course of events and order of the universe; it is an intangible reality that gives rise to existence. The Dao may be understood as ‘the Way things do what they do.’ Practitioners of Daoism attempt to gain mystical union with the Dao through meditation and by following the nature of the Dao in thought and action” (Hawthorne, p. 74). The Daodejing, in the 25th chapter, explains the Dao as follows:
“There was something born out of chaos,
that was born before Heaven and Earth.
Quiet and still! Pure and deep!
It stands on its own and doesn’t change.
It can be regarded as the mother
of Heaven and Earth. I do not know
Its name: I style it ‘the Way.’”
Also of importance in the Daodejing are the concepts of spontaneity (ziran) and non-intervention (wu-wei). These two concepts appear in the practice of taijiquan when a practitioner has performed the solo routine so many times that s/he can naturally perform the routine without conscious effort of recalling the movements or in the engagement of free-style push-hands (tui shou), where spontaneity and reaction are key principles.
Robinet states that, “The fundamental lesson expressed in the Daodejing as it appears in Daoism is this: Ultimate Truth is one (Dao), working spontaneously with no need for conscious human intervention. Thought cannot reach it because thought is by nature dualistic; one can reach it only by letting it operate naturally” (Robinet, p.28). The guiding Daoist principles that structure taijiquan have become a hallmark of this extraordinary martial art. Thus, understanding Daoist principles helps provide a necessary foundation for the study of taijiquan.
YIJING (BOOK OF CHANGES) AND DAOIST COSMOGONY
To comprehend the Daoist principles pertaining to the study of taijiquan it is important to have an understanding of the cosmology of the Yijing and the Daodejing. It is from these cosmogonic sequences that the principles most basic to the study of taijiquan are formulated. According to Robinet, “The Yijing (Book of Changes) is well known to Western readers, who have at their disposal many translations of this text. Traditionally this text was dated to the Zhou Dynasty, but it probably actually took shape between the fourth and the first centuries BCE” (Robinet, p.267). It contains hexagrams (six lines, either solid, yang, or broken, yin, whose combination is felt to represent all possible situations) accompanied by concise, ambiguous texts, along with exegesis made up of more or less deformed divinatory sentences that often seem to have nothing or little to do with the texts. It has been considered both a manual of divination and a cosmological work giving in enigmatic form all the workings of the universe. Robinet also points out, “It is part of the heritage of the Confucianists, who include it among their classics, as well as of the Daoists, who have always made it an object of contemplation” (Robinet, p.267). Taijiquan takes it name from the term ‘taiji’ referred to in the Great Appendix of the Yijing. In the Yijing there are eight stages in the creation of the physical world. “According to the Yijing, taiji (stage 1) is what produces the two principles of yin and yang (stage 2) from the Great Void (tai xu). Yin and yang, then, begin an energetic process of interpretation and incubation through which the physical embryo is fashioned and birth takes place” (Willmont, p. 12). The third stage produces the first level of interpretation in what are called the ‘Four Symbols’ (si xiang), which describe the interpretations in four polar aspects: yin, yang, yin within yang, and yang within yin. Thus, they conveyed this yin-yang interpretation through a system of solid and broken lines (gua), in which the solid lines represented yang and the broken lines represented yin. The fourth stage resulted in eight different groups of three-lined symbols called the eight trigrams (ba gua). The seventh stage resulted in sixty-four different groups of six-lined symbols called the sixty-four hexagrams. According to Wilmont, “Each trigram and each hexagram was further associated with names and symbols derived from the natural and social worlds. In this way, they were more readily distinguished from one another” (Wilmont, p.12). The trigrams were named according to symbols of the natural world: heaven, earth, water, fire, thunder, wind, mountain, and lake. “The hexagrams were named according to symbols mostly of the social world: “The Return,” “Difficulty at the Beginning,” “Before Contemplation,” etc” (Willmont, p. 12). Thus, this creation sequence begins with the void (tai xu) and then progresses through the seven stages of yin-yang polarization in which the physical progress is completed evolving from: (1) void (tai xu), (2) yin-yang interplay (taiji), (3) Four Symbols, (4) Eight Trigrams, (5) sixteen and (6) thirty-two continuing subdivisions of yin-yang until (7) the sixty-four hexagrams are reached, which represent the completion of the yin-yang archetypal image proceeding to the (8) physical manifestation of the world (Willmont, p.12-13).
CREATION SEQUENCE IN THE YIJING (BOOK OF CHANGE)
STAGE 0 VOID (TAI XU)
STAGE 1 TAIJI
STAGE 2 YIN-YANG
STAGE 3 YIN, YANG, YIN WITHIN YANG, YANG WITHIN YIN
STAGE 4 EIGHT TRIGRAMS
STAGE 5 SIXTEEN SUBDIVISIONS
STAGE 6 THIRTY-TWO SUBDIVISIONS
STAGE 7 SIXTY-FOUR HEXAGRAMS
STAGE 8 MATERIALIZATION OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD
The idea of creation emerging from a nondifferentiated void is also expressed in the Daodejing. Here the process of creation goes through four stages. In the 42nd chapter of the Daodejing it states,
“Dao engenders the One, One engenders the Two,
Two engenders the Three and the
Three engenders the ten thousand things.”
