Yang Shao-hou

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.
楊少侯
Yang Shaohou
Yangshaohou.jpg
BornYang Zhaoxiong (楊兆熊)
1862 (1862)
Yongnian County, Heibei, China
Died1930 (aged 67–68)
Nanjing, China
Other namesYang Mengxiang (杨梦祥)
StyleYang-style t'ai chi ch'uan
Notable studentsWu Kung-i (吳公儀),
Wu Kung-tsao (吴公藻),
Tung Ying-chieh (董英傑),
Tung Hu-ling (董虎嶺),
Chen Weiming (陳微明),
Xu Yusheng (許禹生),
Tian Zhaolin (田兆麟),
Yang Zhensheng (楊振聲),
Wu Tunan (吴图南),
Zhang Huchen (张虎臣),
Gu Lüping (顾履平)
Yang Shao-hou
Traditional Chinese楊少侯
Simplified Chinese杨少侯

Yang Shaohou (Chinese: 楊少侯, Pinyin: Yáng Shàohóu; 1862-1930) was a Chinese martial arts master who, along with Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫; 1883-1936), represents the third generation of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan. Grandmaster of his generation and known for his compact "small frame" techniques, he was a ferocious fighter and a demanding teacher.

Early life[]

Yang began learning t'ai chi ch'uan at age 7, in Beijing under his father Yang Jianhou, his uncle Yang Banhou (who formally adopted him), and his grandfather — the founder of Yang-style t'ai chi — Yang Luchan. His name at birth was Yang Zhaoxiong (楊兆熊, Pinyin: Yáng Zhàoxióng). But as was common in the era, as he reached adulthood he took the courtesy name Yang Mengxiang (楊梦祥, Pinyin: Yáng Mèngxiáng), and after he earned a reputation he changed it to Yang Shaohou. Shaohou can be translated as "young noble", and makes use of the "hou" (侯) character from his father's and uncle's names in a reflection of respect for his lineage and his status as grandmaster of his generation.[1]

Career[]

Many of his contemporaries called him "Mr. Big" (大先生, Pinyin: dà xiānshēng), which can also be translated as "Mr. Eldest" or "Mr. Great" — a play on words as he was the eldest brother in his family, the senior disciple and grandmaster of his t'ai chi generation, and a great fighter who loomed large in the fears of many — while others called him "Thousand Hands Guanyin" (千手觀音, Pinyin: Qiānshǒu Guānyīn) or "Holy Hands Guanyin" (聖手觀音, Shèngshǒu Guānyīn), which was in praise of his pushing hands techniques, as unlike that deity he was not known for his compassion.[2]

Yang Shaohou had a very forceful nature, and like his uncle Banhou he was a demanding teacher, only interested in students that could stand their tough training regimes. It is said that he enforced low stance training by making students perform postures underneath food preparation tables, he preferred to demonstrate rather than explain, and he was not known for pulling his punches. Often as soon as he crossed hands with a student in push hands, he attacked suddenly with great force, and the student did not know what to do. This approach attracted few, but he in fact preferred to limit and focus his time and attention as a teacher.[3][4]

He taught at the Beiping Sports Research Institute (北平體育研究社, Pinyin: Běipíng Tǐyù Yánjiūshè) as well as an associated institute and club, but preferred to give private lessons to disciples and other serious students in small groups or individual sessions. He briefly travelled to teach in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing, but preferred Beijing. Everywhere he went, he earned his reputation as an indomitable fighter, but as a teacher only to a select few.[5]

He also practiced traditional Chinese medicine, treating patients with a combination of Yang family herbal formulas and a prescription of regular t'ai chi practice. Upon curing one municipal official of a liver ailment with just such a combination, he gained a great following and 200 citizens of that town asked him to train them in t'ai chi. However he remained very selective about which students he took on — some would say impatient and irritable — and trained only the official that time, but work like this did help to establish strong ties between government officials and the Yang family.[6]

Sixth generation Yang style Master Yang Jun reports family tradition describing him like this: "The spirit from his eyes would shoot out in all directions, flashing like lightning. Combined with a sneer, a sinister laugh, and the sounds of "Heng!" and "Ha!", his imposing manner was quite threatening."[7]

