The Origin Theories
The main forms of TCC practiced today all trace their origins back to the Chen Village in Wen County, Henan. It is only reasonable to begin our search for the origins of Taijiquan there and the early records from there and those that learnt the art from there.
The Earliest Reference To The Origin
The written works on Taijiquan
were not from the Chen village or its members. The earliest being the Taijiquan
Classic by Wang Tsung Yueh. The earliest verifiable manual on Taijiquan that we
have is from Li I-Yu (1832-1892) who compiled the 3 manuals which are known as
the `3 old manuals' in Yung Nien today. Li learnt the art from his uncle Wu Yu
Xiang who in turn learnt the major part of his art from Yang Lu Chan, the founder
of the most popular Yang style of Taijiquan, and spent a month learning the `Xiao
Jia' or 'Small Frame' from Chen Ching Ping. In these old manuals he recorded the
Taijiquan Classics, works of his uncle, those of Wang Tsung Yueh and his own writings
on the art. In his `Brief Preface To Taijiquan' he wrote that the creator of the
art was Chang San Feng and that Wang Tsung Yueh was skilled in it and that it
was later transmitted to the Chen village. Later, Li I Yu rewrote the first sentence
of his Introduction to say that the founder was unknown. This could very well
be due to a a differring origin theories in the post-Chen Ching Ping period. This
is the earliest record we have on the origins of Taijiquan.
The Chang
San Feng Theory
This is the theory of origins adopted by most of the
major styles of Taijiquan and was first put forth by the Yang style. The Yang
style traces its origins back to Chen Chang Xin who was taught by Jiang Fa who
was in turn taught by Wang Tsung Yueh. Wang Tsung Yueh was supposed to be a student
of Chang Sung Chi a noted practitioner of the Internal Boxing of the Wudang Temple.
The Wudang Temple certainly exists and their Internal Boxing certainly existed
and does share certain characteristics like controling the opponent with calmness.
The creator of this Internal Boxing was Chang San Feng, a Taoist on Wudang Mountain.
The Wudang martial arts bear little resemblance to the Taijiquan we have today
even though they share some of the same characteristics.
The Wudang
Temple is still exists and there are still Taoist sages managing the temple and
they still teach Wudang martial arts there. It is interesting to note that there
is a form called Wudang Taijiquan practiced there. Its postures bear little resemblance
to the main styles practiced today even though it has many common characteristics,
in terms of technique and principles, of the major styles. The last head of the
Wudang Temple, Taoist Xu Ben Shan (1860-1932) was skilled in it and taught it
to his disciples together with other Wudang arts. Xu spent most of his life in
the Wudang Temple having entered the temple when young. It is unlikely that his
art came from the outside since his life is quite well documented. But whether
Wudang Taijiquan is the seminal form of all the others cannot be concluded since
there is no firm link between the practitioners of the Wudang arts and Wang Tsung
Yueh who is the earliest common personage of the the early styles of modern Taijiquan.
But it should be noted that there are common theorems between the Wudang Internal
Boxing and Taijiquan. and it is possible that Wudang Internal Boxing influenced
Taijiquan though it should be considered a separate art.
Some have
raised the question of Chang San Feng's existence as there is much legendary material
about him. He is recorded by reliable historical documents such as the 'Ming History'
and 'The Ningpo Chronicles' which have no relation to martial arts literature
as having existed and to have created Wudang Internal Boxing arts. This is in
line with the beliefs held at the Wudang Temple itself and one can find much old
material pertaining to Chang San Feng there. According to the available material,
Chang lived at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and at the beginning of
the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). There was a confusion of dates as the Emperor Yung
Ler used searching for Chang as an excuse to send Yan Wang Chu in 1403 to scoure
the country in search of his rival, the Emperor Jian Wen. Chang San Feng was widely
regarded as a Taoist saint and Emperor Yung Ler knew that he had already died
and so came up with the ruse. Historians who have tried to reconcile the misinformation
of the Emperor Yung Le with the earlier records have either regarded Chang as
a mid Ming Dynasty personage, possibly a different person from the Chang San Feng
of recorded as living in the Yuan Dynasty or that Chang had lived for a very long
time, beyond normal human life expectancy.
The Zhao Bao style of Taijiquan
also traces their art back to Jiang Fa and Wang Tsung Yueh and ultimately to Chang
San Feng. Gu Liu Xin, the noted Taijiquan historian, posits based on the writings
of Chen Xin that Chen Ching Ping created the Zhao Bao style. Chen Ching Ping was
a student of Chen You Pen who created the `new frame' (xin jia) of Chen Taijiquan
which was also known as the `high frame' (gao jia) and `small frame' (xiao jia).
