GENERAL BODY SYSTEM (WESTERN CONCEPT) AND QI-SYSTEM (EASTERN CONCEPT) AND THEIR INTERACTION TOWARDS MAINTAINING HEALTH AND LIFE IN THE HUMAN BODY

THE HUMAN ENERGY NETWORK – QI AND QI SYSTEM

QI (ENERGY)

The brief summaries of the above human body systems as above would be very familiar with the general public especially the medical sector but there is one system that the Western Science has generally ignored or do not recognize its existence.  The Chinese called it the Qi (Energy) System.  Western Science generally accepts that the order and disorder of the body and body system are due to physical cause and concept but the Chinese Science generally look at it, in a different concept - the Qi (Energy) concept.  The electromagnetic nature of human energy (Qi) was recorded in the Internal Medicine Classic over 2000 years ago even before the birth of Christ and acknowledge by Chinese Medicine and Taoist Alchemy for over 5000 years.  The word Qi in Chinese denotes “Air”, “Atmosphere” or “Energy”, we can even called it the Life Force.  The ancient Taoist texts expand on the basic theory that Qi supports all life and matter in the cosmos or universe.  Accordingly, Qi is the vital force, and in constant flux and activates every function and drives every process in the body, voluntary as well as involuntary, and circulates the body.  In prenatal aspect, Qi is the primal power that fills the entire cosmos, where it manifests as motion, heat, light and other cosmos energies.  Prenatal energy is polar and electromagnetic  and is characterized by constant change and activity.
Human beings derive primal prenatal Qi from two sources - first, from the transformation of the prenatal essence (a form of potential energy) stored in the adrenal cortex and sexual glands called Yuan Qi (Primodial Energy).  Second, from Tee (Earth) Qi which refers to food, water, herbs and other food supplements, as well as air.  Dietary elements are digested to extract vital nutrients, which the body then changes into energy.  Energy from the air is absorbed through the lungs and blends in the blood with Tee Qi, from the digestive system, it becomes “True Human Qi”, the fundamental life force of human being.  Human energy resides in the chest and is closely associated with breathing and blood circulation, heart and lungs.  Taoists medical view that “Qi leads blood” which means that blood flows where Qi goes and that is the fundamental foundation of Chinese healing.

Different Types of Qi
From a functional viewpoint, Chinese medical science classified Qi as follows :-
 

1.	Organ Qi	: It controls the functioning of the organs.
2.	Channel Qi	: It controls the transport and moving functions of the channels.
3.	Nourishing Qi	: Its main job is to help in synthesizing of blood.  It also flows with the blood to    nourish the body’s tissues.
4.	Guardian Qi	: ts job is to warm the organs, to control the opening and closing of the pores, to    protect  and to moisten the skin, nails and hair.  It circulates outside the    channels  and the organs act as a defense against external negative forces e.g.    cold weather.
5.	Ancestral Qi	: This Qi travels up and down the front part of the centre of the body from the    throat to the abdomen and back, but it centres at the Shanzhong cavity (centre    point between the nipples).  This Qi controls breathing, speech and rate of    heart  beat.

The Chinese have discovered  long ago that the Qi in the body is transported throughout the body through orderly  system and on regular time table.  In this modern era, countless experiments have been conducted in China , Japan and other countries and even in America, that Qi exists and circulates in the body and modern science called it “Bio-electricity”.  The biochemical reaction in our body through the food we eat and air we breathe, generates electromagnetic energy or electricity that circulates continuously by the electromagnetic forces (EME) generated within the body.  Our electromagnetic forces are constantly being affected by external forces such as electromagnetic field of the earth, moon, sun and even by the high tension overhead electrical cables.  Modern researchers report that this electricity which circulates throughout the body is one of the main energy which keeps the cells of the physical body alive.  In modern concept of Science, it is now understood that the human body is constructed of different electricity conductive materials and our body is a living electromagnetic field and circuit.  Modern researchers report that every cell of the body functions like an electric battery and is able to store electric charges and all the cell batteries together form the human electromagnetic field.  To inter link all these batteries, the system that distributes and balances Qi throughout the body is similar to the wiring system in your car, connecting the power source to all the different points i.e. the cells of organs, muscles etc.

