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Dialects &
accents
The Chinese written language is pronounced differently by
different people within China. e.g. my background is Hakka/Hokien whereas Hong
Kong Chinese tend to be Cantonese.
This is akin to a Geordi accent relative to a Scouser?
Different alphabet
With Chinese certain problems occur when attempting to make it accessible to the
West. The brushstrokes for tai chi are rendered in the Chinese language. They are not written
using the Western alphabet.
Romanised Chinese
There is a Romanised version of Chinese created by Wade-Giles. Then there is
the official Chinese version called Pinyin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade%E2%80%93Giles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin
Tai chi or taijiquan?
The Wade-Giles spelling of 'tai chi' is rendered as t'ai chi ch'üan.
Often simplified to tai chi or tai chi chuan.
The Pinyin (People's Republic) spelling is 'taijiquan'.
Confusion
The Wade-Giles spelling causes some confusion. Technically speaking 'tai chi' refers to the
yin/yang diagram not a martial art.
Also, they spell 'chi' in tai chi the exact same way as they spell qi energy
e.g. chi kung (qigong).
People's Republic
Mainland Chinese people call everything
tai chi 'taijiquan'. So, there are numbered forms and gymnastic dance fighting
forms all called 'taijiquan' despite having no martial
component whatsoever.
The term does not indicate a style of kung fu.
Tai chi - common usage
The Western general public are used to calling tai chi 'tai chi'... They have
certain associations with that name - right or wrong - but
commonplace.
By contrast, the word 'taijiquan' has not in any way reached public
consciousness and would be largely meaningless to most people.
Like it or not, 'tai chi' (and its various mispronunciations) is what people are
familiar with.
Qigong - common usage
Unlike tai chi, 'qigong' - the Pinyin spelling - is more widely known than
the Wade-Giles spelling. Most people don't know 'chi kung' (Wade-Giles). They may have heard
of qigong.
The same goes for the word 'qi'...
The older Wade-Giles system of romanization is
more suited to the ancient names than the the official Chinese system,
Pinyin.
(Tom Riseman)
What is the correct way to pronounce...?
Loosely correct:
Qi - "chee"
Qigong - "chee gung"
Tai chi - "tie jee"
Tai chi chuan - "tie jee chwan"
Kung fu - "gung fu"
The problem is that you have conflict between the Pinyin pronunciation method
and the Wade-Giles, relative to what the general public recognise.
And you also have the issue of how to pronounce Chinese syllables correctly.
This is not easy and you need to have an ear for it.
The recognisable way to pronounce...
These pronunciations are readily recognised by Western people:
Qi - "chee"
Qigong - "chee gung"
Tai chi - "tie chee"
Tai chi chuan - "tie chee chwan"
Kung fu - "kung fu"
School name
So, why do we call ourselves Newcastle Tai Chi?
Simple. It is the most common
spelling/usage in the UK. It's a business decision/name.
In terms of Pinyin, it isn't accurate but it is recognisable.
And, if we called ourselves 'taijiquan', would anyone know what that was?
If they looked taijiquan up on YouTube, they'd encounter footage of wushu and
dance fighting performances.
Not an appealing association...
Page
created 13 February 2020
Last updated
21 June 2023
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