Chen Qing Ping was also recorded to be a student of the Zhao Bao Taijiquan master
Zhang Yan. Wu Yu Xiang who learnt from Chen Ching Ping retained this high standing
characteristic in the style he passed down.
The present Zhao Bao style
is relatively low standing and is performed in a slow manner without fa-jing (strength
emissions) except in kicks, in a manner common to the Yang and Wu Yu Xiang styles
and those that developed from them.
This theory can not be reliably
proven, all that we can ascertain is that the art came down from Wang Tsung Yueh
and Jiang Fa to the Chen village and Zhao Bao villiage. It is unlikely that Chang
developed Taijiquan as we see it today though he may have invented some of the
principles that went into the art. The works attributed to him in the Taijiquan
Classics are actually the works of Wang Tsung Yueh. This is evident in the handwritten
manuals of Li I Yu.
The Chen Pu Theory
This was the theory
put out by Chen Xin, the first to write a book on the Chen style of Taijiquan.
He attributed the creation of the art to Chen Pu, this was echoed later by Chen
Ji Pu in his later book on the art. Chen Xin records that Chen Pu taught his descendents
a way to digest food, and Chen Xin claims this to be Taijiquan. Chen Pu's grave
has nothing to indicate that he was skilled in martial arts or to have created
Taijiquan, a very significant piece of evidence since the Chen Family was famous
for its boxing for genrations, gaining the name `Pao Chui Chen Family'. So this
theory has been proven to be false.
The Chen Wang Ting Theory
This theory was first posited by Tang Hao. He based his theory on the side note
in the Chen Family Manual (Chen Si Jia Pu) that Chen Wang Ting (1597-1664) was
the creator of the Chen Fist, broadsword and spear arts, and on the assumption
that the Chen family did not learn arts from outside the Chen family. According
to the Annals Of Wen County, Chen Wang Ting served as an officer in Shantung Province
from 1618 to 1621 and was officer in charge of the garrison at Wen County in 1641.
The theory was further elaborated upon by Gu Liu Xin, Tang Hao's good
friend. He brought in a poem attributed to Chen Wang Ting that stated that Chen
Wang Ting `created boxing when bored' and a Boxing Song Formula attributed to
Chen Wang Ting as proof of the theory. Modern linguistic studies show that it
should actually be translated as 'no bored (free) time to create boxing' instead.
We need to note that the references to boxing in the Chen Family are
in the side notes and are not in the main text. Since the Chen family was famous
for its boxing, it seems a gross ommission that such an important article of information
as Chen Wang Ting creating the Chen family arts is not included in the main text
but is in a side note. What more, the earliest published works by the Chen family
on their art does not attribute the creation of the art to Chen Wang Ting. The
last line of the Chen Family Manual says clearly that the side notes were the
work of Chen Xin and so it is a recently added reference. Yet Chen Xin does not
posit that Chen Wang Ting is the creator, but instead Chen Pu.
The
Boxing Song Formula attributed to Chen Wang Ting is taken from the Liang Yi Tang
Ben manual of Chen martial arts, it is also the only old manual that records a
form called the 13 postures. Its content is an addition on to an old Chen martial
art manual called the Wen Xiu Tang Ben which does not record any form called the
13 postures. So it is possible that the Liang Yi Tang Ben is a later manual with
additions not found in the original Chen transmission. The poem attributed to
Chen Wang Ting is found in the Liang Yi Tang Ben and there is no other evidence
to authenticate it.
Another early Chen family writer is Chen Zhi Ming.
It was he who accompanied Tang Hao and Gu Liu Xin on their trip down to Chen Jia
Gou for investigations into the origins. His work is thus as important as theirs
in terms of evidence for the early Chen arts. In his book on the Chen family arts
he quotes from the old manuals and records old song formulas, many of which are
revealing (see next chapter for more information)
Chen Xin also authored
the Three Three Boxing Manual (San San Quan Pu) which uses Taiji Boxing theories
to complement Hsing-I theories. It contains 3 of the 10 thesis of Hsing-I. Tang
Hao also posited that Chen Wang Ting had used 29 out of the 32 boxing postures
in General Qi Ji Kwang's (1528-1587) book Ji Xiao Xin Shu. We shall examine this
claim in detail in the next chapter.
From the above evidence, it is
quite clear that the Chen family did probably learn and practice arts from outside
the Chen village. Based on this, the theory of Chen Wang Ting creating Taijiquan
cannot be supported.
