The Legacy of the Way of Tai Chi

Author: Peter Tong

Translation: Stephen Tang

引言

「太極」一詞，最早見於《莊子》，也見於《易—系辭》﹕「易有太極，是生兩儀，兩儀生四象，四象生八卦」，宋代周敦頤著有《太極圖說》，以陰陽五行理論解釋世界本源及人事、萬物，太極自始成為中華哲學、文化的常用詞。其實太極是先秦易學的發展，數千年來經歷道、儒、佛理論多次整合，到宋代成為一套系統完整的哲學理論，簡稱太極，「太極思維」是太極的內容。

道教採納《老子》、《莊子》、《列子》的理論建立宗教系統，歷來道教傳播，經常用太極這名詞說明。道門養生修真有「五秘」門派，其中一門稱為太極門，以太極哲理為修真的指引。太極一詞，多少給人一種神秘的感覺，其實若探索太極的源流，研究太極相關理論，會發現太極思維是中華文化對自然原則的理解及歸納，由於歸納的形式極為簡省，而且多是簡單的圖式，不容易理解，不被了解自然變得神秘。如果把太極思維的內涵，用淺易合理的方式說明，太極也就不再神秘了。

Introduction

The term "tai chi" was first seen in Zhuangzi, and also found in the Great Commentary of Yijing: "Yi has tai chi. It is the birth of duality. Duality gives birth to four figures. And four figures give birth to bagua (eight trigrams)". In the Song Dynasty Mr. Zhou Dunyi wrote the book "Tai Chi Tushuo (Explanations of the Taichi Diagram)" to explain the origin of the world, the development of human affairs, and the myriad of things. Since then tai chi has become a common term in Chinese thoughts and culture. In fact, it can be traced back over thousands of years from the studies of Yijing prior to the Qin Dynasty, through its gradual interactions with Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism over time, to the formulation of a complete set of philosophical thinking known as taichi in the Song Dynasty. This body of knowledge is also referred to as “taichi thinking” or the way of tai chi.

Taoism is a religion which assimilates the ideas of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. Tai chi is the central theme of the Taoist principles, and with the spread of Taoism throughout the course of its history, the term tai chi has also become a household name. There are "five secrets" schools of Taoist health cultivation practice. One of them is called Taijimen, which employs tai chi thinking as the guiding principles. People might find the idea of tai chi somewhat esoteric. But if you dive into the origin of taichi, its theory and development, you will discover that it is the traditional Chinese view of what constitutes Nature and how things work in Nature. These ideas are often denoted in the format of simple diagrams. They may look esoteric as they are not easily comprehensible at first glance. In the following we are going to demystify the confusing world of taichi by explaining them in more simple terms.

太極思維的源流

中華民族，在古時稱為華夏，是華族及夏族的合稱。華族、夏族是漢族及許多中華少數民族的先祖。有說因為華族、夏族聚居中原地方，所以稱為中華，是與東夷、西戎、南蠻、北狄相對而言的。也許是偶然的巧合吧，這「中」的地理位置竟成了中華民族思維的源頭，從而催發出東方數千年的燦爛文化。

中，是一個蘊含了相對意義的詞。中本身是沒有義意的，它是相對其他東西而言才有意義。有左有右才有中，或有上有下才有中，或有前有後才有中，或者同時有前有後、有左有右、有上有下才有中。中是相對前後、左右、上下而言的。沒有前後左右上下，就沒有中。所以說中，雖然沒有指明是上下的中，是左右的中，或前後的中，但正包含了上、下、左、右、前、後六面八個方位的義意。

中可大可小，任何物體，總有中點，地球有中點，太陽有中點，銀河有中點，不管有多大，都一定有中點。另一方面，任何最小的東西，總可以中分。中分之後，又可以再中分。不管有多小，總可以在小中再分。大有大中，小有小中。

中可虛可實，中可動可靜，靜態的均衡對稱是中，動態的均衡對稱也是中。鐘擺由左擺到右，再由右擺到左，對稱均衡點是擺幅中間。旋風不停轉動，均衡點在不動的風眼，只要對稱平衡，怎麼動也是中。

