Literally, "Tai" means big and big limit; "Pole" originally represented extreme. "Taiji" means reaching the limit, reaching infinity, but not exceeding a certain space; Small to infinitesimal, but not equal to zero or nothing.
Taiji contains the maximum and minimum time and space limit, which explains the origin of the universe and the generation and evolution of everything in the world. The ancients believed that Taiji represented the universe and was the original state before the chaos of heaven and earth and the separation of Yin and Yang.
Taiji diagram is the external expression of Taiji connotation: black and white represent Yin and Yang, heaven and earth respectively; The person who divides the yin and yang of heaven and earth is the boundary between black and white. Black dots on a white background indicate that there is yin in the yang; White dots on a black background indicate that there is yang in the yin. Both of them are unified in the Taiji diagram, which completely expresses the profound connotation of Taiji.
Taiji originated in Zhuangzi. Tai Chi map is said to have been handed down by Chen Tuan, a Taoist priest in the Song Dynasty. Originally called the infinite graph. Chen Tuan, a Taoist from the Five Dynasties to the early Song Dynasty, had profound attainments in Inner alchemy and Yi Studies.
According to historical records, Chen Tuan once passed the Prenatal Education Map, Taiji Map, River Map and Luoshu to his students for planting, and passed them to Mu Xiu and others respectively. Later, Mu Xiu passed the Tai Chi map to Zhou Dunyi. Zhou Dunyi wrote Taiji Illustration to explain it. The Tai Chi map we are seeing now is the biography of Zhou Dunyi.