Once again we see the subject of Wang Lang story being brought up in various discussions on KFO. Also the matter of "Luohan Xinggong Duanda" manuscripts has been brought up as well.
Here's my take on these matters:
1) the Wang Lang story or rather myth is borrowed from the allegory of the origin of CMA. It is based on the legendary epic tale between the rivalry of Pang Juan and Sun Bin during the Warring State period of China. The specific segment of the tale which the Wang Lang myth focused on is "Bai Yuan Tou Tao" (white ape steals the peach).
The significant of the tale is that it is meant to be as a mean to counter the claim that "ALL martial arts came from Shaolin Temple"; however, this important idea is lost during the many reciting of the legend and in fact works the opposite to perpetuate the Shaolin supremacy myth in martial arts. In my mind, Tanglangquan has little to no real connection to Shaolin Kung Fu, rather it is more rooted in military tradition or secular origin which is to say it is born and bred in China rather than brought in and adapted from India. BTW, I am not promoting nationalism in martial arts but rather to clarify my position on the origin of Tanglangquan.
IMHO, Wang Lang is no more than a fictional character based on the legendary Daoist/strategist "Guiguzi" (Ghost Valley Sage) whose name is Wang Xu and combined with his supposed student Sun Bin.
Anyway, my point is that while there are lots of great wisdoms in the creation myth of Tanglangquan, please don't get blindsided by fictional tale.
Mantis108