The qi in the body is an essential substance which circulates constantly with strong energy. It flows in every viscus, meridian, tissue and organ to motivate various physiological activities in the body.
The movement of qi is called 'the functional activities of qi'. Though there are various kinds of movements of qi, theoretically they can be divided into four basic patterns ascending, descending, exiting and entering.
The viscera, meridians tissues and organs are the places for qi to perform movement. The movement is the basis for the life activity. Once the movement stops, the life comes to an end.
The four basic movements not only motivate various physiological activities in the body but also only manifest themselves in the physiological activities of above structures. For example, exiting is exhaling and entering is inhaling in respiration. Dispersing of lung qi is ascending; the depurative descending of lung qi is descending. The stomach and spleen command digestion. The spleen is responsible for sending up the clear so that it is healthy when the qi is ascending. The stomach is responsible for sending down the muddy so that it is in harmony when its qi is descending.
The ascending versus descending, exiting versus entering are contradictory movement of opposite unification. It is not necessary for every physiological activity to have all patterns of qi movement equally. For example, the liver and the spleen command ascending while the lung and the stomach command descending. Systematically, in order to have normal physiological activities, there must be a coordination and balance between he ascending and the descending, the exiting and the entering. So the movements of qi are an important links to coordinate and balance the various physiological functions.
The coordination and balance between the four basic movements is called "harmony qi activities". When the four movements are imbalanced, it is the morbid state of "disorder of qi activities'. There are various disorders of qi activities. For instance, when four movements of qi are impeded, it is called "dysfunctional activities of qi'; local obstruction of qi flow is called "stagnation of qi"; over-ascending or inadequate descending of qi is called "rebellion of qi'; inadequate ascending or over-descending is called "collapse of qi"; qi being unable to keep qi or qi running out from the body is called "collapse of qi"; qi being unable to spread but accumulated is called "condensation of qi'.
