FLOWING POWER AND HARMONIOUS GRACE: TAI CHI’S EIGHT CORE CHARACTERISTICS IN DIALOGUE WITH CHINESE XIQU’S AESTHETIC SPIRIT
FLOWING POWER AND HARMONIOUS GRACE: TAI CHI’S EIGHT CORE CHARACTERISTICS IN DIALOGUE WITH CHINESE XIQU’S AESTHETIC SPIRIT

Summary/Abstract: Tai Chi Chuan, guided by Yin-Yang and dialectical thought, shares profound aesthetic connections with traditional Chinese Xiqu—both center on harmony, integration, and the complement of softness and strength. Focusing on the eight core characteristics of Chen-Style Tai Chi and the aesthetic ideals of roundedness, indirectness, smoothness and tacitness in Xiqu martial arts, this paper explores their inner resonance based on Barry Allen’s view that martial arts are sport-like and dance-like yet not identical to either. It concludes that both arts embody Chinese traditional aesthetics of unity of form and spirit, integration of internal and external, and the philosophical wisdom of awareness and non-obstruction.

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