Building Foundation: Neigong vs Neidan

Building Foundation is always considered a crucial step regardless of what one’s goals are in the internal arts. It is never wise to “build on top of a shaky foundation.” At best, you just won’t get anywhere with the more advanced practices. At worst, progressing to advanced practices too early can even be detrimental. 

Foundational practices can involve both body and mind-based practice, although it is common to start with the more physical and substantial aspects of oneself and work towards the more ethereal. 

While there is some overlap, foundational practices done for neidan (inner alchemy) are not always the same as neigong/qigong practices. This is because neidan ultimately is the path towards longevity, spiritual cultivation, and deep meditative practice, while neigong ultimately progresses towards utility and the ability to use internal energy for various applications.

Three Levels of Foundation Practice

Level 1: Basic Health

This level of foundation does not need to involve the internal arts, but traditional Chinese yangsheng (nurturing life) practices are very relevant here. This level is about dispelling any significant illness (both physical and psychological) and can involve conventional health practices ranging from healthy lifestyle, exercise, and medical interventions (modern and traditional). The more mainstream forms of qigong, internal martial arts, and yoga often tend more towards this category as well. 

Level 2: Developing the Energy Body

This is where legitimate, traditional systems of neigong practice come in and can take one beyond a state of just basic health to a body that is thriving with above-average resiliency to illness and disease. When taken further, the potential for special skills which can be used for healing and other purposes (qi emission, etc) even become possible, although this is one way in which the path of neigong begins to diverge from neidan. 

Level 3: Foundation For Neidan

These are practices done specifically for neidan and could include certain types of seated meditation or other forms of practice (standing practice, dynamic practice, etc). The focus here is not on developing skills and abilities, but rather is on developing jing and nourishing the kidneys, nourishing the spleen/stomach, dispelling turbid qi, refining the mind, and cultivating the ability to relax and release (song 松). 

Neigong/Qigong vs Neidan Foundation

Neigong/Qigong Foundation

Not surprisingly, foundational practices for neigong and neidan can have a lot of overlap., especially at the more basic level.* For both it is important to maintain a general baseline of good health. From the traditional Chinese perspective that involves a body with ample (post-heaven) jing, qi and shen as well as smooth-flowing, unobstructed meridians. Yet, since the trajectories of the two paths can ultimately be quite different, there are also some differences. This is one reason why simply thinking of neigong as the foundation and simply a step prior-to neidan is missing some important nuance. 

Neigong is a broad term, but it likely originated in the context of martial arts and was used in contradistinction with the word waigong. The latter described externally training and developing the more physical aspects of the body whereas the former described “internal” training with heavier emphasis on the breath, the mind, and the energies of the body. 

There is the famous quote:

Externally train the muscles, bones, and skin; internally cultivate a breath of qi (外练筋骨皮，内练一口气).

Because of this contesxt, neigong training ultimately moves towards utility and the development of skills (although strictly defining the term is complicated and technically speaking it can sometimes also be used in the context of neidan and spiritual cultivation).

Yi Jin Jing Master Jin Jiazhou, a famous martial artist in China, defines neigong as not only the ability to build and store large amounts of post-heaven qi (which he points out can be done through tuna 吐納 i.e. “breathing practices” alone), but rather that true neigong also requires that a practitioner must have mastered the skill of working with qi and moving it throughout the body at will. 

Practices tend towards developing the ability to move and use qi 氣 (here the post-heaven character for qi is used), whether that means yunqi 运气 (the ability to concentrate qi in any part of the body at will for increased strength, or the invulnerability of iron body) or the skill of neiqi wai fa 内气外发 (emitting qi outside of the body). This could also entail increased development of the physical dimensions of the body and practices that might be labeled as “hard qigong.” The fascia and connective tissue matrix is developed to a high degree, giving it more elasticity as well as essentially increasing the “wire gauge” of the meridian system to enable larger currents of post-heaven qi to flow throughout it. These may still offer some benefit to those who practice meditative practices like neidan, but largely the development can move further in a direction beyond what is necessary for it. 

Neidan Foundation

Stopping Leakage bu lou 不漏. 

