#daoism

Tai Ji Jian Yi太极剑意 (Tai Ji Sword Intent). The first two clips are the authentic Daoist Tai Ji Sword from Wudang Mountain, and the subsequent ones are martial sword techniques derived from Tai Ji Jian, as well as sword styles in films and dramas.

What is Tai Ji: Tai Ji represents the ultimate origin of all things in the universe—the undivided “primordial qi” from which the opposing forces of yin and yang emerge, move, and transform. The term “Tai” denotes the supreme, while “Ji” signifies the pivotal axis, embodying “the beginning of all things and the source of all change.” Its core concept is captured in The Book of Changes: Appended Remarks: “In the Yi there is Tai Ji, which generates the Two Modes.”

Tai Ji represents a worldview of unity in opposition and cyclical motion, exemplified by the Taijitu (yin-yang symbol), which visually illustrates the principles of complementary balance and mutual transformation between yin and yang. This philosophy permeates fields such as traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and the arts.

But so far there’s like fifty thousand dead ends and I what to cry at the amount of research I’m doing-

Update: This post seems to be getting more likes (who are we kidding, its just 4 likes) now so should I make a tag list or smthing? But I fear I will not be motivated to update like my other master list with a tag list (non religion related)

Haizhou Emperor Guan Temple 解州关帝庙 is a temple located in Haizhou Town, Shanxi Province. The Temple is the largest extant palace-style Taoist complex and martial temple in China.

Haizhou Emperor Guan Temple is the largest Guandi Temple (關帝廟) in China. It has a total area of 220,000 square meters, with more than 200 rooms. The temple was established during the Sui dynasty (589 AD), and expanded and rebuilt during the Song dynasty and Ming dynasty.

Chinese cyberpunk gods. Concept art

The worship of Sun Wukong is complicated. Fujian, China, the home of our hero's cult, is known to have worshiped monkeys in general as far back as the Tang Dynasty. A prime example is the "Spirit protecting hills and woods" (Bao shanlin shen, 保山林神). As the story goes, the enraged monkey-spirit was appeased with worship after its mortal body had been killed and taxidermied to make an idol.

A Song-era story mentions an evil monkey-spirit titled the "Great Sage Equaling Heaven" (Qitian dasheng, 齊天大聖; "GSEH" hereafter), just like Wukong. But he is portrayed as a fiendish, wife-kidnapping sorcerer, while Monkey's Song-era antecedent, the "Monkey Pilgrim" (Hou xingzhe, 猴行者), from the 13th-century JTTW, is cast as a white-robed scholar immortal. (Interestingly, though, this precursor is given the title "Great Sage Steel Muscles and Iron Bones" (Gangjin tiegu dasheng, 鋼筋鐵骨大聖) at the end of his story arc.) If the local Fujian people considered the Song-era GSEH a real threat, I could see them also attempting to appease him through worship.

Having said that, it's interesting to note that a Fujian shrine dedicated to both the GSEH and the "Great Sage Reaching Heaven" (Tongtian Dasheng, 通天大聖) appeared by the 14th-century. These two figures eventually appeared in Yuan-Ming zaju and puppet plays, by which time Sun Wukong had already become associated with the GSEH title. I'm not sure when the switch happened, though. This then raises the question: did the switch happen later, leading to Monkey being assimilated into the GSEH's cult and taking over the main focus of worship, or did it happen earlier and the GSEH title was just absorbed by Wukong and his already existing cult?

Yāoguai, the Chinese spirits/demons

Yāoguài (妖怪) is a broad, diverse class of creatures in Chinese mythology. They can be anything non-human (usually animals, but also plants... even inanimate objects!).

Although the term yaoguai is commonly translated to English as "demon" it is important to note that not all of them are evil; malevolent or morally grey entities are typically called guai (怪 - "strange monster"), gui (鬼 - "spectre or ghost") or mó (魔 - "demon", closer to the Western sense).

So... what define 'yaoguai'?

Setting them apart from other type of monsters, is the possession of supernatural powers; These abilities—like shapeshifting or mind control— usually defy the natural and heavenly order.

Essentially, yaoguai are animals or objects that "level up" by absorbing enough life energy (called Qi - 氣 - pronounced 'chi') to become intelligent, magical beings. This accumulation of energy is sometimes achieved through Daoist practices - like training and meditation -although some of the yaoguai are just created by other reasons, for example misfortune and by "accidents" in nature.

They often strive for immortality: if they succeed in their goal, without becoming malevolent, they can even become divine beings, similar to deities.