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Treatise on Tai Ch'i Ch'uan (Chinese Version)

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Dear Ken,

 

Do you know where I can get the untranslated Chinese version of Cheng

Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on Tai Ch'i Ch'uan ? I found a translated

copy of his book early this year in a second hand bookshop in a place

called Eltham which is one of the green leafy alternative places

outside of Melbourne and I found it very useful. I just would like to

access some of the original concepts from the Chinese original.

 

Also , I would be interested to read some of your current research on

the origins of the Qi, if this is possible. I am also looking at how

this concept translates into biomedical culture . I am also trying to

get a copy of your book " Who can Ride the Dragon " . I could not find it

from the Melbourne University BAillieu Library.

 

Regards,

 

Rey Tiquia

 

 

 

, <yulong@m...> wrote:

> Marco,

>

> I share Ray's opinion that it's a very

> good thing that you pose basic and

> challenging questions. There's certainly no

> reason to apologize. I can get the feeling

> of loneliness that you describe. Not having

> people to interact with directly can be

> a great loss, but as Prof. Cheng liked

> to say, " Invest in loss. "

>

> As it happens I am now working on

> a section of a new book dealing with the

> meanings of some basic Chinese medical

> terms. And lo and behold, this morning

> I was working over the dan1 tian2. [Can

> you see this toned pinyin: d¨¡n t¨ªan?]

>

> You'll also find a bit about this

> term in A Brief History of Qi. I think

> it's in Chapter Five, the chapter about

> qigong.

>

> Dan1 means a lot of things. It's a color:

> red, the color of cinnabar, which was

> a favorite ingredient in Daoist longevity

> formulas and the famous External (or Golden)

> Elixir formulas that constitute on of the

> central themes of Daoist alchemical

> literature of the Sui-Tang period.

>

> It also came to be the name of cinnabar

> as well as general term used to describe

> the little pills, dan1, that were made of

> the formulas that contained the substance, dan1,

> that was red, dan1...all the same word.

>

> It now means any little pill, but it also

> retains its historical echoes and of course

> it continues to mean " elixir " as it is used

> to describe both the internal and external

> elixirs that so fascinated the Daoists in

> their alchemical literature.

>

>

> One word of caution about this literature,

> whether or not one reads it in the original

> or in translation or if one only reads

> expository writing about the various

> traditions of Daoist alchemy, there is

> a characteristic of the terminology and

> the whole manner of expression that is

> heavily colored with the relatively unrestrained

> use of metaphor. In other words, things

> are seldom what they seem in this territory;

> and often the intended meaning is nowhere to

> be found in the text itself, requiring that

> one become a kind of literary detective in

> order to suss out the " real " meaning.

>

> Be that as it may, the term dan1 tian2 can

> be fairly accurately defined, at least in

> so far is it has been used in both this

> " source " literature and a number of derivative

> bodies of knowledge, such as the taiji classics

> and indeed certain Chinese medical texts and

> traditions.

>

> If you don't already have a copy of Cheng Tzu's

> Thirteen Treatises on Tai Ch'i Ch'uan [by Prof.

> Cheng Man Ch'ing, trans. by Bejamin Lo and

> Martin Inn, North Atlantic Books, 1985] you

> should get one. If you can't get your hands

> on a copy, let me know privately.

>

> Aside from being an extraordinarily clear

> set of writings on taiji, it contains many

> of Prof. Cheng's insights and experiences in

> traditional Chinese medicine; and I think you'd

> find it not only informational but inspirational.

>

> I do.

>

> He talks about both the Gate of Life and

> the Cinnabar Field in various places in the

> book, and rather than quote them here, I'll

> just refer you to them.

>

> One comment I will make is that in the Daoist

> alchemical literature there is often mention

> made of three cinnabar fields: the lower dan1

> tian2, the middle dan1 tian2, and the upper

> dan1 tian2. These are three discrete locations

> in the body that were all known to Daoist

> practitioners to be places where qi4 can be

> stored and refined.

>

> Another word of caution: one cannot learn

> about these things from reading books alone.

> The taiji classics contain a line that says,

> " To enter the door and be shown the way, you

> must be orally taught. "

>

> Some thirty years ago, my taiji teacher added

> in explanation that " orally taught " in this

> case means not just by word of mouth but by

> physical connection between teacher and student.

> In other words, the meaning of terms such

> as dan1 tian2 and Gate of Life is only

> partly contained in the words that have

> become associated with them. There are also

> feelings and experiences that associate with

> these locations in the body; and the proper

> study of them involves the feeling of what

> happens in these locations.

>

> I hope you will continue to ask the difficult

> questions. I'm still working on a response

> the point you raised about colonization/

> globalization.

>

> Best,

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