Did Zhang Sanfeng invent Taiji?

[Antares]

On 29.08.2025 at 6:56 PM, Master Logray said:

This is not my view.  The notion that Master ZSF (Mongolian period) was not the creator of the Taichi Boxing is the results of many scholarly researches.   All his writings did not mention anything about martial arts nor creating TCB, nor how he imparted his skills.  This conclusion is accepted by the Chinese government and further confirmed by the United Nation Intangible Cultural Heritage process.

The most likely scenario is the mixing up with another Taoist 500 years later who had a very similar name with the genuine creator/consolidator of TCB.    The name of this boxing style was not even Taichi in the early days, it was 13 Styles. 

The Taichi classics didn't mention Neidan.   And Neidan classics didn't even talk about movements much.  Neidanists can do their cultivation without any knowledge of Taichi.  

 

** But Master ZSF is still regarded as the creator of Taichi in fictions, TV, movies and many martial arts sects.  We still celebrate his birthday every year.

 

The documents that approve the fact that Taiji was invented by ZSF were found. Please watch this:

 

And as one of the commentator states there:

Quote

Wow!! I literally clapped at the end of this one. Strong video. As a student of taijiquan since 1995 who went on to teach both yang and wudang styles(although i also studied hun yuan chen for a brief period)....i have heard both sides of these stories extensively. I have also questioned lineages by studying the history and evolution of the movements in each form. 15 years ago my Wudang grandmaster who is a tao shi that grew up on wudang, had explained these truths exactly as you presented them today. I was unaware of the historical documentation that has been found. He refers to Zhang San Feng not as the sole creator...but as the "assembler" of taijiquan.

 

Also there is Sanfeng Pai school in Wudang and I don't think they just made up the history of the school. Also there are some records that ZSF trained in Shaolin where he learned something there. So I agree with the statement that "Wudang and Shaolin are basically sinks, where all the martial arts from around china flow into and come by teaching of wandering taoists or monks back out again into the people." 

[Master Logray]

Nowadays many people learn something, amend it or revolutionize it, give it a new name and market as their own.   So you if check up many "Kungs" have no history or their style are similar to existing ones.   

 

But it was not like that in the old days.   A writer would ascribe his work was from a prominent historical figure or even from an immortal.   No one believes the Yellow Emperor wrote the Yellow Emperor Classics.   That was not even written during the supposedly time of the Yellow Emperor.    It doesn't mean the writings have no value or are merely fakes.  In fact many of them are invaluable.  Then scholars and researchers would often critically examine the writing style, use of words, compare with formal history to guess who the real writer could have been. 

 

Apart from the reality, there is a spirit dimension.   If ZSF came back in another age as an immortal or as a new born, was he the same person?    To complicate the matters, the writings could have said to be transmitted from a visiting immortal or deceased person via medium ship.   Many Taoist literature were from these channels.

[Gerard]

It's a myth.

 

The reality is the following:

 

Some traditionalists claim that tai chi is a purely Chinese art that comes from ancient Taoism and Confucianism. These schools believe that tai chi theory and practice were formulated by Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng in the 12th century. A research project conducted by the China Sports Commission determined as much, and Wu Tunan also examined Zhang Sanfeng’s contribution to Tai Chi in his book “A Study of Tai Chi”. These stories are often filled with legendary and hagiographical content and lack historical support.

 

In March 2007, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles recognized Chenjiagou in Wen County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province as the birthplace of Chinese Tai Chi. In August 2007, after further detailed investigation and verification of various opinions in society, the national martial arts department recognized Chenjiagou in Wen County as the "birthplace of Chinese martial arts Tai Chi."

 

Modern historians point out that the earliest reference indicating a connection between Zhang Sanfeng and martial arts is actually a 17th-century piece called Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan (1669), composed by Huang Zongxi (1610–1695). Aside from this single source, the other claims of connections between tai chi and Zhang Sanfeng appeared no earlier than the 19th century. According to Douglas Wile, "there is no record of a Zhang Sanfeng in the Song Dynasty (960–1279), and there is no mention in the Ming (1368–1644) histories or hagiographies of Zhang Sanfeng of any connection between the immortal and the martial arts."

 

Source:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi

 

Chen Village is the bithhplace of Tai Chi Chuan.

 

[Antares]

11 hours ago, Gerard said:

Chen Village is the bithhplace of Tai Chi Chuan.

I disagree with your statement. There are some alchemical forms in taiji which Chen people did not know but you still can find them in Wudang nowadays. Chen never was alchemical. That means there was something that preceded Chen family Taiju Chuan.

