Tai Chi Chuan | Definition, Meaning, History, Forms, & Facts | Britannica

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External Websites

• Nature - Scientific Reports - Tai Chi Chuan exercise related change in brain function as assessed by functional near–infrared spectroscopy
• Nature - Tai Chi Chuan vs General Aerobic Exercise in Brain Plasticity: A Multimodal MRI Study
• MedicineNet - Tai Chi
• Healthline - 11 Ways Tai Chi Can Benefit Your Health
• Live Science - What is Tai Chi?
• CiteSeerX - The Martial Art Librarian: Tai Chi as a Metaphor for Librarianship
• Verywell Mind - What To Know about the Mind-Body Practice of Tai Chi
• University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - The Story of Tai Chi (or Taijiquan)
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Tai Chi Chuan in Medicine and Health Promotion

Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: Chinese boxing, t’ai chi ch’uan, tai chi, taijiquan Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Dec 11, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot a Question Chinese: “supreme ultimate fist” (Show more) Pinyin: taijiquan (Show more) Wade-Giles romanization: t’ai chi ch’uan (Show more) Also called: tai chi, or Chinese boxing (Show more) Related Topics: martial art qigong (Show more) See all related content

tai chi chuan, distinctive Chinese form of exercise or attack and defense that is popular throughout the world and closely related to the ancient Daoist system of qigong. As exercise, tai chi chuan is designed to provide relaxation in the process of body-conditioning exercise and is drawn from the principles of taiji, notably including the harmonizing of the yin and yang, respectively the passive and active principles. It employs flowing, rhythmic, deliberate movements, with carefully prescribed stances and positions, but in practice no two masters teach the system exactly alike. As a mode of attack and defense, tai chi chuan resembles kung fu and is properly considered a martial art. It may be used with or without weapons.

Freehand exercise to promote health was practiced in China as early as the 3rd century, and, by the 5th century, monks at the Buddhist monastery of Shao Lin were performing exercises emulating the five creatures: bear, bird, deer, monkey, and tiger. The snake was added later, and, by the early Ming dynasty (1368), the yin and yang principles had been added to harmonize the whole. An assimilation of these developments, the art of tai chi chuan was codified and named in the early Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12).

There have been many schools of tai chi chuan, and five are popular and distinctive. Depending on school and master, the number of prescribed exercise forms varies from 24 to 108 or more. The forms are named for the image created by their execution, such as “White stork displays its wings” and “Fall back and twist like monkey.” All start from one of three stances, weight forward, weight on rear foot, and horse riding, or oblique.

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