Healing Tao USA Summer Session
at Heavenly Mountain Retreat Center

Calligraphy: Chinese Shamanic Healing Art

Shamanic Qigong and Calligraphy

In Chinese shamanic (Wu) Qigong, one important practice is Fu (symbol, talisman) Qigong. Wu (Shamans) use Fu to connect with the universal Qi to help people, An energetic symbol is called Fu in Chinese. It is the traditional Wu (Chinese shamanism) way of accessing the universal Qi for healing or creating harmonizing Feng Shui energy. A movement of Chinese shamanic Qigong maybe a Fu.

Chinese calligraphy practice is an ancient and elegant art form, as well as a method of qi cultivation. It is originated in the traditional shaman’s way of accessing the universal qi. It is also a method to understand classical Chinese philosophy and the energetic healing principles.

This workshop will help students learn:

• External Qi healing skills

• How to use the basic tools of calligraphy, namely brush, ink and paper.

• the specifically chosen Fu (symbols)

• the relationship between characters, philosophy, and the universal qi

• to harness and control their own internal qi

• the principle of this shamanic healing arts

For samples of calligraphy by Zhongxian Wu, visit: www.healingdao.com/calligraphy.html

Introduction of “Fu” –

Spiritual Calligraphy Symbol

By Zhongxian Wu

Master Calligrapher & Qigong Teacher

Introductory note by Michael Winn:

I am delighted to introduce the Healing Tao community to Zhongxian Wu. I met Wu quite by chance in China in 1998, although now it seems quite fated. A Taoist monk at the Eight Immortals Temple in Xian had agreed to take me climbing up Mt. Huashan, but he got called away to a temple ceremony on a different mountain. He asked Wu at the last moment to guide for me instead. At first I was disappointed. I soon found out it was my lucky day!

Wu and I not only had a blast swinging like monkeys from the most precarious perches on Mt. Hua's sheer cliffs, but I found in him a true kindred spirit. Wu is an ancient Taoist sage in a young Chinese body. He spent every free moment and all his money traveling all over China seeking out the old masters' alchemical secrets before they died. He headed a qigong organization in Xian and studied all the major traditions. He is both humble and playful, yet deeply focused on his journey in Tao.

On that first trip, I found that Wu was also a talented musician, and had studied with one of China's greatest living guzheng (dulcimer-like classical musical instrument) masters. Of course Wu would never tell me that ­ it came up by chance when another of his friends, the vice abbott at Huashan, turned out to be another apprentice of the same master. It is deeply meditative and sonorous stringed music for the soul.

I mention all this by way of getting to the main point. Although we met again in China several times, Wu completely hid from me his talent as a master calligrapher. It wasn't until he moved to the USA that I found out that he had combined his 'qi' (chi) skills and his artistic abilities into spiritually very high level calligraphy. Westerners need to understand that in China, good calligraphers are revered, and a single character by a famous artist can be worth tens of thousands of dollars (= hundreds of thousands of dollars in their economy).

I love Chinese calligraphy, because I can feel the chi in it ­ if the painter has enough 'kung' (or 'gong') to infuse their personal chi into the callgraphy. So as I am very sensitive to chi, I am also very picky. It took me a long time to decide which of Wu's paintings I would hang in my meditation room. It was a difficult choice. They all have a powerful shamanic feel of primal simplicity, but also a lyrical elegance and sometimes a bit of whimsy. I eventually chose the first symbol listed below, which combines good luck and happiness symbols. It is playful and its lovely rounded spirals remind me of Wu's playfulness. The calligraphy and I have playful meditations together, needless to say.

I hope you find the artistic symbol that speaks to you. If not, at least take a moment and meditate with each one and see what gets absorbed and felt at a deep soul level. Then leave them, and see if one is still calling to you the next day. As handmade works of fine art, they are far more expensive than other mass duplicated products on this site, or mass duplicated calligraphy which lacks deep feeling of the artist's personal chi. I feel these symbols are still a bargain, and in the future will cost far more as Wu becomes known. Each one is personally sealed with Wu's chop and thus can also be considered an investment in a talented artist's work.

These paintings are NOT on the website shopping cart. They must be ordered privately though our office, and after your symbol is painted it will be shipped to China to get the finest silk framing. Just email info@healingdao.com or call 888-999-0555 (973-777-4442) and we will place your order with Zhongxian Wu at a 33.3% discount. The Taoist numerology of this is explained below.

