09/01/2026
THE TREATISE ON TAIJIQUAN — 21 CORE PRINCIPLES
From Wuji and Yin-Yang to D**g Jin and Shen Ming
(Part 1/5)
Part 1 of The Taijiquan Lun — 21 Core Principles.
Part 1 lays the foundation:
Wuji – Taiji – Yin-Yang – Movement and Stillness – Zou and Nian.
One notable point: in the Ban Hou tradition, intention moves first; the body has not yet moved. This subtle transition between Wuji and Taiji is not stated explicitly in Wang Zongyue's original text, but it is preserved in the Yang family oral tradition.
Read the full article below. 👇
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INTRODUCTION
The Taijiquan Lun (太极拳论) by Wang Zongyue is one of the foundational texts of Taijiquan theory. The text is very short, yet each sentence contains a principle concerning body method, intention, empty and full, advancing and retreating, adaptation, and the capacity to perceive jin.
Read at first glance, these appear to be disconnected aphorisms. But when placed side by side, a clear progression emerges:
Wuji → Taiji → Yin-Yang → Movement and Stillness → Empty and Full → Following and Transforming → D**g Jin → Shen Ming.
In other words, this is not simply a theory about "how to fight." It describes a progression from the outward form of the art to an adaptive capacity no longer bound by form.
The commentary below draws on the tradition of Yang Chengfu, with reference to martial anecdotes passed down within the Yang family lineage. Three layers of content should be clearly distinguished:
• The words of Wang Zongyue – the original treatise text.
• The commentary of Yang Chengfu – explanations of martial principle, supplemented with imagery and examples.
• Inherited anecdotes – stories passed down for illustrative purposes, not necessarily to be treated as independently verified historical records.
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SECTION 1
Original text:
太极者，无极而生，阴阳之母也。
Pinyin:
Tàijí zhě, wújí ér shēng, yīnyáng zhī mǔ yě.
Literal translation:
Taiji arises from Wuji; it is the mother of Yin and Yang.
Explanation of martial principle:
Taiji here should not be understood simply as the name of a martial art or a technical system. In traditional Chinese thought, 太极 (Tàijí) refers to the Supreme Ultimate, understood as the organizing principle of complementary opposites; while 无极 (Wújí) is the undifferentiated state.
In Yang Chengfu's explanation:
不动为无极，已动为太极。
Stillness is Wuji; once there is movement, it is Taiji.
This does not necessarily mean that "Wuji" and "Taiji" are two completely separate states. A more practical understanding is this: when body and mind have not yet stirred, before any distinction arises, before any direction toward a specific action has formed, that is Wuji. When intention stirs and the body begins to take on a direction of movement, Taiji appears.
Within the Ban Hou tradition, there is a saying:
意先动，身未动。
Intention moves first; the body has not yet moved.
This saying belongs to the oral transmission of the Ban Hou / Yang family lineage and is not found in the original text of the Taijiquan Lun.
The stirring of intention is not yet movement. It is the very subtle transitional stage between Wuji and Taiji.
Once movement begins, unity begins to differentiate into paired relationships:
• front — back
• left — right
• above — below
• advance — retreat
• issuing — neutralizing
• empty — full
• open — close
• hard — soft
This is precisely Yin and Yang.
Example in practice:
When a practitioner stands in the preparatory posture, with no intention of moving yet, the whole body released, the mind quiet — this is a state close to Wuji. The moment intention arises to lift the foot, turn the waist, or extend the hand — Taiji appears, and immediately the relationship of empty and full between the two legs, between the front hand and the rear hand, comes into being.
Therefore, practicing Taiji is not an attempt to "not move." It is movement that does not lose the unified root of Wuji.
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SECTION 2
Original text:
动之则分，静之则合。
Pinyin:
Dòng zhī zé fēn, jìng zhī zé hé.
Literal translation:
In movement, there is differentiation; in stillness, there is integration.
Explanation of martial principle:
This is one of the most important lines for understanding the structural logic of Taijiquan movement.
The moment intention stirs, the body is no longer a single undivided whole. It must immediately differentiate into multiple relationships:
• one hand advances, the other supports;
• one leg is full, the other empty;
• one side issues jin, the other draws in;
• the body turns, the waist leads, the hands follow;
• within advancing there is retreating; within issuing there is neutralizing.
In the traditional commentary, Yang Chengfu says:
心意一动则分发四肢。
Once intention moves, it extends through the four limbs.
From here, he draws connections to:
• 两仪 — Liang Yi (Two Polarities)
• 四象 — Si Xiang (Four Images)
• 八卦 — Ba Gua (Eight Trigrams)
• 九宫 — Jiu Gong (Nine Palaces)
And within the martial system, these resolve into:
掤、捋、挤、按、采、挒、肘、靠
Peng, Lü, Ji, An, Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao — collectively known as the Eight Gates (Ba Fa)
Together with:
进、退、顾、盼、定
Jin, Tui, Gu, Pan, Ding.
