Tai Chi

During the last decade of my otherwise clueless life, I became aware of a slow-motion meditation-type, boring-looking exercise routine called Tai Chi. Whilst on walkabouts in China I saw individuals and groups of people engaging in Tai Chi all over the place. But then something happened. I began to observe small Tai Chi groups holding swords while doing their slow-motion routines and the light dawned. This otherwise innocuous, meditative routine is a martial art of warrior thrusts-jabs-n-stabs for  practice for battles, spiritual or worldly. Yikes! Then I saw Tai Chiers using poles and whips. Double Yikes! I'll never observe Tai Chi in the same, limited, western view again. Preparing for war, mentally or physically, is systemic to this art and culture. I paid closer attention to Lucy's presentation.

Tai Ji Quan is a major division of Chinese martial art. Tai Ji Quan means "supreme ultimate fist." Tai means "supreme'… Ji means "ultimate"… Quan mean "fist."

There have been different sayings about the origin of Tai Chi. The traditional legend goes that the wise man, Zhang Sanfeng, of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) created Tai Chi after he had witnessed a fight between a sparrow and a snake; while most people agreed that the modern Tai Chi originated from Chen style Tai Chi, which first appeared during the 19th century in the Daoguang Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Tai Chi has its philosophical roots in Taoism and is considered as an internal martial art, utilizing the internal energy, or Qi, and following the simple principle of "subduing the vigorous by the soft." Taoism is the oldest philosophy of CHina which is represented by the famous symbol of the Yin and Yang which expresses the continuous flow of Qi in a circular motion that generates two opposite forces, plus and minus, which interact and balance with each others to bring existence to the physical and metaphysical world.

The most famous forms of Tai Chi practiced today are the Chen, Yang, We, Woo and Sun styles. All the five styles can be traced back to Chen style Tai Chi. According to historical records, Tai Chi was founded by Chen Wangting (1597-1664), who lived in Chen Village, in today's Henan Province in China. Based on the Chen style and created by Tang Luchan, a Hebei native of the Qing Dynasty, the Yang style is now the most popular style worldwide. The Woo Style is based on the Chen and Yang styles and created by Woo Yuxing. 

The Sun style is derived from Chen and Woo styles and created by Sun Lutang. The Sun style is a combination of the more famous internal Chinese martial art forms of Ba Gua, Xing Yi and Tai Ji. The We style is based on Chen and Yang styles, and it was created by Wu Jianquan.

Nowadays, when most people talk about Tai Chi, they are usually referring to the Yang style, which has already spread throughout the world and is practiced by millions or people.

Tai Chi is not only a martial art, but has also been widely acknowledged as being an effective health exercise. Whether Tai Chi is practiced for health, as athletic sport or martial art it takes time, patience and qualitative practice to develop Tai Chi's internal properties. To achieve a high standard in Tai Chi training is a highly complex process.

In conclusion, no matter you are young or aged, male or female, no matter strong or weak, slim or plump, you can choose Tai Chi as your ideal physical exercise. Just as a Chinese saying goes, "As a man sows, so he shall reap." Once you decide to practice it, Tai Chi - the world of Yin and Yang, the world of the nature and relaxation will become a whole, new life style in the future for you.

Copyright - A big problem in China

The repeated phrase we heard from students justifying infringement of copyright was:
Copy and Improve.
So, as long as you improve what you snatch in China, you are not violating copyright law.
Jules has another point to make on this issue in China. Think Napster.

One of my friends once complained to me about the complexity when she downloaded some software to her her newly bought iPhone5 through iTunes. When first enter into it, she has to register a new name and have to tick all the rules that Apple Company had given to her. Sometimes, when she wants to download something, a credit card and bank account numbers are necessary and irresistible. It's true that many chinese Apple owners are bored by this problem, since they have already used got used to enjoy the endless and fruitful resources on the Internet and some certain software which can not only save time and money but also can get the achievement without their own thinking. 

This behavior is viewed as a kind of cheat and desperately unrespectable to the copyright of the owner. Although it's still common in China and perhaps becoming seriously in the era, this phenomenon increasingly bring negative effect to social regulation and the enthusiastic in creativity which alarm the authority and related law departments to regulate the legislation as soon as possible.

Hence, some famous online music website like Baidu, have to change its formal free-of-charge system into a pay-as-you-download one. This reformation arouse a heatedly debate. For some of the music lovers couldn't accept that their mania had now become a burden to the cost of living and actually become a tragedy when download music. They cannot get back that sense of easiness and excitement when staring at their octet money fly away on the online-paid webpage. Apparently, the vice of the opponent outweighs the proponent which lead to this new-born law quickly nips in the bud.

We should deeply think about this deadlock. It's a tug of war between the government and the public, but if you carefully inspect this phenomenon through the veil you can easily find out that the sticking point is the contradiction of profit.

China still has a long way to go on this side. But since China is developing rapidly at a high speed, we feel confident that the consciousness of the copyright and the protection of the private property would increase gradually.

Chinese Dragon

Over time I discovered the general symbol for males is the dragon and for females the phoenix. Lex gave a very short, pithy presentation on the male symbol. No one ever bothered to give a female symbol presentation.

Today, the world belongs to many different nationalities and races. Different races have different cultures and totems. For example, we all know that the bear stands for Russia and the eagle can be used to describe the America. But what is the totem of China? Well, that my topic today, the Chinese dragon.

The Chinese dragon is a mythical creature in East Asian culture with a Chinese origin. It is visualized as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with four legs and five claws on each (though it does not always have five claws). In contrast to the dragon of western culture which stands on four or two legs and which is usually portrayed as evil, the Chinese dragon has long been a symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art. The Chinese dragon is traditionally also the embodiment of the concept of male and associated with the rain and water. Its female counterpart is the Fenghuang (usually translated as phoenix).

The dragon is an important part of Chinese culture. And Chinese usually call ourselves the descendants of the dragon. Because in the ancient China, there were a lot of tribes at first. Then a great leader, who's name was Huang Di, unified all of them. The problem was, as a united tribe, they didn't have one same totem. Every tribe had their own totem. Some used the bear, some used the fish, while the others used the snake or something else. To solve this problem and make an agreement, Huang Di created a new totem. It has the long snake-like body, lion-like head, fish scales, buckhorn, the claw of eagle and so one. It was called the Dragon.

But, nowadays, in European-influenced cultures, the dragon is aggressive, warlike that the Chinese government wishes to avoid. It is for this reason that the giant panda is far more often used as a national emblem than the dragon. 

A large number of Chinese proverbs and idioms feature references to the dragon, for example: Hoping one's son will become a dragon.