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PODCAST [QIOLOGICAL] : Medicine & Gongfu, the Blueprint of the Neijing, with Ethan Murchie
A few weeks ago, Ethan Murchie, the founder of the Living Neijing, was a guest to discuss the Neijing on Qiological, a podcast by Michael Max.
Here’s their description of this episode, and, just below, you’ll find the player to listen to this discussion. Enjoy!
Sometimes old books get treated like sacred relics. But what if the Nei Jing isn’t a mystery text at all? What if it’s closer to a well-worn how-to manual — a guide for the hands, a companion for the clinic?
In this conversation with Ethan Murchie, we explore the Nei Jing not as a theory to be memorized but as a craft to be lived. Ethan comes to this work through martial arts and manual medicine, where following the qi, unwinding entanglements, and listening through touch are daily practice.
Listen into this discussion as we consider what transmission really means, why clinical knowing often comes through the hands before the mind, and how the classics find their life not in libraries, but in the repetition of practice.
Ethan’s reflections remind us that medicine can be steady, humble, and deeply human — a craft that reveals more each time we return to it.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Transmission and lineage in Chinese medicine
- Balancing intellectual theory with embodied practice
- The role of teachers and learning through observation
- Influence of martial arts and Daoist traditions on practice
- The concept of unwinding and following the qi
- Martial metaphors for clinical treatment
- The importance of calmness and centeredness in practice
- Responsibility in powerful or unpleasant treatments
- Transmission as scaffolding for confidence and growth
- Principles of the Neijing as enduring guidance
- Preventing illness before it arises
- Sensory awareness and environmental interaction
- Physical manifestations of imbalance in the body
- Entering the clinical mindset and role of the hands
- Clinical work as craft
Follow the qi, the qi doesn’t lie.
About Qiological
Acupuncture and East Asian medicine was not developed in a laboratory. It does not advance through double-blind controlled studies, nor does it respond well to petri dish experimentation. Our medicine did not come from the statistical regression of randomized cohorts, but from the observation and treatment of individuals in their particular environment. It grows out of an embodied sense of understanding how life moves, unfolds, develops and declines.
Medicine comes from continuous, thoughtful practice of what we do in clinic, and how we approach that work. The practice of medicine is more — much more — than simply treating illness. It is more than acquiring skills and techniques. And it is more than memorizing the experiences of others. It takes a certain kind of eye, an inquiring mind and relentlessly inquisitive heart.
Qiological is an opportunity to deepen our practice with conversations that go deep into acupuncture, herbal medicine, cultivation practices, and the practice of having a practice. It’s an opportunity to sit in the company of others with similar interests, but perhaps very different minds. Through these dialogues perhaps we can better understand our craft.