Barry was telling us a story about the woman who always cut the end of
the ham and somebody asked her why she did it. She said, "Well I don't know,
my mother always did it that way." And they asked her mother and she said,
"I don't know, my mother always did it." And they asked grandma, and she
said, "Well, I did it because otherwise it wouldn't fit into my biggest
pot."
(Chungliang Al Huang)
Chinese
genius
What do we know about the history of tai chi?
Well, we know that the Chinese invented it. And they deserve credit.
The art employs principles drawn from ancient taoist insights.
It is
fundamentally different in nature to almost every other martial art.
Beyond this, everything else is a bit sketchy.
There are countless excellent tai chi masters, teachers and students in the world today,
employing the skills created by the ancient Chinese.
This is what matters.
Chinese
history
Chinese history has been more thoroughly documented than the history of
other cultures.
There are physical artefacts, along with written accounts of the past.
Despite a significant amount of evidence, it is important to realise that the
past is still interpretive.
If the history of tai chi was clear-cut, there would be no room for debate. Yet,
there is no consensus.
Why so many disagreements?
Surely, if it were factual, there would be no grounds for argument?
The current 'official history' of tai chi is probably quite different from the
official version of 1900, 1949 and 1960.
Politics should never be trusted.
In the Victorian era, people had very clear views concerning world culture,
human history and science.
Not many of those perceptions exist today.
We see a different world, a different history.
Our perceptions change as we change: personally, politically and culturally.
The Cultural Revolution
China may have been the birthplace of tai chi but they had the Cultural
Revolution in 1949.
They lost their cultural heritage.
The Cultural Revolution eradicated an existing way of life, along with its
traditions, practices, rituals and arts.
This was a fundamental change of consciousness.
Global tai chi
Tai chi is no longer Chinese. It has become a global art form, practiced
by thousands of non-Chinese.
It may have been invented in China, but you do not need to be Chinese, speak
Chinese or dress Chinese to practice and understand the art.
Nowadays many Western people have gained great
skill in tai chi.
Consider chess. Originally chess was an Indian game. Western people adapted the
game.
Nowadays, who thinks of chess as being Indian?
Page created 15 April 1998