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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In 1937 the Sino-Japanese war began. The Japanese invasion extended into Shanxi province and the city of Taiyuan. Su Qigeng, mentioned earlier, was in the city center when the Japanese surrounded and attacked Taiyuan. Su was killed by a bomb. Now the only person to have been taught Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan was dead. At this time, I was in the army. During the war we were sent away from Taiyuan (to fight elsewhere). In 1945, the Japanese retreated, the war ended, and I returned to Talyuan, my hometown. It was then that I met Zhang Qinlin. My daoist teacher, Zhang Maolin, knew that I loved all martial arts and taijiquan. Zhang Maolin suggested that he (Maolin) introduce me to him (Qinlin). Because Zhang Maolin and Zhang Qinlin were of the same generation, that makes Zhang Qinlin my daoist uncle. Zhang Maolin took me to Zhang Qinlin's house and made the introduction. My father was also an initiate in the Gold Mountain School of Daoism, and Zhang Maolin explained how I came from a long line of daoists from this particular school of internal alchemy, and how my father was from the same generation as both Zhang Maolin and Zhang Qinlin. Zhang Maolin explained that it was not just my father, but I also was practicing in the same school. From all these points of view, he explained, I was an acceptable student.

Knowing that I was still in the military and had duties to perform every day around the city, Zhang Laoshi said, "I am afraid that since you are in the army you won't have much time to practice." Talyuan was a rather large city, and I was in charge of public safety for all Taiyuan. Even so, I said to him, "Yes, I have time to practice." During this interview-type meeting, he asked me if I had studied other kinds of martial arts. I thought: If he thinks I never learned martial arts, he might think I would be too difficult to teach; if I say no, I am sure he will not believe me. I knew that I had to tell him and answered, "Yes." He then asked me what I had studied. I said, "I have studied Shaolin Quan, Xingyi Quan, Taijiquan with Wang Xinwu [a famous martial artist of that time], and several others." He started to laugh and said, "You have learned a lot. You must be very good." I said, "No, no, no. I am not very good." "Are you sure you want to study with me" asked Zhang. I said, "Yes - that is why I asked my daoist teacher to introduce me to you." Zhang then replied, "If you really want to study with me, you will have to take all the martial arts that you just named and throw them out. If you cannot throw them out, then I don't want to take you. Can you throw them out?" "Yes," I said. "Really?" Zhang replied. I said, "Yes, if you accept me as your student, I will throw them all away." Only then did he agree to accept me.
He then asked me when I was coming. I replied, "Tomorrow morning I will be here." Zhang Laoshi said, "You are in a hurry. Are you going to be here for just three days and never come back again?" "No," I replied, "that will not happen." He asked me what time would I be coming. I said, "I have time, but what about your time?" Zhang Laoshi replied, "I am here from morning to night, it is up to you." I then answered that I would arrive at 5:00 am. He said, "That is wonderful. You can practice until 7:00, then go to work." Then he asked, "Just once a day?" I said, "No, I will be back." "When?" "I will be here at 12 (noon). I will eat a little something and be right over. I can practice until 2:00 PM." Zhang then asked if I was afraid of working too hard. Being 31 years old, I said it would not be a problem and that I would not get tired. Zhang said, "Will twice a day be enough?" When I said no, he said, "You are going to come again at night?" "Yes," I said, "If I am going to practice, then I am going to practice. I will be here after dinner at 7:00 and practice until 9:00." That is how we began.

During my first lesson, Zhang Laoshi had me stand in the basic stance (Zhan Zhuang) just to see if I was going to be obedient. That is all we did the first day. The next day we did the same thing. He just watched to see if I was talkative or complained, and in general to see my character. It went on like this for three days. During this time, I did not complain or say anything - not a word. On the fourth day, Zhang Laoshi said, "Now we really begin," and he started to teach. The first step was to develop qi. Because we were in the same daoist school, Zhang Laoshi explained a few more things about meditation, worked on the basic exercises, and watched me perform the 81-Step that I had learned with my first teacher Wang Xinwu. He saw that my 81-Step was okay, I was obedient and listened to what he said, and was able to relax in the form. About a month later, Zhang said, "You are young, honest and work hard." At that time my position in the army was rather high, a colonel. [It was not uncommon for the people to treat officers like royalty.] Zhang Qinlin saw that even with a high rank and much responsibility, I was still able to humble myself in front of a teacher and was not afraid of working hard and practicing [diligently].

After we went through that stage, Zhang Laoshi told me I was going to learn something different and told me that once I learned this, I could not teach it to anyone. "Why?" I asked. He replied, "Don't ask." I said, "Okay," and started learning the Yangjia Michuan style of Taijiquan. After learning the form, we went on to push hands, and so forth. By then, the civil war between the communists and nationalists, was getting closer and closer to Taiyuan. Talyuan was becoming a mess. All the action in the north was centered around this very strategic city. As the war got closer, things became more and more chaotic, and the social situation was awful. Zhang Qinlin said to me, "We have a saying in Chinese - transmit to one, not to two (chuan yi, bu chuan er). But we have to break this tradition now." He then said, "l can only teach one, but seeing the situation, I can also see that in the future you will be a great taiji teacher. So I say to you that this is just a saying, and although I can teach only one, you may teach many. We will end this 'transmit to one, not two' practice. If you teach, teach many. If you have the opportunity, find a way to share this art with others and transmit it to the outside."

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