中可以是具象的, 也可以是抽象的. 總的來說，中是相對兩端的中點。古人用陰陽兩字來概括了所有相對待的兩端。陰陽只是代號，可以代表任何相對待的事物。陰陽既是兩端，但又是一體，相分而又不能相離，離開了便不是陰陽。因為是一體，所以有陰陽一定有中，陰陽相接之處就是中。說中雖然不說陰陽，但已包含了陰陽在內。所以陰、陽、中，是「涵三為一」的。

The Origin of Taichi Thinking

The Chinese nation, called Huaxia in ancient times, is the collective name of Hua and Xia. The Hua and Xia are the ancestors of the Han and many Chinese minorities. It is said that because the Hua and Xia nationalities live in the Central Plain, it is called Zhonghua in contrast to Dongyi (eastern barbarians), Xi Rong (western barbarians), Nanman (southern barbarians) and Bei Di (northern barbarians). Perhaps it might just be a historical coincidence that this "middle" geographical location had actually become the breeding ground for some great Chinese thinking. The truth is it had given rise to a stronghold of eastern civilization for over thousands of years, which is still striving today.

The meaning of the word, zhong (center), is expressed in relative term. Zhong has no meaning by itself. It is only meaningful relative to other things. Center becomes meaningful if there is left and right, or up and down, or front and back, or simultaneously all of them. Center is therefore understood in terms of front and back, left and right, or up and down. There is no center if there is no front and back, left and right, or up and down. Hence, the idea of six planes and eight directions is implicit in the word, zhong.

Zhong can be big or small. Any object has a midpoint. The earth has a midpoint, the sun has a midpoint, and the Milky Way has a midpoint. No matter how big it is, there must be a midpoint. On the other hand, any smallest thing can always be divided into two parts. And this process can continue indefinitely with big centers for bigger objects and small centers for smaller objects.

Zhong can be virtual or real, and in motion or in stillness. It can also be found in conditions of static equilibrium or dynamic equilibrium. For example, the pendulum swings from left to right, and then from right to left. The symmetrical equilibrium point is the center of the swing. The whirlwind is another example. It keeps rotating around its quiet eye, its equilibrium point. No matter how the whirlwind moves, the center stays put as long as it is symmetrically balanced.

Zhong can be either concrete or abstract. In general, zhong is the midpoint of the opposite ends. The ancients used the word yinyang to denote all things with two opposite ends. Yinyang is just a code name, which can represent anything that is relative. Yinyang consists of two extremes and yet is one single entity. They are two distinct parts and yet inseparable. Once separated, there is no yinyang. Because it is one entity, there must be a zhong associated with its yinyang. Zhong is where yin meets yang. Wherever zhong is mentioned by itself, it must have included yin and yang implicitly. Therefore yin, yang, and zhong are actually a trinity of three in one.

易

易源流很遠，相傳是伏羲畫卦，文王演易。又說夏代的易稱為連山，商代的易稱為歸藏，周代的易稱為周易。宋代是易學發展的一個大時代，陰陽魚、古太極圖、 及成熟的太極思維均在這時面世。

Yi (Changes)

Yi has a very long history. According to legend, Fuxi drew trigrams and King Wen elaborated on Yi. It is also said that the Yi in the Xia Dynasty is called Lianshan, the Yi in the Shang Dynasty is called Guizang, the Yi in the Zhou Dynasty is called Zhouyi. The Song Dynasty was a great era in the development ofYi learning. The yinyang fish, the ancient taichitu (tai chi diagram), plus many more intricate ideas of tai chi all appeared around this period.

