气功是中国的一种非常神奇的调节身心的锻炼方式，由于长期以来与宗教之间的联系密切，被蒙上了神秘的色彩。与中国功夫一样，气功有着悠久的历史，广为流传。气功的发展大约有4000~5000年的历史。据说，早期的气功是一种用于治疗肢体功能障碍的舞蹈。自中华人民共和国成立以来，气功得到进一步发展，主要用于康复和保健，成为医学、生理学、生物化学等学科的重要学习科目。
Qigong (breathing exercise) is China’s most intriguing mental and physical exercise and has always been shrouded in mystery due to its association with religions for a long time. Like Chinese marital arts, qigong has a long history and enjoys wide popularity. It is believed that qigong dates back to about 4000 to 5000 years and its earliest form can be a certain kind of remedy dance designed and practiced to adjust human body functions. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, qigong has been further developed for healing and health preservation purposes, and has been studied as an important subject not just within medicine, but also in physiology and biochemistry.
