What is Qi? And other common acupuncture terms

If you’re new to acupuncture, you may have come across the term “Qi” or other Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) terms that may be unfamiliar to you.

You may have also notice that when writing about TCM common words from Western medicine are capitalized like Blood, or organs such as the Heart and Kidneys. Today we’ll provide a little background on these terms!

What is Qi?

Qi is commonly translated from Chinese as “energy”, but this everyday translation oversimplifies the rich and varied use of the term in TCM.

Qi can refer to the vitality of a person or of an organ or system in the body. So for example, saying that a person has strong Qi means they are healthy, or have a lot of vitality. If you have strong Heart Qi - it means your heart is functioning well.

Qi can also refer to distinct functions or movements in the body. For example, Stomach Qi moves downward in the body, transporting food into the next stages of digestion. When symptoms like hiccuping and burping occur, we say that the Stomach Qi is disturbed, and is rebelling upwards.

There are also different types of Qi like Wei (Defensive) Qi - which helps the body to fend off external pathogens (similar to the concept of the immune system in Western medicine).

What is Blood?

Blood in TCM refers to more than the physical substance we know as blood in Western medicine. The TCM term “Blood” describes the blood we see (for example when we get a cut) but also the nutrients, moisture, and oxygen that is being carried through the body by the blood.

You may have heard acupuncturists refer to a pattern called Blood deficiency. If someone has Blood deficiency it doesn’t mean that they literally have less blood in their body - we mean that they may be lacking the nutrients, moisture and other properties that Blood supplies to the body.

Why are some medical terms capitalized?

Many of the concepts such as Blood, and organ names, such as the Heart and Spleen are defined differently in TCM than in Western medicine. For this reason, when we are talking about the TCM concept, we capitalize the word to provide that distinction.