八卦

「卦」是掛﹐掛在空中的意思，卦由陽儀「一」及陰儀「一一」組成，陰陽儀合稱兩儀。如果用「一」陽儀代表天，則「一一」陰儀代表地。天地其實只是空間兩端的概念。在方位上天地代表上下，是一維空間。將同樣道理引伸，陰陽可以代表前後，可以代表左右，由一維空間引伸到三維空間。

即由一點分陰陽為線，由線分陰陽為面，面分陰陽為體。用陰儀、陽儀為符號可把「一」、「一一」成三層重疊，成為乾、坤、坎、離、巽、震、兌、艮，八個符號。把這個八個符號掛在一個立體四方形六面的八隻角上，就是八卦。八卦其實是立體上下、左右、前後六個方向八個角方位的代號。

古代沒有陰影法，在二維平面上畫不出透視圖。只能用陰儀、陽儀組合的八卦符號放在四個正方（四正）及四個斜角（四隅）來表示三維空間的八個象限。（圖1及圖2）

Bagua (Eight Trigrams)

Gua means hanging, i.e. hanging something in the air. Gua is composed of two modes: the yang mode (–) and the yin mode(--). If the yang mode is used to represent the heaven, then the yin mode is the earth. In this case, heaven and earth are two sides of the space: one on the above and the other at the bottom, i.e. a one-dimensional perspective. By extension, yinyang can represent front and back, or left and right. By the same token, one-dimensional linear can extend to two-dimensional plane and three-dimensional space.

By branching off a point into yinyang, a line is form. By branching off a line into yinyang, a plane is formed. Similarly, with yinyang a plane can branch off into a sphere. Using the yinyang symbols one can arrange "–" and "--" into three layers to form eight trigrams: qian(heaven), kun(earth), kan(water), li(fire), xun(wind), zhen(thunder), dui(lake), and gen(mountain). By placing the eight trigrams on the eight corners of a three-dimensional cube, a bagua is formed. Thus, bagua is a code name referring to the eight ordinal divisions devised from the six directional planes (up/down, left/right, and front/back).

In ancient times when drawing skill was still primitive and the method of shading not yet invented, it was hardly possible to draw a perspective view on a two-dimensional plane. A way to get around it was to assign the bagua symbols to represent the eight ordinal divisions respectively. (See figure 1 and 2)

河圖洛書

如果我用1、3、7、9代表前進的旋轉，用2、4、6、8代表後退的旋轉，把這兩組數以5、10為中心重合，可以代表一個順時針方向旋轉的同時，有一個反時針方向的旋轉也在進行。這代表在空間同時發生陰陽相方反向的旋轉運動。這是河圖 (圖3)及(圖4) 顯示的內容。

《河圖》稱一、三、五、七、九為陽數，二、四、六、八、十為陰數。以五、十為圓心，把這兩組數重疊，一、三、七、九代表順旋，二、四、六，八代表逆旋，順逆同步反向進行，表示陰陽相結合的中和。

Hetu Luoshu (The River Map & the Luo Chart)

If I use the numbers 1, 3, 7, 9 to represent forward rotation, and 2, 4, 6, 8 to represent backward rotation, and superimpose the two sets of numbers together with 5 and 10 as the center, it will show two rotations happening simultaneously: one is clockwise, the other is anticlockwise. This is what happens in space as yin and yang are spiraling together in opposite directions as illustrated in the River Map (Figure 3) and (Figure 4).

The River Map denotes 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 as yang numbers, and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 as yin numbers. It also designates 5 and 10 as the center of the circle. The two sets of numbers are then overlapped with the sequence of 1, 3, 7, and 9 representing forward rotation, and the sequence of 2, 4, 6, and 8 representing reverse rotation. These two rotations take place concurrently in opposite directions. It depicts a state of zhonghe (center and harmony) resulting from the convergence of yinyang.

《洛書》（圖5）是陰陽相分的中和。《洛書》（圖6）以一、三、五、七、九為陽數，以五為中心。一與九北南相分，一、九相合（相加）為十，三與七東西相分，三、七相合為十。

二、四、六、八為陰數，二八、四六亦是相合為十，但又相分於四隅方位。陰陽向四面八方兩兩相分，代表一個飽滿的立體圓。因為陰陽平衡，所以《洛書》九宮每三宮數位相加都是十五，是圓的直徑。

The Luo Chart (Figure 5) shows zhonghe with a diverging yinyang. In Figure 6, the yang numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are centering on 5. The numbers 1 and 9 represent the division between north and south, whose sum is ten. The numbers 3 and 7 represent the division between east and west, whose sum is ten.

