Books on Tai Chi Chuan & Taoism (original) (raw)

Not intended to be exhaustive, the following is a list of books which I have found useful.

[Tai Chi Chuan] [Taoism] [Chinese Culture]

TAI CHI CHUAN

An, Tian-rong

23 Wudang Taiyi Wuxing Boxing. 1989. 195 pp. Hai Feng Publishing. Hong Kong. ISBN 962-238-124-8. (2 Wudang Boxing Forms; 12 Jiugong Rotating Methods & 23 Wudang Taiyi Wuxing Grappling-Pouncing Techniques).

Bleakney, Sherman

Tai Chi Chuan: The Yang Style Long Form in Three Stages. A Referance Manual for Novices. 1995. 30 pp. Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. (detailed drawings made from photos of Master Shu-pak Lee with annotations).

Cai Long

Tai Chi Tao. 1980. 91 pp. Wan Li Book Co., Hong Kong. (Wu style Saber Form - excellent photographs).

Cheng, Man-Ching & Smith, Robert W.

Tai-Chi - The "Supreme Ultimate" Exercise for Health, Sport, and Self- Defense. 1967. 110 pp. Prentice Hall, New York. ISBN: 0-8048-0560-1. $24.95. (Yang Style. Cheng Man-Ching was a student of Chang Yin-Lin)

Da Liu

T'ai Chi Ch'uan and I Ching. 1972. 86 pp. Harper & Row, New York. (Yang Style. Interesting content).

Delza, Sophia

Tai Chi chuan, Body and mind in harmony.1961. 184 pp. Good News Publishing, North Canton, Ohio. LCC 60-14596. (Sophia Delza was a student of the Wu Style teacher, Ma Yueh-Liang. Some interesting material although the stick-figure drawings are not very good.)

Feng, Gia-Fu & Jerome Kirk

Tai Chi -- A Way of Centering & I Ching. 157 pp. 1970. Collier MacMillan, London. LCCN 70-97757. (Funky photos. Form combined various styles as practiced in the PRC. Long section on I Ching).

Jou, Tsung Hwa

The Tao of Tai-Chi Chuan (Ed. by Shoshana Shapiro). 1981. 257 pp. Tai Chi Foundation, Warwick, N.Y. (Covers all styles plus classics, push-hands & philosophy.)

Kauz, Herman

Tai Chi Handbook. 1974. 191 pp. Doubleday, New York. ISBN 0- 385-09370-5. $14.95 (Herman Kautz is a student of Cheng Man-Ching)

Horwitz, Tem, Susan Kimmelman & H. H. Lui

Tai Chi Ch'uan: The Technique of Power. 1976. 233 pp. Chicago Review Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-914090-49-6. (Wu style Tai Chi. Good historical overview and some valuable extracts from old masters.)

Hsieh, Douglas H.Y.

Tai Chi Weapons in Action. 1986. 70 pp. Meadea Enterprises, Taiwan. (Exposition of Tai Chi Sword, Sabre, Staff and Spear Forms. Well illustrated and with good descriptions of the moves.)

Huang, Al Chung-Liang

Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain - The Essence of T'ai Chi. 1973. 188 pp. Real People Press, Moab, Utah. ISBN 911226-13-3. (Strong on artistry creativity and philosophy. Weak on form).

Huard, Pierre & Ming Wong

Oriental Methods of Mental and Physical Fitness. 1971. 279 pp. Funk & Wagnalls, New York. ISBN 0-308-10277-0. (Good section on Yang Style Tai Chi from old Chinese sources. Sword Form as well.)

Lerner, Ira

Diary of the Way: Three Paths to Enlightenment. 1976. 158 pp. A & W Visual Library, New York. ISBN 0-89104-054-5. (About Akido master Yukiso Yamamoto, Chi Kung master Lily Siou and Tai Chi master Andrew Lum).

Li Po & Ananda

Wave Hands Like Clouds. 1975. 122 pp. Harper & Row, New York. ISBN 0-06-121-650-X. (Kuang Ping T'ai Chi; Yang Variantion; New Age).

Lie, Foen Tjoeng

Tai Chi Ch'uan: The Chinese Way. 1988. 126 pp. Sterling Publishing, New York. ISBN 0-8069-6826-5. (Careful instruction in the short form of the Beijing Simplified Form). $12.95.

Li, Tianji & Du Xilian

A Guide to Chinese Martial Arts. 1991. 178 pp. Beijing, Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 7-119-01393-9. A general and stylistic overview of different kinds of Wushu with specific forms of Chang Quan, Taijiquan and Shaolin Quan illustrated in detail.

Liang, T.T.

T'ai Chi Ch'uan For Health and Self-Defense: Philosophy and Practice. 1977. 137 pp. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-72461-5. (T. T. Liang was a student of Cheng Man-Ching amongst others. Excellent material on many aspects of Tai Chi.)

