Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t7.9

v1.c7.s7.t7.9

Zhou Dunyi pointed out the theories of Tai Chi, Yin and Yang, and the run of five phases in his book *Interpretation of Tai Chi Diagram*. He used the concept of "Tai Chi" first in this book, and established the elementary theme of Neo-Confucianism. Shao Yong once said "the nature of Tai Chi is unchanged permanently, however, everything in the world changes all the time", which also regarded Daoism as Tai Chi, and regarded "mind" as Tai Chi. But Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi didn't talk about Tai Chi, they put forward "the Principle of Heaven", they thought that "Everything only has one Principle of Heaven", "the Principle comes out first and then there comes Xiang, after that, the Shu comes out"; though Zhang Zai put forward "Nothingness is the root of the world" and thought that everything was "Qi", he also put forward "though the principle is one thing. It can be reflected differently in different forms" which meant the Principle existed in Qi. Chu Hsi said "before the generation of the planet, there only existing the Principle", "the Principle is the root of everything; Qi is the image or form of everything". They all regarded the principle as the root of the Universe and the reason why everything came into being.