A Theory of Qi

Ri

Ri means something like "reason" or "principle". It is explained by Yilik as a primal energy or truth, which imbues all things with the rules that define what they are. The principle which imbues a rock with the concept of being a rock and not something else is Ri. Ri brings order into the universe.  

Qi

Qi means something like "spirit" or "energy". It is explained by Yilik as the primal energy or truth that imbues living beings with the power to move and act of their own accord. It is opposed to Ri and brings chaos into the universe. People, too, according to Yilik, could choose to act on their Qi or on their Ri. The former meaning acting against and the latter towards their archetypes. As such there is a Ri of being a son, a Ri of being a father, a Ri of being daughter, a Ri of being a mother, a Ri of being a farmer, a Ri of being a king, and so many more.  

Gen

Gen means something like "origin" and refers to the primal energy or truth that enables things which have Ri to develop Qi, surpassing their own concepts. This aspect is the least understood of the three basic truths, and even the later form of the Core Trinity does not really change this truth in any meaningful way. Modern philosophers and technocrats in particular ascribe the concept of "emergence" to what was understood as "Gen" in the olden days.

— From "A Study of Yilik" by Rickard Leeuw

   

Yilik's Quest

  Yilik spent decades of his life meditating and reflecting at the former sites of the intersecting points between the real world and the Great Clockwork, which had been destroyed by Odin and his followers. He sought to find and explore the other world, and in doing so, he found and explored his own soul. Journeying inward, he discovered many things about himself, and he also found his inner gates, which he studied for years, until he managed to walk against the stream of magic and enter the Great Clockwork.   Within its bowls, he first spoke to its avatar, Jamphel Yeshe, who taught Yilik many things about itself and the world it had created, and about the worlds it had created. From Jamphel Yeshe, Yilik learned about the secrets behind the trinity of the Elemental Titans, their shamans, and the elements themselves, and how they tied into the cycle of rebirth. From Jamphel Yeshe, Yilik gained the grains of knowledge and wisdom to understand the trinity that formed the very universe he lived in, and thus, he wrote down his theories of Ri, Qi, and Gen.   In his understanding, men were a disrupting factor that disturbed the perfect Ri of the universe, and so was the Great Clockwork, but he admitted that he did nor claim to know whether this was bad or virtuous. A universe of naught but Ri, he argued, would be like a crystal: beautiful, yet unchanging and eternally lifeless. And without Qi, none would ever place value on such a crystal, for value was a concept only known to those who possessed Qi.   According to Yilik's musings, it was the chaotic nature of Qi, which allowed those who wielded magic to disrupt the Ri of objects and elements and bend them to their purposes. Thus, his soul theory already indicated the connection between magic and the soul.