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Tai Chi's roots and development Written by Knud Erik Andersen |
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Through times Tai Chi has been influenced by many people, and today there are many different understandings whether to what Tai Chi is. To know what Tai Chi is, you have to look back on Tai Chi's roots. This article will try to enlighten the history of Tai Chi a little bit deeper. The usual myth on the origin of Tai Chi, is the myth of Zhang Sanfeng, who lived in the end of the 14th century. It is very difficult to prove something concrete about the origin of Tai Chi. Today many people believe that it's Chen Wangting, who founded Tai Chi because the Chen Clan has documentation in their annals, which seems to prove, that they have practised all the way back to Chen Wangting. One thing you have to have in mind, is that martial arts always have been connected to great prestige. At the same time it has been necessary to protect oneself, furthermore the Chinese people haven't have it in habit to help others outside their own clan. These conditions does that all true knowledge has been kept a secret. On one hand they have tried to keep it for themselves and on the other hand made the impression, that only your clan had developed the best martial art. This condition makes its very difficult to distinguish false from truth. There are many histories and legends about different teachers and families, who have claimed the origin of Tai Chi. Several of these stories has in wider circles been taken serious until some serious scholars had studied them thoroughly and found out if either the have been fictitious or simply stolen. The reason for this is because to be a Master in a martial art or be related with one, is connected with huge prestige and have been a way to make much money working as a bodyguard, teacher for the Imperial family or the army. When you bear in mind, that those who really had some knowledge, has kept it for themselves, and when you take Tai Chi's Taoist background in consideration, you can almost imagine, that those who had a sufficient calmed mind to master Tai Chi, was people who lived in a harmonious and solitude life. That's why the myth of Zhang Sanfeng maybe is more realistic then so many other great stories. At the time when Tai Chi was created, the greatest philosophers were Taoist wanderers, who lived their lives in solitude in the mountains. The didn't need the fame or a job at the Imperial Court and yet it was often those, who had the true art. What is written down about Tai Chi in ancient time, the writings we call the Tai Chi Classics, is written by true masters. Some of the authors we know, but it can be said with certainty who wrote the older writings. So there are no help here either, even though the classics is an invaluable tool to understand Tai Chi. But why is so important to find out when and by whom Tai Chi was made, when it's known that both martial arts and curative exercises has existed for many thousand years in China? The most important element in Tai Chi are the extreme slow movements. This differentiate Tai Chi from all other styles, whether the make emphasis on combative or mental development. The slow movements are unique for Tai Chi. The slow movements performed in dance or karate etc., will not give the same effect as in true Tai Chi. It is said that there is only one set of principles in Tai Chi. But if you study a great deal of books on Tai Chi, you will see there actually are some disagreements on many essential fields. So what are we to believe, are the right principles? The old classics are very difficult to understand and they are written in a very brief matter and describes the energy and the feeling in Tai Chi, more than giving a more concrete instruction on the physical movements. That's why you have to have a teacher, who have gained this knowledge of Tai Chi's physical expression and principles in an unbroken line. In the modern styles, which arose to popularize Tai Chi, often these principles are not intact. Perhaps they give an relaxing and stimulating effect, but the true spirit of Tai Chi is unfortunately not always incorporated and those who really wants to work in depth, will very quickly experience that the possibilities for further development are limited. That's why it's important to be able to follow the development of Tai Chi back to the earliest roots, so it's possible to see what's the true principles of Tai Chi. With that knowledge you will be able to judge a Tai Chi styles qualities. But let's make a brief summery of the most known myths. (1) The myth of the Taoist wanderer Zhang Sanfeng, who during a visit in a monastery in the mountains saw a fight between a bird an a snake. The animals swift and flexible movements inspired him to practise floating and flexible movements, which later on became Tai Chi. |
It's an known fact that Zhang Sanfeng has lived. He is mentioned many places in the Taoist literature, but there are no sure evidence for whether he invented Tai Chi. It's also unknown to when he should have lived, if the narratives about are true, then he should have lived for more than 300 years. But Tai Chi got its name many years latter, so it's not improbable, that he created a system, which latter on was known under an other name. (2) Chen Wangting from Chen Jiagou in the Henan province is the one where there are the best documentation for him being practising Tai Chi. (3) In the beginning of this century there was published a book in China written by Wang Xinwu. It claimed, that Song Siming, which at the time was 70 years old, was the 17th generation of descendants of Song Yuanqiao. A group of the best Tai Chi fighters in China heard about Song's unusual skills in combat. They went to challenge him and were all defeated. Song told them, that what he had learned, came from Song Yuanqiao, who had learned it from a hermit by the name Xu Xuanping, who lived in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Nanyang in the Anhui province. Xu Xuanping's life is described in the book "Poems from the Tang Dynasty" written by Qi Yugong from the Song Dynasty. But once again there isn't written anything about Tai Chi, which perhaps is very logical, because Tai Chi at that time properly wasn't an established system. Professor Xu Chen wrote a book "Distinguishing the true from the false in Tai Chi Chuan". Here he claims that, Song's writings are copied from Wang Zongyue and Wu Yuxiang and that Song's pushhand technique was almost identical with Yang Luchan's. That's why he believe, that Song in spite of his unusual ability, had learned it from a branch of the Yang family. There exist books with long statements to who have learned Tai Chi from whom and with some critical analysis of all the material accessible on Tai Chi. So far it hasn't been definitive proven, that Tai Chi should originate from someone else than Chen Wangting. But this doesn't mean that you can dismiss the other myths. There is a great possibility that, it was a Taoist wanderer, who without invoking any attention did invent something brilliant. Maybe this wanderer did pass it on to others and Tai Chi has spread out in different directions, of which one ended up at Chen Wangting. If you look upon the different "internal martial arts", you will see, that the same movements, names and principles often are used. The difference between the systems are not greater than they could have originated from the same source. Tai Chi however does still have its unique distinctive mark with the very slow movements. If you make a genealogical tree of the most famous Tai Chi masters, we have to stick to the descendant of Chen Wangting. The genealogical tree divides in three main branches: (1) The branch, which always have remained in Chen Jiagou. (2) The branch, which went on to the Yang family. (3) The branch, which went through Wu Yuxiang, Li Yiyu to the Hao family. Many masters have passed on Tai Chi and added their own influence. But the basic principles in Tai Chi: low combat movements, which are performed flowing and very slowly, are in spite of the difference in the forms been kept intact up until today. ©1999 Knud Erik Andersen
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