- Michael Winn ---------------------------------

Here is a longer article by Wu on the deeper cultivation possibilities are using calligraphy as a spiritual process.

Introduction of “Fu” –

Spiritual Calligraphy Symbol

By Zhongxian Wu

In Chinese Shamanic (Wu) Qigong, one very important practice is creating Fu Qigong. It means “skill in creating energetic symbol that communicates with the qi field”. Wu (Shamans) use Fu to connect with the universal Qi to help people. Daoist tradition has continued some of the ancient Wu practices by incorporating them into its own. In modern times, monks still use Fu to communicate with different beings and nature in different rituals. Some classical style Chinese medicine doctors still use Fu as a powerful treatment for their patients. As a shamanic Qigong practitioner, I want to share some information about Fu with friends.

What is the nature of a calligraphy energetic symbol?

The energetic symbol is called Fu in Chinese. It is the traditional Wu (Chinese shamanism) way of accessing the universal Qi for healing or creating harmonizing Feng Shui energy. You might be able to find symbols for healing in Chinese medicine classics or in some Daoist classics. In these books, you can find information about using symbols to treat certain kinds of disease or for other functions. You might decide to try to follow the instructions, but find that nothing happens as you had expected based on what the book said about treating this kind of disease. You might conclude that this practice is just superstition.

However, the truth is that the practice of using symbols for healing is not for everyone. The secret part is that you must have the ability to use the symbol for channeling universal Qi. This is similar to the way a car functions. It can bring you to your destination, but only if you know how to drive and can control the car. Likewise, not everyone has the ability to use symbols to channel universal Qi.

The ability to use symbols for healing can be developed through special shamanic training. In all of my Qigong practice, the most powerful part is Fu (symbol) Qigong. In the Shamanic Emei Sage Style Qigong School, the lineage master was allowed to teach no more than five students this practice in his whole life. He could teach all of the other Qigong forms to everyone, but this most secret form was carefully protected.

After many years of Qigong practice, fortunately, my master started training me in Fu Qigong. In 1994, I spent 49 consecutive days with my master to practice this Fu Qigong. After 49 days of intense practice, he qualified me to do the Fu Qigong and passed the lineage on to me. I became the lineage holder of the Shamanic Emei Sage Style Qigong School. Over the past ten years, I have used this Fu Qigong to create different symbols to help people recover from their suffering and to create more joy of life with good results.

What is the process of writing calligraphy symbols?

Before I start drawing symbols, I do a Chinese astrology reading to pick the best days -- those with harmonizing universal Qi. On these special days, I purify my physical and spiritual body according to Wu (Chinese shamanic) tradition. Holding my calligraphy brush, I meditate myself into the harmonizing Qi state. Then I channel special universal Qi to penetrate into the rice paper through the tip of the brush during my drawing.

After making the symbol on the rice paper, I affix my seal with red Chinese calligraphy ink next to the symbol at an auspicious time during the drawing to harmonize with the universal Qi. In the Chinese shamanic tradition, a seal is like a mudra in that it functions as a vehicle to access the universal Qi.

After I have created the calligraphy symbol, I must find someone to make an attractive scroll with silk paper and decorate it in the traditional Chinese way. This treatment holds the energy on the paper and also helps physically protect the symbol so it can be kept for a long time.

What is the spiritual function of the calligraphy symbols? The symbols contain the universal energy and have both common and special functions. A symbol can convey the type of energy needed to strengthen or improve:

1. Personal health -- to help balance personal energy and to release disease

2. Family -- to create better Feng Shui at home and to harmonize the family

3. Business -- to help build a better business. Harmonizing Qi can give birth to more money. Good business comes from the harmonizing Qi. There is a saying of Chinese businessmen: “He Qi sheng cai,” meaning “Harmony Qi generates wellness and riches.”

4. Qigong practitioners -- to help practitioners move into the better Qi state and spiritual cultivation state.

5. Energy workers -- to help create a strong universal Qi field in the treatment room and office ---------

Zhongxian Wu's Bio

Zhongxian Wu is the recognized master of multiple lineages of Chinese shamanic Qigong, Taiji and martial arts. He is the author of Vital Breath of the Dao— Chinese Shamanic Tiger Qigong. He synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advanced practitioners, as well as patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally designed courses and workshops.

