Monthly Archives: September 2020

Animals and Heroes

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Continuing the study of Taijiese (Chinese for Tai Chi): Names of many animals and folkloric heroes occur in the traditional names for the movements in Tai Chi moving forms.

The animals most often encountered:

  • 虎     Hǔ         Tiger
  • 蛇     Shé        Snake
  • 马     Mǎ         Horse
  • 鹤     Hè         Crane
  • 金鸡   Jīn jī     Golden rooster
  • 猿     Yuán      Ape
  • 猴     Hóu       Monkey

[Painting of a tiger is by Zhang Shanzi (張善孖, 1882-1940) http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/ ]

The poor Tiger is embraced but also ridden, hit, subdued, and shot:

  • 抱虎      Bào hǔ Embrace the Tiger (Embrace tiger return to mountain)
  • 跨 虎     Kuà hǔ Ride the Tiger
  • 打虎      Dǎ hǔ   Hit the Tiger
  • 伏虎      Fú hǔ   Subdue (or tame) the Tiger
  • 射虎      Shè hǔ Shoot the Tiger (Bend bow shoot tiger)

The snake creeps down and spits out its tongue. Add 野 yě (wild) to 马 mǎ (horse) to get ye ma: the wild horse, whose mane is parted (ye ma fen zong). The wild horse also jumps across the stream in the sword forms. The crane spreads his wings and the golden rooster stands on one leg. The ape presents fruit, the monkey is repulsed.

Painting “Running Horse” is by Xu BeiHong (1895-1953).

More birds:

  • 雀     Què       Sparrow (Grasp the bird’s tail)
  • 燕子  Yànzi     Swallow
  • 雁      Yàn       Wild goose
  • 雕      Diāo      Bird of prey (hawk, eagle)

Mythical animals abound, most especially dragons, but also the phoenix and roc.

  • 龙     Lóng      Dragon
  • 鳯     Fèng      Phoenix
  • 鹏     Péng      Fabulous bird (Roc)

The animals come in colors:

  • 白      Bái         White
  • 乌      Wū        Black
  • 黄      Huáng   Yellow
  • 红      Hóng     Red
  • 丹      Dān       Red

There’s a white crane (spreads wings), white ape (presents fruit), white snake (spits tongue), and white tiger (swings his tail). Dragons are black, blue-green, and yellow:

  • 乌龙   Wūlóng  Black dragon  (also oolong tea!)
  • 青龙   Qīnglóng  Blue-green (or azure) dragon
  • 黄龙   Huánglóng Yellow dragon

More animals, less common, less important to know, though they do occur in names of movements:

  • 蟒       Mǎng    Python
  • 狮子   Shīzi      Lion (shakes his head)
  • 黃蜂   Huángfēng    Yellow wasp, bee (returns to the cave)
  • 蜻蜓   Qīngtíng        Dragonfly (touches water)
  • 蝴蝶   Húdié    Butterfly
  • 犀牛   Xīniú      Rhinoceros (gazes at the moon)
  • 豹     Bào        Leopard

Bonus: 五禽戏        Wǔ qín xì            Five Animal Frolics

Heroes

  • 武松    Wǔ Song   Outlaw folk hero (who breaks the handcuffs)
  • 鍾馗   Zhong Kui    Ghost King (vanquisher of ghosts, he wields the sword)
  • 罗汉  Luóhàn     Arhat, enlightened person in Buddhism, has reached nirvana
  • 夜叉   Yèchā    Malevolent spirt (returns to the sea)
  • 哪吒   Nézha   Protection deity (searches the sea)
  • 韦驼  Wéi Tuó (aka Skanda) is one of eight divine protectors in Chinese Buddhism
  • 苏秦   Sū Qín   Historical political figure (380-284 BC)
  • 覇王   Bà Wáng   A warlord whose actual name was Xiang Yu (202-232 BC)

魁星   Kuíxīng  is the legendary scholar for whom the constellation we call the Dipper is named. In the sword forms, we find both the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper (Ursa Major and Minor):

  • 大     Dà          Big (Dà Kuíxīng)
  • 小     Xiǎo       Small (Xiǎo Kuíxīng)

Picture of Wu Song is by Utagawa Kuniyoshi – http://www.britishmuseum.org 

Read about Wu Song: http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=237

Read about Su Qin: http://kongming.net/encyclopedia/Su-Qin

This startling quote is attributed to Ba Wang (Xiang Yu): “Live with a man forty years. Share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him up and hold him over the volcano’s edge, and on that day, you will finally meet the man.”

Read more about Ba Wang: https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/xiang-yu/m03f26z

Styles of Tai Chi

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Legend has it that Tai Chi originated in the Wudang mountains, but the earliest concrete record dates from the seventeenth century. Chen WangTing (1580-1660), from Chen village in Henan Province, was the founder of Chen-style Tai Chi. His statue stands in the center of the courtyard to the Tai Chi Museum in Chen Village.

Chen WangTing statue

Statue of Chen WangTing (my photo, 2019)

Yang Luchen (1799-1872) learned Chen-style Tai Chi during the time of Chen Changxing, the 6th generation master after Chen WangTing. Yang was the first non-family member to learn the art, and according to legend, he did so by subterfuge, taking a job in Chen village and watching lessons in secret.

Eventually, Yang was discovered and surprised the master with his ability. Yang stayed on and studied with Chen Changxing for a total of ten years. When Yang left Chen village, he was sworn to secrecy about the Chen routines and soon developed his own Yang style of Tai Chi.

Two of Yang Luchan’s most notable disciples were named Wu. Looks and sounds like the same name to us, but they are written differently (武 and 吳) and sound different to Chinese ears. These two disciples were Wu Yuxiang (1812-1880) and Wu Quanyou (1834-1932), and each founded his own style of Tai Chi.

Wu Quanyu studied with both Yang Luchan and Yang’s second son, Yang Banhou. Wu Quanyou’s style is today called Wu-style. The Wu long form closely tracks the Yang-style long form but is characterized by more of a grappling style, different footwork, different hands, and a distinctive leaning posture.

Wu Yuxiang first learned Yang Tai Chi from Yang Luchan. Then Yang introduced him to Chen Qingping, 7th generation Chen master. Chen Qingping practiced a small-frame version of Chen-style Tai Chi that was influenced by an ancient martial art called Zhaobao.

Wu Yuxiang eventually developed a distinctive style that incorporated elements of both Yang and Zhaobao-Chen. One of the best-known followers of his style was Hao Weizhen (1842-1920). Wu Yuxiang’s style of Tai Chi has come to be known as Wu Hao in the West, to resolve confusion between the two Wu names.

Cover of bookWu Hao is still practiced today but is not as well-known as Chen, Yang and Wu. This is partly because, at the turn of the twentieth century, Hao met Sun Lutang (1860-1933), a fighter of formidable reputation. Sun did not practice Tai Chi. Sun’s arts were Xingyi and Baguazhang.

Sun learned Wu Hao Tai Chi from Hao and then developed his own style, a fusion of Wu Hao Tai Chi, Xingyi, and Baguazhang. The Sun style, thanks to Sun’s reputation and wide influence as a teacher, went on to become quite popular. You could say that Wu Hao was eclipsed by the Sun.

Today, the four most popular styles—Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun—are represented in combined forms like 32, 42 (the modern competition style), and 48. A more detailed history and comparison of the styles described in this post, can be found in a book by Andrew Townsend, The Art of Taijiquan, An Examination of Five Family Styles.