1736 R. Brookes tr. J.-B. Du Halde et al. Gen. Hist. China III. 367 Of the various Senses of the Character Ki none was more agreeable to this Place... This Character may likewise signify Air, Vapour, Humour, &c.]

1850 Chinese Repository 19 370 The following short expression of the doctrine of the Yih King..is from the 49th section of Chú-fútsz's entire works. ‘All things..come only from the Great Extreme (t‘ái kíh). The Great Extreme is the primordial substance (k‘í) which, moving along, divided and made two k‘í; that which in itself has motion is the Yang, and that which had rest,..is the Yin.’

1897 Amer. Jrnl. Theology 1 293 The thinkers of the Sung dynasty..boldly asserted a dualism in nature, and fix on li and chi, force and matter, as the seminal principles of the universe.

1917 S. Couling Encycl. Sinica 436/2 This Li, or the Ethical Principle..is absolutely pure and good, but seeing that it is inseparable from the material element Ch‘i..it is from Man's birth to a greater or less extent impeded and tainted.

1958 W. Willetts Chinese Art II. vii. 586 Corresponding to this formal cause of each existence was its material cause, ch‘i.

1962 F. Mann Acupuncture vi. 69 As the Qi..flows through the meridians in a certain order, the preceding organ (the ‘mother’) receives the energy first and gives it on to that which follows (the ‘son’).

1978 Nature 26 Oct. 697/1 Arguably the most original Letter so far is a report of some experimental results on the physical basis of the traditional yunqi therapy—the curing of disorders through the passing of qi (pneuma) from doctor to patient without bodily contact.

1995 Economist 25 Nov. 3 At the heart of feng shui is the notion of qi, a life-giving cosmic breath usually associated with the chaqras that lurk in the natural landscape.

2005 Natural Health Feb. 111/2 To enhance your own qi through self-acupressure, massage the energy points known as ‘The Lower Sea of Qi’ (located about 3 inches below the lower outer edge of the kneecap).