ChiDragon

Sorry, I didn't finish but I'll let you know in advance. He did all the tasks of a housewife. Another words, he had done something that normally a man wouldn't do in a male dominated society. ZZ was trying to show that he went back to a even more primitive world like a matriarchy.

"Tai Chi makes you wee. QiGong makes you strong." This is an understatement. Whomever wrote this statement doesn't know the difference between Tai Chi and QiGong. It was understood that Tai Chi is a form of QiQong. Both involve deep breathing or abdominal breathing whichever one prefer. However, Tai Chi requires more extensive movements as compared to the other types of QiGong. Especially, in Tai Chi, it was putting some stresses on the legs by some movements which requires the practitioner to stand on one leg. As far as in cultivation wise, both have the same health effect as well as the physical fitness too.

"chi travels slightly slower than blood," How do we know this is true or not.....???

第二天，列子带着季咸，去面见壶子。季咸看了壶子一眼就出了门，对列子说：“哎呀！您的老师快死了，不能活了！没有十天的阳寿了。我看他面相变形，又见神情冷如灰烬，是生命将尽的徵兆。” 列子进来，泪水沾襟的告知壶子。壶子说：“刚才我处置在阴态，以地文示之。显得脆弱无力而又歪又斜。是恐怕见到我的杜绝生机的办法而判断的吧？再试试带他过来。” The second day, Lei-zi(列子) brought Ji-xian(季咸) to see his teacher Hu-zi(壶子) again. After Ji-xian(季咸) had a glance, then he stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子): "Alas! your teacher will die soon, he will not live! He only has ten days left for his life. I saw his face has changed form, and also his facial appearance was cold as burnt ash; that was the sign of the end of life." Lei-zi(列子) went inside the house while crying and told Hu-zi(壶子). Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just placed myself in a Yin-state as an earth. I was appeared to him that I was weak and look deformed and askew. I am afraid that he was judged by my sign of lack of vitality? Let's try again and bring him over. 隔天，列子又带季咸去看视壶子。坐一会出了门对列子说：“幸运呀！您的先生遇到了我病症有愈了。现在看来充满生机，我观察他阻塞生命的东西已經灵活自 如了。” 列子进了屋，告知壶子。壶子说：“刚才我处置在阳态，以天壤示之。虚与实的徵兆都不可进入体内，其生命迹象从脚跟到头顶。他的话恐怕是见到我善于展现生机 的状态而判断的。试试再带他过来。” The next day, Lei-zi(列子) brought Ji-xian(季咸) to see Hu-zi(壶子) again. Then stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子): " How lucky! Your teacher saw me and his illness is going to recover. Right now looks like he is full of life. I saw that his deterrence of life has gone and his vital soul is coming back into livelihood." Lei-zi(列子) went inside and told Hu-zi(壶子). Then Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just place myself in a Yang-state as heaven. Thus the sign of pretense or actuality cannot enter the body which left a sign of vitality from head to toe. I am afraid that his result was judged by my vital sign. Let's try again and bring him over. 又隔一天，列子又带着季咸过来，见过壶子后出门对列子说：“您的先生神态不定，我无法从相上看出结果，等到神态安定后，才能再次看相。” 列子进屋将原话告知壶子，壶子说：“刚才我处置在阴阳相冲谁也战胜不了谁的状态，此话恐怕是见到我平衡阴阳二气时的技巧而说的。鲵鱼盘桓的地方视为渊，静 止的深潭也视为渊，水能流动的深潭也视为渊，渊有九种，就像‘道’一样，我只说了三种。让他再来。” Another day has gone by, Lei-zi(列子) brought in Ji-xian(季咸) again.Then stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子) : "The sign of vitality on your teacher is very unstable. It is impossible for me to come out with a result. Let wait until he is more stable then I'll take another look." Lei-zi(列子) went inside and told Hu-zi(壶子). Then Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just placed myself in a Yin-yang-state which was in the two complementary states. The revelation showed that neither state can be defeated each other. I am afraid that his words were spoken by seeing my skill of balancing the the chi of yin and yang. The place that the whales do not enter was called abyss. The deep pool of stillness was also called abyss. The deep pool where water can move was also called abyss. There are nine kinds of abysses. It was just like 'Tao'. I had only said three kinds. Let him come again. 又隔一天，列子又带着季咸过来，见到壶子还立足未稳，像控制不了自己一样落荒而逃。壶子喊:“快追！”列子没有追上，回来告诉壶子：“已无踪无影了， 他逃掉了，我没能追上他。” 壶子说：“刚才我处置的是以原始未化生的我祖宗的状态。我与太虚缠绕在一起，难分清是谁。因为他看到我一会像倒在地上的一滩烂泥，一会又像水一样流淌，他 无法看出真像，所以逃跑了。” 后来，列子自认为什么也没学成而回家，多年不出家门，为其妻烧火做饭。仔细养猪，猪食精细得与人吃的一样，对所有事物、物种一视同仁。刻意恢复朴实无华的生活，像一块无任何表情的木雕泥塑立在那里，对人世上纷争，闭而不闻，一直这样结束了一生。 Another day, Lei-zi(列子) brought in Ji-xian(季咸) again. Ji-xian(季咸) saw Hu-zi(壶子) and took off right away before he could become standing still. It seems like he was really out of control in running for his life. Hu-zi(壶子) screamed: "Go after him." Lei-zi(列子) did not catch him, came back and told Hu-zi(壶子): "he was out of sign and got away. I did not catch him." Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was place myself in my original primitive state like my ancienter. I was entangled together with the Great Void, who can tell who is who. It was because once I was like a pile of mud, then again once I was like water flowing. He cannot distinguish my true self, thus that's why he ran away." Finally, Lei-zi(列子) reckon that he had not learned anything but returned home. He have not gone travel for many years, he helped his wife to set fire for cooking. He paid much attention to raise pigs with extreme care. He prepared foods for the pigs as careful as he would have prepared for a human. He treated all things with equality. He was intended to live an austere way of life. It would be like an emotionless sculpture just standing there. He pays no attention to the quarrels of others. He lived in such way until he dies.