The Four Old Schools Of Taijiquan In the Sung
Manual: Sung's Taiji And Its Offshoots
The manual was first given
to Wu Tu Nan by a friend of his in late 1908 or early 1909. Later when Sung Si
Ming came to Beijing to teach Taijiquan, Wu had the opportunity to compare the
manual he had with Sung Si Ming's manual and they agreed in content. In the manual
it lists four old schools of Taijiquan, namely Hsu, Yu, Cheng and Yin. The postures
delinated in the manual have names similar to Yang Taiji and the form and sword
form postures are almost identical to the Yang style, it is obvious that the Sung
style of Taiji came from the Yang style so the historical data in the manual is
suspect and cannot be regarded as factual.
That Jiang Fa Transmitted
It To The Chen Village
The early sources all record the existance
of this personage and that he was skilled in the art of Taijiquan. Zhao Bao style
traces their lineage to him and even Chen Xin's book 'Chen Family Taijiquan Pictures
And Sayings' has a song formula of his which Jiang apparent got from his teacher
from Shanxi (who would be Wang Tsung Yueh). So even in Chen Xin's book, there
is a reference to Jiang as being a teacher of the art.
This song formula
in Chen Xin's book comes down from Du Yu Wan, whom Wu Tu Nan had met during his
investigative visit to the Chen Villiage. Du himself wrote a book which was published
only once in 1935. The original handwritten manual has been traced to the Zhao
Bao viliage though it has not been made public. It states that Jiang was the teacher
of Du's art and was taught by Wang. There is a chapter i Du's book called 'Wudang
Taijiquan Beginnings' indicates that Du considered his Taijiquan as coming from
the Wu Dang school.
The Yang family tradition also records that it
was Jiang who taught Chen Chang Xin the art. Wu Tu Nan's book 'Research On Taijiquan'
(1984) records his encounter with Chen Xin on the matter. Chen Xin admitted that
Chen Chang Xin had learnt the art from Jiang Fa after Jiang had defeated Chen
Chang Xin and that because of that, Chen Chang Xin was not allowed to teach Pao
Chui.
The Chen Taijiquan proponents have also said that Jiang was
a student of Chen Wang Ting, pointing to a painting of Chen Wang Ting and a man
surnamed Jiang as proof of the matter. The painting needs to be dated to verify
it as a early source but it doesn't really need to be done because the name given
the man is Jiang Pu and not Jiang Fa. This bit of information coming from Chen
Xin's book. This incorrect attribution has led to the placing of Jiang Fa as a
Ming dynasty personage, affecting also the Zhao Bao dating. But the writings of
Chen Xin indicate that Chen Wang Ting was a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) personage
and Jiang Fa was a Ching Dynasty (1644-1911), Chien Loong Era (1716-1795) personage.
So their assertion is baseless. Chen Xin emphasized the fact that Chen Wang Ting
and Jiang Fa were from different eras because some in the Chen Villiage believed
that Jiang Fa had taught Chen Wang Ting martial arts.
Given the evidence
above of the nature of the early Chen family arts, Jiang Fa could indeed have
been the person who `softened' the existing art to the present day Taijiquan and
input the 13 postures into the art. The 13 postures consists of the 8 different
Jings and the Five directions of movement. It is interesting to note that the
early Chen documents record different names for the 8 jings than the conventionally
accepted ones which are in the Taijiquan Classics. (see next chapter)
Jiang Fa's Teacher: Wang Tsung Yueh
The song formula at the very back
of Chen Xin's book indicates that Jiang Fa's teacher was from Shanxi, that would
indicate Wang Tsung Yueh and the contents of the song formula is almost virtually
identical to the Taijiquan Treatise (Taijiquan Lun) which is attributed to Wu
Yu Xiang (this attribution originates from Tang Hao, who assumed because Wu Yu
Xiang compiled the sayings on `Hitting Hands' of which this was one section, that
it was Wu Yu Xiang who wrote it. This is to differentiate it with Wang Tsung Yueh's
Taijiquan Classic of the same name). This would mean that Wu Yu Xiang did have
access to Wang's teachings and that the Chen family does acknowledge his existance
and that he taught Jiang Fa. This would make the theory that Wu Yu Xiang inventing
Wang's personage improbable. Besides Wu did not hesitate to put his name on the
other works he wrote which are a part of the Tajiquan Classics.
Zhao
Bao also records him in their lineage and he is an important figure in the Yang
lineage as well. The Taijiquan Classic of his is probably the most profound work
on the nature and function of the art of Taijiquan.
