This book was published by the editor, Mr. Licht, as a limited edition (1000 copies in English and the same in German) in 2001. The seven treasures of the title are the five major Tai Chi Chuan Classics, a work by Cheng Man-ching and a Taoistic parable on the concept of Wu Wei. All the works are presented in Chinese with an English translation and Mr. Licht was aided in his task by an unnamed sinologist.
Firstly, let me say that the production is excellent, in classical Chinese style; the book folds like a concertina and is protected by a hardback sleeve. For ease of reference, the Chinese text and English translation complement one another exactly on facing pages. A short preface from Mr. Licht and an introduction from Mr.Wolfe Lowenthal are followed by the texts without any background information about the five Tai Chi Chuan Classics, although Mr. Licht states he selected more or less standardised versions there being some variation in these texts from book to book.
The Da Shou Ge for once is correctly translated as the “Song of Striking Hands” instead of the incorrect, but more common “Song of Pushing Hands”, though it is one of the shortest versions I have seen and misses out Mian (cotton/soft) as one of the five strategies to be employed.
The Tai Chi Chuan Jing (Classic) is a fairly standard version also though it misses out the phrase (Tai Chi)… produces movement and stillness, which is strange since the passage in question is a direct quote from Zhou Dunyi’s Tai Chi Diagram. Against this, the explanation of double weightedness is better than the usual piffle. Again there is this dreadful concept of “yielding” for “zou” which just means appropriate movement and so can be in any direction not just back.
The Tai Chi Chuan Lun (Treatise) is pretty well ok as is the curiously translated “Extension of The Role of The Mind When Performing The 13 Postures” and the “Song of 13 Postures though “without effort” should be “without wasting effort”; but this is a matter of nuance.
Something of particular interest to Cheng Man-ching stylists is his “Song of Foundation & Application” which also appears in Cheng’s book on the 13 Postures. The translation is all right except for the strange failure to recognise the Taoistic term “Bao Yi” (Embrace The One) from Lao Zi and also much used in the writings of the Complete Reality School of Taoism.
The seventh and final “Treasure” is Licht’s own parable in Chinese style on the concept of “Wu Wei”, which is both reasonably amusing and conveys the essence well., The book concludes with a brief glossary explaining some of the key terms.
While Licht’s work is by no means definitive, he has done good work here and the book is sure to strike a chord with practitioners of the Cheng Man-ching method in particular and the beautiful production and limited availability make it also a collector’s item.
(Publisher/availability ? ISBN ? Price ?