Foundation building zhu ji 筑基 is an important stage in neidan. The idea that is usually put forth is that, in terms of the vital substances of the body, i.e. the “three treasures” of jing, qi, and shen, the human body reaches its peak during teenage years (sometime around the age of 16 for men and 14 for women). After puberty, “leakage” begins to occur both due to ejaculation (for men) and menstruation (for women) as well as due to other factors from ordinary life that deplete a person’s energy. The goal of foundation building is to restore the energies of the body so that they are like they were at its peak state. So a person who is older or who is generally more depleted may need more foundation building than someone who is younger. 

The body is restored and leakage is stopped through a combination of lifestyle adjustments and practices. These practices and lifestyle adjustments are often highly focused on restoring the health and functioning of the internal organs (especially the kidneys and spleen/stomach) and also conserving and building jing. Jing is the substance that is needed for the first stage of internal alchemy: refining jing to qi 炼精化气. Celibacy is important for conserving jing, and this does not only mean moderating sexual activity, but also moderating overindulgence in the Seven Emotions and Six Desires. 

Using Qi versus Conserving Jing and Qi

Some of the practices that are specifically geared towards this purpose can on the surface appear similar to qigong or neigong, although they tend to be more focused towards restoring the organs and jing. Accumulating massive amounts of post-heaven qi in the lower dantian, circulating it through the meridians, and developing the fascia are also helpful, but taking these aspects of practice to their extreme ultimately becomes more about developing skills that utilize post-heaven qi for purposes like healing or martial arts (the domain of neigong). 

It is at this point where neigong can start to diverge from the sorts of practices that are primarily used for neidan foundation-building. That “internal skill” (neigong), especially when defined as the ability to “use qi,” is something that often ultimately implies some level of depletion. Faqi 发气 (qi emission) is sending qi out of the body which is of course a direct form of depletion. Some even call it the “opposite of neidan,” as neidan traditions have always been associated with conservation and longevity. This doesn’t mean that someone who practices neidan can never use qi or deplete their energy in a moderate and responsible way. After all, using qi is something that is unavoidable in life, but it does mean that neidan practitioners should be mindful about how often they deplete jing and qi and seek moderation where appropriate. 

Neidan Seeks to Work with Pre-Heaven (Xiantian 先天) Jing, Qi, and Shen

The goal of neidan is to work with pre-heaven 先天 jing, qi 炁, and shen (where the pre-heaven character for qi is often used to distinguish it from post-heaven qi). Pre-heaven denotes something that is prior to something else, closer to the source or origin, which, in its ultimate definition is the Dao. 

However, cultivation starts within the post-heaven 后天 (the physical body and its energies). While it is important to distinguish pre-heaven qi from post-heaven qi when discussing theory, in reality they are not two things that are diametrically opposed or severed from one another. The two are intimately connected. Essentially, post-heaven qi is pre-heaven qi functioning in the manifest world. 

So, effectively, the practitioner works within the post-heaven to ultimately reveal the pre-heaven. When the post-heaven conditions are optimal, the pre-heaven jing, qi, and shen can become active.  In order to do that effectively, the post-heaven (body and mind) ought to be in good shape. When the body and thinking mind (the domain of the post-heaven) are in an optimal state, meaning the mind (and shen) are not scattered, the breath is harmonious and regular, the jing and qi of the body are ample and not depleted, the organ systems are healthy and harmonious, and qi can freely circulate through unobstructed meridians; the body is then in a state in which any obscurations have been removed, allowing one to more easily access and remain stable in the meditative states required to access the pre-heaven qi that is used in neidan. 

Foundation practices specific to neidan may also involve greater emphasis on cultivating mental stillness as that becomes so important when seeking to access pre-heaven states of consciousness, which in neidan terminology are associated with the One Opening of the Mysterious Pass (xuanguan yiqiao 玄关一窍) and embryonic breathing (taixi 胎息). Additionally, studying the relevant scriptures and neidan classics to understand the theory and terminology surrounding neidan are important. The cultivation of virtue is also considered a crucial aspect of foundation. Cultivating morality refines a practitioner’s qi and accelerates their progress. This concept has many layers, but one very practical reason is that higher virtue reduces mental afflictions, leading to fewer distractions on the meditation cushion.

* As previously discussed, categorizations like neigong, neidan, qigong are not always strictly defined in some concise and universal way. However, neidan as a tradition has historically tended to distinguish itself from the sorts of practices that we label as “qigong” or “neigong” today.