With simple and evocative words, calligraphy, and home photos of the words in action, grandfather and granddaughter team Chungliang and Sylvia bring the spirit of Tai Ji to life. Written and conceived by Master Chungliang Al Huang, in collaboration with his granddaughter, Sylvie, it brings to life the five elements underpinning Chinese thought - Earth, Fire, Water, Wood, and Metal - and how they can be simply and instinctively expressed through the body. Making Tai Ji fun and simple, with the possibility of learning through repetition, the book offers a wonderful foundation for developing intuitive understanding and is a great way of keeping kids active, and improving their wellbeing and mindfulness.

Immersing the reader in Daoist philosophy and its impact on life, this new edition of Vital Breath of the Dao by Master Zhongxian Wu is a fully illustrated guide to qigong, a way of physical and spiritual cultivation, and a way of life. The book includes the historical background, practical application, underlying principles and techniques of Daoist cultivation practices to bolster health and intensify spiritual connection to universal energy. Lineage holder Master Zhongxian Wu uses storytelling and a wealth of practical examples to introduce powerful qigong and internal alchemy methods and offers previously unseen personal stories to deepen his explanation of Daoist philosophy.

First published over twenty years ago, this classic book distills the basics of the art of Tai Ji, lovingly presented in eloquent writing, and accompanied by splendid full colour photography and beautiful calligraphy. Master dancer, brush calligrapher, bamboo flute player and philosopher Chungliang Al Huang shares the basic movements of Tai Ji - and its relationships with nature, space and time - alongside stunning, inspirational photography by Si Chi Ko. The book promotes strength, relaxation and clarity, as Master Huang teaches how to unify mind and body, achieving a healthier and more fulfilling state of being. In doing so, he touches on everything from the origins and meanings if Tai Ji to the vocabulary, basic moves, practice, and the Tai Ji dance. This beautiful and inspiring book has an essential place in any Tai Ji library, and will be of interest to students, scholars, academics, professionals, and the general reader.

To work with Al Huang is to learn to move with wind and water... in the course of everyday life... a truly superior and gifted teacher who works upon others as the sun and rain upon plants.' - From the foreword by Alan Watts, one of the great writers of Comparative Philosophy and Religion and Taoist and Zen literature. First published in 1973, this all time classic of Tai Ji literature remains as fresh and illuminating today as when it was first published. Written with true passion and eloquence, the book richly conveys the subtle yet profound principles underlying Tai Ji. Movement, stillness, joyfulness, and the ability to live in the moment are the threads running through the text, as well as the humor and compassion to acknowledge the impossibility of human perfection. Containing the original foreword by Alan Watts, the book is illustrated with beautiful calligraphy by the author, and photographs by Si Chi Ko, one of China's "National Treasures". This timeless masterpiece is essential reading for anybody interested in Taoism, Tai Ji, or the Tao philosophy of "Living Our Own Tao", and the author is a wonderful, dramatic, and inspiring presence throughout the book.

Here is the haunting story of the great female poet Hung Tu, who flourished in the ninth century during one of the great periods of Chinese literature. The daughter of a Government official far from the capital, on the Silk River, she was, most unusually, brought up with her brothers whom she far outshone. Falling on evil times, her father sells her to the best Blue House on the Silk River. Hung Tu's poetry and calligraphy bring her great renown, and the story traces her rise from Flower-in-the-Mist to Official Hostess at the court of the governors of the Silk City, and her love affair with the poet Yuan Chen. Set against the backdrop of the scholars, poets, officials, and warring factions of ninth century China, this wonderful story reconstructs one of the great periods of China - turbulent, cruel, yet with a sense of beauty remarkable by any standards and in any age. Go Ask the River is a tale not only of historical China, but of the human struggle to discover how to be alive. 'Throughout runs the Taoist Philosophy - the Eight Signs of the Golden Flower, the meaning of Tao, the place of women in Oriental society. Hung Tu emerges as a vibrant figure, radiating a sense of beauty, balance, and well-being.' - Montreal Star 'The stylized sensuality of the world that Miss Eaton writes about is so clearly defined by the cool simplicity of her language that as we read this tale of ninth-century China we see that it all happened just as she tells it, and her characters are as real to us as though we read about them in the newspapers every day.' - The New Yorker 'A many-splendored trip through a rainbow world.' - Publishers Weekly