Small Frame, Little Fame[]

Founding Generations[]

The t'ai chi ch'uan of Yang Shaohou and his younger brother Yang Chengfu represent the final refinement of the three founding generations of Yang family t'ai chi ch'uan. Disciples and students of Yang Shaohou t'ai chi hold that Yang style founder Yang Luchan's "old frame" (老架, Pinyin: lǎojià) t'ai chi from the beginning contained the potential for what over time was separated into the two approaches those brothers now represent, Yang Shaohou's "small frame" (小架, Pinyin: xiǎojià) and Yang Chengfu's "large frame" (大架, Pinyin: dàjià). Today practitioners of the small frame often call their approach the "yong jia" (用架, Pinyin: yòngjià) which can be translated as "application frame", and the large frame the "lian jia" (練架, Pinyin: liànjià) or "training frame", though in fact both include training and applications.[8]

By the third generation, the Yang family masters tended to teach the large frame to the public, while reserving the small frame and related training for palace officials, disciples, and other serious students. The large frame can be easier to teach to a big group, with relatively wide easy-to-see movements, and can be learned for health or for martial application. The small frame with its small circles is complex and difficult to master, and the training more quickly focuses on applications. The small frame was also better suited to students wearing imperial robes. But in the first two generations, all variations retained sudden bursts of speed, high kicks, low stances, leaps, and "fa jin" (發勁; Pinyin: fājìn) or explosive energy.[9]

In the second generation the focus of two sons diverged as they refined their teaching methods, as would happen again in the next generation. Second generation master Yang Jianhou developed his "middle frame" (中架, Pinyin: zhōngjià) form with a focus on bringing all the benefits of t'ai chi to more people, while his older brother and the grandmaster of that generation, Yang Banhou, concentrated on a more demanding range of training that appealed to few students. Banhou trained not only with their father Luchan but also with Wu (Hao) style founder Wu Yuxiang, building a reputation as a top fighter and accepting the most serious students only. Today some still practice Yang Banhou forms in large, medium, small, and fast frame, all very vigorous and strenuous, with such a difficult range of heights that some have called them "low frame", and he is especially known for his small frame form.[10]

Also in the second generation, Manchu military officer Wu Quanyou trained under Yang Luchan and Yang Banhou, and began development of the small frame Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan for the Manchurian palace guard. As noted above, small frame t'ai chi was particularly effective for those wearing imperial robes. In the next generation, his son Wu Jianquan would join him in cofounding the Wu style.[11]

In the third generation, Yang Chengfu widely promoted the large frame, standardizing that form with all slow movements suitable for teaching a wider range of students, and seldom taught or even mentioned the small frame, middle frame, or any fast form. He and his disciples established many training classes across China and published many books, all on only the large frame slow form and its associated two-person sets and applications. This is now the most famous and most widely practiced style of t'ai chi in the world.[12]

Meanwhile Yang Shaohou, after initially teaching his father Jianhou's middle frame, dedicated himself to his uncle Banhou's approach, further refining the small frame into his signature style. Twenty-one years older than Chengfu, he was of a more traditional generation that did not reveal everything about a martial art to the general public, and he did not have the temperament for such promotion anyway. Although he taught a minimal number of public classes on the large frame at a few institutes and clubs, Yang Shaohou preferred to focus on the small frame with just a few "indoor" disciples and other serious students who had already mastered the large frame or the Wu style, in small private sessions at private homes. As a result, his art is far less famous than his brother's.[13]

Modern Lineages[]

Yang Shaohou's t'ai chi is characterized by high and low postures, small complex circular movements, frequent changes of pace, and sharp crisp fa jin (發勁; Pinyin: fājìn) or "explosive energy" techniques accompanied by "heng" (哼, Pinyin: hēng) and "ha" (哈, Pinyin: hā) sounds.[14]

According to an authoritative survey published in 2006, this has come down to us through just a few small select lineages today, each with a unique approach:[15]

Yang Shaohou → Wu Tunan (吴图南, Pinyin: Wú Túnán; 1884-1989)

