Taijiquan Aesthetic Thought

In the 1980's the thoughts of aesthetics began to be used in the stlldy ofWushu, which broke the limitation of the study from the angle of the attackand defense. Shadow-boxing is the representation of Nejiaquan. Forhundreds of years, people wilI thinLk of its aft of attack and defense, then itsbeing good for hea1th, but seldom the art of its performance. With thedevelopment of the society, the art of attack and defense is losing itspractica1 significance. However, the art of the performance which wasoverlooked is being paid more and more attention and plays a positive role inpopularizing the shadow-boxing abroad. Many fOreigners thinkshadow-boxing not only as a kind of boxing but a1so a kind of culture andare fascinated by this orient human body aft. They think learningshadow-boxing as a good way of understanding China, because they areinterested not only in shadow-boxing but a1so in the classica1 Chinesephi1osophy and aesthetics which are contained in it.It's a good time to popu1arize shadow-boxing. The classical romanticchann displayed by the beauty of the form p1ays an importan part in thedevelopment of shadow-boxing. The thought of Yixue is the basic ofphilosophy, which gives shadow-boxing the category of movement andstillness, firm and softness, truh and falsehood, body and spirit. The chase ofcharm in shadow-boxing comes from the harmony of heaven and man.Under the influence of it, shadow-boxing overpasses the cognition for mainbody and fOrm the chase of spirit, rhythm and sty1e, which mixes the mainbody and objective body into one. Harmony upheld by the classica1 Chineseaesthetics is a1so the high ideal of shadow-boxing. It comes from the Chinesehabitation of aesthetic appreciation. Harmony displays the mixture of firmand softness, truth and falsehood, dynamic and static, object and body. Vitalenergy in aesthetics is the spiritual strength, which is the origin of the beaulyof shadow-boxing. The beauty of form is an important pari of the aesthetics.The beauties of the smoothness, the curve, the grace, the mixture of truth andfalsehood and vividness of shadow-boxing are the elements of the beauty ofform which fully disp1ay the classical aesthetics and the ari of attack anddefense in shadow-boxing.Beauty is important factor fOr shadow-boxing. So how to do that inshadow-boxing is very necessary. Because of the specialized and cultura1characteristics of shadow-boxing, people who do the work should haverational abilities of aPpreciation of the beauy and creation and also have theknowledge of shadowboxing, c1assica1 philosophy and aesthetics. Thecreation of beauty needs the guide of theory. On the base of personalunderstanding and summing up the experience of our predecessors, thewriter creatively pot forward that the creation of the beauty ofshadow-boxing should be on the principle combined by authenticity,rationality and beauty. Authenticity is the at of attack and defense inshadow-boxing. The art of attack and defense is the root of shadow-boxingand the sole of Wushu. So fOllowing the authority of creation is thenecessary condition which make the shadow-boxing on the right way.Rationa1ity is to respect the bio1ogical conditions and psychology of thedril1ers. Dri1lers' biological and psychological condition directly influencethe' level and style of playing. So following the drillers' biological andpsychologica1 condition is helpful to exerting the merit and avoiding theshortcoming, which can create a distinctive beauty. Shadow-boxing is a boxwhich can be popularized easily. Beauy is the importan factor ofshadow-boxing charm. The creater must have a reasonable measurement ofaesthetic aPpreciation in order that shadow-boxing can be wide1y adopted byexperts and the mass. Beauy is to consider the habit of appreciation of hebeauy of the public on the base of keeping the trUe qualities and consideringthe difference in experts and amateurs' aPpreciation of b...