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"Use intention to guide Qi (vital energy) to the site of the disease to attack it, and the illness will surely be cured." The method of guiding Qi is a technique that uses intention to direct Qi to attack diseases and eliminate pathogens. There are three specific practices:

(1) Guiding Qi to Attack Disease Method. For example, *Yangxing Yanming Lu* (Record of Nourishing Nature and Extending Life) states: "When practicing Qi circulation to remove various illnesses, focus your mind on the location of the pain. If the head hurts, focus on the head; if the foot hurts, focus on the foot. Use harmonious Qi to attack it, and over time, it will naturally subside." Examples of this method include "circulating Qi from the head to the feet to cure carbuncles, hernia, severe wind disorders, hemiplegia, and various wind-bi syndromes," and from the chapter on Hernia: "guide the Qi in the abdomen to circulate throughout the body, eliminating hernia and abdominal masses."

(2) Guiding Qi for Circulation Method. For example, the method of "guiding Qi upward to Niwan and downward to Yongquan." Niwan is a Daoist term referring to the brain or the top of the head. *Huangting Neijing Jing* (Inner Landscape Scripture of the Yellow Court) states: "The spirit root of the brain is named Niwan." Yongquan (Kidney 1, Foot-Shaoyin) is an acupoint located in the depression at the anterior sole, in the anterior one-third of the plantar surface. By intention, "visualize oneself moving from head to foot, then from foot to Dantian, up the spine, entering Niwan, imagining the Qi piercing through Niwan like clouds" (*Tianyinzi*), or "close the mouth and hold the breath, visualize True Qi rising from Weilu, passing through Jiaji, penetrating Niwan, and driving out evil Qi" (*Xiaoyaozi Daoyin Jue*). This method was commonly used by ancient practitioners as a holistic Qi circulation technique. Later generations developed this into whole-body guiding methods such as the Great Heavenly Circuit (Da Zhou Tian) and Small Heavenly Circuit (Xiao Zhou Tian). For specific practice methods, refer to *Zhongxuan Ji Zhou Da Fa* in the section "Elderly Gate" of this book.

(3) Guiding Qi Outward Method. For example, "Each time you guide Qi, constantly send it with your mind, letting the Qi exit from the toes." *Shengji Zonglu* (General Records of Holy Relief) states: "Visualize Qi exiting from the ten toes of the feet. After long practice, one will naturally feel Qi circulating through the hands and feet. Continuous practice makes the body lighter and stronger daily, the Qi meridians soft and flexible, and Ying (Nutritive) and Wei (Defensive) Qi smooth and unobstructed." Thus, guiding Qi outward is primarily a technique where one visualizes "internal Qi" exiting the body. Long-term practice of this method helps harmonize Ying and Wei, unblock Qi and Blood, eliminate disease, and strengthen the body.

The journal *Qigong* (1983, Vol. 4, No. 1: pp. 8–9) once introduced experience in using the guiding Qi method to overcome paralysis, which is excerpted below: The author, Liu Ronghua, suffered from numbness in all four limbs, muscle atrophy, and incontinence of urine and feces after contracting spinal arachnoiditis. Adopting supine or lateral positions, he used intention to relax segment by segment from head to foot. He visualized a white ball descending from head to foot, then entering the ground, repeating this cycle to facilitate mental stillness. After two months, he felt heat in his abdomen and back, strength in his upper limbs, improved sleep and appetite, and could sit on a stool. Later, he added the practice of connecting Qi between Dantian and Yongquan. During exhalation, he used intention to guide Qi from the Dantian down to the Yongquan acupoints on both soles; during inhalation, he used intention to draw the Qi back to the Dantian. After three months, the Dantian became full, the lower abdomen plump, the Huiyin area twitched, the Mingmen area felt hot, and he consciously felt Qi ascending along the spine. One morning, this warm Qi finally passed through the three passes: Weilu, Jiaji, and Yuzhen. Suddenly, with a loud crack, resembling thunder and lightning, his whole body trembled. Miracles occurred in his body thereafter; the numbness in his limbs and the tightness in his chest, abdomen, waist, and arms were completely relieved, and he could walk with large strides. After recovery, two examinations using a pulse meter, electrocardiogram, and tomographic X-ray fluoroscopy yielded normal results. He also underwent testing with a joint Qigong instrument by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Medical Association, which accurately depicted images such as skin resistance and temperature changes during Qigong practice.