GrahamB wrote:I suppose "highest form of combat" is one way of interpreting the name "Taijiquan", but really I think if you actually know anything about Taijiquan you would interpret it differently. I'd say it has more to do with two extremities and the oscillation between them, which is the action of going from yin to yang to yin to yang and so on. That's what the name is actually about, isn't it?
Taiji (太極) is a compound of tai 太 "great; grand; supreme; extreme; very; too" (a superlative variant of da 大 "big; large; great; very") and ji 極 "pole; roof ridge; highest/utmost point; extreme; earth's pole; reach the end; attain; exhaust". In analogy with the figurative meanings of English pole, Chinese ji 極 "ridgepole" can mean "geographical pole; direction" (e.g., siji 四極 "four corners of the earth[clarification needed]; world's end"), "magnetic pole" (Beiji 北極 "North Pole" or yinji 陰極 "negative pole; cathode"), or "celestial pole" (baji 八極 "farthest points of the universe; remotest place"). Combining the two words, 太極 means "the source, the beginning of the world".
Common English translations of the cosmological Taiji are the "Supreme Ultimate" (Le Blanc 1985, Zhang and Ryden 2002) or "Great Ultimate" (Chen 1989, Robinet 2008); but other versions are the "Supreme Pole" (Needham and Ronan 1978), "Great Absolute", or "Supreme Polarity" (Adler 1999).
Taiji references are found in Chinese classic texts associated with many schools of Chinese philosophy.
Zhang and Ryden explain the ontological necessity of Taiji.
Any philosophy that asserts two elements such as the yin-yang of Chinese philosophy will also look for a term to reconcile the two, to ensure that both belong to the same sphere of discourse. The term 'supreme ultimate' performs this role in the philosophy of the Book of Changes. In the Song dynasty it became a metaphysical term on a par with the Way. (2002:179)
the oscillation between them, which is the action of going from yin to yang to yin to yang and so on. That's what the name is actually about, isn't it?
Taiji as a symbol or principle was never meant as a static balance between yin and yang, or as a "harmony" between them. Instead, the name actually describes a movement between Yin and Yang. The name means that when Yin har reached its utmost point, it turns into Yang, and vice versa.
What is now known as tai chi appears to have received this appellation around the mid-19th century.[16] Imperial Court scholar Ong Tong witnessed a demonstration by Yang Luchan before Yang had established his reputation as a teacher.
Afterwards Ong wrote: "Hands holding Tai chi shakes the whole world, a chest containing ultimate skill defeats a gathering of heroes."
Before this time the art may have had other names, and appears to have been generically described by outsiders as zhan quan (沾拳, "touch boxing"), Mian Quan ("soft boxing") or shisan shi (十三式, "the thirteen techniques").
Bao wrote:I dug up an article on Academia.edu by Adler "On Translating Taiji". Haven't read it all yet, so I won't comment on it, but it seems to focus on Zhu Xi's interpretation.
Free to download for everyone who creates an account:
https://www.academia.edu/25564748/On_Translating_Taiji_太極
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