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 1949, the communists came in full force to Talyuan, and that was the start of a journey that eventually ended in Taiwan. At that time, I had no intention of teaching taiji. It was something that I loved, but it never occurred to me to teach. After I arrived in Taiwan I was still in the military. I practiced by myself in the park. One day two mens came and watched. Afterward, they said, "We have seen a lot of taiji, but we haven't seen anything like what you are doing. What is this?" they asked. I didn't dare say that this was called the Yangjia Michuan (hidden or secret) form. I said it was the Yang style. They said, "It doesn't look like the Yang style." "Well," I said, "It is the old Yang style." They said, "It doesn't look like the old Yang style that we have seen." And I said, "It is older than that." One of the two men, Zhang Pinqing, told me that after seeing this form demonstrated he realized that this style of taijiquan, while unlike any Yang style he had seen before, was exactly what he had been looking for. He saw that it matched perfectly the ideas and theories described in the taijiquan classics. And they asked me to be their teacher.

Now 46 years later [as of 1996], I am still teaching. You might find someone who has been teaching for 25 years, but 46 years? After all these years of teaching and practicing taijiquan, I am happy to say from first hand experience that the practice of taijiquan is truly of benefit to one's health, especially when combined with the practice of tuishou. Until recently, no one was very interested in Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan. Interest started to increase about two years ago. In Taiwan people have been doing taiji for decades, since about 1949. Before then, there were no people practicing taijiquan in Taiwan. We can say that when you eat a certain type of food often, you get sick of it. Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan is like a food too, but -- the more you eat it, the more you like it.

After I left Taiyuan, Zhang Laoshi's life was not easy. During the time I studied with him, three times a day, every day for four years, I paid all of his expenses, including food, fuel for heat, spending money and every other family expense. In those days, Zhang Laoshi did not work. Beside himself, he had a wife and daughter to feed and clothe. In earlier times, a teacher did not need more than one or two students. Students, like sons or daughters, would take care of you. A teacher did not need to take many students. After I left Shanxi there was no one to take care of him. In addition, times were very hard and bitter for everyone. Zhang Laoshi was a martial artist. He had to eat, but the communists rationed food for everyone. What there was, was not enough. During the cultural revolution, artists, scholars and martial artists were teased, bullied and ridiculed in ways that left them angry [but helpless]. Artists were not allowed to be artists, while those whose skills and talents were inferior were encouraged. This is what happened to Zhang Qinlin. He was a great martial artist, and he was bullied. He died near the end of the cultural revolution [1976] nearly blind and starving. Hu Yaozhen, who I mentioned before, had gradually become more and more famous also. During the cultural revolution everything was turned upside down, and he was reviled because of his greatness. The great had to be brought down; they were pressed down. Hu Yaozhen died with a cone on his head, chained and led around to be publicly ridiculed.

And finally, I would like to mention Li Yunlong, another of Zhang Qinlin's students. He was the one who started the search for Zhang Laoshi's picture, and the one who corresponded with me. He was also a great xingyi master. During the cultural revolution he was sent to Inner Mongolia. In 1993 we visited his tomb in Baotou.

These are the seven students who Zhang Qinlin had accepted. There is one other man, Li Fuyuan, who we met in the mainland and who said he had also studied with Zhang Qinlin. However, I never knew him or heard of him before my trip in 1993, so this is uncertain. Of those students who studied with Zhang Qinlin and who are still alive, there is Pu Bingru who was 86 (in 1993) and living in Shanghai; Li Fuyuan, who we are not sure about and living in Hebei province, and me. Of these three, I am the only one who knows Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan.

Up until my time, this form has been taught "one teacher, one student." To prevent this teaching from becoming extinct, I have, as Zhang Laoshi counseled, sought to share this precious art with anyone who wants to learn, regardless of race, color, or anything else. Thanks to the many thousands of students who are today working diligently to investigate all aspects of this style, I have no doubt that not only will this practice endure in the world for as long as it is needed, but also that the people who do practice will find their wisdom and good health nurtured simultaneously.

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