太極思維的承傳
Inheritance of Tai Chi Concept
湯金石 Peter Tong
「太極」一詞，最早見於《莊子》，也見於《易—系辭》﹕「易有太極，是生兩儀，兩儀生四象，四象生八卦」，宋代周敦頤著有《太極圖說》，以陰陽五行理論解釋世界本源及人事、萬物，「太極」自始成為中華哲學、文化的常用詞。其實「太極」是先秦「易學」的發展，數千年來經歷道、儒、佛理論多次整合，到宋代成為一套系統完整的哲學理論，簡稱「太極」，「太極思維」是「太極」的內容。
道教採納《老子》、《莊子》、《列子》的理論建立宗教系統，歷來道教傳播，經常用「太極」這名詞說明。道門養生修真有「五秘」門派，其中一門稱為太極門，以太極哲理為修真的指引。「太極」一詞，多少給人一種神秘的感覺，其實若探索「太極」的源流，研究「太極」相關理論，會發現「太極思維」是中華文化對自然原則的理解及歸納，由於歸納的形式極為簡省，而且多是簡單的圖式，不容易理解，不被了解自然變得神秘。如果把「太極思維」的內涵，用淺易合理的方式說明，「太極」也就不再神秘了。
太極思維的源流
中華民族，在古時稱為華夏，是華族及夏族的合稱。華族、夏族是漢族及許多中華少數民族的先祖。有說因為華族、夏族聚居中原地方，所以稱為「中華」，是與「東夷」、「西戎」、「南蠻」、「北狄」相對而言的。也許是偶然的巧合吧，這「中」的地理位置竟成了中華民族思維的源頭，從而催發出東方數千年的燦爛文化。
「中」，是一個蘊含了相對意義的詞。「中」本身是沒有義意的，它是相對其他東西而言才有意義。有「左」有「右」才有「中」，或有「上」有「下」才有「中」，或有「前」有「後」才有「中」，或者同時有「前」、有「後」，有「左」、有「右」，有「上」有、「下」才有「中」。「中」是相對「前、後」，「左、右」，「上、下」而言的。沒有「前、後；左、右；上、下」，就沒有「中」。所以說「中」，雖然沒有指明是「上、下」的「中」，是「左、右」的「中」，或「前、後」的「中」，但正包含了「上、下、左、右、前、後」六面八個方位的義意。
「中」可大可小，任何物體，總有中點，地球有中點，太陽有中點，銀河有中點，不管有多大，就一定有中點。另一方面，任何最小的東西，總可以中分. 中分之後，又可以再中分. 不管有多小，總可以在小中再分。大有大「中」，小有小「中」。
「中」可虛可實，「中」可動可靜，靜態的均衡對稱是「中」，動態的均衡對稱也是「中」。鐘擺由左擺到右，再由右擺到左，對稱均衡點是擺幅中間。旋風不停轉動，均衡點在不動的風眼，只要對稱平衡，怎麼動也是「中」。
「中」可以是具象的, 也可以是抽象的. 總的來說，「中」是相對兩端的中點。古人用「陰陽」兩字來概括了所有相對待的兩端。「陰陽」只是代號，可以代表任何相對待的事物。「陰陽」既是兩端，但又是一體，相分而又不能相離，離開了便不是「陰陽」。因為是一體，所以有「陰陽」一定有「中」，「陰陽」相接之處就是「中」。說「中」雖然不說「陰陽」，但已包含了「陰陽」在內。所以「陰、陽、中」是「涵三為一」的。
易
「易」源流很遠，相傳是伏羲畫卦，文王演「易」。又說夏代的「易」稱為「連山」，商代的「易」稱為「歸藏」，周代的「易」稱為「周易」. 宋代是易學發展的一個大時代。「陰陽魚」,古《太級圖》, 及成熟的「太極思維」均在這時面世.