The empty-hand form taught by Wu Tunan generally follows the 73 posture sequence of the old Yang style. It contains 37 core postures plus repeats and transitions, and instructors often present it in 50 to 139 moves. In a 1928 publication Wu called it the "Three Generations Seven" (三世七) form,[16] referring to the 37 postures and perhaps also in homage to the t'ai chi of Song Shuming (宋書銘),[17] but today it is generally referred to as simply the "small frame form" or "application form". The movements are short with small circles and clear practical application, performed vigorously and fast, in as little as two and a half minutes.[18]
Videos of Wu Tunan from the 1980s show him at around age 100 performing the form mostly at one height within a small area,[19] but photos from the 1920s through the 1960s show him performing high kicks and extremely low postures,[20] while his students Yu Zhijun (于志钧, Pinyin: Yú Zhìjūn) and Li Lian (李琏, Pinyin: Lǐ Liǎn) have published books demonstrating the same form with deep crouches, high kicks, and higher leaps, and in some videos Li uses a much wider area. Yu and Li are also known for their push hands and application skills, as was Wu Tunan. Yu's book on Wu Tunan and his t'ai chi includes Wu-style sword forms.[21]
Wu accepted only two disciples, Ma Youqing and Sim Pooh Ho. Li Lian was a formal disciple of Ma, but also trained directly with Wu for twenty years, and is the foremost representative of this small frame lineage in mainland China today, while Sim Pooh Ho founded a school in Singapore that has trained European instructors as well and offers a broad t'ai chi curriculum. Yu Zhijun, a university professor in the history of science, trained with Wu for forty years to a high level of mastery, and published several books on tai chi including a thorough study of Wu Tunan and his martial art. (A brief biography of Wu Tunan is in the Notable Students section below.)[22]

Yang Shaohou → Zhang Huchen (张虎臣, Pinyin: Zhāng Hǔchén; 1898-1979)

Zhang Huchen was a disciple of Xu Yusheng (許禹生, Pinyin: Xǔ Yǔshēng; 1878-1945) and also trained with Yang Shaohou and Yang Chengfu. Zhang developed a complete system of small frame fast forms, which he taught in a sports training institute Xu established in Beijing.[23]
His "Three Solo Forms" are essentially the same 225 movement form, in three levels with three intents:[24]
  • Taiji Jia Shou (家手, Pinyin: jiāshǒu; "Family Hand") Solo Form - for martial arts fundamentals; about 60 min.
  • Taiji Zheng Lu (正路, Pinyin: zhènglù; "Correct Path") Solo Form - simplified, for health; about 25 minutes
  • Taiji Xiao Shi (小式, Pinyin: xiǎoshì; "Small Style") Solo Form - for martial arts techniques, including fa jin; 5 to 10 min.
The Jia Shou or family form is the foundational or original solo set, and is the training form in this system; the Zheng Lu form is the simplified set; and the Xiao She form is the application set. From these Zhang's disciple Liu Xiwen (刘习文, Pinyin: Liú Xíwén), has developed a combined form, and is also known for his push hands and application skills.[25]

Yang Shaohou → Gu Lüping (顾履平, Pinyin: Gù Lǚpíng, courtesy name 顧麗生, Gù Lìshēng, 1904-1978)

Gu Lüping trained with Yang Shaohou and Yang Chengfu in Nanjing before moving to Guizhou (贵州, Pinyin: Guìzhōu). His disciple Zhang Zhuoxing (张卓星, 1920-2001) also taught t'ai chi in Guizhou and authored books on the topic, including 太极拳锻炼要领 (Taijiquan Training Essentials), and with Gu Lüping and another teacher also 太极推手二十六式 (Tai Chi Push Hands: Twenty Six Styles). Gu's disciple Chi Qingsheng (池庆升, 1948-) brought this lineage to Hong Kong, and it has spread to Southeast Asia and the world from there.[26]
Their primary empty hand small frame solo form was originally organized into 85 postures similar to the standard Yang Chengfu pattern, yet still a different form with an "application frame" training approach including a slow-swift tempo and fa jin, and it has since been refined to 78 postures.[27]

Others

Other disciples and close students listed in the Disciples section below do not appear to have founded ongoing lineages large enough for inclusion in the 2006 survey, or they did not found lineages in only the small frame, but were active in t'ai chi and well-known during their lifetimes.[28]

