The Three Treasures: Jing, Qi, and Shen

Part One: Jing

The Three Treasures

Within Chinese medicine, qigong, and tai chi, it is of course crucial to understand the concept of qi.

As a teacher of Chinese martial arts, over the years I have been asked many times about qi, and what it is/how it relates to martial arts, health, and Chinese medicine.

It can sometimes feel like a rather nebulous term to define, and on more than one occasion I have felt as though I was coming across all Yoda-like, referring to The Force in Star Wars and waffling on a bit about the importance of a healthy flow of energy for good health.

It is quite difficult to give a complete definition of a concept such as qi, we need to be mindful to place it within the correct context of traditional Chinese thought.

Attempting to do so requires delving into other concepts in order to flesh out a wider and more complete definition.

It is important to know that there are different types of qi, and we will explore these in a new series of a new series of subscriber-only blog posts.

The Three Treasures.

The Three Treasures as related to Chinese medicine are Jing (essence), Qi (energy), and Shen (spirit/consciousness).