Tang Hao and Gu
Liu Xin have written that Wang had learnt his art from the Chen family but one
must note that this is pure conjecture as there is no evidence to suggest that
this is so. In documents pertaining to Wang's life, there is no mention that he
learnt his art from the Chen family.
Other than Wang's manual discovered
in the salt store, Tang Hao obtained in 1930 the Yin Fu Spear Manual written by
Wang Tsung Yueh, the manual also contains the Taijiquan Classic. The preface of
the Yin Fu Spear Manual states that in his old age, Wang was a school teacher
with his own private school in Luoyang in 1791 and was also active in Kaifeng
in 1795 and was still alive in 1796. The consensus of the early evidence does
suggest that they all believe he existed and they do record his teachings. It
is unlikely that he was was just a fictitious character invented by Wu Yu Xiang.
Yang Lu-chan was born in 1799 in Yung-nein in the prefecture of Kuang-p'ing in the province of Hopeh in China. There are several versions of his early life. One maintains that his family were farmers but his father soon noticed an interest in his son in martial arts. He arranged for lessons for him from a teacher named Liu. Yang Lu-chan soon mastered all his teacher could teach him and wanted to know more. Liu told him about Tai Chi Chuan, the secret of the Chen Family, but said that it was impossible for outsiders to learn the form.
Undeterred Yang Lu-chan set out for Hui-hsing in Hunan province where he managed to get employment as a servant in the household of Chen Chai-kou. At this household there was a famous teacher of Tai Chi, Chen Chang-hsing who was teaching the form to the young men there. Yang spied on them and at night practiced what he had seen.
After some time Chen Chiang-hsing happened to see him practicing one evening and realized the excellence of his technique. He decided to break with the tradition of secrecy and invited Yang into the school. Other accounts of Yang Lu-chan's early life claim that he came from very poor circumstances and was a bonded worker in a pharmacy before coming to Chen Chang-hsing's attention.
In any case, after some period of study, so great was his mastery of the form that Chen dismissed him and Yang returned to Yung-nein to teach martial arts. Later, one of his students Wu Yu-xiang, recommended that he go to Beijing to propagate the art. Yang eventually established a school of Tai Chi there, although not without some difficulties. In time he taught Tai Chi to the Imperial court and became known as 'Yang the Unsurpassed'.
Yang Lu-chan had three sons: the first Yang Ch'i died in early youth. His other two sons, Yang Pan-hou (1837-1892) and Yang Chien-hou (1842-1917) both continued to study and practice Tai Chi with their father, although perhaps not as diligently as he would have liked. One account claims that after his death an outstanding student Chen Hsui-feng, proclaimed himself the head of the Yang Family school and split with Yang's son's. In time, however, the two factions were reconciled.
Yang Cheng-fu.
Yang Pan-hou apparently became a very adept practitioner of Tai Chi, however he found few that he could work with. He had three students Ling Shin, Wan Ch'un (or Wang Kiu-yu) and Wu Quan-yu (or Wu Chuan-yuck). The first left no students, the second taught only Kuo Lien-ying. The third Wu Quan-yu taught Wang Mou-chai and Ch'i Ko-ch'en as well as his son Wu Chien-chuan. The latter, dissatisfied with the Yang style created his own style called Wu Style which he taught to his son Wu Kung-yi and Cheng Wing-kwong who carried on the Wu Style. Consequently the Yang tradition died out on this side of the family.
Yang Chien-hou also had three children. The eldest Yang Shao- hou (1862-1928) [also known as Yang Chao-hsuing]. He had one son Yang Chen-sheng who he taught his art to. The second son Yang Chao-yuan died early in youth. The third son, Yang Cheng-fu (1883-1936) [also known as Yang Ch'eng-pu and Yang Chao-ch'ing] is in large measure responsible for the popular transmission of the Yang Family Style to many people in the east and west.
Yang Cheng-fu practicing Tai Chi.
Known as 'Yang the Invincible' he had four sons; the eldest Yang Chen- Ming (also
known as Yang Shou-chung); the second Yang Chen- chi; the third Yang Chen-tuo;
and the fourth Yang Chen- kuo. He also had a number of outstanding students including
Wu Hui-chuan, Chang Yin-lin, Tung Ying-chih, Hu Yuen-chou and Chen Wai-ming.
Chen Wai-ming taught Tai Chi in Shanghai in the 1930's and 40's before the revolution. He had four senior students to whom he passed on his innermost secrets and teachings. One of these was Lee Shiu-pak who after the revolution found himself in Hong Kong and began teaching Tai Chi there. Later on he emigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal where he established a school. His various students in Eastern Canada have gone on to carry on his and the Yang Family tradition.