from cover Three generations of Yang family masters lifted the art of T'ai-chi ch'uan from a closed courtyard in Honan Province to the status of a national treasure and made of it, like India's yoga, a gift to the world. Yang Lu-ch'an in the nineteenth century, followed by his sons and their sons, have given T'ai-chi ch'uan the theoretical and practical standard which still defines and shapes the art for a majority of practitioners today. This book daws together the writtng and photographic record of their teachings, a legacy spanning more than fifty years of published material. The contents include oral instructions, mnemonic verses and training songs, commentaries to the T'ai-chi Classics, essays, autobiography, and family legends, much of which has not been previously translated. Contents I. 'A Discussion of the Practice of T'ai-chi ch'uan,' oral instructions of Yang Ch'eng-fu, recorded by Chang Hung-k'uei II. 'The Ten Important Points,' oral instructions of Yang Ch'eng-fu, recorded by Ch'en Wei-ming III. 'Exposition of the Oral Transmission,' commentary by Cheng Man-ch'ing on Yang Ch'eng-fu's teaching. IV. Yang family materials published by Li Ying-ang: 'Body Principles' 'Four Character Secret Transmission' 'Songs of the Eight Ways' 'Songs of the Five Steps' V. Transmissions of Yang Pan-hou published by Wu Meng-hsia 'Secrets of T'ai-chi Form Applications' 'Secrets of the Applications of the Thirteen Postures' 'Secrets of the Use of the Thirteen Postures' 'Secrets of the Eight Word Method' 'The Secret of the Full and Empty' 'The Secret of the Free Circle' 'The secret of Yin and Yang' 'Secrets of the Eighteen Loci' 'Secrets of the Five Character Classic' VI. Yang family manuscripts copied by Shen Chia-chen, published by T'ang Hao and Ku Liu-hsing: 'The Meaning of Leveling the Waist and Crown of the Head in T'ai-chi' 'The Meaning of T'ai-chi's Proper Functioning' 'The Meaning of LIght and Heavy, Floating and Sinking in T'ai-chi' 'The Meaning of Strength Versus Ch'i in T'ai-chi' 'The Meaning of Civil and Martial in T'ai-chi' 'The Meaning of Stick, Adhere, Join and Follow' 'The Meaning of Butting, Thinness, Losing and Resistance' 'Self-Defense Without Errors' 'Song of Holding the Center in Self-Defense Training' 'Song of the T'ai-chi Circle' 'The Meaning of the Four Corners in T'ai-chi' 'The Meaning of the Martial Aspect of T'ai-chi' 'Treatise on Before and After Acquiring the Ability to Interpret Energy' 'The Meaning of Feet, Inches, Hundredth Parts and Thousandths Parts in T'ai-chi' VII. From Yang Ch'eng-fu's Self-Defense Applications of T'ai-chi Ch'uan (T'ai-chi ch'uan shih-yung fa): 'Original Introduction to T'ai-chi ch'uan' 'A Story of Yang Lu-ch'an' 'Yang Lu-ch'an's Commentary to the T'ai-chi ch'uan Classic' 'An Explanation of the Macrocosmic and Microcosmic T'ai-chi' 'An Explanation of Wang Tsung-yueh's Original Introduction' 'The Method of Achieving Perfect Clarity in T'ai-chi' 'Wang Tsung-yueh's Treatise on T'ai-chi ch'uan' 'A Critical Note' 'The Eight Gates and Five Steps' 'How to Work on the Eight Gates and Five Steps' 'The Above and Below in T'ai-chi May Be Called Heaven and Earth' 'Explanation of Eight, Five, The Thirteen Postures and Long Boxing' 'An Explanation of the Reversal of Yin and Yang in T'ai-chi' 'Sizing up an Opponent' 'Introduction to the History of the Transmission of the T'ai-chi Spear' 'An Exposition of the Martial, Civil, and Three Levels of T'ai-chi' 'A Story of Master Yang Lu-ch'an' 'A Story of Imperial Tutor Yang Chien-hu' 'Miscellaneous Comments' VIII. From Yang Ch'eng-fu's Complete Principles and Applications of T'ai-chi ch'uan (Tai-chi ch'uan T'i-yung ch'uan-shu) 'Yang Ch'eng-fu's Preface' 'Introduction'