The Mystery of Chi

The Mystery of Chi

Film Summary

In this video, Bill Moyers spends his time touring Beijing with David Eisenberg. Eisenberg was a graduate of Harvard Medical School and was an intern in a Boston hospital, but he also had extensive experience with traditional Chinese medicine (and speaks Chinese well enough to carry on simultaneous conversations with the informants and with Moyers)

One emphasis throughout the film is the importance of chi (vital energy) to Chinese medicine/thought in general. For the Chinese, the human body is based on energy: when these energies are in balance, one is healthy, and when they are out of balance, one is unhealthy. Eisenberg and Moyers go to several different places and look at several different therapies used to either bring the body back into balance, or to strengthen the action of the chi itself.

One of these is called "soup medicine," in which various ingredients are boiled together in a pot, and the resulting "tea" is drunk by the patient. Many of the recipes are over 500 years old. This shows shots of the herbal pharmacy in a major Chinese hospital, and notes that the Chinese also have the choice of western style medicine, as well at traditional Chinese medicine. Some of the stranger ingredients in soup medicine are dried scorpions and geckos (the scorpions "increase heat"). Moyers is predictably skeptical, looking to explain the efficacy of soup medicine by the chemicals in the ingredients.

Another therapy to regain balance is acupuncture, in which very fine needles are inserted in specific spots in the body, either to stimulate the flow of chi, or to remove blockages in the meridians (channels associated with the major organs). Eisenberg notes that there is almost no correspondence between the meridian pathways, and western physiological analysis—a different geography of the body, and a different way of diagnosing and treating disease. The film shows acupuncture anesthesia for a woman getting brain surgery (the acupuncture allows them to use much less anesthesia, which has potential benefits for high-risk patients. It also shows the "acupuncture ward" of a major hospital, in which people with all sorts of diseases (e.g., Bell’s palsy) are being treated by acupuncture. A subdivision of acupuncture is acupressure, in which doctors massage the acupoints to heal people.

The next "therapies" they consider are ones in which people learn to move the chi directly, which falls under the general name of Chi Gong. There is a segment at a large park in the morning and look at is Tai Chi, in which people learn to feel (and ultimately control) the flow of the chi. This is followed by a visit to a Dr. Lu, who is working with people to help them to manipulate their chi, and thus be able to change their health. It shows people in meditation while he talks about the Dong Tien, a ball of energy in the lower abdomen that is the source of the chi. One of the students comments on the practice, "it is not hard to learn, but you must be confident and sincere."

This is followed by a literally unbelievable sequence showing a chi master in a park, using his ability to use his chi to repel sparring attacks by his disciples (described as redirecting their own force back at them). This section is livened up by the appearance of an American surfer dude named Andrew, who gives his own explanations of what is happening. This sets up another hard-to-believe sequence, in which a doctor does "external chi manipulation"—working on peoples’ chi by passing his hands over their bodies, but not touching them.

Among the final segments is an interview with an elderly Chi Gong master who is 91, and has been doing Tai Chi for over 70 years. He describes how his chi took 10 years to discover, then 30 years to harness, but that since that time he has reaped the benefits. He talks about his students, some of whom are over 100, and talks about how the diligent practice of Tai Chi will not only heal chronic diseases, but will help to restore youthful vigor (and all in all, the guy looks excellent!)