Dantian

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Dantian or Tan t'ien (Chinese: Dāntián 丹田, Japanese; Tanden 丹田; Korean: 단전 DanJeon 丹田; Thai Dantian ตันเถียน) which literally means "cinnabar or red field" and is loosely translated as "elixir field". It is described as an important focus point for internal meditative techniques, and refers specifically to the physical center of gravity located in the abdomen three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel. It is important in qigong, neigong, tao yin and other breathing techniques, as well as for traditional Chinese medicine and is also widely used throughout East Asian meditation and martial arts theory, especially the neijia school of Chinese martial arts.

It is often used interchangeably with the Japanese word hara (腹; Chinese: fù), which literally means simply "belly". In Chinese and Japanese tradition, it is considered the physical center of gravity for the human body and by extension the seat of one's internal energy (qi). A master of calligraphy, swordsmanship, tea ceremony, martial arts or the like is said to be "acting from the hara" in Japan. Buddhist teachers often instruct their students to center their mind in dantian, said to aid control of thoughts and emotions. Acting from the dantian is said therefore to be related to the state of samadhi.

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