Sun Hongxi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He learned Mian Quan from his father Sun Changgen from childhood, founded the Shanghai Languifang Mian Quan Wushu Club, and has more than a hundred disciples in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai region. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mian Boxing in Yangpu, Shanghai: The earliest verifiable transmitter of mianquan was Meng Guangyin (also known as Meng Guanyu) of Cangzhou, Hebei, who went south to Shanghai to teach the art in the late Qing dynasty, giving mianquan a firm foothold in the city. Meng Guangyin passed it to Sun Fuhai, who passed it to Yang Lianquan, his son Sun Changgen and others; thereafter, through master-apprentice and father-son transmission, a stable transmitting community formed in the Yangpu and Jiangpu area of Shanghai, and four generations have passed to this day. In former times, residents of this area mostly made their living by physical labor and needed to build their strength, which provided a broad popular basis for the teaching and practice of mianquan. According to tradition, mianquan originated on Mount Wudang, where it was one of the secret boxing techniques transmitted within the Wudang tradition; it spread among the people around the late Ming and early Qing period. Meng Guangyin (also known as Meng Guanyu), a native of Cangzhou, Hebei, went to Shanghai to teach mianquan in the late Qing dynasty, from which time it spread to Shanghai.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

He was born in June 1957 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and is of Han ethnicity. He is a Mian Quan master. He has continuously refined the training system and theoretical framework of Mian Quan, systematically compiling a variety of routines including the twelve basic forms, the eighteen two-person forms, the eight Mian forms, Mian Quan close-body grappling and striking, and Mian qigong; he has also compiled and published the illustrated book Mian Quan together with an accompanying disc. He has actively carried out activities bringing Mian Quan into schools, opening popularisation courses at five schools, including the Shanghai Kunming School and the Qiqihar Road No. 1 Primary School branch. Within the documented technical tradition of Mian Boxing in Yangpu, Shanghai: Mianquan is a distinctive traditional school of Chinese boxing, named for its movements being rounded and fluid, cohesive, blending hardness and softness, form and intent following one another, and continuing without break. The earliest verifiable transmitter of mianquan was Meng Guangyin. Meng Guangyin passed it to Sun Fuhai, who passed it to Yang Lianquan, his son Sun Changgen and others. Mianquan is characterized by softness outside and hardness within with emphasis on practical combat; close grappling and far striking, letting the opponent strike first and then countering; a stable lower stance with power issuing from the waist; natural breathing and free release and retraction; and training in both form and method, cultivating both inner and outer dimensions. Mentally it requires purity, stillness and single-minded concentration; postures should be open and natural; movements should be relaxed and gentle, flowing on continuously; the force should soften and follow like cotton, turning hard once advantage is gained. Its basic techniques include ba (parrying), da (striking), qin (seizing), na (grabbing), zhua (grasping), ji (pressing), peng (warding off), ai (yielding) and kao (leaning); its fist techniques mainly include chong (thrusting), guan (swinging) and gua (hanging); its palm techniques mainly include kan (chopping), chuan (piercing) and liao (lifting); its elbow techniques mainly include ding (ramming), zhuang (striking), ji (pressing) and kao (leaning); its leg techniques mainly include deng (stamping), chan (shoveling), liao (lifting) and ti (kicking); its hand shapes mainly include awl fist, hooked fist, tiger palm and qie (secret-stealing) palm; its footwork stances mainly include bow stance, horse stance, empty stance, flower step, swallow step and sparrow step; its set routines mainly include linked elbows, mianquan close-range striking, linked circles and mianquan dragon form. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Meng Guangyin to Sun Fuhai to Yang Lianquan": The main line of Mianquan in Shanghai, from Meng Guangyin through Sun Fuhai and his many disciples to Yang Lianquan, four generations in all. "The nine base methods": The basic hand methods of Mianquan, joined by its fist, palm, elbow and leg techniques for close and long-range work. "Awl fist, hooked fist, tiger and stealth palms": The hand shapes of Mianquan, matched by bow, horse, empty, flower, swallow and sparrow stances for a stable base. "Swallowing and sparrow steps": Two distinctive stances of the style, one withdrawing to store power and the other light as a sparrow, matching its soft-outside, hard-inside principle.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a representative bearer of Mian Quan, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

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.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Sun Hongxi · National Representative Bearer Archive