QI-(ENERGY) - SYSTEM

The human body have a complex network of channels (mai), meridians (jing) and capillaries (luo) interacting the entire body system.  Energy points called Hsieh which acts as energy relay terminals, much as transformers along power lines do, are found along the major meridians.  The very fundamentals of acupuncture and acupressure treatments depend on the meridians and power points to directly modify the strength, balance and flow of Qi in the body.  Tests at the Veteran’s General Hospital in Taipei showed that whenever an organ associated with a particular acupuncture point is failing, the electrical impedance of that point changes drastically.  The energy points and meridians not only lead Qi to their related organs but also show up any pathological disturbances in those organs.

The Twelve Major Channels (Meridians)
The body has twelve major meridians which are linked to specific organs of the body.  These twelve major meridians function as rivers of Qi (channel) to feed the organs and tissues with energy.  Each channel is actually a pair of mirror - image channels, one on either side of the body.  One end of the channel is linked to a toe or finger (six channels are linked to the fingers and the other six are connected to the toes).  We know them as :
 

1.	The Lung Channel of Hand	7.	The Urinary Bladder Channel of Foot
2.	The Large Intestine Channel of Hand	8.	The Kidney Channel of Foot
3.	The Stomach Channel of Foot	9.	The Pericardium Channel of Hand
4.	The Spleen Channel of Foot	10.	The Triple Burner of Hand
5.	The Heart Channel of Hand	11.	The Gall Bladder Channel of Foot
6.	The Small Intestine Channel of Hand	12.	The Liver Channel of Foot

The Eight Extraordinary Channels
At the same time, there is also a network called the Eight Extraordinary Channels (chee-jing ba mai), which acts as “reservoirs” storing and supplying energy into the twelve organ meridians.  Only the Governing Vessels (Du mai) and Conception Vessels (Ren mai) channels, have their own vital points while the other six terminals are located along the major organ meridians.  These eight channels are called :
 

1.	Governing Vessel (Du Mai)	5.	Yang Heel Vessel(Yangqiao Mai)
2.	Conception Vessel (Ren Mai)	6.	Yin Heel vessel (Yinqiao Mai)
3.	Thrusting vessel (Chong Mai)	7.	Yang Linking Vessel (Yang Wei Mai)
4.	Girdle Vessel (Dai Mai)	8.	Yin Linking vessel (Yin Wei Mai)

 
Going out of the twelve major meridians and eight extraordinary channels, there are fifteen sub-networks of finer energy capillaries (luo) and multitudes of sub-sub networks which is derived from those networks to service all the tissues and the body cells.  Six of the organ meridians run through the arms and upper body and six run through the legs and lower body.  The Governing Channel that runs up the spine controls the six major yang meridians which run along the back and exterior surfaces of the body and control the yang organs, while the Conception Channel that runs in front, controls the six major yin meridians which run along the front and interior surfaces of the body which in turn control the yin organs.  Together, these fourteen energy vessels and their subsidiary networks form a third circulatory system, in addition to the blood and nervous systems.
The human energy network has many important health functions.  It controls blood circulation, sends wei-chee to the surface to guard against external attacks and to convey vital ying-chee to the organs, glands, marrow, brain and other internal tissues to maintain their essential functions.

The Internal Energy Circulation
The internal circulation of nourishing energy follows a set pattern as shown in the diagram below :-
 

Stomach		Spleen, pancreas	Heart
Large Intestine		Governing Channel	Small Intestine
Lungs	Breath	Nourishing Channel  derived from food  in stomach	Bladder
Liver		Conception Channel	Kidney
Gall Bladder		Triple Burner	Pericadium
Liver		Conception Channel	Kidney
Gall Bladder		Triple Burner	Pericadium

The distribution of internal energy circulates around the Governing and Conception Channels and is driven by the organ energy of the lungs.

