Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

On second thought, even if such a rendering works in the Yang text, it can't be right in the Lun since "Stand level and plumb" loses the parallel with the second clause, "Move like a cart's wheel."

So, am I seeing a problem where none exists?

More than usually befuddled,

Dave

Hi Louis, On 11/9 you gave a "rough translation" of line 22 as "Stand like a balance scale; move like the wheel of a cart," reading ping2zhun3 as a compound for "balance scale." In that same post you expressed doubts that this is correct, since ping2zhun3 "is not a...

Thank you Audi, for the links. And thank you Louis, for more than I wanted to know about steelyards. I find it difficult to relate a big, honking metal contraption for measuring hundred-weights of cord wood, scrap metal, or sides of beef to the practice of taijiquan. But a smaller version of the ste...

Hi Louis, Are we talking about something like this? http://www.mocmonline.com/photos/1.517681resized_forweb.jpg That's not what I think of when I think of a "balance beam" scale, but it seems to be a type of scale used in China. Did the Chinese use a balance beam like this http://img.tfd.c...

Thank you both. Even monkeys jumping on word processors must make sense occasionally. Shall we set 'em up in the next alley?

I am using a text in traditional Chinese which differs slightly from the simplified text Jerry has posted. What I have is: There are very many schools, and although they are distinguished by different regimens, they do not go beyond the strong bullying the weak, and the slow yeilding to the fast. Th...

What? Is it my turn, again? Taking this one line at a time: 15. This is to be a brave hero facing no enemies. To be able to do all this therefore, is to become a hero! I frankly admit to guessing at the last half of the line. I could make no sense out of gai jie, but it seemed, somehow, to be summin...

Greetings all, <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Louis Swaim: I don't know if it would be considered the source or not, but the phrase "suddenly hidden, suddenly app...

In regard to “suddenly hidden, suddenly revealed,” I was reading a history of Chinese science and came across a few lines of a poem by Wang Yangming (1472-1528), a Song Confucianist and "the chief representative of Chinese idealism." The author says, "Wang Yang-Ming was a considerable...

1) "bupian wuyi" (not leaning or inclining) "Leaning" and "inclining" are synonyms and "pian" and "yi" are not (are they)? Shouldn't the sense be something like, "Do not lean [your body], do not lean on [your opponent]"? 2) Louis wrote: &qu...

Dear Louis, I appreciate your complete impartiality. And I am now beginning to appreciate the elusive nature of an adequate translation of that line. I admit that I was a little taken aback that my inquiry as to the meaning of a couple of characters resulted in being handed a Master's-thesis-sized r...

Dear yslim, Thank you for the information about the seminar. I doubt that I will be able to attend, but I have passed the information along to someone who has expressed interest. However, since the thread is about translating the Taijiquan Lun, it's probably best if we stick to the project. Cheers! ...

Thanks for that, Louis. Much to think about and digest. But being a simple minded sort of guy, may I ask what you suggest as a translation for "xuling dingjin"?

Or shall we acknowledge that there is no adequate translation and move on to the next line?

Thanks again,

Dave

Louis wrote: "I don’t know if this will help or not, but you might think of qi as energy in a sort of collective sense—a field of energy. .. I’m proposing a field/focus model to attempt to explain my understanding of how these concepts differ in taiji usage." Well, it's an hypothesis. Not ...

This very interesting discussion about line eight raises a couple of questions I hope someone can answer for me. First, I chose to render "qi" as "breath" because "jing" is clearly "energy," and I don't understand the difference between qi energy and jing ener...