"Wuji" and "Taiji" are the two most important concepts in ancient Chinese philosophy about the origin, development and change of all things in the universe.
What is "Wuji"?The ancients believed that the beginning of the formation of the universe began with a piece of "chaos", which was "nothing" and "Tao". It is formless, boundless, beginningless, endless, large and outward, small and inward, nameless, and repeated. It is the primordial nature of all things in the universe. Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" says: "All things in the world are born from being, and some are born from nothing." The Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. ", the Tao is often nameless, simple. Although it is small, there is no way to be able to minister in the world. It means that everything in the world begins with nothing. From "nothing" is born "being", and from "being" develops into all things, and all things make up the world. That state of chaos is "Tao", which is "Wuji".
The term "Wuji" was first seen in Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. In the twenty-eighth chapter of the Tao Te Ching, it is pointed out: "Knowing its male, guarding its female, is the stream of the world." For the world stream, Changde does not leave, and returns to the baby. Knowing its glory, guarding its humiliation, is the valley of the world. For the valley of the world, Changde is enough, and it returns to Park. Knowing its whiteness and guarding its black is the world's style. For the world's style, Changde is not distant, and it returnsInfinite。Here Lao Tzu said three sentences in a sentence form of "knowing, keeping, always deterring, and returning", describing to us the truth of real people returning to simplicity and truth (baby, simplicity, and Wuji). Regarding "babies", in the ten chapters of the Tao Te Ching, there is "dedication and softness, can be like a baby?".Chapter 20 has "chaos, like a baby's unborn." In the womb as a baby, the initial eruption of ignorance and desire;Regarding "Pu", in the fifteenth chapter of the Tao Te Ching, there is "Dunxi is as simple as Pu";Chapter 19 "Seeing Plain and Embracing Simplicity";The "Return to Park" in Chapter 28;Chapter 32 "The Tao is often nameless and simple." Although it is small, there is no way to be able to minister in the world" and chapters 37 and 57 all mention the concept of "park". Lao Tzu's "baby", "simplicity", and "Taiji" can all be interpreted as primordial, true, primitive, simple, innocent, and pure. It can be seen that the "baby", "Pu", and "Wuji" mentioned by Lao Tzu here are all the names and states of "Tao". Since Wuji is the "Tao", and also has the function of repetition and circumference, Zhuangzi further explained in "Wandering Away": "Beyond Wuji, there is also Wuji".
When we discuss and understand "Wuji", we must discuss and understand "Taiji" at the same time. What is Tai Chi?Tai Chi is born from Wuji, it is the initial form of "being", with form and image;It is "one", a mixture of heaven and earth, yin and yang, up and down, inside and outside, rigidity and softness, movement and stillnessHeaven and earth are not opened, and chaos is "qi";Yin and Yang are not divided, or Yin and Yang have been divided, but there is Yang in Yin and Yin in Yang. It is the source of the further change and development of all things in the universe from "being".
The term "Tai Chi" was first seen in "Zhou Yi". "Yi Chuan: Upload of Words" said: "Yi has Taiji, which is to give birth to two rituals, two rituals to give birth to four elephants, four elephants to give birth to gossip, gossip to determine good luck and evil, and good luck and evil to give birth to great causes." Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty commented in the "Zheng's Zhou Yi Note" that Tai Chi is "pure and undivided qi." Tang Dynasty scholar Kong Yingda explained to "Tai Chi" in "Zhou Yi Justice": "Tai Chi means that before heaven and earth are divided, the vitality is mixed into one, that is, Taichu and Taiyi. The next step in the evolution of Tai Chi is the formation of the "Two Yi", that is, from the state of containing Yin and Yang but Yin and Yang have not yet been separated, to the development of Heaven and Earth Yin and Yang.
The essence of Taijiquan is the balance of yin and yang, the harmony of yin and yang, and the pursuit is to achieve the state of infinity and become the true person and the supreme person in the "Yellow Emperor's Neijing".
Because the "Tai" and "extreme" in the word "Taiji" both have the meaning of primordial, highest, primitive, supreme, etc., and because of the different ontological views of scholars' worldview, that is, they have different understandings of whether the origin of the universe is "nothing" or "being". Song ** scholars Shao Yong, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi;Lu Jiuyuan, Zhu Xiren and others all believe that Taiji is Wuji, which is the Tao. Zhou Dunyi wrote "Taiji Diagram", which refined and depicted the Taiji diagram we see now, and he explained: "Since Wuji and Taiji, Taiji moves and gives birth to yang, moving pole and static, static and yin, static pole and complex movement, one movement and one static, each other is its root, divides yin and yang, and the two instruments stand up." ...Tai Chi is also infinite". What he insisted on was from Wuji to Taiji, and the origin of Taiji was the law of the origin and development of all things in the universe of Wuji. This controversy has not ended to this day.
We believe that Wuji and Tai Chi are two concepts that are connected and distinct. "Taiji" is a derivative of "Wuji", which is the connection between the two. The difference between Wuji and Taiji is: "Wuji" is a description of the "Dao" that all things in the universe return to the root, and it is "nothing", which is the supreme pole, the immeasurable pole, the invisible pole, the indescribable pole, and the unnameable pole, and is synonymous with "Dao". And Tai Chi is "there";It has the form of a thing, and it is the "qi" that contains the yin and yang of heaven and earth;It is the pole of "being", the pole of "form", and the pole of "all things". The "Tai Chi" in "Zhou Yi" is what the "Tao Te Ching" says, "all things in the world are born from being, and some are born from nothing", and the Tao is born from ,...The "being" and "one" in "giving birth to all things".
The application of Wuji and Tai Chi theories to guide people's health preservation can be traced back to the Yellow Emperor's Neijing. In "The Yellow Emperor's Neijing: Su Wen", people are divided into four levels: real people, supreme people, saints, and sages. Among them, the real person is:Lift the heaven and earth, grasp the yin and yang, breathe the essence, guard the gods independently, and the muscles are one, so you can live the world and the earth, and there is no end time, which is the way of life. The person is: "Chunde Quandao, and in the yin and yang, in the four o'clock, the death of the world, the accumulation of essence and concentration, parade between the heaven and the earth, in addition to the audio-visual Bada, this cover is beneficial to its life and the strong are also attributed to the real person." It can be seen that the real person belongs to the "Wuji" person of the Tao, and the person belongs to the "Taiji" life, if the Taiji person increases his life span and is strong, he can be attributed to the Wuji real person.
On December 25, 2023, the manuscript was completed in Jiaxing Study on Christmas Night.