The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (529 page)

 
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(Chin., ‘air, breath, strength’). The vital energy (in Chinese religion, medicine and philosophy) which pervades and enables all things. ‘Nourishing the life spirit’ (
yang ch'i
) by a variety of exercises, including diet,
breath
control, and sexual control, became pervasive. It is thus closely associated with
yüan-ch'i
and
nei-ch'i
. It is gathered in the human body in the ‘ocean of breath’ (
ch'i-hai
) just below the navel, where it must be carefully fostered, especially through breathing practices, above all
hsing-ch'i
, which allows the breath/energy to permeate the whole body, by imagining the breath as a visible line or lines moving through the body; or
t'ai-hsi
which reverts one's breathing to that of an embryo or foetus in the womb, and which, by transferring ordinary breathing (outer ch'i or
wai-ch'i
) to dependent but directed breathing, is powerful in leading to cures and immortality (see
ALCHEMY
). Medically, ch'i was developed into the exercises of
ch'i-kung
, also known as outer exercises (
wai-kung
). See also
FUCH'I
;
LIEN-CH'I
;
T'IAO-CH'I
;
YEN CH'I
.

 
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Chiang-I
(Taoist ritual dress)
:

see
HABIT, RELIGIOUS
.

 
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(1887–1975).
Military and political leader of the Chinese Kuomintang party and the Nationalist government on mainland China and Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek promoted in 1934 the New Life Movement, which emphasized cardinal virtues both of the Confucian tradition and of the Christian faith, to which he had converted. The success of Mao's Red Army forced Chiang in 1949 to flee for refuge to the island of Taiwan.

 
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Chiao
(teaching)
:

see
CHINESE RELIGION
.

 
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(Chin., ‘sacrifice’). Originally a wine offering (or ‘toast’) at the coming of age of a son, or at a wedding. Later it became a more general ritual offering among Taoists for a wide range of purposes (e.g. to ward off illness, to protect from fire, to bring peace or to procure blessings).

 
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