A Research On The Relationship Between Zhang Sanfeng And Tai Chi Chuan

Zhang Sanfeng was a legendary figure in the history of Taoism in China. There is a lot of controversyabout the origin and development of Tai Chi Chuan in the circle of martial arts. Some people think thatZhang Sanfeng was the creator of Tai Chi Chuan. Based on a thorough analysis of the related literatureabout Zhang Sanfeng and Tai Chi Chuan and taking ancient documents, physical relics and archaeologicaldata as the basis, the paper first studies Zhang Sanfeng’s native place, the time when he lived, his name androutes of his travels. Although many statements about Zhang Sanfeng’s native place exist, there is solidevidence that he was born in Yizhou, Liaodong of ancient China. It is confirmed that he lived in the periodfrom the early Yuan Dynasty to Ming Dynasty instead of Song Dynasty. In regard to his travel routes, theyare complex with the route map given. On the basis of the research of his native place, name, time androute of his route, there is no relationship between Zhang Sanfeng and Tai Chi Chuan.Secondly, based on the study of the relationship between Book of Changes and Tai Chi, between Bookof Changes and the origin of Tai Chi Chuan theory, and between Book of Changes and the origin of namefor different forms of Tai Chi Chuan, the paper analyzes the theories concerning the creation of Tai ChiChuan by Zhang Sanfeng in Song Dynasty, by Zhang Sanfeng in Ming Dynasty, by Wang Zongyue in QingDynasty and by Chen Wangting. It points out that there is no relationship between the creation of Tai ChiChuan and Zhang Sanfeng in Song Dynasty or Zhang Sanfeng in Ming Dynasty.Thirdly, the paper elaborates the relationship between Tai Chi Chuan and Zhang Sanfeng from fouraspects. Through a large number of reference to literature, the paper concludes that there is no connectionamong Zhang Sanfeng’s native place, name, physical characteristics, living habits and the creation of TaiChi Chuan. Literature recorded that Zhang Sanfeng had nothing to do with the creation of Tai Chi Chuan.He was Taoist theorist and practitioner. It was also recorded that there was no relationship between Mingemperor’s search for Zhang Sanfeng and the creation of Tai Chi Chuan, between Zhang Sanfeng’sprescription and the creation of Tai Chi Chuan. He may be a genius doctor, but he couldn’t have created TaiChi Chuan. On the basis of a lot of research and analysis of material objects and relics, including theinscription on the tablet which recorded the information of Zhang Sanfeng, such as his native place, travel routes, interaction with other people and Emperor Yongle’s search for Zhang Sanfeng, he didn’t seem toachieve any success in Tai Chi Chuan or Neijia Fist. By exploring a large number of Zhang Sanfeng’spossessions, the places he had been and poems handed down from Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, thefact that he bore no relation to Tai Chi Chuan is further proved. The research on South Lei Wending WangZhengna Epitaph, the only archaeological data available at present, suggests that the image of immortalizedZhang Sanfeng with Tai Chi Chuan was adapted from the one with Neijia Fist. In Sanfeng Encyclopedia,the so-called origin of Neijia Fist mentioned by Wang Yuyang is cited from South Lei Wending WangZhengna Epitaph written by Huang Zongxi under the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1669). Therefore, the claimthat Emperor Xuanwu taught Tai Chi Chuan to Zhang Sanfeng is ridiculous. There is another theory thatTai Chi Chuan was taught by Zhang Sanfeng in Song Dynasty, which was inferred from Epitaph recordingmisinformation about Wang Zong and Wang Zongyue. Since there is no evidence that Tai Chi Chuan wasNeijia Fist, it can be verified that neither of them was created by the immortalized Zhang Sanfeng. Thetheory that Zhang Sanfeng who adapted Neijia Fist was the one who created Tai Chi Chuan was producedafter the publication of Sanfeng Encyclopedia. The theory advocated by Wang Zongyue had nothing to dowith Zhang Sanfeng and Tai Chi Chuan was not created by Zhang Sanfeng.