This chapter delineates a genealogy of breath-winds-related concepts in Daoist literature, focusing in particular on the diachronic semantic of feng 風, qi 氣, and xi 息. Starting from the first occurrences derived from the natural observation of feng 風, the chapter traces the gradual development of divination and the philosophy of qi 氣 in the attempt at controlling the boundaries of the body and, indirectly, of the state. Despite the differences, Daoist texts converge on the keen interest on techniques for preserving and cultivating the body, which becomes a natural landscape animated and nurtured by numinous forces, with organs inhabited by divinities and different kinds of pneumata that have to be either preserved or repelled. In this framework, the art of breathing is essential to the conservation of health and the attainment of longevity. Subduing winds and controlling qi 氣 flows represent a primary skill for either enforcing boundaries or dissolving them. In the first case, the structuring and protection of inner spaces draws a parallel between the Daoist sage and the wise ruler, between art of breathing and art of governing. In the second case, the relinquishment of artificial or unnatural boundaries—social, political, and ethical—manifests the effortless adaptation to the “natural course of things” and the carefree, blissful attunement to the spontaneous course of the Way—the dao 道.