But in stillness, this differentiation returns to unity:
静本还无极，心神合一。
Stillness returns to Wuji; mind and spirit unite as one.
At a higher level, "stillness" does not mean immobility. It is a state in which the body appears calm but has not lost its capacity for perception.
Movement and stillness are not two opposing states. In Taiji, stillness always contains the potential for movement; movement always retains the root of stillness. This connects directly to the principle of lightness and agility in stillness (Qing Ling) that the Ban Hou lineage particularly emphasizes.
This is why there is a saying:
满身空空洞洞，少有接触即知。
The whole body is open and unobstructed; the slightest contact is immediately registered.
Example in practice:
When performing a posture such as "Grasp the Bird's Tail" (Lan Que Wei), at the beginning of the movement, intention organizes the movement toward the right hand (Peng), while simultaneously the left leg is empty and the right leg is full — this is "movement differentiates." When the posture completes, intention is gathered back to the Dantian, both hands release, and the center returns to the middle — this is "stillness integrates."
This is the foundation of 听劲 — Ting Jin, the capacity to "listen" to and perceive the opponent's jin.
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SECTION 3
Original text:
无过不及，随曲就伸。
Pinyin:
Wú guò bù jí, suí qū jiù shēn.
Literal translation:
Neither excessive nor insufficient; follow the curve before extending.
Explanation of martial principle:
This is the principle of centrality and adaptability.
• 过 — guò: excessive, going too far.
• 不及 — bù jí: not enough, falling short.
Both can cause the practitioner to lose center.
For example, when an opponent strikes:
• If one directly resists → 顶 — Ding (butting against).
• If one disengages too far → 丢 — Diu (losing contact).
• If one refuses to follow the opponent's curved path → 抗 — Kang (rigid resistance).
• If one fails to reconnect when an opportunity arises → 离 — Li (separation).
These are the four classic faults:
丢、顶、抗、离
Diu – Ding – Kang – Li.
随曲 (following the curve) does not mean being weak or always retreating. It means moving along the existing line of force without opposing it.
就伸 (then extending) does not simply mean "straightening the arm." When conditions arise, one shifts from a state of following into the unfolding of one's own action. "Follow the curve before extending" captures this meaning precisely: not merely extending the hand, but the unfolding of the entire body from a state of compliance.
Therefore:
曲中有直，退中有进，柔中有刚。
Within the curved resides the straight; within retreat resides advance; within softness resides hardness.
Example in practice:
In push-hands practice, when the opponent uses force to push into the chest, one should neither resist directly (Ding) nor completely disengage (Diu). Instead, one turns the waist, draws in the chest, and leads the opponent's force to the side (following the curve). The moment one feels that the opponent's force has been redirected and they have lost center, one enters the gap and unfolds one's own action.
Upon reaching the state of 不即不离 — not too close, not too far — the practitioner no longer makes a mechanical choice between "striking" and "evading." Action arises directly from contact.
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SECTION 4
Original text:
人刚我柔谓之走，我顺人背谓之黏。
Pinyin:
Rén gāng wǒ róu wèi zhī zǒu, wǒ shùn rén bèi wèi zhī nián.
Literal translation:
When the opponent is hard and I am soft, this is called Zou (yielding/leading away); when I am in accord and the opponent is in disadvantage, this is called Nian (adhering).
Explanation of martial principle:
This is the core principle of 走 — Zou and 黏 — Nian.
When the opponent issues straight, hard jin, one does not meet it with an equal and opposite force. One moves along with their jin, causing their force to miss one's center. This is 走 — Zou: neutralizing and leading the force away.
But Taiji does not stop at "neutralizing." If one merely avoids the opponent and then separates, that is not yet 黏.
黏 — Nian means maintaining continuous connection with the opponent. One follows the direction in which the opponent has lost advantage, while still maintaining contact. 背 (bèi) here does not mean "turning one's back." It means "contrary position" — falling into a disadvantageous state, no longer aligned with natural movement.
Therefore:
黏不是粘住不动。
Nian does not mean sticking motionlessly.
Nian means not losing the opponent while maintaining the capacity to change.
This is why Zou and Nian are not actually two opposing techniques:
黏即是走，走即是黏。
Nian is precisely Zou; Zou is precisely Nian.
Example in practice:
In push-hands, when the opponent uses substantial force to push against the forearm, one rotates the wrist, steps back half a step, and leads their force to the side (Zou). But the back of the hand or wrist still lightly adheres to the opponent's arm, never separating (Nian). When they lose balance, one advances and issues jin.
If one only uses Zou without Nian, the opponent will notice and adapt. If one only uses Nian without Zou, one will be crushed by their force.
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Series identity:
Part 1 of a five-part reading guide to one of Taijiquan's foundational texts.
— Tai Chi: Beyond The Health
