This is from a book called A Brief History of Qi:  

 “…so that the lifeblood of their art might become indistinguishable from the vast qi of nature. Such cultivation was the bedrock on which the foundations of Chinese art were established. Liu Xi Zai of the Qing Dynasty (1644 C.E. –1911 C.E.) made this clear. In his book Conception of Art (Yû Gài), there is a discourse titled “Treatise on the Conception of Calligraphy (Shu Gài):

The best is to cultivate the shén [spirit].

Next is to cultivate the qi.

Last of all is to cultivate the form.”