China's taijiquan, also known as tai chi — a major part of the amazing (open) ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and represented by numerous practitioners worldwide — (add) to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on Thursday. On its website, UNESCO described the cultural icon as "a traditional physical practice characterized by relaxed, circular movements that can be used (adjust) breath besides cultivating an honest and neutral (中性的) mind".
"Their inscription onto the list showed the unique value of intangible cultural heritage on people's health and (sustain) development," said Wang Chenyang,inspector from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism who is in charge of the work related to intangible cultural heritage.
Taijiquan, originated during the mid-17th century in Wenxian county in Jiaozuo, Henan province, is practiced almost (day) throughout the country by people of all ages and ethnic groups, according to UNESCO's website. (influence) by Taoist and Confucian thought and theories of traditional Chinese medicine, the practice has developed several schools or styles named after a family or a master's personal surname, such as Chen style or Yang style.
They are passed down through clan-based transmission or the master-apprentice model, built upon the yin and yang cycle and the cultural understanding of the unity of heaven and humanity, UNESCO said.