Wilmont gives his interpretation stating, “In the Daodejing, Dao is equated with the void space (tai xu) of the Yijing; One is equated with Taiji; Two refers to yin and yang; Three is equated with the five stages of yin-yang interpretation through the binary sequence,” which leads to the ‘ten thousand things’ which refers to the materialization of the physical world” (Willmont, p. 13). In relation to the practice of taijiquan, the aspects of yin-yang interplay dramatically correlate to the physical processes of the body and mind in practicing the solo form, the exchange in push-hands, and the processes of stillness and action; just as yin-yang interplay pertains to the fluctuations of the universe.
PHILOSOPHY IN PRACTICE
There are several aspects to the study of taijiquan in the physical dimension, namely the practice of a solo routine with naturalistic flowing movements, the interchange in push-hands in which one individual gives force to the other and vice versa, and the practice of Daoist qigong. Qigong is a Chinese exercise concentrating on breath and physical postures to move the qi or intrinsic energy around the body providing numerous health benefits. An examination of how Daoist philosophy fits into the taijiquan scheme is in order. The two primary philosophical systems that influence taijiquan are yin-yang theory and the five-element theory (wuxing). Robinet states, “The definitive formulation of this cosmological system took place under the Han, on the basis of more ancient elements. These theories later became most highly developed and applied in the fields of Chinese medicine and Daoism” (Robinet, p.7). Those theories pertinent to the cosmological creation sequence are the relationship between wuji and taiji and the interplay of yin and yang. It is important to remember that these concepts are interrelated, because yin and yang are born out of taiji and taiji is born out of wuji. Jou Tsung-Hwa states, “Ancient Chinese philosophers called the void and boundless state that prevailed before the world was created the ‘ultimate nothingness’ or wuji” (Jou, p.110). Wuji is the same as the Dao in the Daodejing and the same as tai xu in the Yijing. Wuji is a term used by taijiquan practitioners to denote this concept of nothingness. From the wuji the universe was formed. Everything in the universe, including yin and yang, is believed to evolve continually from this imperceptible source. The concept of wuji and taiji describe not only the aspects of creation in the universe, but also stages of all relationships between people, between objects, and between people and objects. As an example, before you enter a room it is in a state of wuji. After you enter you bring movement and taiji begins. Taiji is the source of yin and yang. The relationship between the practitioner and taijiquan is wuji if they have no intention of practicing. When you start to practice taijiquan or even intend to practice the relationship becomes taiji. As Jou Tsung-Hwa points out, “Wuji then exists before anything happens, even the intention to act arises from wuji”(Jou, p.110).
When something arises from wuji, the original state of nothingness no longer exists, and the state of taiji is born. At this point, the situation always displays two functions, yin and yang. Hawthorne illustrates it this way, “These two contradictory yet complimentary energies are said to be the cause of the universe and represent the duality of existence. Yin and yang are manifestations of the Dao. These two polarities are in constant fluctuation, with one side dominating and then yielding to the other. Nothing is ever purely yin or yang; all things are comprised of varying degrees of both” (Hawthorne, p.74-75). An examination of the etymology of yin and yang is in order. DeMarco states, “It is believed that the ancient characters derived in part as symbolic images of the daily fluctuation between day and night, or more precisely, light and dark. The yang character shows the sun on the horizon, radiating its brilliance down on the earth. Yin is composed of jin, meaning ‘now’ and yun meaning ‘cloudy’ (DeMarco, p. 54). As a result, yin became associated with cloud-like characteristics, including cold, night, shade, dark, and water. Similarly, yang came to imply a varied list of sun-like attributes, such as hot, day, clear, bright, and fire. The written characters have changed over the centuries into their simplified modern versions. However, the implications do remain the same as those of the original characters. “Oddly enough, no written character can fully express the meaning with which yin-yang became associated” (DeMarco, p.54).
Since the symbolism of language failed to express the meaning of yin-yang, a more appropriate symbol was required. Of all of the cosmological diagrams invented in China, the taiji symbol is by far the most famous. It also remains the most effective symbol for expressing the yin-yang theory. Robinet states, “It was from Chen Tuan that we get the famous diagram of taiji – the circle divided into black and white comma shapes – which occurs in an earlier version in a Buddhist text” (Robinet, p.221).
According to Jou, Tsung-Hwa, “The taiji diagram illustrates how two opposites can be harmonized into a complete interrelated whole. Like other principles of taiji, this one can apply to natural as well as human relationships” (Jou, p.111). For example, electricity and its use of positive and negative polarities can be viewed in terms of yin-yang harmony. These opposites need each other to become electricity, just as both yin and yang are necessary to form a taiji unity. DeMarco states, “The symbol for taiji is the intertwining of yin and yang. The parts are not static, but are constantly in movement, varying their relationship in fluctuating percentages or even transforming one into the other. Through the varied interactions of yin-yang, the universe is kept in motion” (DeMarco, p. 55). No aspect of the material world exists without their underwriting.
Laozi wrote in the 42nd chapter of the Daodejing,
“The ten thousand things carry yin on their backs and
wrap their arms around yang. Through the blending
of qi (their energies) they arrive at a state of harmony.”
(Henricks, p. 11)
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