Weapons

Yang Shaohou also taught at least one unique weapons form, a vigorous athletic saber (刀; Pinyin: dāo, also translated as "falchion" or "broadsword") form that includes long leaps, jump kicks, reverse spins, and challenging circles. Tung Hu Ling preserved this form as part of the Tung family t'ai chi advanced curriculum.[29]
Although Yang Shaohou undoubtedly learned other weapons forms from his father and uncle, and may have taught the more widely known Yang-style weapons forms when he deigned to teach public classes, he apparently established no specific lineage of weapons training. In fact as noted above, Yu Zhijun's thorough book on the t'ai chi of Yang Shaohou disciple Wu Tunan includes only Wu style sword forms.[30]
Yang Shaohou's favorite weapon was an iron seal-carving stylus (鐵筆/铁笔, Pinyin: tiěbǐ), preferably one in each hand. He said weapons are just extensions of the hands, and felt he could better demonstrate t'ai chi moves while holding those small pointy tools. That potentially dangerous teaching method, along with his famously crippling empty-hand attacks, have not been included in the public curriculums of subsequent generations.[31]

Notable Students[]

Internationally Well-Known Students[]

Wu Kung-i and Wu Kung-tsao trained with Yang Shaohou, based on a tradition that required they be taught by teachers of the same lineage generation as their grandfather, Wu-style cofounder Wu Ch'uan-yu, who died while they were infants. Their father Wu Chien-ch'uan and Yang Shaohou were both famous for their "small frame" martial expertise, and this training laid a strong foundation for the Wu brothers' mastery of their family style.[32] Wu Kung-i's famous 1954 public match in Macau against a master of Tibetan White Crane, and even more so his son Wu Ta-k'uei's reputation as a fierce brawler, might have made Yang Shaohou proud.[33]

Tung Ying-chieh trained with Yang Shaohou in Beijing while preparing to serve as Yang Chengfu's chief assistant instructor, and later incorporated aspects of Yang Shaohou's "small frame" and fa jin techniques into his own Tung family t'ai chi advanced fast forms. Tung taught that mastery of any size "frame" of Yang style would enable mastery of the others, and though he felt that the Yang Chengfu "large frame" was the best place to start he never criticized other frames, styles, or masters.[34]

Tung Hu-ling's training also included some time with Yang Shaohou, resulting most notably in his mastery of Yang's unique and vigorous advanced t'ai chi saber (刀; Pinyin: dāo, also translated as "falchion" or "broadsword") form. Tung Hu-ling later taught it as part of the Tung family t'ai chi advanced curriculum, and from that form also created a double saber form and versions of both forms using sticks instead of swords.[35]

Disciples and Close Students[]

In martial arts circles, Yang Shaohou regarded only Xu Yusheng (許禹生, Pinyin: Xǔ Yǔshēng; 1878-1945) and Chen Weiming (陳微明, Pinyin: Chén Wēimíng; 1881–1958) as friends and confidants. He did not formally claim them as disciples, as Xu was a disciple of his father and both of them of his younger brother, yet of all his students Xu Yusheng may have acquired the most skills in Shaohou's small frame style. Xu and Chen were highly placed and influential in official education circles, they retained the Yang brothers to teach at their institutes and clubs, and they collaborated with each other on books about Yang t'ai chi. Both had tolerant personalities that allowed them to train most harmoniously with and befriend Yang Shaohou.[36]

Yang Zhensheng (楊振聲, Pinyin: Yáng Zhènshēng; 1878-1939) trained to a high level of skill under his father Yang Shaohou and his uncle Yang Chengfu, and went on to teach t'ai chi ch'uan in Shanghai and Kunming in the 1930s. During the Japanese occupation he went missing in Hebei and was never found,[37] but three of his sons and their many descendants have continued the Yang family t'ai chi lineage.[38]

