The 1970s were the rebirth of the Kung Fu film and it spread its way to the United States, marked by the success of Hong Kong films, The Chinese Connection (f/k/a The Big Boss) (1971) and Fists of Fury (1972). Both starred Bruce Lee who brought the Kung Fu film appeal to the States.
This unique resurgence of Kung Fu and other martial arts film had an unintended consequence on the American psyche—a hunger for Eastern culture. Westerners started to study the Eastern medical and martial arts practices. Kung Fu martial arts (officially known as Wuxia) schooling became available to Americans. Yoga from India started to break ground. And, from there, Qigong, acupuncture, herbalism, tui na (massage), Reiki, and many other medical practices spurred growth at this time.
In this article, I’d like to focus on the history of Qigong (pronounced chee-kung or chee-gung) and how it developed into the medical Qigong practice of today.
Where did Qigong begin?
Qi refers to the energy or “life force” of all living beings. Contemporary areas of research have identified that it’s actually our bodies’ natural electrical current and electromagnetic field that we create, which is qi. Keeping our qi in harmonious balance keeps us healthy and in an optimal state of performance.
Qigong (also known as qi gong, chi kung, or chi gung) is a system built over time to encompass many different types of physical body trainings for health, spirituality and self-defense (which you can learn more about here by clicking on the “Qigong” tab).
Dating back as early as 26th century B.C., during the reign of the legendary Chinese Yellow Emperor Huangdi, His Majesty assembled Huangdi Neijing, a seminal work on Chinese medicine. While the system was not named yet, many of the tenets of how the body’s qi was manifested, maintained and healed were formally established for Chinese healers to understand.
Fast forward 1,000 years and Emperor Di Yi is supposed to have championed the further use of these Chinese medical practices in his court. Qigong would continue to develop as the ancient practices were refined based on evidence-based approaches of the ancient-turned-contemporary Chinese medical Qigong practitioners in the modern era.
Contemporary events in the history of Qigong
It was during the reign of Mao Zedong in the 1940s, after establishing the People’s Republic of China, that Qigong prospered again as China became unified. Chairman Mao took power and some of his contemporaries in government were healed by Qigong. So, Mao became interested in understanding the science behind these ancient Chinese healing practices, as well as his policy interests in reinvigorating Chinese culture.
By this time, these practices still had no official name, but in 1962, Qigong was coined. Additionally, Qigong is separated into two categories—that which is martial arts, and those which are medical-spiritual practices. You likely know the most popular formalized use of Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan (also known as taiji, taiqi and taichi), the internal martial arts. It’s this combination of flowing movements and breathing, matched with self-defensive techniques, that Qigong would take a backseat to Tai Chi’s popularity in China and eventually abroad.
The religiosity and morality inherent in ancient Qigong were lost for over 4 millennia, but have seen an awakening in groups such as the government-embattled Falun Gong and others. Despite this in China, Qigong has found its roots in the Western World as a health and healing practice on its own today. In Healing and the Mind, Bill Moyers did what Kung Fu films and Bruce Lee piqued our national interests with flying kicks, powerful punches and lots of screaming. It brought the science of Qigong to the modern American.
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So, when you look back and think of the history of Qigong, think a small prayer of gratitude to Bruce Lee along with Bill Moyers for opening Americans’ eyes to its health benefits.