Cha Boxing
01 · Historical Records
Chaaquan (Cha Boxing) originated in the Tang dynasty. During the An-Shi Rebellion, the Tang court borrowed troops from the Da Shi kingdom of the Western Regions to suppress the revolt. A young officer in the Da Shi army, Hua Zongqi, was wounded in battle and received careful nursing from the Muslim villagers of Zhangyinzhuang Village in Guan County, Shandong. Through long development and evolution, around the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty two distinct technical schools of Chaaquan took shape in Guan County, Shandong, namely the Zhang style and the Yang style.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
After recovering, Hua Zongqi felt he had no way to repay their kindness, so he taught the villagers the boxing he excelled in, known as “Jiazi Boxing” (Frame Boxing). Because the number of those wishing to study became large, Hua also invited his senior fellow student Zha Yuanyi from Hami to teach the boxing method known as “Shenfashi” (Body-Method Postures). Since ancient times it has been said that “the Cha and the Hua are one family,” so later generations referred to the two together as Chahua Boxing, abbreviated as Chaaquan (Cha Boxing). Zhang-style Chaaquan is swift and agile with rigorous boxing methods, represented by Zhang Qiwei of Zhangyinzhuang outside the town of Guan County. Yang-style Chaaquan is open and generous, with upright postures and rounded techniques, represented by Yang Hongxiu of South Street in Guan County town. Both schools produced a number of great martial arts masters, including Zhang Yingzhen, Wang Ziping, Zhang Xitai, Zhang Yingjian, Chang Zhenfang, Zhang Wenguang, and Pang Lintai, who made important contributions to the development of Chinese martial arts. Chaaquan is based on Tantui (springing leg) training; it comprises the ten routes of Chaaquan and also weapons practice with spear, staff, saber, and sword. Its movements are open and its rhythm bright and brisk. Chaaquan has a broad popular base in southwestern Shandong, and since the modern period it has spread to Shanghai, Jiangsu, Henan, Shanxi, Beijing, Yunnan, and elsewhere. The newly compiled Changquan routines developed in modern times, together with contemporary competitive martial arts, have drawn extensively on Chaaquan movement material and absorbed its athletic style. It has contributed to the development of Chinese martial arts. Promoting Chaaquan is of great significance for developing national physical culture and strengthening the constitution of the whole people.
Flicking leg as the foundation
The kicking form is the foundation of Cha boxing, taken up before the ten routines, with broad movements and brisk rhythm.
The ten Cha routines
Ten graded routines, from the mother-and-child set through ambush, plum blossom and linked sets to the tenth strung boxing.
The Zhang and Yang styles
By the Qianlong reign two branches had formed: the quick, rigorous Zhang school and the broad, rounded Yang school.
Spear, staff, saber and sword
The weapon sets of the style, matching the broad, brisk character of the empty-hand routines.
Hua Zongqi and Zha Yuanyi
Legend tells of the Tang officer Hua Zongqi teaching his boxing to the Muslims of Zhangyinzhuang, and of his senior brother Zha Yuanyi adding the body-method form; the two together became Cha boxing.
Southern fists, northern legs, Shandong Cha
Once confined to Hui villages around the county town, the art spread nationwide and earned the saying that Shandong Cha is the north's leg art.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
After the deaths of Zha and Hua, the local people, in memory of them, called the Jiazi Boxing “Hua Boxing” after Hua, and the Shenfashi “Cha Boxing” after Zha. Chaaquan was taught only among Muslim believers and rarely passed beyond that community; at that time it was distributed mainly in Guan County's West Street and South Street, the suburban village of Zhangyinzhuang, and a dozen or so Hui-populated villages such as Shilipu, Shazhuang, and Ligu. It later spread gradually among Muslims throughout the country, and in martial arts circles it has long enjoyed the reputation of “southern boxing, northern legs, Cha of Shandong.” After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the barriers between ethnic communities were broken down and Chaaquan began to spread widely; it has now become one of the famous martial arts schools with significant national influence and a large number of practitioners.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The transmission of Chaaquan in Guan County is based on the Hui-populated villages of the county town's West Street and South Street, the suburban Zhangyinzhuang, and Shilipu, Shazhuang, and Ligu. Village threshing grounds, courtyards, and martial arts halls have long served as places for practicing boxing, and within the boxing school the complete system of the ten routes of Chaaquan, Tantui, and weapons has been preserved. The Guan County Cultural Library serves as the local protecting unit, promoting transmission through martial arts entering schools, Chaaquan exchange competitions, and the collation of boxing manuals. The masters who went out from Guan County — Zhang Yingzhen, Wang Ziping, Zhang Xitai, Zhang Yingjian, Chang Zhenfang, Zhang Wenguang, and Pang Lintai — extended the influence of Chaaquan into the fields of competitive martial arts and physical education.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。