Ming Shi Fang Ji Zhuan (明史方技傳): “Chang, San-feng, from Liao Dong Yi County (遼東懿州). Named Quan-yi (全一). Also named Jun-bao (君寶). San-feng was his nickname. Because he did not keep himself neat and clean, also called Sloppy Chang, (Chang, La-ta, 張邋遢). He was tall and big, shaped like a turtle, and had a crane’s back. Large ears and round eyes. Beard long like a spear tassel. Wears only a priest’s robe winter or summer. Will eat a bushel of food, or won’t eat for several days or a few months. Can travel a thousand miles. Likes to have fun with people. Behaves as if nobody is around. Used to travel to Wudang mountain (武當山) with his disciples. Built a simple cottage and lived inside. In the twenty-fourth year of Hong Wu (洪武) (c. AD 1392), Ming Tai Zu (明太祖), the first Ming emperor, heard of his name and sent a messenger to look for him but he couldn’t be found.” It was also recorded in the Ming dynasty in Ming Lang Ying Qi Xiu Lei Gao (明郎瑛七修類稿): “Chang the Immortal, named Jun-bao, also named Quan-yi, nicknamed Xuan-xuan (玄玄), also called Chang, La-ta. In the third year of Tian Shun (天順) (AD 1460), he visited Emperor Ming Ying Zong (明英宗). A picture was drawn. The beard and mustache were straight; the back of the head had a tuft. Purple face and big stomach, with a bamboo hat in his hand. On the top of the picture was an inscription from the emperor honoring Chang as ‘tong wei xian hua zhen ren’ (a genuine Daoist who finely discriminates and clearly understands much, 通微顯化真人). This record is suspect, because if it were true, Chang, San-feng would have been at least five hundred years old at that time. Other records state that Chang, San-feng’s techniques were learned from the Daoist Feng, Yi-yuan (馮一元). Another story tells that Chang, San-feng was an ancient hermit meditator. He saw a magpie fighting against a snake, had a sudden understanding, and created taijiquan.
After Chang, San-feng, there were Wang, Zong (王宗) in Shanxi Province (陝西), Chen, Tong-zhou (陳同州) in Wen County (溫州), Zhang, Song-xi (張松溪) in Hai Yan (海鹽), Ye, Ji-mei (葉繼美) in Si Ming (四明), Wang, Zong-yue (王宗岳) in Shan You, and Jiang, Fa (蔣發) in Hebei (河北). The taiji techniques were passed down and divided into two major styles, Southern and Northern. Later, Jiang, Fa passed his art to the Chen family at Chen Jia Gou (陳家溝) in Huai Qing County, Henan (河南懷慶府). Taiji was then passed down for fourteen generations and divided into old and new styles. The old style was carried on by Chen, Chang-xing (陳長興) and the new style was created by Chen, You-ben (陳有本).
The old style successor Chen, Chang-xing, then passed the art down to his son, Geng-yun (耕雲), and his Chen relatives, Chen, Huai-yuan (陳懷遠) and Chen, Huamei (陳華梅). He also passed his taiji outside of his family to Yang, Lu-chan (楊露禪) and Li, Bo-kui (李伯魁), both of Hebei Province (河北). This old style is called Thirteen Postures Old Form (Shi San Shi Lao Jia, 十三勢老架). Later Yang, Lu-chan passed it down to his two sons, Yang, Ban-hou (楊班候) and Yang, Jian-hou (楊健侯). Then Jian-hou passed the art to two of his sons, Yang, Shao-hou (楊少侯) and Yang, Cheng-fu (楊澄甫). This branch of taijiquan is popularly called Yang Style. Also, Wu, Quan-you (吳全佑) learned from Yang, Ban-hou and started a well-known Wu Style.
Additionally, Chen, You-ben passed his new style to Chen, Qing-ping (陳清萍), who created Zhao Bao (趙堡) Style Taijiquan. Wü, Yu-rang (武禹襄) learned the old style from Yang, Lu-chan and new style from Chen, Qing-ping, and created Wü Style Taijiquan. Li, Yi-yu (李亦畬) learned the Wü Style and created Li Style Taijiquan. He, Wei-zhen (郝為禎) obtained his art from Li Style and created He Style Taijiquan. Sun, Lu-tang (孫祿堂) learned from He Style and created Sun Style.
