To begin this article, I wish to quote for Guo Pu, author of the Zang Shu (Book of Burial), who lived during the Jin Dynasty (circa 276—324 AD):
葬者,藏也,乘生气也。夫阴阳之气,噫而为风,升而为云,降而为雨,行乎地中,谓之生气。
To Bury is to Store; is to ride on Sheng Qi (Growth Qi or Lively Qi).
Yin Yang Qi emits as wind, rises as clouds, descends as rain, seeps into the ground is Sheng Qi.
GuoPu in his opening statement in the ZangShu (Book of Burial) specifically stated that to bury you need Yin Yang Qi and Sheng Qi.
What is Yin Yang Qi 阴阳气and What is Sheng QI 生气?
To many who had studied Chinese Metaphysics and especially those who studied Fengshui, sometimes, are confused by the interchanging use of these two terms in ancient classics and modern writings in Chinese Metaphysics.
According to the YiJing, The Book of Changes which is THE book that is both philosophical and metaphysical, that depicts the all-encompassing phenomena of this universe, that, everything in this world is defined based on the theory of Yin and Yang Qi.
Yin and Yang are two polarities, but within each there is embedded the other.
What does this mean?
This means that within Yin Qi, there is embedded Yang Qi;
Within Yang Qi, there is embedded Yin Qi.
Phenomenon such as…..
brightness is Yang, darkness is Yin;
heavy is Yang and lightweight is Yin;
high is Yang and low is Yin etc., etc.
What is Sheng Qi?
It might take many pages of text to really describe Sheng Qi, but here I shall use a short sentence to briefly describe it: ‘Sheng Qi is usable functional Qi that can benefit’.
The opposite of Sheng Qi is Sha Qi 煞气. Sha Qi is something that is detrimental and disruptive to the smooth progress of phenomena. (We shall not go into details about Sha Qi as yet.)
Coming back to Yin Yang Qi and Sheng Qi:
All Qi, whether Sheng Qi or Sha Qi, have within it the Yin and Yang quality.
Within Sheng Qi there is Yin and Yang Qi.
Within Sha Qi, there is also Yin Yang Qi.
Whatever is the quantitative and qualitative composition of Yin Yang Qi within Sheng Qi and Sha Qi, we might not know because now we still do not have an equipment that can measure Sheng Qi, Sha Qi and Yin Yang Qi.
However, there are equipment that can measure negative ion and positive ion in the air, but does that equate to measuring Yin Yang Qi?
Is Yin Yang Qi more than just negative ion and positive ion?
A stumbling block is that there is no scientific empirical evidence acting as proof of Yin Yang Qi, Sheng Qi and Sha Qi.
All our judgement of Sheng Qi, Sha Qi and Yin Yang Qi is based on our interpretation of knowledge as passed on from ancient classics, knowledge passed on from ancient masters, and knowledge gained from our own experiences…………………………….