八卦
「卦」是「掛」﹐掛在空中的意思，「卦」由陽儀「一」及陰儀「一一」組成，陰陽儀合稱「兩儀」。如果用「一」陽儀代表「天」，則「一一」陰儀代表「地」。「天地」其實只是「空間」兩端的概念。在方位上天地代表上下，是一維空間。將同樣道理引伸，「陰」、「陽」可以代表「前、後」，可以代表「左、右」。由一維空間引伸到三維空間。
即由一點分「陰」、「陽」為線，由線分「陰」、「陽」為面，面分「陰」、「陽」為體。用「陰儀」、「陽儀」為符號可把「-」、「－」成三層重疊，成為「乾、坤、坎、離、巽、震、兌、艮」八個符號。把這個八個符號掛在一個立體四方形六面的八隻角上，就是「八卦」。「八卦」其實是立體「上、下、左、右、前、後」六個方向八個角方位的代號。
古代沒有陰影法，在二維平面上畫不出透視圖。只能用「陰儀、陽儀」組合的八卦符號放在四個正方（四正）及四個斜角（四隅）來表示三維空間的八個象限如下圖1及圖2:
河圖洛書
如果我用〝1、3、7、9〞代表前進的旋轉，用〝2、4、6、8〞代表後退的旋轉，把這兩組數以以〝5、10〞為中心重合，可以代表一個順時針方向旋轉的同時，有一個反時針方向的旋轉也在進行。這代表在空間同時發生陰陽相方反向的旋轉運動。這是河圖 (圖3)及(圖4) 顯示的內容：
《河圖》稱「一、三、五、七、九」為陽數，「二、四、六、八、十」為陰數。以「五、十」為圓心把這兩組數重疊，「一、三、七、九」代表順旋「二、四、六，八」代表逆旋，順、逆同步反向進行，表示陰陽相結合的「中、和」。
《洛書》（圖5)是陰陽相分的「中」、「和」.《洛書》（圖6) 以「一、三、五、七、九」為陽數，以「五」為中心，一與九南北相分，「一、九」相合（相加）為十，三與七東西相分，「三、七」相合為十。
「二、四、六、八」為陰數，「二﹑八」，「四﹑六」亦是相合為十，但又相分于四隅方位。陰陽向四面八方兩兩相分，代表一個飽滿的立體圓。因為陰陽平衡，所以《洛書》九宮每三宮數位相加都是十五，是圓的直徑。
陰陽平衡是「和」﹐所以是圓，圓四周圍繞一個中心成一個整體，所以是「中」。《洛書》的「中」、「和」是由「陰」、「陽」相分又相合而成的「中」與「和」。
《河圖》與《洛書》，一個顯示「陰」、「陽」相合隴，一個顯示「陰」「陽」相分開。一合一分，是一個整體的陰陽關係。一合一分的中心不變是「中」，一合一分時中心與四周的整體平衡關係不變，是「和」。
《河》、《洛》相合，既是時間的「中」、「和」，也是空間的「中」、「和」；既是擴大的「中」、「和」，亦是縮小的「中」、「和」；既是靜態的「中」、「和」，又是動態的「中」、「和」。各種大小不同形態的「和」的集合，是「太和」，重疊各種各樣「和」的「中」，是「至中」。《河圖》、《洛書》相合，是「太和至中」。是「太極」。
圓7「陰陽魚太極圖」首尾相接，合而為一圓。是《河圖》「陰、陽」相合與《洛書》「陰、陽」相分的結合。「陰陽魚」以"S"曲相接。"S"是「陰、陽」相混和的「中」。
看「陰陽魚太極圖」要用立體思維，將一個平面投影圖看成一個立體圖。"S"也是立體。
「太極」既是微觀的，也是宏觀的。無數的「太極」組成一個整體的「太極」。小至微粒子「夸克」，大至整個宇宙一體，都是「太極」。
五行
五行一般指「金、木、水、火、土」，代表萬事萬物的五種屬性，這五種屬性有相生與相剋的關係，木生火、火生土、土生金、金生水、水生木，是五行相生關係。金剋木、木剋土、土剋水、水剋火、火剋金，是五行相剋關係。
相生相剋，代表事物發展的過程。這個發展可以是「生」，「生」是擴大；可以是「剋」，「剋」是縮小。這擴大或縮小，都是以螺旋圓轉方式進行。
如果把一個平面分為四方，以木代表東方，以火代表南方，以金代表西方，以水代表北方，以土代表中央。「五行相生」可以想象為四周環繞中央的螺旋擴大，「五行相剋」可以想象為四周向中央的螺旋收隴。
費本納奇級數
1、2、3、5、8、13、21、34 … 級數，稱為「自然級數」或「費本納奇級數」. 這個級數相鄰兩數的正比率約為〝1.618〞反比率約為〝0.618〞。數位愈大，比率愈精確。這兩個比率，稱為「黃金分割率」。在美學上，人眼看到這比率的東西會覺得美麗，例如一張明信片長邊與闊邊的比例是〝1.618〞的話，看來會很舒服。雞蛋的長與闊也近于這個比例。在音律上，協調的和弦都與這比率有關，聽起來會悅耳，感覺美。這是美的比率.
