The Origin of Tai Chi
There exists in China a very ancient history of movement systems that are associated with health and philosophy. In some sense one can see all of these as contributing to the climate in which Tai Chi was born.
From the very origins of Taoism in the sixth century BC, sages like Lao Zi wrote in the Tao Te Ching: “Yield and Overcome; Bend and be straight” and “He who stands on tiptoes is not steady; he who strides cannot maintain the pace.” Throughout the entire of his writings, Lao Zi reflects the central philosophical underpinnings of Tai Chi Chuan.
Later, in the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-265 AD), the physician Hua Tuo relied not only on medicine to heal, but also taught the “movements of the five creatures”–tiger, deer, bear, ape and birds–a system he called “five-animal frolic” (wu qin xi). He believed that the body needed to be regularly exercised to help with digestion and circulation and only by doing so could a long and healthy life be achieved. He advocated a system of imitating the movements of these animals to help exercise every joint in the body. His teaching, and its connection with the movements of animals, is probably the earliest pre-cursor of Tai Chi.
Chang Sanfeng, a monk from Wutang Monastery in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is regarded as the founder of Tai Chi Boxing, though some scholars doubt his historical existence. Linking some of the older forms of movement with the notion of yin-yang from Taoism and stressing the ‘internal’ aspects of his exercises, he is credited with creating the fundamental ‘Thirteen Postures’ of Tai Chi.