The yin numbers, 2, 4, 6 and 8 are located at four corners. If you add up the diagonal pairs (2 and 8, 4 and 6), you get ten for both cases. Yin and yang numbers are interwoven and distributed uniformly in all directions, portraying a three-dimensional spherical object. Because of the balance between yin and yang in the nine palaces, the sum of any 3 numbers in the sequence (any row or column or diagonal), must always equal to 15, i.e. the diameter of the circle.

陰陽平衡是和，所以是圓，圓四周圍繞一個中心成一個整體，所以是中。《洛書》的中和是由陰陽相分又相合而成的中與和。

《河圖》與《洛書》，一個顯示陰陽相合隴，一個顯示陰陽相分開。一合一分，是一個整體的陰陽關係。一合一分的中心不變是中，一合一分時中心與四周的整體平衡關係不變，是和。

《河》、《洛》相合，既是時間的中和，也是空間的中和；既是擴大的中和，亦是縮小的中和；既是靜態的中和，又是動態的中和。各種大小不同形態的和的集合，是「太和」，重疊各種各樣「和」的「中」，是「至中」。《河圖》、《洛書》相合，是「太和至中」，是太極。

圓7「陰陽魚太極圖」首尾相接，合而為一圓。是《河圖》陰陽相合與《洛書》陰陽相分的結合。陰陽魚以"S"曲相接。"S"是陰陽相混和的「中」。

看「陰陽魚太極圖」要用立體思維，將一個平面投影圖看成一個立體圖。"S"也是立體。

太極是微觀的，也是宏觀的。無數的太極組成一個整體的太極。小至微粒子「夸克」，大至整個宇宙一體，都是太極。

The harmony in the balance of yinyang is manifested in a circle. A circle is made up of a center and its perimeter. The Luo Chart, with a center in harmony with its perimeter, underlines the coexistence of both divergence and convergence in the yinyang formation of center and harmony.

A holistic relationship between yin and yang is revealed by the River Map and the Luo Chart. The former represents convergence, the latter represents divergence. One unites, the other divides. Yet within all this convergence and divergence, neither the center nor the balance with its perimeter will ever change. This is known as zhonghe (center harmony).

By putting the River Map and Luo Chart together, we can see center harmony in time and space, in expansion and contraction, and in static and dynamic conditions. By integrating harmonies of all sizes and shapes, supreme harmony can be achieved. And by setting the center in alignment with multiple harmonies, ultimate center can be achieved. By combining the River Map and the Luo Chart, it portrays an ideal state of supreme harmony and ultimate center. This is what tai chi is all about.

In figure 7, the yinyang fish tai chi diagram depicts a pair of fishes forming a circle by nestling head to tail against each other. The same yinyang pattern of converging and diverging is also apparent when the River Map and the Luo Chart are imposed on each other. The yinyang fishes are linked with an S-curve, which serves to mark the center as well as the boundary between yin and yang.

We need to look at the yinyang fish tai chi diagram from a three-dimensional perspective. Instead of a plane view, project it as a 3D image. The S-curve exists in a three-dimensional space.

Taichi can also be viewed from a micro as well as macro perspective. One big taichi may consist of numerous tiny taichi. From the smallest particle of quark to the enormous universe and everything in between, all is taichi.五行

五行一般指金、木、水、火、土，代表萬事萬物的五種屬性，這五種屬性有相生與相剋的關係，木生火、火生土、土生金、金生水、水生木，是五行相生關係。金剋木、木剋土、土剋水、水剋火、火剋金，是五行相剋關係。

相生相剋，代表事物發展的過程。這個發展可以是「生」，生是擴大；可以是「剋」，剋是縮小。這擴大或縮小，都是以螺旋圓轉方式進行。

如果把一個平面分為四方，以木代表東方，以火代表南方，以金代表西方，以水代表北方，以土代表中央。「五行相生」可以想象為四周環繞中央的螺旋擴大，「五行相剋」可以想象為四周向中央的螺旋收隴。

Five Elements

The five elements generally refer to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, which represent the five attributes of the myriad things. These five attributes have the relationship of mutually generative and mutually restrictive. The order of mutual generation is that wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water, and water produces wood. The order of mutual restriction is that metal restrains wood, wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, and fire restrains metal.

