Chapter 155: Tracing Antiquity and Discussing the Present

Such early Taiji diagrams by Song dynasty figures like Zhang Xingcheng, Zheng Dongqing, and Luo Yuan did not receive adequate attention for a very long period (indeed, the diagrams of Zheng and Luo were eventually scattered and lost). This state of affairs persisted until the early Ming dynasty. Reversing past attitudes, people in the Ming dynasty began to genuinely focus on these diagrams.

In the early Ming dynasty, Zhao Weiqian included the "Yin-Yang Fish" diagram in his *Essentials of the Six Books*. This diagram was formerly considered by scholars to be the earliest "Taiji Diagram," but it seems this conclusion must now be rewritten.

At that time, however, it was not yet called the "Taiji Diagram," but rather the "Natural River Map of Heaven and Earth" (cited by Hu Wei as the "Diagram of the Natural Heaven and Earth"). Zhao Weiqian explained that during the time of Fuxi, a dragon-horse carrying this diagram on its back emerged from the Yellow River in the Xingyang region, hence it was called the "River Map." The *Classic of Changes* states, "The Yellow River brings forth the map," and the *Book of Documents* states, "The River Map is in the eastern hall," referring precisely to this diagram rather than the Nine-Number or Ten-Number diagrams.

Zhao Weiqian’s diagram differs from Zhang Xingcheng’s in a few aspects: (1) The outer ring of Zhao's diagram displays the Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams, whereas Zhang’s displays the Pre-Heaven Sixty-Four Hexagrams. (2) In Zhao's diagram, the "fish heads" have sharp, distinct angles, and the "fish eyes" are elongated tear-mark shapes; in Zhang’s diagram, the "fish heads" have soft lines, and the "fish eyes" are circular.

By the late Ming dynasty, Zhao Zhongquan compiled *The Orthodox School of the Dao*, which included the "Ancient Taiji Diagram." This is the first time in extant literature that this diagram was explicitly named the "Ancient Taiji Diagram." Compared with Zhao Weiqian’s diagram, four lines were added to the "Yin-Yang Fish," dividing it into eight regions. (Hu Wei believed that the River Map of mutually containing Yin and Yang depicted by Luo Yuan back then looked precisely like this.)

This more rigorously correlated the Yin-Yang numerical values of the trigram lines with the degrees of black-and-white transformation in the "Yin-Yang Fish Diagram." In this sense, all the ever-changing Taiji diagrams of later generations (with the most popular being the Taiji diagram composed of two semicircles) are incorrect, as they fail to conform to the original meaning of strict correspondence with the numerical values of the trigram lines. Thereafter, the nomenclature for this diagram became basically unified, and it was ultimately designated as the "Taiji Diagram," a name that has continued in use down to the present day.

There was another prominent Yijing master in the Ming dynasty named Lai Zhide (1525–1604), who created a similar Taiji diagram of his own, recorded in *Illustrated Annotations to the Book of Changes by Lai*.

This diagram was named the "Circular Diagram" or "Taiji Diagram," and its meaning signifies the mutual generation of Yin and Yang—extreme Yang generates Yin, and extreme Yin generates Yang. It was a slight modification based on the traditional Taiji diagram, but it failed to gain widespread popularity.

As the conversation drew to a close, Hua Feng heard the anthropomorphic illusion summarize as follows:

1. The ideological origins of the "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram can be traced back to the primitive concepts of Yin and Yang, but none of the primitive artifacts, figures, or symbols directly derived, nor could they directly derive, the "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram.

2. The "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram is related to Daoism. Certain related views held by Hu Wei during the Song, Yuan, and Qing dynasties are basically reliable, and this relationship is primarily manifested in ideological concepts such as inner alchemy and Yin-Yang. Neither the "Diagram of the Framework of Water and Fire" nor the "Diagram of the Supreme Essence of the Three and Five" can directly derive the "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram either.

3. Regarding the view that Chen Tuan, or Old Man Xue, the hermit of Shu, or the hermit of Mount Qingcheng created or initially transmitted the "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram, due to a lack of textual evidence, it can only remain a matter of doubt; it cannot be easily negated, nor can it be simply affirmed.

