Taijiquan
01 · Historical Records
Wu-style Taijiquan is a school of Taijiquan that both originated and has been transmitted in Daxing District, Beijing. Its founder was Quan You. In the late nineteenth century Quan You studied the large-frame and small-frame Taijiquan in turn under Yang Luzhan and the latter's son Yang Banhou; through years of careful and assiduous training he gradually formed a medium-frame Taijiquan with a character of his own, laying the foundation for the emergence of Wu-style Taijiquan. In 1928 Wu Jianquan was invited to Shanghai to teach boxing, and became a leading figure of the southern school.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wu-style Taijiquan comprises many kinds of content: taiji stance work, boxing sets, weapon sets, taiji push hands, taiji free sparring, and small conditioning methods for dispelling illness and preserving health. Its characteristics are uprightness and ease, neither towering nor leaping, neither striking nor releasing force, lightness and slowness, relaxation and stillness with naturalness, compactness and extension, roundness and agility; the touch (at a pressure point), the strike (a blow), the lock (on a joint), the release (a throw), the fall (a takedown) and the dislocation (of a bone) are fused into one and are held within rather than displayed. The principal boxing sets are Wang Maozhai's old-frame set of 83 forms, Yang Yuting's set of 83 forms, Wang Peisheng's 37-form and 16-form sets, the Qiankun Wuji skill, small conditioning methods for dispelling illness and preserving health, and so on. The principal push-hands practices are the single-person flat-circle wheel exercise and the single-person vertical-circle wheel exercise; the two-person flat-circle wheel exercise, the two-person vertical-circle wheel exercise, the two-person four-corners push-hands exercise, the two-person four-angles push-hands exercise, the da luo, which is the combined practice of the eight taiji methods, lan cai hua, taiji free sparring, and so on. The principal weapon sets are the Wu-style taiji sabre, the Wu-style taiji sword, the Wu-style taiji spear, the taiji jointed staff, and so on. In addition there is taiji stance work, taiji internal skill, and so on. Wang Maozhai continued to teach boxing in Beijing and was a leading figure of the northern school. Other leading figures of the northern school include Yang Yuting and Wang Peisheng. It contains a profound traditional Chinese cultural content, can raise the personal cultivation and cultural literacy of those who practise it, and also plays a positive role in building a harmonious society.
The Maozhai old frame of 83 forms
The system covers standing, boxing and weapon routines, pushing hands and free fighting, its main sets being the Maozhai 83, Yang Yuting 83 and Wang Peisheng 37 and 16 forms.
Horizontal, vertical and four-direction pushing hands
Pushing-hand drills run from solo and paired horizontal and vertical wheel turning to the four cardinal and four corner methods, the great pull and free hands, with sabre, sword, spear and sticking pole on the weapon side.
Pointing, striking, locking, throwing, felling, unjointing
Centred, unhurried and never jumping or striking in appearance, the art quietly fuses point striking, hitting, joint locking, throwing, felling and unjointing.
Quan You and the two branches
Quan You studied the large and small frames under Yang Luchan and his son, forming his own medium frame; his disciple Wang Maozhai led the northern branch and his son Wu Jianquan the southern after 1928.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Wu-style Taijiquan took shape in Beijing, and after Quan You it split into a northern and a southern school: Wang Maozhai, Yang Yuting, Wang Peisheng and others taught it in Beijing and were called the northern school, while Wu Jianquan went south to Shanghai in 1928 to teach and was called the southern school. The northern school used the martial arts associations and research societies around Daxing and Xicheng as its centres of transmission, while the southern school relied on the Shanghai Jingwu Athletic Association and the Taijiquan societies of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other places. The boxing sets of the two schools share a common origin but differ in method and in form.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Quan You's disciple Wang Maozhai, Quan You's son Wu Jianquan and others took the art and, after years of careful study, fixed its form and handed it down through generation after generation. In the long process of transmission from master to disciple, Wu-style Taijiquan gradually formed into a southern school and a northern school. Each generation of inheritors, while taking over the skills of their predecessors, also dared to innovate, which made Wu-style Taijiquan increasingly rich. At present Wu-style Taijiquan has spread to many places and enjoys a sound popular base and a good cultural atmosphere. Wu-style Taijiquan has many kinds of value: nourishing the body and opening the mind, dispelling illness and strengthening the body, defending oneself against violence, refining character, and cultivating virtue through martial practice.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Zhenhe 01-0041
- Han Huiming 01-0042
- Wang Xian 01-0043
- Zhu Tiancai 01-0044
- Yang Zhenguo 03-1207
- Chen Zhenglei 03-1209
- Diweichuan 05-2537
- He Youlu 05-2538
- Sun Wanrong
- Chen Peiju
- Chen Xiaoxing
- Luan Xinchun
- Li Jianfang
- Yao Zhiping
- Chen Bing
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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