Books on Tai Chi Chuan &
Taoism
Not intended to be exhaustive, the following is a list of books which I
have found useful.
[Tai Chi Chuan]
[Taoism]
[Chinese Culture]
- An, Tian-rong
- 23 Wudang Taiyi Wuxing Boxing. 1989. 195 pp.
Hai Feng Publishing. Hong Kong. ISBN 962-238-124-8. (2 Wudang Boxing
Forms; 12 Jiugong Rotating Methods & 23 Wudang Taiyi Wuxing
Grappling-Pouncing Techniques).
- Bleakney, Sherman
- Tai Chi Chuan: The Yang Style Long Form in Three Stages. A
Referance Manual for Novices. 1995. 30 pp. Acadia University,
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. (detailed drawings made from photos of
Master Shu-pak Lee with annotations).
- Cai Long
- Tai Chi Tao. 1980. 91 pp. Wan Li Book Co., Hong Kong. (Wu
style Saber Form - excellent photographs).
- Cheng, Man-Ching & Smith, Robert W.
- Tai-Chi - The "Supreme Ultimate" Exercise for Health, Sport, and
Self- Defense. 1967. 110 pp. Prentice Hall, New York. ISBN: 0-8048-0560-1.
$24.95. (Yang Style. Cheng Man-Ching was a student of Chang Yin-Lin)
- Da Liu
- T'ai Chi Ch'uan and I Ching. 1972. 86 pp. Harper &
Row, New York. (Yang Style. Interesting content).
- Delza, Sophia
- Tai Chi chuan, Body and mind in harmony.1961. 184 pp. Good
News Publishing, North Canton, Ohio. LCC 60-14596. (Sophia Delza was a
student of the Wu Style teacher, Ma Yueh-Liang. Some interesting material
although the stick-figure drawings are not very good.)
- Feng, Gia-Fu & Jerome Kirk
- Tai Chi -- A Way of Centering & I Ching. 157 pp. 1970. Collier
MacMillan, London. LCCN 70-97757. (Funky photos. Form combined various
styles as practiced in the PRC. Long section on I Ching).
- Jou, Tsung Hwa
- The Tao of Tai-Chi Chuan (Ed. by Shoshana
Shapiro). 1981. 257 pp. Tai Chi Foundation, Warwick, N.Y. (Covers all
styles plus classics, push-hands & philosophy.)
- Kauz, Herman
- Tai Chi Handbook. 1974. 191 pp. Doubleday, New York. ISBN 0-
385-09370-5. $14.95 (Herman Kautz is a student of Cheng Man-Ching)
- Horwitz, Tem, Susan Kimmelman & H. H. Lui
- Tai Chi Ch'uan: The
Technique of Power. 1976. 233 pp. Chicago Review Press, Chicago. ISBN
0-914090-49-6. (Wu style Tai Chi. Good historical overview and some
valuable extracts from old masters.)
- Hsieh, Douglas H.Y.
- Tai Chi Weapons in Action. 1986. 70 pp.
Meadea Enterprises, Taiwan. (Exposition of Tai Chi Sword, Sabre, Staff
and Spear Forms. Well illustrated and with good descriptions of the
moves.)
- Huang, Al Chung-Liang
- Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain - The Essence of T'ai Chi.
1973. 188 pp. Real People Press, Moab, Utah. ISBN 911226-13-3. (Strong on
artistry creativity and philosophy. Weak on form).
- Huard, Pierre & Ming Wong
- Oriental Methods of Mental and Physical Fitness. 1971. 279 pp.
Funk & Wagnalls, New York. ISBN 0-308-10277-0. (Good section on Yang
Style Tai Chi from old Chinese sources. Sword Form as well.)
- Lerner, Ira
- Diary of the Way: Three Paths to Enlightenment. 1976. 158 pp. A
& W Visual Library, New York. ISBN 0-89104-054-5. (About Akido master
Yukiso Yamamoto, Chi Kung master Lily Siou and Tai Chi master Andrew
Lum).
- Li Po & Ananda
- Wave Hands Like Clouds. 1975. 122 pp. Harper & Row, New York.
ISBN 0-06-121-650-X. (Kuang Ping T'ai Chi; Yang Variantion; New Age).
- Lie, Foen Tjoeng
- Tai Chi Ch'uan: The Chinese Way. 1988. 126 pp. Sterling
Publishing, New York. ISBN 0-8069-6826-5. (Careful instruction in the
short form of the Beijing Simplified Form). $12.95.
- Li, Tianji & Du Xilian
- A Guide to Chinese Martial Arts. 1991. 178 pp. Beijing,
Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 7-119-01393-9. A general and stylistic
overview of different kinds of Wushu with specific forms of Chang Quan,
Taijiquan and Shaolin Quan illustrated in detail.
- Liang, T.T.
- T'ai Chi Ch'uan For Health and Self-Defense: Philosophy and
Practice. 1977. 137 pp. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-72461-5. (T.
T. Liang was a student of Cheng Man-Ching amongst others. Excellent
material on many aspects of Tai Chi.)
