The Taijiquan Classics: An Annotated Translation [Paperback]

This is a book suitable for all taiji practitioners. It covers the classice beautifully and in a manner which explains and clarifies them very well. I discusses the problems that translating and dating the classics hold and also breaks down the classics with notes from Chen Wei Ming and Barbara Davis. A very insightful book that helped my understanding of both the classics and the practice. Fully recommended.

For taiji players its all about the classics. Problem is that there is so much myth and counter myth surrounding the art. The introductory chapters look at this and examine why the texts from different styles are so similar and so different. Trying to find the reasoning behind some of the decisions that were made. Looking at the history and where the name 'taijiquan' came from. Incredibly interesting, and it is going to make me want to get more books to delve deeper for myself. (Need a bigger bookcase!)

The book then gives the classics on their own before finally examining them with commentaries by Chen Wei Ming with explanatory notes from Barbara Davis. There is also a copy of the classics in chinese at the end.

I am glad to have this in my 'library'. It has deepened my research into the more scholarly side to taiji, looking at the texts and the history. I would advise having both this book and "The Essence of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: The Literary Tradition" to really get a grip on the classics.

This is an interesting book, not without its problems. Barbara Davis is editor of the Taijiquan Journal and has been a practitioner of Yang Style Taijiquan since 1973. Davis trains within the lineage of Zheng Manqing (1902-1975), who in-turn, was the student of master Yang Chengfu (1883-1936), the grandson of grandmaster Yang Luchan (1799-1872), the founder of the Yang Style of Taijiquan. Barbara Davis has also translated the work of Chen Weiming (1881-1958), entitled 'Taiji Sword'. Chen was a fellow student with Zheng Manqing, under Yang Chengfu's guidance. Chen was a scholar who had passed the imperial exam (juren), and as a consequence, worked in the Qing History Office. He wrote commentaries the the Taijiquan Classics, as passed-on within the Yang school. In this book, Davis translates these texts into a workable English format, together with Chen's commentaries, and those of Yang Chengfu and two other of his students, namely Zheng Manqing and Dong Yingjie (1888-1961). This book contains the following Taijiquan Classics in both English translation, and (separately) the original Chinese texts:

Taijiquan Jing.
Taijiquan Lun.
Exposition of Insights into the Thirteen Postures.
Thirteen Postures Songs.
Playing Hands Song.

Davis presents all five Classics without annotation and comment - so that a student may read the text without hindrance, perhaps between rounds of Taijiquan practice - and then presents the five Classics again, this time with annotation and commentary. The supportive research is interesting, if not scattered, and Davis does see certain connections between aspects of the Classics and Confucian and Daoist philosophy. For instance, Davis presents Zhou Dunyi's (1017-1073) Taiji Tu, or 'Grand-ridgepole Diagram', and assesses his philosophy with regard to Taijiquan practice. Davis gets some translations wrong. For the Chinese word 'Lun', Davis offers the English translation of 'treatise', when this word is better translated as 'Discussion'. The word 'treatise' is common in Chinese philosophy, but is usually represented by the Chinese word 'zhuan'. Bizzarely, considering the number of years Davis has been training, she translates the word 'da', as to 'play', when infact it means 'to fight'.

There is a common trend in the West at the moment, that whilst purporting to translate and convey reliable English translations of Chinese martial texts, is infact judging the material being studied, and in the process actually 'stripping' away the Chinese culture that has not only created these martial arts in the first place, but also conveyed them as a body of distinct 'martial philosophy' to the West. It must be stressed that generally speaking, this is not professional scholarship, which by and large presents Chinese culture clearly and precisely, without judging or demeaning it, but is rather a form of amateur scholarship, that in its eagerness to be 'correct', is infact damaging the subject being studied, by reducing its relevance and meaning to that of a sterile 'bar-chart'. Chinese culture has been referred to as 'ignorant', and 'mythological' by such people as Stanley Henning - a person Davis thinks highly of, and references his work often in the 'notes' of this book. It is odd that Davis has made the translation errors, whilst claiming to have the input of three Chinese academics in the USA.

Within professional scholarship, the study of another culture does not begin with its deconstructon, denigration or dismissal. Professional scholarship does not ignore the culture that it is studying, and at no time assumes that it 'knows more', or has somekind of 'privileged' knowledge. The thin line that Davis appears to be walking is this; she knows full well what the chinese traditional viewpoint is, regarding the martial arts they have created. She is also aware that there are certain Western amateur scholars who denigrate this view, and instead offer what they consider to be a more 'rational' approach, effectvely telling the Chinese how to think about their own culture. Some of these amateur scholars have assisted Davis in the writing of this book, and if the discerning reader looks closely enough, it will be easy to see which way the author actually leans in this argument.