4. The earliest extant "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram in historical literature comes from *Winged Mysteries* by Zhang Xingcheng of the Southern Song dynasty. This diagram was not interpolated by people after the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty, a fact that can be verified through the textual contents of both *Winged Mysteries* and *Penetrating the Variations of the Changes*.

5. The "Yin-Yang Fish" Taiji diagram was modified (simplified) by Zhao Weiqian in the early Ming dynasty and finalized by Zhao Zhongquan in the late Ming dynasty. Subsequent Taiji diagrams composed of two semicircles (including those arranged with left-right semicircles or up-down semicircles) all fail to accord with the original meaning.

Later on, he also learned about the pivotal figures in the modern transmission of Taiji: one of them was Taiji Xu, whose courtesy name was Shuzhen, with the alternative sobriquet "Old Farmer of Mount Tai."

He inherited the refined essence of family transmission from the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty: the quintessential Chinese learning including Taiji boxing techniques, the *Classic of Changes*, and the *Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor*. Through years of practice, Taiji Xu believed that mastering one principle—whether of philosophy, the Changes, or martial arts—grants mastery over a hundred—all things follow the rational principles of Yin and Yang, and understanding one principle illuminates all others. This holds true for both "civil" pursuits (the *Classic of Changes*) and "martial" pursuits (Taiji boxing, etc.).

A folded-palm salute shows respect, a bowed body shows respect, and by leaving everything to nature, one can attain the Dao. If one comprehends this principle while savoring it, everything ranging upward to statecraft, economics, and business fortunes, down to family affairs and personal destiny, can be understood by observing signs to know trends, and by observing appearances to know people.

The second is Chen Xiaowang, born in 1945, who formerly served as a delegate to the Seventh National People's Congress, a member of the Seventh Henan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Chairman of the Henan Chen-style Taiji Boxing Association, and Chairman of the Henan Wushu Association. He is a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project, the patriarch of Chen-style Taiji boxing from Chenjiagou, Honorary President of the Chenjiagou Chen-style Taiji Boxing Association, President of the World Chen Xiaowang Taiji Boxing Federation, Honorary President of the China Wufu Elite Club, an international Taiji boxing grandmaster, and the founder of the Nine Taiji system. He has participated in the filming of movies such as *Divine Powers of Taiji*, *The Divine Beggar*, and *Chen-style Taiji Boxing*.

The "World Chen Xiaowang Chen-style Taiji Boxing Federation" founded by Grandmaster Chen has established branch associations in more than thirty countries and regions, promoting Taiji boxing in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities worldwide, with the number of foreign disciples reaching 300,000. The books he has compiled and authored, such as *Globally Transmitted Chen-style Taiji Boxing* and *Chen-style Thirty-Eight-Form Taiji Boxing*, along with numerous research papers including *On the Five Levels of Skill in Chen-style Taiji Boxing*, *Fajin in Chen-style Taiji Boxing*, and *Pole-Shaking in Chen-style Taiji Boxing*, have made outstanding contributions to enriching the theoretical research of Taiji boxing. In January 2013, Mr. Chen Xiaowang, alongside ten other individuals and organizations including Yao Ming, Mo Yan, and the Confucius Institutes, was jointly recognized by the Ministry of Culture and China Central Television as an Annual Figure of the Light of China in Cultural Communication.

In terms of local attention in the past, Taiji has also been held in extremely high regard.

Mr. Ming Cidong, Director of the Taiji Diagram Culture Research Institute and speaker for the large-scale public lecture series "Chengdu Stories Discussed by a Hundred Scholars" in Chengdu, presented the fruits of his six-year research on the Taiji diagram, stating that he had submitted a proposal of over 30,000 words to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture to initiate the campaign for inscribing the Taiji diagram onto the World Intangible Cultural Heritage list, and had already received a response from the department.

Entitled "Exploring the Mysteries of the Taiji Diagram and the Eight Trigrams," the lecture drew over 300 citizens to the venue of "Chengdu Stories Discussed by a Hundred Scholars." Ming Cidong's opening remarks stunned the audience: "Generated over 6,000 years ago, the Taiji diagram is China's foremost invention, predating the Four Great Inventions by more than 3,000 years. It is the progenitor of Chinese culture and the symbol of the Chinese nation. It is by no means merely the fortune-telling emblem and symbol that many people mistakenly and simplistically assume the Taiji and Eight Trigrams to be."

