Longevity Techniques and Chinese Medicine

Engelhardt, U.

doi:10.1163/9789004391840_005

“…Qigong is a modern construct (Chen 2003a, b;Frank 2004;Hsu 1999;Miura 1989;Ots 1994;Palmer 2007;Penny 1993;Perry 2001;Xu 1999), 2 but many of the methods that today are recognized as qigong are derived from age-old Chinese traditions; most notably, Daoist longevity and immortality techniques, Buddhist meditations, life-cultivation arts (yangsheng), medicine, and forms of the martial arts (e.g., taijiquan) (Despeux 1989(Despeux , 2005Engelhardt 2000;Frank 2006;Harper 1998;Kohn 1989Kohn , 2000Kohn , 2006Kohn , 2007Lo 2001;Robinet 1997;Saso 1995;Schipper 1993;Wile 1996). This origin of qigong practices is reflected in the way qigong in China is associated with understandings of the body-mind that diverge radically from assumptions normally taken for granted in Western societies.…”

Section: The Reception Of Chinese Qigong In a Norwegian Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning and Experiencing Chinese Qigong in Norway

Sagli

¹

2008

East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Jo

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This article discusses the reception of Chinese qigong in a Western context by focusing on the learning and experiencing of qigong in Norway. Drawing on ethnographic material from fieldwork among participants of a style of qigong referred to as Biyun medical qigong, I in particular explore the variety of body-mind states that Norwegian qigong students experience. I have differentiated five "stages" of Biyun practice. Using these stages as a framework, I demonstrate the gradual progression in the learning of qigong. "Body," "concentration," and qi ("life energy") are all important constitutive dimensions in the practice, but as the learning progresses, qi becomes more and more prominent. Drawing on a definition of the body as "learning to be affected" and "learning to affect" (Despret, Body Soc 10:111-134, 2004; Latour, Body Soc 10:205-229, 2004), I suggest that qigong may be perceived as a practice that, at its core, involves learning to be affected by qi as well as to affect qi.

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“…The burial date is said to be 168 B.C. The Daoyin exercises have been discussed in several studies (e.g., Despeux 1989;Engelhardt 2000;Harper 1998;Kohn 2007). …”

Section: Stage Three: Focusing On "Body Movements Concentration and Qi"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Qigong is a modern construct (Chen 2003a, b;Frank 2004;Hsu 1999;Miura 1989;Ots 1994;Palmer 2007;Penny 1993;Perry 2001;Xu 1999), 2 but many of the methods that today are recognized as qigong are derived from age-old Chinese traditions; most notably, Daoist longevity and immortality techniques, Buddhist meditations, life-cultivation arts (yangsheng), medicine, and forms of the martial arts (e.g., taijiquan) (Despeux 1989(Despeux , 2005Engelhardt 2000;Frank 2006;Harper 1998;Kohn 1989Kohn , 2000Kohn , 2006Kohn , 2007Lo 2001;Robinet 1997;Saso 1995;Schipper 1993;Wile 1996). This origin of qigong practices is reflected in the way qigong in China is associated with understandings of the body-mind that diverge radically from assumptions normally taken for granted in Western societies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning and Experiencing Chinese Qigong in Norway

Sagli¹

2008

East Asian Science

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“…The 'bedchamber arts' represented one strand of Taoist-inspired longevity techniques, which exerted great influence on medical notions of Nurturing Life, seeWile 1992 andUmekawa 2005. For Nurturing Life in ancient China in general, seeSakade 1988 andEngelhardt 2000. For the connection between Taoism and longevity techniques, see alsoSakade 1992.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Healing: Regulating Male Sexuality in Edo-Period Books on ‘Nurturing Life’

Koch

¹

2013

International Journal of Asian Studies

3

0

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The present article explores health as a factor in the understanding of Edo-period male sexuality. This notion was systematically propagated by a genre of health guides on ‘Nurturing Life’, which came to circulate widely at the time. Sexuality was seen as an integral element of a healthy life-style in these didactic texts, which aimed to instruct people on how to live a long life unharmed by disease. In order to achieve this goal, the health-seeker was to strictly control his everyday activities, including eating, drinking alcohol, sleeping – or sexual intercourse. By consequence, a certain kind of sexual behaviour emerged from these works as ‘healthy’, while deviations from the prescribed standards are medicalized away as harmful to the body, in extreme cases even fatal. At the same time, bodily health is presented as inextricably bound up with moral ‘health’. Thus, the rhetoric of control imposed on the body was extended from the purely medical to the moral, making the health-seeking individual at the same time a good (male) subject and model head of household within an ideal Confucian-inspired society. The ‘healthy’ sexuality of writings on Nurturing Life therefore has to be situated at the crossroads of medical beliefs and moral parameters.

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Longevity Techniques and Chinese Medicine

Cited by 17 publications

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Learning and Experiencing Chinese Qigong in Norway

Learning and Experiencing Chinese Qigong in Norway

Learning and Experiencing Chinese Qigong in Norway

Sexual Healing: Regulating Male Sexuality in Edo-Period Books on ‘Nurturing Life’

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