The Qi-Xue (Gates) 
Qi-Xue means Qi cavities or Qi gates in Chinese medicine and Qigong where it is believed that Qi can enter or exit our body and they are important towards the maintenance of good health, curing sicknesses and even for Qigong practice.  Basically, there are two types of gates.  One type is the “external gate” where Qi enter or exit from the body and the “internal gate” which enables the Qi to link up different parts of the body.  Recently researchers discovered that the Qi-Xue (Qi cavities) which the Chinese Acupuncturist used for acupuncture are places of higher electrical conductivity than the surrounding skin.  This higher conductivity extends like a small narrow tunnel from the surface skin to the Qi Channels under the skin and muscles.  There are more than 700 acupuncture cavities of which about 108 can be manipulated by finger pressure in Acupressure Treatment and Dian Xue (Touch cavities).  Acupuncture, Acupressure and Dian Xue are Chinese teachings on stimulating, manipulating and regulating the Qi-System in the human body.  In Chinese medicine, understanding of diseases, all ailments and their symptoms are reflected in the meridians and vital points and are attributed to some sort of imbalance or functional failure in the flow and distribution of protective and nourishing energy.  Diagnosis of the health problems can be done by applying pressure to a related point, which will feel painful due to the connection of the relevant diseased or dysfunctional organ.  To resolve the problem, the Chinese physician uses herbal remedies to correct the imbalance of the energies at the related organ site or by applying acupressure or acupuncture to the related meridians and points.

EAST & WEST CONCEPT (FINDINGS)

(OVERVIEW) - THE SYNERGY OF QI SYSTEM WITH THE OTHER BODY SYSTEMS

From the brief exploration of the human body and its systems under the Western findings, we have discovered that the body is basically composed of unit cells which combine together to form different parts or organs.  These parts and organs again form systems and performing different functions and duties but yet are organised to integrate smoothly and efficiently with each other so that the total sum of these parts, organs and systems formulate into a single unit of human being, conscious of itself and yet unconscious of its internal systems and the existence of his individual cells.
As noted during the brief explanations of the body systems, some system, part or organ are meant for locomotion, e.g. legs and feet.  Some are for digestion , e.g. stomach intestines etc. and others for different purposes.  We have also noted that all the cells, organs, parts and systems are connected to the brain and the nervous system by which integration of functions and coordination are possible and essential.  Many scientific researches have conclusive proof that the brain and its nervous system controls the rest of the functions of the human body and systems.
The inter-link from the brain to any particular cells, parts, organs of the body are by nerves and the nervous systems inclusive of the spinal cord and the neurons.  It has also been noted and now being acknowledged by doctors and scientist and supported by ECG (Electrocephalograph) that electrical impulses travels through the nervous systems to stimulate or convey commands to the cells or organs by the neurons in the brain or vice versa  i.e. the impulses from sensory cells from parts of the body to the brain.
These electrical impulses are what the Eastern findings term as Qi (energy) or bio-electricity and the system that supply this bio-electricity for the usage of the body is called the Qi-system.  The Qi in our body is the vital force or life force that keep us alive and contribute to our intelligence – our mental faculty to think, feel, love, hate, rationalise, to make logical decisions and to be alive.  There are a number of hospital cases where the patients concerned are paralysed after going through a stroke or heart attack and Western Science is unable to do much about it and yet a highly gifted and trained Qigong or Qi-Synergy Master is able to link up the qi-system that was affected during the stroke or heart attack without even touching the patients concerned.  For references to these comments, please refer to the testimonies of a patient by the name of Dorothy Lee who lost her voice after suffering from paralysis of the vocal cord , and the doctors could not find the cause, let alone “heal” her – but she will “talk” to you, in her own voice how the “Qi” connection to her vocal cord has been restored in the testimonies section of this homepage under Dorothy Lee.  Many cases have been recorded or documented on the Qi system have been blocked and Qi was not able to reach the troubled organ or part of it and the resulting breakdown and atrophy thereof.  The restoration of the Qi flow by experts to these parts or organs have resulted in the healthy function of those parts involved again.
The human body is comparable to a car, a tractor or a boat by which a battery and the accompany wiring is needed or else you can never start the engine nor maintain it.  Likewise, the body have its own battery/batteries, - the “Tan Tien” (below the navel) and the “Chee-Jing Ba Mai” (Eight Extraordinary Channels) and its connections, the twelve Major Channels and sub-networks of finer energy capillaries (luo).
Likewise, the car can recharge itself by its alternator while the human body does it by converting food into Te (earth) Qi and by breathing air and converting it into Qi.  Qigong or Qi-Synergy is an efficient way of gathering more Qi as well as being taught to store and utilize more efficiently.
In conclusion, the East and the West should come together and merge the knowledge for the betterment of health and life of human kind and should not live in ivory towers.