Chen Tai Chi Chuan Short Forms

Chen 18 Taijiquan Short Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei

18 Movements Short Form

Notes by Michael P. Garofalo, Vancouver, Washington, 2024

Chen Taijiquan Short 18 Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei
Webpage by Michael P. Garofalo
Bibliography, links, resources, notes, quotes, videos, lists, photos, comments.

Chen's Taichi for Health and Wellness  By Grandmaster Chen Zenglei. White Bench Publications, Toronto, Canada, 2010, 94 pages. Warmup exercises, and detailed instructions with some photographs for the Chen 18 Short Form. Jack Yan is a collaborator  I like this book quite a bit.  $24.00 in 2/2021. VSCL.

Chen Style Taijiquan Short 18 Form  Performance by Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei  UTube, color, 3:38 Minutes, 2007.

The Chen Style Taijiquan for Life Enhancement. Written by Chen Zhenglei and translated by Xu Hailing. Zhongzhou Classic Publishing House, Zhengzhou, China, 2002. Text in English and Chinese.  ISBN: 7534821819.  149 pages. "Describes the principles of Chen style for life enhancement, basic training, Taiji Skills for Preserving Energy and the 18 Forms of the Chen Style. Many photos of Chen Zhenglei doing Exercises and forms. Chen Zhenglei is one of the top Chen stylists in China. Paperback, 149 pages, 5 1/2' by 8'. -  Wayfarer Publications "It covers the content of the health exercise silk reeling video, and is a useful reference,  giving more detail, especially on theory." This is a very expensive out of print book, not worth $150.00. I purchased back in 2004 for $25.00. VSCL.

Essence of Traditional Chen Style 18 Posture Short Form. Instructional DVD by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Color, 87 Minutes. Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 1997.  "Cheng Zheng Lei (the 19th generation of the Chen Family) created this form from the old style of Chen first and second routines.  It includes "silk reeling," fa jin (releasing energy), and balance.  This short form is a good introduction for beginners or for those with little Chen style experience." "A good introductory Chen form that includes silk reeling and fajing movements as well as other characteristics of the Chen first and second routines. Chen Zhenglei, one of today's top Chen stylists, created the form.There is a demonstration of the entire form followed by step-by-step teaching in slow motion with 2-4 views, from the front, back and side. There are front and back demonstrations of each segment (5 to 7 moves each.)  At the end of the teaching there are demonstrations, front and back. There are also excerpts from other Chen forms." - Wayfarer Publications. CDTKA.  VSCL. I use a Cboy V-Zon portable DVD player and this DVD works fine because of the way it is organized.   

 

Chen Style Taijiquan
Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's Short 18 Movements Tai Chi Hand Form, 2001
List of 18 Movements

 

1.     Beginning Posture of Taiji    (Taiji Chu Shi) 

2.     Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar   (Jin Gang Dao Dui) 

3.     Lazily Tying One's Coat   (Lan Zha Yi)   

4.     Six Sealing and Four Closing   (Liu Feng Si Bi)    

5.     Single Whip   (Dan Bian)  

6.     White Crane Spreads Its Wings   (Bai E Liang Chi) 

7.     Walk Diagonally   (Xie Xing)    

8.     Brush Knee   (Lou Xi) 

9.     Stepping to Both Sides   (Ao Bu)    

10.   Cover Hands and Strike with Fist   (Yan Shou Gong Quan)    

11.   High Pat on the Horse   (Gao Tan Ma)   

12.   Kick with the Left Heel    (Zuo Deng Yi Gen) 

13.   Jade Maiden Working Her Loom   (Yu Nu Chuan Suo)    

14.   Cloud Hands   (Yun Shou)     

15.   Turn Body with Double Lotus Kick    (Zhuan Shen Shuang Bai Lian) 

16.   Cannon Fist Over the Head   (Dan Tou Pao)    

17.   Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar   (Jin Gang Dao Dui)    

18.   Closing Posture of Taiji   (Taiji Shou Shi)      

 

Chen Taijiquan Short 18 Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei. By Michael P. Garofalo. Bibliography, links, resources, notes, information, lists, practices, quotes.

List of Movements in Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's Short 18 Form  (1 Page, PDF)  English Only

Bitten by Sadness

 27.