I believe that some authentic methods of Taiji "leaked" from Wudang and ignorant people invented smth similar but more like qigong variation of it. In fact it does not matter what was the name of original inventor but what important is that it produced high level results.

 

Edited Monday at 03:07 PM by Antares

[Forestgreen]

Sal Canzonieris book The hidden history of the chinese internal martial arts traces taiji to other, older martial arts. 

 

There are interesting forms from Wudang, but the Wuji form doesn't really look like taiji, the 12 qi disruption form Erle Montaigue taught did have aspects of the other internal arts,  and in the end who knows. 

 

Btw, I have a picture of a Chen master standing in a posture that is alchemical,  not martial. I use a version of it myself.

Edited Monday at 03:47 PM by Forestgreen
Added stuff.

[Gerard]

Pretty much what they discuss here and by first accounts from someone I know of who has visited the area several times starting from the mid 80s.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/taijiquan/comments/1kplxxz/tai_chi_school_in_wudang_mountains/

 

Basically a "circus" set up by the Chinese Gov. to attract naive and/or beginning foreigners. 
 

The link of TJQ to ZS has no historical basis let alone finding quality TJQ in Wudang.
 

 

[damdao]

On 1/9/2025 at 12:06 PM, Antares said:

I disagree with your statement. There are some alchemical forms in taiji which Chen people did not know but you still can find them in Wudang nowadays. Chen never was alchemical. That means there was something that preceded Chen family Taiju Chuan.

I believe that some authentic methods of Taiji "leaked" from Wudang and ignorant people invented smth similar but more like qigong variation of it. In fact it does not matter what was the name of original inventor but what important is that it produced high level results.

 

Wudang daolus contain internal work comparable to that of Yuxianpai—at least in the forms that existed prior to the Chinese Civil War. Whether this remains true today is uncertain, though not entirely unlikely. It’s also possible that Wudang practitioners adopted external martial forms and later infused them with internal practices.
Some teachers have suggested that internal styles existed even before Taijiquan, as Forestgreen mentioned—such as Xiantian Quan and other systems now lost to time.

[Forestgreen]

James McNeill claims that Little Nine Heaven is really ancient. 

If I recall right, 17 movements, not strung together in a form. This is supposedly the mark of the oldest traditions (cannot remember who stated that).

[FluffyGuardian]

The discovered records in the Tang Village actually make zero mention of Zhang Sanfeng and make zero mention of Wudang. 

 

Furthermore, that manuscript actually mentions a Wuji form which resembles Yang Style, and a Taiji form which resembles Chen Style. 

This would be ironic, as this would mean the Taiji form was never passed down to Yang. Instead it entails Yang got a Wuji Form instead.

Wang Zongyue's own writing also makes zero mention of Zhang Sanfeng and Wudang. 

Wang Zongyue's form is actually just Wu Yuxiang (the same guy who "found" the treatise). 

• Both start with 懶扎衣 (Lazily Pulling Back the Robe) - Wu Yuxiang likely derived this from Chen Qingping.
• Neither has Cross Hands - something both Yang and Chen have.
• And both (misspelled?) Shang Tongbei (Fan/Flash Through the Back) to San Yong Bei (Three Through the Back). Did Wu Yuxiang mishead Shang as San? And "both" authors just happened to have spelled it this way when none of the other texts call it this?
•  What Taijiquan would call Cloud Hands (Yùn Shou), they call Tangling Hands (Yún). Two different Chinese characters, but again, look at the Pinyin here: Yùn vs Yún. The tone is different. Did "both" authors mishear the word?

These are too specific to be coincidences. When combined with the known history of Wu Yuxiang being frustrated with Yang Luchan’s secrecy, and then “suddenly” finding a perfect, stylistically-aligned treatise in a salt shop, the logical inference is: Wu Yuxiang or someone close to him authored the treatise and retroactively attributed it to a Wang Zongyue to lend it classical authority.

 

Wu Yuxiang has an interesting position of having learned from Yang Luchan and also having gone to Zhaobao. Yet according his own disciple and nephew who was a scholar, in writing, they do not know the origins of Taijiquan. In fact... he made zero mention of Zhang Sanfeng and Wudang in that writing.

This goes against the notion that Yang Luchan thought that Taijiquan was tied to Wudang. If Yang Luchan knew that and Zhaobao village knew that... why would Wu Yuxiang and his disciple/nephew not know that?

When it comes to Chen Style, I think many non-Chen practitioners have a blindspot when it comes to the second form. Some people think that the first form (Yi Lu) is the "real Taiji' whereas the second form (Er Lu) is just Shaolin unrelated to Taiji. 

