Introduction to the history of 8 Strands of Brocade Qigong

The word qigong has only been in existence since the start of the 1950’s but evidence of the practice of qigong like exercises has existed for many centuries. According to historical records, more than 2000 years ago people were practicing exercises that ‘conduct’ (daoyin) both the flow of blood and air (qi) in the body. Archaeological finds provide evidence of this, with one of the most well known pieces of evidence being the Western Han Dynasty painting on silk (206 BC – AD 24) that shows people participating in daoyin exercises.

Ancient daoyin, nei gong (internal exercises), and yangsheng (care of life) practices combined with other Taoist exercises to form the basis of Qigong and with time qi became a philosophical term where it possessed a far greater meaning than merely air or breath. Qigong is a pre-cursor to, but considered part of, Traditional Chinese Medicine, along with herbal medicine, acupuncture, and acupressure

Eight Strands of Brocade is now one of the most common health/medical Qigong Forms in China. It is defined as a health/medical qigong rather than a martial art or spiritual qigong as it is practised to improve health but, it should be noted, is also frequently used as a warm up for martial art practice.

Because there are so many versions, the set of 8 Strands that we are standardising to, are those as practiced by Master Jesse Tsao. Master Tsao’s teacher was Peng Dizhi, a Daoist who lived in Master Tsao’s hometown of Penglai, China.

There are records that show Ba Duan Jin exercises (8 Strands of Brocade) have been practiced since the early 12th century and Master Tsao suggests that the Eight Strands was created by Zhongli Quan and Lu Tung-Pin – two of the Eight immortals.

Some scholars say that the eight exercises were developed in the 12th century by Marshal Yueh Fei who, once assuming command of the army, instituted a systematic training program in martial arts for his soldiers. Although some martial training had previously existed, Yueh Fei was the first to introduce Wushu into the army as a basic requirement before combat.

When researching the history and origins of this set of exercise, many conflicting views have been found and hence the exact details of origin are not easy to agree on, let alone track down. In “Ancient Way to Keep Fit” the Brocade Exercises in Eight Forms standing Exercises are stated as being taken from Dao Shu (The Pivot of the Way) which was compiled in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), so this at least is a start!

Further research

Western Han Dynasty

http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_22729.html

http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/history/five.html

Daoyin

http://www.daoyin.it/e_Daoyin.htm

http://www.daoistcenter.org/daoyin.html

Nei gong

http://www.taichi.uk.com/cngng.html

http://www.neigong.info/

Yangsheng

http://www.dyysg.co.uk/yangsheng.php

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Yangsheng.html

Medical Qigong

http://www.medicalqigong.org/

http://www.chikung-unlimited.com/Medical-Qigong.html

Martial Art qigong

http://www.chikung-unlimited.com/Martial-Arts.html

Spiritual qigong

http://www.qigonginstitute.org/html/qigonghealth.php#SpiritualQigong

Eight Immortals – Zhongli Quan, Lu Tung Pin

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Zhongli_Quan

http://taoism.about.com/od/eightimmortals/a/Zhongli_Quan.htm

http://www.uwec.edu/beachea/Lu_Tung_Pin.html

Marshal Yueh Fei

http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/9Kaleidoscope5019.html

Wushu

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-wushu.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_martial_arts

Southern Song Dynasty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty