Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
Note on Illustrations
Introduction
I Social and Historical Background of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan in the
Nineteenth Century
China and the Nations
Rebellion at Home
The North China Plain
Elite Culture
Late Ch'ing Intellectual Trends
Reexamining the Biography of Wu Yü-hsiang
Approaches to Understanding Wu and Li Involvement in T'ai-chi
Ch'üan
II Textual Tradition of the T'ai-Chi Classics
III Analysis and Translation of the New Texts
The Writings of Wu Ch'eng-ch'ing
Analysis of the Texts
Translation of the Texts
The Writings of Wu Ju-ch'ing
Analysis of the Texts
Translation of the Texts
The Writings of Li I-yü
Analysis of the Texts
Translation of the Texts
Yang Family Forty Chapters
4/1 Analysis of the Texts
4/2 Translation of the Texts
IV Significance of the New Texts
Authorship of the Previously Received Classics
Authenticity of the New Texts
Dijfferences between the Wu/Li and Yang Editions of the
Classics
Authorship of the Bookstall Classics
Historicity of Chang San-feng
Historicity and Role of Wang Tsung-yüeh
Period and Role of Chiang Fa
Paucity of Theoretical Texts in Ch'en Village
Chang Nai-chou and the Wu/Li Classics
Survival of Manuscripts in the Wu and Li Families
Conclusion
Appendix I. Original Chinese Texts for the Lost Classics
Appendix II. Textual and Biographical Studies
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Douglas Wile is Associate Professor at Brooklyn College. He is the author of The Art of the Bedchamber: The Chinese Sexual Yoga Classics, Including Women's Solo Meditation Texts, also published by SUNY Press.
"This book contains an enormous amount of information concerning all aspects of T'ai-chi ch'uan not available before. To say that the work is a major contribution to the field is an understatement; it dwarfs all other works so far published in the English language. This is a first-rate, scholarly book that will have a great bearing on the academic views concerning T'ai-chi ch'uan's history and value for present-day study. Because of his meticulous research and profoundly articulate text, Wile has redefined 'T'ai-chi ch'uan' for the academic world with clarity and, for the first time, with accuracy." — Michael A. DeMarco, Journal of Asian Martial Arts
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