八卦拳始於有淸咸同之季。直隸文海董海川先生。漫遊南省。於皖屬渝花山。得異人之傳。謂之八卦者。由無極而太極。太極生兩儀。兩儀生四象。四象生八卦。參互錯綜。拳卽運用八卦之理。何以言之。今腹為無極。臍為太極。腎為兩儀。兩臂膊與腿為四象。其生八卦者。兩臂與腿。曲之為八節。共生八八六十四卦者。兩手十指。每指三節。惟大拇係兩節。八卦共二十四節。加兩拇指四節。得二十八節。加兩足念八節。為五十六。又加兩臂兩腿之八節。為六十四節。故六十四卦，為拳之體。體為三百六十四爻。則互為其用也。每爻有每爻之意。陽極〔而陰。陰極而陽。逆中行順。順中用逆。求〕其中和。氣歸丹田。含有靜極而動。動極而靜之意。上下相通。是為內呼吸。此拳與道家工夫。相為表裏。不特此也。乾坤坎離。等卦。或為龍。或為馬。或為牛。皆取象于物。心在內。而理周於物。物在外。而理具於心。近取諸身。遠取諸物。奇正變化。運用不窮。而又剛柔相濟。虛實兼到。空而不空。不空而空。此八卦拳之妙用也。
"Bagua Boxing began during the reigns of Emperors Xianfeng [1850-1861] and Tongzhi [1861-1875]. Dong Haichuan of Wenhai, Hebei, was roaming through the southern provinces. At Mt. Yuhua in Anhui he was taught by an extraordinary man an art called Bagua [“eight trigrams”], as in [from the Book of Changes, Great Treatise, part 1:] “Nonpolarity generated the grand polarity, the grand polarity generated the dual aspects, the dual aspects generated the four manifestations, and the four manifestations generated the eight trigrams.” The eight then mix together intricately. The boxing art is the theory of the utilizing of the eight trigrams. What does this mean?
The abdomen represents nonpolarity. The navel is the grand polarity. The kidneys are the dual aspects. The arms and legs are the four manifestations. They generate the eight trigrams by way of the two joints of each limb [i.e. elbow/knee, wrist/ankle]. To then multiply this eight by eight and make sixty-four: the ten fingers each have three joints, except for the thumbs, which have only two, and this totals an additional twenty-four, then adding the four joints of the thumbs brings the additional total up to twenty-eight, then adding the same [twenty-eight] joints from [all of the toes of the] feet brings the additional total up to fifty-six, then with the initial eight limb-joints this makes sixty-four joints. The sixty-four hexagrams in this way make the basis of the boxing art.
Then the three hundred sixty-four [three hundred eighty-four] lines of the hexagrams [each hexagram of course having six lines] interact to produce effects. There is an intention of every line having the potential to become the other type of line [active lines (called “nines”) able to become passive lines (called “sixes”) and vice versa]. When the active aspect reaches its peak, there is the passive. When the passive aspect reaches its peak, there is the active. Within going against, there is the action of going along, and within going along, there is the function of going against.
Seek for a state of centered harmoniousness, energy returning to your elixir field. Contained within this is the idea that when stillness reaches its peak, there is movement, and when movement reaches its peak, there is stillness. This up and down switching of states [in the way that the trigrams composing a hexagram can be flipped above and below to produce a new hexagram] is called “internal breathing”.
This boxing art is interrelated with Daoist practices not only in this way. The trigrams are also each associated with animals, for instance the dragon [associated with the Zhen trigram], horse [Qian trigram], cow [Kun trigram], and so on, all represented by animals. “The mind is internal, yet its reasoning extends to all things. Things are external, yet their principles are all there in the mind.” “For what is near, examine within the self. For what is distant, observe all things.” There is limitless alternating between direct and indirect techniques. There is also hardness and softness assisting each other so that emptiness and fullness are mutually achieved, and you can be empty but not empty, not empty and yet empty. Such are the subtleties of Bagua Boxing."
Translation by Paul Brennan of "A Detailed Look at the Theories of Xingyi, Bagua and Taichi" (詳論形意八卦太極之原理) by Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂), to be found in the Brennan Translation blog.
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