Chen Wangting (1580–1660),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Zouting (奏廷), was a

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

officer who founded

Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan The Chen family-style (陳家、陳氏、陳式太極拳) or Chen-style Taijiquan is a Northern Chinese martial art and the original form of Taiji. Chen-style is characterized by silk reeling (纏絲勁; chán sī jìn), alternating fast and ...

, one of the five major styles of the popular

Chinese martial art Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

. Sometimes called Chen Wang Ting, he devised the Chen family-style of t'ai chi ch'uan in his home of Chenjiagou, Wenxian county,

Henan province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

after he retired there following the fall of the Ming dynasty.

Military career

During the Ming Dynasty, Chen served as Commander of the Wen County garrison, and was distinguished for his protection of merchant caravans in Henan and Shandong. After the Ming Dynasty ended and the reign of the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

began, Chen's military career was effectively over, and he retired to the family settlement.

Influence on t'ai chi ch'uan

Whether or not Chen invented the earliest form of t'ai chi ch'uan is in dispute. Traditional folklore and many lineages name the semi-mythical figure of

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 hav ...

, a

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 ...

monk, as the progenitor of the art. Two widely documented theories of Chen's martial arts work exist: the first is that he learnt his arts from

Wang Zongyue Wang Zongyue was a legendary figure in the history of t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan). In some writings, Wang was a famous student of the legendary Zhang Sanfeng, a 13th-century Taoist monk credited with devising neijia in general and t'ai chi ch ...

and the Wudang tradition developed by Zhang Sanfeng. The second theory — the one accepted by the Chen family, and supported by historical evidence — is that he combined his previous military experience and the theories of Jingluo and

Daoyin Daoyin is a series of cognitive body and mind unity exercises practiced as a form of Taoist neigong, meditation and mindfulness to cultivate '' jing'' (essence) and direct and refine '' qi'', the internal energy of the body according to Traditio ...

with the popular teachings of Qi Jiguang. His complete work contained five smaller sets of forms, a 108-move Long Fist routine, and a Cannon Fist routine. Chen is also credited with the invention of the first push hands exercises. Chen also practiced a few Shaolin forms, and some historians postulate that Shaolin arts also had a significant influence on his t'ai chi, though none of the

influences on Chen family t'ai chi exist in the Shaolin tradition. Chen Wangting's next well-known successor was the 14th generation Chen Changxing (1771–1853), who was the direct teacher of the founder of Yang-style tai chi chuan:

Yang Luchan Yang Lu-ch'an or Yang Luchan, also known as Yang Fu-k'ui or Yang Fukui (1799–1872), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan). He is known as the founder of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'u ...

T'ai chi ch'uan lineage tree with Chen-style focus

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Wangting 1580 births 1660 deaths Chinese tai chi practitioners Ming dynasty generals Sportspeople from Henan People from Jiaozuo Generals from Henan