History

The College of Tao and Integral Health was founded during the 1920s in China by Yo San Ni, a Chinese physician and Taoist master, in order to provide a classical education for his son, Hua-Ching Ni, and other students. In the mid-1970s, the College of Tao was brought to America by Taoist master Hua-Ching Ni (now known in his retirement as “OmNi”) and was established in Los Angeles, California. Its mission is to preserve and to promulgate the teachings of the Integral Way Tradition of China, as transmitted by the Ni Family to the Western world.

The College of Tao initially offered a program of studies in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Later, it also offered self-study and correspondence courses in the Integral Way Tradition. However, in order to effectively convey the vast body of knowledge and practice of the Integral Way Tradition, it became necessary to develop specialized institutes, which focused on particular fields of studies. Some of these institutes became independent while others remained within the College of Tao.

Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, located in Los Angeles, California, was the first institute to branch out from the College of Tao and to become independent. It was founded in 1989 to provide professional medical training in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Two more institutes, Chi Health Institute and InfiniChi Institute, were founded in 1998. These institutes remain within the College of Tao & Integral Health. The Chi Health Institute oversees training and certification in the Ni Family movement and meditation arts. The InfiniChi International Institute oversees training and certification in professional energy healing techniques.

The Universal Society of the Integral Way (USIW) has worked closely with the various institutes. It was founded in 1993 with OmNi's guidance, as a community of students and teachers of the Integral Way working together to support personal and social development. Since then, the USIW (a.k.a., the Integral Way Community) has undergone various transformations in its form, name, and structure. Today, it remains the community of friends (i.e., “Friends of the Integral Way”) that surround and support the College of Tao and the Integral Way Tradition.

As of 2011, the College of Tao & Integral Health consists of departments, institutes, and programs. The College offers educational and training programs in the Integral Way Tradition and Chinese Health for the public and for health professionals. Many of its programs are correspondence or distance-learning courses for self-paced learning while some are held onsite in Los Angeles and other parts of the United States.

The teaching of the Integral Way Tradition, as transmitted by the Ni Family, is based on the works of Hua-Ching Ni, a Taoist master, spiritual teacher, and physician of natural health who has preserved and distilled the spiritual and healing wisdom of the ancient East. Hua-Ching Ni’s dedication to uplifting the human spiritual condition has led him to write and publish over 100 books in English and Chinese. For information about these books, click HERE.  (Click on Books on the left-hand side, and don't forget there is a search option in the top row of tabs.)


Founders

Yo San Ni

 

When Yo San Ni was born in China in 1879, the Ni family lineage had passed down a Taoist spiritual legacy and knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine for many generations. At the age of sixteen, Yo San went on a quest to rebuild his family's healing wisdom, as his father, a pediatrician, had perished in a fatal accident. Yo San sought out relatives, friends, and patients, but most of all, the spiritual leaders and masters of Taoism and Traditional Chinese Medicine who had fled political oppression and lived as hermits in the mountains. In his thirties, Yo San began practicing medicine and founded The College of Tao and Traditional Chinese Healing which offered both academic and spiritual growth.  


Hua-Ching Ni

 

Hua-Ching Ni (OmNi) is a spiritual teacher and physician of natural health who has preserved and distilled the spiritual and healing wisdom of the ancient East. Son of Yo San Ni, Hua-Ching Ni was born in China in the early 1900s and studied at his father's College of Tao and Chinese Healing. At the age of sixteen, he set off to attain his own experiential education. Because of the rapid changes in war-torn China, Yo San Ni advised Hua-Ching to leave, and for twenty-seven years he lived in Taiwan teaching Traditional Chinese Medicine. With his wife and two sons, Daoshing and Maoshing Ni, he eventually moved to the United States. In 1989 Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine was founded by the Ni's in Los Angeles, California, and the College of Tao and Integral Health was established. Its mission was to educate new teachers of the Ni family movement arts and spiritual tradition. Hua-Ching Ni published over 100 books in English and Chinese, travelled and taught extensively. He now lives in China.

 

Dr. Mao Shing Ni, Ph.D., O.M.D., L.Ac.

Dr. Mao Shing Ni was ordained as the Head of the Integral Way Tradition in 2000. He oversees the College of Tao and is active in teaching the Path of Constructive Life—the attainment of physical, mental, spiritual, moral and financial health in one’s life. With his father Hua-Ching Ni, he studied meditation and the movement arts of tai chi and qi gong and later became a Master Teacher. Dr. Mao, author of twelve books including the bestselling book, Secrets of Longevity, practices acupuncture and Chinese medicine with his associates at the Tao of Wellness in Santa Monica, California, which he co-founded. He is also co-founder and co-chancellor of Yo San University in Los Angeles.

 

Dr. Daoshing Ni, Ph.D., O.M.D., L.Ac.

Dr. Daoshing Ni trained intensively with his father, Hua-Ching Ni, and other achieved teachers in both the Taoist tradition as well as Chinese medicine. Continuing the legacy of his family tradition, he has embraced the teaching and practice in his everyday life.

 

He is a co-founder of Tao of Wellness, a Traditional Chinese Medical practice, where he specializes in reproductive and gynecological medicine. Well-known and highly respected in his field, his compassion, dedication and knowledge are transmitted in his attentive caring. A co-founder of Yo San University, he served as president of the school for many years. He and his brother, Dr. Mao Shing Ni, are
co-chancellors and create a balanced energy in this small yet deeply rooted family-like study environment where students make up the 39^th generation of the Ni family healing legacy.

 

Dr. Dao believes that to help achieve world peace, we must first be able to build a peaceful family and to build a peaceful family, we first need to cultivate ourselves. The real work takes place inside ourselves.