炁, Taoist Propaganda

董仲君者，臨淮人也。服炁煉形，二百余歲不老。

Mr. Dong Zhong, someone from the Huai river surroundings. Taking vapours and refining his body, still young when more than two hundred years old.*

炁 is a synonym of 氣(气) sometimes used by taoists and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

炁 is now and then referred to as the innate and, thus, opposed to 氣(气), which should be the acquired.

One of the components of 炁 is 旡, to choke on something, a reference to skin breathing techniques.

旡 is also composed of 无, the radical for nil, and a dot, 丶, a indirect reference at "無中生有“, a Taoist reference that all existence comes from nothingness, the dot, 丶, representing then The One.

For some, the dot, 丶, also represents water which, with the radical for fire, 灬, at the bottom of 炁 makes it the representation of the Yin and the Yang, the feminine and the masculine. 

Of course, fire is four dots 灬, five altogether in the character if you add the one in 旡, thus representing the five elements.

Hence, more or less, from nothingness 旡 comes existence, 丶, which splits in two aspect, feminine, 丶, and masculine, 灬 , creating all things, which are governed by the five elements.

Let's not forget that you also have 乚, meaning hidden, mysterious secret, to conceal, which denotes the complexity of the concept.

Finally, the traditional 氣(气) refers to transforming the essential liquids into vapours through heat created by physical exercise while 炁 refers to a whole set of breathing out techniques to create a void to be filled, a process which shall also heat up one's body when breathing in.

*Mister Dong Zhong, He Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi), Ge Hong, 董仲君, 抱朴子, 葛洪. "Taking" is meant as taking medicine or absorbing and the literal translation of "二百余歲不老" is "not old when more than two hundred years old".