Chinese cosmology and its relation to martial arts

Understanding martial arts logo designs is impossible to achieve without reference to Chinese cosmological models, which provides the major part of symbols used in the design of those logos. The researcher wishes to clarify those models and the terms that will be used throughout the paper.

Although prima facie, Chinese cosmology principles are annexed by Daoism, Baguazhang teacher and scholar Ze’ev Foux (2008) claims that “roots for the Chinese cosmological order was originated long before Buddhism came to China, or before a group of priests called their practice Daoism”. (Z. Foux, Personal communication, November 13, 2008).

The common model explaining the world and its phenomena was developed in Song dynasty by the Neo-Confucianism school of thought. One of its known aspects present a primal state of wuji (無極, nothingness, void), from it the taiji developed. Taiji (太極, the Great Ultimate) separates the liangyi (兩儀 the two appearances), also known as yin and yang (陰陽). The liangyi begets the sixiang (四象, the four appearances), which begets the bagua (八卦, the eight trigrams), all the way to the wanwu (萬物, the ten-thousand things).

Image 2: The Neo-Confucianism model of the world’s phenomena (Foux 2000)

This is not a model of lineal development as perceived in traditional Western thinking, since in this model, each element already includes the other elements within itself. Foux (2000) describes the model as “observing an item with a magnifying glass, watching its complexity grow and grow”. He sees it as an expression of the Chinese perception of holistic, in which the part contains the whole.

Another model is the wuxing (五行 the five phases), according to which, things are constantly on the move, going through changes of phase, energy and shape. The model, shown below, demonstrates the five phases and the dynamics between them, a positive cycle usually described as the nourishing circle, and a negative cycle usually described as the star, or circle of destruction. Foux detects two more principles: the domino effect, in which when one of the elements is missing the whole formation collapses, and the concurrent principle, which teaches that all the phases together, in space and time, are essential to the existence of a healthy formation. (Foux, 2000}

Image 3: The five phases formation (Foux 2000)

The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. In the circle of creation each element nourishes the following element: wood feeds fire; fire creates earth (ash); metal is found in earth; metal carries water; water nourishes wood. In the star, or circle of destruction each element destroy the following element: wood parts earth (tree roots); earth absorbers water; water quenches fire; fire melts metal; metal chops wood. Each element in this model is associated with elements in nature, body parts and disposition, colours, stars and planets etc.

The manifestation of cosmological models in martial arts:

This part will mention a few of the cosmologic models that were found to be relevant to this paper’s sampled logos.

Wuji: In many martial arts, before starting to practice the form or drill and sometimes after ending it as well, the practitioners take a short period of time

in which they stands quietly and empty their mind. That moment of standing is called wuji, and its purpose is to tune body and mind together. When relating to a standing posture performed as a single-practice, the wuji standing is the posture in which the practitioners stand with their hands naturally laid beside their body.

Taiji: According to Foux, martial arts perceive taiji as a state when the axis already exists, but the duality still hadn’t began to occur. The intention is there, but there is still no shape. It is the moment the yin and yang start to open.

Liangyi: Foux quotes Sun Lutang, who said that, ”[the body] is not moving, this is yin, in movement it is yang, these are the two appearances”. (Foux, 2000) East-Asian martial arts, taijiquan in particular, adopt the definition of yin-yang as ‘two sides of the same thing’ as a basic guideline and interpret it in a practical way as the demonstration of empty and full, soft and hard etc. One of the aims martial arts aspire for is to keep both opposites balanced.

When applied in external martial arts, the practitioners would seek the balance between what is considered to be the hard part of the training, which includes speed, stamina, power and agility, to the soft part of the training:

slowness, softness and flow, usually practiced only in the higher levels of the training or for meditation purposes. Internal martial arts consider the yin-yang principle a substantial part of the training which affects the essence of every movement of the practice, whether it is a single practice-a form¹⁷-in which the practitioners employs the yin-yang principle by shifting their weight and internal energy (qi 氣), or a two men drill in which the practitioners use their opponent’s force against him by employing yin-yang principles. Therefore, many martial arts’ teachers feel that the yin-yang symbol in their logo expresses a substantial part of their belief system.

Sancai (三才): The three natural powers are usually interpreted as heaven, earth and man. In relation to IMA, another interpretation points to the body’s upper, medium and lower parts, therefore connecting it to xingyiquan’s basic standing posture, santishi, ( 三 體 勢 ) the triangle body posture. The manifestation of the triangle as a movement principle also characterises a few external martial arts: Wing-chun, Brazilian jujitsu and jeet-kune-do are just a

17 A form is a fixed set of movements, used as the system’s movement dictionary. taolu 套路 in Chinese, kata in Japanese.

few examples. Brazilian jujitsu’d tactics, for example, are based on the triangular connection of body, mind and spirit. Others connect sancai to the three treasures of Daoism. In general, the number three in Chinese numerology carries the meaning of “many”, and implies to endlessness.

