Taijiquan
01 · Historical Records
Sun-style Taijiquan is a renowned school of Taijiquan founded in the early twentieth century by Mr Sun Lutang.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Sun-style Taijiquan is fairly widespread throughout the country, has spread far to dozens of countries and regions overseas, and is practised by very many people. Sun-style Taijiquan has a complete system of martial thought and of martial theory and technique; it stands apart from the multitude and forms a school of its own. It holds to the unity of the three boxing arts, considering that Xingyi, Bagua and Taiji complement and fuse each other and together constitute an inseparable martial whole. In Sun-style Taijiquan, every advance is followed and every retreat is accompanied; the movements are agile, rounded, lively and compact, carried consistently through in a single flow, like drifting clouds and flowing water, unceasingly continuous, and every turn to the left or to the right is joined by an opening and a closing. It takes the mutual support of yin and yang in Taiji and the utmost degree of suppleness as its substance; in the course of performance it takes in the principle of the inner and outer harmonies of Bagua, seeking the balance of movement and stillness and the unity of inner and outer, and exploring to the utmost the subtlety of balanced and agile change; at every moment of performance it cultivates through the stance work of Xingyi boxing the instinct within the body that awaits a single release; in its mode of performance it takes as its law that one "uses reversal within following and practises following within reversal", thereby governing the meanings of rising, drilling, striking and tumbling; in its performance psychology it takes non-action as the foundation for nourishing the spirit and seeks within emptiness the balance that is put to use, reaching the capacity that "without seeking to overcome others, one's spirit moves and one's mechanism is round, and no one is able to overcome him". Sun-style Taijiquan takes the traditional 98-form as its main practice set; in addition there are such practice sets as the 97-form of Sun Jianyun, the competitive 73-form, the simplified 35-form and the Sun-style Taiji sword. At present the project is in good condition of continued existence, with many practitioners spread throughout the country and far overseas. Sun-style Taijiquan established a system of martial thought joining boxing and the Way, and was the first to put forward that the purpose of practising boxing lies in cultivating the body and fostering virtue and in perfecting the conscience and natural abilities of human beings; it has pioneering significance in the history of Chinese martial arts. It established a body of martial theory centred on the study of the Yijing and a technical system centred on the balanced internal force and based on the unity of the three boxing arts, drawing on and connecting the hundred schools, thereby enriching the theoretical and technical system of Taijiquan. Practising it not only strengthens the body and builds health but also cultivates character and nurtures the mind; it has positive significance for promoting the health of the people and building a harmonious society.
Three boxing arts made one
Xingyi, bagua and taiji are held to complement one another in a single indivisible whole; every step is followed, every turn joined by opening and closing.
The 98 forms and Sun Jianyun's 97
The traditional 98 forms are the main set, alongside Sun Jianyun's 97, a competition 73, a simplified 35 and the Sun-style taiji sword.
Reversal within smoothness
Taking the mutual aid of yin and yang as its body, the art joins inner and outer bagua, nurtures a hair-trigger instinct through xingyi standing and governs rising, drilling, falling and overturning by reversal within smoothness.
Uniting boxing with the Way
After decades of study Sun Lutang fused the three arts and proposed the idea of uniting boxing with the Way, aiming at the completion of human conscience and capacity.
A technique built on centred inner force
The school founded a theory centred on the Yijing and a technique centred on centred inner force and the union of three arts, its clear lineage now reaching the sixth generation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Sun-style Taijiquan was founded in Beijing by Sun Lutang. During the years of the Republic of China he taught boxing in turn in the capital, in Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhenjiang and other places, and his disciples spread everywhere; later his daughter Sun Jianyun and his students founded societies in Beijing, Baoding, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and other places to teach it. Today Sun-style Taijiquan societies and research organisations have been established in many parts of the country, and dozens of countries and regions overseas also practise it.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan · Taijiquan.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
On the basis of the experience of his predecessors, and through decades of his own research and practice, he fused the boxing of the three schools of Xingyi, Bagua and Taiji into a single melting pot, integrating them into one and discarding the old to establish the new. He put forward a martial thought joining boxing and the Way, and formed a martial system characterised by the unity of body use and application and aimed at perfecting the conscience and natural abilities of human beings. Sun-style Taijiquan is transmitted mainly by master-and-disciple succession, and its lineage with clearly defined generational relationships has already reached the sixth generation. At the same time, the project is popularized and promoted through free teaching by inheritors.
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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