This is a repost (with some small changes) of a previous blog. I hope everyone enjoys reading it again!
Much of the Neigong and Daoyin (i.e., Qigong practices) I teach come from the Hunyuan system. The founder of Hunyuan, Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang 馮志強, learned his material from the legendary Hu Yaozhen 胡耀真. After Hu passed away his daughters continued to teach, and happily today we have a lot of material passed down from Hu, either in written form or in the form of oral transmission outside of his writing. Hu was a brilliant practitioner and teacher, so I thought periodically I would blog about his take on the topics of body cultivation culture, Qigong and Daoist Neidan.
To start off, I’ll talk about four words for cultivation. It was and is common in Chinese martial arts, Qigong, medical practice, etc… to have short “songs” or sayings that are reminders for practice. These can be a short series of words, or slightly longer poems or other pneumonic devices. Here I’ll present a series of four Chinese characters that remind the practitioner of important practice ideas. While not unique to Hu’s teaching, they are mentioned by him and his students.
Inhale Xī 吸
This first word, Xī, means to inhale, absorb, or suck in (as in the breath). It also means to attract to oneself (as in magnetic attraction). In Qigong one very important technique we practice is the drawing in of Qi from the natural environment. Xī refers mainly to this. The drawing in of Qi is such a fundamental form that in most all of our classes this is what we start with doing.
In addition to drawing in Qi, the word Xī can also refer to the drawing of Qi into various circulatory patterns in the body, which we do by coordinating breathing with visualization or intention.
Hua Tuo’s Chart of Neigong from the writings of Hu Yaozhen (who was probably the actual author of the chart).
Stick or Attach Tiē 貼
Tiē, sticking or attaching to something, is the second word we have. In Qigong practice this refers mostly to the tongue touching the upper palate in the mouth. We do this to connect the circuit of the Du Mai (Governing Vessel; the vessel that runs up the spine and over the head) and the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel; the vessel that runs from the Huiyin cavity to the tip of the tongue). This pair of vessels is an important Qi circulation pattern called the Lesser Heavenly Cycle (小周天), or the Microcosmic Orbit. While we only really have to place the tongue at the palate when working on this Qi circulation pattern, some practitioners (including me) place the tongue here during almost any Qigong practice.
In Taijiquan practice, the work “stick” also has special meaning. While the character Tiē is not specifically used in Taijiquan, the words “adhere” (沾連), “stick to” (粘), and “follow” or “go along with” (隨) are key to practice. In Taijiquan we want to always be aware of what our partner/opponent is doing, and how we can effectively neutralize that. The main way we practice these four characters in Taiji is through push hands and other related practices. By sticking to our partners’ every move, we develop the ability to “listen to” or feel what they are doing and how they are moving (聽勁). At the same time this allows us to “listen to” or feel what we are doing with our own body.
Hold Zhuō 捉
The third word, Zhuō, means to hold, to clutch or to grab. In Qigong practice this refers to lifting up of the Huiyin cavity, or perineal area, during practice. This movement is similar to Kegel exercises, except that we practice it gently, and often times coordinated with the breath. In some systems of Qigong the anal ring (which is also gently lifted with this exercise) is divided into 5 parts, each gently contracted to help focus on different internal organs during Qigong practice.
In Taijiquan practice the word Zhuō, which also means to capture, is a reference to Qinna (擒拿) techniques. A significant portion of Taijiquan’s posture applications are Qinna, and grasping and manipulating joints and limbs is essential in push hands as well.
Close Bì 閉
The final work is “close,” or “shut” – Bì. This word refers to bringing attention to one of the Qi orifices that we focus on during practice. This can be attention on the Dan Tian (any of the three – see my post on the Dan Tian for more information on this important structure), on the Huiyin cavity, or Ming Men cavity to name a few. Literally, we are trying to “close” or “shut” our attention to the outside world, and bring one pointed focus to the cavity we are working with. This is a very important method of practice.
For those interested in regular training please consider joining our classes - either in-person or online. While writing about this material is good, a lot of the explanation continues to happen with oral transmission and then with specific examples as they come up in practicing together.