本文旨在闡明「氣」在不同範疇間所形成的通路作用，特別是在符號與身體兩個範疇間所建立的通路。論述從「氣」字探索出發，說明本象「河床涸竭之形」，而可表河川涸竭時蒸發之水气，再上升為雲，下降為雨，而成化生萬物的「天地之氣」。依此轉化感通之義，而在先秦文獻中形成「水氣」、「土氣」、「天地之氣」、「食氣」、「血氣」、「精氣」、「心氣」、「志氣」、「意氣」、「仁氣」、「禮氣」、「辭氣」等等貫串不同領域的辭彙，「氣」因此在不同範疇間建立起內在的通路。其中特別值得重視的是「食氣」觀念在符號的操作層面於身體與符號兩個範疇間所建立的通路，讓「精氣」可以與「心氣」互動，延展為「辭氣」，而在道德與政治兩大領域以「無名」與「正名」等主張發揮不可輕忽的影響，並於後世文學批評領域持續轉生出「文氣」等重要觀點。自然與人文、身體與心靈、精神與物質以及符號與意義等在現代學術中往往呈現為二元對立的關係，先秦之「氣」在符號與身體間所建立的通路，因此也為對立關係的疏通提供了另一種參考。

This study sheds light on the concept of qi 氣 and the way in which it connects different concepts, especially the connection qi forms between sign and the human body. Following an exploration of the character qi’s earliest written form, which is three horizontal lines that form a pictograph of a dry riverbed, the study goes on to explain how this form expresses the evaporation of water into mist, which turns into clouds, and falls as rain. This became a representation of the elemental qi that gave rise to all life. In accordance with the notion of correspondence, the terms formed from qi in Pre-Qin literature such as shuiqi 水氣, tuqi 土氣, tiandi zhi qi 天地之氣, shiqi 食氣, xieqi 血氣, jingqi 精氣, xinqi 心氣, zhiqi 志氣, yiqi 意氣, renqi 仁氣, liqi 禮氣, and ciqi 辭氣 are indicative of the internal connection that qi builds between these concepts. Of these, shiqi is especially significant, because it established a connection between the human body and sign. This, in turn, made it possible for jingqi to come into contact with xinqi, which then led to ciqi. The concept of ciqi had a large impact on Chinese morality and politics that can’t be overlooked, especially with regards to the concepts of “the nameless” (wuming 無名) and “correct names” (zhengming 正名). It eventually led to the formation of wenqi 文氣, an important concept in later literary criticism. In modern academia, concepts such as nature and the humanities, the body and the soul, the spiritual and the material, as well as sign and meaning are often presented as being in binary opposition to each other. The Pre-Qin concept of qi, and its connection of sign to the body, provides a different way of thinking about the relationship between these types of opposing concepts.