Wu Tunan (吴图南, Pinyin: Wú Túnán; 1884-1989) was Yang Shaohou's last living direct disciple. Born into a prominent Mongolian warrior clan in Beijing and originally named Ulabu (烏拉布, Pinyin: Wū Lā Bù), he was not strong as a child and so his father had him trained in martial arts. Beginning at age nine he studied the Wu style under Wu Jianquan for eight years, then Yang style under Yang Shaohou for four years. As explained above, those four years were equivalent to advanced graduate training offered only to those who had already mastered the Yang large frame or the Wu style. An educator and a scholar, Wu wrote extensively on t'ai chi, founded the lineage described above, and at age 100 was still performing his small frame form for the public. In the 1980s he received awards recognizing his lifelong accomplishments, and he died in 1989 at age 105.[39]

Other disciples and close students of Yang Shaohou include the two disciples mentioned above, Gu Luping (顾履平, Gù Lǚpíng) and Zhang Huchen (张虎臣, Zhāng Hǔchén), as well as Tian Zhaolin (田兆麟 Pinyin: Tiān Zhàolín; 1891—1959; adopted by Yang Jianhou, disciple of Jianhou and Chengfu), Dong Runfang (東潤芳, Dōng Rúnfāng), You Zhixue (尤志學, Yóu Zhìxué), Ma Runzhi (馬潤之, Mǎ Rúnzhī), and Li Shou Jian (李壽箋, Lǐ Shòujiān).

Final Years[]

Yang Shaohou found himself living in increasingly strained circumstances in Beiping after the government moved south to Nanjing in 1927. In 1928 his younger brother Yang Chengfu led a group of disciples south to establish training classes across the region, and found success. Yang Shaohou eventually accepted an invitation to teach in Nanjing arranged by a patron, the minister of transportation. But after taking up the position in the fall of 1929, he quarreled with a ministry official and left in anger. He returned to Beiping, but by that winter had traveled back to Nanjing after being unable to arrange new work.[40]

He died in January 1930, in Nanjing. According to newspaper reports at the time, he took his own life with a pair of scissors while living as a guest at the home of his patron, the transportation minister. He may have become depressed over finding himself an aging widower living in reduced circumstances, with no immediate prospects of earning a living on his own, and had been using opium. He reportedly stated he was committing suicide to protect the Yang family reputation. His patron brought him to a hospital but was unable to save him, then raised funds to assist the family, now led by Yang Chengfu, with the funeral arrangements.[41]

Yang Shaohou was initially buried in Nanjing. But after Yang Chengfu died in 1936 due to illness, Chengfu's wife Hou Zhuqing sold all her valuables and raised additional funds from supporters to transport both brothers for burial in their hometown, Yongnian.[42]

T'ai Chi Ch'uan Lineage Tree with Yang-Style Focus[]

References[]

