T'ai Chi at Home

A Training Log

History and Styles

This is not meant to be a comprehensive history of T'ai Chi, only a timeline of some major milestones in the art. I've included the reference links in the text itself rather than at the bottom of the article since there are many. Also, from this point forward in the article I'll be using the pinyin method of romanization.

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For more information about pinyin versus Wade-Giles romanization, please view the Wikipedia articles for each:

Zhao Kuangyin (927-976)

The moves in modern Taijiquan go back at least to the time of Zhao Kuangyin, later named Emperor Taizu as he became the first emperor of the Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizu formalized the Taizu Changquan system for barehand martial arts training of military troops. It is from this sequence that most of the Taijiquan moves are derived. This art was performed faster and harder than Taijiquan. It is unclear exactly how Emperor Taizu was influenced in the development of Taizu Changquan.

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Qi Jiguang (1528-1588)

Qi Jiguang was a Chinese miltary general during the Ming Dynasty. In chapter 14 of his book Jixiaoxinshu (written around 1560-1561) he describes a sequence from the art created by Emperor Taizu. It is interesting to note that General Qi emphasizes practicing this art for physical fitness in addition to unarmed combat. We do know that General Qi learned from Liu Caotang in Zhoushan, although nothing further is know of Liu.

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Chen Wangting (1600-1680)

Chen Wangting was a Ming Dynasty soldier, who likely returned to his home village as the Qing Dynasty came into power. It is know that he was familiar with General Qi's book, Jixiaoxinshu, because Chen later published a similar version adding his own commentary. Chen collected most of the barehand and weapons sets that eventually became Chen style Taijiquan. He also studied qigong, although it is not known how heavily that practice influenced the way he performed his martial arts.

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Chen Changxing (1771–1853)

By the time of Chen Changxing, though still not called Taijiquan, the family martial arts system of the Chen family we know today was starting to come into focus. By this time, the barehand and weapons training of the Chen family were distilled into the forms that we commonly see practiced today. It is likely that by this time the art was practiced with alternating fast and slow movements, spiraling motions, and the martial philosphy of yielding and neutralization much like modern-day Taijiquan. It is said that the best student of Chen was Yang Luchan, the first person outside of the Chen clan to receive these family teachings since Chen Wangting began their development.

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Yang Luchan (1799-1872)

Yang Luchan began to popularize Taijiquan to a larger audience by bringing the art from the small Chen village to teach the Imperial Guards in the courts of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. The teachings of Yang became formalized as the Yang family style. The Yang style adopted one of the barehand forms and the broadsword form of the Chen style of Chen Changxing. The Yang family eventually took to practicing all of the moves slowly during the forms and developed different two-person training methods, primarily barehand and with the spear, than those of the Chen style.

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Late 1800's-Early 1900's

This was a very active time in the development of Taijiquan. It is around this time that the art began to be known as Taijiquan. In fact, the name Taijiquan was first used by an outsider to describe the art since its martial theory was based upon the Yin and Yang interaction of the Taiji diagram. The name stuck.

Additionally, around this time people began to notice the unique flavor and interpretation that different practitioners had developed to fit their body consitution, demeanor, and personal martial philosophies. These interpretations began to be classified as different styles of Taijiquan and were taught in the Chinese martial arts colleges.

Finally, the practice of Taijijian (Taiji straight sword) became part of the art around this time. It is unlikely that Yang Luchan practiced the straight sword. It is believed that the art of the sword became widespread around the time of either his sons or grandsons and began to enter into the various Taijiquan systems.

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Zheng Manqing (1902-1975)

Zheng Manqing was a student of Yang Chengfu (1883-1936), who was the grandson of Yang Luchan. Although he was not the first Taijiquan teacher to migrate to the United States and begin teaching the art, Zheng became perhaps the most influential. He moved to New York City in the 1960's and began teaching open Taijiquan classes. The 1966 publishing of a book about his art popularized his teachings even more. He was among the first to attempt to make learning the forms more accessible by shortening the long form.

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