Taiji (philosophy)In Chinese philosophy, Taiji or Tai chi () is a cosmological term for the "Supreme Ultimate" state of the world and affairs - the interaction of matter and space, the relation of the body and mind. While Wuji is undifferentiated, timeless, absolute, infinite potential, Taiji is often portrayed as differentiated, dualistic, and relative. Yin and yang originate from Wuji to become Taiji. Compared with wuji (, meaning 'without limit'), Taiji describes movement and change wherein limits do arise.
Reikiis a Japanese form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which, according to practitioners, a "universal energy" is transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient, to encourage emotional or physical healing. Reiki is a pseudoscience, and is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles.
Huangdi NeijingHuangdi Neijing (), literally the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor or Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor, is an ancient Chinese medical text or group of texts that has been treated as a fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine for more than two millennia. The work comprises two texts—each of eighty-one chapters or treatises in a question-and-answer format between the mythical Yellow Emperor and six of his equally legendary ministers.
XingyiquanXingyiquan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". Also known as "Xingyi", it is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements and explosive power that's most often applied from a short range. A practitioner of Xingyi uses coordinated movements to generate bursts of power intended to overwhelm the opponent, simultaneously attacking and defending.
HuainanziThe Huainanzi is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139. The Huainanzi blends Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, including theories such as yin and yang and Wu Xing theories. The Huainanzis essays are all connected to one primary goal: attempting to define the necessary conditions for perfect socio-political order.
Taoist dietWhile there are many historical and modern schools of Taoism with different teachings on the subject, many Taoist priests regard their diet as extremely important to their physical, mental and spiritual health in one way or another, especially where the amount of qi in the food is concerned. Fasting and Inedia Some early Taoist diets called for bigu (), based on the belief that immortality could be achieved in this way.
ZangfuThe zangfu () organs are functional entities stipulated by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). These classifications are not based in physiology or science. They constitute the centrepiece of TCM's general concept of how the human body works. The term zang refers to the organs considered to be "solid" yin in nature – Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney – while fu refers to the "hollow" yang organs – Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Gall Bladder, Urinary Bladder, Stomach and San Jiao.
Hard and soft techniquesIn martial arts, the terms hard and soft technique denote how forcefully a defender martial artist counters the force of an attack in armed and unarmed combat. In the East Asian martial arts, the corresponding hard technique and soft technique terms are 硬 (Japanese: , ) and 柔 (Japanese: , ), hence Goju-ryu (hard-soft school), Shorinji Kempo principles of go-ho ("hard method") and ju-ho ("soft method"), Jujutsu ("art of softness") and Judo ("gentle way").
DantianDantian, dan t'ian, dan tien or tan t'ien is loosely translated as "elixir field", "sea of qi", or simply "energy center". Dantian are the "qi focus flow centers", important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong, martial arts such as t'ai chi ch'uan, and in traditional Chinese medicine. Historically the first detailed description of the lower Dantian is in the Laozi zhongjing 老子中經 from the 3rd century CE, which refers to the elixir-of-life field where "essence" and "spirit" are stored; it is related to regeneration and sexual energy, menstruation and semen.
Hun and poHun () and po () are types of souls in Chinese philosophy and traditional religion. Within this ancient soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a spiritual, ethereal, yang soul which leaves the body after death, and also a corporeal, substantive, yin soul which remains with the corpse of the deceased. Some controversy exists over the number of souls in a person; for instance, one of the traditions within Daoism proposes a soul structure of 三魂七魄; that is, "three and seven ".
