The Redefinition and Reconstruction of Qi in the Medicine of Heaven-Human System

DOI: 10.12201/bmr.202604.00097

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  Abstract: "Qi" is the core category of traditional Chinese medicine, yet it has long been positioned as a "refined and subtle substance." This substantialist understanding obscures the essential nature of Qi, leading to weakened theoretical explanatory power and diminished clinical guidance. Based on the theoretical framework of the "Medicine of Heaven-Human System," this paper proposes that the fundamental attribute of Qi is "process" rather than "substance"—Qi is the unified flow of energy, information, and matter that maintains the organism's orderliness and carries directional directives. Through a reinterpretation of key concepts such as stomach Qi, defensive Qi, Qi derived from food and water essence, and total Qi, this paper demonstrates the superiority of the process-oriented definition over the substance-oriented definition in three dimensions: theoretical coherence, clinical applicability, and capacity for dialogue with modern science. The redefinition of Qi provides meta-categorical support for the systemic transformation of traditional Chinese medical theory.

  Key words: Qi; Sheng-Sheng Materialist Movement View; Medicine of Heaven-Human System; Stomach Qi; Defensive Qi; Systems Theory

  Submit time: 8 May 2026

  Copyright: The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted biomedRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
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• ID	Submit time	Number	Download
  1	2026-04-11	10.12201/bmr.202604.00097V1	Download

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