Three is the first odd prime number.

Wuxing: The five phases’ model repeats itself endlessly in connection to martial arts: five standing postures of Chen Panling taijiquan; five basic forms of southern white crane, feeding crane school (南白鶴門, 食鶴拳); five postures poles of meihua style (梅花拳), a northern style diverted from changquan etc.

The internal martial art xingyiquan is based on the five elements theory, in which they represent an essence of movement and fighting techniques.

Bagua: Foux mentions the obvious connections of the eight trigrams model to martial arts: the eight energies or vectors of taijiquan¹⁸; the eight directions¹⁹; baguazhang’s eight palm changes and the main eight death-point in the body.

(Foux, 2000)

The symbols

The yin-yang symbol: an ancient Daoist cosmologic symbol created in Song Dynasty time but based on principles known from the beginning of the forth century BC, represents the “concept of a fundamental Duality” (Cammann 1985). The yin stands for dark, passive, female, cold and negative, whereas the yang stands for light, active, male, warm and positive. When represented as a graphic symbol, they take the shape of white and black fish; each facing the other’s tail, where one ends the other begins. However, in order to emphasise that there is no absolute yin or yang, inside the white yin there is a small dark yang circle and vice versa.

The bagua (八卦), or eight trigrams symbol: Trigrams are composed of three lines, either whole, broken or a combination of both. Each trigram represents a natural phenomenon: heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain and valley. The bagua symbol is composed of eight trigrams usually arranged in a circle. Cammann (1985) reports that there are two sets of trigrams and

18 Ward-off, roll-back, press, pull, pull down, split, elbow, lean/shoulder

19 Back, forth, right, left, up, down, centre and around

hexagrams known to researchers, one created by King Wen - Zhou Wen Wang 周 文 王, who established the Zhou Dynasty, and the second set ascribed to Fuxi 伏羲, a mythical figure from prehistoric China. Each set exists in a few variations. (Cammann, 1985 p. 219)

According to Cammann , Daoist priests, scholars and sages used the symbol in medicine and alchemy and as a tool in feng shui²⁰ and astrology divination.

When paired in two, the trigrams become hexagrams that are the basis of divination in the Book of Changes, the I Ching (Yijing 易經). The symbol played a prominent part in Chinese philosophy and religion for more than two thousand years. (Cammann, 1990, p. 301)

Researcher Ming Dong Gu reports a theory that suggests that “the hexagrams were first used as a substitutive tool for written language before writing was invented”, even before they were developed as a tool of divination. (Gu 2003 211-212).

When used in a logo, the trigrams represent a connection to Daoist theories or emphasize the martial arts’ traditional roots.

The five petals flower: As mentioned above, the five phases model is used to describe the world’s phenomena and the relationship between them, and is employed in Chinese medicine, astrology, feng shui and martial arts. One of the symbols representing the five phases is the plum flower. Chosen because all of its parts are in multiples of five: five petals, twenty-five stamens etc., hence the connection to martial arts. Foux mentions that the graphic symbol of the plum flower can be manifested both as a pentagram and as a square with a dot in its centre. (Foux 2000)

In short, all the above three theories, the yin-yang, bagua and five elements, are Daoist cosmological models explaining the world’s phenomena. Some of the principles discussed in Daoist books like the Daodejing and Zhuangzi are applicable to martial arts’, and many schools of martial arts relate to those principles in their training.

20風水Geomancy is an ancient Chinese practice believed to utilize the laws of both heaven (astronomy) and earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive qi.

An interesting note is that the numbers two, three, five and eight are also part of the Fibonacci²¹ sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two numbers preceding it: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, and so on. As identity designer Maggie Macnab (2005) explains, the Fibonacci sequence “recurs with regularity in everything from the lengths of the finger bones … to the correlation of the distance between planets and their moons … to the proportionate division of human facial and bodily structure, to the spirals in the head of a sunflower. This sequence actually speaks to the reproductive process of most life forms: It produces patterns that are appealing in our eyes because it speaks to the continuity of our experience. It is precisely about the regeneration of us” (Macnab, 2005).

According to Macnab, employing those numbers in design can create a balance that extends its attractiveness by imitating natural proportions.

21 Leonardo of Pisa (c. 1170 – c. 1250), also known as Fibonacci, was an Italian

mathematician, considered by some "the most talented mathematician of the Middle Ages.