Taiji History

Branches of Teaching

In the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries Taiji spread rapidly through China. During this period, several well known teachers developed and refined the exercises. Several distinctive branches took the names of these pioneer teachers. The Yang style developed from the Chen style. The Wu and Sun styles developed from the Yang style. Chen Changxing (1771-1853), Yang Luchan (1799-1872), Wu Jianquan (1870-1942), and Yang Chengfu (1883-1936), were the outstanding pioneers in their respective branches. Since that time many new branches have appeared but the practice of naming new developments after the family name of the teacher is no longer widespread.

Chen Style

The Chen style was kept mostly within the Chen village. Many believe that this branch of the transmission became mixed with the more external, local Chen family fighting art. The last of the great Chen masters, was Chen Fake (1887-1957) who spread this branch to Beijing.

Yang Style

Yang Luchan learnt from Chen Changxing, then took the art to Beijing from where it spread throughout most of China. Following the death of Yang Luchan, his 2 sons, Yang Banhou (1837-1892) and Yang Jianhou (1839-1917) along with other senior students continued to spread and enhance the fame of this branch of Taiji. Early this century, with the passing of the older generations, Yang Luchan’s grandson Yang Chengfu (1883-1936) was chosen as the figurehead for the Yang style and all senior students were asked to bow before him. He formalised the 108 steps of the Long Yang Form.

Wu Style

Wu Jianquan’s father, Wu Quanyu, was a student of Yang Luchan. Wu Jianquan created and formalised the Wu Long Form at about the same time that his friend, Yang Chengfu, formalised the Yang Form.

Taiji in China

While Taiji flourished in China in the first third of this century, it languished for the next few decades due to civil war, then suffered heavy suppression during the cultural revolution when the best of the old masters were killed or imprisoned. The centuries old transmission from generation to generation was broken. Fortunately, a number of skilled practitioners remained in Taiwan and Hong Kong, including several good students of Yang Chengfu and Wu Jianquan’s two sons. From these people, Taiji spread quickly around the world.

Realising the loss of their own tradition, the Chinese government has since attempted to resurrect their branch of the art, but most of the surviving old masters chose not to co-operate. The Chinese government began by creating a mixed form called the Beijing Style, but with the lack of experienced instructors, the government sponsored teaching of Taiji was formal and shallow. As the Yang and the Wu styles were developing well outside China, the government then attempted to resurrect the Chen style, and later created some new “competition forms”, but the result was again lacking the qualities of the old masters.

Ma Yueh-Liang

Wu Jianquan travelled to Hong Kong where two of his sons remained to teach. The Wu style became well established and has continued to flourish there. Wu Jianquan’s son-in-law, Ma Yueh-Liang (1901-1998) was the most remarkable Wu stylist left in China. He maintained the origional school of Wu Jianquan in Shanghai until it was closed by the government at the time of the cultural revolution. Ma Yueh-Liang’s interest and teaching in the art of Taiji went well beyond the physical.

Yang Chengfu's Successors

Yang Chengfu died at the early age of 53 leaving his art to be refined by those senior students who survived him. Chen Weiming was perhaps the best of those remaining in China. Among those of Yang Chengfu’s outstanding students who left China, Zheng Manqian (Cheng Man-Ching) taught in Taiwan, Yang Shouchung taught in Hong Kong, while Dong Yingjia taught in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Zheng Manqian (Chen Man Ching)

It was Zheng Manqian (1898-1975) who did so much in transmitting Taiji to the West, travelling to the USA in the early 1960’s where he established a large following. Zheng, while being an accomplished fighter, was an educated man who rejuvenated the deep philosophical aspects of Taiji. It was also Zheng who shortened the Long Yang Form to facilitate a more direct grasping of the ideas and principles by people within modern society. While most of Zheng’s best students remained in Taiwan, Huang Xiangxian (Huang Sheng Shuan) taught in Southeast Asia, while Dr Chi, T. T. Liang, William C. C. Chen, Lo Panjang and Da Liu taught in Europe and North America.

Huang Xiangxian (Huang Sheng Shuan)

Huang Xiangxian (1910-1992) was one of the most accomplished of Zheng’s disciples. He was trained from a young age in the Daoist medical, martial, and spiritual arts as a disciple of the famous Fujian Daoist sage and White Crane master, Xie Zhongxian (1852-1930). In his 30’s Huang moved to Taiwan and spent the next decade training under the daily supervision of Zheng. A relentless searcher for the truth, he emigrated to Malaysia in the late 1950’s working over the next 30 to 40 years to teach tens of thousands of students and establish a network of schools throughout Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Australia. During this period he refined the Taiji of Zheng, developing it to new heights. Like Zheng Manqian, Huang was generous in teaching the deeper aspects of Taiji. He understood that while Taiji arose in China, its original source and present scope are beyond the limits of race.