Zhang Sanfeng

Zhang Sanfeng (also spelled Zhang San Feng, Chang San-Feng) refers to a legendary Chinese Taoist who many believe invented T'ai chi ch'üan. However, other sources point to early versions of Tai Chi predating Sanfeng. He was purported to have achieved immortality.

History

According to various accounts, he was born in Shaowu, Nanping, Fujian near the end of the Southern Song dynasty (around 1270 C.E.) and lived for over 211 years until the mid-Ming dynasty. His given name was Tong (通) and his courtesy name was Junbao (). He specialised in Confucian and Taoist studies, scholarly and literary arts. During the reign of Emperor Shizu in the Yuan dynasty, he was nominated as a candidate to join the civil service and held office as the Magistrate of Boling County (博陵縣; around present-day Dingzhou, Baoding, Hebei). While touring around the mountainous regions near present-day Baoji, Shaanxi, he saw the summits of three mountains and decided to give himself the Taoist name "Sanfengzi" (三丰子), hence he also became known as "Zhang Sanfeng".

Zhang Sanfeng's life was one of indifference to fame and wealth. After declining to serve the government and giving away his property to his clan, he travelled around China and lived as an ascetic. He spent several years on Mount Hua before settling in the Wudang Mountains.

Legend

Zhang Sanfeng is purported as having created the concept of ''neijia'' () in Chinese martial arts, specifically ''taijiquan'', a Neo-Confucian syncretism of Shaolin martial arts with his mastery of ''daoyin'' (or ''neigong'') principles. On one occasion, he observed a bird attacking a snake and was greatly inspired by the snake's defensive tactics. It remained still and alert in the face of the bird's onslaught until it made a lunge and fatally bit its attacker. This incident inspired him to create a set of 72 ''taijiquan'' movements.Mount Wudang -- Abode of Immortals and a Martial Monk
, by staff reporter Huo Jianying (front page) He is also associated with the Taoist monasteries in the Wudang Mountains.

Huang Zongxi's ''Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan'' (1669) gave Zhang Sanfeng credit for the development of a Taoist "internal martial arts" style, as opposed to the "external" style of the Shaolin martial arts tradition. Stanley Henning's article, ''Ignorance, Legend and Taijiquan'', criticised the myth that Zhang Sanfeng created ''taijiquan'' and cast doubt on whether Zhang really existed.

Zhang Sanfeng was also an expert in the White Crane and Snake styles of Chinese martial arts, and in the use of the ''jian'' (double-edged Chinese sword). According to 19th century documents preserved in the archives of the Yang and Wu-styles ''taijiquan'' families, Zhang Sanfeng's master was Xu Xuanping, a Tang dynasty Taoist poet and ''daoyin'' expert. The ''taijiquan'' families who honour Zhang Sanfeng as the creator of ''taijiquan'' traditionally celebrate his birthday on the ninth day of the third month in the Chinese calendar.

Writings

Writings attributed to Zhang Sanfeng include the ''Da Dao Lun'' (), ''Xuanji Zhi Jiang'' (), ''Xuan Tan Quanji'' (), ''Xuan Yao Pian'' (), ''Wu Gen Shu Ci'' () and others. These were compiled into a collection known as ''The Complete Collection of Mr Zhang Sanfeng'' (), which is found in ''Dao Zang Ji Yao'' (), a series of Taoist texts compiled by Peng Dingqiu () in the early Qing dynasty. It also contained introductory notes on Taoist martial arts and music.

In folktales, fiction and media

Literature

Owing to his legendary status, Zhang Sanfeng's name appears in Chinese ''wuxia'' novels, films and television series as a spiritual teacher and martial arts master and monk.. Zhang Sanfeng's popularity among the Chinese is also attributed to his personality and association with Confucianism and Taoism. The best known depiction of Zhang Sanfeng in fiction is probably in Jin Yong's ''wuxia'' novel ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'', which is primarily set in the final years of the Yuan dynasty. In the novel, Zhang Sanfeng is a former Shaolin monk who founded the Wudang Sect based in the Wudang Mountains. He has seven apprentices, the "Seven Heroes of Wudang", one of whom is the father of the novel's protagonist, Zhang Wuji. According to many regional gazettes, Zhang Sanfeng was still alive in the reign of the Tianshun Emperor (r. 1457–1464) in the Ming dynasty, having lived for more than 200 years.

Film and television

*Portrayed by Kenny Ho in the 1991 Chinese Television System television series ''Young Zhang Sanfeng''.
*Portrayed by Jet Li in the 1993 film '' Tai Chi Master''.
*Portrayed by Sammo Hung in the 1993 ''Kung Fu Cult Master''
*Portrayed by Eddie Kwan in the 1996 TVB series '' Rise of the Taiji Master''
*Portrayed by Dicky Cheung in the 2002 TV series ''Taiji Prodigy''
*Portrayed by Vincent Zhao in the 2002 TV series ''Wudang I'' and its sequel, 2005 TV series ''Wudang II''.
*Portrayed by Yu Chenghui in the 2009 Wenzhou TV series ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''
*Portrayed by Seo Hyun-Chul in the 2015-2016 SBS TV series ''Six Flying Dragons''.
*Portrayed by Liu Yi Chen in the 2018 film Zhang Sanfeng: Peerless Hero and its 2020 sequel Tai Chi Hero.
*Portrayed by Donnie Yen in the 2022 film '' New Kung Fu Cult Master 1''.

Notes

References

*Wile, Douglas ''Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the late Ch'ing Dynasty'' (1996) State University of New York Press, Albany.
*Albert Liu, ''Nei Jia Quan: Internal Martial Arts'', North Atlantic Books, 2004
*''Journal of Asian Martial Arts'' Volume 16, No. 4, 2007. Via Media Publishing, Santa Fe, New Mexico USA.

External links

Master Chang San-Feng
by Michael P. Garofalo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Sanfeng
Yuan dynasty Taoists
Qigong
Ming dynasty Taoists
People from Fuxin
Writers from Liaoning
Chinese spiritual writers
Yuan dynasty writers
Ming dynasty writers