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T'ai Chi Ch'uan Philosophy
In many extant t'ai chi classic writings the dependence of t'ai chi ch'uan on Chinese philosophy is acknowledged. T'ai chi teachers have historically asserted that the principles of tai chi chuan practice can be applied to a student's lifestyle. 'T'ai chi ch'uan' is often translated ''supreme ultimate pugilism'' or ''boundless fist''. This refers to the ancient Chinese martial art. However, in terms of philosophy ''t'ai chi'' has a wider meaning. The concept of ''t'ai chi'' or the ''Supreme Ultimate'' is used in various Chinese philosophical schools, usually to represent the contrast in opposing categories, or the interplay of those categories usually termed ''yin'' and ''yang''. These abstract terms represent the relationships used to describe perceived opposites in the phenomenal world: full and empty, movement and stillness, soft and hard, light and dark, hot and cold, et cetera. This scheme has had a lasting influence in traditional Chinese culture, shaping theory in schoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T'ai Chi Classics
The T'ai chi Classics, or Taijiquan Classics (Chinese: ''Taijiquan Pu'' 太极拳谱 or ''Taijiquan Jing'' 太極拳經), is a collection of over 100 articles on the Chinese martial art of t'ai chi ch'uan written by the art's master practitioners over the centuries. They cover everything from the underlying Taiji philosophical principles, to methods of practice and application. Previously passed down in secret from generation to generation in whole or in parts through various lineages, they achieved classical status as they became public starting in the mid-1930s. Together they now serve as the single authoritative guide for the development and usage of Taijiquan skills. Written mostly in classical Chinese, they are used today mostly by the serious martial art practitioners of modern 6 Lineages that all trace their lineages to the ancient style taught by the Chen family and Yang family starting in the mid-19th century. While great antiquity is usually claimed for texts by leg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tao Yin
Daoyin is a series of cognitive body and mind unity exercises practiced as a form of Taoist neigong, meditation and mindfulness to cultivate ''Jing (Chinese medicine), jing'' (essence) and direct and refine ''qi'', the internal energy of the body according to Traditional Chinese medicine. These exercises are often divided into Yin-Yang, yin positions, lying and sitting, and yang positions, standing and moving. The practice of daoyin was a precursor of qigong, and was practised in Chinese Taoist monasteries for health and spiritual cultivation. Daoyin is also said to be a primary formative ingredient in the well-known "soft style, soft styles" of the Chinese martial art, Chinese martial arts, of T'ai chi ch'uan, Taiji quan. and middle road styles like Wuxingheqidao. The main goal of ''daoyin'' is to create flexibility of the mind therefore creating harmony between internal and external environments, which relaxes, replenishes and rejuvenates the body, developing in its practition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silk Reeling
Silk reeling () refers to a set of neigong (, ''internal'') movement principles expressed in traditional styles of t'ai chi ch'uan (), but especially emphasized by the Chen () and Wu () styles. The name derives from the twisting and spiralling movements of the silkworm larva as it wraps itself in its cocoon, and to the metaphorical principle of "reeling the silk from a silk worm's cocoon". Dozens of cocoons are placed into boiling water. A single strand comes from each cocoon. In order to draw out the silk successfully, the action must be smooth and consistent without jerking or changing direction sharply. Too fast and the silk breaks, too slow and it sticks to itself and becomes tangled. The pot is then stirred and each cocoon spins as the silk unwinds. Each filament twists through a single point to become thread. The thread is usually pulled over a wheel and wound onto a spool. Thus silk reeling movements are rotations within rotations that must be continuous, cyclic, focused, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural develop ... influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (philosopher), Li Ao (772–841) in the Tang Dynasty, and became prominent during the Song dynasty, Song and Ming dynasty, Ming dynasties under the formulations of Zhu Xi (1130–1200). After the Mongol conquest of China in the thirteenth century, Chinese scholars and officials restored and preserved neo-Confucianism as a way to safeguard the cultural heritage of China. Neo-Confucianism could have been an attempt to create a more rationalist and secular form of Confucianism by rejecting superstitious and m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neijia
''Neijia'' ( 內家) is a term in Chinese martial arts, grouping those styles that practice ''neijing'', usually translated as internal martial arts, occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an "external" approach focused on physiological aspects. The distinction dates to the 17th century, but its modern application is due to publications by Sun Lutang, dating to the period of 1915 to 1928. Neijing is developed by using '' neigong'', or "internal exercises", as opposed to "external exercises" (wàigōng 外 功). Wudangquan is a more specific grouping of internal martial arts named for their association with the Taoist monasteries of the Wudang Mountains, Hubei in Chinese popular legend. These styles were enumerated by Sun Lutang as Taijiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang, but most also include Bajiquan and the legendary Wudang Sword. Some other Chinese arts, not in the Wudangquan group, such as Qigong, Liuhebafa, Bak Mei Pai, Zi Ran Men (Nature B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lao Tzu
Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state of Chu in the 6th centuryBC during China's Spring and Autumn Period, served as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng (modern Luoyang), met and impressed Confucius on one occasion, and composed the ''Tao Te Ching'' before retiring into the western wilderness. Chinese folk religion considers he then became an immortal hermit or a god of the celestial bureaucracy under the name Laojun, one of the Three Pure Ones. A central figure in Chinese culture, Laozi is generally considered the founder of philosophical and religious Taoism. He was claimed and revered as the ancestor of the 7th10th century Tang dynasty and similarly honored by modern Chinese with the surname Li. His work had a profound influence on subsequent Chinese re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou period (1000750), the ''I Ching'' was transformed over the course of the Warring States and early imperial periods (500200) into a cosmological text with a series of philosophical commentaries known as the "Ten Wings". After becoming part of the Five Classics in the 2nd century BC, the ''I Ching'' was the subject of scholarly commentary and the basis for divination practice for centuries across the Far East, and eventually took on an influential role in Western understanding of East Asian philosophical thought. As a divination text, the ''I Ching'' is used for a traditional Chinese form of cleromancy known as ''I Ching'' divination, in which bundles of yarrow stalks are manipulated to produce sets of six apparently random numbers rang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhuang Zhou
Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; also rendered in the Wade–Giles romanization as Chuang Tzu), was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States period, a period of great development in Chinese philosophy, the Hundred Schools of Thought. He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the ''Zhuangzi'', which is one of the foundational texts of Taoism. Life The only account of the life of Zhuangzi is a brief sketch in chapter 63 of Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'', and most of the information it contains seems to have simply been drawn from anecdotes in the ''Zhuangzi'' itself. In Sima's biography, he is described as a minor official from the town of Meng (in modern Anhui) in the state of Song, living in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi (late fourth century BC). Sima Qian writes that Chuang-Tze was especially influe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wu Ch'uan-yu
Wu Quanyou (1834–1902), or Wu Ch'uan-yu, was an influential teacher of t'ai chi ch'uan in late Imperial China. His son is credited as the founder of the Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan. As he was of Manchu descent, and would have been named by his family in Manchu, the name "Wú" (吳) was a sinicisation that approximated the pronunciation of the first syllable of his Manchu clan name, ''U Hala''. Background Wu was a military officer in the Yellow Banner camp (see Qing Dynasty Military) in the Forbidden City, Beijing and also an officer of the Imperial Guards Brigade during the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Yang Luchan (1799–1872) was the martial arts instructor in that banner camp, teaching t'ai chi ch'uan. In the camp, there were many officers studying with Yang Luchan, but only three men, Wan Chun (萬春), Ling Shan (凌山) and Ch'uan Yu (全佑) studied diligently and trained hard enough at t'ai chi ch'uan to become disciples. However, they were unable to become Yang Lucha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yang Pan-hou
Yang Pan-hou or Yang Banhou (1837–1890) was an influential teacher of t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) in Ch'ing dynasty China, known for his bellicose temperament. Biography He was the senior son of Yang Luchan to survive to adulthood. Like his father, he was retained as a martial arts instructor by the Chinese Imperial family. He eventually became the formal teacher of Wu Ch'uan-yu (Wu Quanyou), a Manchu Banner cavalry officer of the Palace Battalion. Wu Ch'uan-yu's son, Wu Chien-ch'uan (Wu Jianquan), also a Banner officer, became known as the co-founder (along with his father) of the Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan. Yang Pan-hou's younger brother Yang Chien-hou was a well known teacher of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan Yang family-style () T‘ai-Chi Ch‘üan (Taijiquan) in its many variations is the most popular and widely practised style in the world today and the second in terms of seniority among the primary five family styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. History ... as well. Yang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action. Medicine in traditional China encompassed a range of sometimes competing health and healing practices, folk beliefs, literati theory and Confucian philosophy, herbal remedies, food, diet, exercise, medical specializations, and schools of thought. In the early twentieth century, Chinese cultural and political modernizers worked to eliminate traditional practices as backward and unscientific. Traditional practitioners then selected elements of philosophy and practice and organized them into what they called "Chinese medicine" (''Zhongyi''). In the 1950s, the Chinese government sponsored the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, and in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, promoted Chinese medicine as inexpensive a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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