Vol 25, Issue 3/2006
Increasing Jing and preserving beauty
Interview with Zhou Yi on women’s inner alchemy
Inner alchemy is understood as an independent tradition alongside or within Qigong. Its history goes back at least two thousand years, while the female line of the tradition is documented back to the 8th century. Women’s inner alchemy is adapted to the specific characteristics of the female body, expressed most clearly through specific female sexuality, menstruation and the ability to give birth. In the first part of an interview with Almut Schmitz, Zhou Yi explains various approaches within women’s inner alchemy and its relationship with Daoist religion and with shamanism. In the second part, to be published in the next issue, she describes the goals in more detail and deals with the different determining factors in earlier times and today.