Wu was born on China’s eastern shore in the city of Wenling in Zhejiang Province, where the sun’s rays first touch the Chinese mainland. He began practicing Qigong and Taiji at an early age. Inspired by the immediate strengthening effects of this practice, Wu committed himself to the life-long pursuit of the ancient arts of internal cultivation. He devoted himself to the study of Qigong, martial arts, Chinese medicine, Yijing science, Chinese calligraphy, and ancient Chinese music over the next thirty years, studying with some of the best teachers in these fields.

In China, Wu served as Director of the Shanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. In this capacity, he conducted many investigations into the clinical efficacy of Qigong and authored numerous works on the philosophical and historical foundations of China’s ancient life sciences. Since he began teaching in 1988, Master Wu has instructed thousands of Qigong students, Eastern and Western.

In 2001, Wu left his job in Xi’an, China, as an engineer to come to the United States to teach. For four years he served as Senior Instructor and Resident Expert of Qigong and Taiji in the Dept. of Classical Chinese Medicine at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon. In addition to his work at NCNM, Wu was a sub-investigator in a Qigong research program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA.

Currently, Wu presents trainings and workshops for professionals and the general public on topics related to the classical Chinese arts and inner cultivation. He is committed to bringing the authentic teachings of Chinese ancient wisdom tradition such as Qigong, Taiji, martial arts, calligraphy, Chinese astrology, and Yijing science to his students.

In addition to his classes, workshops, and seminars, he offers a long-term Qigong and Taiji training program which provides a strong foundation for the study of shamanic Qigong, internal alchemy, Taiji and Qi-healing skills, including classical Chinese energy techniques, medical Qigong, and martial arts applications. Please visit www.masterwu.net for the details.

TESTIMONIALS

I have been studying Qigong with Master Wu ever since he first started teaching in the U.S. Master Wu is a wonderful Teacher. His depth of knowledge and experience in the classical Chinese arts and his ability to transmit this ancient knowledge is extraordinary.

Thanks to Master Wu, I can now feel energy moving internally as well as externally and my ability to see on the inner and outer planes has greatly increased. Master Wu has taught me how to direct my energies for self-healing and for connecting with universal Qi through different Qigong practices. One of these practices is the art of calligraphy and I could feel the energy of the symbols.

Pam

Master Wu taught me how to generate and feel qi in my very first class. Then over time, through his personal refinement, integrity, and power, he taught me the ancient path to vast dimensions of qi.

Leonora Perron

I have experienced a number of very good Qi Gong teachers, and I can unequivocally say that Master Wu is the most dynamic teacher I have experienced so far.

Genie Hardee

After you have spent some time with Master Wu, you begin to realize that you are actually not in the presence of an ordinary person. As he shares and teaches, you begin to see a depth of knowledge that is uncommon even in the qi communities he associates with. If you spend enough time with him, you will come to realize he is a rare and true man wisdom. You see that his natural way with people, with changing environments and in diverse circumstances comes from his being in deep internal harmony with the Way known as “Tao.” Master Wu’s teachings are great and a lot of fun. With his capable guidance we felt we were all transported to an ancient time when men of true character still walked in the mountains of China.

Dhammadasa

Thank you Master Wu for the energy work at the December 2007 Portland program. My back is pain free at this point, which is like a miracle! My right arm has no pain that was chronic since my fall in 2005. I am so amazed by those changes. -- Michelle

I have been taking Master Wu Zhongxian’s National Qigong Training (NQT) program. There are two main reasons why I have continued studying in this program: first, Master Wu’s profound knowledge in this field, coupled with his personality of patience and kindness, and second, the powerful Qigong forms he has imparted to us.

As a result of my studies with Master Wu, my health has improved. When I started this retreat program, I was a boarder-line diabetic patient and my doctor had recommended that I take certain medications. I was determined to lower my blood sugar level through Qigong practice. After four months, my blood sugar level had returned to normal. Another health benefit I have experienced as a result of my Qigong practice is that my eyesight has improved. And there is yet another experience related to physical cure. This spring I started to have an irregular heart beat and it increased to alarming frequency, especially during this spring’s retreat. I was planning to consult my doctor after the retreat. However, before retreat ended, I related Master Wu my condition and he taught me a certain Qigong form to practice. I practiced it, but I still made an appointment with my doctor. Within a week, I stopped feeling the irregular heart beat and I cancelled the appointment.

Motoe Wada