritive qi

Order how day-to-day qi is manufactured.

1. Food enters the Stomach↑↓
2. The Spleen extracts the essence from what was eaten↑↓
3. The Lung brings in clear air↑↓
4. Essence and air meet in the chest↑↓
5. The resulting qi circulates through the channels↑↓

Both are qi deficiencies. Sort each sign by organ.

• Loose stools and heavy digestionSpleen qiLung qi
• Faint voice and breathlessness when speakingSpleen qiLung qi
• Bloating after mealsSpleen qiLung qi
• Weak, ineffective coughSpleen qiLung qi
• Heavy, slack limbsSpleen qiLung qi
• Catches colds easilySpleen qiLung qi

Chest oppression relieved by sighing, worse with anger and better after a walk. Qi deficiency or qi stagnation?

1. Stagnation: it improves with movement and worsens with emotion
2. Deficiency: any chest oppression is
3. Stagnation and deficiency are the same thing renamed

A dragging heaviness in the lower abdomen, haemorrhoids and a mild prolapse, all worse by the end of the day. What is the qi doing?

1. Rising when it should not
2. Stagnating in the lower abdomen
3. Sinking: it no longer holds the organs in place

Match each organ with what happens if its qi runs backwards.

Irritability, tension along the sides and symptoms that shift with mood. Build the diagnosis.

Sort each trait into deficiency and stagnation.

• Worse by the end of the day and with effortQi deficiencyQi stagnation
• Worse at rest, better with movementQi deficiencyQi stagnation
• Distension that wanders from place to placeQi deficiencyQi stagnation
• Quiet voice and little urge to talkQi deficiencyQi stagnation
• Sighs oftenQi deficiencyQi stagnation
• Sweating with any activityQi deficiencyQi stagnation

Qi commands and blood feeds

They always travel together, so a problem in one becomes a problem in the other. The classical line holds both directions: qi is the commander of blood, and blood is the mother of qi.

Qi moves the blood

if it stops, blood stagnates

Qi holds the blood

if it fails, there is bleeding

Blood feeds qi

if it is short, qi loses its base

Common mistake: Treating a bleed only with astringents when what fails is the qi that should have held it in.

Long, very pale periods, spontaneous bruising and background fatigue. How do you read it?

1. Heat in the blood pushing it out of the vessels
2. Qi failing to hold the blood
3. Blood stagnation

What tells apart fatigue from Spleen qi and fatigue from exhausted original qi?

1. Spleen fatigue is worse in the morning, original qi in the afternoon
2. They cannot be told apart: all fatigue is treated the same
3. Spleen fatigue improves with food and rest; original qi comes with deep signs and does not recover with rest

Match each qi with its job.