![\"Jing-Qi-Shen.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Jing-Qi-Shen.jpg-300x200.jpg\")
Let\u2019s look at the basic concepts of \u201cjing\u201d, \u201cqi\u201d, & \u201cshen\u201d.\u00a0 These are collectively known as the \u201cThree Treasures\u201d (s\u0101nb\u01ceo, \u4e09\u5b9d) of internal alchemy.\u00a0 They are often translated as \u201cbody\u201d, \u201cbreath\u201d, & \u201cmind\u201d, which is a good trio but not really a complete translation.\u00a0 It\u2019s helpful to understand these terms, and the view behind them, to effectively practice Daoist cultivation.<\/p>\n
Jing (\u7cbe) is vital-essence \u2013 the tendency for form & substance to appear in the world, our tendency to become embodied creatures.\u00a0 We receive jing from our parents at conception and from our mother during gestation.\u00a0 Jing is associated with fluids and contains our ancestral DNA; the Chinese consider it to hold our fate or destiny \u2013 \u201cHeaven\u2019s command\u201d regarding our unique capacities and pre-dispositions.\u00a0 The quality of our jing depends on the quality of our parents\u2019 jing during conception and gestation, as well as our own conduct in life, particularly our movement and nutrition.<\/p>\n
Qi (\u6c23, pronounced \u201cchee\u201d) is vital-energy \u2013 movement, breath, time, change.\u00a0 The ever-revolving walk of Dao.\u00a0 The unfolding movement of our jing.\u00a0 Qi is associated with wind and fire.\u00a0 But it is also often used as a shorthand for everything, including jing & shen.\u00a0 Qi can refer to different kinds of energy in different contexts.\u00a0 In internal alchemy it generally refers to heat and movement.\u00a0 We have internal qi, and there is also the qi of the environment and cosmos.<\/p>\n
Shen (\u795e) is vital-spirit \u2013 awareness.\u00a0 The experience of jing-qi.\u00a0 According to Daoism, we have 5 kinds of shen, associated with the 5 phases\/elements (Wood, Fire, Soil, Metal, & Water).\u00a0 The 5 shen are different aspects of consciousness.\u00a0 In the Daoist view, shen is not entitative in nature but is more like drops from a boundless ocean.\u00a0 Our original shen emerges fresh and pure from the unborn origin, but as it splits into 5 it takes on conditions based on our jing & qi, as well as how we manage our mind.<\/p>\n
Jing, qi, & shen are all really the same \u201cstuff\u201d \u2013 just different parts of a tripartite spectrum.\u00a0 Jing is the most coarse, shen is the most fine.\u00a0 These correspond to Earth, Humankind, & Heaven, respectively.<\/p>\n
Jing, qi, & shen exist in two states, known as xiantian & houtian.\u00a0 Xiantian (\u5148\u5929) translates as \u201cbefore Heaven\u201d or \u201cpre-celestial\u201d and refers to our innate nature before being shaped by the winds of Heaven.\u00a0 Houtian (\u5f8c\u5929) translates as \u201cafter Heaven\u201d or \u201cpost-celestial\u201d and refers to our acquired condition based on how the winds have shaped us and how we have conducted ourselves.<\/p>\n
The Three Treasures\u00a0collectively comprise our life.\u00a0 The three traditional deities of ritual Daoism \u2013 San Qing (\u4e09\u6e05) or Three Purities \u2013 are simply symbolic representations of the Three Treasures in their pure, unmanifest form.\u00a0 What appears to be deity worship in Daoist ritual is actually a way of re-calibrating our post-celestial jing, qi, & shen to their original, pure condition.<\/p>\n
There is a lot more we can say about these terms; this post is simply intended to present basic definitions for reference in future discussions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let\u2019s look at the basic concepts of \u201cjing\u201d, \u201cqi\u201d, & \u201cshen\u201d.\u00a0 These are collectively known as the \u201cThree Treasures\u201d (s\u0101nb\u01ceo, \u4e09\u5b9d) of internal alchemy.\u00a0 They are often translated as \u201cbody\u201d, \u201cbreath\u201d, & \u201cmind\u201d, which is a good trio but not really a complete translation.\u00a0 It\u2019s helpful to understand these terms, and the view behind them, … Continue reading “Jing, Qi, & Shen (\u7cbe\u6c23\u795e)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakdao.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}