Good, I was not surprised about that. This is only the beginning, let's wait until the rest of the translation. You will have a big surprise coming at the end.... PS.... Actually, this is the first paragraph, I just broke it into two.

郑国有个神巫，名叫季咸，他能知道人的生死存亡、祸福及寿命长短，占卜的死亡时间可以准确到年、月、旬，甚至到某一日，仿佛是神。郑国人见到他，都远远躲避，唯恐逃脱不及。列子见到他，被他的巫术所折服，执迷如醉。回来后，把情况告诉老师壶子，并说：“开始我总认为先生的道化最深、最备至，现在又有更高深的了。” 壶子说：“我教给你的，才刚接触到‘道’的表面，还未及‘道’的本质，而你却认为久而得‘道’了？雌性再多而无雄性，怎么会有受精的卵呢！而你以蛋能 生鸡之道在世人面前炫耀你手中的‘蛋’，让他人相信是受精卵，这等于把你的底细告知了他人，然后才给你看相。尝试让他与你一块来，用我来试试。” In the State of Zheng, there was a divine shaman. His name was called Ji-xian(季咸). He can predict when the people are going to die or stay alive, what will happen in the future and how long one will live. He can predict the time of death with an accuracy to the year, month or even date. He seems like a deity. When the people of Zheng saw him coming, they turned around to stay away far from him. They were afraid that they did not leave soon enough. Lie-zi saw him was admired and indulged by his witchcraft. When Lai-zi returned to home, he told his teacher, Hu-zi(壶子), the situation. Then said: "At the beginning I thought teacher's Taoism was profound, most prepare and complete. Now, I have found someone is even more profound." Hu-zi(壶子) said: "What I had taught you about Tao was only superficial; it has not even reach its core yet. However, you thought that you have understood Tao for a long time? Even though there are lots of females without a male, how can one obtain an fertilized egg? How dare you showing off the egg in your hand by claiming a principle of using an egg to produce a chicken. Letting people know that the egg has been fertilized. This is equal to letting someone know your own background. Then have someone to give you a divination. Let's try to bring him with you and have him try it on me."

These are TCM terms. Never mind. It's confusing enough....!!!

Thank you, Marblehead... I'm amazing how much one knows and converge all the thoughts including one of the interpretations into Zhunang Zse's philosophy. No offense, MH, let me finish my translation and see that would make you revise your thoughts. Let me ask you a question, when you interpret this section of the chapter, have you kept the title of this chapter in mind....??? Just in case you have not, would you change your mind about your initial thinking and give it another thought...???

