Tai Chi Glossary

This glossary translates some of the most common Chinese words you may meet in your tai chi class.

This glossary is (necessarily) not comprehensive, but covers most terms which you may come across in beginners’ classes. The Chinese spellings are here given in pinyin, the favoured system in mainland China for transliterating Mandarin into the Latin alphabet.

General terms

tàijíquán – Chinese martial art, commonly known in the West as Tai Chi, based on the principles of Taiji

taiji – The ultimate source and motive force behind all reality

yīnyáng – Chinese philosophical concept describing polar opposites (literally meaning “dark and light”)

yīn – characteristics include (amongst other things): passive, dark, earth, water, softness, female, downward, slow, cold

yáng – characteristics (amongst other things): active, bright, heaven, fire, hardness, male, upward and hot

qi – an active principle forming part of any living thing often translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy/energy flow (the Chinese character is ‘steam rising from rice as it cooks’)

lì – muscular strength

qìgōng – energy work

gōngfu – sincere dedicated study

The “yin yang” symbol, also known as the taijitu or taiji diagram – exemplifying the concepts of yin and yang, which lie at the core of taijiquan

Body parts

dāntián – energy centre

láogōng – “palace of effort” – a point in the centre of the palm

yǒngquán – “bubbling spring” – a point near the ball of the foot

mìngmén – “gate of life” – in the lower back

kuà – the fold between the hips and torso

bǎihuì– “one hundred meetings” – the crown of the head

huìyīn – “meeting of yin” – the perineum

Stances

bù – stance/step

gongbù – bow stance

taijibù – taiji (“tai chi”) stance

wujibù – wuji (“wu chi”) stance

mǎbù – horse stance

pūbù – taming the tiger stance

nǚbù – lady stance

shébù – snake stance

xūbù – hanging stance

qílínbu – unicorn stance

Statue of a Qilin, in the Beiing Palace Museum – or “Chinese Unicorn” – as in Unicorn stance. Photo by Gisling, from Wikimedia commons, on a Creative Commons Attributions-Share Alike license

Directions

zuǒ – left

yòu – right

zài qián – forward

xiàng hòu – backward

nèi – inside

wài – outside

běi – north

nán – south

dōng – east

xī – west

shàng – upper

zhōng – middle

xià – lower

Qigong exercises

zhàn zhuāng – standing stake

èrshíbāshì – 28-step qigong

bāduànjǐn – 8 pieces of silk brocade

image from a Qigong manual, from the Qing dynasty, showing a seated version of the baduanjin

The Eight Powers of Taiji (Ba Jin)

péng – ward off

lǜ – roll back

jǐ – press

àn – push

cǎi – pluck

liè – split

zhǒu – elbow stroke

kào – shoulder stroke

Numbers (1-10)

yī – 1

èr – 2

sān – 3

sì – 4

wǔ – 5

liù – 6

qī – 7

bā – 8

jiǔ – 9

shí – 10

Other

baíhŭ – white tiger

dāo – (large) “knife” – a sabre

nèigōng – internal exercises

nèijiā – Chinese martial arts school that practices the internal arts

White tiger (baihu), from a Song-Dynasty Chinese medical book, 1159 AD

shén – spirit

shēnfǎ – body training or technique

tuīná – Chinese massage

tuīshǒu – pushing hands, two-person training routines practiced teaching the body to yield to force and redirect it, developing sensitivity, timing, coordination and positioning

wàigōng – external exercises

wǔxīn – martial mind

wǔshù – martial arts

wǔxiá – martial hero

yī zhǐ chán – “one finger zen” – single point of focus