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

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). *

from

() (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

() (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