Lu, Hui-ching

T'ai Chi Ch'uan: A manual of instruction. 1973. 166 pp. St. Martin's Press, New York. LCC 72-89427. (Yang Style. Lu Hui-ching was a student of William C. C. Chen. Smallish photos).

Marks, Tom

Chinese Kung-Fu: Tai Chi Sabre for Self-Defense. 1975. 51 pp. McLisa Enterprises, Honolulu. (excellant exposition of the Tai Chi sabre (broadsword) form with drawings and applications).

Shing, Yen-Ling

T'ai-chi Swordplay & Eight-diagram Palm. 1992. 131 pp. Sugawara Martial Arts Institute, Tokyo, Japan. ISBN 0-87040-850-x. $24.95 (Yang Style Sword form and contemporary Eight-diagram Palm. Shing is a distinguished teacher and practitioner from PRC).

Shing, Yen-Ling

Chen Style T'ai Chi Ch'uan.1993. 173 pp. Sugawara Martial Arts Institute, Tokyo, Japan. ISBN 0-87040-909-3. $28.00. (Thirty six and fifty-six movement forms from 'Old Frame' Chen Tai Chi.).

Tse, Wing-Ming & Yan Sang

Taichi Mantis Volley-catch Boxing. 1985. 134 pp. Yih Mei Book Co., Hong Kong. (A 54 movement taichi form of the Mantis sect).

Wile, Douglas

T'ai-chi Touchstones: Yang Family Secret Transmissions. 1993. 159 pp. Sweet Ch'i Press, New York. (Translations of many original Yang family texts; also reporductions of photographs of Yang Cheng-fu performing T'ai Chi).

Yearning, K. Chen

T'ai Chi Ch'uan Illustrated: Its Effects and Practical Applications. ? 184 pp. Pan American Books, Taipei, Taiwan. (Detailed Yang Style & Applications of Postures).

TAOISM

Talisman of the Ruler of the South.

Chan, Wing-Tsit

Chinese Philosophy. 1963. 856 pp. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. LCC 62-7398.

Creel, H.G.

Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. 1953. 240 pp. New American Library, New York. (A good section on Taoism)

Feibleman, James K.

Understanding Oriental Philosophy 1976. 239 pp. New American Library, New York. LCC 75-37011. (Overview of many oriental philosophies. Good sections on Taoism)

Goodrich, Anne S.

Peking Paper Gods: A Look at Home Worship. 1991. 501 pp. Steyler Verlag. Nettetal, Germany. ISBN 3-8050-0284-X.

Han Shan

Encounters With Cold Mountain. 1996. 150 pp. Panda Books, Beijing, China. Edited by Peter Stambler. ISBN 7-5071-0317-X. Han Shan was a Tang dynasty (late 8th century AD) poet and mystic who lived the life of a hermit on Han Shan - Cold Mountain - and took its name as his own.

Kohn, Livia

The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. 1993. 391 pp. State University of New York Press. Albany, N.Y. ISBN 0-7914-1580-5.

Lao Tsu

Tao Te Ching (translation by Feng, Ga-fu and Jane English). 1973. 174 pp. Wildwood House, London. ISBN 0-7045-0007-8. (very fine calligraphy and translation by Ga-Fu Feng and beautiful photographs by Jane English).

Legeza, Laszlo

Tao Magic: The Secret Language of Diagrams & Calligraphy. 1975. 128 pp. Thames & Hudson, London. (extensive reproductions of Taoist calligraphy).

Waley, Arthur

Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. 1939. 216 pp. Doubleday Anchor Books, Garden City, N.Y. LCC 56-5973.

Watts, Alan

Tao: The Watercourse Way. 1975. 134 pp. Pantheon Books, New York. ISBN 0-394-73311-8. (With the collaboration of Al Chung-liang Huang).

CHINESE CULTURE

Bueler, William M. & Cnag Hou-pan

Chinese Sayings. 1972. 143 pp. Charles Tuttle Co., Rutland, Vermont. ISBN 0-8048-1018-4. (A rich collection of Chinese aphorisms).

Li Po & Tu Fu

Li Po & Tu Fu: Selected Poems. (edited by Arthur Cooper). 1973. 249 pp. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England. (poems by two of the most popular of Chinese poets).

Lindqvist, Cecilia

China: Empire of Living Symbols. 1991. 423 pp. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts (Superb exploration of the relationship of Chinese, history, culture and calligraphy).

Lu Hsun

A Brief History of Chinese Fiction. 1976. 437 pp. Foreign Languages Press, Beijing. (A survey of Chinese literature).

Schafer, Edward H.

Ancient China. 1967. 191 pp. Time-Life Books, New York. LCC 67-30847. (Hsia to T'ang Dynasties: 200 B.C. to 907 A.D.)

For further listings of books on Tai Chi check my list of Tai Chi related Publishers.

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