Bitten by Sadness

By Mike Garofalo

My great nephew,
Joshua Loya his name,
a troubled, sick, tired man;
We tried to help him and failed.
A soul free of conventionality.

He was a homeboy styler
a skinny fellow
dressed in baggy pants.
Hanging out with cholos
for a fine machismo time.

His mom died when he was 10
he never recovered!
From auto accidents and hepatitis
and fun drug usage most days;
he slowly slipped from us away.

He lived with us for a year
a lazy fellow
straight F's in high school,
some thieves and stoners for friends.
Still, we wished him well to the end.

My son and we tried to help
Joshua when down
and others did contribute,
to bring him better around
but his failures ground him down.

He phoned every so often
babbling and rude
wandering in a broken brain;
His long letters, indecipherable,
but with artistic displays.

He lived in County jails
for petty crimes
and old half-way houses
time after time after time.
In garages of friends sometimes.

He called Aunt Blanchee.
He was homeless again
hoping for help from friends.
Sadly, he was sick again.
He wished her well at the end.

    Today,
    the police said,
Josh was shot dead!

    They found his slumped body
    on bloody asphalt
    in a City of Industry
    vacant parking lot.
Bullets through his broken heart!

Tanka Poems by Mike Garofalo

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works

Reflections on Biology

 I read the fascinating book "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution" (2010) by Richard Dawkins.  Scientific reasoning, fact finding, predictive powers, logic, confirmed theories, the scientific community, documentation, research, analysis, pure and applied science, testing ... are subjects that always attract my keen attention.  I have read a number of books by Professor Dawkins - a first rate thinker and writer.  He is also an influential contemporary atheist, and I share is views on religion.  

The human body is over 60% water. 

The typical adult human body consists of about 60 trillion cells (6x10^13). 

There are about 60 trillion atoms in a human cell.

Inside the nucleus of each cell are the DNA genetic
codes that govern growth, structure, and reproduction.
As these DNA strands are modified or reshuffled
during millions of reproductive cycles then variations occur over time.

The earthly timeline is measured in hundreds of thousands
of millions of years for these variations to occur
and some to survive and multiply.

Fascinating!
Amazing!
Complex!

A Guide to Well-Being and Personality Growth

"The important elements of personality growth are probably the achievement of enlightened self-interest, self-direction, tolerance, acceptance of ambiguity and uncertainty, flexibility, acceptance of reality, commitment, risk-taking, and self-acceptance.

People who are well-adjusted to themselves and to the social group with which they live are primarily devoted to being happy, gaining satisfaction, and avoiding truly noxious, painful, or depriving circumstances.  At the same time, they are also devoted to seeing that their fellow humans also survive and are reasonably happy.  While they are most interested in their own life and pleasure, they realize the importance of not needlessly stepping on others toes and unduly restricting their living space.  Consequently, they try to be non-harming to practically everyone, and select a relatively few individuals (because their time is limited) to actively befriend and care for.  They do not dishonestly pretend to be purely altruistic; but are authentically and realistically self-interested and socially interested, and therefore impose certain social restrictions on themselves.

People who have a mature and growing personality assume responsibility for their own thinking and living.  They are able to work independently at most of their problems, and while at times wanting or preferring the cooperation and help of others, do not need their support to create an inner sense of worthiness. 

Emotionally stable and growing people are highly tolerant of the desires and behaviors of other human beings, even though these may differ significantly from their own.  Even when others behave in a manner they consider to be mistaken or unethical, they acknowledge that because of people's essential fallibility, others have a right to be wrong.  While disliking or abhorring some of their partners' acts , tolerant people do not condemn them, as persons, for performing these unlikable acts.  The tend to accept the fact that all humans are remarkably error-prone, do not unrealistically expect others to be perfect, and refrain from despising or punishing others even when they make mistakes.

People who allow themselves room for growth tend to accept the fact that we live in a world of probability and chance, with no absolute certainties.  They demand no surefire predictions about the future and realize that it is not all horrible─indeed, it is in many ways fascinating and exciting─to live in a distinctly probabilistic, variable environment. 

