Qi (pronounced chee) is often thought of as a measureable animating force or energy. While the ancient Chinese may have described the breeze that blows the tree branches and the cause for a flower to bloom as qi, they would also consider the shivering chills from our fever and the metastasis of cancer to be qi as well.
As a result, scholars and scientists have begun to consider a more finite or narrowed definition of qi to be unnecessary. As the scholar James Flowers remarked after leaving a conference on Qi:
“Our understanding of qi flow in accordance to acupuncture and the human body is that there are different types of qi that contribute to or take away from our health that may manifest as specific pathologies or overall wellness.”
“To say that it can be measured is not unbelievable or fantastic, but it could also be said that Qi can be measured because it was observed that a tree grew more luxuriantly if it was exposed to a certain climate rather than another.”