text: Middle dantian (, Zhōng Dāntián): at the level of the heart, which is also called "the crimson palace", associated with storing spirit (shen) and with respiration and health of the internal organs, in particular the thymus gland. This cauldron is where vitality or qi is refined into shen or spirit.
  Upper dantian (, Shàng Dāntián): at the forehead between the eyebrows or third eye, which is also called "the muddy pellet", associated with the pineal gland. This cauldron is where shen or spirit is transmuted into wu wei or emptiness.
  Importance of the lower dantian
  The term dantian used by itself usually refers to the lower dantian, which is considered to be the foundation of rooted standing, grounding, breathing, and body awareness in Chinese and other martial arts including qigong. The lower dantian has been described to be "like the root of the tree of life."
  In speaking of the lower of the three energy centers, the term dantian is often used interchangeably with the Japanese word hara (; Chinese: fù) which means simply "belly." In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese traditions, it is considered the physical center of gravity of the human body and is the seat of one's internal energy (qi). A master of Japanese acupuncture, calligraphy, swordsmanship, tea ceremony, martial arts, among other arts, is held in the Japanese tradition to be "acting from the hara."