"The internal arts are complete in themselves." Based on the above statement, internal means exactly what it says INTERNAL. So, what does Internal involve...??? To the best of my knowledge, it has to do everything internally which involves the mind and the inner strength of the human body. One wants to have the greatest impact when strike. One should be able to exert any amount of force at will. Thus that is where the mind comes in. Mentally, one should be able to control the body parts to move in any direction at any speed and the magnitude in strength. So, Chi Kung was considered to the the ultimate method for the internal art. Chi Kung involves in learning to breathing to give the body more energy to increase the inner strength. It give more mental power to manipulate the internal organs to perform their functions to the maximum capacity. So far, no external arts have been mentioned here. Now is to say that the external arts would be the punches and kicks, etc. Thus it is a complete different art than the internal art. Would you say...???

There is a reason behind the practice of hard and soft(nei gong). Hard was for someone who is already born with a good physical condition. In the contrary, those who are born with a weak body need to start with the soft to build up their physical condition such as muscle tone. PS.... This is only my BSO....

marblehead..... May I hear from you what is this parable saying here.....???

雄鞭: Male Whip (A TCM nomenclature for deer penis) 龍雄: Dragon Hero; Dragon is the symbol of male sexual power. 剛陽: Harden Yang; Yang was referred to the male sexual power or male penis as well. All these are the terms of the TCM for male potency.

The so called thug has no special skill but have some good natural body gestures as compared to all the other thugs. Have you noticed that the way he stood which always have the upper torso in the vertical position and one leg in front of the other. That was good footing. All the others were flying off just falling to the ground when they strike because they have their torsos in the diagonal position. That was an indication of bad footing and actually they were fighting against gravity. PS.... This is only my BS opinion(BSO).

.......

Know something, Do nothing, More profound.

Yang Zi-ju went to visit Lao Dan(Lao Tze) and said: "Suppose there is such a person, he take cares matters in a timely manner and quickly, strife for the works and predetermine for completion, observation with precision, explicit with clarity, with devotion in learning 'Tao' without weary nor delay. With this kind of person, can he be compared with a sagacious wise person on an equal level...??? Lao Dan said: "This kind of person from the point of view of a sage, he is nothing but a small talented staff member with special skills which were limited to his duty; and he was working in situations constantly under pressure with intimidation. Yang Zi-ju heard these words became uncomfortably and said: "May I ask how does a sagacious wise person govern the world?" Lao Dan said: "This is the way how a sagacious wise person governs the world, his overwhelming achievements were above all expectations but it seems like nothing was emerged from his own effort. He provides everything and educated the people that they did not feel as dependents of any kind. With infinite accomplishments, but there was no word given to be vainglorious about. Just let things be the way as they are; standing tall in a realm of wonders, and living in a world where nothing was ever existed.

The Shaolin and The Wu-Tang are already internal and external combined. Each art by itself is not deadly but only the mental capacity in self control of the practitioner is. Now, it's time for me to strike back for a question...!!! In your own understanding and intuition, why does one have to practice the fundamental movements in Tai Ji or Qi Gong deliberately....??? If you can answer this question, then you have won half of the battle.

T'ai Chi & QiGong give one the most health benefits, physically as well as mentally. I have gained physical strength, self esteem and self confidence. It gives me good muscle tone. I breathe better and my reactions are a lot quicker to any sudden adverse situation which is mental alertness. It makes me more aware what is going on in the environment around me which is a good defensive element. I can catch anything fell off the table before it reaches the floor.

There is a classic called the Tao Te Ching. Go pick the one that you like....!!! Tao Te Ching

陽 子居拜見老聃，說：“倘若現在有這樣一個人，他辦事迅疾敏捷、強乾果決，對待事物洞察準確、了解透徹，學'道'專心勤奮從不厭怠。像這樣的人，可以跟聖哲 之王相比而並列嗎？” Yang Zi-ju went to visit Lao Dan(Lao Tze) and said: "Suppose there is such a person, he take cares matters in a timely manner and quickly, strife for the works and predetermine for completion, observation with precision, explicit with clarity, with devotion in learning 'Tao' without weary nor delay. With this kind of person, can he be compared with a sagacious wise person on an equal level...??? 老聃說：“這樣的人在聖人看來，只不過就像聰明的小吏供職辦事時為技能所拘系、勞苦身軀​​擔驚受怕的情況。況且虎豹因為毛色美麗而 招來眾多獵人的圍捕，獼猴因為跳躍敏捷、狗因為捕物迅猛而招致繩索的拘縛。像這樣的動物，也可以拿來跟聖哲之王相比而並列嗎？” Lao Dan said: "This kind of person from the point of view of a sage, he is nothing but a small talented staff member with special skills which were limited to his duty; and he was working in situations constantly under pressure with intimidation. 陽子居聽了這番話臉色頓 改，不安地說：“冒昧地請教聖哲之王怎麼治理天下。” Yang Zi-ju heard these words became uncomfortably and said: "May I ask how does a sagacious wise person govern the world?" 老聃說：“聖哲之王治理天下，功績普蓋天下卻又像什麼也不曾出自自己的努力，教化施及萬物而百姓卻不 覺得有所依賴；功德無量沒有什麼辦法稱述讚美，使萬事萬物各居其所而欣然自得；立足於高深莫測的神妙之境，而生活在什麼也不存在的世界裡。” Lao Dan said: "This is the way how a sagacious wise person governs the world, his overwhelming achievements were above all expectations but it seems like nothing was emerged from his own effort. He provides everything and educated the people that they did not feel as dependents of any kind. With infinite accomplishments, but there was no word given to be vainglorious about. Just let things be the way as they are; standing tall in a realm of wonders, and living in a world where nothing was ever existed.

