Professor Cheng Man-Ch’ing regarded a set of five disciplines—the "five excellences"—to be the mark of a well-rounded person: calligraphy, painting, poetry, t’ai chi, and medicine. Although he is best known for his teachings on the martial arts (in particular, his highly influential adaptation of t’ai chi), versatility was central to Cheng’s philosophy of life, and he encourage his students to combine artistry with scholarship. This inspiring book is a commentary on and working compendium of Cheng’s literary and pictorial interpretations of these subjects. Of interest to aficionados of Chinese art, culture, and history, Master of Five Excellences also offers internal techniques for practitioners of the martial arts, as Hennessy provides an insight into the rarely-glimpsed creative side of Cheng Man-Ch’ing.
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Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese
Original Language: Chinese
About the Author
Mark Hennessy spent eleven years in China studying philosophy, classical language, and tai chi ch'uan. He has lectured at the National College of Political Science in Taiwan and Tonsei University in Seoul. His other translations of Cheng's writings are: Cheng Man-ch'ing: Essays on Man and Culture and Master Cheng's New Method of Tai chi Self-Cultivation.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great look at Cheng's talents beyond tai chi,
By John Ball (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Master of Five Excellences (Paperback)
Master of Five Excellences is a wonderful book for anyone who wishes to learn more about the tai chi master Cheng Man-ch'ing. Cheng has always been an interesting figure to me, for his skill in tai chi, as well as for his skills as an artist and scholar. Hennessy's translation is smooth and easy to read. It gives readers a taste of Cheng's abilities in poetry, painting, calligraphy, tai chi and medicine. The work also includes color prints of some of Cheng's paintings as well as reproductions of his calligraphy. Perhaps most interestingly for me, as someone who has worked to mesh my academic studies with my practice of tai chi, it shows how Cheng incorporated all of his arts into a coherent world view.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Chinese calligraphy underwent constant creative changes from the time characters were first created by the legendry Chang Chieh until the era of bronze, stone, and oracle bone inscriptions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
brush position, straw dogs Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Duke Chou, Constant Bear, King Wen, Hua T'o, Professor Cheng, Tao Teh Ching, New York, Translator's Notes, Wang Pi, Nei Ching, Yang Ch'eng-fu, Wang Hsi-chih, Book of Documents, Chung Yung, Five Animals, Long Twilight House, Five Animal Frolics, Major Fault, Ten Wings Commentary, Ch'ing Dynasty, Chang San-feng, Chia Tao, Chu Ting, Hermit of Jade Well, National Palace Plate New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Chinese calligraphy underwent constant creative changes from the time characters were first created by the legendry Chang Chieh until the era of bronze, stone, and oracle bone inscriptions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
brush position, straw dogs Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Duke Chou, Constant Bear, King Wen, Hua T'o, Professor Cheng, Tao Teh Ching, New York, Translator's Notes, Wang Pi, Nei Ching, Yang Ch'eng-fu, Wang Hsi-chih, Book of Documents, Chung Yung, Five Animals, Long Twilight House, Five Animal Frolics, Major Fault, Ten Wings Commentary, Ch'ing Dynasty, Chang San-feng, Chia Tao, Chu Ting, Hermit of Jade Well, National Palace Plate New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 6
books:
See all 6 books this book cites
- The Book of Songs by Yang Xianyi on page 117
- The Book of Rites (Selections) by Confucius on page 162
- The Art of War (Penguin Great Ideas) by Sun-tzu on page 121
- The Song of the Pines (Ulverscroft Large Print Series) by Christina Green on page 42
- The Confucian Analects by Confucius on page 158
See all 6 books this book cites
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