The
Boxing Song Formula attributed
to Chen Wang Ting is taken from
the Liang Yi Tang Ben manual
of Chen martial arts, it is
also the only old manual that
records a form called the 13
postures. Its content is an
addition on to an old Chen martial
art manual called the Wen Xiu
Tang Ben which does not record
any form called the 13 postures.
So it is possible that the Liang
Yi Tang Ben is a later manual
with additions not found in
the original Chen transmission.
The poem attributed to Chen
Wang Ting is found in the Liang
Yi Tang Ben and there is no
other evidence to authenticate
it.
Another early Chen family
writer is Chen Zhi Ming. It
was he who accompanied Tang
Hao and Gu Liu Xin on their
trip down to Chen Jia Gou
for investigations into the
origins. His work is thus
as important as theirs in
terms of evidence for the
early Chen arts. In his book
on the Chen family arts he
quotes from the old manuals
and records old song formulas,
many of which are revealing
(see next chapter for more
information)
Chen Xin also authored the
Three Three Boxing Manual
(San San Quan Pu) which uses
Taiji Boxing theories to complement
Hsing-I theories. It contains
3 of the 10 thesis of Hsing-I.
Tang Hao also posited that
Chen Wang Ting had used 29
out of the 32 boxing postures
in General Qi Ji Kwang's (1528-1587)
book Ji Xiao Xin Shu. We shall
examine this claim in detail
in the next chapter.
From the above evidence, it
is quite clear that the Chen
family did probably learn
and practice arts from outside
the Chen village. Based on
this, the theory of Chen Wang
Ting creating Taijiquan cannot
be supported.
The Four Old Schools
Of Taijiquan In the Sung Manual:
Sung's Taiji And Its Offshoots
The manual was first given
to Wu Tu Nan by a friend of
his in late 1908 or early
1909. Later when Sung Si Ming
came to Beijing to teach Taijiquan,
Wu had the opportunity to
compare the manual he had
with Sung Si Ming's manual
and they agreed in content.
In the manual it lists four
old schools of Taijiquan,
namely Hsu, Yu, Cheng and
Yin. The postures delinated
in the manual have names similar
to Yang Taiji and the form
and sword form postures are
almost identical to the Yang
style, it is obvious that
the Sung style of Taiji came
from the Yang style so the
historical data in the manual
is suspect and cannot be regarded
as factual.
That Jiang Fa Transmitted
It To The Chen Village
The early sources all record
the existance of this personage
and that he was skilled in
the art of Taijiquan. Zhao
Bao style traces their lineage
to him and even Chen Xin's
book 'Chen Family Taijiquan
Pictures And Sayings' has
a song formula of his which
Jiang apparent got from his
teacher from Shanxi (who would
be Wang Tsung Yueh). So even
in Chen Xin's book, there
is a reference to Jiang as
being a teacher of the art.
This song formula in Chen
Xin's book comes down from
Du Yu Wan, whom Wu Tu Nan
had met during his investigative
visit to the Chen Villiage.
Du himself wrote a book which
was published only once in
1935. The original handwritten
manual has been traced to
the Zhao Bao viliage though
it has not been made public.
It states that Jiang was the
teacher of Du's art and was
taught by Wang. There is a
chapter i Du's book called
'Wudang Taijiquan Beginnings'
indicates that Du considered
his Taijiquan as coming from
the Wu Dang school.
The Yang family tradition
also records that it was Jiang
who taught Chen Chang Xin
the art. Wu Tu Nan's book
'Research On Taijiquan' (1984)
records his encounter with
Chen Xin on the matter. Chen
Xin admitted that Chen Chang
Xin had learnt the art from
Jiang Fa after Jiang had defeated
Chen Chang Xin and that because
of that, Chen Chang Xin was
not allowed to teach Pao Chui.