 

However, if you look at Qi Jiguang's Quan Jing Jie Yao, he has a 32 Posture Form assembled from a large array of martial arts at his time and place. Note that this predates Chen Family Taijiquan.

This form is meant to be practiced in the order it is listed. And in the posture, it has movements such as Ào Luán Zhǒu (Twisting Phoenix Elbow), Shùn Luán Zhǒu (Smooth Phoenix Elbow), and Shòu Tóu Shì (Beast Head Posture). These sequences are exclusively in Chen Style's Er Lu but not in their Yi Lu. 

In other words, these sequences in Er Lu share the same root as Yi Lu. The 32 Posture also includes Single Whip, Golden Rooster Stand on One Leg, White Crane Spreads Wings, Point to the Crotch, etc... which all major Taijiquan syles have. 

Furthermore, Yang Style has sequence names that only exist in Chen's second form and not their first form such as: White Snake Spits Tongue and Flying Diagonal. Chen only has these in their second form.

Qi Jiguang listed a lot of martial arts systems in his time and place including how Shaolin was famous for their Staff method. However, he made zero mention of Wudang. 

All this just goes to show that Wudang was not famous for martial arts.
 

Most of the bare-handed Chinese martial arts that we know of today come from the Ming-Qing transition period which is 17th century.

 

Shaolin, for instance, was not famous for its bare-handed martial arts; they were famous for their staff method. 

 

According to Meir Shahar,

Quote

Shaolin hand combat emerged during the same period—the late Ming and early Qing—as other familiar bare-handed styles such as Taiji Quan and Xingyi Quan.

In Cheng Zongyou's Shaolin Staff Method (ca.1610), the staff expert has a hypothetical interlocutor who asks:

Quote

 As to the staff, the Shaolin method is admired. Today there are many Shaolin monks who practice hand combat (quan), and do not practice staff. Why is that?

 

Cheng explains that throughout China, empty-handed techniques are not yet widely practiced, which is precisely why Shaolin monks explore them. The Shaolin wished to develop hand combat to the same level of perfection as their ancient staff method.

So, based on this old Shaolin Staff text... it was considered weird that Shaolin (at this time period) was focusing on bare-handed martial arts. 

Even Qi Jiguang wrote that bare-handed martial arts are not useful on the battlefield. That's because weapons existed.

Edited Tuesday at 06:53 PM by FluffyGuardian

[Gerard]

Good stuff. This shows the connection between TJQ and its military background.

 

Anyone interested can read more about it here (as mentioned in the last post):

 

General Qi Jiguang: On fighting pirates and his connection to Taijiquan

 

"While I love the article, I’m puzzled by the inclusion of the rise of Taijiquan as a reasoning device for the inclusion of the chapter on kung fu, since 1560 was three hundred years before anybody had even heard of Taijiquan."

 

And the Shaolin connection via the 1,500 year old form "Jin Gang Quan."

 

 

 

[Antares]

20 hours ago, FluffyGuardian said:

The discovered records in the Tang Village actually make zero mention of Zhang Sanfeng and make zero mention of Wudang. 

 

There are other records in re to ZSF and his connection to Shaolin and Wudang

 

Quote

Huang Zongxi (1610 - 1695) - one of the "most important intellectual figures of the early Qing", historian, philosopher, poet and author (from Mote, 1999) - was (just like Chen Taijiquan founder Chen Wangting) a Ming dynasty loyalist...

 

In the external school the Shaolin art is the most perfected of all. Zhang Sanfeng was skillful in Shaolin [boxing], but he turned it around and created what is called the internal school. To know it a bit is enough to beat Shaolin...

 

Shaolin is widely praised for its boxing, but it is emphasized hitting techniques, against which advantages can be gained. There is a so-called internal school that uses stillness to control movement, thus an attacker can be brought down at the very start of an encounter. Therefore we differentiate Shaolin as an external school. The internal school was founded by Zhang Sanfeng during the Song Period. Sanfeng was an Alchemist from Mount Wudang

https://ctn.academy/blog/chen-taijiquan-an-internal-martial-art

 

Edited yesterday at 03:44 PM by Antares

[Master Logray]

Nowadays some Wudang schools say ZSF not only created TaiChi but also probably created XinYi and Bagua.  So one can go to the many schools and learn Wudang Taichi, Wudang XinYi and Wudang Bagua.   

[FluffyGuardian]

10 hours ago, Antares said:

 

There are other records in re to ZSF and his connection to Shaolin and Wudang

 

https://ctn.academy/blog/chen-taijiquan-an-internal-martial-art

 

 

Well... according to your own source:

Quote

 

It is pretty clear in the whole context that Huang's epitaph was not meant as an accurate historical account. Also he doesn't hide his antipathy for the new Qing government, using the internal and external dichotomy also as a means to drive home his liking for the Ming dynasty (considered to be the last real 'Chinese' dynasty in contrast to the 'foreign' Qing dynasty).

