Dao of the Warrior: Push Hands, Ethics, and Hot Takes

In the first part of this series, we stripped away centuries of haze surrounding Zhang Sanfeng’s historicity. The so-called founder of Taijiquan, as the records of the Ming Shi revealed, was not a martial artist at all but a wandering Daoist adept—an alchemist, recluse, and moral philosopher whose legend grew long after his lifetime. Part Two explored how that legend evolved, showing how Zhang’s image as an immortal sage became woven into Chinese cultural identity and ultimately reimagined as the mythical creator of Taijiquan. Now, in Part Three, we turn from battlefield and myth to mountain hermitage, from physical movement to inner cultivation. What, if anything, did Zhang Sanfeng actually write? What philosophical and spiritual ideas were attributed to him, and how did these texts come to define his posthumous reputation as both sage and supposed martial progenitor? The Written Legacy: Texts Under Zhang Sanfeng’s Name When scholars and Daoist clerics speak of Zhang’s writings, they ...

There is a moment in Matthew 17 when Jesus climbs a mountain with Peter, James, and John. Up there, away from the world’s noise, his face shines like the sun. His disciples fall in awe, but also in fear. A voice emerges from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son… listen to him.” Then it all fades. The light dims, the vision ends, and they see only Jesus standing there, ordinary again. This is the rhythm of spiritual life. The light comes, dazzling and undeniable, then it vanishes, and we are left to walk back down the mountain. We want to stay in the vision, to build tents and hold onto revelation, but that is not how faith works. The real work happens in the descent, in the valley, in the crowd, in the noise. When Jesus comes down, he finds chaos: a child suffering, disciples arguing, people losing hope. The mountain gives vision, but the valley demands faith. The Meeting and the Cauldron The Yijing joins this scene with its own kind of poetry. Today’s hexagram, Gòu (Encounte...