Although a great deal of benefit can be gained from doing T'ai Chi on a purely physical level, the various forms and exercises have been developed from an understanding of the philosophy of Taoism. These exercises have been designed to demonstrate how Taoism can be applied in a practical way. Some of this philosophy can be seen in the Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu:

Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight.

He who stands of tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.

Returning is the motion of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.

What is firmly established cannot be uprooted.
What is firmly grasped cannot slip away.

Stiff and unbending is the principle of death.
Gentle and yielding is the principle of life.

Thus an Army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.

The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.

 

There are also many passages in Chuang Tzu's writings that are put into practice in T'ai Chi, for example:

"The pure man of old slept without dreams and woke without anxiety. He ate without indulging in sweet tastes and breathed deep breaths. The pure man draws breaths from the depths of his heels, the multitude only from their throats."

And:

"The sage would not lean forward or backward to accommodate things. This is called tranquility on disturbance, which means that it is especially in the midst of disturbance that tranquility becomes perfect."