 

In fact, there is no record linking Zhang Sanfeng to Taijiquan. 

Consider the book called "Taijiquan Treatise: Attributed to the Song Dynasty Daoist Priest Zhang Sanfeng" by Staurt Alve Olson. 

So here we have an author(who practices Yang Style) who has every incentive and bias to WANT Zhang Sanfeng to be a real thing. He wrote an entire book dedicated to this topic.

And guess what? He wrote: "No historical data can prove that assertion that he created what has become popularly known as Taijiquan, or that he ever wrote anything concerning Daoism or Taijiquan."

The author has also tried to cite an original writing called "Zhang Sanfeng's Secret Arts for Refining the Elixir". 

According to him... that writing is from 1946.... 

Here's the thing... Wudang Taijiquan that we see today... It comes from the 1980s; it is a government-supported post-cultural revolution project aimed at reviving their culture. It is also around this time that they did the same for Shaolin; that is how Shaolin became very commercialized and corrupted - hence the abbot recently getting into big trouble and being replaced. 

Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua are arts that had to be imported into Wudang because Wudang does not have anything of its own.

Wudang Taijiquan is actually... performance-based, low-stanced Yang Style Taijiquan. If you take a look at the naming convention of Wudang... It's all Yang Style naming convention. 

We are supposed to believe that Yang Luchan deleted, added, and renamed EXACTLY from what he learned from the Chen Family to match a martial art from nearly 1000 years ago?

And also... take Xingyiquan for example. It comes from Xinyi Liu He Quan. So... why doesn't Wudang brand themselves with Xingyiquan and not the older art? 

This whole "Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua" trio was really made popular by Sun Lutang (founder of Sun Style Taijiquan) in the early 20th century because... he learned Xingyiquan in his 20's, Cheng Style Baguazhang in his 30's, and Wu (hao) Taijiquan in his 50's. He wrote books about it... He's pretty much the reason people are talking about "Internal martial arts". 

We cluster Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua together because Sun Lutang specifically learned those three..

[Gerard]

3 hours ago, FluffyGuardian said:

Wudang Taijiquan that we see today... It comes from the 1980s; it is a government-supported post-cultural revolution project aimed at reviving their culture. It is also around this time that they did the same for Shaolin

100% accurate. I already discussed this above yet some people here are too stubborn to understand this. I guess they have to travel to Wudang and realise by themselves.

 

My own teacher (Xingyi & BGZ) went to Wudang and wasn't impressed. He actually found Beijing a better place to find quality and legit instruction.

 

Alex Kozma, a renowned author, traveller and IMA practitioner warned me about Wudang by email back in 2010. He said that place is a circus set up to milk Westerners' money. Do not waste your time there. Taiwan is much better than the mainland to find the good old guard IMA teachers. 

[Vajra Fist]

[jgd]

There is always a bit of truth inside all these lies.

 

Regarding Wudang, some masters of the previous generation like Zhong Yunlong were the real deal. +-40 years ago he brought back to the mountain several methods that were scattered along several regions, wudang itself had very very little martial stuff before that. For a couple of decades learning under him was an option. That being said, in the early 2000's the disneylandtification was so hard that visiting wudang was no longer worthy.

 

If I remember well Bagua-Xingyi arrived at the mountain in the 1930's with an exchange between Xu benshang and a li cunyi student. Same for taijiquan, it's a yang taijiquan version probably exchanged by Song weiyi when he was teaching sword to taijiquan people

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by jgd
adding

[damdao]

2 hours ago, jgd said:

 

 

If I remember well Bagua-Xingyi arrived at the mountain in the 1930's with an exchange between Xu benshang and a li cunyi student. Same for taijiquan, it's a yang taijiquan version probably exchanged by Song weiyi when he was teaching sword to taijiquan people

 

 

That's true, and the Xingyi from that period was transformed and merged with elements of Longmen boxing arts.
Referring to Wudang as a unified entity is misleading. Today, we see the Sanfeng daolu, often described as 'Yang-style Taiji with low stances,' but there are also Longmen, Songxi, and Chungyan traditions, along with remnants of Dan Pai, Ziran, and others. The latter two had ceased to exist as independent lineages by the early 20th century. Therefore, it's essential to trace the so-called Taiji of Longmen and Songxi back to their likely sources—there's no need to attribute these arts (Longmen and Songxi pai) to any government scheme or institutional design.