Understanding of I-Ching and Tai ChiTai Chi, The Great Ultimate, was found earliest in
Book of Change, or otherwise known as I-Ching. Legend said that this scripture has written by
first emperor of
Zhou Dynasty - Zhou Wen Wang. Thus I-Ching is also known as Zhou-Yi.
I-Ching, or
Book of Change, with its name implies, stated that life is in constant flux of change. The word I (Yi in pinyin) means 'change' in Chinese. It is formed from
characters of
sun and
moon, which represents yang and yin respectively.
It has a verse stating, "Changes has
Great Ultimate, which give rise to
Two Elements. The Two Elements give rise to
Four Phenomena, and
Four Phenomena give rise to
Eight Hexagrams..."
Let’s begin with
word Tai Chi –
Great Ultimate. It actually means
earliest,
beginning... of all events and things. In some case, it refers to
Universe by ancient Chinese.
In one of
scripture, it stated that "One yin and one yang is
Way..." This means that
all changes of events and things in
universe come from this opposing, yet united forces of yin and yang.
This is why in from Tai Chi, there arises in
Two Elements - yin and yang. Take a look at
Tai Chi diagram, which is better known as
2-Fishes diagram in Chinese. It is a circle divided into 2 sections in proportion. The circle is representing Tai Chi, or
Universe Whole, and within this wholeness, there’s
Two Elements.
The division of
yin and yang in Tai Chi means that there are 2 opposing elements, represented by
black section and white section respectively. Yet,
division is not a straight division, but a curved division – meaning that
2 opposing elements actually accommodate each other in order to form
complete circle.
Firstly, this means that while it is divided as opposing elements – it is united in a way to form
complete wholeness. The opposing yet united forces of yin and yang became
basis of
thinking in I-Ching. And Tai Chi uses
concepts in
I-Ching,
yin and yang elements as
core concepts to explain
both physical and meta-physical aspects of
world.
Secondly,
curved division gives a sense of balance. Here, we are talking about balancing
yin and yang elements here. There's this statement in I-Ching: "When
yin goes to
extreme,
yang is born. And when
yang goes to
extreme,
yin is born".
Look at
2-fishes diagram again. If you go in counter-clock wise along
diameter of
Tai Chi circle, you will find that as one element grows more and more and reach its peak,
other elements will begin to grow in replacement. For example, if you move along
diameter on
black side, you will see that
‘half’ represented by
black will become bigger and bigger and then suddenly shrink and
white ‘half’ will begin to grow instead. This means that if one element goes to
extreme,
other will begin to set in.
What does this mean to us then? Simple: we have to balance our life in every aspect, and do not just focus only on one or a few. We have to balance between work and personal life, between family and friends, between material and spiritual, and
list goes on. Otherwise, there will be disharmony in our lives.