在數學上，將一個圓周360度分成五等分。每等分72度，假使每運轉72度即擴大1.618倍，即每運轉360度即擴大〝1.618〞的五次乘方，等如11倍。即〝1.618〞運行五次，稱為「五行」。每轉360度擴大11倍是數學上最有效率的擴大，這擴大的軌跡有如螺彀的剖面如圖8的易旋。兩條易旋朝陰陽相反方向發展﹐就是圖9太極圖陰陽魚相交"S"曲線。
陰陽的涵三為一
「八卦」﹑《河圖》﹑《洛書》﹑《太極圖》﹑「五行」都是陰陽關係的各種形態表現。「陰陽」的性質，可用三句話來概括：
「陰不離陽，陽不離陰」；
「陰極陽生，陽極陰生」；
「陰即是陽，陽即是陰」.
「陰不離陽，陽不離陰」，是指「陰陽」既相分又不相離，是「對待」的兩端，有些學者喜歡用「矛盾」來形容「陰陽」﹐但「矛盾」具有不是你死就是我亡，不能共存的性質，不符合「陰陽」任何時間都共存相和的定義。
「陰極陽生，陽極陰生」，是「陰陽」的循環作用，由一方轉化到另一方，如鐘擺由左擺向右，到盡頭時方向轉化，反向由右擺向左，循環不息。
「陰即是陽，陽即是陰」是指「陰陽」本來就是一體，不能分離，分開不成一體的「陰陽」是不存在的，所謂「孤陰不生，獨陽不長」，「陰陽」永遠一體，分開而不統一的「陰陽」，不是「陰陽」。
總括來說，「陰陽」是相分不相離，循環不息的對待而統一的兩端。「陰陽」是一分為二，二又合為一。一體是一，二分是二，二合一為三，是「涵三為一」。
太和至中
陰陽、八卦、五行、是中華先祖，經長時間歸納出來的普遍運動原則，這普遍運動原則，《老子》稱為「道」，《易傳》稱為「太極」，宋儒張載稱為「太和」，「太和」是既不會「過」，也不會「不及」，是剛剛好，「無過無不及」的「中」。「太和至中」，是利用「陰」、「陽」調和而建立的「中」。
「太極思維」發展到宋代達至高峰，明、清兩代沒有加入更多的內涵。直至民國以後「太極思維」才再被重視。二十世紀七十年代，西方科技高度發展，但同時也發現這個世界要為高度發展的物質付出代價.
東方文化再受到全球學者的重視。八十年代中國大陸改革開放，「陰陽」、「八卦」、「五行」不再是禁忌，研究「太極思維」的著作不斷推出，研究深度也不斷增加。而近年科學的發展，由雙對論與量子力學，發展到渾沌、超弦、系統思維，科學的必然性充滿著或然性，漸漸近似於「太極思維」的性質，東西方學術的相互滲透，會是二十一世紀不可抗拒的趨勢。
Inheritance of Tai Chi Concept
By Peter Tong
The term "Tai Chi" was first seen in "Zhuangzi" and also found in "Yi-Xi Ci": "Yi has Tai Chi, it is the birth of duality, duality gives birth to four quarters, and four quarters give birth to Bagua (eight trigrams)". Mr. Zhou Dunyi in the Song Dynasty wrote "Tai Chi Tu Shuo (Talks about Tai Chi Figure)". "Tai Chi has been a common term in Chinese philosophy and culture since the beginning of time to explain the origin of the world, human affairs, and everything with the theory of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. In fact, "Tai Chi" is the development of the pre-Qin "Yi Studies". After thousands of years of integration of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, it became a systematic and complete philosophical theory in the Song Dynasty, referred to as "Tai Chi". Its main content is "Tai Chi Concept".
Taoism adopts the theories of "Laozi," "Zhuangzi," and "Liezi" to establish a religious system. Taoism has always been spread, often using the term "Tai Chi". There are "five secrets" sects of Taoist health cultivation practice, one of which is called Taijimen, which uses Taiji philosophy as the guide for cultivation. The term "Tai Chi" is somewhat mysterious. In fact, if you explore the source of "Tai Chi" and study the related theories of "Tai Chi", you will find that "Tai Chi Concept" is a way for understanding and induction of natural principles based on the Chinese culture. However, the methodology is rather over simplified, using mostly simple diagrams.
