Mawangdui, translated as 'King Ma's Mound', is an archaeological site located in Changsha, China. The site consists of two saddle shaped hills which contain three tombs. These tombs were initially thought to be those of Ma Yin, ruler of the Chu kingdom between 853 and 930AD, giving rise to the erroneous name Mawangdui.
It was subsequently established that the tombs actually dated back to the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD) and were those of the Chancellor Li Cang, his wife Xin Zhui, and a male believed to have been their son. It's now thought that the original name may have been mis-interpreted and should in fact be the similarly sounding "Ma an dui" meaning "saddle-shaped mound" in reference to the geography of the hills containing the tombs.
The tombs contained well preserved mummified remains and a wealth of other artefacts including a number of Chinese philosophical and medical works written on silk. Known as The Mawangdui Silk Texts, they include some of the earliest manuscripts of existing texts such as the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching. In addition to these and other works were numerous previously unknown medical texts. These medical texts included depictions of Daoyin (Qigong) exercises which are today known as the Mawangdui Daoyin Shu.
Consisting of 12 easy to learn, graceful movements, the Mawangdui Daoyin Shu movements work with the flow of Qi through the meridians and encourage connection between the external movements of the body and the internal activity of the mind. Through rising and squatting, extending and withdrawing the limbs, bending and stretching, the movements help maintain health and cultivate the spirit.
We're delighted to be able to announce that guest instructor Feixia Yu from the UCLAN Confucius Institute will be joining us at the start of October to share this ancient Qigong sequence with us.
You can find a demonstration of the sequence on YouTube, here.
The seminar will be held in St. Aidan's Church Hall on Station Road in Bamber Bridge on Saturday 1st October between 1 - 4pm and is suitable for adults of all ages and abilities with no previous experience required. For more information, or to reserve a place, please visit our seminars page, here.
