Records that describe breathing exercises exist from about 1000 B.C. The Chinese, like the ancient Greeks, believed in a healthy mind in a healthy body, and discovered many techniques that were supposed to enhance health and well-being. It is not known exactly where or when qigong as we now know it began, but there have been many different styles that have evolved through the years.

About 1,800 years ago a venerable Buddhist monk named Dao An developed a form of qigong which he called "Dayan Qigong". Years later another monk named Wan Yi revised and perfected the set. Dayan qigong was handed down from master to student as a secret or esoteric doctrine. It was only in recent years that its potential and benefits have been known to the general public, and today, it is widely taught in China.

In the 19th century, during the Qing Dynasty, Yang Mei Jun's grandfather learned Dayan qigong from a monk. It wasn't until master Yang's grandfather turned 70 that he decided to teach his granddaughter the form. Now Master Hui Liu is teaching the set here in the United States after she had learned the set from Yang Mei Jun. Master Yang herself is a living example of how beneficial Dayan qigong can be. She has been known to cure the terminally ill using only the power of the "qi" from her hands. She can hold a sword in her hands and illuminate the tip with her qi. In the dark it is possible to see two beams of light originating from her eyes. And, just by using her body's qi, she is said to be able to evoke the scents of five different flowers. This last amazing feat was performed recently in China before an audience of over 2,000 people. For over half a century Master Yang practiced in secret, often late at night, so that even her husband knew nothing of what she was doing. Some years ago she decided to make her knowledge available, but she was subsequently suppressed by the Cultural Revolution. Then, in the early 1980's, a government official in her district was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. >