The tradition of "Yin Yue Liao Fa" shares the spotlight as the two fundamentals of traditional Chinese medicine in ancient times.  Music was considered to be the most important and the foremost of the two; hence the character for "music" was created before and  placed above the character for "herb" to form the character for "medicine."  Yet Chinese musical treatment has been nonexistent for the last 3,000 yrs...Why?  It was lost due to a series of unfortunate incidents in the history of China as you will read below.  But during the modern Qigong boom in China of the 1970's-1980's it was  re-discovered and the therapeutic effects of music by studying the ancient texts.  The Qigong masters then combined the two powerful healing therapies of music and Qigong to form the Yin Yue liao Fa Qigong.  

    THE TRADITION OF YIN YUE LIAO FA QIGONG

  The Tradition of Yin Yue Liao Fa Qigong has been developed from the  studies found in  the "Yellow Emperor's Manual of Internal Medicine".  That music is based on the theory of classic tones and of Yang and Yin in Chinese traditional medicine. The effects of Yin Yue Liao Fa Qigong have been confirmed by many experimental procedures and studies over the last thirty plus years. One should understand that a Chinese character is composed of the form and the meaning. However, people seldom notice the composition of the character for "medicine" . The symbol for "grass" is on the top and the symbol for music, on the bottom. The character that indicates "music" is composed of the words of "white", "wood", and "silk" respectively.  In ancient times, these were all musical instruments. According to the five elements, the white color corresponds to the metal, gold. In the Yellow Emperor's Manual, it is the symbol for the lung, which takes air into the body (inspiration), and where the spirit is said to lie. Wood is the symbol for the liver, which corresponds to the circulation of blood.  The ancient Chinese describe the soul as hidden there.

 Traditional Qigong traditions accepts that the combination of the soul and the spirit result in strong blood circulation and well being, allowing for the emergence of enlightenment

 On the top of the character for  "music", there are two characters for "silk" on either side. Music played with the musical instrument, silk (or strings), can touch the heart and soothe the heart meridian. Also, the music strengthens the heart and keeps the spirit and the soul circulating throughout the body. One, having recovered from illness would express joy. Therefore, the character "music" came to represent joy. Judging from the above explanations, music and musical instruments offered medicinal care to the human body.  In ancient times, people used music as a kind of therapy. According to "The Yellow Emperor's Manual of Internal Medicine" written five thousand years ago, a doctor named Mio Fu, sat on the floor, playing a bamboo pipe as medical treatment. As time passed, people discovered that herbs could be useful in treating physical ailments.  People then added "grass" to the top of the character for "music", completing the word for medicine.

         THE FIVE  TONES OF HEALING

    

 Gong, Shang, Jiu, Zhe, and Yu are five tones, corresponding, respectively, to the five tastes--sweet, sour, bitter, salty and spicy. The idea of medical treatment using the five tones came before that of the five flavors, but both were popular among the people of the time.  However, with the increase in efficacy of herbal medicine, the use of music as medicine vanished completely.  Apparently, politics was alive and well in ancient China. The disappearance of music as medicine has an interesting history. In the beginning of Spring and Autumn (about 722 -484 B.C.), patients went to doctor "Tsu Yo" for medical treatment.  Tsu Yo would wave a tender bamboo stick in an orderly rhythm, making simultaneous sounds like a song or melody.  Gradually, the emperor chose this music for its calming qualities.  The ruling class, however, feared that people would be so intoxicated with music that the military forces would be weakened and the country would become defenseless. Therefore, they tried to monopolize the music, dictating that music could only be played in the palace. Subsequently, saint Confucius decided to rate music, allowing each level to be listened to in accordance with one's social class.  During the Chin Dynasty, the ruler burned all the books and killed the scholars. All the musical scores were burned and music as a medical treatment disappeared. Though recollected by the people in the Tang Dynasty, to serve as medical treatment, music was only permitted for the royal families. The rulers of the Shung Dynasty regarded music as an extravagant way of life, thus rendering it unpopular.

                        

According to "The Yellow Emperor's Manual of Internal Medicine", the five musical tones also correspond to the five internal organs: Gong - spleen, Shang - lung, Jiao - liver, Yu - kidney, and Zhi - heart. Sound waves, known as mechanical waves,  serve as an electrical medium, stimulating the organs in the body through acupuncture points. Music, therefore, enhances circulation of the blood, balances the energy systems and restores the health of the body.

The charateristics of "Yin Yue Liao Fa Qigong" generally will carry the musicians energy as played through the recordings or if your lucky enough through a live setting.  The music used in his remarkable practice  is also composed according to the Five Tones Theory seen in the Chinese medicine classics, such as Yi Jing and The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine.  The five notes correspond to the five major organ systems in Chinese Qigong as well as Chinese Medicine.

  There are also twelve principle tones that loosen and smooth the twelve meridians (pathways for the flow of energy in the human body).  It is the combination of the composition carried by the sound waves and the healing notes of the sound waves that create a powerful and unique therapeutic effect. The energy from the music can be combined with two other therapies to create an even more powerful therapeutic effect: Energy therapy and Qigong practices. Energy therapy is a powerful, natural, and effective way for people to gain energy and heal the body of disease. 

  Qigong practices are gentle, simple exercises used to gain qi (energy) from the universe and thus to increase the body's qi.  Health, vigor, and longevity are associated with an abundance of qi circulating freely throughout the meridians of the body.  Qigong practitioners will be happy to know that they can receive the most energy during qigong exercises by listening to "Yin Yue Liao Fa Music" at the same time.   This is because one is receiving energy through the music as well as energy from the universe by means of the qigong practices. Qigong practice's are extremely effective, easy to learn, and take only a few minutes to practice; all of which make qigong an excellent way to gain and to maintain excellent health.