Qi

I’ve been practicing Hanzi , timidly, trying to memorise all those odd looking squiggles and lines, consistently messing up the stroke order and direction. It is curiously satisfying. Trying to understand what each character represents and how it has changed over time. Each character pregnant with meta data.  Today I learnt the character for Qi.  气. On 3000 year old oracle bones it is represented by three horizontal lines, representing the three treasures. Essence, energy and body and mind. Three lines to capture the intangible. . .  You could characterise a wine in these terms. . . Essence being what is imparted by the terroir and season and the hand of the maker. Qi is more about what is in the glass, is the wine alive, is there a spark of energy or is it fading and quiet?  Qi is often equated to the life force, or vitality, or breath. It’s an elusive concept for the Western mind, which thinks of energy in terms of mitochondria and sleep, glucose and caffeine, swi

by noreply@blogger.com (Edward) · source ↗