Taiji Quan origin stories

[Buddy]

I'm with Bob.

[scholar]

There are many origin stories, and there are many different motivations for those stories.

There is no proof that Chang San-feng dreamed about a snake and a crane in Wu Tang, or that the Ch'ens invented the art, just as there is no proof that Yang Lu-ch'an only taught the real art to his buddies and a fake art to everyone else. While I admire some of his work, Doug Wiles' books are mostly speculation (most of which I find specious), and he has to admit that there is no conclusive evidence for anything "T'ai Chi Ch'uan" from the Ch'ens or anyone else before 1800 or so, and not much even then. Actual physical documentation with verifiable provenance doesn't show up until about 1870-1900.

In the byzantine world of Chinese politics, many offshoot schools adopt a story which puts their founding in a better light as regards their competitors. The more traditional schools use a "teaching" story which holds some lesson as to the attitude they wish to promote about their art. Other schools have even had their founding stories imposed on them from the outside.

Objectively, my personal theory is that the origin can be found in the Neo-Confucians of the late Sung dynasty, and that the Ch'ens either applied those principles to martial art or were taught by someone who did. Any more than that is increasingly partisan speculation.

[SPJ]

Here is a link:

Chen Tai Ji