A Brief History of Taijiquan
A Brief History of Taijiquan
Taijiquan originated as a martial art in China in the 1600’s. Its founder, Chen Wangting, was a soldier who created the form after his retirement and return to his birthplace, Chen Village, a farming community. Disillusioned by political strife and turmoil, he abandoned the pursuit of his military career. At home he developed an interest in Taoism and based his new synthesis of fighting techniques on the philosophy of yin and yang principles. Yin and Yang are complementary opposites. One cannot exist except in relation to the other, i.e. good/bad, dark/light. He recognized the “softness” that arose from agility, and the “hardness” that arose from strength. In addition, he observed that the power of all his martial techniques arose from the coiling strength inherent in the movements and the structure of the body. Chen Wangting propagated his art in Chen village through his many students and progeny.
Yang Luchan (1799-1892), the founder of the Yang style of Taijiquan, was the first outsider to learn the practice. Yan Luchan was a bonded servant in a Chen Dehua’s household who learned Taijiquan along with the children of the household from Chen Chanxing. When Chen Dehua died Yang was released from servitude and returned to his native Yongnian. His martial art skill became renowned in Yongnian.
Eventually Wu Yuxiang (1812-1880), an upperclass scholar, who was more interested in the martial than the literary arts, came to study with him. Wu Yuxiang’s brother got Yang a job teaching the Manchu nobility in the capital city of Beijing. He and his art of Yang style became famous there.
Fascinated with the art, Wu sought out Yang’s teacher, but ended up finding another Chen family member, Chen Qingping, in the village of Zhaobao. Li Yiyu, Wu Yuxiang’s nephew, would emphasize the Chen connection over the Yang connection in Wu Yuxiang’s creation of his own Wu (Hao) style, because Yang was an illiterate peasant, and it was unseemly to place him as a teacher above the literati class to which Wu belonged. Although Yang was illiterate, Wu was not, and he went on to compile a series of essays on Taijiquan with the help of Li. Much of the Taijiquan literature from the early 1900’s was based on these writings.
Li Yiyu continued to teach. One of his students who became famous for his skill was named Hao Weizhen. Hao was visiting Beijing in the 1911 when he got sick. Another martial artist named Sun Lutang (1861-1932) took him in and nursed him back to health. In gratitude Hao taught Sun his martial art. Sun developed his own variation on the art by combining it with the martial styles he had previously learned, Baguazhang and Xingyiquan. He published a book in 1921.
Yang Luchan had another student in Beijing named Quan You. Quan You was a Manchu officer of the Imperial Guard Brigade. Quan You passed the art down to his son, Wu Jianquan (1870-1942), who went on to standardize his own variation of Taijiquan. Because his surname is the same syllable as Wu Yuxiang, Wu Yuxiang’s style is often referred to as Hao style, after its very famous exponent Hao Weizhen.
Yang Luchan continued to teach, and passed his legacy down to his sons, Yang Banhou and Yang Jianhou, and to his grandsons Yang Shaohou and Yang Chengfu (1883-1936)
In 1912 the Qing dynasty ended, and the Republic of China began. The Beijing Research Institute of Physical Education hosted some of the major representatives of Taijiquan, including Yang Shaohou, Yang Chengfu, Wu Jianquan, and Sun Lutang. During the 1920’s and 1930’s these teachers along with Hao Weizhen’s son and grandson Hao Yueru and Hao Shaoru, and Chen Fake of Chen Village lineage, would travel and spread Taijiquan across the major cities of China. What was one style with variations grew into the five distinct styles of Chen, Yang, Wu, Hao, and Sun. Each of these would go on to develop variations within each style.
Another branch from the Yang style grew in Taiwan. Zheng Manqing (1902–1975) was scholar of Painting, Poetry, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. He came to sturdy with Yang Chengfu in 1928. He is said to have studied with Yang for 6 years. He developed his own short Yang style routine , the well known 37 form, in 1946.He continued to teach in China until 1949 when moved to Taiwan. He continued to teach and had host of famous students who became teachers, including William CC Chen. He moved to New York City in 1964 and taught there until he passed away. Many of his students are famous.
In 1956 the Beijing Sports Commission developed a short routine of 24 movements based on the Yang Style. The 24 Form’s primary architect was Li TianJi (1914-1996). Li Tianji was the son of Li Yulin the Dean of Studies of Shandong Provincial Martial Arts School. The school was established by the former Military Supervisor of Hebei province, Li Jinglin (no relation). Li Jinglin was proficient in Wudang Sword (of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame) and Yang Style Taijiquan. Already proficient in other martial arts including Sun Style Taijiquan, Li Yulin learned Yang Style Taijiquan from Li Jinglin. Li Tianji was an excellent student. He graduated from the Shandong Provincial Martial Arts School and went on to be a lecturer of Martial Arts at Harbin Industrial University. He was also the coach of the martial arts team at the Central Institute of Physical Education. Eventually he went on to the State Physical Education and Sports Commission and china Martial Arts Association and became a martial arts researcher. He was among the group that wrote the first national martial arts textbooks in China in 1956. His works, 24 Form Taijiquan, and 32 Form Taiji Jian (sword) are still widely popular around the world.