Qi

This article is about the Chinese principle. For the wireless charging technology, see Qi (standard). For the British comedy panel show, see QI. For other uses, see Qi (disambiguation).

Qi
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	氣
Simplified Chinese	气
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin qì Bopomofo ㄑㄧˋ Gwoyeu Romatzyh chih Wade–Giles ch'i4 Tongyong Pinyin cì IPA [tɕʰî] Wu Romanization 5chi Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ hi Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization hei Jyutping hei3 IPA [hej˧] Southern Min Hokkien POJ khì Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC ké Middle Chinese Middle Chinese khj+jH Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *C.qʰəp-s
Burmese name
Burmese	အသက်
IPA	/ă.t̪ɛʔ/
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	khí
Hán-Nôm	氣
Thai name
Thai	ชี่
RTGS	chi
Korean name
Hangul	기
Hanja	氣
Transcriptions Revised Romanization gi McCune–Reischauer ki
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	хий
Mongolian script	ᠬᠡᠢ
Transcriptions SASM/GNC khii
Japanese name
Kanji	気
Transcriptions Romanization ki
Malay name
Malay	chi (چي)
Indonesian name
Indonesian	chi
Filipino name
Tagalog	gi
Portuguese name
Portuguese	qi
Lao name
Lao	ຊີວິດ
Khmer name
Khmer	ឈី
Tetum name
Tetum	qi

In the Sinosphere and Chinese philosophy, qi (/ˈtʃiː/ CHEE; simplified Chinese: 气; traditional Chinese: 氣; pinyin: qì) is a vital force traditionally believed to be a part of all living entities. Literally meaning 'vapor', 'air', 'gas', or 'breath', the word qi is polysemous, often translated as 'vital energy', 'vital force', 'material energy', or simply 'energy'. Qi is also a concept in traditional Chinese medicine and in Chinese martial arts. The attempt to cultivate and balance qi is called qigong.

Believers in qi describe it as a vital force, with one's good health requiring its flow to be unimpeded. Originally prescientific, today it is a pseudoscientific concept, i.e. not corresponding to the concept of energy as used in the physical sciences.

Chinese gods and immortals, especially anthropomorphic gods, are sometimes thought to have qi and be a reflection of the microcosm of qi in humans, both having qi that can concentrate in certain body parts.