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Q

QI. Literally air or breath, qi is the matter
or material force that, along with li or
principle, makes up all existence. The
concept of li and qi was developed by the
neo-Confucian philosophers Cheng Hao,
Cheng Yi, and Zhu Xi. They taught that
all things have a fundamental principle
of form, called li. All li together constitute
the limitless Supreme Ultimate, the
principle underlying all existence. The
Supreme Ultimate, a non-theistic tran-
scendental order, is in all things. Li pro-
vides the form, but material existence
comes from qi. The central issue of neo-
Confucianism applies this scheme to
human nature. Confucian orthodoxy held
that human nature, the basis of all virtues,
is good, but human nature as it really
exists is a manifestation of li through qi.
Qi can be impure, muddied, or dulled,
and humans have an obligation to purify
their qi through education and self-
cultivation.

QUIETISM. A term first used in the
seventeenth century to refer to Christians
who stressed the primacy of quiet

receptivity and the denial of self in the

search for mystical union with God.

Quietism was deemed heretical because

of its denial of the trinity. Leaders

included Miguel de Molinos, Spiritual

Guide (1675), François Fénelon, Explana-

tions of the Maxims of the Saints (1697),

and Jeanne Marie Guyon.

QUR’AN. Arabic, “the recitation.” The

holy book of Islam. Muslims believe that

God revealed it through the Angel Jibril

(Gabriel) to the Prophet Muhammad

over the course of 23 years. It contains

114 suras (chapters) offering divine

guidance for human beings. The Qur’an

includes many stories and characters

from the Jewish and Christian scriptures,

claiming that they also come from Allah

(Arabic for “God”), but that the Qur’an

is Allah’s final and perfect revelation.

Muslims consider the Qur’an to be the

literal word of God and hence prefer to

use only the original Arabic version. They

treat physical copies of the Qur’an with

great respect and take insults of it to be

blasphemy.