Zhang Sanfeng was in Wudang Mountain. One day, he was chanting in the house, and he heard a magpie calling in the yard, as if arguing about something. Zhang Sanfork looked out of the window and saw a magpie staring down like an eagle on a cypress tree, while a long snake on the ground held its head high and stared at the magpie on the tree. The snake and a magpie seem to be arguing about something. In the struggle, I saw the magpie swooping down singing, spreading its wings and hitting the snake on the ground. The snakehead just left the magpie's wings. The magpie missed and flew back to the tree. After a while, the magpie flew down and hit the snake with its wings. I saw the snake winding and flashing, and made a disk without moving. So many times in a row, the magpie failed to hit the snake on the ground. Later, Zhang Sanfeng came out of the room, the magpie flew away and the snake crawled away. Zhang Sanfeng thus realized that Taiji combines rigidity with softness, and founded Tai Ji Chuan according to the principle of the change of Yin and Yang in Taiji.
As for the founder of Tai Ji Chuan, boxers from the Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China all called Zhang Sanfeng, a Taoist priest in Wudang in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, as the founder. There was not much doubt at that time.
The story told by Yang Chengfu is just a legend of past dynasties, which is not sufficient. But there is no doubt that Tai Ji Chuan's connotation and principles of attack and defense are based on the Taoist spirit. It can be said that there is a legend of a famous Taoist in history, which in turn proves that this kind of boxing must come down in one continuous line with the popular spirit of Taoism.
Zhang Sanfeng's creation of boxing is also recorded in Wang Zhengnan's epitaph: "Shaolin is famous for its bravery in boxing, but people can also take advantage of it. There is a saying that people in the family use static brakes and criminals are servants. So I chose Shaolin as my home and established Zhang Sanfeng in the Song Dynasty. Sanfeng is the alchemist of wu-tang clan, and Hui Zong called him, so he can't go in. At night, I dreamed that Yuan Di taught boxing, and it was clear that one ding killed more than a hundred thieves. " In his dream, Zhang Sanfeng got Tai Chi Chuan Fa and killed hundreds of thieves when he got up in the morning. This is another legend, but static braking is Tai Ji Chuan's offensive and defensive principle. It can be seen that the development of Wushu principle to static braking is actually the inheritance of Taoist cultural spirit.
The above statement was widely circulated in the boxer rebellion in the Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China. The Five Tangmen of Taoism, founded by Zhang Sanfeng, is based on Taiji Innate Learning and Inner alchemy, supplemented by Neijia Boxing, which conforms to the purpose of Tai Ji Chuan. So boxers all respect Zhang Sanfeng as the ancestor of Tai Ji Chuan. However, whether Zhang Erfeng's fist creation is true or not, it is good that Tai Ji Chuan belongs to Taoism in culture.
However, Tang Hao, a modern martial arts theorist, believes that Tai Ji Chuan actually came from Chen Jiagou, wen county, Henan Province in the late Ming Dynasty. According to Chen's genealogy, Chen, also known as Zou Ting, is Chen IX of Chenjiagou; Grandpa Sigui, a courtier in Didao County, Shaanxi Province, was founded in the second year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1663); Father helped the people, recruited talents, and the monument was built in the fourth year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (1665); Brother Yujie, born in embarrassment, also known as Xi Dan, has a monument; According to the Ming History, Chen Zijie was appointed as the suggestion of Huguang Road, and in the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1573), he was promoted to be the deputy envoy of Shandong. According to research, Chen was born in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and was contemporary with the famous family boxer Wang Zhengnan.
According to the Records of Wenxian County, Chen was a "resident" in Wenxian County in the 14th year of Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty (164 1). After the death of the Ming dynasty, the overall situation has been set. With a feeling of frustration and melancholy, he retired and devoted himself to farming, lived in seclusion, converted to Laozi and Zhuangzi, cultivated himself and entertained himself. He converted to Taoism, studied Huang Ting's and Yi's theories, and combined them with Tai Ji Chuan's reasons as a kind of boxing. According to "Chen Style Boxing Manual", besides Wang Ting's original "Chen Style Boxer's Knife and Gun", there are Tai Chi Chuan (13 potential boxers) No.5, long boxing 180 potential boxers and cannon hammers all the way. This is the famous biography of Chen Taiji in the future.
Tang Hao's statement has some truth, but a deeper analysis shows that Tai Ji Chuan's cultural refuge and theoretical framework were not created by Chen alone. It is very likely that Chen transformed his original foreign boxing with Tai Ji Chuan's cultural refuge and theoretical framework, which can be seen from the fact that Chen Tai Ji Chuan still retains more rigid movements and jumping movements. However, Taiji Chen Chuan has made great contributions to the development of modern Tai Ji Chuan.
In addition, according to relevant historical data, Tai Ji Chuan was originally named Thirteen Divisions, Changquan and Cannonball. There is no Tai Chi Chuan. It was not until Wu Yuxiang (18 12- 1880), a famous master of Tai Ji Chuan in the late Qing Dynasty, sorted out eight pieces of Tai Ji Chuan Spectrum and recorded On Mountain Tour, Wang Zongyue and Tai Ji Chuan that it was named Tai Ji Chuan for the first time.