In Taoism, qi is the Chinese term commonly translated as vital energy or life force.
Written 氣 or 气, qi is a foundational concept in traditional Chinese thought. Taoist texts and practices describe it as a dynamic aspect of life and the natural world, associated with breath, vitality, movement, and transformation. Taoist cultivation may involve regulating breathing, posture, diet, meditation, or bodily circulation.
Qi is not identical to the Western scientific concept of energy. The term belongs to a traditional framework that also influenced Chinese medicine, martial arts, and other philosophical and religious traditions. Different schools have used it in different ways.
Qi is also easily confused with jing and shen, terms used in some Taoist systems for essence and spirit or consciousness. Together, these concepts appear in later internal-cultivation traditions, but qi itself is the broad term for vital breath or circulating life force.