Chinese Medical view’s energy provides an interesting look of what life is.
To establish a model for my ensuing argument, I will use the Chinese Medical view of the human being as a metaphor. For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine has recognized that there is energy in the body that directs all of its activities. This energy, described by the Chinese as Qi, can be seen as “the creative or formative principle associated with life and all processes that characterize living entities. All animate forms in nature are manifestations of Qi. Qi is an invisible substance, as well as an immaterial force that has palpable and observable manifestations” (Beinfield, 1991, 32). Qi not only protects the body, but it is the source of all movement and harmonious transformation in the body (Kaptchuk, 1983, 37-38). Additionally, Chinese Medicine’s model views the human being as an interconnected system in which the physical body is linked to the mental, spiritual, and emotional person (White, 2004, 662). This type of medicine recognizes that mind and body are connected, and that the flow and information of the Qi, or life force energy, directs the physical and non-physical reality of the human being (Kaptchuk, 1983, 37-38).
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