The Six Healing Sounds or ''Liù Zì Jué'' () is one of the common forms of Chinese

qigong ''Qigong'' (), ''qi gong'', ''chi kung'', ''chi 'ung'', or ''chi gung'' () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in ...

, and involves the coordination of movement and breathing patterns with specific sounds.

History

The term Liù Zì Jué first appears in the book ''On Caring for the Health of the Mind and Prolonging the Life Span'' written by Tao Hongjing of the

Southern and Northern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

(420 - 589). A leading figure of the

Maoshan The Shangqing School (Chinese:上清派), also known as Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity is a Taoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Clari ...

School of Taoism, Tao was renowned for his profound knowledge of

Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

. "One has only one way for inhalation but six for exhalation" he writes in the book. Zou Pu'an of the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

(960 - 1279) was a major contributor in terms of theory and practice to the transmission of the exercise through his book ''The Supreme Knack for Health Preservation - Six-Character Approach to Breathing Exercises''. No body movements accompanied the Liù Zì Jué exercises until the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1386 - 1644) when Hu Wenhuan and Gao Lian wrote books on the subject. For instance they both included in their books the summary of Liù Zì Jué for dispelling diseases and prolonging the life span, which combines controlled breathing with physical exercises. There are a number of schools of exercise which incorporate elements of Liù Zì Jué, including

Yi Jin Jing The ''Yijin Jing'' () is a manual containing a series of exercises, coordinated with breathing, intended to dramatically enhance physical health when practiced consistently. In Chinese yi means "change", jin means "tendons and sinews", while jing m ...

, Ba Gua Zhang and Da Yan Gong, but the sounds are used as an aid to physical exercises in these dynamic Qigong, which is different from Liù Zì Jué. An authoritative work on the subject is Ma Litang's ''Liù Zì Jué Health and Fitness Exercises'' for clinical application. The theoretical basis of the Liù Zì Jué exercises is in line with the ancient theories intrinsic to traditional Chinese medicine of the Five Elements and the Five Solid Viscera. They tend to be on common ground on such issues as mouth forms and pronunciation methods, and the direction of body movements and mind follow the inner circulation law of the meridians.

The sounds/sections

* ''xū'' - 'deep sigh' or 'hiss' - Level the Liver Qi * ''hē'' - 'yawn' or 'laughing sound' - Supplement the Heart Qi * ''hū'' - 'to sigh,' 'to exhale,' or 'to call' - Cultivate

r Shore Up R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irela ...

the Spleen/Pancreas Qi * ''sī'' - 'to rest' - Supplement the Lung Qi * ''chuī'' - 'to blow out,' 'to blast,' or 'to puff' - Supplement the Kidney Qi * ''xī'' - 'mirthful' - Regulate the Triple Burner Qi All syllables are pronounced on a level tone - the so-called first tone (regardless of the dictionary pronunciation of each word); typically all but the fifth sound are sustained - the fifth sound may be sustained, or pronounced quickly and forcefully.Examples of pronunciations, and the accompanying movements may be found a
YouTube
and related links.

References

* TU Ren-Shun; "Effect of Practicing Health Qigong-Liu Zi Jue on Endocrine System During Menopause"; Xiyuan Hospital of China, Academy of T.C.M. (Beijing 100091) * TU Ren-Shun; "Effect of Practicing Health Qigong-Liu Zi Jue on Brain Electrical Power Spectra for Old and Middle-aged People"; Xiyuan Hospital of China, Academy of T.C.M. (Beijing 100091) * YU Ping, ZHU Ying-Qi, SHEN Zhong-Yuan; "The Experimental Research of the Effect of Health Qigong-Liu Zi Jue Exercise on the Human Lung Function"; Shanghai Qigong Institute (Shanghai 200032) * Cathrine Despeux; "The Six Healing Breaths" in "Daoist Body Cultivation" 2006 p. 37 - 68 incl. bibliography * A guide to perform th
Six Healing Sounds
can be found at this external link * List articles abou
Liu Zi Jue
on neigong.net * A collection of differen
six healing sound
videos on Qigong Journal {{Qigong Qigong Chinese martial arts Chinese words and phrases Taoist practices

History

The sounds/sections

See also

References