Haijun Wei

The 72 Illustrated Forms of Zhang Sanfeng Tai Chi Haijun Wei

Zhang Sanfeng was a legendary Chinese Taoist purported to have achieved immortality. According to various stories, he was born during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) and lived for 307 years till the middle of Ming dynasty (1368-1664). Zhang Sanfeng is the creator of Tai Chi, a Neo-Confucian syncretism of Shaolin martial arts with his mastery of Tao Yin (or Neigong) principles. On one occasion, he observed a cat attacking a snake and was greatly inspired by the snake's defensive tactics. The snake remained still and alert in the face of the cat's onslaught until it made a lunge and fatally bit its attacker (it is also known as "dragon-tiger fight" in folk, snake represents dragon and cat represents tiger, ). This incident inspired him to create a set of 72 forms of Tai Chi movements. The Book collects 105 pictures of a complete set of 72 forms of Zhang Sanfeng Tai Chi movements from the beginning to the end, each picture is indicated with sequence number and the description of the form in Chinese and English. Besides, the Book also includes an Appendix: Practice Kongfu in Sleeping, it provides two pictures showing "Practice Kongfu in Sleeping Leftward" and "Practice Kongfu in Sleeping Rightward". The best benefits of practicing Tai Chi are: build up body, promote health, delay the aging, achieve longevity and defend yourself.