Everybody has a teacher and go by the teacher's words only. Otherwise, they think somebody else own understanding and intuition are all bullshit. PS.... If you don't mind to read some of my BS, you are welcome to it. Tai Ji Chuan

天根閒遊殷山的南面，來到蓼水河邊，正巧遇上無名人而向他求教，說：“請問治理天下之事。” 無名人說：“走開，你這個見識淺薄的人，怎麼一張口就讓人不愉 快！我正打算跟造物者結成伴侶，厭煩時便又乘坐那狀如飛鳥的清虛之氣，超脫於'六極'之外，而生活在什麼也不存在的地方，居處於曠達無垠的環境。你又怎麼 能用夢囈般的所謂治理天下的話語來撼動我的心思呢？” 天根又再次提問。 無名人說：“你應處於保持本性、無所修飾的心境，交合形氣於清靜無為的方域，順應事物的自然而沒有半點兒個人的偏私，天下也就得到治理。” Tian Gen(天根) rambling on the south side of Mount Yin and came to the riverside of Liao Shui River. It happens to be meeting a nameless person and asked for his help, said: "May I ask you how to take care the affairs of the world." The nameless said: "Go away! You are such a person with so little knowledge, how dare you to open your mouth to make someone so unpleasant! I am just planning to have the Creator of all things to be my life partner. When I am bored, I go for a ride on the bird-like absolute hollow chi, transcend beyond the "six extremes" and live on a place where there has nothing existed; dwell in a vast and boundless environment. How can you use some dreamless words like ruling the world to disturb my thoughts? Tian Gen again repeated the question. The nameless said: "You should maintain your innate self. In your undisturbed heart, integrate the form and chi in the realm of absolute tranquility and Wu Wei; follow the natural path of all matters but has none of your individual selfishness. Then, the world will be able to be governed.

One can make the pain an illusion. So, the pain won't be felt.

肩吾拜會隱士接輿。 接輿說：“往日你的老師日中始用什麼來教導你？” 肩吾說：“他告訴我，做國君的一定要憑藉自己的意志來推行法度，人們誰敢不聽從而隨之變化呢？” 接 輿說：“這是欺誑的做法，那樣治理天下，就好像徒步下海開鑿河道，讓蚊蟲背負大山一樣。聖人治理天下，難道去治理社會外在的表象嗎？他們順應本性而後感化 他人，聽任人們之所能罷了。鳥兒尚且懂得高飛躲避弓箭的傷害，老鼠尚且知道深藏於神壇之下的洞穴逃避熏煙鑿地的禍患，而你竟然連這兩種小動物本能地順應環 境也不了解！” Jian Wu(肩吾) went to see the recluse Kuang Jie-Yu(狂接輿)。 Jie-Yu said："What did your teacher, Ri-Zhong Shi(日中始), tell you in the past?" Jian Wu said: "He told me that the ruler of a country was based on his volition to execute his rules. People who wouldn't dare to disobey him and not to follow him as he make changes?" Jie-Yu said："That was a very deceiving act. This way in ruling the world would seems like stepping into the ocean to dig a canal; and having insects to carry a mountain. For a sagacious ruling, is he only ruling the superficial image of a society? First, they follow a natural course of the matter and then educate the people by their abilities. The birds know to fly high to avoid harm from an arrow. The rats know to hide in deep places under an altar to avoid smokes and other calamities; but you don't even understand the basic instinct of these two tiny animals which knowing how to adapt their own environment.

Passive killing is allowable in Taoist concept. Why do you think Taoists practice Tai Ji with a sword....???