Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2015 Liminality, Embodiment and the Six Healing Sounds of Qigong Patrick Emilio Carson Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES LIMINALITY, EMBODIMENT AND THE SIX HEALING SOUNDS OF QIGONG By PATRICK EMILIO CARSON A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Patrick Carson defended this dissertation on April 29, 2015. The members of the supervisory committee were: Benjamin D. Koen Professor Co‐Directing Dissertation Kathleen Erndl Professor Co‐Directing Dissertation David Johnson University Representative Svetla Slaveva‐Griffin Committee Member Martin Kavka Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above‐named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii Dedicated to my beloved companion Mona, without whom I would have probably never started this wonderful journey. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express my deepest gratitude to Kathleen Erndl for her constant support and encouragement, and Ben Koen for the many hours we spent discussing the subject and the many possibilities for research the subject promises. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ...................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Autoethnography: A Personal narrative ............................................................................................................... 2 The Experience ................................................................................................................................................................. 5 The History ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Liminality ............................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Embodiment ................................................................................................................................................................... 11 The Questions ................................................................................................................................................................ 12 The Fundamental Notions of Daoism and Qigong .......................................................................................... 12 The Body .......................................................................................................................................................................... 13 The Body’s Inner Landscape ................................................................................................................................... 14 The Subtle Body ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 Qi 氣 ................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Channels or Conduits .................................................................................................................................................. 23 OrBs .................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Jing 精 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Shen 神 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 25 The Five Phases – Wuxing (五行) .......................................................................................................................... 27 Yin Yang 陰 陽 ............................................................................................................................................................... 31 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 Chapter Outlines ........................................................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 41 QIGONG: ANCIENT ORIGINS ...................................................................................................................... 41 Shamanic Roots ............................................................................................................................................................ 42 Daoyin ............................................................................................................................................................................... 45 v Early Medical Manuscripts ....................................................................................................................................... 50 The Mawangdui Manuscripts .................................................................................................................................. 52 The Exercise Chart – Daoyin tu 導引圖 ............................................................................................................... 55 The Stretch(ing) Book ................................................................................................................................................ 58 Principal Texts Through the Ages ......................................................................................................................... 60 From Han to Tang ........................................................................................................................................................ 62 The Yangsheng yaoji 養生要集 ............................................................................................................................... 63 Yangxing yanming lu 養性延錄 ......................................................................................................................... 64 The Daoyin Jing ............................................................................................................................................................. 65 Dao Lin Lun ..................................................................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 68 THE SIX HEALING BREATHS ..................................................................................................................... 68 The Six Healing Breaths ............................................................................................................................................. 72 Master Daolin Method ................................................................................................................................................ 76 Master Ning’s Method ................................................................................................................................................ 80 The Yellow Court Version ......................................................................................................................................... 83 CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................................... 88 QIGONG: RECENT HISTORY ....................................................................................................................... 88 The Invention of Qigong ............................................................................................................................................ 89 Qigong and Chinese Medicine ................................................................................................................................