Scientific Explanation of Chi Kung No. 17 - The Macroscopic and Microscopic Views of Chi (氣)

There are always two sides to a story. It is like a coin with two sides which analogous to the yin and the yang as a unit. LaoTze always suggested to look at the yin side of the story to understand the yang side. In the case with the interpretation of chi, one must look at it from the other side. The people say it is energy. Unfortunately, they did not say exactly what kind of energy. Hence, people start looking for the answer randomly. If people are not sure what Chi is or might not even exist once thought what it might be, then how can the answer be found?

The ancients have a tendency to see things macroscopically; and the west tend to see things microscopically. In order to find an acceptable and logical answer, one must consider to investigate Chi macroscopically and microscopically by using the scientific method in using a known definition based from the western science.

Let's assume that Chi is a biochemical energy know as adenosine triphosphate(ATP). In microbiology, ATP is the energy released by cell respiration. Cell respiration is the breakdown of glucose by oxygen. The glucose is the conversion of glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the liver which was covered into glucose as needed for muscle contraction and other vital functions within the human body. For simplicity, the formula can be written as:

1. glucose + oxygen = energy(ATP)

The result from the practice of Chi Kung had developed a tremendous body energy by breathing a large amount of air 氣(Chi). Since the character氣(chi) has two radicals, it can be broken down into 气(chi) and 米(rice). It can be represented as

2. chi (气) + rice(米) ＝ 氣(chi)

The ancient character for air was 气(chi). The character for rice is 米(rice). The compound of the two radicals becomes 氣(chi). Looking at formula 2, macroscopically, the rice is the main diet for the Chinese people. Eventually, it will become glucose after the internal digestion had taken place. There are oxygen in the air from breathing. Hence, the rice is the source of glucose; and the air is the source of oxygen. By comparing the elements in both formulas, all the terms on the left hand side are equivalent to each other respectively. Since formula 1 is a known scientific fact. Therefore, the 氣(chi) in Formula 2 leads us to believe that is or equivalent to the biochemical energy, ATP, in formula 1.