The opposite of intolerance and the need for certainty is flexibility.  The emotionally growing individual consequently tends to be intellectually and emotionally labile, to be open to change, and to view without bigotry the infinitely varied people, ideas, and things that exist in the world.  The disturbed person, on the other hand, tends to be exceptionally narrow, rigid, and overly constrained.  Personality growth, in particular, would seem to be almost impossible to achieve if the individual is not open and flexible, for how can growing and remaining closed to change be compatible. 

What is usually called emotional disturbance and interference with personality growth stems largely from an unscientific, magical way of thinking─thinking that is particularly involved with irrational, dogmatic, and absolutist hypotheses.  If people would largely follow the scientific canons of reasoning in their personal lives, and would stop dogmatically musturbating, awfulizing, and whining about the many kinds of hassles and frustrations to which, as fallible humans, their are inevitably heir, they would not only rid themselves of much of their deep-seated feelings of anxiety, depression, guilt, and hostility, but give themselves leeway to discover, with lack of prejudice, what they really enjoy in life and how they can truly grow as human beings.  Reason is indeed a limited faculty and may never quite solve all the mysteries of life.  But for maximum emotional functioning, people had better be fairly flexible, open, and scientific, and be able to apply scientific thinking not only to external people and events but also to themselves and their interpersonal relationships.

Emotionally healthy individuals are usually committed to some large life plan or goal─such as work, building a family, art, science, or sports.  When they have steady personality growth they tend to be vitally absorbed in some large goal outside of themselves, whether it be in the realm of people, things, or ideas.  And they frequently have at least one major creative interest, as well as some outstanding human involvement, which is highly important to them and around which they structure a good portion of their lives. 

Emotionally sound people are able to take risks: to ask themselves what they would really like to do in life, and then endeavor to do it, even though they risk defeat or failure.  They try to be adventurous (though not necessarily foolhardy), are willing to chance almost anything once to see how they like it, and look forward to some breaks in their usual routines.  It this connection, it is interesting to note, that even some of the most self-actualizing and creative individuals spend so much of their time in routine, unadventurous pursuits that it takes something drastic, such as near death from a heart attack, to jolt them into a new sense of vital living and a greater degree of risk-taking to savor their existence.

Above all else, emotionally healthy and sane people are glad to be alive, and to full accept themselves just because they are alive, because they exist, and because (as living humans) they almost invariably have some power to enjoy themselves.  If they assess or rate themselves at all, they do so not on the basis of their extrinsic achievements or their popularity with others, but on the basis of their own existence─on their propensity to make an interesting, absorbing life for themselves."

-  Albert Ellis, The Albert Ellis Reader: A Guide to Well-Being Using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.  1998, pages: 69-82. 
From the essay titled "Sex-Love Adventuring and Personality Growth,' 1972.  For more on his liberal views on sexual psychology and behaviors, refer to "Sex Without Guilt" (1956) or his many other forward thinking and very popular books on the subject of sexuality. 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Virtue Ethics

 

Bandon, Oregon

Bandon, Oregon

Bullard's Beach State Park

Bridges in the Coastal Northwest USA

 

Pacific Beach State Park, Washington, Yurt Camping Trip

Pacific Beach State Park, Washington, Yurt Camping Trip

Yurt Camping, March 10, 11, 12, 13 in 2025

Yurt Camping in the Pacific Northwest
Tips, Information, Locations, Experiences
Oregon and Washington
Off Season Camping
By Michael P. Garofalo

Drive from Vancouver to Longview, Centralia,
Olympia, Aberdeen, Pacific Beach.

Explore Taholah, Pacific Beach, Seabrook,
Moclips, Quinault River, Lake Quinault,
Kalaloch Beach, Ruby Beach

Internet Photographs:

Student Athlete Mental Health Resources

 Hi Michael,

I found your Tai Chi Chuan resource page and it's truly informative, especially the bibliography and links section. Great work!

Unfortunately, one of the links on your page is no longer working. It is linking here https://aymta.org/index.htm

If you are still accepting content for this page, I’d love it if you’d consider adding our resource as well. I think it would make a nice addition.

Student Athlete Mental Health Resources
https://www.sportspsychology.org/articles/student-athlete-mental-health-resources/

Whatever you decide, let me know – I’d love to hear back from you.

