<p>the chopping of the verse is, . . . incorrect lah </p>
<p>the “體用歌”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>太極拳。十三式。妙在二氣分陰陽。化生千億歸抱一。歸抱一。太極拳。兩儀四象渾無邊。禦風何似頂頭懸。我有一轉語。今為知者吐。湧泉無根腰無主。力學垂死終無補。<strong>體用相兼豈有他</strong>。浩然氣能行乎手。掤捋擠按採捩肘靠。進退顧盼定。不化自化走自走。足欲向前先挫後。身似行雲。打手安用手。渾身是手手非手。但須方寸隨時守所守。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>roughly, “體” means “noumenon“ (本體); “用” means “usage” (使用)</p>
<p>so, the verse “體用相兼豈有他” should be interpreted as:</p>
<p>the noumenon (體) &amp; usage (用), both (相) [should be] taken care of (兼 -&gt; 兼顧); there’s no other way (豈有他)</p>
<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-09T20:30:54.497Z
Thank you for the clarification! I'm reading more about the concept of “体用” thanks to your advice, and my translation should be a lot better as a result.
Coleman Gailloreto
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-08T09:51:45.420Z
2020-11-08T09:51:45.420Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>The following sentence is from a short passage about &quot;体用“ （utilizing/controlling the body) in the context of the 13 Forms of Taiji Quan:</p>
<p>&quot;体用相兼岂有他浩然气能行乎手。掤捋按採挒肘靠進退顾盼定.&quot;</p>
<p>My current translation is as follows: &quot;How else besides through control of the body can one have his vast amount of while being able to use the proper push-hands technique (Warding off, shifting, pressing, pushing, plucking, splitting, leaning, advancing and retreating, left, right, center)?&quot;</p>
<p>I feel like I don't fully understand &quot;相兼岂&quot; in the sentence: could anyone confirm their meaning?</p>

<traditional-characters><classical-chinese>
What does "相兼岂" mean in this sentence from a Taiji Quan manual?
# What does "相兼岂" mean in this sentence from a Taiji Quan manual?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-11-08)

The following sentence is from a short passage about "体用“ （utilizing/controlling the body) in the context of the 13 Forms of Taiji Quan:

"体用相兼岂有他浩然气能行乎手。掤捋按採挒肘靠進退顾盼定."

My current translation is as follows: "How else besides through control of the body can one have his vast amount of while being able to use the proper push-hands technique (Warding off, shifting, pressing, pushing, plucking, splitting, leaning, advancing and retreating, left, right, center)?"

I feel like I don't fully understand "相兼岂" in the sentence: could anyone confirm their meaning?

**Tags:** traditional-characters, classical-chinese

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-11-08. Score: 1

the chopping of the verse is, . . . incorrect lah

the “體用歌”

> 太極拳。十三式。妙在二氣分陰陽。化生千億歸抱一。歸抱一。太極拳。兩儀四象渾無邊。禦風何似頂頭懸。我有一轉語。今為知者吐。湧泉無根腰無主。力學垂死終無補。**體用相兼豈有他**。浩然氣能行乎手。掤捋擠按採捩肘靠。進退顧盼定。不化自化走自走。足欲向前先挫後。身似行雲。打手安用手。渾身是手手非手。但須方寸隨時守所守。

roughly, “體” means “noumenon“ (本體); “用” means “usage” (使用)

so, the verse “體用相兼豈有他” should be interpreted as:

the noumenon (體) & usage (用), both (相) [should be] taken care of (兼 -> 兼顧); there’s no other way (豈有他)

have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for the clarification! I'm reading more about the concept of “体用” thanks to your advice, and my translation should be a lot better as a result.  

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