Dongui Bogam_28_Qi Is the Root of Respiration

[氣爲呼吸之根]
[Qi Is the Root of Respiration]

正理曰, 人受生之初, 在胞胎之內, 隨母呼吸, 及乎生下, 剪去臍帶, 則一點眞靈之氣, 聚于臍下. 凡人唯氣最先, 莫先於呼吸. 眼耳鼻舌意是謂六慾, 皆由是氣, 非是氣, 則聲色香味觸法都不知覺. 氣之呼接于天根, 氣之吸接于地根, 氣之在人身, 一日周行八百一十丈.
Complete Compendium of the True Principles of the Golden Elixir (正理) says, "When a person is first born, he/she breathes along with his/her mother inside the mother's womb. When the umbilical cord is cut off after the baby is born, a minute amount of life-giving qi is gathered below the navel. Because qi is of the highest importance to humans, there is nothing that precedes respiration. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness. [These are called the six desires]. Are all derived from qi. If there is no qi, a person cannot perceive sound, color, fragrance, taste, tactile sensation, and the present condition. Exhaling qi is connected to the root of Sky(yang), and inhaling qi is connected to the root of Land(yin). Qi circulates within the body 810 jang [1 jang (丈) 3.2m] a day." 

易曰, 一闔一闢謂之變, 往來不窮謂之通. 程伊川曰, 涵養之道, 出入之息者, 闔闢之機而已. 又曰, 闔闢往來, 見之鼻息. 張橫渠曰, 人之有息, 盖剛柔相摩, 乾坤闔闢之象也. 朱紫陽調息箴曰, 氤氳開闔, 其妙無窮, 誰其屍之, 不宰之功.
The Book of Changes (周易) says, "That which opens once and closes once is called Byeon (變), and that which comes and goes endlessly is called Tong (通)." Cheng Yichuan said, "In nurturing the body, breathing air in and out is the key point of changes: opening and closing. He also said, "Opening, closing, going, and coming are all apparent in breathing." Zhang Hengju said, "A person's respiration is the image of the strong and the weak colliding with each other and also the image of the Geon trigram (乾; which means the sky in the Book of Changes) and Gon trigram (坤; which means the land in the Book of Changes) opening and closing." Zhu Ziyang, in his writing Discipline of Controlling the Breath(調息箴), said, "Opening and closing spontaneously is simply amazing. Who would manage it? It works well without management." 

參同契曰, 二用無爻位, 周流行六虛, 六虛, 卽卦之六畵也. 以喩一呼一吸, 往來上下, 久之則神凝息定, 所以成變化也. 呼則氣出, 陽之闢也. 吸則氣入, 陰之闔也. 盖人身之陰陽, 與天地陰陽相似, 若能御呼吸於上下, 使之周流不息, 則闔闢往來之妙, 盡在吾身中. 元和子曰, 人身大抵同天地, 是也.
Token of the Agreement of the Three (參同契) says, "There is no settled location to yin and yang, and they flow all around the six empty spaces in the hexagram. The six empty spaces refer to the six strokes of the trigram. It is compared to the upward and downward movements of qi when one exhales and inhales. If this is done for a long time, spirit is gathered and respiration is stabilized, leading to a change. Releasing qi by exhaling is the same as yang being opened, and admitting qi by inhaling is the same as yin being closed. Yin and yang of the human body are like those of the universe. If respiration can be controlled upward and downward, enabling qi to flow endlessly, the mysteriousness of opening, closing, coming, and going is all in my body." Yuan Hezi said "The saying The human body is in most parts like the Universe.' Indicates this." 

莊周曰, 眞人之息, 息之以踵, 衆人之息, 息之以喉. 盖氣在下焦, 其息遠, 氣在上焦, 其息促. 義亦類此.
Zhuang Zhou said, "A wise man breathes with the heel of his foot, and an ordinary person breathes with his throat. If qi is in the lower energizer, respiration is long, and if qi is in the upper energizer, respiration is short." The meaning is similar to this.