Emma Young
Community Outreach

333 W San Carlos St
San Jose, CA 95110

Positive Aging Principles

"Through processes embedded in valued subjective experience we have learned that disciplining how we think and feel about ourselves and our health is as important to well-being as any physiological markers of disease.  Positive Aging describes a process whereby we take control of our own late life experiences by discovering meaning in growing old that transcends the deteriorative processes of aging.  Positive Agers posses four characteristics: (a) mobilizing resources to meet the challenges of aging, (b) making life choices that preserve well-being, (c) cultivating flexibility to deal with age-related decline, and (d) focusing on the positives (verses the negatives) in old age."
-  Robert T. Hill  

Seven Strategies for Positive Aging
1.  You can find meaning in old age.
2.  You're never to old to learn.
3.  You can use the past to cultivate wisdom.
4.  You can strengthen life-span relationships.
5.  You can promote growth through giving and receiving help.
6.  You can forgive yourself and others.
7.  You can possess a grateful attitude. 
-  Robert T. Hill, Ph.D., Seven Strategies for Positive Aging, 2008

Seven Strategies for Positive Aging.   By Robert D. Hill, Ph.D..  New York, W.W. Norton and Co., 2008.  Index, references, 63 pages.  ISBN: 978-0393705232.  VSCL.   

Making Aging Positive by Linda P. Fried 

Aging Well:  Recommended Readings, Quotes, and Resources

Living the Good Life: Principles, Recommendations, Wisdom

Virtues: Quotations, Sayings, Recommended Reading, Resources

Taoist Immortals

Chronicles of Tao: The Secret Life of a Taoist Master. By Deng Ming-Dao. Harper One, 1993, 476 pages. VSCL. Biography of Kwan Sai Hung.  (1920-...)  A fictional Taoist Master/Immortal.  

"Some of the Masters of Mount Huashan were already addressed as "Immortal."  These were highly regarded individuals, agless in appearance.  Their titles meant "realized persons," signifying that the Masters has fulfilled, as a minimum requirement, the completion of internal alchemy for the sake of longevity, liberation from the cycle of transmigration, enlightened perception of the nature of life, astral travel, and the total memorization of the hundreds of volumes comprising the Taoist Canon." - Chronicles of Tao, p. 69  

Bat Immortal, Yin-Yan Immortals, Frog Immortal ...

Eight Immortals - Wikipedia

Xian - Wikipedia

Xian (Chinese: 仙/仚/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade–Giles: hsien) refers to a person or similar entity having a long life or being immortal. The concept of xian has different implications dependent upon the specific context: philosophical, religious, mythological, or other symbolic or cultural occurrence. The Chinese word xian is translatable into English as:

• (in Daoist philosophy and cosmology) spiritually immortal; transcendent human; celestial being
• (in Daoist religion and pantheon) physically immortal; immortal person; an immortal; saint
• (in Chinese alchemy) alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques
  • (or by extension) alchemical, dietary, or qigong methods for attaining immortality
• (in Chinese mythology) wizard; magician; shaman; sorcerer
• (in popular Chinese literature) genie; elf, fairy; nymph; 仙境 (xian jing is fairyland, faery)
• (based on the folk etymology for the character 仙, a compound of the characters for person and mountain) sage living high in the mountains; mountain-man; hermit; recluse
• (as a metaphorical modifier) immortal [talent]; accomplished person; celestial [beauty]; marvelous; extraordinary
• (In new-age conception) seeker who takes refuge in immortality (longevity for the realization of divinity); transcended person [self] recoded by the "higher self"; divine soul; fully established being

Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and tai chi chuan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality".

