Body and Ki in Gicheon : practices of self-cultivation in contemporary Korea

Abstract

In this dissertation I study the social phenomenon of ki suryŏn (ki-training) as an invented tradition and examine how it functions within Korean society. Mind-body practices referred to as qigong in China and ki suryŏn in Korea are re-constructed in modernity on the basis of ancient East-Asian traditions. Utilizing the practice of GiCheon developed in the 1970s as a case study, I investigate the experience of ki suryŏn, as understood and articulated by practitioners. As my theoretical framework, I apply the concept of Technologies of Self developed by Michel Foucault, as well as the Confucian formula for self-cultivation, which involves the physical and bodily, alongside the mental/emotional and familial/social: ‘authenticate the intention, rectify the mind-heart, cultivate the body, love the family, govern the country, bring peace to the world’. This model is repeatedly called for by GiCheon practitioners themselves when describing experiences resulting from the practice. They recount self-formation unfolding on different levels of the self, which start at the level of the body, unfolding also on the level of the emotional, familial and social self. These processes of self-formation and self-articulation are important examples of the construction of contemporary selves.