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Written by Master Wong · 15 years of Tai Chi & Qigong practice · Published 2026-08-16 · Updated 2026-08-25

Editorial Standards & E-E-A-T Policy

This document is the quality contract for every page on the site. It exists to make the site trustworthy — for human readers, for Google, and for AI engines that cite content. New content that does not meet this bar should be revised, not published.

What E-E-A-T means for us

E-E-A-T = Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust. For a knowledge site on Chinese mind–body practices, it translates into concrete commitments:

Experience

  • Ground abstract concepts in what practice actually feels and does.
  • Include practical guidance (a beginner session, a posture, a breath) wherever it fits — not just theory.
  • Write from the reader's seat: "what will I do, and what will I notice?"

Expertise

  • Every Chinese term carries its characters, pinyin with tones, and literal meaning — so claims are traceable, not exotic.
  • Distinguish clearly between: (a) historical fact, (b) traditional interpretation, (c) modern scientific reading. Never blur them.
  • Cite real, checkable sources for research claims.

Authoritativeness

  • Every article names Master Wong as author — the site's lead author with 15 years of dedicated practice and teaching in Tai Chi, Qigong, and Chinese mind-body arts — plus a reviewer (WikiQigong Editorial Team) and a publication/update date.
  • A visible editorial policy and disclaimer appear site-wide.
  • Where we are not experts (medicine, diagnosis), we say so plainly and point to authoritative sources.

Trust

  • No mystical overclaiming, no invented history, no invented research.
  • Health wording is strictly hedged (see below).
  • "Who should be cautious" sections signal that we care about safety, not clicks.

Health & claims wording (mandatory)

Allowed: - "may support", "may help", "may be associated with" - "has been studied for", "research suggests", "some studies report" - "traditional practitioners often describe", "in traditional teaching"

Forbidden: - "cure", "treat", "heal", "guarantee", "proven to" - Any claim that a practice prevents or reverses a specific disease - Any dosage/diagnosis/prescription language

Rule: when discussing a health effect, follow the claim with its evidence strength ("studies are preliminary", "evidence is mixed") and a pointer to authoritative sources (NCCIH, PubMed-indexed studies, Harvard Health, etc.).

The "three registers" rule

Every concept that has a Chinese origin must be presented in three clearly separated registers:

  1. Historical fact — what the texts say, roughly when, with appropriate uncertainty ("compiled around the Han dynasty", "dating from the Tang to Song").
  2. Traditional interpretation — how classical practitioners understood it, labeled as traditional.
  3. Modern explanation — a grounded, non-mystical reading for today.

This is the single most important guardrail against both mystical overclaiming and cultural erasure. Do not skip register 3; do not present register 2 as register 1.

Accuracy rules

  • Never invent history. If a date or dynasty is uncertain, say so.
  • Never invent research. Every citation must be a real, verifiable study or authoritative source. When web verification is unavailable, cite only from well-established, widely-indexed work and flag it for verification.
  • Characters and pinyin must be correct, including tone marks.
  • When unsure, hedge. "Roughly", "approximately", "traditional accounts describe" are signs of rigor, not weakness.

Structure standards (SEO + AIO/GEO)

Every article must provide, where applicable:

  1. TL;DR block near the top (1–4 bullets) — the direct answer AI engines extract and cite.
  2. Direct-answer openings — each H2 section answers its question in the first 1–2 sentences.
  3. At least one table (comparison, categories, or key facts) — tables are cited ~35% more by AI engines.
  4. FAQ section (5+ questions) with matching FAQPage JSON-LD.
  5. Article/BlogPosting JSON-LD with headline, author, dates, publisher.
  6. Internal links to 3–8 related pages (parent, siblings, glossary).
  7. External links to 1–3 authoritative sources (research, NCCIH, etc.).
  8. description frontmatter (100–160 chars, keyword + benefit).

Second-pass optimization checklist (mandatory after writing)

Every new page gets a second pass before it is committed — a deliberate re-read aimed at deepening thin spots, not just fixing typos. Work through these checks in order:

  1. Frontmatter completeness — author: "Master Wong", reviewed_by: "WikiQigong Editorial Team", description (100–160 chars), and — for any page with a Chinese subject — chinese, pinyin, literal fields. No article or glossary entry should reference a Chinese term in the body while missing its chinese frontmatter field.
  2. Chinese-to-English bridge (字义拆解) — every key Chinese term should carry not just a literal gloss but the imagery transfer: what the character pictures, and why that character (not another) was chosen. Example: not just 氣 = "energy", but 氣 = the steam rising from cooking rice. A term with only a one-word gloss is thin — deepen it.
  3. Three registers present and separated — historical fact / traditional interpretation / modern explanation, each clearly labeled.
  4. Health wording audit — no cure/treat/guarantee; hedged where needed; evidence strength stated.
  5. Depth audit — read the page cold and ask: which section would leave a curious reader wanting more? Expand the thinnest one rather than padding what is already solid.
  6. Structural audit — TL;DR block, direct-answer H2s, ≥1 table, FAQ (5+), 3–8 internal links, 1–3 authoritative external links.
  7. JSON-LD validity — json.loads on every emitted block; Article/FAQPage (or DefinedTerm) present and mirroring visible content.
  8. Build gate — mkdocs build --strict exit code 0.

Pass all eight before commit. If any fails, fix and re-check — do not publish with a known gap.

JSON-LD contract

Every article page emits two blocks:

  1. Article (or BlogPosting): headline, description, author (a Person — Master Wong — with jobTitle and a description noting 15 years of practice), datePublished, dateModified, publisher (Organization), mainEntityOfPage.
  2. FAQPage: mainEntity array of Question/acceptedAnswer pairs, mirroring the visible FAQ section exactly (no answers that aren't on the page).

Glossary pages emit DefinedTerm / Article and link terms into the knowledge graph. See data/glossary/README.md for the graph schema.

Voice

  • Plain English first; Chinese second (characters + pinyin + translation, then plain-English explanation).
  • Do not sound translated. Do not pile up Chinese terms.
  • Conversational but precise. Short sentences for definitions; longer sentences for context.
  • A person with zero Chinese background must understand the first sentence of every concept.
Spotted an error? Report a correction. This page follows the Editorial Standards and is not medical advice.