Victor H. Mair describes the xian archetype as:

They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as ṛṣi who possessed similar traits.^[1]

Subject Indexes to 1,975 Zen Koans

Zen Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Information, Bibliography, Commentary

https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/zenkoans.htm

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Blue Cliff Record 100 Koans (BCR)

Book of Serenity 100 Koans (BOS)

Dogen's Shinji Mana Shobogenzo 301 Koans (DSMS)

Dogen's Shobogenzo 95 Essays (DSE)

Entangling Vines 272 Koans (ENT)

Fireplace Records 48 Koans (TFR)

Flock of Fools 98 Parables (OHPB)

Gateless Gate 48 Koans (GB)

Iron Flute 100 Koans (IF)

Opening a Mountain 60 Koans (OM)

Record of Empty Hall 100 Koans (REH)

Samurai Zen: The 100 Warrior Koans (SAM)

Suzuki, D. T. 10 Books (SUZ)

Transmission of Light 53 Biographies (TOL)

Vegetable Root Discource (VRD)

The Whole World is a Single Flower 365 Koans (WWSF)

Zen and the Ways 40 Koans (ZWAY)

Zen Echoes 43 Koans (ZE)

Zen Flesh Zen Bones 100 Koans (ZFZB)

Zen Koan Book (TZK)

Zen Master Raven 183 Koans (ZMR)

Dao De Jing - Tao Te Ching (DDJ)

Zhuangzi - Chuang Tzu (ZUAN)

Text Authorities

Koan Database Project Outline

Philosopher's Garden

Koans, Mondos, Dialogues, Tests, Lessons, Lectures, Brief Stories, Anecdotes, Lore, History, Public Records or Cases, Interactions, Parables, Questions and Answers, Puzzles, Challenges, Inquiries, Meditations, Tales, Teaching, Teishos, Introspections, Koans

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Indexing by Michael P. Garofalo
Fifth Version, August 14, 2023. Updated Monthly. 358 Pages, PDF.
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington

Blue Cliff Record 100 Koans (BCR)
Book of Serenity 100 Koans (BOS)
Dao De Jing 81 Chapters (DDJ)
Dogen's Shinji Mana Shobogenzo 300 Koans (DSMS)
Dogen's Shobogenzo 95 Essays Buddhist (DSE)
Entangling Vines 272 Koans (ENT)
Fireplace Records 30 Chapters (TFR)
Flock of Fools: Parable Sutra 98 Koans (OHPS)
Gateless Gate 48 Koans (GB)
Iron Flute 100 Koans (IF)
Opening A Mountain 60 Koans (OM)
Philosopher's Garden (PG)
Record of Empty Hall 100 Koans (REH)
Record of Linji 50 Koans (LIN)
Rinzai Zen Buddhism (RINZ,SOG)
Samurai Zen 100 Warrior Koans (SAM)
Suzuki D.T. 10 Books (SUZ)
Transmission of Light: Keizan 53 Biographies (TOL)
Vegetable Root Discourse (VRD)
The Whole World is a Single Flower 365 Koans (WWSF)
Zen and the Ways (ZWAY)
Zen Echoes 43 Koans (ZE)
Zen Flesh Zen Bones 100 Koans (ZFZB)
Zen Koan Book (TZK)
Zen Master Raven 183 Koans (ZMR)
Zhuangzi 33 Chapters (ZUAN)

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Information, Bibliography:
https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/koansdup1.htm

 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Keys to Collections of BSL/Koans Databases

 

What is the Practice?

What is the Practice?  That is, what is correct Zen Buddhist practice?

"We are confused about the basic core of practice, and we get sidetracked with all sorts of incorrect notions about it. Practice can be stated very simply. It is moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself and others."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 131

"So the crux of zazen is this: all we must do is constantly to create a little shift from the spinning world we've got in our heads to right-here-now. That's our practice. The intensity and ability to be right-here-now is what we have to develop."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 11

Practice has many dimensions for Ms. Beck: zazen - just sitting, behaviors in our daily lives, interactions with others, dealing with feelings and reactions, vows, respect for students and teachers, daily life, calm and quiet nature, simple lifestyle, friendships, determination-grit-endurance-steadfastness-discipline, etc.