The mutual generation and mutual restriction represent the process in the development of things and events. The development, either expansion or contraction, is carried out in a spiral manner.

Image a plane is split into four divisions, with wood, fire, metal, water, and earth to denote east, south, west, north, and center respectively. By mutual generation, you may think of the five elements as expanding by spiraling away from the center. By mutual restriction, you may think of the five elements as contracting by spiraling towards the center.

費本納奇級數

1、2、3、5、8、13、21、34 … 級數，稱為「自然級數」或「費本納奇級數」. 這個級數相鄰兩數的正比率約為1.618，反比率約為0.618。數位愈大，比率愈精確。這兩個比率，稱為「黃金分割率」。在美學上，人眼看到這比率的東西會覺得美麗，例如一張明信片長邊與闊邊的比例是1.618的話，看來會很舒服。雞蛋的長與闊也近於這個比例。在音律上，協調的和弦都與這比率有關，聽起來會悅耳，感覺美。這是美的比率。在數學上，將一個圓周360度分成五等分，每等分72度。假使每運轉72度即擴大1.618倍，即每運轉360度即擴大1.618的五次乘方，等如11倍，即1.618運行五次，稱為「五行」。每轉360度擴大11倍是數學上最有效率的擴大，這擴大的軌跡有如螺殼的剖面，如圖8的易旋。兩條易旋朝陰陽相反方向發展﹐就是圖9太極圖陰陽魚相交"S"曲線。

Fibonacci Series

The number series 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 … is called "natural series" or "Fibonacci series ". It is created by adding two neighboring numbers to give rise to the next number. The forward ratio of two adjacent numbers of this series is about 1.618 and the inverse ratio is about 0.618. Precision of the ratio will increase as the value of the adjacent numbers gets bigger, i.e. the larger the number, the more precise the ratio. These two ratios are called the "golden ratio". Aesthetically, the human eye will naturally sense beauty for things that fit into this ratio. For example, a postcard size appears pleasing to the eye because its length to width ratio is 1.618. The shape of an egg also shares this ratio. Similarly, the golden ratio plays a big part in melody and musical scales. If the composition conforms to the ratio, it will sound beautiful and pleasant. This is the ratio of beauty.

Let’s say we split a circle into five equal parts, each part will have an angle 72 degrees (i.e. 360/5). From there we draw an expansion curve. For every 72 degrees of rotation, we increase the distance from the center by a multiplier of 1.618. At the end of 360 degrees of rotation, a fifth power of 1.618 is applied. This will result in a total of 11 times gaining in distance. Think of it as a process with which the five elements undertake in an expansion spiral. As can be verified in mathematics, this 11-fold expansion per 360 degrees is the most efficient way of expansion. The trajectory of this expansion resembles the cross section of a spiral shell, which is called the Yi spiral curve as shown in Figure 8. If we put together two Yi spiral curves in an opposite or yinyang direction, we will get the same S-curve as found in the yinyang fish diagram (Figure 9).

陰陽的涵三為一

八卦﹑河圖﹑洛書﹑太極圖﹑五行都是陰陽關係的各種形態表現。陰陽的性質，可用三句話來概括：

陰不離陽，陽不離陰；

陰極陽生，陽極陰生；

陰即是陽，陽即是陰。

「陰不離陽，陽不離陰」，是指陰陽既相分又不相離，是「對待」的兩端，有些學者喜歡用「矛盾」來形容陰陽﹐但矛盾具有不是你死就是我亡，不能共存的性質，不符合陰陽任何時間都共存相和的定義。

「陰極陽生，陽極陰生」，是陰陽的循環作用，由一方轉化到另一方，如鐘擺由左擺向右，到盡頭時方向轉化，反向由右擺向左，循環不息。

「陰即是陽，陽即是陰」是指陰陽本來就是一體，不能分離，分開不成一體的陰陽是不存在的，所謂「孤陰不生，獨陽不長」，陰陽永遠一體，分開而不統一的陰陽，不是陰陽。

總括來說，陰陽是相分不相離，循環不息的對待而統一的兩端。陰陽是一分為二，二又合為一。一體是一，二分是二，二合一為三，是「涵三為一」。

The Trinity of Yinyang

Bagua, River Map, Luo Chart, tai chi diagram and five elements are all manifestations of the relationship between yin and yang. The nature of yinyang can be summarized in three sentences:

Yin does not depart from yang, yang does not depart from yin.

