Chinese Meditation Terms Explained

A term-by-term orientation: dao, de, qi, jing, shen, wuwei — and the practice terms zuowang, xinzhai, shouyi, jingzuo, tiaoxi, taixi, neiguan, cunsi — each with its one-line meaning and the page that holds the detail.

PRIMARY SOURCEEDITORIAL SYNTHESIS

Direct answer: The Chinese contemplative vocabulary is a small set of terms that keep reappearing, and every one of them means something narrower than its English translation suggests. This page gives the one-line meaning of each, with the page that holds the full treatment. The standing caveat: these are not dictionary entries but terms embedded in cosmologies — the one-liners below are orientation, not definition.

The root vocabulary

Term	Reading	One-line meaning	Full page
道 dao	dào	the Way — the pattern of all things, not a creator god	concept
德 de	dé	the power a thing receives and carries — the Way as it runs through a particular thing	concept
气 qi	qì	breath-air-vitality — the felt medium of body and world, not a measurable gas	concept
精 jing	jīng	essence — the concentrated basis of life that qi and spirit depend on	concept
神 shen	shén	spirit — the luminous presence, most refined of the three	glossary
无为 wuwei	wúwéi	acting without forcing — the skill of not pushing, not a policy of doing nothing	concept

The practice terms

Term	Reading	One-line meaning	Full page
坐忘 zuowang	zuòwàng	sitting in oblivion — dropping body and mind to merge with the Great Thoroughfare	concept
心斋 xinzhai	xīnzhāi	fasting of the mind — letting the mind fast of its own busyness until it can listen with qi	concept
守一 shouyi	shǒuyī	guarding the One — holding body, breath, and spirit undivided	concept
静坐 jingzuo	jìngzuò	quiet sitting — the Song–Ming practice of collecting the mind for study and conduct	concept
调息 tiaoxi	tiáoxī	regulating the breath — making the breath even and fine, the Xiao Zhiguan’s fourfold analysis	practice
胎息 taixi	tāixī	embryo breathing — the fine, “as if absent” breath of deep stillness	practice
内观 neiguan	nèiguān	inner observation — watching the body-mind itself, not holding images	practice
存思 cunsi	cúnsī	visualization — holding inner images of deities, landscapes, or stars	practice

The distinctions that matter most

1. Zuowang is not mindfulness. The comparison zuowang vs mindfulness holds the whole distance: forgetting versus noticing, dropping versus observing.
2. Neiguan is not cunsi. Observation of what is there versus visualization of what is not — the what is neiguan guide draws the line.
3. Wuwei is not passivity. The wuwei vs non-action comparison unpacks what “not forcing” licenses and what it does not.

The honest limits

• Every one-liner above is a compression; the full pages carry the sources, the disagreements between commentators, and the uncertainty. When a claim depends on a term, read the term’s page.
• Romanization here follows the site’s convention (pinyin without tone marks); historical texts use no romanization at all, and translations vary.
• The map of Chinese contemplative traditions places these terms inside their traditions; this page only names them.

Sources

• Zhuangzi; Daodejing; Xiao Zhiguan; Neiguan Jing — as summarized in the site's concept, practice, and glossary pages