The Idea of Qi/Gi: East Asian and Comparative Philosophical Perspectives

The notion of qi/gi (氣) is one of the most pervasive notions found within the various areas of the East Asian intellectual and cultural traditions. While the pervasiveness of the notion provides us with an opportunity to observe the commonalities amongst the East Asian intellectual and cultural traditions, it also allows us to observe the differences. This book focuses more on understanding the different meanings and logics that the notion of qi/gi has acquired within the East Asian traditions for the purpose of understanding the diversity of these traditions. This volume begins to fulfill this task by inquiring into how the notion was understood by traditional Korean philosophers, in addition to investigating how the notion was understood by traditional Chinese philosophers.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction: Understanding the Diversity of Qi/Gi - Suk Gabriel Choi and Jung-Yeup Kim Chapter 2 Zhang Zai’s Philosophy of Qi - Jung-Yeup Kim Chapter 3 Some Aspects of the Concept of Qi in Zhu Xi- Yung Sik Kim Chapter 4 Dai Zhen’s Idea of Qi and His Critique of Neo-Confucianism - Suk Gabriel Choi Chapter 5 Gwon Geun and Dasan on the Nature of the Mind-Heart - Halla Kim Chapter 6 Toegye’s and Gobong’s Li-Qi Metaphysics and the Four-Seven Debate - Bongrae Seok Chapter 7 Yi Yulgok on Gi/Qi, Self-Cultivation, and Practical Learning - Edward Y. J. Chung Chapter 8 An Investigation of Hong Daeyong’s Gi Worldview - Jung-Yeup Kim Chapter 9 The Position of Hyegang’s Philosophy in the History of World Philosophy - Jeong-Woo Lee Chapter 10 Philosophizing “Jigi ??” of Donghak ?? as Experienced Ultimate Reality - So Jeong Park

About the Author :
Suk Gabriel Choi is associate professor of philosophy and director of the Asian Studies Program at Towson University. Jung-Yeup Kim is associate professor of philosophy at Kent State University.

Review :
This anthology offers a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion of the significance of qi/gi in Chinese and Korean neo-Confucianism. Essential reading for those who want to understand the diversity of approaches to this concept in East Asian thought. This book is a comprehensive investigation of the concept of qi/gi, one of the essential concepts in understanding the East Asian world view, cultures, and ways of thinking. This is an excellent analysis of the diverse theories of various scholars who followed the school of qi/gi in China and Korea. This book touches on diverse aspects of Qi philosophy, a body of philosophical discourses on the most categorical concept in East Asian ways of thinking and living, through introduction and analyses of influential thinkers’ theories from both Korea and China. It is a ground-breaking academic contribution that caters to the need to clearly understand how significantly, and divergently, the concept qi has been integrated into the nexus of East Asian philosophy. The present volume, which contains ten highly informative chapters competently selected and edited by philosophers Choi and Kim, greatly contributes to the lively interdisciplinary discussion surrounding the qì phenomenon. Among the latest book-length publications on the topic, several have dealt with how ancient Chinese qì cultivation practices could be adapted to and made good use of in our modern-day globalized cultures and societies. This volume, however, zeroes in on how the Chinese teachings on qì have been challenged and modified by Korean thinkers over the years: modified, or rather, transformed, at times, to a rather radical extent. [This book] is warmly recommended to students and scholars of East Asian religious and intellectual history.