"What Practice is Not:
Practice is not about producing psychological change.
Practice is not about intellectually knowing the physical nature of reality, what the universe consists of, or how it works.
Practice is not about achieving some blissful state.
Practice is not about having or cultivating special powers.
Practice is not about personal power or Joriki, the strength that is developed in years of sitting.
Practice is not about having nice feelings, happy feelings.
Practice is not about some bodily state in which we are never ill, never hurt, one in which we have no bothersome ailments.
Practice is not about achieving an omniscient state in which a person knows about everything, a state in which a person is an authority on any and all worldly problems.
Practice is not about being spiritual.
Practice is not about highlighting all sorts of "good" qualities and getting rid of the so-called "bad" ones."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 23

"Practice is essentially simplified space." p. 25

"On no account make a distinction between the Absolute and the sentient world.
- Huang Po

"Practice has to proceed in an orderly fashion, in a relentless dissolution of self."
p. 43

"Practice is for a lifetime. There is no end to it." p. 175

"The process of practice is to see through, not to eliminate, anything to which we are attached." p. 188

"It's important that we continually examine ourselves and see where it is that we are looking and what it is that we are looking for." p. 134

Everyday Zen. By Charlotte Joko Beck (1917-2011). Edited by Steve Smith. Harper One, 2007, 230 pages. VSCL.

All of the following websites were created by Michael P. Garofalo

Zen Poetry

Buddhism

Taoism

Zen Buddhism Koans

Virtue Ethics

Musicality

I enjoy playing harmonicas as a minor hobby. One book that I recently read was of great benefit to me: Musicality: How You Too Can Learn Music Like a Gifted Prodigy, Unlock Your Musical Instinct, and Unleash Your Inner Natural. By Christopher Sutton. 864 pages, Musical U, 2024. A wide range of good ideas, principles, and tips for a enthusiastic musician. The unlocking and unleashing aspects were excellent, and "gifted prodigy" means a very hard working, confident, informed, and dedicated musician.

My Harmonica playing Notes:

https://www.egreenway.com/Harmonica/HarmonicaStudies2.htm

Dried Garlic Flowers

 

A Gift of Dried Garlic Flowers

We dug up and turned over the soil.
We added cow manure and mixed well.
We flatten the ground and raked it up.
We sat down: rested, reflected, enough.

We opened packets of garden seeds.
Seeds for herbs and heirloom chives.
Bags of onion sets and garlic cloves.
These starters met all our needs.

For the many Springs of Future Years,
when the Allium stalks stand high
and bloom; we will remember (Yea!)
our First Garden in Red Bluff CA!
We achieved that today.

Later—
on the table, a gift for hours,
dried white garlic flowers.

 

mpgEoW2 295, October 1998

Table of Contents
Highway 99 and Interstate 5

Table of Contents, Volume 2, Alphabetical
Highway 99 and Interstate 5, West Coast USA

Index, Subjects, Themes, Ideas, Volume 2

At the Edges of the West, Volume 1
Highway 101 and Hwy 1, West Coast USA

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
By Mike Garofalo

Happy Valentine's Day

"In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was observed February 13–15 on behalf of Pan & Juno, pagan gods of love, marriage & fertility. It was a rite connected to purification and health, and had only slight connection to fertility (as a part of health) and none to love. 

The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love. The charter, allegedly issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400, describes lavish festivities to be attended by several members of the royal court, including a feast, amorous song and poetry competitions, jousting and dancing. Amid these festivities, the attending ladies would hear and rule on disputes from lovers. No other record of the court exists, and none of those named in the charter were present at Mantes except Charles's queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, who may well have imagined it all while waiting out a plague."

"The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,

And Fortune said it shou'd be you."

Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. In the UK, just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines, and around £1.9 billion was spent in 2015 on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts. The mid-19th century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the U.S. to follow.

Valentine's Day - Wikipedia

For my wife, Blanche Karen Eubanks-Garofalo, I offer her a nice Valentine's Day card, a few chocolates, and roses. 
We celebrate together!  

On Valentine's Day, I think about
 The people who are dear,
 How much they add to life's delight
 Whenever they are near.

You've always been a total joy,
Such pleasant company,
I very much appreciate
Our compatibility!

By Joanna Fuchs

"I love you all through February,
Not just on Valentine's Day!
I cherish you when flowers of spring,
Appear in the midst of May."

"I adore you in the summer,
When the air is filled with heat!
Without you in my life each day,
I wouldn't be complete."

"I treasure you in fall,
When leaves are turning gold!
I loved you when you were younger,
I'll love you when you're old."

"I prize you in the winter,
When colder days are here!
I love you, love you all the time,
Every minute of the year."

"So I'll give to you this Valentine,
But I want to let you know!
It's not just today, but always,
That I will love you so."