The whole thing becomes mysterious because it is not easy to understand. Actually, if the connotation of "Tai Chi Concept" is explained in a simple and reasonable way in terms of layman’s language, "Tai Chi" should no longer be mysterious.
Origin of Tai Chi Concept
The Chinese nation, called Huaxia in ancient times, is the collective name of Hua and Xia. The Hua and Xia are the ancestors of the Han and many Chinese minorities. It is said that because the Chinese and Xia nationalities live in the Central Plains, they are called "Zhonghua", which is in contrast to "Dongyi (eastern barbarians)", "Xi Rong (western barbarians)", "Nanman (southern barbarians)" and "Bei Di (northern barbarians)". Perhaps it was accidental coincidence that this "middle" geographical location has actually become the source of the concept of the Chinese nation, thus urging the splendid culture of the East for thousands of years.
"中(center)" is a word with a relative meaning. "Zhong (center)" itself has no meaning; it is meaningful relative to other things. Center becomes meaningful if there is "left" and "right", or "up" and "down" or "front" and "back", or simultaneously all of them. Center is therefore interpreted via relativity and duality. Without relative to duality, center does not exist by itself.
"Center" can be big or small. Any object has a midpoint. The earth has a midpoint, the sun has a midpoint, and the Milky Way has a midpoint. No matter how big it is, there must be a midpoint. On the other hand, any smallest thing can always be divided into two parts. And this process can continue indefinitely. Therefore, big object has its center; and small object has its center.
"Center" can be virtual or real, dynamic or static, static equilibrium symmetry or dynamic equilibrium symmetry. The pendulum swings from left to right and then from right to left. The symmetrical equilibrium point is the center of the swing. The whirlwind keeps rotating, and the equilibrium point is at the eye of the wind, as long as it is symmetrically balanced, no matter how it moves, its center stays as is.
"Center" can be either concrete or abstractive. In general, "center" is the midpoint of the opposite ends. The ancients used the word "Yin and Yang" to summarize all events with opposite ends. "Yin and Yang" is just a code name, which can represent anything that is relative. "Yin and Yang" are viewed as both two separable entities and as one inseparable unit. Because it is one unit, there must be a "center" associated with its "Yin and Yang". The place where "Yin and Yang" meet is "center." Although "center" stands alone by itself, it does include "Yin and Yang" implicitly. So "yin, yang, and center" jointly become an integral part, referred to as “fusing three into one”.
Yi (Change)
"Yi" has a very long origin. According to legend, Fuxi painted hexagrams and Wen Wang analyzed "Yi". It is also said that the "Yi" in the Xia Dynasty is called "Lianshan", the "Yi" in the Shang Dynasty is called "Gui Zang", the "Yi" in the Zhou Dynasty is called "Zhou Yi".
The Song Dynasty was a great era in the development of Yi learning. "Yin Yang Fish", the ancient "Tai Chi Tu (Tai Chi Logo) and a mature “Tai Chi Concept” all appeared at this time.
Bagua (Eight Trigrams)
"Gua" means "hanging", which means hanging in the air. "Gua" is composed of YangYi (–) and YinYi (--). YinYi and YangYi are collectively called "Two symbols". If YangYi is used to represent the "heaven", then the YinYi represents the "earth". "Heaven and earth" is actually just a concept at both ends of "space." From position point of view, heaven and earth represent up and down, which is a one-dimensional perspective. Extending the same principle, "YinYi" and "YangYi" can represent "front and back" or "left and right". By the same token, one-dimensional linear can extend to two-dimensional plane and three-dimensional space.
Using "YinYi" and "YangYi" as symbols one can arrange "–" and "--" into three layers to form the eight figures of "Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Xun, Zhen, Dui, Gen". Placing these eight figures on the eight corners of a three-dimensional cube is "Bagua." "Bagua" is actually a three-dimensional code name for the six directions and eight sub-cubes of "up, down, left, right, front, and back".
