A Question About Qi

After Fairy Li ran back to the Daoist Medicine Clinic, she passed the news on to Su Ziyang.

After hearing what Fairy Li had to say, Su Ziyang was beside himself with excitement and insisted on treating Fairy Li and Daoist Yang Yang to a meal.

Fairy Li and Daoist Yang Yang could not refuse him, so the three found a vegetarian restaurant and ate together.

After dinner, Su Ziyang excitedly wandered around outside a couple of times before heading home.

He could take a teacher the next day. If he could reach Mr. Mengfei's level and diagnose a person at a glance, the mere thought of it was enough to excite him!

Perhaps because his brain was too excited, Su Ziyang suffered from insomnia for the first time in his life!

He finally fell asleep in a daze, but he slept fitfully all night. The next day, before five thirty, Su Ziyang arrived at the square in front of the Daoist temple.

The autumn morning was a little chilly.

Su Ziyang waited until after seven, when the clinic opened, but he still did not see Mr. Mengfei.

Standing in the empty square, Su Ziyang felt a little lost.

"Is he messing with me?"

Su Ziyang muttered to himself.

Then he walked dejectedly into the Daoist Medicine Clinic.

Just like yesterday, there were still no patients today.

After work, Su Ziyang, who had sat around all day, went home in low spirits.

For some reason, Fairy Li, who had been happy before, had not shown up all day either.

"Alas! There's no hope of taking a teacher!"

Su Ziyang felt awful. He pulled out his phone and boredly scrolled through short videos.

Suddenly, the sound of a pipa rang out, and a monkey pinned beneath Five Elements Mountain appeared on the screen. Through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the monkey remained trapped beneath the mountain. Then the image flashed to a monkey poling a bamboo raft across the ocean, followed by another monkey with snowflakes covering his body.

Then came a line of lyrics: "Five hundred years..."

"Journey to the West"...

Su Ziyang watched the images on his phone and listened to the background music.

"Even if wildfire burns, even if ice and snow cover everything, his conviction remains unchanged, his conviction never fades."

Those few lines left Su Ziyang in a daze.

The next morning, before five, Su Ziyang stood once again in the square in front of the Daoist temple.

Once again, Su Ziyang waited for two hours. After the Daoist Medicine Clinic opened, he returned to the consultation room and sat there idly.

With no one to talk to, he was terribly bored, so Su Ziyang passed the time reading the book in his hands.

On the third morning, Su Ziyang once again stood in the square before five.

Today, he again stood in the square for more than two hours. After the Daoist Medicine Clinic opened, Su Ziyang went into the consultation room.

On the fourth morning, at around four thirty,

Su Ziyang appeared in the square again.

He stood there in a daze,

without moving a muscle.

For some reason, there was a bit of wind today, making the morning air even colder.

From four thirty to six thirty, over the course of those two hours, a few elderly people out for walks appeared in the square.

At seven,

Su Ziyang sighed.

Looks like I was overthinking it!

Then he strode toward the consultation room on legs that had grown somewhat numb from standing.

"You're quite persistent, aren't you!"

The awkward Mandarin made Su Ziyang's body tremble.

He hurriedly turned around, and the face he had been hoping to see day and night appeared before him.

Mr. Mengfei!

Su Ziyang suddenly felt as if something in his chest had dropped away, leaving him immensely relieved.

"Teacher!"

Su Ziyang cupped his hands and bowed to Mr. Mengfei.

Mr. Mengfei moved nimbly, dodging Su Ziyang's disciple's salute just as he had dodged Dazhuang's bow that day.

Mr. Mengfei's arrival showed that Su Ziyang had not been overthinking things, but his dodge left Su Ziyang confused once again.

"There's no need to be in such a hurry!" Seeing the confusion in Su Ziyang's eyes, Mr. Mengfei waved a hand and explained, "Let me ask you a few questions?"

"Please go ahead!" Su Ziyang stood respectfully beside Mr. Mengfei.

"Do you know what qi is?" Mr. Mengfei asked directly, without wasting words.

"Qi?" Su Ziyang first repeated the word softly in question. Then he recalled what he had learned at school.

Su Ziyang had been neither a top student nor a poor one. Though he had never won a scholarship, he had never failed a course either.

After thinking for a moment, Su Ziyang remembered the first course he had taken when he entered university as a freshman: "Basic Theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Su Ziyang searched his memory. If he remembered correctly, it should have contained a detailed explanation of qi.

"Qi."

Su Ziyang paused.

"Qi is a very important category in the history of Chinese philosophy. In traditional Chinese philosophy, qi generally refers to an extremely subtle substance that is the origin of all things in the world. The Inner Canon inherited and developed the pre-Qin doctrine of qi monism and applied it to medicine, gradually forming the theory of qi in traditional Chinese medicine."

When Su Ziyang finished, he looked at Mr. Mengfei. Mr. Mengfei did not respond, but nodded, signaling for Su Ziyang to continue.

