Life relies on exercises which are good for health and longevity. Long time ago, the Chinese had learnt to build health through exercises. Enjoying the longest history in China，the Five-Animal Exercise is one of the healthcare methods that are most-widely spread in the folk life.
The Five-Animal Exercise (Wuqin Xi) is a set of qigong practice imitating animal movements and manners with disease prevention, medical treatment and vitality promotion as its major functions. "Qin" means beast and generally referred to animals in ancient times. "Xi" referred to activities such as singing, dancing and acrobatics in ancient times and here specifically refers to special movements. The Five-animal Exercise is also known as "Game of Five Fowls" or "Wuqin Qigong". It is one of the most widely spread health care exercises in folk life and enjoys quite a long time of history.
The creatures in the universe, big as the lion and tiger, small as the ant and cockroach, have their own unique way of survival. Though the human race lives on the earth with prevailing power, we have our shortcomings. Hence the ancient Chinese created the "Five-animal Exercise" by imitating the movements and manners of various animals to enrich and perfect their own surviving skills.
The creatures in the universe, big as the lion and tiger, small as the ant and cockroach, have their own unique way of survival. Though the human race lives on the earth with prevailing power, we have our shortcomings. Hence the ancient Chinese created the "Five-animal Exercise" by imitating the movements and manners of various animals to enrich and perfect their own surviving skills.
Five-Animal Exercise
The Five-animal Exercise consists of five groups of actions imitating the movement of the tiger, deer, bear, ape and bird. During the imitation, one should do the same action twice symmetrically on both left side and right side, together with conditioning of the breath. It is a bionic exercise. Regular practice of the Five-animal Exercise can limber up the joints in the waist and limbs, strengthen the waist, and nourish the viscera, thus achieving the purpose of disease prevention and life prolonging.
- On June 28, 1982, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, and the then National Sports Committee ordered that traditional Chinese healthcare methods including the Five-animal Exercise should be promoted as the contents of "physical education" in medical colleges. In 2003, the recompiled "Five-animal Exercise" was promoted nationwide as the content of "healthcare qigong" by the State Sport General Administration of China.
Five-Animal Exercise and Qigong
Qigong is a healthcare method unique to China. It can be classified into two major categories: one is static-oriented - standing, sitting or lying motionlessly, to keep concentrated and breathe in a special way so as to enhance the function of the circulatory and digestive systems; the other category is dynamic-oriented – usually one should be perseverant in taking some gentle exercises or massage so as to strengthen the constitution. Both the Five-animal Exercise and Taiji boxing are the representative of the latter.
Hua Tuo and Five-Animal Exercise
Hua Tuo was an expert in medical science of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is said that among the numerous inventions of all his life, there is an "exercise" aiming at healthcare, namely, the Five-animal Exercise.Some hold that the Five-animal Exercise is a set of medicinal qigong practice created by the famous doctor of the Eastern Han Dynasty – Hua Tuo. The Exercises imitate the motion of five animals including the bear, tiger, ape, deer and bird and have the function of disease-proof, disease-curing as well as prolonging life. It is a bionic exercise which associates motion with inertia – dynamic outside and static inside, toughness with softness, and inner practicing with outer practicing. But some deem that Hua Tuo was only a reviser and reorganizer of the Exercise, and similar way of health-building had appeared before the Han Dynasty. The earliest record that contains the Five-animal Exercise is Records on Cultivating Mind and Prolonging Life written by Tao Hongjing of the Southern and Northern Dynasties.