YANG CHENGFU

'Yang Chengfu' (Hanyu Pinyin), or 'Yang Ch'eng-fu' (Wade-Giles) ( 楊澄甫, 1883-1936) is historically considered the best known teacher of the soft style martial art of Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan).
His direct descendants, the many students he taught and their students have spread the art around the world. He was born into the famous Yang Taijiquan family, the son of Yang Chien-hou and grandson of Yang Lu-chan. With his older brother Yang Shao-hou (楊少侯) and colleagues Wu Jianquan (吳鑑泉) and Sun Lutang (孫錄堂), he was among the first teachers to offer Tai Chi Chuan instruction to the general public at the Beijing Physical Culture Research Institute from 1914 until 1928. He moved to Shanghai in 1928. He is known for having "smoothed" out the somewhat more vigorous training routine he learned from his family as well as emphasising a "large frame" or "Da Jia 大架" with expansive movements in stepping and using large circular motions with the arms. His smooth, evenly-paced large frame form and its hundreds of offshoots has been the standard for Yang style Tai Chi Chuan (and overwhelmingly in the public imagination for Tai Chi Chuan in general) ever since.
Tung Ying-chieh (Dong Yingjie, 董英杰, 1898-1961), Ch'en Wei-ming (Chen Weiming), Fu Zhongwen (Fu Chung-wen, 1903-1994), Li Yaxuan (李雅轩, 1894-1976) and Cheng Man-ch'ing were famous students of Yang Ch'eng-fu. Each of them taught extensively, founding groups teaching T'ai Chi to this day. Cheng Man-ch'ing, perhaps the most famous outside of China, significantly shortened and simplified the traditional forms Yang taught him after his teacher's passing, reportedly to make them more accessible to larger numbers of students. Although Cheng's modifications are considered controversial by most other schools and are not recognized by the Yang family, Cheng Man-ch'ing is known as the first to teach T'ai Chi Ch'üan in the West.
His sons have continued to teach their father's Taijiquan, including his first son, the late Yang Zhenming (1910-1985) (a.k.a. Yang Shaozhong, Yang Shao-Chung, Yeung Shao-Chung; 楊守中), who brought Yang style Tai Chi Chuan to Hong Kong, his second son Yang Zhenji (born 1921, current head of the family), and his third son, Yang Zhenduo (楊振鐸, born 1926), living in Shanxi Province, who is widely considered the most prominent of the Yang family Tai Chi Chuan instructors living today.

Contents

T'ai Chi family tree

External links

T'ai Chi family tree

This family tree is not comprehensive.
'LEGENDARY FIGURES'
|
Zhang Sanfeng
★
circa 12th century
NEI CHIA
|
Wang Zongyue
★
T'AI CHI CH'ÜAN
|
'THE 5 MAJOR CLASSICAL FAMILY STYLES'
|
Chen Wangting
1600-1680 9th generation Chen
CHEN STYLE
|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
Chen Changxing Chen Youben
1771-1853 14th generation Chen circa 1800s 14th generation Chen
Chen Old Frame Chen New Frame
| |
Yang Lu-ch'an Chen Qingping
1799–1872 1795–1868
YANG STYLE Chen Small Frame, Zhaobao Frame
| |
+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+ |
| | | |
Yang Pan-hou Yang Chien-hou Wu Yu-hsiang
1837–92 1839–1917 1812–80
Yang Small Frame | WU/HAO STYLE
| +-----------------+ |
| | | |
Wu Ch'uan-yü Yang Shao-hou Yang Ch'eng-fu Li I-yü
1834–1902 1862–1930 1883–1936 1832–92
| Yang Small Frame Yang Big Frame |
Wu Chien-ch'üan | Hao Wei-chen
1870–1942 Yang Shou-chung 1849–1920
WU STYLE 1910–85
108 Form |
| Sun Lu-t'ang
Wu Kung-i 1861–1932
1900–70 SUN STYLE
| |
Wu Ta-kuei Sun Hsing-i
1923–72 1891–1929 1891-1929
'Note to Family tree table'
Names denoted by an asterisk are legendary or semilegendary figures in the lineage, which means their involvement in the lineage, while accepted by most of the major schools, isn't independently verifiable from known historical records.

External links

★ Yang Chengfu Family Website

★ Yang Chengfu Tai Chi Posture

★ Dong Tai Chi home page

★ Authentic Yang Tai Chi

★ Yang Shouchung Disciple's Website

★ Yang Cheng-Fu Biography

★ Li Yaxuan home page (in Chinese)

★ Several pages comparing the solo form postures of Yang Chengfu and Dong Yingjie

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★ 1st section

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★ 2nd section

★
★ 3rd section