Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong

Overview

Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong, 七星横链功, is a Chinese qigong manual attributed to Xu Yousheng.

The scan contains seventy-nine PDF pages. Its printed book pages run to seventy-six pages, with front matter and an appended bibliographic record. That record identifies a first edition published in January 1992.

The book presents a complete qigong and conditioning system built around preparatory standing, breath regulation, seven main routines, self-massage, and an auxiliary dispersing method. It frames the practice through yin-yang, the Five Phases, traditional Chinese medicine, Daoist cultivation, martial conditioning, health preservation, and external-qi experimentation.

The book is a useful primary artifact from China’s qigong boom. Its health, healing, external-qi, and extraordinary-capacity statements should be treated as claims made by the text, not as established facts.

Title and Meaning

Chinese: 七星横链功
Traditional Chinese: 七星橫鏈功
Mandarin Pinyin: Qīxīng Héngliàn Gōng
Literal Meaning: Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Skill

Also Translated As: Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong, Seven-Star Cross-Chain Qigong, Seven-Star Hard-Conditioning Practice

七星 means Seven Stars. 横链 means horizontal chain or crosswise chain. 功 means trained skill, discipline, or method.

No authoritative English translation has been located. “Seven-Star Hard-Conditioning Practice” is descriptive rather than literal. It reflects the text’s body-strengthening and martial claims.

Author or Compiler

The preface is signed 许有声, Xu Yousheng, and dated July 1991 in Nanjing.

Xu states that he came from a martial-arts family, studied several martial-arts styles in Nanjing, and received the method from an unnamed Daoist teacher after traveling to Mount Hua during the 1960s. He says he practiced the method for many years before making it public.

The PDF metadata and appended bibliographic page give the author as 许有生, using 生 rather than 声. The printed preface signature is stronger evidence from the book itself. This entry therefore uses Xu Yousheng, 许有声, while preserving the metadata variant in the publication record.

Publication History

The preface was completed in Nanjing in July 1991.

The appended bibliographic record in the scan identifies 七星横链功 as a first edition published in January 1992. It lists seventy-six printed pages and SS number 10058777.

The available scan does not preserve a cover, title page, copyright page, publisher name, ISBN, price, print run, place of publication, or original publishing colophon.

No other verified edition, reprint, translation, or publisher catalog record has been located.

Historical Context

The book appeared during China’s qigong boom of the 1980s and 1990s, often called Qigong Fever. This period saw widespread qigong publishing and public interest in health practices, traditional culture, scientific testing, self-cultivation, and extraordinary abilities.

The text reflects this environment directly. It combines traditional Chinese medical and Daoist language with a modern instructional format. It also includes discussion of qigong deviations, claimed health effects, and tests involving external qi.

Its historical narrative follows a common qigong-era pattern. It presents a remote Daoist origin, private transmission, Mount Hua instruction, public teaching, and large numbers of learners. These claims should be preserved as the book’s lineage narrative while remaining distinct from documented history.

Contents and Structure

The book has three main divisions: Overview, Method, and Appendix.

OVERVIEW

Meaning of Qi
气的含义
Page 1

The Relationship of Essence, Qi, and Spirit
精气神的关系
Page 3

Stages of Practice
练功的阶段
Page 7

Effects and Deviations of Qigong
气功的效应与偏差
Page 9

Matters Requiring Attention in Qigong Practice
气功练功的注意事项
Page 10

METHOD

The Development of Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong
七星横链功的发展
Page 13

Introduction to Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong
七星横链功简介
Page 14

Preparatory Posture and Qi-Gathering Method
预备式及采气法
Page 17

Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong Method
七星横链功功法
Page 20

First Form: Qi Sea Seeks Truth
第一式 气海求真
Page 20

Second Form: Planting the Post on Dry Land
第二式 旱地插桩
Page 24

Third Form: Jade Belt Encircles the Waist
第三式 玉带围腰
Page 29

Fourth Form: Toad Strengthens Qi
第四式 蛤蟆壮气功
Page 34

Fifth Form: Kuixing Observes the Dipper
第五式 魁星观斗
Page 41

Sixth Form: Through-Arm Moves the Mountain
第六式 通臂移山
Page 47

Seventh Form: All Returns to the Source
第七式 万全归宗
Page 53

Auxiliary Qi-Dispersing Method
辅助散气法
Page 58

Practice Instructions for Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong
七星横链功练功须知
Page 64

APPENDIX

Practice Record
实践录
Page 66

Preliminary Exploration and Testing of Qigong External Qi
气功外气初探与测试
Page 68

Major Themes

Qi, essence, and spirit.

Yin-yang and Five Phases theory.

Traditional Chinese medicine concepts of the five viscera and six bowels.

Standing exercise, movement, breath regulation, attention, and self-massage.

Progressive training through lower, middle, and upper levels.

Health preservation and physical conditioning.

Martial strength, resistance, and whole-body power.

Qigong deviation and practice precautions.

Daoist origin stories and Mount Hua transmission.

External-qi experiments and attempts to frame qigong claims in scientific language.

Martial or Cultural Significance

The book is significant as a self-contained early 1990s qigong manual. It preserves a named practice sequence rather than offering theory alone.

Its seven routines, illustrations, preparatory methods, auxiliary dispersing practice, and safety discussion make it useful for studying how qigong methods were packaged for public instruction during the qigong boom.

The text also shows a central feature of that period. It combines traditional body-cultivation theory with modern health language, martial-conditioning claims, and attempts to validate external qi experimentally.

The manual should not be treated as evidence that its health or external-qi claims are true. Its value lies in preserving a particular training method, its theory, its transmission story, and the cultural assumptions of its publication period.

Known Editions

Seven-Star Horizontal-Chain Qigong, 七星横链功. First edition, January 1992. The appended scan record lists the author as 许有生. The preface is signed 许有声. Seventy-six printed pages. Publisher not identified in the available scan.

No verified reprints, revised editions, translations, or publisher-issued digital editions have been located.

Related Encyclopedia Entries

Xu Yousheng
Seven-Star Hard-Conditioning Practice
Qigong
Qigong Manuals
Qigong Fever
Qigong Deviations
External Qi
Daoist Internal Alchemy
Five Phases
Chen Tuan

References