All the abovementioned styles are popular in China and Southeast Asia. Among them, Yang Style has become the most popular. In the next section we will discuss the history of the Yang Style.
1-3. History of Yang Style Taijiquan
Yang Style history starts with Yang, Lu-chan (1799-1872, 楊露禪), also known as Fu-kuai (福魁) or Lu-chan (祿纏). He was born at Yong Nian Xian, Guang Ping County, Hebei Province (河北，廣平府永年縣). When he was young, he went to Chen Jia Gou in Henan Province to learn taijiquan from Chen, Chang-xing. When Chen, Chang-xing stood, he was centered and upright with no leaning or tilting, like a wooden signpost, and so people called him Mr. Tablet. At that time, there were very few students outside of the Chen family who learned from Chen, Chang-xing. Because Yang was an outside student, he was treated unfairly, but he still stayed and persevered in his practice.
One night, he was awakened by the sounds of “heng” (哼) and “ha” (哈) in the distance. He got up and traced the sound to an old building. Peeking through the broken wall, he saw his master Chen, Chang-xing teaching the techniques of grasp, control, and emitting jing in coordination with the sounds heng (哼) and ha (哈). He was amazed by the techniques and from that time on, unknown to master Chen, he continued to watch this secret practice session every night. He would then return to his room to ponder and study. Because of this, his martial ability advanced rapidly. One day, Chen ordered him to spar with the other disciples. To his surprise, none of the other students could defeat him. Chen realized that Yang had great potential and after that taught him the secrets sincerely.
After Yang, Lu-chan finished his study, he returned to his hometown and taught taijiquan for a while. People called his style Yang Style (Yang Quan, 楊拳), Soft Style (Mian Quan, 綿拳), or Neutralizing Style (Fa Chuan, 化拳), because his motions were soft and able to neutralize the opponent’s power. He later went to Beijing (北京) and taught a number of Qing officers. He used to carry a spear and a small bag and travel around the country challenging well-known martial artists. Although he had many fights he never hurt anybody. Because his art was so high, nobody could defeat him. Therefore, he was called “Yang Wu Di” (楊無敵), which means “Unbeatable Yang.” He had three sons, Yang, Qi (楊椅), Yang, Yu (楊鈺) (Ban-hou, 班侯), and Yang, Jian (楊鑑) (Jian-hou, 健候). Yang, Qi died when he was young. Therefore, only the last two sons succeeded their father in the art.
There are a few stories about Yang, Lu-chan:
1 One time, when Yang was at Guang Ping (廣平), he was fighting a martial artist on the city wall. The opponent was not able to defeat him and kept retreating to the edge of the wall. Suddenly he lost his balance and was about to fall. At that moment, Yang approached him from several yards’ distance, grasped his foot, and saved his life.
2 Yang was good at using the spear. He could pick up light objects by using his spear to adhere to the object, then tossing it up into his hand. He was also good at throwing arrows with his bare hand—he could hit the target accurately while on horseback without using a bow.
3 One rainy day, while Yang was sitting in his living room, his daughter entered from outside, holding a basin of water. When she opened the screen, she suddenly slipped on the wet step. Yang saw this and jumped up, held the screen with one hand, and caught his daughter’s arm with the other. Not a drop of water splashed from the basin. From this anecdote one can see how quick his reactions were.
4 One day, Yang was fishing at a lake. Two other martial artists were passing by and saw him. They had heard of Yang’s reputation and were afraid to challenge him, so they decided to take the opportunity to push Yang into the lake and make him lose face. To their surprise, when their hands touched his back, Yang arched his back and bounced both of them into the lake.
5 When Yang was in Beijing, a famous martial artist was jealous of Yang’s reputation and challenged him. Yang politely refused. However, the man insisted. Yang said, “If you want to fight me, you can hit me three times first.” The man was delighted and hit Yang’s stomach. Yang suddenly
