Sun Lu-t'ang or Sun Lutang (1860-1933) was a renowned master of Chinese
neijia
''Neijia'' ( 內家) is a term in Chinese martial arts, grouping those styles that practice ''neijing'', usually translated as internal martial arts, occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an "external" approach ...
(internal) martial arts and was the progenitor of the
syncretic
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
art of
Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan
The Sun style (孙氏) t'ai chi ch'uan is well known for its smooth, flowing movements which omit the more physically vigorous crouching, leaping and fa jin of some other styles. Its gentle postures and high stances make it very suitable for ...
.
He was also considered an accomplished
Neo-Confucian
Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in th ...
and
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
scholar (especially in the
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
), and was a distinguished contributor to the theory of internal martial arts through his many published works.
Biography
He was born in Hebei and was named Sun Fuquan () by his parents. Years later, his
Baguazhang
Baguazhang or Pakua chang () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being T'ai chi and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). ''Bāguà zhǎng'' literally m ...
teacher
Cheng Tinghua
Cheng Tinghua (also known as Cheng Yingfang) () (1848–1900) was a renowned master of Chinese Neijia (internal) martial art Bagua Zhang.
Biography
Born in the Cheng family village, Shen County, Hebei (now in Shandong), he was the third of fou ...
() gave him the name Sun Lutang. (It was common in old China for people to have multiple
names
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A persona ...
). He continued to use his original name in some areas, including the publishing of his books.
He was also well-versed in two other
internal martial arts
''Neijia'' ( 內家) is a term in Chinese martial arts, grouping those styles that practice ''neijing'', usually translated as internal martial arts, occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an " external" approach ...
:
xingyiquan
Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist".
Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements ...
(hsing-i ch'uan) and
baguazhang
Baguazhang or Pakua chang () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being T'ai chi and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). ''Bāguà zhǎng'' literally m ...
(pa-kua chang) before he came to study
taijiquan
Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. Ta ...
(t'ai chi ch'uan). His expertise in these two martial arts were so high that many regarded him as without equal. Sun learned
Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'uan
Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'üan was created by Wu Yuxiang (, birth name Wu Heqing, , 1812?–1880?), a member of a wealthy and influential family in Yongnian, Hebei, China. Wu trained for approximately ten years with the founder of Yang-styl ...
from
Hao Wei-chen
Hao Weizhen (1842–1920), or Hao Wei-chen, was a Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) teacher. Hao became a well known and influential teacher of Wu Yu-hsiang's style of t'ai chi ch'uan, his teacher Li I-yu was Wu Yu-hsiang's nephew. Hao pass ...
.
Sun started studying with Hao relatively late in his life, but his accomplishments in the other two internal arts led him to develop his t'ai chi abilities to a high standard more quickly than is usual.
He subsequently was invited by
Yang Shao-hou
Yang Shaohou (, Pinyin: Yáng Shàohóu; 1862-1930) was a Chinese martial arts master who, along with Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫; 1883-1936), represents the third generation of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan. Grandmaster of his generation and known for ...
,
Yang Chengfu
Yang Chengfu or Yang Ch'eng-fu (1883–1936) is historically considered the best known teacher of the soft style martial art of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan (Yang-style Taijiquan).
Biography
Yang Chengfu was born into the famous Yang Taijiquan ...
and
Wu Chien-ch'üan
Wu Chien-ch'uan or Wu Jianquan (1870–1942) was a famous teacher and founder of the neijia martial art of Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan in late Imperial and early Republican China.
Biography
Wu Chien-ch'uan was taught martial arts by his father, ...
to join them on the faculty of the
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
Physical Education Research Institute where they taught t'ai chi to the public after 1914.
Sun taught there until 1928, a seminal period in the development of modern
Yang
Yang may refer to:
* Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy
* Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902
* YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration pr ...
,
Wu and
Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan
The Sun style (孙氏) t'ai chi ch'uan is well known for its smooth, flowing movements which omit the more physically vigorous crouching, leaping and fa jin of some other styles. Its gentle postures and high stances make it very suitable for ...
.
Family
In 1891 he married Zhang Zhouxian, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.
* First son, Sun Xingyi (孫星一; 1891-1929)
* Second son, Sun Cunzhou (孫存周; 1893-1963)
* Third son, Sun Wuzi (孫务滋; 1897-1922)
* Daughter, Sun Jianyun (孫劍雲; 1913-2003)
Teachers
*
Xingyiquan
Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist".
Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements ...
from Li Kuiyuan (), and later from
Guo Yunshen
Guo Yunshen () (1829 - 1898) was a famous Xingyiquan master. He represented the xingyi martial philosophy of preferring to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skill wi ...
() (from 1882).
*
Baguazhang
Baguazhang or Pakua chang () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being T'ai chi and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). ''Bāguà zhǎng'' literally m ...
from
Cheng Tinghua
Cheng Tinghua (also known as Cheng Yingfang) () (1848–1900) was a renowned master of Chinese Neijia (internal) martial art Bagua Zhang.
Biography
Born in the Cheng family village, Shen County, Hebei (now in Shandong), he was the third of fou ...
() (from 1891).
*
Wu (Hao)-style taijiquan
Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'üan was created by Wu Yuxiang (, birth name Wu Heqing, , 1812?–1880?), a member of a wealthy and influential family in Yongnian, Hebei, China. Wu trained for approximately ten years with the founder of Yang-style ...
from
Hao Wei-chen
Hao Weizhen (1842–1920), or Hao Wei-chen, was a Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) teacher. Hao became a well known and influential teacher of Wu Yu-hsiang's style of t'ai chi ch'uan, his teacher Li I-yu was Wu Yu-hsiang's nephew. Hao pass ...
() (from 1911).
T'ai chi ch'uan lineage tree with Sun-style focus
Publications
In later life, he published five martial arts texts which were also later translated to English recently:
*''Xingyiquan xue'' (A study of form mind boxing) 1915
*''Baguaquan xue'' (A study of eight trigrams boxing) 1916
*''Taijiquan xue'' (A study of grand ultimate boxing) 1921
*''Baguajian xue'' (A study of eight trigrams straight sword) 1927
*''Quanyi Shuzhen'' (An explanation of the essence of boxing)
He also wrote a study of Bagua
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
, though this was never published.
References
External links
Sun-style websiteSun-style ForumSun's Tai Chi Research Institute - seccion sudamerica(
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
copy)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Lutang
1860 births
1933 deaths
Chinese baguazhang practitioners
Chinese tai chi practitioners
Chinese xingyiquan practitioners
Martial arts school founders
Sportspeople from Baoding
Martial arts writers