- Lu, Hui-ching
- T'ai Chi Ch'uan: A manual of instruction. 1973. 166 pp. St.
Martin's Press, New York. LCC 72-89427. (Yang Style. Lu Hui-ching was a
student of William C. C. Chen. Smallish photos).
- Marks, Tom
- Chinese Kung-Fu: Tai Chi Sabre for Self-Defense.
1975. 51 pp. McLisa Enterprises, Honolulu. (excellant exposition of the
Tai Chi sabre (broadsword) form with drawings and applications).
- Shing, Yen-Ling
- T'ai-chi Swordplay & Eight-diagram Palm. 1992. 131 pp.
Sugawara Martial Arts Institute, Tokyo, Japan. ISBN 0-87040-850-x. $24.95
(Yang Style Sword form and contemporary Eight-diagram Palm. Shing is a
distinguished teacher and practitioner from PRC).
- Shing, Yen-Ling
- Chen Style T'ai Chi Ch'uan.1993. 173 pp. Sugawara Martial Arts
Institute, Tokyo, Japan. ISBN 0-87040-909-3. $28.00. (Thirty six and
fifty-six movement forms from 'Old Frame' Chen Tai Chi.).
- Tse, Wing-Ming & Yan Sang
- Taichi Mantis Volley-catch Boxing. 1985. 134 pp. Yih Mei Book
Co., Hong Kong. (A 54 movement taichi form of the Mantis sect).
- Wile, Douglas
- T'ai-chi Touchstones: Yang Family Secret Transmissions. 1993.
159 pp. Sweet Ch'i Press, New York. (Translations of many original Yang
family texts; also reporductions of photographs of Yang Cheng-fu
performing T'ai Chi).
- Yearning, K. Chen
- T'ai Chi Ch'uan Illustrated: Its Effects and Practical
Applications. ? 184 pp. Pan American Books, Taipei, Taiwan. (Detailed
Yang Style & Applications of Postures).
Talisman of the Ruler of the South.
- Chan, Wing-Tsit
- Chinese Philosophy. 1963. 856 pp. Princeton University Press,
Princeton, New Jersey. LCC 62-7398.
- Creel, H.G.
- Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. 1953. 240
pp. New American Library, New York. (A good section on Taoism)
- Feibleman, James K.
- Understanding Oriental Philosophy 1976. 239 pp. New
American Library, New York. LCC 75-37011. (Overview of many oriental
philosophies. Good sections on Taoism)
- Goodrich, Anne S.
- Peking Paper Gods: A Look at Home Worship. 1991. 501 pp.
Steyler Verlag. Nettetal, Germany. ISBN 3-8050-0284-X.
- Han Shan
- Encounters With Cold Mountain. 1996. 150 pp. Panda Books,
Beijing, China. Edited by Peter Stambler. ISBN 7-5071-0317-X. Han Shan was
a Tang dynasty (late 8th century AD) poet and mystic who lived the life of
a hermit on Han Shan - Cold Mountain - and took its name as his own.
- Kohn, Livia
- The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. 1993. 391 pp. State
University of New York Press. Albany, N.Y. ISBN 0-7914-1580-5.
- Lao Tsu
- Tao Te Ching (translation by Feng, Ga-fu and Jane English).
1973. 174 pp. Wildwood House, London. ISBN 0-7045-0007-8. (very fine
calligraphy and translation by Ga-Fu Feng and beautiful photographs by Jane
English).
- Legeza, Laszlo
- Tao Magic: The Secret Language of Diagrams & Calligraphy.
1975. 128 pp. Thames & Hudson, London. (extensive reproductions of Taoist
calligraphy).
- Waley, Arthur
- Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. 1939.
216 pp. Doubleday Anchor Books, Garden City, N.Y. LCC 56-5973.
- Watts, Alan
- Tao: The Watercourse Way. 1975. 134 pp. Pantheon Books, New
York. ISBN 0-394-73311-8. (With the collaboration of Al Chung-liang
Huang).
- Bueler, William M. & Cnag Hou-pan
- Chinese Sayings. 1972. 143 pp. Charles Tuttle Co., Rutland,
Vermont. ISBN 0-8048-1018-4. (A rich collection of Chinese aphorisms).
- Li Po & Tu Fu
- Li Po & Tu Fu: Selected Poems. (edited by Arthur Cooper).
1973. 249 pp. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England. (poems by two of the most
popular of Chinese poets).
- Lindqvist, Cecilia
- China: Empire of Living Symbols. 1991. 423 pp. Addison-Wesley,
Reading, Massachusetts (Superb exploration of the relationship of Chinese,
history, culture and calligraphy).
- Lu Hsun
- A Brief History of Chinese Fiction. 1976. 437 pp. Foreign
Languages Press, Beijing. (A survey of Chinese literature).
- Schafer, Edward H.
- Ancient China. 1967. 191 pp. Time-Life Books, New York. LCC
67-30847. (Hsia to T'ang Dynasties: 200 B.C. to 907 A.D.)
For further listings of books on Tai Chi check my list of Tai Chi
related Publishers.