Qigong is an exercise worked out, developed and gradually perfected by the Chinese people in their long struggle against nature. It has become an effective measure to prevent and cure diseases, improve health and keep fit, and prolong life. 

The Chinese people started exploring the law of life thousands of years ago. On some copperwares from Shang Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty there are pictures which vividly reproduce various postures of ancient people doing “Qigong”. This shows that Qigong came into existence long before the invention of written language. In order to survive, man had to overcome all kinds of difficulties enforced on him by nature through training his body organs and adapting himself to the changing natural environments. Besides taking advantage of natural conditions to protect himself, man had to train his body to meet with various difficulties And sufferings created by nature. In the course of time, man came to realize the importance of self protection and self-training, and to improve his ability to prevent and cure diseases. For example, when one is tired he yawns for rest or sleep. When he feels a pain, he groans to relieve it. When he toils, he will utter a sound of “Hey” to support his effort. When he is hungry he desires for food. Similarly, when the weather is cold, he will sit with limbs withdrawn close to the body, and hands on abdomen (the acupoint of Dantian) and mouth closed for keeping warmth. Whenever the air is thin he has to breathe deeply and form the habit of abdominal breathing. When he sits undisturbed, he feels vitalized and comfortable. These exercises, having proved beneficial to both body and mind, have been practiced conscientiously, and gradually developed into various types and forms. The ancient exercises of Tuna, Daoyin and Xingqi have been constantly practiced, improved, perfected and evolved into Qigong. 

Qigong was referred to in various terms because there were in China different schools, including Confucious school, Medical school, Taoist school, Buddhist school, and school of Martial Arts. There were various styles and forms such as Tuna, Daoyin, xingqi, Liandan, Xuangong, Jinggong, Dinggong, Xinggong, Neigong, Xiudao, Zhosan, Neiyanggong, Yangshenggong, etc. Varied as they were in name, they were all predecessors of Qigong. According to texual research, Jing Ming Religious Record written by Xuxun, a Taoist, of Jin Dynasty included the “Elaboration of Qigong”. Special Therapy for Tuberculosis – Qigong Therapy written by Donghao and published by Hangzhou Xinglin Hospital in 1934, and the Secret Success of Shaolinquan published by Zhonghua press in 1935 and some other books, all mentioned the two characters “Qi Gong”, but no explanation of the meaning was made, nor was the name be formally recognized. It was not until 1953 when Liu Guizheng wrote and published Practice On Qigong Therapy after discussion with some other people did Qigong be given a full explanation and recognized as a formal name instead of various terms used by different schools.

Why is it called “Qigong Therapy”? The book Practice On Qigong Therapy says, “Qi means respiration while Gong means continuous regulation of breathing and taking in postures” Now it is believed that besides regulation of breathing and postures, Qigong includes ental activities. In light of medical knowledge, different styles of Qigong exercise have been sorted out and studied, and applied to the cure of diseases and preservation of health. Successful application of Qigong therapy removes it superstitious stigma and thus Qigong or Qigong Therapy come to be accepted by the common workers and has enjoyed popularity throughout the country,