Su Ziyang thought carefully, then said, "Traditional Chinese medicine holds that qi is an extraordinarily refined and subtle substance, the most fundamental element that makes up the universe and everything in heaven and earth. Starting from the basic view that qi is the origin of the universe and the most fundamental element constituting everything in heaven and earth, traditional Chinese medicine holds that qi is the most fundamental substance that makes up the human body and sustains its vital activities. Besides qi, the fundamental substances of life also include blood, body fluids, and essence, but blood, body fluids, and essence are all produced through the transformation of qi."

Mr. Mengfei nodded again, signaling for Su Ziyang to say more.

Su Ziyang frowned and continued, "Qi is the most fundamental substance that makes up the human body and sustains its vital activities. It has a number of extremely important physiological functions in the body. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon says, 'When qi begins, life is transformed and generated; when qi disperses, form appears; when qi spreads, life flourishes; when qi ends, its manifestations change. All of this comes to the same thing.'"

"Traditional Chinese medicine holds that qi has four functions in the body. The propelling function

"The propelling function of qi means that qi has an activating and propelling effect. The first is that qi can activate and promote the body's growth and development, as well as the physiological functions of the organs, meridians, and other tissues and structures. It can propel the production and circulation of blood, as well as the production, distribution, and excretion of body fluids. That's what people nowadays commonly call metabolism!"

"The second is qi's warming function. Qi is the source of the body's heat and the material basis for the heat produced within it."

"The third is the defensive function. Qi's defensive function refers to its role in protecting the skin and muscles and resisting pathogenic qi. That's what people nowadays commonly call immunity!"

"The fourth is qi's holding function. Qi's securing function means that qi stabilizes and controls liquid substances such as blood, body fluids, and semen, preventing them from being lost for no reason."

By the time Su Ziyang had finished saying all this, he had racked his brains and was exhausted. Terrified that Mr. Mengfei might get upset and refuse to teach him, he could only say as much as possible, reciting everything he knew and had memorized at school in one go.

Seeing that Su Ziyang had stopped talking, Mr. Mengfei asked, "Finished?!"

Su Ziyang nodded.

Su Ziyang nodded, but Mr. Mengfei shook his head. "You've said what qi is, and you've also described its functions. Then let me ask you: have you seen qi?"

The question completely stunned Su Ziyang.

Have I seen qi?

Qi... how do you see it?

"Does water vapor count?" Su Ziyang asked meekly.

At that, Mr. Mengfei laughed. "Then can water vapor do all the things you described? Can it propel and circulate things in the human body, secure them, and warm them?"

Su Ziyang scratched his head. Needless to say, it seemed it could not.

"Then no, I haven't seen qi."

Su Ziyang suddenly felt that he did not need to rack his brains in front of Mr. Mengfei. He might as well boldly admit that he did not understand.

Su Ziyang admitted it boldly.

"Then can you feel qi?"

Su Ziyang shook his head again. I haven't even seen it, so how could I feel it?

Seeing Su Ziyang admit it boldly, Mr. Mengfei smiled again. "Good, let's leave that question aside for now. You should know acupuncture, right?"

Su Ziyang nodded. He knew acupuncture all too well. It had been his undergraduate major.

"Then in acupuncture, when inserting a needle, isn't there something called Deqi?"

"Yes!" Su Ziyang answered quickly.

Mr. Mengfei was just as direct. "Good! Then tell me about Deqi in acupuncture!"

"Deqi occurs after a needle is inserted into an acupoint, when manipulation of the needle or leaving it in place for a longer period causes the patient to feel soreness, numbness, distension, heaviness, and so on, while the practitioner feels the needle sink and tighten."

Su Ziyang was all too familiar with Deqi, so he answered Mr. Mengfei's question fluently.

Mr. Mengfei nodded. "Since you know about Deqi, haven't you indirectly felt the qi in the human body through acupuncture? Am I right?! Then why did you say you'd never felt it? Or have you simply never thought about this question?!"

Later, on his path in traditional Chinese medicine, Su Ziyang came to a conclusion.

There were two kinds of people whose questions you could not answer.

The first was an expert. Because your thinking was not broad enough and you did not have that much knowledge, you naturally did not understand.

The other was a complete layman, who would ask you a question you had never considered before, and it would be a very simple question. But you! You simply could not answer it. For example, someone had asked Su Ziyang why people had ten fingers.

But the question Mr. Mengfei had asked fell somewhere between the two.

Deqi!

Right. Since I can feel what happens when a needle enters an acupoint in the human body, the needle tip must have stirred the qi. That means I felt qi.

Su Ziyang was speechless.

He had never considered this seemingly simple yet profoundly abstruse question.

Su Ziyang remained silent for a long time.

Then Mr. Mengfei spoke again. "In that case, do you believe a person can consciously feel qi? I mean very directly, very perceptibly!"

When he finished speaking, Mr. Mengfei fixed his eyes on Su Ziyang.

Seeing Mr. Mengfei looking at him like that, Su Ziyang thought over his words and nodded firmly. "I believe it! But how can I do that?"

Mr. Mengfei smiled. "Very simple! Practice the Daoyin Technique."