[terra104]

Originally Posted by drakenjecht

hmmm,, i will wikpedia it lol

the concept of qi has been very important within many Chinese philosophies, over the centuries their descriptions of qi have been varied and may seem to be in conflict with each other. Understanding of these disputes is complicated for people who did not grow up using the Chinese concept and its associated concepts. Until China came into contact with Western scientific and philosophical ideas (primarily by way of Catholic missionaries), they knew about things like stones and lightning, but they would not have categorized them in terms of matter and energy. Qi and li (理, li, pattern) are their fundamental categories much as matter and energy have been fundamental categories for people in the West. Their use of qi (lifebreath) and li (pattern, regularity, form, order) as their primary categories leaves in question how to account for liquids and solids, and, once the Western idea of energy came on the scene, how to relate it to the native idea of "qi." If Chinese and Western concepts are mixed in an attempt to characterize some of the problems that arise with the Chinese conceptual system, one might ask whether qi exists as a "force" separate from "matter," whether qi arises from "matter", or whether "matter" arises from qi.

WTF????