Abstract

This study, rooted in the Chinese concept of "the unity of the human being and Heaven," as the consummate achievement of philosophy and art, presents Tai Ji philosophy as an artistic and philosophical foundation for the potential development of Chinese contemporary dance in two directions. ;The first direction aims at revealing Tai Ji philosophy and its artistic values as references for the performance and creativity of Chinese contemporary theatre dance. Chapter 2 discusses Tai Ji philosophy and its artistic values based on Neo-Confucian and Taoist philosophies and also mentions some parallel ideas in Western contemporary studies of physics and psychology. Two Tai Ji metaphysical ideas--Li and Chi , and three Tai Ji's philosophical notions--"one and many," "micro-in-macro," and "Wuwei"--provide the framework for this study. Chapter 3 expounds the influences and applications of Tai Ji philosophy, especially the idea of Chi and the notion of Wuwei, in the examples of Chinese art--Song landscape painting, and Chinese martial arts--Tai Ji Quan. ;The second direction aims at applying Tai Ji philosophy as traditional insight for contemporary development of Chinese dance. Chapter 4 discusses contemporary relevance of Tai Ji philosophy with dance through the examinations of American and Japanese postmodern dances: the works of Trisha Brown and David Gordon, contact improvisation, and the body theories of Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno. Chapter 5, referring to an Eastern body-mind theory and anthropological study of dance, advocates a new attitude and perspective for viewing dance as the cultivation of both a specific skill and life within current Taiwanese dance milieu