WANG YEN-NIEN TALKS ABOUT ZHANG QINLIN

An interview by Sam Tomarchio
Translated by Julia Fisher-Fairchild
(Volume 3, NO. 2, FALL 1995)
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After moving to Shanxi province, Zhang Qinlin earned his living by buying and selling furs and skins. He did not hang out a sign and start teaching taijiquan. No one knew that he had been taught taijiquan. During this time he entered the Gold Mountain School of Daoism (Jin Shan Pai). Zuo Yifeng, who was my daoist teacher's teacher, was Zhang's daoist teacher. With Zuo, he began learning neigong and daoist gongfu. As his internal alchemy, neigong and daoist breathing improved, his taijiquan and gongfu took giant leaps forward. It was then that he began to be on the lookout for young potential martial artists - and accepted his first student: Wang Shanzhi.

Even though Wang Shanzhi was a pretty good student, Zhang Laoshi did not teach him Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan. He first taught him the 81Step³, using this time to observe Wang's character, how he practiced, and what type of person he was. Zhang wanted to see if Wang was the right "material". He saw that Wang Shanzhi was good, but not exactly what he was either looking or hoping for, and Wang remained at the level of the 81-Step. So Zhang Qinlin was still on the lookout for young people with good potential. It is said that not only do students look for a good teacher - teachers also look for potential students.

Then he found a man named Hu Yaozhen. Hu, already an accomplished Xingyi practitioner and teacher, had a strong physique and worked hard. Hu had heard of Zhang Qinlin and knew that his gongfu was great. Zhang Laoshi saw that Hu was not afraid to train hard, and Zhang was willing to accept him as a student. But before he actually entered the door, Hu said he wanted to challenge Zhang. If Zhang beat him, then Hu would become his student. [To understand this, we must remember that] Hu Yaozhen was not only very skilled, but a well known master of Xingyi. He was the "king" of Shanxi, Hebei and Sulyuan provinces -and was known as the best xingyi master. No one in these three provinces had ever defeated him. He was also about five years older than Zhang Qinlin and so felt he had to challenge Zhang -- and be beaten by him -- . Zhang Qinlin said, "Are you sure you want to do this? You are not going to bow to your laoshi unless we do this?" Then Zhang told Hu that if he (Hu) lost, he would not take him as a student. Hu replied: "Who are you anyway? You just arrived in Shanxi province. Nobody knows you. You must be dreaming to be saying this to me." Then Hu said, "If you win I'll be your student." Zhang replied, "If you lose I am not going to take you." They decided to go ahead with the challenge.

One of the key movements in xingyi is Pi (splitting) and this was the move that Hu made toward Zhang Laoshi's face. Zhang Laoshi made a Cai and caught his hand. The Cai was so fast and with so much energy, that Hu fell to his knees. In xingyi, this move is made with the weight on the front leg. Because Hu's weight was on the front leg, the cai pressed Hu forward so that he fell onto his knees in front of Zhang Laoshi. On his knees, Hu had to look up at Zhang Laoshi and gave up. Zhang Laoshi said, "You were defeated, now go home." Hu quickly shouted, "No, no, no! I want you to accept me as your student." Zhang said, "I told you, if you lose I am not going to take you." Hu pleaded, saying, "You must take me, I am already on my knees. I am not leaving until you take me as your student." Zhang Laoshi replied: "If you want to kneel there, that is your business, but I am not going to take you." Zhang then walked away.

Hu stayed there, kneeling and waiting for almost three hours. Mrs. Zhang said to her husband: "Hu is older than you. How can you let him stay on his knees for so long and ignore him?" Zhang Laoshi replied, "I did not make him kneel there, he is doing that by himself." Zhang's wife, realizing that things were at an impasse, wondered what to do. She thought perhaps that finding a sponsor to intervene, rather than have her husband and Hu deal directly, would be a possible solution. She knew everything would depend on who Hu found to be his sponsor. If the sponsor was good at talking with Zhang Qinlin then things might work out. So Mrs. Zhang suggested this, and hearing of this possibility, Hu bowed to the floor and went off to find a suitable sponsor.

Hu Yaozhen, also a member of the Jin Shan Pai (Gold Mountain School) went to a member of the older generation - someone who would have influence over Zhang Qinlin - to ask him to be his sponsor. Because Hu's sponsor was an older brother of Zhang Laoshi's and was willing to introduce Hu, Zhang said, "Yes." After the formalities were over, Zhang told Hu to practice only taijiquan, but Hu was not really able to let go of his xingyi. He was already a great master, and thus it was very difficult to "throw it out the window". Zhang kept telling Hu that his jin (internal energy) was wrong - it was a xingyi type, not a taiji type of energy. Hu said that there was nothing he could do because he had been practicing that way for so long. Zhang decided to teach Hu the 81-Step form of taijiquan, realizing that unless Hu was able to let go of his xingyi it would be quite difficult to teach him Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan.

Jiu Zhiliang⁴ from Shanxi province and in the army, was accepted by Zhang as his student. Liu was a good person with many good characteristics, but was not able to truly relax. Being able to relax in the 81-Step was a necessary condition to move on to Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan. So Zhang Qinlin still had not found the person he was looking for.

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