In ancient times, there was no shading method, and it was impossible to draw a perspective view on a two-dimensional plane. You can only use the Bagua symbols on a plane to represent the eight quadrants of the three-dimensional space as shown in Figures 1 and 2:
Hetu Luoshu (Yellow-River Figure & Luo-River Diagram)
If I use "1, 3, 7, 9" to represent forward rotation, and "8, 6, 4, 2," to represent backward rotation, and the two sets of numbers are superimposed centered on "5, 10", it can represent two concurrent rotational systems. This means that Yin and Yang are rotated in opposite directions at the same time in space. This is the content of the Yellow-River Figure (Figure 3) and (Figure 4):
"Hetu" calls "one, three, five, seven, nine" as yang numbers, and "two, four, six, eight, and ten" as yin numbers. Use "five, ten" as the center of the circle to overlap these two sets of numbers, "one, three, seven, nine" represents forward rotation, and "eight, six, four, two" represents reverse rotation. These two rotations take place concurrently in opposite directions. This feature has an implication of Center and Harmony via unification of Yin and Yang.
"Luoshu" (Figure 5) shows the "zhong (center)" and "he (harmony)" with a separated yin yang pair. (Figure 6) shows "one, three, five, seven, nine" are yang numbers, centered on "five". One and nine occupies the south and north respectively. These two numbers add up to ten. Three and seven take west and east respectively. These two numbers also add up to ten.
"Two, four, six, and eight" are negative numbers, located at four corners. If you add up the diagonal pairs ("two, eight" and "four, six"), you get ten for both cases. Yin and Yang numbers are interwoven two groups, but are distributed uniformly in all directions. The picture as a whole illustrates a full three-dimensional circle. Because of the balance between Yin and Yang, you will discover some very interesting phenomena in the nine palaces. There are three rows, three columns, and two diagonal lines. Let us call them “eight subgroups” in total. If you sum up the three digits of each subgroup, you get fifteen. This is the diameter of the circle.
Overall, "Luoshu" shows us some implications such as “harmony” and “center”. You need to contemplate the manifestation of Yin and Yang numbers within the nine palaces; in terms of their balance, their opening and closing in a dynamic notion.
Now let’s consider "Hetu" and "Luoshu" being two sides of one coin, i.e., they use different figures to show the nature of one subject. What do we learn from here? First, one shows Yin and Yang doing contraction and the other shows expansion. Contraction and expansion take place simultaneously on the same subject; they are neither separated nor independent. This implies there is a center, which remains constant at all time. Secondly, there is a commonality between Hetu and Luoshu: both sustain a dynamic balance between surroundings and its center. This implies there is a harmony in relationships. And the relationships are stable.
Therefore, Hetu and Luoshu jointly manifest “center and harmony” in a number of domains: time, space, opening, closing, static conditions, and dynamic conditions. If we integrate all the harmonies together, we get “Supreme Harmony”. Likewise, if we integrate all the centers together, we get “Ultimate Center”. In sum, the process of joining Hetu and Luoshu is called “Supreme Harmony and Ultimate Center”. This is referred to as “Tai Chi”.
"Yin Yang Fish Tai Chi Logo" was developed based on the properties of Hetu and Luoshu. It has a circle on the outside and an S-curve inside the area. S-curve is the boundary between the Yin-fish and the Yang-fish. S-curve is also the “center” between the two fishes. This Logo is shown in the following Figure 7 and is names as “Congenital Taiji Diagram”.
To look at the "Yin Yang Fish Tai Chi Logo", you need to use three-dimensional point of view, convert planar to volumetric. "S-curve" becomes also three-dimensional.
"Tai Chi" is both micro and macro. Numerous "Tai Chi" forms a whole "Tai Chi". As small as the tiny particles of "quarks," as large as the whole universe, they are all "Tai Chi".
Five Elements
The five elements generally refer to "metal, wood, water, fire, and earth", which represent the five attributes of all things. These five attributes have the relationship of mutual growth and mutual restraint. In terms of mutual growth, the sequence is that wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water, and water produces wood. In terms of mutual restraint, the procedure is that metal restrains wood, wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, and fire restrains metal.
The mutual growth and mutual restraint represent the development process of things. This development can be expansion or contraction. This expansion or contraction is carried out in a spiral manner.
If we divide a plane into four areas, wood represents the east, fire represents the south, metal represents the west, water represents the north, and earth represents the center. Mutual growth of the five elements can be imagined as a spiral expansion around the center. Mutual restraint of the five elements is a spiral contraction from all sides to the center.