Ming Cidong explained that over the course of a millennium, through the gradual understanding of circles, symmetrical shapes, totems, and the concepts of Yin and Yang, the ancients progressively shaped the Taiji diagram. Condensed with the wisdom of the Chinese nation, the Taiji diagram is centrally manifested on spinning wheels and ceramic vessels, for which the most compelling evidence can now only be found in archaeology. "Not only within the realm of philosophical dialectics, but the Taiji diagram also exerts a significant influence on science, though very few people know it," Ming Cidong threw out one heavyweight viewpoint after another.

Using multimedia, Ming Cidong displayed a "Panda Taiji Diagram" designed and created on the basis of the national treasure giant panda: "Sichuan is the hometown of the national treasure giant panda. I suggest adopting the panda Taiji diagram as the emblem of Sichuan Province, so that the giant panda representing Sichuan merges as one with the Taiji diagram representing primitive Chinese culture."

At the same time, Ming Cidong also designed a special "Taiji diagram" for the application to the World Intangible Cultural Heritage list: "I have already submitted an 18-page *Application Proposal* of more than 30,000 words along with a letter of suggestion to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture, proposing to apply for the Taiji diagram to be inscribed as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage. This will enable this foundational cultural treasure of China to exert a more profound influence on China and the world, and also prevent a recurrence of South Korea's rush to register the Dragon Boat Festival from happening to the Taiji diagram."

In the official reply letter sent by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture to Ming Cidong, the department explicitly stated: "We will make a special report on your suggestions and proposed application contents to the higher authorities as soon as possible. We will consult the National Expert Advisory Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage."

Ming Cidong believed that if the conventional procedures were followed, applying for World Intangible Cultural Heritage status would take at least nearly ten years: "Regarding the application for the Taiji diagram, I hope we can break with convention and apply swiftly, so that this traditional cultural treasure of the Chinese nation can receive high-level protection and inheritance as soon as possible."

...

These historical events gradually transformed into vivid scenes in Hua Feng's mind.

Imperceptibly, as the Taiji revolved, Hua Feng's state of mind was gradually elevated, expanded, and focused. Perhaps without even realizing it himself, such prolonged contemplation had driven his cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds; although his actual primordial energy reserves had not yet reached those of cultivators at the same rank, his cultivation realm had already attained the high stage of the Primordial Emperor. The power once embedded in all four limbs and every bone was transforming into wisps of energy to replenish his dantian.

This encirclement of golden brilliance had persisted for a full day and night, and the academy had granted special approval for Yun Meng and Bai Feng to keep vigil by his side. As a cradle for nurturing young cultivators to grow stronger, Dawn Academy possessed fairly well-developed contingency policies in all aspects.

Being able to stay by Hua Feng's side made Yun Meng feel much more secure. As the faint artificial light from the underground city cast its glow, she saw that Bai Feng was also watching Hua Feng's seated figure on the bed with a worried expression, as if those flowing wisps of brilliance were also tugging at the young girl's heartstrings.

"Brother Hua Feng, you must wake up safe and sound, for the sake of so many people who care about you," Yun Meng worried silently. She knew that perhaps her Brother Hua Feng could hardly remain solely her own Hua Feng; in this era, the phenomenon of several girls simultaneously loving the same person had also become something that could coexist harmoniously.

Yet for all this, I am simply not ready yet, Yun Meng thought. Last time when Brother Hua Feng parted ways with them, the gaze that the celestial fox named Nangong cast upon him was identical to the look Bai Feng wore at this very moment. Yun Meng knew clearly that perhaps her position in his heart had not changed drastically, but the mere thought that she might have to share a single man with two equally gorgeous maidens stirred a deep, swirling jealousy within her soul.

Most of the time, she simply hid these little girl feelings deep inside her heart, not daring to share them with anyone, terrified lest others discover her secret thoughts. Fortunately, as dusk descended, looking at Bai Feng's equally caring expression of anxiety for Hua Feng, Yun Meng felt a growing sense of release within her heart.