Extreme yin generates yang, extreme yang generates yin.

Yin is yang, and yang is yin.

"Yin does not depart from yang, yang does not depart from yin” means that yin and yang are both separate and inseparable. It is the two sides of the same coin. Some scholars like to use the term contradiction to describe yinyang, but contradiction does not preserve coexistence. It is like a situation of either you die or I die. It defies the definition of yinyang, which presumes coexistence and mutual harmony at all time.

"Extreme yin generates yang, extreme yang generates yin" refers to the cyclical function of yinyang, which is the mutual transformation from both sides. For example, a pendulum swings from left to right, and when it reaches the end, it swings back from right to left, and the momentum keeps going.

"Yin is yang, and yang is yin" means that yin and yang are originally one and cannot be separated. Yin and yang will not exist by itself. “A single yin will not grow, a solo yang will not survive”. Yinyang is always one entity. A divided yin or yang is no more yinyang.

In a nutshell, yin and yang are differentiable but not separable from each other. They are two ends of a linked process, interacting with each other in a cyclic manner. Yinyang is one divided into two as well as two becoming one. Yinyang is one entity, manifests as two when separated, and become three when the one and two are joined together. This is the trinity of yinyang.

太和至中

陰陽、八卦、五行、是中華先祖，經長時間歸納出來的普遍運動原則，這普遍運動原則，《老子》稱為「道」，《易傳》稱為「太極」，宋儒張載稱為「太和」，「太和」是既不會「過」，也不會「不及」，是剛剛好，「無過無不及」的「中」。「太和至中」，是利用陰、陽調和而建立的「中」。

「太極思維」發展到宋代達至高峰，明、清兩代沒有加入更多的內涵。直至民國以後太極思維才再被重視。

二十世紀七十年代，西方科技高度發展，但同時也發現這個世界要為高度發展的物質付出代價。東方文化再受到全球學者的重視。

八十年代中國大陸改革開放，陰陽、八卦、五行不再是禁忌，研究太極思維的著作不斷推出，研究深度也不斷增加。而近年科學的發展，由雙對論與量子力學，發展到渾沌、超弦、系統思維，科學的必然性充滿著或然性，漸漸近似於太極思維的性質，東西方學術的相互滲透，會是二十一世紀不可抗拒的趨勢。

Supreme Harmony and Ultimate Center

The ideas of yinyang, eight trigrams, and five elements as principles of the universal movement were speculated by great thinkers of ancient China over its long course of history. Laozi called this universal movement as Tao. In Yijing, it is known as taiji. Zhang Dai, a Confucian in Song Dynasty, called it taihe (the supreme harmony). By supreme harmony, it means neither too much nor not too little. It is precisely at the center or in the middle. Nothing more, nothing less. The state of “supreme harmony and ultimate center” can be achieved through establishing a center by reconciliation between yin and yang.

The taichi philosophy had reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. Since then there was little significant contribution from the Ming and Qing eras. But there was a comeback soon after the founding of the Republic of China.

In the 1970s, at a time when western science and technology were fast advancing, there was a realization that the progress we made in the material world did come at a considerable cost. Once again intellectuals and academics of the world had turned their attention to the oriental way of thinking.

During the reform and opening up of mainland China in the 1980s, the traditional terms of yinyang, bagua, and five elements were no longer taboos. There was a resurgence of interest in the study of taichi thinking with published work and professional research growing by the day. In recent years, the development of science has evolved from the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, to chaos theory, superstring, and systems thinking. The inevitability of science has become full of probabilities. A discernable trend, so it seems, is moving towards a flavor that resembles the taichi way of thinking. Undoubtedly there will be much more ongoing cultural exchange and academic collaborations between east and west in the 21st century.