It's not the first time that a YouTube video has inspired me to learn more. I watched a video that clears up a lot of questions about meaning and pronunciation of five Taoist elemental concepts. Master Huang’s TED TALK lecture is informative and fun. The video is at the bottom of this post. I'll offer a brief (me?) synopsis.
YouTube description:
"Chungliang Al Huang is the founder & President of the Living Tao Foundation and author of numerous best-selling books, including the classic "Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain."
Master Huang paints five key Chinese characters and discusses the role of each in the dance of opposites."
WUJI: An open circle, limitless possibilities, potential, the beginning. As you see, the wuji circle is not closed. We are open to potential.
We stand in wuji, emptiness stance as a meditation, and also as a starting place during a practice.
TAI: The top character, or “hanzi” in Mandarin Chinese, is Tai. Four strokes: horizontal arms opening, one leg, then the other, then the final stroke in the center, the Dan Tian.
Expansiveness, with arms open and legs kicking out. Reach for heaven, ground your feet on the earth.
JI: the hanzi under Tai is made up of two symbols. On the left is a symbol for a tree, reaching upwards. On the right the top horizontal line represents heaven, the bottom line represents earth. The vertical line represents us, people connecting heaven and earth. The square shape on the left of the vertical line is the Dan Tian, our center. The "X" on the right, YinYang.
Balance.
TAIJI: polarity. This is often mispronounced as Tai Chi.
QI also spelled CHI: Literally means "vapor", "air", or "breath". The word QI is often translated as "vital energy", "vital force", "material energy", or simply as "energy”. I have simplified the concept by saying that QI is synonymous with electricity. But, electricity is just one form of QI.
The hanzi for QI includes the character for “rice”. Steaming rice is a symbol for the energy provided by food. Like steam, QI rises but also flows in all directions.
Now, who wouldn’t like a “happy face?” XIN pronounced sheen, sort of, say “she” with your tongue towards the back of your palate and then add an “N”. XIN is the symbol for the “heart-mind.” Here we make the distinction of the brain and the heart.
Confucius taught that knowledge lies in the heart. In Chinese medicine the heart is the king of all of the organs and also the center of consciousness. Taoism teaches that having a balanced heart will influence all of the senses.
A lofty “happy face.”
So where does that take our Qigong in a Park practice today? We will be “painting” the Wuji with shoulder circles and then pausing and breathing into Emptiness. Tai will take the form of Breaking out of the Cocoon. To make some smiles and celebrate the heart, we’ll practice Monkey Raises Paws. Ji, polarity, one of our favorite forms: Separating Heaven and Earth which we like to call Combining Heaven and Earth.
Again, my inspiration for our practice today? Master Huang.
Without delay, I present the one and only…
I wish you health and happiness, follow your bliss!
Brian
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