  1. ^ Chu (2008), sec. 2
  2. ^ Chu (2008), sec. 2, paragraph 7
  3. ^ Chu, ibid
  4. ^ Xu, Yusheng, translated by Tyrey, Bradford (2012), Tai-Chi Postures & Internal Power Enhancement (Taijiquan Shi), Neijia Books, ISBN 9781541376458, Translator's Preface, p. 9
  5. ^ Xu/Tyrey, Translator's Preface, p. 9-10
  6. ^ Xu/Tyrey, ibid; Chu (2008), paragraphs 20-21
  7. ^ Yang Family History: Yang Shao Hou
  8. ^ Chu (2008); Li, Chapt. 2, Sec. 1; Liu (2009-2010); Zhou (April 2002)
  9. ^ ibid
  10. ^ ibid; see also External Links
  11. ^ Zhang, Tina Chunna & Allen, Frank, Classical Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan: The Fighting Art of the Manchurian Palace Guard, Blue Snake Books, ISBN 978-1-58394-154-6, p. 6
  12. ^ Li, ibid; Liu, ibid
  13. ^ Chu (2008); Li, ibid; Liu, ibid
  14. ^ Chu (2008); Li, ibid; Liu, ibid; Zhou, ibid
  15. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 24, quoting Li Jianqing, Editor in Chief (李剑青, 主編, 2006), 永年太极拳志 (Yongnian Taijiquan Gazetteer), published by 人民体育出版社出版 (People's Sports Publishing House), ISBN 7-5009-3044-5
  16. ^ Yu, Zhijun, p. 144
  17. ^ Yu, Zhigen and Chen, Jingyong with Clark, LeRoy, "Sung Shu Ming meets Yang Shaohou", T'ai Chi Magazine, Vol. 31, no. 4; see also Liu, Xiwen, translated by Chu, Vincent, "Song Shuming and His 'Song Style Taijiquan' ", T'ai Chi Magazine, Vol. 32, no.2
  18. ^ Chu, (2008), paragraph 25; Yu, Zhijun, pp. 158-171; Li, chapt. 3
  19. ^ See video in External Links section
  20. ^ Yu, Zhijun, p. 125, 150
  21. ^ Yu, Zhijun, hand form pp. 158-171, sword forms pp. 172-279; Li, hand form in chapt. 3; Zhou (Feb 2008); see also videos in the External Links section
  22. ^ Li, Preface, Chapt. 1; Zhou (April 2002); Yu, Zhijun
  23. ^ Chu (2006), Chu, (2008), paragraph 27; Liu (2009-2010)
  24. ^ Chu (2006)
  25. ^ Chu, ibid; Liu, ibid; see also the videos in External Links
  26. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 28
  27. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 28; see also the videos in External Links
  28. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 28
  29. ^ Saber training years: Wu, Ta-yeh & Ellis, Chip, "Tung Huling Dies in Hawaii", T'ai Chi, February 1992, p. 7, paragraphs 6-8; Yang Shaohou saber form: Wu, Ta-yeh (1993 manuscript), The Internal Training of Taijiquan, Chapter VII, Taiji Falchion, paragraph 8
  30. ^ Yu, Zhijun, pp. 172-279
  31. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 14
  32. ^ Yip, Y. L., "A Perspective on the Development of Taijiquan", Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness, Insight Publishers, Autumn 1998, ISSN 1056-4004
  33. ^ Yip, Y. L., "Pivot — Taiji's Wu Gong Yee vs. White Crane's Chan Hak Fu", Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness, Insight Publishers, Autumn 2002, ISSN 1056-4004
  34. ^ 余功保 (Yu, Gongbao; 2013), 董家太极: 董英杰太极拳传承与精义 (Dong Family Taiji: Dong Yingjie Taijiquan Tradition and Essentials), 当代中国出版社 (Contemporary China Publishing House), ISBN 978-7-5154-0180-5, p. 155-156; pp. 176-177
  35. ^ Saber training years: Wu & Ellis, ibid; Yang Shaohou saber form: Wu (1993), ibid; double saber form: Yu, Gongbao (余功保) (2013), 董家太极: 董英杰太极拳传承与精义 (Dong Family Taiji: Dong Yingjie Taijiquan Tradition and Essentials), 当代中国出版社 (Contemporary China Publishing House), ISBN 978-7-5154-0180-5., included DVD: 2005 21bowu.com (博武国际武术网) interview with Jasmine Tung; stick forms: Ellis, Chip, self-published essay
  36. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 19
  37. ^ Chu (2008), paragraph 22
  38. ^ Yang Family Lineage Tree
  39. ^ Li (2005), pp. 27-30, pp. 291-293; see also video in External Links
  40. ^ Chu (2008), sec. 2; 天津《益世報》(Tianjin Yi Shi News), paragraphs 3-6
  41. ^ ibid
  42. ^ Chu, ibid

Bibliography[]

  • Li, Jianqing, Editor in Chief (李剑青, 主編, 2006), 永年太极拳志 (Yongnian Taijiquan Gazetteer), 人民体育出版社出版 (People's Sports Publishing House), ISBN 7-5009-3044-5
  • Li, Lian (李琏, 2003), Simplified Chinese edition: 杨少侯太极拳用架真诠 (Yang Shaohou Taijiquan Application Frame: The True Explanation), 人民体育出版社 (People's Sports Publishing), ISBN 7500923449; 2005 Traditional Chinese edition: 楊少侯太極拳用架真詮 (Yang Shao-hou T'ai-chi Ch'üan Application Frame: The True Explanation), 大展出版社有限公司 (Dah Jaan Publishing Inc.), ISBN 978-957-468-381-9
  • Yu, Zhijun (于志钧, 2018), 吴图男太极拳精粹 (Wu Tunan Taijiquan Essentials), 当代中国出版社 (China Contemporary Publishing House), ISBN 978-7-5154-0861-3


External links[]

Yang Style Family Tree

Retrieved from ""