How many techniques are in Taiji?

When I studied Yang, Chen, and Wu/Hao Taiji I was shown forms that would take hours out of my day just to practice.  One long form took 35 minutes at speed, and I was often assured other forms were longer.  The number "108" apparently has some sacred connotation for Buddhism, so I was always told I was learning 108 or 88 movements.  One teacher told me to just do the whole form as one count, and I found this easier than remembering which was movement 73.

When I actually got into Taiji theory, I was told there were only 13 techniques.  Moreover, movements like Single Whip, Cloud Hands, Brush Knee, or Repulse the Monkey were not part of the list of the list of 13 techniques.  While movements did repeat, the most common movements were not representative of the 13.

Except, it is actually a list of 13 ideas.  Eight hand movements, which can also be eight torso movements or eight different ways to issue power; and five ways to move the feet.  The eight trigrams are from the YiJing which has 4019 distinct mathematical relationships when they are spread out into the 64 hexagrams.  Ultimately, this is just an extrapolation of Yin and Yang, but the YiJing is supposed to represent "the 10 000 things" (infinity).

The five elements are used in Chinese acupuncture, feng shui, and other martial arts.  This is not a list of five things, but a framework for interpreting multiple relationships between five different ideas that represent energy flowing cyclically, and eternally between five states.  The two main relationships, the Creation Cycle and the Destruction Cycle are both never ending, infinite cycles.

So, the 13 things are a way of saying Infinity times Infinity.  That's how many techniques Taiji has.  A handful of ideas are used to lead to an enormous number of ideas, much as the alphabet eventually leads to language.