Understanding the I-Ching and Tai Chi in relation to our lives
Tai Chi, The Great Ultimate, was first found in the Book of Change, or also known as the I-Ching. Legend has it that this script was written by the first emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Wen Wang. Therefore, I-Ching is also known as Zhou-Yi.
I-Ching, or the Book of Change as its name implies, stated that life is in a constant flux of change. The word I (Yi in pinyin) means ‘change’ in Chinese. It is made up of the characters for the sun and the moon, which represent yang and yin respectively.
It has a verse that says: “The changes have the Great Last, which give rise to the Two Elements. The Two Elements give rise to the Four Phenomena, and the Four Phenomena give rise to the Eight Hexagrams…”
Let’s start with the word Tai Chi: the Grand Supreme. It actually means the earliest, the beginning… of all events and things. In some case, it refers to the Universe by the ancient Chinese.
In one of the scriptures, it is stated that “One yin and one yang is the Way…” This means that all changes of events and things in the universe come from these opposing but united forces of yin and yang.
That is why from Tai Chi arise the Two Elements – yin and yang. Take a look at the Tai Chi diagram, better known as the 2 fish diagram in Chinese. It is a circle divided into 2 sections in proportion. The circle represents Tai Chi, or the Totality of the Universe, and within this totality are the Two Elements.
The division of yin and yang in Tai Chi means that there are 2 opposite elements, represented by the black section and the white section respectively. However, the split is not a straight split, but rather a curved split, which means that the 2 opposite elements actually nest together to make the full circle.
First of all, this means that while it is divided as opposite elements, it is united in one way to form the complete whole. The opposing but united forces of yin and yang became the basis of I-Ching thought. And Tai Chi uses the concepts of the I-Ching, the yin and yang elements as basic concepts to explain the physical and metaphysical aspects of the world.
Second, the curved parting gives a sense of balance. Here, we are talking about balancing the yin and yang elements here. There is this statement in the I-Ching: “When yin reaches its extreme, yang is born. And when yang reaches its extreme, yin is born.”
Look at the 2-fish diagram again. If you go counterclockwise along the diameter of the Tai Chi circle, you will find that as one element grows larger and larger and reaches its peak, the other elements will begin to grow in replacement. For example, if you move along the diameter of the black side, you’ll see the ‘half’ represented by black get bigger and bigger and then suddenly shrink and the white ‘half’ start to grow. This means that if one element reaches the end, the other will begin to install.
What does this mean for us then?
Simple: we have to balance our life in all aspects, and not focus only on one or a few. We have to balance work and personal life, between family and friends, between material and spiritual, and the list goes on. Otherwise, there will be disharmony in our lives.
Third, the movement of the yin and yang elements up or down within the Tai Chi diagram suggests that life constantly shifts between good and bad, joy and sadness, happiness and sadness, high and low. the low and between any two extreme qualities. These are the dualistic principles of the I-Ching.
In any event or thing, there are two qualities within. There are no things that are completely good or perfectly bad. It is the degree of good or bad that matters.
Take, for example, can we say that a person is good because he has no bad qualities, or that a person is bad because he has never done anything “good” at all? A good person can sometimes be guilty of little bad deeds, and a bad person can sometimes have something good in him or her. It is not like this?
A good thing can have a negative side. And vice versa, something bad can have some positive side. It depends on how we perceive the problem. Those are the dualistic principles of the I-Ching.
This goes to the following concepts. In the diagram, within each element, there is a point on it. The black section has a white dot, while the white section has a black dot. What does this mean? We now pass to the following statement: The Two Elements give rise to the Four Phenomena. This means that in the yin element there will be a yang element and vice versa, in the yang element there will be a yin element.
What does it mean to us?
In any event or thing, there will be some good in the bad and some bad in the good. Just like there is some yin in the yang and some yang in the yin. For example, when one person wins a race, the others will lose. There is bad news within the good news, there is sadness among the joy, there is loss among the winners, and so on.
In life, there will be mixtures of good and bad, joy and sadness, happiness and sadness, winning and losing, ups and downs, and it all comes in a ‘package’!
Therefore, we must learn to give and receive more, and accept the nature of life as it is. Enjoy the good things and accept the bad with courage and grace. This will then help us achieve a more balanced and harmonious life.
The yin and yang concepts of Tai Chi became influential to the ancient Chinese and found their way into philosophy, theories, medicine, the art of war, religion, the arts, and the way of sustaining life. It has found its way into Taoism, that somehow, people claimed that Tai Chi is under the idea of Taoism, which is not entirely true. It should be the other way around.
Whatever it is, understanding the principles of the I-Ching helps us understand the nature of life itself in order to better balance and manage our ups and downs to face our daily tasks and challenges. And I wish you all success and harmony in your life. May the Tai Chi Energy be with you!
Written by:
C. Guan Soo
http://www.TaichiBreathing.com
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