Luan Xinchun

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Luan Xinchun, Male, Han, from Baoding, Hebei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Taijiquan (Ⅵ-11). The tradition is documented in Baoding, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Taijiquan in Baoding, Hebei: It was created by Mr Sun Lutang, a native of Baoding, Hebei Province, by fusing Xingyi boxing, Bagua boxing and Taijiquan; it is one of the schools of Taijiquan that exerted wide influence in modern and contemporary times, and is deeply loved by the people. Sun Lutang (1860—1933), whose given name was Fuquan, courtesy name Lutang and art name Hanzhai, was a native of Wan County, Baoding, Hebei (now Shunping County). Early in life he studied Xingyi boxing under Li Kuiyuan and Guo Yunshen, and Bagua palm under Cheng Tinghua; later he received the Taijiquan method taught by Hao Weizhen, an inheritor of Wu-style Taijiquan. In his later years he fused Xingyi, Bagua and Taiji into a single whole and composed Sun-style Taijiquan. According to the boxing forms and the principles and methods recorded in his own work Studies of Taijiquan, Sun-style Taijiquan took its final form and came into the world in the early years of the Republic of China; it is the latest formed of the five great schools of Taijiquan and the one that most stresses joining boxing and the Way. After it was introduced to Wangdu in Baoding, this art has been handed down in one unbroken line, and the Wangdu County Cultural Centre is its protecting unit.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Luan Xinchun is anchored in the documented technical standards of Taijiquan in Baoding, Hebei. Within the documented technical tradition of Taijiquan in Baoding, Hebei: Sun-style Taijiquan is also called "opening-and-closing lively-step Taijiquan". Baoding City, Hebei Province is its core region of transmission. The number of practitioners within the whole city reaches more than 90,000, and the penetration rate is highest in Wangdu County. In addition, this art is widely transmitted in all the provinces and cities of the country, and has spread far overseas. Sun-style Taijiquan has 97 forms, and the essentials of its practice are the high stance and lively step, the gentle and rounded liveliness, footwork in which advance and retreat follow each other, and turning in which opening and closing are joined. It has three typical characteristics. The first is the high stance and lively step, which is its most essential feature. When the frame is played, the centre of gravity neither rises and falls nor sways to the left or the right; through the lively step the centre of gravity is constantly being shifted. When the boxing is performed, it holds that every advance must be followed and every retreat withdrawn, and every turn to the left or to the right is joined by an opening and a closing; its momentum is like drifting clouds and flowing water, continuous and unceasing. The second is that there are no obvious jumping movements. Practice demands uprightness and steadiness, stretching and gentleness. All the postures and all the movements from the opening form to the closing form follow one another and are accomplished in a single flow. So-called uprightness means neither leaning forward nor backward, nor leaning to the left or to the right; the trunk, the hands and the feet, the upper and the lower parts respond to one another, and the inner and the outer are one. The third is the advocacy of the martial thought of the unity of heaven and humanity and the joining of boxing and the Way. Sun-style Taijiquan has a gentle rhythm, is easy to learn and to understand, has a high penetration rate, and can be used to cultivate health in a scientific way and to strengthen the body. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ninety-seven forms and the opening-closing hand": The Sun style runs to ninety-seven postures knit together by the opening-and-closing hand, hence its second name. "Advance with a following step, retreat with a withdrawing step": Its defining trait is the high frame with live steps: the centre of gravity neither rises nor sways, and every turn links through opening and closing. "The Wuji, Taiji and Santi opening": The Sun style opens with the Xingyi postures of Wuji, Taiji and Santi before entering the live-step forms, a structure unique among the five taiji schools. "A Study of Taijiquan": Published in 1919, Sun Lutang's Taijiquan Study is among the earliest published taiji treatises and anchors the Sun-school corpus.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Luan Xinchun was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Taijiquan, with Baoding, Hebei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Taijiquan in Baoding, Hebei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Baoding, Hebei as its declared area, and Wangdou County Cultural Center (Wangdou County Art Museum) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Luanxinchun (Baoding, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Luanxinchun · China ICH Official Archive