The Use of QIin the Pre-Qin Period of China: A Corpus-Based Study

QI (air) is one of the key concepts throughout the development of Chinese traditional philosophy and culture. This study explores the thought of QI in the pre-Qin period of China by a corpus-based quantitative study of the meanings of QI in the scriptures of this period. Results show that a majority of the meanings of QI have been produced in the pre-Qin period and there is a priority list of scriptures in terms of the contributions of the meaning extension of QI. The period of the Spring and Autumn and Warrior States (a period before Qin Dynasty) is an important stage when QI was used extensively and many philosophical thoughts related to QI were produced.