Sun Zhijun
01 · Lineage & Regional School
From 1946 he studied successively under Liu Ziyang, Cheng Yousheng and Cheng Youxin, third-generation inheritors of the Cheng school of Baguazhang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Baguazhang in Xicheng, Beijing: These disciples in turn combined Bagua palm with what they had already learned, so that the art came to display many different styles and schools. In terms of palm shape in particular, the schools fall mainly into two movement characteristics: those centered on the ox-tongue palm and those centered on the dragon-claw palm. He accepted disciples and taught his art in Beijing during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns of the Qing dynasty.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
He is a Baguazhang boxer. He adapted and innovated training methods and summed up his technique as "when the opponent moves first, I arrive first; to attack is to defend, and to strike only after the opponent has struck". He has published You Shen Ba Gua Lian Huan Zhang Ji Ji Jie Xi (An Analysis of Combat in the Roaming-Body Eight-Trigram Linking Palm), Ba Gua Zhang Dui Lian (Baguazhang Two-Person Drills), Ba Gua Dao Dui Lian (Bagua Broadsword Two-Person Drills), You Shen Ba Gua Lian Huan Zhang (Roaming-Body Eight-Trigram Linking Palm), He Bei Xing Yi Quan (Hebei Xingyi Boxing) and Cheng Pai Ba Gua Zhang (The Cheng School of Baguazhang), among other works. He established a Baguazhang teaching website, using the reach of the internet to extend the scope and influence of transmission. He has many disciples; among his representative formal disciples in China and abroad are Sun Huixiang, Wang Deming and Ge Chunyan. Within the documented technical tradition of Baguazhang in Xicheng, Beijing: Bagua palm (Eight Trigrams Palm), originally called “turning palm” (zhuanzhang), is a school of traditional martial arts created by Dong Haichuan, a native of Zhujiawu Village in Wen'an County, Hebei Province. Dong loved martial arts from childhood and travelled widely in search of renowned masters and skilled friends. In his later years he settled in Beijing, and building on the boxing skills he had practiced since childhood, he drew on the essence of several martial arts and on stepping and daoyin (guided stretching) training methods, combining these with the principles of the Yijing (Book of Changes), to create the Bagua palm method, in which changing palm techniques are woven into circular walking and turning. The movement characteristic of Bagua palm is the use of the palm in place of the fist, with the steps tracing circles. Its main content includes the old eight palms, the sixty-four palms, and training methods such as the tangni (mud) step and the fixed-posture turning palm. It also includes the school's distinctive weapons — the ziwu yuanyang yue (paired crescent weapons), the jizhua yinyang rui (chicken-claw paired points), and the qixing gan (seven-star staff) — as well as the turning sabre and turning sword, which are characterized by their long, heavy blades. Most of the disciples Dong Haichuan taught during his life had already trained in other martial arts before coming to him. Among Dong Haichuan's transmitters were many celebrated masters; those whose lineages spread most widely include Yin Fu, Cheng Tinghua, Liang Zhenpu, Zhang Zhaodong, Shi Jidong, Liu Baozhen, Fan Zhiyong, and Liu Fengchun. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The old eight palms and the sixty-four palms": The core content comprises the old eight palms, the sixty-four palms, and training methods such as the mud-step walk and the fixed-form turning palm. "The mud-step walk and fixed-form turning palm": Bagua palm substitutes palms for fists and walks in circles; beginners drill the mud-step to fix the lower body, then practise fixed-form turning palms for coordination. "Weapons of the school": Alongside empty-hand work it has its own weapons — the ziWu twin crescent blades, the chicken-claw paired points and the seven-star staff — following the same circling path as the palms. "Turning sabre and sword": The long and heavy turning sabre and sword, characteristic of Dong's line, are answered by circling rather than by resisting the advance.
The old eight palms and the sixty-four palms
The core content comprises the old eight palms, the sixty-four palms, and training methods such as the mud-step walk and the fixed-form turning palm.
The mud-step walk and fixed-form turning palm
Bagua palm substitutes palms for fists and walks in circles; beginners drill the mud-step to fix the lower body, then practise fixed-form turning palms for coordination.
Weapons of the school
Alongside empty-hand work it has its own weapons — the zi午 twin crescent blades, the chicken-claw paired points and the seven-star staff — following the same circling path as the palms.
Turning sabre and sword
The long and heavy turning sabre and sword, characteristic of Dong's line, are answered by circling rather than by resisting the advance.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
Formerly known as Sun Zhijun, he was born in August 1933 in Shenzhou, Hebei Province, of Han ethnicity, and died in August 2016. Representative bearer of Baguazhang, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He served as a coach at the Dongcheng Wushu Hall in Beijing and won a gold medal at the First World Traditional Wushu Championships hosted by the International Wushu Federation and the Chinese Wushu Association, as well as a gold medal at the National Traditional Wushu Demonstration and Exchange Conference hosted by the State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
He accepted disciples and taught his art in Beijing during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns of the Qing dynasty.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ren Wenzhu | Langfang, Hebei | 03-1210 | Other regional school |
| Sun Zhijun | Xicheng, Beijing | 04-1735 | This page |
| Liu Jingru | Xicheng, Beijing | 05-2547 | Same declared area |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。