Download or read book The Philosophy of Qi written by Ekiken Kaibara and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714) was a prominent Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar whose philosophical treatise, The Record of Great Doubts, is one of the central discourses in East Asia on the importance of qi, or the vital force that courses through all life. Available for the first time in English, this book emphasizes the role of the monism of qi in achieving a life of engagement. Ekken believes that moral self-cultivation must take place within the dynamic forces of nature and amid the rigorous demands of society and that the vitalism of qi provides the philosophical grounding for this vibrant interaction.