In the world of Tai Chi Chuan many documents are considered to be “classics”, such as the Yang 40 Chapters, Chen Xin’s manual and various commentaries written by Yang Cheng-Fu and/or Cheng Man-Ching. However, there are 5 core manuscripts that tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the art of Tai Chi Chuan. These are what I generally mean when I refer to the “Tai Chi Classics”.

These are:

• Tai Chi Chuan Classic attributed to Chang San-feng. This is probably the most important work and contains many of the most quoted sections.

I’ve produced my own interpretation and commentary on The Tai Chi Classic, split into two parts:

Part 1
Part 2

• The Treatise on Tai Chi Chuan attributed to Wang Tsung-yueh
• Expositions of Insights into the Practice of the Thirteen Postures by Wu Yu-hsiang
• Song of the Thirteen Postures by Unknown Author
• Song of Push Hands by Unknown Author

Translations vary. The ones linked to above are by Lee Scheele and are very complete. My favourite translations are by Louis Swaim and appear in his translation of Fu Zongwen’s book Mastering Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan.

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