Fibonacci series
The number series 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, … is called "natural series" or "Fibonacci series". It is created by adding two neighboring numbers to give rise to the next number. The forward ratio of two adjacent numbers of this series is about "1.618" and the inverse ratio is about "0.618". Precision of the ratio increases when the value of the adjacent numbers gets big, i.e., larger the number, more precise the ratio. These two ratios are called the "golden ratio". Aesthetically, the human eye will feel beautiful when seeing things with this ratio. For example, if the ratio of the long side to the wide side of a postcard is "1.618", it looks very comfortable. The length and width of eggs are also close to this ratio. In terms of temperament, coordinated chords are all related to this ratio, which will sound pleasant and feel beautiful. This is the ratio of beauty.
Mathematically, a circle of 360 degrees is divided into five equal parts, with 72 degrees each. Now let us draw an expansion curve. For every 72 degrees of rotation, we increase the distance from the center by a multiplier of 1.618. At the end of 360 degrees of rotation, a fifth power of "1.618" should be applied. This results in a total of 11 times gaining in distance. We could consider this process as five elements associated with 1.618. An 11-fold expansion per 360 degrees is the most efficient expansion in mathematics. The trajectory of this expansion is like the cross section of a spiral shell as shown in Figure 8. If we two spiral curves, in opposite direction (like Yin and Yang), we get the Yixuans (Yi spiral) curve as shown in Figure 9. This looks like the S-curve, which we talked about above in the “Yin Yang Fish Tai Chi Logo” section.
Yin Yang and Fusing Three into One
"Bagua", "Hetu", "Luoshu", "Taiji Logo” and "Five Elements" are all manifestations of the relationship between Yin and Yang. The nature of "Yin and Yang" can be summarized in three sentences:
"Yin does not depart from Yang, and Yang does not depart from Yin";
"Extreme Yin creates Yang, and Extreme Yang creates Yin";
"Yin is Yang, Yang is Yin".
"Yin does not depart from Yang and Yang does not depart from Yin" means that "Yin and Yang" are both separate and inseparable. It is the two ends of "treatment". Some scholars like to use "contradiction" to describe "Yin and Yang", but "contradiction" does not preserve coexistence. It’s like either you die or I die. Contradiction does not have the definition of the basic nature of Yin and Yang, which coexist and harmonize each other at all time.
"Extreme Yin creates Yang, and Extreme Yang creates Yin" is the cyclical effect of "Yin and Yang", which transforms from one side to the other. For example, a pendulum swings from left to right, and when it reaches the end, the direction changes, and the reverse swings from right to left, endlessly circulating.
"Yin is Yang, and Yang is Yin" means that "Yin and Yang" are originally one and cannot be separated. A separated pair Yin and Yang does not really exist. An isolated Yin or Yang does not grow by itself alone. Yin and Yang should always be one. A pair of Yin and Yang, if separated without linkage, cannot be considered as authentic Yin and Yang.
In a nutshell, "Yin and Yang" are differentiable but not separable from each other. They are two ends of a linked process, which interact each other in a cyclic manner. "Yin and Yang" is one divided into two, and the two become one. One is one, two is two, two and one join to make three. And this is called “Fusing three into one”.
Supreme Harmony and Ultimate Center
Yin and Yang, Eight Trigrams, and the Five Elements are the universal principles of movement summarized by the ancestors of China for a long time. This universal movement principle is called "Tao" by "Laozi", "Tai Chi" in "Book of Changes", and "Taihe" by Zhang Zai in Song Dynasty. "Taihe" means neither "too much" nor "not enough". It is just right. It is center. “Supreme Harmony and Ultimate Center” is established through reconciling Yin and Yang in a harmonious process.
"Tai Chi Concept" reached its peak in the Song Dynasty, and no more connotations were added in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was not until after the Republic of China that "Tai Chi Concept" was taken seriously again. In the 1970s, Western science and technology were highly developed, but at the same time it was discovered that the world had to pay for highly developed materials.
Eastern culture was again valued by global scholars. During the reform and opening up of mainland China in the 1980s, "Yin and Yang", "Eight Trigrams", and "Five Elements" were no longer taboos. Books on "Tai Chi Concept" were continuously published and the depth of research continued to increase. In recent years, the development of science has evolved from dualism, quantum mechanics, chaos, superstring, and system concept. The inevitability of science is full of probabilities, and it gradually approximates the nature of "Tai Chi Concept". And the mutual penetration of Eastern and Western academics will be an irresistible trend in the 21st century.
Remarks: English translation was provided by Stephen Tang